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Efteling: General Discussion

Poisson said:
It is basically the opposite of the Merlin way of all the dark themes. Can't have all one or all the other without it being a bit off as such?
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I don't think it's about 'dark' or 'light' themes as such – all Disney dark rides (except Small World) have at least one moment of suspense or peril because it's a basic component of narrative (apart from Villa Volta, none of Efteling's dark rides actually have narrative).

Suspense is a better word for it. I didn't include them on my list, but both DVH and Baron do have moments of suspense. It baffles me that Symbolica doesn't, though I like the ride overall.
 
Sam said:
none of Efteling's dark rides actually have narrative).
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I don't think this is true and coincidentally the video review i posted on the previous page explains a lot of the rides narratives but i do appreciate if you don't speak Dutch they can pass you by. Would agree they're not as linear as some other examples but i quite like how that gives them a unique character to what you would typically expect at a theme park. You just have to work a bit harder at Efteling to piece things together i think but that's good for encouraging imagination... it is after all a theme park based entirely around fairytales!
 
Symbolica does have a narrative, it's just the very basic "been invited on a tour of the castle, but because the butler character is a boring sod Pardoes is going to liven it up a bit".

Then it's a random assortment of scenes loosely linked together under the tour "story".

I think the quality shows through that even without a distinctive on-going narrative being told through their rides that they are still engaging and are well loved. I'd say sometimes rides should just be that, a journey into the unknown just for that. A narrative can easily feel tacked on and is there often a need for peril?
 
I agree that suspense is important. At Universal Orlando they've got a roller coaster themed to someone trying to get a cup of coffee, but because the build up is good with a lot of suspense, it somehow manages to work as a concept.
 
I’d say Fata Morgana can be pretty scary. I mean, you boat starts to tip over at the end!
 
Don't worry, apparently they're running the ride quicker than normal in that video to show what the ride system's capable of. It'll normally be a lot slower than that.
 
The_bup said:

From: https://youtu.be/Qa64Cdxp-JE?si=ZPLyAHWOflHPmrQ5


What are we thinking?
To be honest, I hope they’re not showing a lot here.
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Efteling tends to release entire POV's and far too much detail in general whenever they open something new. I strongly encourage people to refrain from watching too many videos showing the ride's interior if they don't want too much of the themed experience spoiled for themselves. Learned the hard way myself when they uploaded a batch of Symbollica POVs when that opened. What I have seen of it so far does look gorgeous, but it's more rewarding experiencing a dark ride without knowing too much in advance.
 
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Now, I'm not saying the ride doesn't look good, it's up there with Eftelings high quality, but I don't know if I've hyped it up for myself but I have come away from watching a few POVs thinking 'is that it'?

The theming is 10/10 but the ride isn't scary in the slightest. No one was expecting it to be full out horror but I was expecting some kind of scares in there if not one. I also feel like there's not much to 'see'. It's all very samey samey and what you see is what you get.

I think this comes back to the previous discussion of there is no essence of danger or suspense.

As I said theming and quality 10/10 but for a haunted ride I'd have liked a little more haunt.
 
siralgenon said:
Now, I'm not saying the ride doesn't look good, it's up there with Eftelings high quality, but I don't know if I've hyped it up for myself but I have come away from watching a few POVs thinking 'is that it'?

The theming is 10/10 but the ride isn't scary in the slightest. No one was expecting it to be full out horror but I was expecting some kind of scares in there if not one. I also feel like there's not much to 'see'. It's all very samey samey and what you see is what you get.

I think this comes back to the previous discussion of there is no essence of danger or suspense.

As I said theming and quality 10/10 but for a haunted ride I'd have liked a little more haunt.
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It follows same vein as Spookslot by looks of things, creepy rather than scary. That also didn't really have much in the way of scares.

Would also reckon that POVs wouldn't do this type of ride much justice.

180 minute queue is hilarious. Though Spookslot got similar on its closing day. The high throughput is gonna do wonders.
 
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