Benin

Haha, omg I remember seeing that and it was amazing... Such self-entitlement from one of the worst enthusiasts I've personally come across... I completely forgot I went last year... Shows how memorable it was...

Most of the park looks knackered, Rattlesnake is definitely one of them, the cave especially... There's a big difference between looking knackered due to no upkeep, or deliberately looking knackered...

It's the opposite of Voyage at Holiday World and that's considered a hybrid (wooden track on steel supports)... I really think now that if RMC rides didn't have wooden supports in them no-one would care...

What a load of utter unintelligent crap... And they're gonna fill the world with these? Urgh, creativity truly is dead isn't it? Dreamworks are just aiming to fill the world with stuff relating to their franchise films that have declined excessively as time has gone on aren't they?

It lacks the ride line-up of parks of a similar size, but simply makes up for it by being full of quality throughout the rides... It's not a park everyone would enjoy, but with the top tier quality dark rides and fun coasters there's enough to at least spend 2 days there, bearing in mind that on my visit 3 attractions were closed, including the massive show... Certainly better than PA because it feels more natural and not awful... Better than Europa is the harder one, but I feel like it's just better, purely on the relaxing atmosphere compared to how Europa does pack in the rides sometimes... Akin to Towers in many ways where you can just roam around with no rides near you and chill... I can't comment on throughput quality as most rides were walk-on, operational standards were pretty average, nothing bad, nothing exceptional bar some Joris based interaction for the winning train... Will it be on people's bucket lists? Nah, it lacks a true stand-out ride for that to be the case, or a general knowledge of the park as a whole... It can be considered the most visited hidden gem of a theme park in Europe...

Welcome to London prices...

Nah, even on Rage they were interactive and polite... Maybe cos of living in Essex? Dunno, Southend is pretty mixed on the dire/modern seafront situation...

Has Adventure Island always had such happy and interactive staff? Because they were pretty decent yesterday... That feeling of sincere questions of how your day is and just general enthusiasm is something that Merlin need to figure out how to do... Perhaps the lack of people helped? But even so they were still rather efficient at their jobs, filling up rides and being generally decent staff...

I don't think I'd be impressed by this regardless of park, as we would point towards the original Runaway Train as a prime example of how to do this... Sounds the usual, good ideas poorly executed, a Merlin trait becoming more and more worrying...

Sounds likely that does...

Elsa and her Jessica Rabbit style costume though

That half Zero G roll thing looks awful though... Aside from that, the ride doesn't seem to do anything that special or interesting, yet people gush over it because it's a 'wooden' coaster... It's a weird one...

Looks less like a Wooden coaster everytime they update it... Basically a steel coaster dressed up to look like a Wooden, nothing more, if it wasn't for the whole 'Wooden' coaster concept of it there would be absolutely no gushing of the company... I think I've realised why they don't connect with me...

Day 3 The final day on park started with a character breakfast, as Pardoes did lots of interaction at an extremely peaceful level never seen at Disney. Once again our first port of call was Vogel Rok with 2 straight goes on the front before having to move back. Burdenous people! And again like the day before, Joris was our next venture. We got there slightly before it was due to open, so I watched the engineers play around with the sensors on Flying Dutchman. Upon opening we got 4 goes, including front and back seat action. It’s always good when rides like this run extremely well first thing in the morning, and when there’s no queue whatsoever, even on 1 train operation. Bob had a fair queue so Single Rider was called upon this time, and resulted in minimal (read, none) waiting. Was still rather enjoyable if a bit awkward being slammed into a random Dutch person on some of the corners. Took some pictures of the Pirana refurb that’s currently taking place as well, it feels like being at Chessie. Fata Morgana was next, I actually took photos this time round instead of being gobsmacked; here they are. We then wandered the park aimlessly for a bit, taking in another Puppet Show before another go on Carnival Festival before grabbing another hotdog and hat combo and watching yet another Jokie Show. Straight out of RCT Coffee Shop! We walked into the Museum again to have another look, and got given free badges for it, yay! Back in the Fairy area, it was time for more Dreamflight and Villa Volta. Because why not? The Train had just come in so we decided to hop on for a ride. Much safety It was then of course time for MORE Pancakes. Much further nomming was had, and we purchased some pancake mix to sneak past customs on the way home, and with Shrove Tuesday next month! We once again rode Carnival Festival and watched the Jokie Show, before one final go on Vogel Rok of the holiday. Bless it. Next were the Gondolettas, which are the fastest Tow Boats I’ve ever seen, yet still take 20 minutes to go around the huge lake. Heading into an area we had barely visited, it was time to mop up the rest of the unridden rides, starting with the Vintage Cars, which were long but nowhere near as good as Asterix’s, the Pile of Ship Halve Maen and it’s 14 rows of WHY were next, which was pretty awesome. Then the final piece of the puzzle was the weird cousin of Seastorm, Moby idiot, which doesn’t go backwards and just goes around in circles at walking pace. Very weird. It was time for the final rides, and what better option to have fulfil this than Joris? A ride on each side for the final determination of which was ‘better’ (the winner of which was Water), but both are winners, as they’re both good. Now when will someone in the UK build a GCI? After Joris, we walked back to the entrance, encountering some cats and buying some sugary as hell doughnuts before settling to watch Aquanura one last time. Upon which it was back to the hotel room to rest before heading home. Efteling is a truly fantastic park. Whilst it may not have a giant assorted of rides, and half of the park is taken up by landscaping or a Fairytale Forest of Forever, it fills itself with charm and colour throughout. And the rides that do exist on the park are all good at the minimum, which is rare for a park to have no truly bad rides (although Carousel land confused me greatly, why have 3?). The staff were all very pleasant and the characters very interactive. The hotel is rather basic in the rooms but even then have little details dotted in them. I could just say it’s my favourite park because of the Pancake Kitchen (which may have helped my opinion formation), but there’s so much more to the park than that. The Disney quality dark rides and the ‘dead’ areas allow you to relax across your day (though I’m sure the full cattlepens would combat this feeling), and with the Fairytale Forest it has one of the most well designed and picturesque areas in a theme park. A truly good theme park is one that doesn’t feel like a theme park. And Efteling fits that bill to a tee.

