Efteling

[Matt 236]

3 hours ago, Mattgwise said:

You know my answer then

All too well.  

[CineramaMax]

Designs have leaked for Efteling's new hotel by The House of The Five Senses.

https://www.looopings.nl/weblog/185...n-nieuw-hotelcomplex-bij-Efteling-entree.html

 

 

I think this looks great though at the same time... it does take away from the House of The Five Senses somewhat?

Edited December 23, 2021 by CineramaMax
To add a screenshot from the above link

[Benin]

It intrigues me as it would make the entire entrance area very different. 

 

Also what would it mean for the Efteling Hotel? Every addition to the resort side makes it look more out of place.

[Matt 236]

It seems that some inspiration was taken from Disneyland Paris, given this will be a ‘lucrative’ hotel right by the entrance. All gone full circle. 
 

Judging from the concept, it does look very pretty and should further enhance the area if carried out as planned. 
 

The thing I want to know is if they any plans for the Efteling hotel? As both appear very similar in their design and function. 

[Martin Doyle]

On 12/1/2021 at 11:11 PM, Matt Creek said:

All too well.  

 

He has his flights to Amsterdam booked for next year for Efteling!!

[Mattgwise]

15 minutes ago, Martin Doyle said:

 

He has his flights to Amsterdam booked for next year for Efteling!!

When they build some more thrilling attractions that I might enjoy perhaps. Until then not a priority for me sadly, though I do understand why those who love dark rides would love the place.

 

[Matt 236]

In a surprising yet unexpected position, it has been confirmed that Efteling will be removing their Spookslot (Haunted House) attraction after the summer season. It will make way for a brand new indoor attraction (presumably a dark ride). 
 

Source-https://www-looopings-nl.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB&_x_tr_pto=wapp

 

Whilst not everyone’s cup of tea with some left a little confused by the attraction, I find this news rather saddening. Sure it wasn’t the best thing there, but it had much charm, character and history. It will be missed! 
 

https://youtu.be/1YQlUKLcYcI

[JoshC.]

Here's the official news: https://www.efteling.com/nl/blog/nieuws/20220124-nieuw-hotel-en-vernieuwd-themagebied-in-2024

 

So we'll get a new attraction opening in 2024, with a throughput of 1250pph, as well as some sort of 'theme world', which makes me think this investment might see more than just the attraction. No news on what the attraction is yet, and I'm still a little hesitant to refer to it as a ride just yet. The park will spend 25 million euros on this new investment (for comparison, Symbolica was 35 million)

 

The park will also open a new hotel in 2024, next to the main entrance, so that it will overlook Aquanura (the water show) and the Fairytale Forest. It will have 7 floors, 143 rooms, 2 restaurants and a spa, and represents a 50 million euro investment. For comparison, the most recent hotel offering (Loonsche Land) cost 30 million euros, and the previous (Bosrijk village) cost 52 million euros, but both of those have pretty substantial outdoor bits too, which seems less like with this hotel.

[Benin]

New hotel officially announced:

 

https://www.efteling.com/nl/blog/nieuws/20220406-efteling-grand-hotel

 

I'm not a fan of the location, but it'll look fab.

[Matt 236]

Should hopefully complement the lovely entrance they have there and not mess it up. 
 

House of the five senses for me is already up there amongst park entrances such as Disneyland Paris’s and Europa Park. 

[JoshC.]

As with Benin, like the idea and sure it'll be fab. Little concerned by location, as it will be difficult to effectively compliment the park's current entrance. 

[JoshC.]

Efteling have shared their first teaser for the Spookslot replacement:

 

 

It will be called Danse Macabre, which is also the name of the song from Spookslot (and used in the video above), and is set to open in 2024; the same year as the new hotel.

 

That video is the darkest thing I've ever seen out of Efteling, so will be interesting how far they go with the theme and style, whilst remaining family friendly. 

[Benin]

7 minutes ago, JoshC. said:

That video is the darkest thing I've ever seen out of Efteling, so will be interesting how far they go with the theme and style, whilst remaining family friendly. 

 

Considering the original Spookslot had a hanged man in it... That video isn't much.

 

Seems to be more of an update of the original based on that clip rather than something brand new? But might be more paying homage to it rather than anything.

[Martin Doyle]

All in all I see this being a great move for the park.

 

Spookslot may be an aging attraction and dated by Symbolica standards, but it is a huge part of the parks heritage. So to see Efteling move for a newer dark ride whilst keeping the theme of Spookslot just sounds a win in the sense of keeping the park moving with the times whilst also preserving park heritage.

