• Not to be Missed
  • About the Site
  • Adventure Realm
  • Travel Realm
  • Alternative Realm
  • Fairy Realm
  • Sprookjesbos
  • The People of Laaf
  • Ephemera
  • Getting There
  • Accommodation
  • Anton Pieck

~ ~All the best of Efteling, in English!~~

Category Archives: Featured Attractions

Vermolen Carrousel: The Oldest Carousel in the Netherlands

02 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Featured Attractions, Updates from 2016

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

carl Frei organ, efteling carousel, eftelinguk, fairground organ, vancouver world's fair, vermolen Carrousel

14123434_890916424388479_1417992278_oWhen you think of Efteling, you probably think of big attractions like the Flying Dutchman, Baron 1898, or the Fairy Tale Forest.  However, tucked away in Anton Pieckplein you will find the Vermolen Carrousel, an often overlooked attraction, particularly amongst adults and thrill-seekers.  The carousel is the oldest in the Netherlands, and dates back to 1865.

The carousel was originally owned by Mr. Leander from Wageningen, who travelled around the Netherlands with it, including in his travels a visit to Kaatsheuvel in 1957.  After his wife’s death in 1900 Mr. Leander went on to marry Ms. Vermolen, whose children then took on the responsibility of the ride under the name ‘Brothers Vermolen’.  Later on, the carousel was run solely by Ben Vermolen.

In 1985, Mr. Vermolen was asked to take his carousel to the World’s Fair in Vancouver.  As there was already decades of tradition in his family of travelling the carousel around the Netherlands, he decided to send the original ride to Vancouver, and build a new one to continue travelling around the Netherlands with.  Everywhere the carousel has visited is documented in the canvas pennants on the ride.  In the new carousel, a Carl Frei organ was installed, whereas in the original ride a Richter organ was used.  After the World’s Fair was over, Vermolen sold the carousel and so it remained in Canada, residing in a shopping mall for 10 years.

In 1995 the ride was bought by Efteling, who had the task of restoring it to its former glory; it is also decided at this time to switch the organs, providing Efteling’s new purchase with a Carl Frei organ.  After a brief time at the Tilburg fair, Efteling temporarily install the Vermolen carousel on the grass where you will now find Winter Efteling’s Ice Palace.  It was moved to the Dwarrelplein outside the House of the Five Senses in 1997, and in 2000 it was erected next to the Laaf Village.  By 2004 the attraction has found its final home where it stands to this day, outside the White Horse on Anton Pieckplein.

This past winter (2015-16) the Vermolen Carousel has received a complete restoration at Efteling’s Gildehuis, which took around 4 months to complete.  The horses, sleighs and carriages have all been sanded down to their original wood and repainted, new lights were installed, the panels and canvases were renewed, a whole new steel frame was built and installed, and the organ has been completely restored, allowing it to produce up to 30% more volume.  A new control both has also been built alongside the ride.

This video shows some of the restoration work at Efteling:

Here are some photos and a video of this beautiful carousel, by our good friend Eftelwesley; please click on the images to see them in their full glory!






 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Locomotive ‘Aagje’

06 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Featured Attractions, Updates from 2016

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

aagje, efteling, efteling locomotive, eftelinguk, locomotives, steam train 1911, steam train aagje

DSC04502

Aagje is Efteling’s second oldest steam locomotive that transports guests on a grand circle tour of the park.  Built by Orenstein & Koppel in 1911 and originating in Berlin, Aagje was sent to be used at a brickworks in IJesseloord.  Aagje was eventually retired from her job, and after a few years of relaxation, she was bought by Efteling.  March 1968 saw her first test run in the park, and she’s still running today!

DSC04504 DSC04503

 

Video by eftel1ngfan. 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Aquanura: The Armchair Verdict

02 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Aquanura, Featured Attractions, Updates from 2012

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

aquanura, disney dreams, efteling, efteling uk, efteling60 jaar, kikker, review

Firstly, on the last post about Aquanura, the videos seemed as though they were edited somehow after I’d linked to them, so sorry if what I wrote about them made little sense!  I tried to edit it to make it right.  Here is Efteling’s video of the show, so if you do not want to see it, don’t click it!  There are also spoilers later on so you have been warned!

