Efteling (Netherlands)

[UNIrd]

Looks awesome! I would love to go back to this park around the holidays since it was HOT this Summer when I went. I'll wait for Max En Moritz to open.

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

Efteling is like the Ritz Carlton of theme parks.

 

[tielo]

A new hotel, called Efteling Grand Hotel, is being build, it is looking stunning and will be next to the entrance in the park.
The hotel will have 143 rooms, 2 restaurants, an indoor pool and costs 50 million euro to build. It should open somewhere in 2024.



Left the entrance of the Efteling. In the middle the hotel and to the right a part of the current fountain show.

 

[tielo]

Leaked art of the replacement of the old Spookslot attraction. The original attraction is a show you watch from behind a glass window. On classical music (Dance Macabre) the scene comes to life.
The new attraction will be housed in a new building that should resemble a monastery. The guests enter the building and will be seated. The new ride is going to be called Dance Macabre and will have that exact same music. The attraction will cost 25 million Euro's to build.

The ride is expected to open in 2024 and will probably be build by Dynamic Attractions.

 

[GAcoaster]

This is one of those "if I ever get t Europe" must do parks! Everything they do is just so unique.

 

[tielo]

Animation of the new ride at Dance Macabre is unique and build by Intamin.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Animation of the new ride at Dance Macabre is unique and build by Intamin.

Every time Europe builds a relatively cheap yet elaborately themed flat ride, I get very jealous.

 

[tielo]

New artwork from Dance Macabre and the whole area.

Total overview:

Abdijplein is the start of the queue. To the left is the single riders entrance:

Kerkhof (graveyard):

Huyverwoud (scary forest):

Fully themed ride building is 20 meters high (65 feet). Stairs to the right is the single rides queue.

The exit:

The haunted organ plays a important role:

I think this is 't koetshuys (the carriage house) sells popcorn and candyfloss.

Den Swarte Kat (The black cat) sells food items and there is restroom building at the back. The restroom building is called The Last Hope. Hope in Dutch is hoop and it's also use to say hoop instead of pooping so it has a double meaning in Dutch.

 

[tielo]

And additional video in Dutch that shows the building site.

A first in The Netherlands is that the queue is designed so it can be appreciated by guests with a handicap.

 

[Nico]

Man this would be a cool esthetic for the Universal monsters land.

 

[tielo]

Toilet building "De Laetste Hoop" at Danse Macabre has gone up quick and is looking good!
(Photo by @Slashley666)

 

[SkiBum]

Toilet building "De Laetste Hoop" at Danse Macabre has gone up quick and is looking good!
(Photo by @Slashley666)

I have thought this for a while, though, in all fairness, I don't know if I will ever go to Efteling. However, they are showing that you don't need massive budgets to build some really interesting and well-themed attractions. Symbolica always look fun as does the older dark rides (Dream Flight and others). Disney doesn't hold the patent on good dark rides, just how to overcharge in creating them.

 

[tielo]

Theming on a budget done well.
To the left we see the entrance, themed to typical Amsterdam cannel building (that can be seen in many other city's in the Netherlands) but added nautical themes like the front part of a ship. Highly detailed. In the back behind the wall you see simpler buildings like the one with the rounded top that resembles a old warehouse building. The detailed quay wall blocks the more simple looking ride building you can see on the far right. That wall is in color and theming light and nicely obstructed by trees and shrubs.
In the summer the trees and shrubs will give shade for the queue.
The ride is recently refurbished and a scene has completely changes from a projection on water into a shipwreck graveyard.

 

[tielo]

Previous post was concept art, now we have the actual end result.

 

[SkiBum]

Previous post was concept art, now we have the actual end result.

In your opinion, when is the best time of year to go to the park? I keep thinking about going here and didn't know what time of year would be the best. It would be fun to have a nice amusement park to go along with seeing some European countries. Or just the Netherlands.

 

[tielo]

In your opinion, when is the best time of year to go to the park? I keep thinking about going here and didn't know what time of year would be the best. It would be fun to have a nice amusement park to go along with seeing some European countries. Or just the Netherlands.

The park is for 80% visited by us Netherlanders and unlike the US we can't take kids out of school. So every time when there are no vacations.
Here is a site showing the vacation dates for the next few years: Overzicht vakanties per schooljaar .
Efteling has it's own crowd calendar you can find here: Opening hours Efteling park - Efteling
Winter has the shortest wait times but a lot of rides will be down due to weather and maintenance.

I would suggest you get the best experience in late spring, summer and just before autumn because nature is in bloom and the park is green. Weather can be all over the place but summers are getting hotter.
Pace yourself when you visit Europe, it's huge and you'll waist a lot of time traveling. The Netherlands has a lot to see and enjoy and it's easy as everyone speaks English. Germany, France and the southern countries is just a bit more difficult language wise.
If you have more questions, fire away!

 

[tielo]

Efteling just released a ride trough of the flying Dutchman attraction.

 

[tielo]

There is a lot of hullabaloo about the Little Mermaid movie in the US.
Can't wait how much hullabaloo there would be if they visit Efteling.
(photo by Cindy @cindy_ve)

 

[tielo]

Efteling is introducing it's first "gender neutral" toilets. They are already in Scandinavian theme parks and a test is going on at DLP.
The newly build restrooms in the Dance Macabre area will be used by everyone (just like at home). It will be one room but there is a divide for the urinals'. There will be a few family rooms where you can take small children to the restrooms.

 

[tielo]

The restrooms and shop are open. Efteling is working hard on the attraction itself but this is already a very nice start.