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Efteling


Cringle

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Presumably Baron is unreliable because of the pre-lift stuff and that it's not got the curve of faff (different systems)...

 

Though this is the park that had Flying Dutchman open AN ENTIRE YEAR late, but that's what you get when dealing with Kumbak...

 

I'd imagine the Symbolica issues will get ironed out eventually like any new thing, least it's just a pre show needing fixing not the entire ride ;)

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  • 1 month later...

In fairness, if there's any park that can make a RnR style system work, it's Efteling.  They have the infrastructure and the attraction line up for people to have enough to do whilst virtually waiting.  Trialling it on Python, their least popular major attraction, makes sense too.  And there could be a need for it - on busy days, the park does get long queues.  

 

I don't think it'll work wide scale because people won't want to faff about with it.  But it will be interesting to see how the Dutch (and European) crowds react to it in practice 

 

Still hilarious seeing Efteling essentially copy Thorpe yet again though...

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I quite like the way Everland do their ride reserve system.

 

It only applies on their major attractions (4 in total I think). It only operates on weekends and public holidays. It stops running at 3pm and the queues for those 4 attractions go back to being free for all.

 

It's still far too much faff in my opinion though. I kind of want this trial to fail if I'm honest.

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  • 3 weeks later...

To be fair, Efteling are pretty good with throughputs and their queues are quick moving, with only the old rides like Python and Bob being quite slow.  They don't have Fastrack queues, and only 2 SRQs (Baron and Symbolica).  So they do focus on 1 quick moving queue mostly. 

 

It's also worth noting that Carnival Festival (their omnimover which can get like 2 hour queues on busy days) has recently had an app made, which can interact with stuff in the queue now.  Makes me think they're trying loads of different ideas to try and improve people's queueing experience (since there's little more they can do with throughputs), and see what works best.

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13 hours ago, Coaster said:

Not a fan of this virtual queuing idea personally, I'd much rather see one fast moving queue with efforts focused on the ride throughput.

 

Virtual queuing could work at Efteling, it has enough around the place and it's big enough for people to be spread around without affecting other rides queues too much. It was doomed at Thorpe but it has a chance here.

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  • 1 month later...

Python has long been rumoured to get a full track replacement, and now it's finally happening...

 

https://www.looopings.nl/weblog/8922/Fotos-dit-is-de-nieuwe-baan-van-de-Python-in-de-Efteling.html

 

071117wein7.jpg

071117wein8.jpg

 

And a Dutch video - https://www.tvl.be/nieuws/achels-bedrijf-mag-legendarische-eftelingattractie-renoveren-51458?utm_content=buffer8bbf4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

 

Interestingly, the track isn't being manufactured at/by Vekoma, but instead by a metal manufacturing company closer to Efteling.  It's not really clear if that company has been sub-contracted by Vekoma, or if Efteling have gone to this company with plans for them to follow...

 

As far as I can tell, deconstruction is planned to start in early January and new Python is hoped to be ready by March, and that's the only time the ride will be closed.  Rather ambitious time scale really!

 

 

It's a shame that Efteling have decided to keep Python.  It's caused countless problems over the years and doesn't really fit with the park these days.  It's arguably the least popular coaster too - during all my visits, it's always had the shortest queue and lowest throughput.  Efteling argue it's historic and has sentimental value, hence why they want to keep it.  I can see the point and all, but I just don't think 'a lot of people have fond memories of it' is a good enough reason to keep a ride.  And surely they could incorporate it in some other way, similar to how Towers reused Corkscrew..

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Think it's time to unleashed my inner Efteling fan boy and you guys can't judge till you put your Phantasia ones to sleep.

 

It's a weird decision but I'll stand by their side on 2 conditions. It doesn't take money or land from lovely new stuff and they have a go at theming it this time round.

 

I think it's important to conserve history and who are we to say if it's important to the park or it's visitors?

 

Remember Chessie is in it's current state partly because new mangers have lost their grip on the roots of the park and don't respect what they currently have.

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Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Efteling.  Even though in many ways it's not a park for me (I'm not a big fan of the fairytale vibe), I still get absorbed into the magic.  And I get why they're keeping it - Python is a flagship coaster not only for the park, but for the Netherlands as a whole.  They could easily ride on the nostalgia value of it for another 30 years quite easily.

 

But that's where my conflict comes.  At some point, you need to let go of nostalgia and say it's time to move forward.  It's not like we're talking about a certain feature, pathway, garden or something a bit more 'just there', we're talking about a coaster that is taking up space and resources, and could make way for something better and more Efteling. 

 

I'm all for conserving history and remembering a park's roots, especially at Efteling where something like that is so important.  But I think there's better ways to do than keep shaking the tree from a ride which shouldn't have a place any more. 

 

They could do what Towers did Corkscrew, and turn part of the track into a monument of some sorts.  Build a new coaster that incorporates the double loop in its layout.  Add a section into Fairytale Forest with a story around Python.  It can be done, and Efteling would do it well.

 

 

A more pressing matter though - if the track is being totally rebuilt and it isn't coming from Vekoma, does it count as a new cred? ;)

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3 hours ago, BaronC. said:

A more pressing matter though - if the track is being totally rebuilt and it isn't coming from Vekoma, does it count as a new cred? ;)

 

Depends how Duane feels doesn't it? Apparently doing this with a Zierer Tivoli doesn't count as a new cred (even though the park itself said so), same for Hulk; yet EuroSat is a new cred?

 

 

I'm on the fence about this... I love seeing parks take care of stuff that is truly iconic to the park and guests (pretty much everyone in Holland has ridden Python), and to be fair it doesn't really prevent any form of major expansion where it is currently sat... What could go in it's stead that is to the scale of Efteling's more recent additions?

 

Efteling's nostalgia is part of the charm... Though of course most of the actual nostalgia is from the 90s ride wise, I wonder if Pegasus' spite for Joris drew some interesting remarks from fans and guests alike made them rethink things...

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

In other news, Symbolica currently has had its interactive features (touchscreens on the front row that let you play mini games and dance the car at certain points) disabled, whilst the park decide what to do with it.  The touchscreens added next to nothing to the experience, arguable they were more a distraction,  so it'll be interesting to see what they do. 

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Efteling are joining the VR fad.......

 

 

 

 

But this time, it's for good reason!

 

https://www.efteling.com/nl/pers/efteling-komt-met-een-virtuele-beleving-van-droomvlucht/

 

It's always been a shame that one of their biggest attractions could not allow those with severe disabilities on it, so for this to come in I'm all for it... Good job Efteling...

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