 

So, I’ve watched it, and watched it again…and then yeah, I watched it again.  Purely for research, of course.  From the moment it went online, people were commenting on it on Facebook, and tweeting away about it on Twitter.  I didn’t watch it live, but made sure to see the first uploads of it that I could.  The ceremony was nice, with the clips about George and the Dragon, Anton Pieck etc, and lots of talking from Bart de Boer.  Those were included in the original video that I posted, which now seems to have disappeared from YouTube.  Then there was a little story about the Frog King, (I think that’s what it was, with the Princess holding the golden ball and a few shots of the frogs around the lake)  and then came the countdown…

…And out came the water!  First up was the ‘By the Sleepy Lagoon’ music, with almost golden water spurting from the frogs’ mouths and into the middle of the lake.  Next up, Villa Volta, the dramatic side of Efteling.  If you are very familiar with Efteling and have listened to the park’s music over and over (we’re all guilty) then here is when you start to realise the subtle changes in the soundtrack.  The changes really freshen up the ageing tracks.  Then comes the Indian Water Lilies, a favourite of mine, also with slightly altered music which livened up the piece even more!  This one comes with beautiful blue and green fountains, just like the colours associated with the scene in the Fairy Tale Forest.  Next up is Carnaval Festival, which bursts into being with colourful lights and rowdy fountains.  After another brief interlude from ‘By the Sleepy Lagoon’ comes Raveleijn; and talking of dramatic..!  In my opinion this is probably one of the best segments in Aquanura, as it includes lots of fire, which, if you have seen Raveleijn, you will understand the connection to.  The music is absolutely superb and works well on a huge scale such as this.  

Noticed anything missing so far?  Any major attraction?  For example, Droomvlucht? Well, that is what comes next in the show, after another small interruption from ‘By the Sleepy Lagoon’.  The water does exactly what you would expect for Droomvlucht, slow and delicate, and best of all, it is pink!  There is also an alteration on the music here, which is nice.  What I wasn’t expecting was what came next, the musical toadstool music!  You have to love those little things, and they totally deserved to be included in Aquanura.  Unfortunately, (and I say this because by this point it is getting a bit old) ‘By the Sleepy Lagoon’ sneaks in again for a moment.

Last but most certainly not least, is another attraction with wonderfully dramatic and rousing music, Spookslot.  If you watch the official video posted by Efteling on their YouTube channel, you will hear some guy shout ‘whey!’ as soon as the Spookslot music starts…Kudos to that man, I think he was speaking for the whole crowd at that point.  Green, purple and blue fountains for this one, you know, spooky-type colours.  I’m pretty sure that some chants were added on the music for this one, which makes it even more (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again) dramatic!  Et Voilà, we have the ending of Aquanura.

 

What is everyone saying about it?

Well, as I mentioned in my last post about the premiere, there were a few fan sites, namely Disney ones, that were pulling the show to bits over Twitter as it was still happening.  I find it quite saddening that these sites were so negative towards something that was so fantastic, especially on the birthday of a park that is a few years older than the original Disneyland.  Some folks really do need to open their minds and realise that other parks such as Efteling can do things just as well, if not better, than Disney can, and that is coming from a huge Disney fan by the way!  Most Efteling fans loved it of course.  For those of us who have grown up with this music, it actually means something, and it is great to see it being used in a new way for a new generation.

Of course at some point Aquanura was going to be compared to Disneyland’s World of Color and Disneyland Paris’ Disney Dreams show.  I’ve seen World of Color on YouTube and it was fantastic, though I have yet to see Disney Dreams, as I plan to watch it for real later in the year.  The issue some of these sites seemed to have, was that Efteling had not used mist screens to project onto.  Project what though?  Efteling doesn’t have a back catalogue of 70+ years of movies to showcase, they are but a simple (and wonderful) theme park.  So I’m not sure what it was these people had in mind to be projected onto mist screens.  Showing people images of rides that they have most likely been riding all day probably isn’t the best idea.  However, the music worked well on its own.  I haven’t been to a great number of theme parks around the world, but I’ll bet that Efteling has one of the best sets of music associated with their attractions.  From dramatic, to light-hearted, to plain adventurous, the music really awakens your senses, kind of like a Laaf beer at the end of a hard day!

