In our last post we talked about the updates that are happening in Fata Morgana right now. It’s due to open again at the start of October, but that’s only the beginning of the construction going on in the park. The bulk of the work is of course the installation of the new dive coaster near to the Flying Dutchman. Recently, they have chopped a corner off the Gondoletta lake so that they can move the path over that currently exists there, allowing more space for the coaster. There isn’t a whole lot to look at yet ride-wise, but construction is definitely underway! Here’s a video taken by Eftelwesley yesterday:
In addition to a new coaster, Bosrijk is currently in the process of receiving 18€ million worth of new accommodation. The sign outside reads:
‘We’re continuing to build on dreams…Expansion of Efteling Village Bosrijk’.
Concept art for the new accommodation.
Construction is set to finish in mid-2015. Click here to see how it’s coming along.
Also getting some TLC is the house of the five senses. Mainly the roof. That thatched roof must look it’s best since it’s the bold and beautiful entrance to the park! Efteling are currently fixing some bald patches (that happens when you get older, even to thatched roofs) and most likely removing a lot of moss that has being growing there for a while. It is mainly the Efteldingen store that is covered over at the moment.
Next up: Villa Volta. As pointed out last year by looopings.nl, Villa Volta’s exterior had seen better days. Basically, crumbling and cracking in the walls etc was making it look like less of a magnificent mansion and more like a haunted house. Well at the moment, the maintenance walls are up! We can only hope that they will take down these horrible signs while they’re there…
Last but not least…well, we actually don’t feel too excited about this last one in honesty. It seems as though there’s an Aquanura 3 on the way to Efteling. Yes, 3…already. Some WET employees (the guys who created the show) have landed in Efteling and have been testing some new sequences out at the Vonderplas. It seems very early for phase 3 of the show considering that part 2 only started earlier this year (with preview shows at the end of last year). Also, most of the music from the park has already been used in the first two shows, so that does leave the question: which music will they use next?
It has been pointed out that this could be a show specifically for Winter Efteling, but that’s pure speculation. It’s a mystery for now, so we’ll wait and see!
The Pagoda is also listed as reopening at the end of October.
It was said when the new CEO of Efteling, Fons Jurgens came along, that he would be concentrating more on maintenance of what was in the park rather than adding new things. Well there’s a bit of both going on at the moment and that’s great!
We’re still hoping for a Spookslot overhaul too, and it is closed for 5 days in November, but that’s only time for a mere dust! 😉
Fata Morgana is 28 years old now, and sometimes it feels like it could do with a refresh. The ride has had a number of small changes over the years, inside and out, including new masks for the characters and many changes to the building itself. The main difference with the ride will be new boats, which we’re quite interested to see. Although details of the changes are sketchy at the moment, it seems that the changes will be more ‘enhancements’ than massive differences in the ride. For example, the lasers in the Tilt Room were originally red, then they were changed to green, then this year they were changed back to red…so we’re expecting small changes like that.
There are many small details which have become noticeable after riding, such as limbs not seeming to be attached to the figures properly, effects not working or figures simply looking very rigid and dated. Although we’re not expecting the animatronics to change, (there’s 104 of them!) it would be nice to see them get a little TLC. In fact, not long ago, we’re sure that the Tiger got a new fur coat! Check out this old video of the ride to get a closer look at the figures, you can see that many have not changed over the years.
Next, maybe Efteling could sort us out some Fata Morgana themed souvenirs for the Bazaar, instead of hookahs and random jewelry!
It is undeniable that Efteling’s architecture is varied, interesting, and beautiful! One of the first buildings you see after you’ve walked through the main entrance is Fata Morgana, and it definitely falls under the ‘beautiful’ heading.
Click here to take a look at some Fata Morgana photos.
In our previous post, we mentioned that February is Fata Morgana month here at Efteling UK! So let us take a look at this wonderful ride by watching a ride-through! Go on…soak it all up…reminisce…and pretend you are in Efteling…
Yes, we are going to have a themed month! All of our posts will be about Fata Morgana during February. Why are we telling you this now?! Well, if you have any Fata Morgana photos/videos or info that you would like to share with us, then we welcome it with open arms! Send us a Facebook message on our page, or send mail to info@eftelinguk.com.
Our friend Leonard has some pretty cool Efteling videos from earlier in the year, and we wanted to share them with you. The first is a brief tour of the park, the others are a Fata Morgana ride-though and a Droomvlucht ride-through. They have been making us homesick!
Remember, if you haven’t been to Efteling before and are planning a visit, there are massive spoilers in these videos that you may not want to see!
Enjoy!
Thanks to Leonard for allowing us to share these videos!
According to looopings.nl, The Dream Flight and Fata Morgana will soon be receiving photo spots somewhere inside each ride. This will be more of a ‘journey’ photo, rather than a ‘hair-raising’ photo, which of course you can buy from George and the Dragon, the Flying Dutchman etc. We can imagine that this will be along the same lines as the photo you have taken in Carnaval Festival.
You have to wonder, where would they put the camera? On Dream Flight, as you travel along one of the dark corridors, there is a flashing light at the end, in front of you…although that would only take a photo of the first gondola out of the two, and with no atmosphere! Maybe on the way into, or on the way out of a scene would be a good place?
On Fata Morgana, how about at the start when everyone looks up at the wizard as he waves his wand? It is slightly strange of course, that you would want to buy a photo of the whole boat, especially if you are in a boat with other people, which is very likely. However, Disneyland Paris do this in Pirates of the Caribbean, but you can choose to crop most of the boat out when you come to buying the photo.
Would you rather buy a photo of you and your friends/family travelling through the Fairy Realm to a photo on the Python or Rok? Hopefully, we’ll find out more soon.