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Efteling (Netherlands)

BernardMesa

VIP Member
Jan 16, 2013
322
245
California
Efteling is an amazing park located in the Netherlands that I've been obsessed with for years now. They just recently opened a very detailed B&M dive coaster called Baron 1898 too. I really hope to visit this park as it's so unique from the fairy tale forest to the intricately detailed dark rides. I poked around the internet to share some pictures to give you guys an idea of what the park is like!

The entrance to the park is absolutely gorgeous at night
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This is their water coaster called The Flying Dutchman. The queue and loading station look great!
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They have a dueling wooden coaster with a giant fire-breathing dragon animatronic in the middle of it as well
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This is (in my opinion) their best dark ride, Dreamflight Droomvlucht. The track is overhead to make it feel like you are flying through large scenes with fairies, trolls, and elves.
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They have another Eastern themed dark ride called Fata Morgana which is a boat ride
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The fairy tale forest has to be one of the most unique things in the park. It was opened in 1952 so there are a lot of old tales mixed in with newer additions. A large amount of the animatronics are outdoors and even work during the snowy winters, while some of the other fairy tales are seen when walking into smaller buildings scattered around the forest. Some of the tales are triggered by guests (one of them being touching a dragon's gold, or moving a gate open) and others just run continuously on a loop.
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This is a good example of one of the tales that you walk through a building to view the scenes:
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If you ever have the time, I recommend watching this video that shows most of the fairy tale forest:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Iy8lOgKaRPo?feature=oembed

Baron 1898
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Just a little tid-bit: The ride station was built well before the first track piece was even brought on-site because it's made of real brick and not just a brick finish which is cool!

Sorry for the long post about this park, I just love the feel of the whole place and can't believe I've never posted about this wonderful place before!
 
As a Dutchie I have visited this park a lot. This year I've been there 3 complete days, the last one being June 22nd (so I missed the latest rollercoaster). If you have questions, I am willing to try to answer them.

Efteling is a great park and has some very nice theming. Keep in mind that it's big and it's a lot of walking as the attractions sometime are a little distance from each other.

About the attractions you mentioned here are my thoughts:

The Flying Dutchman - it looks great but it's a bit of a letdown. I like to ride it, but the ride is short. There's a short part indoors in which not much happens. Just some fog trying to create a dark atmoshpere. The best part is when you are "in hell" , the part just before you are shot and arrive outdoors.

The queue can be very long and irritating when it's busy because it's dark and it's a queue full of small chambers. Each time you almost leave the chamber and you think you're finally there, it's another waiting room. Specially the first time.

Joris en de draak (duel dragon rollercoaster) is very nice and a fun ride. You see the big dragon on that picture very quick flashing by and it spits fire.

Droomvlucht / Dreamflight is very nice. There's so much going on in the scenes that you definately have to see it multiple times to get a good idea of it.

Fata Morgana, the eastern ride, is also very fun. You can compare it with Pirates of the Caribbean, but then in the settings of 1000 and 1 nights. I relaly love the big Djin in this show.

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Fairy tale forest is great. Just amazing. When I was a small kid I was already taken back with this magical place. Though many adults consider this part to be for small children, I just love it.


Baron 1898, the latest coaster which I missed, should be something like Bush Gardens's Sheikra or Griffon, but not that tall. Griffon is 62m high where Baron is 30m if I recall correctly.


During my last visit I've taken a lot of photographs. If you like to see some photographs of some attractions, then tell me which ones. I think I spend 2 hours of photographing in the fairy tale forest.


 
 
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During my last visit I've taken a lot of photographs. If you like to see some photographs of some attractions, then tell me which ones. I think I spend 2 hours of photographing in the fairy tale forest.

I would love to see any photos you are willing to share. I have nothing too specific, unless you have some of Polles Keuken or the Octopus restaurants because they seem nicely themed.
 
I would love to see any photos you are willing to share. I have nothing too specific, unless you have some of Polles Keuken or the Octopus restaurants because they seem nicely themed.
I will take a look for you, but this will be after my holiday. I'm leaving this Sunday for 2 weeks in South Africa and I need this week for final preparations.

I don't have pictures of the Polles Keuken, as I have never been inside (wouldn't know where in the park it actually is). I do have some pictures of the Pandadroom and possibly the Octopus restaurant, haven't checked them yet but I do know I took a few on the last day (with a lesser photocamera). But I will take a look for you after my holiday! ;-)
 
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Think of it as a soft opening of the site. Here's the link to my new site and the Efteling album. I've taken a lot of photos in Sprookjesbos (fairytale forest) as I love the imagery there.

http://www.mauricehuijs.com/photography/event/20150621_Efteling

The site is still being fixed as I have some little stuff to do like background images and uploading albums, but you can ignore that for now.

http://www.mauricehuijs.com/photography
I love the pictures, thank you for sharing!
 
On 23-5-2016 at 1:50 AM, Bernardmesa said:



Forgot to post this a while back, but this 360 on ride view of Baron 1898 is pretty cool!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/HU6B237RaIo?feature=oembed

Nice video.


I haven't been on this ride yet as I just visited the park before this ride opened. But for me, it always looked like a "less exciting" ripoff of Bush Garden's Sheikra/Griffon.


Man, you should really visite Europe sometime to get to all the theme parks you are posting about. Efteling, Phatasialand, Movieland... :)
 
Efteling just opened up a new trackless dark ride, Symbolica and from friend's reviews, it's a great addition to the park! Seems to have at least 3 different ride profiles featuring 1-2 unique scenes, touch screens on the vehicles(not 100% sure what they do), and Garner Holt did the animatronics for the ride (I love the giant whale!). A clip I saw of the preshow got deleted, but it featured a good sized staircase that opens up to reveal a hidden entrance that guests walk through to enter their vehicles for a view of the castle's secrets.
 
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