I did mention a few times above that ‘By the Sleepy Lagoon’ was used a number of times through the show.  I joked about it creeping in there frequently, but it is actually quite nice to have it there to break up the other songs.  I also noticed a few comments around the internet saying that the show was a bit short.  It runs at about 12 minutes long, which isn’t really too short at all in my opinion.  I bet they won’t be complaining about it being short when they are watching it on a cold winter day!

 

So, was anything important missing?

Well, I kind of expected to hear some Fata Morgana in there somewhere, though maybe since it provides a backdrop for the show they decided to chop that one out?  Some George and the Dragon or some Flying Dutchman would have fit very nicely in the show, however I guess it was not to be; maybe in the distant future when we see Aquanura 2.0?!

Oh and Efteling…Can we have a CD single of the Aquanura music?  Many thanks!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Villa Volta

21 Friday Oct 2011

Posted by EftelingUK in Featured Attractions

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

droomvlucht, efteling, eftelinguk, hex, hugo, mad house, mask, ton van de ven, villa volta

Turn about if thy conscience be troubled, only he who is without sin shall lift this curse…

In 1995, Efteling began construction on another ride designed by Ton van de Ven, which would be built opposite to the Dream Flight.  Villa Volta is based on the legend of a gang of robbers called the Bokkerijders (Goat Riders), and this ride takes us inside the luxurious home of the gang’s leader, and allows guests to experience the endless curse that was placed upon him.  The ride opened in 1996, and is still high on the list of things to do for guests at the park.  Click the image below for a better look!

The attraction is split between 3 rooms, the first of which is very dark, with some very dramatic booming music and village-type objects placed round the edges of the room, with large sections of railings in the far corner.  The lights dim as guests hear local people talk about the notorious gang of criminals and their hatred for them.  A loud crack of thunder causes a sign to swing from the railings in the corner, showing the leg and hoof of a goat with menacing eyes, presumably the gang’s mascot.

‘Dit huis, dit vervloekte huis…’

Guests are then led through two open doors into another dark room, at the far end of which we can see the Bokkerijders’ leader, Hugo van den Loonsche Duynen, sitting high upon a platform surrounded by elaborate ornaments of gold, which we can only presume are stolen!  He tells the audience about the curse which was put upon his house by a mysterious woman after the gang robbed the Abbey of Postel (the same woman who can be seen on the top of the house swaying her arms).

“Nowhere in your house, nor in any other place in the world, will you find peace… Only when a noble man with the clear conscience like that of a newborn child enters your house will you find peace in your home and in your heart…”

I guess this suggests that not one person without sin has entered his house since 1996!  Hugo laughed in the woman’s face, unbelieving of the curse, until he returned to his home and realised that the curse had turned it into a living nightmare.  After listening to Hugo’s account, he begs guests to ‘enter with a pure soul so that doom leaves this house and my soul will be at peace’.

We are then led through another set of two double doors into Hugo’s living room, which is a long room with benches along either side.  The room is well-lit, with chairs and bookcases along the walls next to windows with beautiful curtains and small devil/gargoyle-like creatures holding candles attached to the walls.  On the arched, ornate ceiling we can see crystal chandeliers, and stretching down to the floor are tall, dark gothic pillars trimmed with gold.

After taking a seat on one of the four long wooden benches, a lap bar comes down, to ensure you don’t try to escape!  Next, a loud, sudden outburst of music flares up, grabbing the attention of the riders, before it dips down again to a low hush.  Very slightly, you feel as though you are moving back and forth on your bench, but only a fraction.  The music then starts to get more dramatic, and you realise that you are moving quite a lot, in fact, it as though down is up and up is down, as the room turns you upside down!  Whilst spinning around in this cursed room, you get to see what was originally under your bench, a black and white tiled floor which is holding back ghosts, who appear as though they are trying to escape!  The dramatic music gets more and more tense, until finally your whirling around comes to an end, and the benches gently settle back to where they had started.  The lap bars are raised, and guests are free to leave the cursed house.

