February 12, 20196 yr comment_262817 Weirdly though the Bob replacement fills in a gap (in terms of their coaster line-up at any rate) for the younger visitors... Efteling spending more on a plussing of a pre-existing attraction than some parks spend on something brand new shows the benefits of being operated by a charity; as well as having a clear aim and goal with any project... Tough given the future plans for that end of the park they need to start looking at improving things now before they suddenly gain a million more visitors a year*... That said, any upgrade would have to be serious to be a better Vintage Cars attraction than the one at Asterix... *slight exaggeration
March 1, 20196 yr comment_263218 Major disappointing news - https://www.efteling.com/nl/blog/nieuws/20190301-update-uitbreiding-efteling?fbclid=IwAR2cWRKpnA_fLhBwTixsb_3Mu7zOvzhz-i_wmH7QlKM08RW90FJ0s4em8vc Efteling have NOT been granted permission for their expansion. Efteling were hoping to expand the park massively. The original plan was for this to start in 2020, with a new circus-themed coaster and others, and the expansion continuing with more new attractions until 2030. See my crude drawing from when it was announced over a year ago for where this was to take place... The park had to delay these plans due to issues with the local authority not being convinced by the plans. This meant the 2020 project was tentatively pushed back to 2021, and ultimately Efteling decided to replace Bob with the Mack powered coasters for 2020. The local authority have now made a decision, and feel that - despite Efteling's claims it will not - the expansion will cause extra traffic and noise pollution, so ultimately they are against the decision. The Council of State will make a further decision about whether the plans can be implemented in some revised fashion. A real true shame, and majorly frustrating, as the park itself cannot really develop much more within its current area. Hopefully things work out, because their 2021 coaster - rumoured to be a family launch with special track features - sounded really fun...
March 1, 20196 yr comment_263223 In fairness, there was pretty much no way that the level of expansion they were asking for WOULDN'T cause problems in some way, shape or form for the locals... Particularly with the need for re-routing the road (moving it closer to the highway) to make room for it... Sure the park will have a good look at what they can do to sweeten the deal for the locals...
March 1, 20196 yr comment_263225 It'd be interesting to see how possible it would be to effectively turn that road into a tunnel, and just have the park / expansion go over the road, as opposed to re-routing it. Given the size, I imagine it's not very practical, as well as expensive and logistically very awkward, but it could be a potential way round it I guess.
March 1, 20196 yr comment_263226 Wouldn't be surprised if the two houses on that road are a block to this as well (presumably Efteling are trying to buy them out or already own them, not 100% sure really), but I'd say making that entire thing a tunnel would just not be feasible at all... Especially as it would have to factor in delivery vehicles for Bosrijk et al round that way...
March 1, 20196 yr comment_263230 It’s saddening to see such a massive blow to an expansion at one of my favourite parks. On the hindsight, the park is located around a strongly nature based area with noticeable neighbouring areas and the proposed expansion would’ve not only meant the re-routing of that road but the removal of many trees and shrubbery too perhaps. It will be interesting to see if such an appeal can be made or the original plans amended and updated. Maybe they will downsize the plans or make conditions on the natural area in order for this to go ahead. I think the authorities seem to forget how much Efteling likely benefits the local area, from the economy to employment, amongst being a national treasure. Its certain to say, the park without expanding their current boundaries are pretty limited on future developments, especially considering the location. Some attractions like Panda Vision could be the On the chopping block, but the park rarely remove existing attractions unless they have to.
April 8, 20196 yr comment_264006 Bob is amazing. Very happy to have had the chance to ride it today, it's such a unique (and terrifying!) coaster and by far the best "bobsleigh" style ride I've ever ridden. A shame it's being removed really, the replacement doesn't look very inspiring either.
April 9, 20196 yr comment_264011 11 hours ago, Coaster said: Bob is amazing. Very happy to have had the chance to ride it today, it's such a unique (and terrifying!) coaster and by far the best "bobsleigh" style ride I've ever ridden. A shame it's being removed really, the replacement doesn't look very inspiring either. Yeah, I remember everybody slagging off the Wicker Man before that opened to.
April 9, 20196 yr comment_264012 On 3/1/2019 at 3:58 PM, Benin said: In fairness, there was pretty much no way that the level of expansion they were asking for WOULDN'T cause problems in some way, shape or form for the locals... Particularly with the need for re-routing the road (moving it closer to the highway) to make room for it... Sure the park will have a good look at what they can do to sweeten the deal for the locals... But wouldn't that extra visitation from the new attractions be a welcome addition for the local economy, food outlets, Band B's for example?
