Efteling: General Discussion

[Rick]

Efteling is one of my favourite parks in Europe, I certainly consider myself to be a fan of theme parks rather than a fan of roller coasters and for that reason it's absolutely one of my top parks to visit. Efteling is a wonderful park.

 

[AstroDan]

It is indeed, wonderful.

Really looking forward to returning even with my reservations on a few bits and bobs.

(Also - i also prefer a theme park more than an amusement park but I still get a bit irked when such short rides are put out)

 

[Enter Valhalla]

I just hope this is better with capacity than Gardaland's dive coaster. When I went last month it was getting about 450 per hour. At least Efteling have no fastrack system which was taking up well over 50% of the capacity on Oblivion The Black Hole.

 

[djtruefitt]

How are throughputs at Efteling? I have never really been there when it has been particularly busy to notice throughputs. But without FT and also having a single rider should help the queues!

 

[NickN]

Throughputs seem pretty decent, on a par with an average day at AT, and with similar staffing levels. However being a more family oriented park there are inevitably more people unused to rides, which can cause occasional delays.

 

[AstroDan]

Throughputs are fine. They're probably not quite so efficient as Alton Towers, probably similar to Thorpe Park, but without the Fastrack to extend queue times.

Sometimes they run rides on less than full capacity and they always close queues before park closing time... which is annoying.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Don't forget the queue jumpers.

 

[bluesonichd]

 

[DiogoJ42]

Jumpers are knitted. That's a queue hoodie.

 

[Rob]

Baron has now opened and we have potential news on what Efteling are planning for next year:

Efteling has apparently announced that they will open a "new fairytale" in fairytale forest for "Pinokkio" at a cost of about €2 million.

For some reason the news does sound slightly familiar so apologies if it has been posted in the past!

 

[AstroDan]

Efteling add small fairytales on a regular basis so it's nothing major. Although €2m for one fairytale is a lot of money...

 

[Benzin]

How much did they spend on the Emperors New Clothes addition? Cos that's fab...

 

[Corinec]

How much did they spend on the Emperors New Clothes addition? Cos that's fab...

That was 1.2 million Euro's. Pinokkio will be in the style of the more old-fashioned fairytales ('looking-glass') and will be positioned next to little red riding hood. Kind of obvious, but of course it will not be the Disney version of the story.

Efteling made a short movie of Baron 1898's back story (English subtitles provided):



A live registration of the ride's opening event:



And of course the proper way to experience Baron 1898 is @night:



Eftelist (http://www.eftelist.nl/a_duikbouw.html) published many photos of the station's interior, which you have time to view after you have left the train. There are many references to other rides at Efteling in the pre show and station areas, drawings of the ride's construction, pictures of the people who have built the ride (all in Baron 1898' style of course) and you can even find the signatures of Bolliger & Mabillard No matter how you feel about the roller coaster part of the ride, the ride's interior is a sight to behold!

In other Efteling news, De Vijf Zintuigen reported that Efteling has just started to prepare for a 2017 opening of a new holiday village, like Bosrijk. This holiday village would include a hotel, pole houses, 'holiday villa's' and hobbit-like housing. It would be situated at the borders of the Loonsche Land, a nature conservation area that Efteling has been working on to bring it back to its original state of the 19th century since 2011.

In my view, this only reinforces the already strong rumors that Hartenhof is planned for a 2017-opening (Efteling's 65th anniversary) and that they will start construction on it this year. Efteling's CEO has said that their new investment strategy is to couple accommodation and investments in rides, like they did with Baron 1898 and the Bosrijk expansion that has opened alongside of it. In other words: new accommodation means a new ride. They want to expand their housing to 5,000 beds in 2020.

 

[djtruefitt]

I just love the effort Efteling put in, such as the wheels that spin when the train goes up the hill, and they then stop at the same time as when the train stops. Also who else would add themed lighting that goes in time with the lift hill?

Can't wait to ride this in a couple of weeks!

 

[Sam]

I love the heavenly light that shines out of the tunnel when the train bursts back into the open at night.

 

[Europa Matt]

I'll be taking my first trip to Efteling this November (6-8th) so shall hopefully get to finally experience Baron.

Also might do Toverland, how easy can you get there from Efteling or Eindhoven? (Without car)

 

[Corinec]

Chances are that that is going to be a very crowded weekend. Weekends in the fall are Efteling's busiest times as long as the weather is decent. If you are staying at Efteling, use your early admission to que up for Baron 1898. Or make good use of Friday, then it will be moderate, as there will be autumn break in Belgium. You can check waiting times by using Efteling app (there is free wifi at the park) or check www.eftelstats.nl , a hack that Efteling doesn't do anything about that even shows you how many table reservations are still available.

You can check www.9292.nl (and switch to English). In general, there is a regular bus service to Toverland from Station Horst-Sevenum (easy to reach from Eindhoven or Tilburg, which is close to Efteling) on weekdays. During the weekend you have to call for the bus (one hour in advance). Toverland is situated in the middle of nowhere...

 

[Rowe]

Ton Van de Ven, the former Creative Director for Efteling, has passed away.

For those of you who don't know who he is, he was responsible for attractions such as Spookslot, Fata Morgana, Villa Volta and Dreamflight between the 1970s and 2000s.

Looopings source

 

[Europa Matt]

Very sad day for Efteling, it sounds like without him, Efteling wouldn't be the park it is today.

 

[AstroDan]

Sad times. It's similar to when Ulrich Damrau died near EP.

Some great attractions by Van der Ven!