But is the house still cursed?  Who knows, but it would appear that it is, since Hugo continues to invite guests into his home throughout the day to try and break this nightmarish curse.  This brings us to the subject of story within the ride.  Since the ride is based around an actual legend (the Bokkerijders), it makes the story of the ride more believable, what with the locals giving angry accounts about the gang in the first room, and the leader of the gang telling you about his experiences in the second room.  The addition of a curse in the story opened the way for the ride to be built as a ‘Mad House’, which is what is experienced in the third and final room.  The only hole in the story (as mentioned above) is that there is no coherent ending, in contrast to a lot of setting the scene in the first rooms.  However this is a trend with most mad houses, and doesn’t detract from how brilliant of an attraction this is.

After going through this ride a few times, the pre-shows can get a little tedious, particularly the first room, and particularly for anyone who does not understand Dutch!  The room which contains the brilliant animatronic of Hugo however, is a little more bearable after repeat viewings.  The animatronic is one of the most complex in the park, with the Troll King in the Fairy Tale Forest being one of the other more lifelike figures.  It is this realism which makes Hugo a joy to watch time and time again.  As described above, the living room or hall of Hugo’s house is extremely ornate, with clear attention to detail being paid to each object in the room.  In regards to the ‘spinning’, of course you aren’t really spinning at all.  It has baffled many a guest, but it doesn’t take long to work out that the room is actually able to turn 360°, while the swinging gondola containing the four benches only tips slightly from side to side (30°), enough to give you the sensation that you are actually going upside down.  Of course, all the furnishings in the room are bolted down, so that everything stays upright, however to confirm to you that the room is actually spinning around you, you only need look at the tassles on the curtains, which hang freely.

I keep mentioning Ton van de Ven, and if you have read my Dream Flight article, then you will see that he also designed that ride, as well as many more attractions in the park, Villa Volta included.  Do you want to put a face to a name?  Well, today you can Google the man himself, however, you can also see a ‘painting’ of him hanging at an angle next to Hugo in the second room of this attraction.  Villa Volta was built by Vekoma, who also constructed Python the rollercoaster at Efteling.

The music is composed by Ruud Bos, who also composed the music for Dream Flight, Fata Morgana and Vogel Rok.  I would describe it as elegant, stirring and dramatic, as well as frantic and at times, frightening.  It all helps to build anticipation for the ride, and it works absolutely perfectly along with the theming.  In fact, I would go as far as to say that this is possibly some of the best theme park music you will find in the world.

Even though I love theme parks dearly, I have only one other Mad House to compare Villa Volta to from personal experience, and that is Hex-The Legend of the Towers at Alton Towers.  I’m sure that there are plenty folks out there who would disagree, however I think that Villa Volta would win this comparison every time.  Although Hex is a lot darker in every way, it seems to lack the anticipation that Villa Volta possesses.  In fact, the first time I lined up for Villa Volta I was about 7 years old, and the sheer anticipation of the queue caused me to bottle out in streams of tears before I even got into the first room!  Hopefully that will help any parents out there who may be toying with the idea of taking their children on this ride.  The ride itself is not scary, just a little bewildering, but altogether fantastic and dramatic, and is definitely a ride to do over and over again. 

There isn’t much of anything in the way of merchandise for this attraction, however I did pick up this shirt the last time I visited (click photo for a better look), and there is also a very nice Villa Volta mug in my kitchen!

If you hadn’t already guessed, I would list this ride as a must-do attraction!

Statistics:

 Duration: 10 minutes (ride time 2:43).

1900 guests per hour capacity.

Cost 10 million Guilders approx.

78 people per ride.

30° movement on gondolas.

First Mad House of its kind in the world.

At the time of writing, Hugo has just received a new mask, since the old one was in desperate need of an update!  Click here to see the changes.

Here is the audio from the ride, for those of you who are interested in the music (which is nearer the end), and for those of you who simply want to relive your visit to Villa Volta!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Dream Flight

13 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by EftelingUK in Dream Flight, Featured Attractions

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

dream flight, dreaming, dromen, droomvlucht, efteling, eftelinguk, elf, elfje, elves, fairy, flowers, oberon, sprookje, troll

So what is the most popular attraction at Efteling?  Well, it’s no roller coaster, nor is it any of the park’s original attractions.  It is the Dream Flight, an adventurous journey through forests, swamps, and floating castles, which are inhabited by elves, fairies, trolls and many woodland creatures.