Least CBeebies has some substantial new stuff going in...

Don't forget Nickelodeon Land as well, cramped as it is... Breathed life into a dull and old area relatively garishly yet successfully...

Ride meant to be themed as ancient Egyptian tomb has too much dust inside it... Certainly not the most highest priority issue with the ride... Or the park...

Ensuring that the park looks in top shape SHOULD be a priority... Simple as... The parks have pressure washers, just need to get some fresh coats of paints on the rides or fix things as they break... It just involves effort and budget, the latter of which isn't provided because there's no apparent return on "fixer-uppers"...

It's probably the cattlepen shed you're talking about, seems that they've taken inspiration from Tiny Truckers...

Cos Merlin... That said, having another multi-looper in the park would need to either be better than Colossus or have some worthwhile difference... An Intamin Blitz coaster with lapbars would be excellent, though not sure on the high throughput front... Though not sure if Thorpe would want to go with something that launches due to Stealth... Hyper-Coaster it is then...

I like my girls curvy... And this girl is no exception

Day 2 The day started with turning on the TV and watching the Making of Documentary Efteling did for Joris, because it’s never too early to be a goon. After some breakfast it was time to join the queue of people waiting for ERT on the poorly laid-out paving slabs. You had one job! Eventually let in, we headed straight to Vogel Rok for some back row times, and since it was completely empty, hopped on again further up the train because we could. We quickly moved on as it was nearly opening time towards Joris, waving at the normal guests as we passed. Themed vending machine We were greeted by the extended queue being open and 2 train operation. Even though they were only loading one, it’s amazing how so many parks plan ahead for busier days by having both trains on and ready to go, rather than adding more trains later in the middle of the day. Oh well, a front row ride on each side and a more edging of preference towards the Water side. A quick go on Python followed before heading over towards Spookslot, and it’s incredibly dark queue of darkness. This show attraction is similar to Twister and features a lot of animatronics and pepper ghosts dancing along to Danse Macabre (or, the theme to Johnathon Creek), which was pretty cool tbh. The quality of the huge set was again to an excellently high standard too. Next up as it wasn’t as windy as the day before was Pagode, my first Flying Island. Certainly not the most interesting of attractions, but it provided a good view of the local woodland and the park as a whole. It was lunch time, and that meant finding a Unox stand. Why? Because WINTER HATS OF AMAZING WARMTH! Left-overs from their Winter event, €3.50 got you a hotdog and hat, whilst €4.50 got you a large soup and hat. Excellent value and an excellent idea, as LOTS of people were wearing these things. We watched the Jokie Show by Carnival Festival which was weird, and featured more slightly racist times, before heading towards our next destination via a nice Diorama mini train room. And now it was time for the Fairytale Forest of Forever. Efteling’s main attraction, being a walk through the woods with several set-ups of various fairytale stories based off Anton Pieck’s drawings. We spent 2.5 hours in this one area, as there’s plenty of show scenes and interesting animatronics to keep you wandering through. Favourites included the infamous pooping Donkey, the Indian Waterlilies and the Chinese Nightingale. Again, the high quality and upkeep of these things were there for all to see, especially for things mostly exposed to the elements. There was even a proper show in the middle of it all which still had a Christmas theme and unfortunate Dragon puppet placement. Certainly this is the reason why Efteling is so popular in its country, not because of the rides, because of how they have created an area accessible to every age-range available that can be enjoyed by all. I’ll let the pictures speak for it. Dancing red shoes Speaking Parrot that would record loud children https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/t31/q73/s720x720/1658534_10153856360675220_871574897_o.jpg Pooping Donkey! https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31/q71/s720x720/1913361_10153856360900220_1412605559_o.jpg 50 cents gets you this out of the Donkey https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31/q75/s720x720/1909164_10153856361365220_1451470134_o.jpg https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t31/q72/s720x720/1957784_10153856363100220_183784917_o.jpg https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t31/q77/s720x720/1781684_10153856364730220_223223658_o.jpg https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t31/q79/s720x720/1796856_10153856366625220_1930622315_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/t31/q77/s720x720/1932559_10153856367735220_475897960_o.jpg