April 9, 20196 yr comment_264014 Not gonna lie but will definitely miss Bob. Sure it’s not my favourite Efteling coaster, but definitely still a fun ride. We will have to wait wait and see with Max and Moritz, but as long as it retains the Efteling goodness (especially from recent years) then I’m perfectly sure it will still be a fun and worthwhile addition. Efteling probably thought long and hard about Bob’s future and given they rarely remove attractions, it must’ve been untenable to keep the ride operating in a healthy and reliable position. I still wonder how this expansion can still happen. Fingers crossed they have a way.
April 9, 20196 yr comment_264019 2 hours ago, Glitch said: But wouldn't that extra visitation from the new attractions be a welcome addition for the local economy, food outlets, Band B's for example? Much like Alton village, Kaatsheuval suffers just as much as potentially gains from the existence of the park... Unlike Towers however, access and travel to the park does not necessarily require a day trek to it from half of the country... Takes bout 90 minutes from Amsterdam so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of B&Bs would struggle in the area... A quick look on Trivago shows a distinct lack of alternative hotels in the area (4 on the dates I looked at, one being the NH hotel), so perhaps Efteling have the majority on that? As for local foodstuffs, again hotel guests have some good options themselves (and Bosrijk has a proper food shop), and the options in the village aren't great either... It's a rather simplistic view to think that new additions would only benefit locals without considering having to live with the consequences of this every single day of the year...
April 9, 20196 yr comment_264022 2 hours ago, Benin said: It's a rather simplistic view to think that new additions would only benefit locals without considering having to live with the consequences of this every single day of the year... Then that brings up the simple question of which came first the locals or the themepark attraction.
April 9, 20196 yr comment_264023 Well no, because the answer could easily be both... Efteling 20/30 even 40 years ago is different to now, doubt even that long ago they'd know the levels of expansion and crowds... These aren't NIMBYs; but I would certainly have equal levels of concern to my area if I lived right by a 365 day a year theme park... The park has a duty of care to balance expansion and minimise effect on local everything...
September 2, 20196 yr comment_266196 Bob closed yesterday, with much fanfare and had definitely seen a spike in popularity over summer (was usually one of the busiest rides on park!). It never had a great throughput so usually had a queue anyways, but at least it managed to remain reliable during its final months. Some stuff from the park... A tribute on Efteling's blog A song dedicated to Bob: And a look at what's to come: A clear jovial style for the new Mack duelling powered coasters Demolition is already underway. Clearing around the site had started a couple of months ago and trees within the ride area had already been felled before the closure. A bit of a shame, since trees in the ride area added to the experience of Bob, but I guess schedules and all that.. Still not a fan of Max and Moritz. Certainly fills a gap - coasters for the very young - but it feels like they could have done something better. Maybe not being Dutch and knowing the story is something to do with it. I think it's worth saying again how much of a family treasure Efteling is in the Netherlands. Like, pretty much every Dutch person will have visited the park. It's like with Python when that was being refurbished - most Dutch people praised the park for keeping it and their childhood memories, rather than replacing it. With Bob, I think there's acceptance that the park will have tried everything, but it's still a sad time.
September 5, 20196 yr comment_266329 The Park are wasting no time in demolishing Bob, but then again they have an intense schedule with the replacement coasters opening next year. Source-Loopings Whilst it was nowhere near my favourite coaster, seeing this fun attraction being demolished is rather saddening. R.I.P Bob 1985-2019
December 20, 20195 yr comment_267907 Some more artwork of Max & Moritz... And is it a Dutch theme park investment without a Youtube 'Making Of' series? This one talks a lot about the design process and some features that will be in the queue, including a whoopee cushion organ where you can sit on different cushions to make different fart noises...
January 7, 20205 yr comment_268118 M&M is coming along nicely... And we have Part 2 of the Making Of...
January 15, 20205 yr comment_268231 Some nice aerial views of the park, including M&M construction, can be seen here:
March 9, 20205 yr comment_269202 8 hours ago, Wicker Matt said: This is already looking an absolutely gorgeous coaster. Looks nice yeah but a shame the layout looks naff!
April 10, 20205 yr comment_269614 Efteling may still be closed for the time being, but that doesn’t stop the park giving us some beautiful drone footage. Watching this makes me want to return here so badly.
April 15, 20205 yr comment_269668 Decided to create another piano video, this time based on Droomvlucht (Dream Flight), A dark ride located at The Efteling.
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