Each part of the ride is divided into different realms: the Castle Realm, the Wondrous/Miracle Forest, the Fairy Garden, Heavenly Strongholds, and the Squelch Forest.  The transportation system consists of two ride vehicles attached overhead, leaving your carriage dangling, therefore giving the effect of flight.  Disneyland/World visitors will notice that the vehicles bear a resemblance to the ‘Doom Buggies’ of the Haunted Mansion, and similarly, the vehicles in Dream Flight are also constantly moving, enabling guests to move more swiftly through the attraction. 

Guests are first taken through the Castle Realm, seeing, from a distance, charming fairy tale castles which appear to be moving ever so slightly…After passing through a corridor you find yourself in the Wondrous Forest, full of flowers, trees, plants, deer, elves and even a few fairies.  There are relaxing waterfalls flowing down the edge of a shallow cliff, and if you cast your eyes underneath the waterfall, you may even see an elf taking a shower!  Also keep a lookout for a unicorn and a disappearing/reappearing fairy.  Moving along another dark corridor, the Fairy Garden is revealed.  Thousands of flowers adorn the scene which is home to a number of beautiful fairies and a handful of animals, with a fairy house taking centre stage, and down below fairies bathe their feet in the small lake.  The smell in this scene is wonderful; fresh, sweet and floral.  On leaving this scene you will get a wave of goodbye from King Oberon, sitting on his throne (and usually missing a shoe). 

Moving on to the Heavenly Strongholds, you will feel as though you are in space, passing by floating castles and planets against a backdrop of numerous stars.  From here, you pay a visit to the Squelch Forest, where the Trolls live, but you aren’t on ground level, you are high in the treetops!  In the middle of these trees it is always raining, with a few drops steadily trickling down the centre of the forest and into a lake below.  Suddenly, your carriage starts to descend, slowly at first but quickly speeding up as you circle the trolls.  Leaving the Squelch Forest indicates that it is time to leave this wonderful place, and there are trolls and fairies on hand to wave you off as you pass through a veil of mist.  You have now woken up from your Dream Flight!

Here is a video of the Dream Flight from 1997.  Surprisingly, this video is better than a more recent HD video I took in 2011, as you can see more of the ride.

Some of the corridors you pass through are lined with small bright, sometimes coloured lights, to make the journey more magical.  In recent years, Efteling have added UV paint to the floor in one of these corridors in random splatters, a bit like flicking a toothbrush at the floor with paint on it.  Another addition, which was pointed out by Eftelist, was that some of the fairies now have pink or blue/turquoise hair instead of the blonde wigs which they started out with.  Maybe the fairies simply fancied a change after so many years; however they do look a bit silly in a world which is supposed to be all natural. 

You exit through the gift shop, of course, but before the shop is a café called Den Gulden Gaarde.  Here you will find Panini, sandwiches and lots of cake.  There is also seating outside.  The gift shop originally sold things relating more directly to the ride, however as the years have passed the merchandise here has weakened considerably.  If you are a girl under the age of 8 then you will find plenty to buy here, though at the time of writing, the only decent things for adults to buy are the Droomvlucht ‘making of’ DVD and the Droomvlucht house spray…The spray is fantastic as it really does smell like the ride; a perfect and unusual souvenir.

Dream Flight was the brain child of Ton van de Ven, whose name you will see throughout this site, as he was involved in many attractions at Efteling before his retirement.  Almost all of the attraction was created in-house at the Efteling workshops.  The attraction was originally planned to open in Efteling’s 40th year in 1992, however there were setbacks with the transportation system.  Basically, things were not working as they should have, and, in the words of Efteling:

‘En dan gaat het mis…het blijkt niet te werken’

Eventually the ride opened a year later in 1993.  In its first few years, visitors were greeted with a very ornate queuing area, complete with oversized versions of the ride’s signature flowers.  This room eventually proved too small for such a popular attraction, and in 1996, when guests started turning up in their hundreds, the line was moved elsewhere.  The original room is now used for special events.  The queuing area which is now used is rather huge!  Some of it is outside, and some is undercover.  At a time when the ride was reaching the height of its popularity, Efteling realised that the long wait for the ride would prove rather boring for some guests, especially since the queue is simply a large room with nothing to look at.