[JoshC.]

3 hours ago, Benin said:

Considering the original Spookslot had a hanged man in it... That video isn't much.

 

 

Was this removed at some point then? My memory of Spookslot is hazy, but I definitely don't remember that! 😅

[Matt 236]

The way forward for this new attraction definitely looks the best one the park could opt for. 
 

By opening an attraction which works on the strengths  character of the original, whilst utilising the advancements in technology. This seems an excellent decision IMO. 
 

It’s pretty clear the original attraction is on it’s last legs and needs a renovation now. And given development hiccups and it’s low KPI, a modernised replacement seemed imminent. 
 

The original was very dark indeed, with demons, religious figures and even a hanging corpse. That’s Spookslot!

[Benin]

 

 

 

Confirmation of the ride system. Looks funky and an evolution of the original show/ride.

[Benin]

 

Efteling replacing the often broken water curtain effect on Dutchman with some physical effects/props. 

[Martin Doyle]

7 hours ago, Benin said:

 

Efteling replacing the often broken water curtain effect on Dutchman with some physical effects/props. 

 

A positive move for Efteling as frankly, on my last two visits the ride was in diabolical condition and in particular this scene. So hopefully this move makes for a more reliable and efficient show section as opposed to being a dark ride full of broken effects*.

 

*I can get that at Chessington or Pleasure Beach without the need to travel abroad quite frankly

[Matt 236]

So, I went back to Efteling for an express visit after all this time. 
 

The park was looking great in some areas, but maybe less-so in others. The entrance, Danse Macabre, fairy tale forest segments and other pathways were closed. We were also spited Baron (darn).

 

Main notable changes being the addition of  Max & Moritz. These were fun and whacky rides, not the best powered coasters by any means but they fit the park. I do like the interaction in the station though. 
 

The new scene In Dutchman works perfectly well, I can’t remember for the top of me what the old one was like, given it’s been six years since my last ride. But I liked it. The new track on Joris doesn’t feel different, although the operations  didn’t seem to be great. The Sinbad retheme looks ok, however I didn’t understand what they were trying to do with the Six Swans in the fairy tale forest. 
 

Now, the dark rides. Fata Morgana was just blissful to ride again, I love its mysterious atmosphere. Symbolica was great too and it was nice to see Carnaval after its changes. Droomvlucht looked much more refreshed and updated from its refurbishment and it’s amazing how popular that ride really is. 
 

Managed another meal Polle’s, fantastic as always and a daytime showing of Aquanura. Was pleasant but is far more effective at night.
 

I do like Efteling, it’s a very charming park and can be enjoyable if you aren’t one for thrilling coasters. As much as I enjoy aspects of this park, It will likely be some time before I return here again. Even with Danse Macabre opening next year.  

 

 

[Benin]

Danse Macabre opens today! 

 

It looks like pure theatre and I cannot wait until my Christmas visit.

 

 

[MattyB]

Visiting this park next week for the first time.  Can't wait!!!!!

[MattyB]

Just returned from my first Efteling/Phantasialand trip.  Will write a full report at some point once I've recovered, however Danse Macabre is incredible!

[MattyB]

So I visited Efteling for the first time recently.  This park exceeded my expectations, and I was going to say its a Disney quality park.  However, considering Efteling is older than Disneyland, should I be saying "are the Disney parks Efteling quality?"

 

We spent 2 days at the park arriving around midday on the first.  We didn't realise there was a national holiday, so the park was quite busy, however queue times averaged around the 30min mark, with Danse Macabre having a 60min queue pretty much all day for both days.

 

Symbolica - Loved this ride, the level of theming was very high, and refreshing to see they didn't resort to using screens inside the attraction.  There is a bit where all 3 cars face a balcony, which would have been an ideal place to put some screens, however there was a lovely diorama with butterflies so props to Efteling.  Also great to see the park celebrating their mascot Pardoes by giving them their own attraction.   I also loved the fact that you can choose between 3 different alternate endings, however we only got to experience the one.  When we returned to do a re-ride at the end of the 2nd day the ride had closed for technical issues and didn't reopen.  

 

Vogel Rok - Awesome indoor coaster, decent amount of theming in the queue.  Quiet forceful in some places.

 

Joris en de Draak - loved these dual coasters, probably one of my favourites of the whole trip.  Loads of fun pops of airtime.  Loved the little details, such as the flag spinning at the end to signify the winner and the flags dropping in the station on the winning side.

