Efteling: General Discussion

[PeteA]

It was briefly touched upon in the transcript, but here is a bit more info from a press release......

The new roller coaster that Efteling will open in the summer of 2015, takes visitors to the period of the Dutch mining in the 19th century.

On the “Baron 1898″ daredevils will free fall for 37.5 meters at over 90 kilometers per hour down a mine shaft. According to the amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, the story takes place both inside and outside of the ride.
The legend tells of a greedy mine baron who found a gold vein in the south of the country. There he tried to extract as much gold as possible, but the fertile land was protected by the Weird Sisters (Witte Weiven). Mine Baron Gustave Hooghmoed called his miners to help him, promising them mountains of gold. During the ride it becomes clear that the Weird Sisters did everything in their power to sabotage the gold mining.

The Efteling was inspired by the rich history of mining combined with the international legend surrounding the Weird Sisters

Baron 1898 cost about 18 million euro.

 

[Dar]

18 million euro isn't that much, especially for a B&M? From the sounds of it, this could turn out like DVH with a nice dark ride section before it all kicks off. Looking forward to seeing a little more of the layout, I hope it's not too short though

 

[Benzin]

18 million euro isn't that much, especially for a B&M? From the sounds of it, this could turn out like DVH with a nice dark ride section before it all kicks off. Looking forward to seeing a little more of the layout, I hope it's not too short though

To compare, Krake cost €12 million...

Add on the typical Efteling theming, and we'll probably get something of a similar nature, which I'm ok with as I actually like Krake more than SheiKra and Griffon...

 

[AstroDan]

Krake more than Griffon?

Out of interest, why?

 

[Benzin]

Because I just do... Both the bigger Dive Machines feel drawn out and forceless when I rode them, perhaps a pre-cursor to the way the WingRiders are... Not to say they are bad rides, but I came off with a big fat meh...

Krake also has a fantastic airtime hill... And some actual theming and atmosphere too, something Griffon didn't really have (SheiKra does have some atmosphere)...

 

[AstroDan]

I respectfully disagree with every element of your post.

Hugs

 

[Rob]

Back row of Griffon has some pretty good airtime for a Dive Machine! Not ridden Krake but I can't imagine it is a patch of Griffon.

 

[BigAl]

I kind of agree, really. Sheikra felt a bit tame and went through elements very clumsily. Oblivion feels so much more forceful.

Both dive machines and wing coasters lose too much speed too quickly because of how massive the trains are. Just think about how much air comes whooshing out of the tunnel when a shuttle drops on Oblivion; those trains are having to force all that air out of the way. The smaller 6-seater dive cars hold onto some of their speed a little longer, it's just a shame both have such lackluster themes.

 

[CGM]

Whilst I love Oblivion, I found the dive machine at Chimelong Paradise (an enormous 200ft ten-across floorless version) to be the better coaster. Obviously, it can't match the concept and theme behind Oblivion but looking at the ride hardware alone, I do think that the changes B&M have made are on the whole improvements. I'm assuming Sheikra and Griffon are fairly similar experiences as the Chimelong one is basically a hybrid of their layouts.

Rather than large trains being a drawback, I thought it actually benefited the ride. The width of the trains along with the floorless aspect means you feel very exposed when being dangled over the edge and you get a real appreciation for just how high you are.

Once the ride is running under gravity, it's true that the motions are quite slow and drawn out but instead of feeling big and clumsy, I found that every movement had a huge, majestic feeling about it. The whole situation is surreal and slightly ridiculous. It's like riding around in a floating auditorium.

Overall, I couldn't help but be impressed by the sheer scale of the engineering. There are taller coasters out there but no other ride seems as large as a B&M dive machine. I do think this hugeness factor is a large part of why they tend to feel so much more special than Eurofighters despite both ride concepts being quite similar. You get the sense that you're diving towards the ground strapped onto an enormous open chassis weighing several tonnes rather than zipping around in a rattly fibreglass tub.

I feel that these new, smaller Euro-spec dive machines suffer a bit as a result of being miniaturised. It seems like much less of an event whenever one is installed.