With this in mind, a stage was used to allow performances to take place of Droomvlucht inspired songs at the end of the room, keeping guests entertained in the tedious queue.  They even brought out a CD called Dromen, as a tie-in to the attraction.  In recent years the stage has been taken away, and I personally have not stood in a very big line for this ride since the 90s.

The music is by Ruud Bos, who also composed the music for Fata Morgana, Vogel Rok and Villa Volta.  It has come to be expected over the years that the music for Efteling’s attractions is of a very high standard, and the music in the Dream Flight is no different, it is beautiful!

If you are visiting Efteling, this is a must-do attraction.

Statistics:

  48 Fairies, 10 trolls, 38 animals, 1 million flowers, 1.5 million plants and 3.8 million leaves.

                  Track is 425 metres long.

                  Ride Length is 6 minutes.

                  20km/h.

                  1800 people per hour capacity.

                  Cost €12.5 million approx.

                  Some of the trees are real, the rest are plastic.

On October 9th 2011, a musical loosely based on the attraction will open in the Efteling Theatre.  

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Indian Water Lilies

01 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by EftelingUK in Featured Attractions, Sprookjesbos

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

cave, fairies, frogs, geese, goose, guards, indian, indian water lilies, indische waterlelies, lake, lilies, water

“Far away in the Indian jungle, there lies a small and mysterious lake. When the moon rises, big and yellow, to the sky, the moon goddess and hundreds of stars come down to dance on the lake. They dance, all night long, to the chants of a witch who is standing beside the waterfall. With dawn, the moon goddess claps her hands and all of them must return to the skies. But one night, seven stars continued to dance. They suffered heavily for their disobedience: the witch had them in her power and changed them into fairies, forcing them to dance on the water-lilies forever.”

In 1966 The Indian Water Lilies (de Indische Waterlelies) opened in Efteling.  It is not a dark ride as such, but more of a show, which takes place in the dark.  It was the first attraction in Efteling which used advanced techniques to create a lifelike fairy tale environment.  This combination of animatronics, light and music would be seen in later attractions like the Haunted Castle and Dreamflight.

The story is based on one of the 12 tales from ‘Los Doce Cuentos Maravillosos’, written by Queen Fabiola of Belgium.  The show was to be created for the park’s 15th anniversary, and would be Peter Reijnders‘ last work before his retirement.  Reijnders went to the Royal Castle of Laeken in 1962 for an audience with the Queen, to ask her permission to use her story.  She allowed her story to be used, on the condition that a donation to charity would be made.  When the show was finally completed, the Belgian Ambassador was present at the opening ceremony, and was very pleased with the results.

Visitors pass under a cave to enter Indian Temple Square, where a large fountain can be found, as well as Indian decoration and 2 Indrajit guards.  There is a large door behind the fountain, giving access to a dark cavern.  Once inside this cavern, a corridor leads to a lake which is surrounded by tropical plants, a creek and a waterfall, all indoors.  The singing of the witch begins the show, which includes a frog-like orchestra and singing geese as well as, of course, dancing fairies.

The main body of music used in the attraction is ‘Afrikaan Beat’ by Bert Kaempfert, however, an Inca chant called ‘Taita Inti’ is also used before the show.

So here’s my opinion on the show…I love it!

I love the fact that, as soon as you enter, you really feel as though you are outdoors beside a lake in the dead of night.  The lighting is wonderful, the music is uplifting and exciting, and the animatronics are very pleasing to the eye.

Efteling can fit up to 800 guests per hour through this attraction, and it always seems to be one of the more popular attractions of its kind in the park.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

George and the Dragon

22 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by EftelingUK in Featured Attractions

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

adventure realm, draak, dragon, efteling, eftelinguk, george, great coasters international, joris, pegasus, wooden coaster


George and the Dragon (Joris en de Draak) opened on July 1st 2010 in Efteling.  Located across the water from The Flying Dutchman in the Adventure Realm, on the site where the wooden roller coaster Pegasus could be found previously.  Efteling have, on many occasions, stated that they do not like to throw anything away or tear anything down, however they took the hard decision to let Pegasus go after 18 years of loyal service due to the ride becoming uncomfortable and outdated.  Not wishing to lose their traditional wooden coaster entirely, they choose to build a new one in its place, not just one, but a double coaster; a racer!  Efteling do not do things by halves, and so they brought in the best people in the business of wooden roller coasters, Great Coasters International.  GCI have built coasters for numerous theme parks all over the globe, including Dollywood, Busch Gardens, Hersheypark, and Six Flags.  In 2009, the deal with GCI was signed, and work could begin on the new coaster.