https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31/q79/s720x720/1939478_10153856368070220_1395357650_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t31/q80/s720x720/1553213_10153856375875220_1423541111_o.jpg https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31/q71/s720x720/1913468_10153856377820220_1144855685_o.jpg https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t31/q71/s720x720/1798980_10153856380280220_547265128_o.jpg https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31/q71/s720x720/1669942_10153856381855220_1477358373_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t31/q71/s720x720/1956950_10153856382140220_1606604429_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t31/q84/s720x720/1014654_10153856383025220_2046461445_o.jpg We took so long in getting out that the Puppet show had moved to outside the entrance/exit, so we watched that before heading back to awesome dark ride land, riding both Villa Volta and Dreamflight again. Wandering back to Carnival Festival we caught the Jokie Show again, and then was time for the racist Teacups in Monsieur Cannibale. https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t31/q74/s720x720/1965640_10153856386010220_1680168351_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t31/q71/s720x720/1559490_10153856386455220_415779767_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t31/q73/s720x720/1939590_10153856386710220_1723527708_o.jpg 2 more rides on Joris before it was Pancake time again! https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31/q79/s720x720/1836771_10153856387710220_1417083331_o.jpg https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t31/q71/s720x720/1795930_10153856388860220_1404998660_o.jpg https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t31/q83/s720x720/1795964_10153856388695220_813458444_o.jpg We then legged it to Aquanura, and I took some pics of it this time. https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31/q77/s720x720/1911116_10153856389410220_1359422461_o.jpg https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31/q77/s720x720/1913468_10153856390230220_715484444_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/q77/s720x720/1553425_10153856390920220_1345786963_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t31/q77/s720x720/1655823_10153856392065220_1589062616_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/q77/s720x720/1617585_10153856394510220_228120591_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t31/q77/s720x720/1008710_10153856396235220_321052344_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t31/q73/s720x720/1553188_10153856399435220_1945012729_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/t31/q73/s720x720/1956931_10153856400520220_91098222_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/q77/s720x720/1658499_10153856401185220_586153509_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t31/q77/s720x720/1800152_10153856402485220_424969007_o.jpg https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31/q81/s720x720/1965484_10153856403865220_943331753_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/q80/s720x720/1909281_10153856405025220_1829746968_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t31/q77/s720x720/1559466_10153856410650220_1531196994_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t31/q75/s720x720/1796900_10153856411375220_1277794517_o.jpg https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31/q79/s720x720/1939675_10153856411875220_375172694_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/q71/s720x720/1548225_10153856412570220_389117357_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t31/q82/s720x720/1548205_10153856418925220_1545397947_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t31/q73/s720x720/1655379_10153856420070220_69134255_o.jpg https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t31/q71/s720x720/1602194_10153856420650220_295578592_o.jpg https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t31/q77/s720x720/1618297_10153856421100220_178480458_o.jpg https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31/q80/s720x720/1622286_10153856421685220_238656155_o.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t31/q72/s720x720/1614123_10153856421935220_986770609_o.jpg And that was Day 2. The Fairytale Forest does sum up Efteling in several ways. The beauty and presentation of it, with fantastic upkeep and updates to it on a constant basis keep the interest of guests of all ages. Tagging in a free hat with food purchases because its winter is also another perk that’s worthy of mention, especially when they don’t have to do it. After this point, it had certainly shot up to the top of my favourite park list ever.

Because basic maintenance doesn't bring in guests or income... Of course, producing a well kept park with a good atmosphere will make guests happy, and therefore liable to spend more and even return and get friends to visit... It's astounding how little Merlin seem to care about the basics of theme park presentation...