 

[TheMan]

I feel that these new, smaller Euro-spec dive machines suffer a bit as a result of being miniaturised. It seems like much less of an event whenever one is installed.

Having only ridden Oblivion from a purely aesthetic point of view I completely agree with you. It is the utterly ludicrous size of these things that almost seem to defy all logic and reason.

They do indeed look like some kind of auditorium lol!

 

[AstroDan]

I agree! Excellent post.

 

[Corinec]

I don't have much to add to the information posted here on the dive coaster. Maybe a couple of smaller things, Efteling has hinted that you will be aware of the White Wives when you're at the top of the lift hill (possibly a projection in the tunnel?), the waiting areas inside will be Vliegende Hollander-like (keep in mind though that the indoor waiting areas will be a lot smaller) and the 'small island' landscaping of the Gondoletta across the Dive Coaster will also feature in the area surrounding the Dive coaster itself.

I posted some info on a possible new Aquanura show some time ago. Now there is a full testing video (nighttime) available that pretty much seems to reveal the entire show. Also, yesterday, Looopings revealed that this is going to be a dance version of Aquanura on Efteling music remixed by Tiësto. This might be true as this was already a plan dating from 2012 where they wanted to have such an additional show at the premiere, but this was cancelled due to budgetary reasons. This is why I feel that this will also be a show for special occasions as New Years Eve and Efteling's Negen Pleinen Festijn during the summer. Creating more events like these is one of their top goals at the moment. Anyway, here is the video:

 

[Sam]

Eftelist have got this as the layout. Not sure what the source of this is, but Efteling are usually accurate.

Disappointing, no doubt about it, but was anyone expecting this to be a Smiler-esque marathon?

They also have these mock-ups of the station:

Looks like a single platform, no duel loading (or have a misinterpreted the two arrows?), no separate on-load and off-load. Throughput could be an issue.

 

[Rob]

Pity if that is the layout, looks very boring.

 

[Dave]

The only way these mini-dive machines would have any track and train appeal is to have them do more than the bigger models. The current crop just seem to be taking the existing format of dive coasters with smaller trains.

There is no doubt this will be a stunning looking roller coaster from a theme perspective, but it just seems a little unsubstantial from a ride perspective, even if what is built runs well.

 

[John]

Looks like a single platform, no duel loading (or have a misinterpreted the two arrows?), no separate on-load and off-load. Throughput could be an issue.

My immediate reaction to that pic was "duel loading confirmed?". It would be very odd to have the queue split like that for single train loading.

 

[TheMan]

My immediate reaction to that pic was "duel loading confirmed?". It would be very odd to have the queue split like that for single train loading.

I thought the same, it does seem to indicate a dual loading platform, you lot know much more about it than I do though.

 

[Benzin]

Dual-loading is the most likely, run it like Oblivion and they can have 6 cars on it at once (double the rather meh capacity of Krake)...

Don't think they really had the space to go wild with the layout, though they possibly could've gotten a bit more out of it if it'd gone towards Dutchman... But I feel that would detract from the main element of the ride, which is of course, the vertical drop itself... Making that the centre of attention for the guests gets a brilliant atmosphere around the ride...

 

[TheMan]

Without riding any others admittedly I have to agree with @Benzin - Oblivion is ALL about that drop and theme. Anything afterwards just takes away from that focal point, everything cycles around it. It's not even that it looks that big a drop (I doubt many realise how deep it goes nowadays) - it is that intimidation factor. I think the only one that comes close to that is it's reversed cousin Diving Machine G5 at Janfusun Fancyworld in Taiwan (translated...ish link lol) which build on a hill appears obscenely high.

If they get the drop right, the rest doesn't really matter that much. It is a dive machine, ergo, it's most defining feature, ipso facto, is the dive itself.

Get that right, it will be a win.

 

[Dave]

Yes but the point made earlier is that the smaller trains lose that impact on the drop and visually are less stunning to watch.

If you want the big drop awe get an 8, 10 or 12 across model. If you want to impress people with the 6 across model you need to do something interesting with the track.