Firstly of course, Pegasus had to be torn down, and this sad event took place in June 2009.  Instead of the wood from Pegasus going away to recycling, Efteling gave visitors the chance to own a part of this much-loved attraction by cutting the wood up into small blocks and stamping the Pegasus logo onto it.  These blocks were sold in souvenir shops in the park and weren’t available for long due to their popularity!

Of course any respected ride in a theme park, Efteling in particular, has to have good theming and a story to carry it.  The story of George and the Dragon was chosen to accompany the ride, and it is the rider’s duty to slay the dragon.  And what a dragon it is!  In the concept art (top of the page), the dragon looked very big compared to the coasters, and although he isn’t quite that big, he is a very large creature.  He (I shall presume it is a he) reaches 10 metres tall (34ft), with huge sharp teeth and lethal claws, and let’s not forget his fire-breathing habits!  Fire and wooden coasters do not exactly go hand in hand, but the folks at Efteling and GCI have made sure that the dragon points his head upwards when he breathes his flames!


With Pegasus out of the way, GCI could begin construction on George and the Dragon.  The plan was to have two trains racing against each other to the finish line, based on the elements of fire and water (a blue coaster and a red coaster).  In November 2009, GCI started to lay the foundations for the coaster.  This was followed by a blanket of snow in December, which caused the work on the foundations to grind to a halt.  By January 2010, the snow had still not budged, and Efteling started to grow concerned as they wanted the ride to be ready for July 1st.  Wanting to move construction ahead as swiftly as possible, a 40 metre long tent was erected on the site, containing a large heater which would be left running for a few days. 
The heat would allow the steel bars and the concrete to thaw out, and prevent any moisture in the concrete from freezing over.  In February of 2010, the coaster’s construction reached its highest point at 82ft, and the Efteling flags were flown from the top of the structure.  By April, the station was starting to take shape, with the props added, the lift hill chain being tested, and the cars arriving from America.  With one month to go until opening, theming and landscaping began around the coaster.  Where the dragon would be located, dark trees and black plants were planted to give the effect of them being scorched by his fire.  Finishing touches were added to the queue, (including a very fancy vending machine) which is made to look like the swamp where the dragon resides.


Each of the 4 trains on the coaster has 12 cars seating 2 people per car.  These trains are called Millennium Flyers, known for their flared sides, cushioned seats and individual lap bars, as well as the name of the ride displayed on the front car.  The cars are constructed at GCI headquarters in Pennsylvania, where they are inspected and tested.  The wood used on the coaster is Yellow Pine wood from Canada, which is a strong, long grain wood that is perfect for building roller coasters.  All the wood was brought along with Great Coasters International, and it was all cut on site, unlike many coasters which have their parts shipped in already made, IKEA style.  There are eight layers of wood making up the structure of the coaster, with the top two accommodating the trains.

With opening day fast approaching, many more tests were carried out on the coaster, running the trains around with ‘water babies’ inside to simulate passengers.  The long-awaited dragon was then added to the swamp, completing the theming.

After all tests had been carried out, it was time for the launch party for the press, which took place in the Station de Oost.  Here, the guests were split into two groups: fire and water, and then they boarded George and the Dragon for the ride’s first race between guests (even the King and George were present!).

Finally, the ride was opened to guests on July 1st 2010, after months of hard work.  The result is fabulous!  As you enter, you queue through the dragon’s swamp and then have to decide which side you will choose to ride, fire or water.  The queues then split, and are identical on each side apart from one side is decorated with blue flags, and the other red flags.  The boarding area is themed to give the impression that you are in an armoury, choosing which weapons you will use to slay the dragon right before you embark on your journey.  Apparently you know that a ride is going to be good if you get strapped in twice, and guess what…that’s right, a seat belt as well as a lap bar!  The ride gets up to speeds of 46.6mph, swerving round corners and soaring up and down hills in a spectacularly smooth style compared to the ride it replaced.  You fly past the 10 metre tall dragon whilst he glares at you and makes a fuss, but no worries; you’re gone before he can bend his head down for a second look!

