Autumn at Efteling, what a beautiful time! Now call me stupid, but I never realised that those little red and white toadstools were actually based on real toadstools. I simply had never seen them before and thought that they were a fabrication! So of course, when I saw a load of people on the ground at Bosrijk taking photos of something, I looked a little closer and saw these brightly coloured wonders. Their Sunday name is Amanita muscaria. It is suggested that you don’t eat them! Here they are in all their glory:
So Disney has its fast pass, and other parks have similar ways of ensuring that you don’t need to stand in line for your favourite rides. Efteling however, have never installed these queue-beating solutions into their park. Now though, their new idea is for the guest to select a time that they want to ride, and then come back later.
Take a look at the BBC’s video on what this entails:
At Tilburg Fair earlier this month, there was a special treat for Efteling fans. A miniature of the Steam Carousel (Carousel Palace) from Efteling could be seen in all it’s glory, with wonderful detail, including the drinks bar in the corner! Take a look at the video taken by Eftelwesley:
July 1st is here! Happy Symbolica day! We’ve waited a long time for this day, through the Hartenhof years and through the building of Symbolica, the day is finally here.
This is Efteling’s first trackless ride, situated in the park’s ‘brink’ at the end of Pardoes Promenade next to Polle’s Keuken pancake restaurant, which shares the same theme as Symbolica. Here’s what Efteling have to say about it:
Come and visit the new indoor family attraction Symbolica. An enchanting palace in which nothing is what it seems. Enjoy an audience with the King together. Magic Jester Pardoes will ensure that every visit is surprising and enchanting. Let yourself be led along the secret corridors through into magical rooms and be amazed time after time.
Many of you may remember that Pardoes was the park’s icon for a number of years, but more recently we haven’t seen as much of him. Now, he is immortalised in this new attraction along with Princess Pardijn.
Riders will be taken on one of three different routes through the palace; Heroes Tour, Treasures Tour or the Music Tour. Each tour has already been posted on YouTube, so if you can’t wait to visit Symbolica, then see the video below of the Treasures Tour!
A new Efteling advert has also been created to include the new €35million attraction:
As the opening of Efteling’s newest attraction grows closer, the park ramp up their marketing, and it’s totally cool…
E-mails were delivered today to Efteling fans for a chance to win one of several prizes:
200x 6 Efteling tickets for June 30 include sneak preview Symbolica. • 12x accommodation for 5 people in the Efteling Loonsche Country Hotel, including unlimited access to the Efteling. OJ Punctuel, Lackey of His Majesty King Pardulfus, is sending out invites to the palace, and once you enter the competition you will receive a lovely little personalised video from him (some are subtitled in English).
The newest episode of The Making of Symbolica has also just been uploaded to Efteling’s YouTube channel. We’re getting more and more excited to ride!
From April 1st this year, Efteling has set down some new rules on smoking. The action is long overdue, but smoking in attraction queues has finally been banned; our prayers have been answered! Smoking in the Fairy Tale Forest is also discouraged, but the rule will not be enforced here as it is in the other queues. Three smoking areas have been installed in the forest, and the decision to use them or not is entirely up to the individual, so it is between you and your own conscience!
Of course, this new rule will only work if it is enforced by staff. As seen in other parks, such as Disneyland Paris, many a time an employee will pass a visitor with a lit cigarette and do absolutely nothing. Therefore, only time will tell if the new rules will work.
Either way, it is a much-needed step forward for Efteling!
Today in the U.K it is pancake day! The Dutch will be celebrating at another time, but for now, let us take a moment to talk about pancakes…
Of course, we wish we were at Polle’s Keuken to celebrate this happy day, but alas, no can do! If you’ve never been to Polle’s before and would like to try it out, check out our review here.
While you’re in there, you can pick up some of Polle’s pannenkoek mix, to give your pancakes that ‘Efteling’ touch. Scroll down for your Polle’s Keuken fix, and see the menu to get some ideas for your own pancakes!
It’s been a while since the last post here, but there is some very important news from Efteling that needs to be shared!
Efteling’s new accommodation, Het Loonsche Land, which opens in a few months, has taken a delivery of antlers. The new holiday park is set to open on Efteling’s 65th birthday on May 31st 2017, and is costing €30 million to build. You could buy a lot of antlers with that!
Later this year, the park will welcome a brand new trackless dark ride, and we’re all very excited about it! Here’s a little on the story of Symbolica (with English subtitles):
Here are some photos of how it is looking as of December 2016:
