After a lengthy refurbishment, the Flying Fakir has recently returned from his well earned rest, looking better than ever! Everything looks clean and new, and all of his tulips seem to be functioning correctly, unlike in past years. You have to just love Efteling for taking good care of what they have; after all, now you’d never know that the Fakir is 60 years old!
Another delightful piece of news (well I got excited about it!) is that there is a new Efteling CD available. New tracks include ‘welcome’ and ‘goodbye’, Efteling 65th anniversary (not sure how that one goes), and the music from Symbolica, which is a welcome addition. Add this one to the shopping list!
Little Red Riding Hood recently reopened after a very long refurbishment. In fact, it was more of a total rebuild! The new building is now up to modern safety standards, and looks refreshed and wonderful!
Roodkapje is getting a makeover! Well, her Grandmother’s house is.
The cottage which has stood in the forest since 1960 was constructed using wood, stone, cement and gauze, the same materials used to build the original Sleeping Beauty’s castle. In the 1980s, Sleeping Beauty’s castle was completely replaced, in the same way as Red Riding Hood’s cottage will be now. At the time it was reconstructed, Ton van de Ven took the opportunity to add the wicked fairy with her spinning wheel, as well as a few other details, thus ‘plussing’ the attraction.
The time has come for the Roodkapje building to comply with today’s standards, and it is being completely replaced using modern materials and techniques. Who knows, maybe there will be a little something added to it when it reopens?
Efteling has stated that fairy tales ‘remain the core’ of Efteling, and renovating these attractions which are already well established and loved shows the dedication that Efteling has to the oldest part of its park.
Hopefully Red Riding Hood is in a safe place while building work is carried out, since she is a favourite of local kidnappers!
Today was the day we’ve all been waiting for since…well, we’ve been waiting for what feels like a long time! Pinocchio finally opened to the public, yay! In true Efteling fashion, it’s looking good, and definitely has the ‘wow’ factor.
Located in the Fairy Tale Forest, Pinokkio can be found next to the Red Shoes fairy tale, where you could previously find Buccaneer Gijs. In fact, Buccaneer Gijs’ old home has been incorporated into this new story, housing the Fox and the Cat hiding in barrels, oh, and a seagull. To the right of these two characters you’ll find a very intimidating monster, Efteling’s version of Monstro!
Visitors are encouraged to make Monstro sneeze by pulling on a pole which has a feather attached to the other end. Then, he will open his mouth and you can see where Pinocchio and Gepetto are, since they are not anywhere to be seen in Gepetto’s workshop. Inside this ‘monster-fish’ you will find a very impressive animatronic of the hero of the story, Pinocchio. Behind him you will find a forced-perspective Gepetto, trapped inside the monster.
There is a warning for anyone brave enough to irritate the monster:
Maar pas op!
Anders word jij zijn volgende maaltijd…
(But beware! Otherwise you become his next meal…)
The building itself fits in perfectly of course with all of the other Pieck-esque buildings in the forest, although it is a little brighter, with blue/green wooden sections which include the doors and windows. Inside Gepetto’s there is a lot going on! Mice have taken over and are playing with all of the toys. Pinocchio is one of those stories in the forest where you will likely see something new every time you visit.
Efteling, you’ve done it again, we love it! Although we weren’t sure about Pinokkio at first because he looked a little creepy, he definitely looks better now and fits perfectly into the forest 🙂
Psst…does the fox in the barrel remind anybody of anything? Maybe this?
Whilst looking through old photos of Efteling, you can really see how things have changed, even if it is just small changes. Check out Mr Long Neck from 20 years ago! He looks quite bleached, and is definitely being taken over by nature. The most recent picture is from the last Winter Efteling. There’s a bit of a difference!
The Efteling website has been through a few reincarnations in its time, but this has to be the best one yet.
First off, it automatically took us to the English site, which it never did before unless we typed in co.uk or changed the language when we got there, hooray!
Images belong to Efteling
The coolest thing, however, is that the icons for each attraction or restaurant actually have a 3D effect to them, meaning that they move when you roll your cursor over them! Something else which admittedly could have been there before and we hadn’t noticed it, is a guide to the areas surrounding Efteling, in the event that you want to leave the park (really?!) and explore elsewhere. Another important feature is the calendar, which now shows busy days, and days when events are happening so that you can plan around them.
All in all, it’s the refresh that has been needed for a long time, and there doesn’t seem to be any of the really old site left, which can only be a good thing! Efteling are moving forward, as they even have a section on some pages for fan Instagram photos, and there’s also a list of WiFi locations for the park.
Also known as ‘Pirate Gijs’, ‘Captain Gijs’ and ‘Buccaneer Captain’, you may remember that good old Buccaneer Gijs (or whatever you want to call him today!) was turfed out of his home recently due to Pinokkio moving into his place in the fairy tale forest. For months we have wondered, ‘where will Buccaneer Gijs be moved to?!’, and today, we needn’t wonder any more! Kapitein Gijs will be moved to just outside the Flying Dutchman, and will be surrounded by new decorations, which he clearly deserves, after standing there for so long pointing at his cannon (since 1973!). He fits very well into this nautical location, probably a lot better than where he was situated before, and the artwork showing his new crib looks even better than ever!
The Captain is Moving House
It has appeared for years that nobody is 100% sure who or what (tale) this little Captain is supposed to represent, however, he diligently stands there year after year, pointing the way to dispose of your trash. He is indeed, a helpful captain, and is now going to put himself to good use elsewhere, and I’m sure he’s glad of the change of scene after 43 years!
We’ve been quiet for almost a month now, did you miss us?!
Of course, there have been a few pieces of news trickling out of Efteling in this time, including more recently, an overhaul of the Indian Water Lilies. It was in need of a dust, as you can imagine, and there was also a new ‘witch‘ added. There is a new narration which is actually an old narration from several years ago, which fans are very happy to hear! You may also notice a clearer sound, and a difference in the soundtrack at the very end. Oh, and those geese, have definitely been through the wash!
In other news, somebody burned the fries at a cart behind the Efteling Theater. When we say ‘burned’, they caught fire, along with the whole cart by the look of things. Oops!
Pinokkio continues to progress, however there is no exact date for it’s opening yet.
Finally, we now know when Efteling’s new nature park will welcome it’s first guests. In early 2017, construction should finish on the site which is located next to Efteling and Efteling Golf Park, which will cost a mere €30m to build. This is one phase in Efteling’s plan to become a more international destination by 2020, when they hope to welcome 5 million visitors per year.
Remember to catch up with us on Facebook, where we post more news and photos!
Dancing every day can really take its toll on you, so you can imagine how the little ladies in the Indian Waterlilies feel after dancing for months upon months at a time. For this reason, (and maybe also because the whole place could do with a really good dust and a scrub) the attraction is closed until the beginning of November.
The unintentional break:
Speaking of closures, the flying Pagode is down again, literally. Since last month, the Chinese Pagode has been grounded after experiencing technical difficulties, which it is no stranger to; the attraction was closed only a few months ago for the same reason. According to Efteling’s website, it is unknown when it will fly again 😦
‘You’ll never see me here!’ Don’t lie Pinocchio, we will welcome you in Spring 2016.
The ‘In de Noordpool’ food counter is now gone, and the little admiral and his cannon are gone too, ready to be moved to a new location (or so we believe) while the area is completely cleared, ready for Pinokkio.
Concept art of the new attraction has also been released, and as expected, it looks fantastic! It fits in perfectly with all of the other buildings in the fairy tale forest; as we know, Efteling are the masters at making these buildings look as if they’ve been there for many years, and this one continues that trend. Another thing it has in common with many of the other fairy tale buildings is that it looks to be quite petit! Obviously it is hard to be certain on that from the artwork, but it looks a little larger than Repelsteeltje’s house and maybe a bit smaller than the Roodkapje building.
La Bottega di Geppetto
Here is a video from eftel1ngfan which shows the current state of construction in the area:
Finally, for those of you feeling artistic, Efteling have provided some crafts to do while you wait for the new fairy tale! Including cupcakes, and a make-your-own Pinocchio puppet; click here!