At the end of the race, the winners are proclaimed by a flag on their side of the track, and when you arrive back at the station, you are greeted with a drop of the flags and a lot of cheering!  If you lose, sadly you are welcomed back by boos!

The music is uplifting with a sense of adventure, and is composed by René Merkelbach, who also created the music for The Flying Dutchman and Cinderella.

The 600 cubic metres of wood used on the ride is held together by a colossal 90,000 bolts and 162,000 nails.  Each track is 810 metres long, making the ride 2 minutes long and delighting 1700-1750 guests per hour.  The cost for this unique ride was 13 million Euros, and is the first wooden racer in Northwest Europe.

A summary of the story of George and the Dragon:

Once upon a time there was a dragon that lived in a swamp.  He ordered the King to feed him sheep every day.  So every day, sheep were taken down to the swamp for the dragon to eat.  Sadly, the kingdom eventually ran out of sheep, which displeased the dragon.  When he heard the news from the King that there were no more sheep to be had, he told the King:

‘Every day I want you to send me a young maiden for breakfast’

Although the King was horrified, he saw no choice but to do as the dragon said.  All the names of the maidens in the kingdom were written down and chosen from a bowl each day, and the unlucky girl whose name was selected would be fed to the dragon.  One day, the King’s daughter, the Princess was chosen to be the dragon’s breakfast.  The King begs for someone to come forward and slay the dragon, after a string of failed attempts by many knights in armour.  Out of nowhere, a young boy called George appears with his horse, offering to kill the dragon.  The King laughs at George at first, but, seeing no other hope for his daughter, he sends George down to the swamp.  George tricks the dragon into thinking that the ocean is on fire, causing him to look up.  As he looks upwards, George takes his chance and stabs the dragon.  The dragon lets out a shriek of pain, and dies.  George has saved the Princess and the kingdom, and then he disappears, never to be seen again…     

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Find us on Social Media!

  • View eftelingfansuk’s profile on Facebook
  • View @EftelingUK’s profile on Twitter
  • View Efteling UK’s profile on Pinterest
  • View www.youtube.com/EftelingUK’s profile on YouTube

Please support this site by subscribing, we won't spam you, and it's totally free!

Join 2,463 other followers

Explore…

  • Accommodation (28)
  • All Updates and News (518)
  • Aquanura (25)
  • Building Efteling UK (26)
  • Dream Flight (14)
  • Fata Morgana (11)
  • Featured Attractions (7)
  • Food! (35)
  • Laaf (23)
  • Polle's Keuken (16)
  • Products/Souvenirs (46)
  • Seasons (67)
  • Sprookjesbos (64)
  • Symbolica (7)
  • Updates from 2011 (40)
  • Updates from 2012 (133)
  • Updates from 2013 (132)
  • Updates from 2014 (59)
  • Updates from 2015 (45)
  • Updates from 2016 (23)
  • Updates from 2017 (15)
  • Updates from 2018 (22)
  • Updates from 2019 (26)
  • Updates from 2020 (20)
  • Updates from 2021 (3)

Search Efteling UK

Efteling Fans UK

Efteling Fans UK

Blogroll

  • An Englishman's Guide to the Efteling
  • De Vijf Zintuigen
  • Efteling Fanzine
  • Efteling Official
  • Efteling UK's YouTube
  • Eftelist
  • Eftelwesley YouTube Channel
  • Eftepedia
  • Het Wonderlijke WC Web
  • Pin Parade
  • The Disney Project
  • Wonder Wereld Web
Efteling UK

Promote your Page too

Follow Efteling UK on Twitter!

My Tweets

Top Posts & Pages

  • The People of Laaf
  • Getting There
  • Efteling Gets a New Food Cart...

Visitor Count

  • 198,656 hits

Vertalen

Posts By Date

April 2021
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« Mar    

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: About the Magical Cookies!
    <span>%d</span> bloggers like this: