Longest indoor slide in the world up for sale in Antwerp

The longest indoor slide in the world is on the auction block. The spiral tube slide is part of the Comics Station, located inside Antwerp’s central train station.

Comics Station is an indoor amusement park based on Belgium’s beloved comic strip characters. It opened in 2017 across four floors at the far south end of the station. It was a co-operation among two investment firms and WPG Publishers, which owns the rights to the use of the comic characters.

The park offers over 60 activities, spanning old-school attractions like a funhouse, bumper cars and a whack-a-mole game, and more state-of-the-art fun, like a 4D cinema and free-fall ride that takes place in a pitch-black room.

When opened, the owners said they expected 250,000 visitors a year, but it turned out to be about 40% less than that. In 2018, Comics Station lost €2.7 million.

They decided to sell, and the Plopsa amusement park franchise decided to buy. It will now turn into a Plopsa theme park, still featuring comics characters but also the Plopsa characters made famous by TV producer Studio 100 – characters such as Bumba the clown and Maya the bee.

Slide ‘annoying’

But Plopsa finds the 22-metre-high slide a burden. “Structurally, it has caused problems in the park,” Steve Van den Kirkhof of the Plopsa group told VRT. “Kids crawl in and come out several floors below, while their parents are still up above. That’s annoying.”

The slide is being auctioned off by Vavato in Sint-Niklaas, at a starting price of €5,000. Interested parties can send in a bid until 30 October.

“We honestly don’t know what to expect,” said Van den Kirkhof. “It’s a unique piece, but it’s difficult to move.”

He thinks the slide will probably leave the country when it does sell. “Theme parks are an international market. In the past, we have sold attractions to Asia and the Middle East. It would surprise me if the slide remained in Belgium.”

Comics Station is currently closed as renovations take place. It is scheduled to re-open to visitors in October of 2021.

Photo courtesy Plopsa group