 

Droomvlucht - loved this ride, the sets were impressively large.  Also was not expecting the spiral ending.  

 

Pagode - I've never been on this type of ride before, and we rode it as the sun was setting.  Beautiful views across the park.

 

Python - I was surprised at how well this rode and was quite forceful.  I think its great that Efteling decided to completely re-track and keep its first major thrill ride, where other parks would have removed it.

 

De Vliegende Hollander -  this ride was amazing, the level of theming in the queue and the station blew me away.  Reminded me of PoTC.  The bit of the ride that goes into complete darkness with the fog actually made me a bit claustrophobic, and the ships "jumping" out of the dark were a nice touch.  The coaster portion was decent, and we got lightly splashed at the end.  The area theming was amazing as well.

 

Baron 1898 - decent ride, amazing theming.  Probably the only "let down" ride of the trip (and I use that term loosely as it is a world class ride) as the only other dive coaster I have been to compare it to is Oblivion.  

 

Carnaval Festival - loved this, reminded me of Small World (although the tune is not as offensive as Small World haha) and Toyland Tours.  Love to see these old school attractions still running.

 

Fairytale Forest - we spent around 2 hours in this, and we missed a lot.  We underestimated how big this area is!  My standout for this first visit was the Indian Waterlillies.

 

Danse Macabre - this attraction was the standout attraction for me of the whole trip.  I don't think there's much more I can say about it other than its incredible.  We waited both days until it got dark to ride this as the darkness really added to the atmosphere.  I would say Efteling have knocked it out of the park with this ride, its so well done.  Probably the best POV I have seen online is the DLP Welcome one (link here: NEW RIDE Danse Macabre FULL ON RIDE - Efteling - World Premiere Dynamic Motion Stage).

 

Park Ops - this is an extremely well run park, each of the F&B units had at least 3 staff in them, and the park and toilets were spotless.  All of the attractions were running multiple trains/cars and the queues moved quickly.  On our 2nd day we guesstimated they had a gate figure of around 10-12,000 and the park just swallowed it up.  Each attraction appears to have been built with throughputs in mind, and considering the park doesn't run a fast track system they appear to do well with this.

 

I got asked by a member of staff on a coffee unit what I thought of the park, and when I gave my feedback (which was positive) they said "thank you".  I got the impression the staff were really proud to work there, and took ownership of it.

 

We ate at the pancake restaurant Polles Keuken (amazing pancakes, although I would recommend pre-booking as the walk up queue can get quite long). The thematic elements in the restaurant added to the whole experience.  We had lunch/early dinner at the Het Witte Paard restaurant.  This was was around 15 EURO for a decent hot meal and drink which is amazing VFM in my opinion.  In fact, the whole experience I felt was really good VFM, with park tickets costing 38 EURO and parking 12 EURO.  My only gripe is that the hot drinks were all one size (small) and were 5 EURO, but this wasn't a big deal.  We also ate at the Fabula Restaurant which was very good.  The indoor play structures looked a lot of fun for the kids.

 

We visited the Winter area that they had just finished setting up which was very well done.

 

Park merchandise was very good, and I spent a small fortune on gifts, something I rarely do at a theme park.  They also sell the various scents from the attractions which was a very unique thing to see.

 

Parkwide and attraction sound/music were on point and very memorable.  

 

Entry to the park was quick and efficient, and the park entrance building is amazing!  Construction on the new hotel looks like its progressing well, and I'm sure will be an awesome addition once it opens.

 

Attractions we missed:

 

Fata Morgana - closed for maintenance

Villa Volta - didn't get time to get round to it

Pirana - didn't get time to get round to it

Raveleijn - they were running one show a day and we set an alarm to ensure we would be there on time.  However we forgot we set the alarm and the alarm went off when we were in the middle of the queue for Baron.  

Stoomtrein - didn't get time to get round to it

Max & Moritz - didn't get time to get round to it

 

I'm sure we missed a whole lot more as the park is massive, but gives me a reason for a return trip!

 

All in all, an amazing park.  This park and Phantasialand are filled with magic, wonder and whimsy which I think is missing from a lot of theme parks now.

 

We stayed at the Center Parcs De Vossemeren onsite hotel which is around a 1 hour drive from the park.  We payed 40 EURO (each) a night for 3 nights which included access to the waterpark and breakfast!  We took a day out of our trip to chill at the Center Parcs which was awesome!

 

Can't wait to see what Efteling do next!