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Efteling Discussion Thread


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Question: Is that "cave" to the left of the castle the exit from it, or the entrance to the queue?

 

I'm just curious, thanks.

 

That 'cave' is indeed the exit of the ride. To enter the queue, you have to go through the gate on the right.

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The cave is the exit of the ride. You enter the queue through the gate behind the fountain, the two doors above the rockwork with te balcony in front is the entrance to the pre-show room.

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It's been a while since I last visited this park and due to that I've been planning to go there again quite soon.

 

The only thing is it seems to me there's not a single day when all rides would be open at the same time! Am I wrong and do they change the scheduled ride closings occasionally, because I would not like to be disappointed on such an expensive trip.

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It's been a while since I last visited this park and due to that I've been planning to go there again quite soon.

 

The only thing is it seems to me there's not a single day when all rides would be open at the same time! Am I wrong and do they change the scheduled ride closings occasionally, because I would not like to be disappointed on such an expensive trip.

 

The park is open year-round, so it means that attractions may be closed for maintenance in the off-season. The closings can be found on the Efteling website (https://www.efteling.com/en/park/information/in-maintenance) and these are usually quite accurate (provided there are no unexpected breakdowns of course)!

Keep in mind that large walk-through attractions (such as the Fairy Tale Wood) may be listed as closed, but this usually means that one fairy tale at a time will be closed so the attraction as a whole will be accessible.

One big closure this fall will be Python: this Vekoma coaster will be demolished (except for the lift hill) and then rebuilt the way it is now. So it will be closed from 9/11 to 12/1.

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One big closure this fall will be Python: this Vekoma coaster will be demolished (except for the lift hill) and then rebuilt the way it is now. So it will be closed from 9/11 to 12/1.

 

is 9/11 the same as the 11th of September? Okay. I guess I'll have to leave Python and fata morgana out of the trip.

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Can anyone say from experience how busy the park is on weekdays in early september/late august?

 

Summer/school holidays in The South of the Netherlands are until August 27, so If you go after that day on a weekday it should not be too busy.

 

On the site the efteling gives a handy 'business indicator' on a day-to-day basis: https://www.efteling.com/en/park/opening-hours

Only downside of not going in august on a friday or saturday is missing the opportunity to see Aquanura in the dark .

 

Also keep an eye on closed attractions: several are in maintenance in september: https://www.efteling.com/en/park/information/in-maintenance

 

I know from experiance it is hard to find the perfect balance between busyness, opening hours and maintenance windows.

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On the site the efteling gives a handy 'business indicator' on a day-to-day basis: https://www.efteling.com/en/park/opening-hours

 

I never trust these after going to Gröna lund once when they said it should be an empty day

 

The queue for the wild mouse was an hour and the funhouse was an hour 20 minutes

 

No but really I looked on the website and if I have to miss python and fatamorgana it's fine so I'll probably go there early week maybe 12th and 13th of september?

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On the site the efteling gives a handy 'business indicator' on a day-to-day basis: https://www.efteling.com/en/park/opening-hours

 

I never trust these after going to Gröna lund once when they said it should be an empty day

 

The queue for the wild mouse was an hour and the funhouse was an hour 20 minutes

 

No but really I looked on the website and if I have to miss python and fatamorgana it's fine so I'll probably go there early week maybe 12th and 13th of september?

 

Sounds good to me: most of the good stuff is open those days. I like the Fata Morgana personally, but there are several other dark rides (personal favorite: the flying Dutchman. Not an impressive coaster, but very highly themed and with a few nice dark ride surprises). The Python is only interesting from a history/nostalgia point of view in my opinion: it was the first steel coaster in Europe, but it is old and there are plenty more spectacular ones all over Europe.

 

In my visits (I have access the whole year and go every other week or so in the summer) the business estimation was pretty accurate. But it is just an estimate of course

 

I hope you enjoy the park!

Take some good walking shoes and some lunch/snacks with you: the park covers a big area!

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I checked the park's calendar and it looks like there's no Aquanura for the entire month of August. Is this correct?

 

If you take a look at the schedule for closed attractions in the picture below, Aquanura will be closed from October 7th - October 13th. But you are correct that it is not listed under park shows for the entire month of August. But that is also the case for the next months. So yes, you will be able to watch Aquanura, except for October 7th - October 13th.

Efteling.JPG.c16cedd7f2c0fef16d277e9c9c4011cb.JPG

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it was the first steel coaster in Europe

 

I think you mean first multilooper or largest steel coaster?

 

When I check Wiki it says it was the largest one in europe at the time. Not exactly the same. I must have picked up this slightly wrong factoid somewhere and remembered it wrong...

 

Either way, it is a classic if you are dutch (everyone grew up with it: I remember being scared of it as a kid more than 30 years ago). But as it is old, slow and the only unthemed attraction in the whole park - it is not my favorite. I mean, even the cash machines and trash cans are themed and interactive....

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Either way, it is a classic if you are dutch (everyone grew up with it: I remember being scared of it as a kid more than 30 years ago). But as it is old, slow and the only unthemed attraction in the whole park - it is not my favorite. I mean, even the cash machines and trash cans are themed and interactive....

 

I would probably try to get the credit otherwise but I was on it two years ago so I already got the credit. Surprisingly smooth for an old vekoma, too.

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  • 3 weeks later...

So today I visited the park again and rode Symbolica again (All tours) and I want to talk about an earlier statement I made.

4: Interactive: Again completely unique for the park yet even with the touch screens it didn't feel like you where in control except for the treasure tour with the diamond the rest felt programmed, maybe an early bug and I will keep watch of it in the future.

 

So my final conclusion is: It wasn't one thing it where more things. They could have done more but the ride fell short. It might grow on me it might never click, only time can tell.

Now a month later I have to say I actually felt in control with the interactive parts of the ride. During the hero tour I actually saw a huge diffrence, A month ago I was the only one pushing buttons and both armors moved exactly like the video now the family in the front of me where pushing buttons and the armors reacted like they had to. Also the music tour was seemed to listen. Also the ballroom we actually made the car spin the way we wanted it. This made a huge diffrence for the feeling of the ride. I still don't think it's something for me and I'm sure it never will, but I can accept it as it is.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Efteling gets free FastPass-system

 

The Dutch theme park will launch its own variant of the famous Disney FastPass-system, the Efteling Boarding Pass. Visitors have to reserve a ride, so they no longer have to wait in the queue line.

 

The free service will be tested from Saturday, September 15 for approximately two months at Python, the park's Vekoma Looping Coaster. Guests who want to make a ride in the well-known roller coaster must choose a time slot in advance through the official Efteling app. Visitors without a smartphone can use a special ticket machine.

 

Guests have to scan their paper or digital boarding pass at the entrance of the attraction. Then, they have to wait no longer then fifteen minutes. The Boarding Pass queue will replace the normal queue.

 

The Boarding Pass will have a time slot of fifteen minutes. Visitors can get a new Boarding Pass if the time slot has expired. On quiet days, when the regular queue times do not exceed fifteen minutes, the system will not be activated. Then everyone uses the normal queue without reservations.

 

"We call it a new way of waiting," says a spokesman of the amusement park. "In the test phase, we will keep an eye on the responses of our guests, and then we decide if we continue. For people who love to plan their visits, the system is ideal. Guests who prefer to spontaneously go to an attraction may not like it that much."

 

Source

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"The Boarding Pass queue will replace the normal queue"

 

Like Universal's system, I'm not a fan of this. I like flexibility and spontaneity when I visit a theme park, rather than spending the day clockwatching, having to make sure to schedule shows around slots, ensuring that we're in the general vicinity when it's getting close to the return time etc.

Edited by KarlaKoaster
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I'm not to happy about this. I hope it doesn't stay or other attractions will follow. I'm okay with Fast-passes and single rider lines but a normal queue is just freedom in my eyes. I 'm also not a fan of the fact that I have to get an app to ride a roller coaster, and I'm Dutch I can Imagen people from other countries must get annoyed by that as well.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I visited Efteling on Thursday on a relatively non-crowded day (maximum wait was 20 Minutes on Baron during peak times, and that was with Joris being down for maintenance). There was nothing implemented on Python, which had a 5 minute wait only anyways.

 

Symbolica was wonderful, a lovely experience, though I still can't get the thought out of my head that Pardoes (the park mascot, which is represented in Animatronics, as well as walking acts) is just the kind of character that should have a machete behind is back and be a creepy halloween character. Anyways, they ride is wonderful, with great scenes and attention to detail. I would rate it above most dark rides I experienced so far, especially better than the Potter rides at Universal.

 

Had my first rides on Baron also, which is great but could use a bit more height.

 

All in all, Efteling is just a lovely park. I didn't take enough Photos to justify a fully-fledged trip report, but still a few good ones, although they are from my iPhone, so don't expect too much.

IMG_3865.thumb.jpg.670c5482b791d1b4a3764bc6514fe3fa.jpg

Baron looking dramatic...

IMG_3895.thumb.jpg.c6d296e0b305851563cb0806cc2e0c58.jpg

Upside down is always a good thing...

IMG_3896.thumb.jpg.16da086608666d19f6be66880fff14da.jpg

A bit too late after the last train of the day passed through, but still a nice shot

IMG_3899.thumb.jpg.27bd5316e8cad6373e571b1e52fceb4b.jpg

Symbolica is so beautiful !

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Efteling is one of those parks on my "Go Back To" List, lol. Your few photos posted are really beautiful,

and definitely keep my spirits high, about my ever getting back to it, again soon. Thanks for what you posted!

 

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"The Boarding Pass queue will replace the normal queue"

 

Like Universal's system, I'm not a fan of this. I like flexibility and spontaneity when I visit a theme park, rather than spending the day clockwatching, having to make sure to schedule shows around slots, ensuring that we're in the general vicinity when it's getting close to the return time etc.

 

I agree 100 percent with this. If slots are gone for a ride or at a less than ideal time, I'd still like to have the option to wait in a standard queue.

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Alton towers once tryed such a stupid system where you could NOT use the normal queue to go on some rides(nemesis and oblivion were the two ride trailed I believe) and the only way to ride them was to have a fast track ticket booked in advance or you got a fast track ticket on the day however it was very quickly abandoned as people constantly complained that the system didn't work as too many people were unable to gain tickets if they arrived late, meaning they physically couldn't ride these two rides as it was ticket only throughout the whole day.

I really hope this system doesn't last either, Efteling is not a park that needs fasttrack, all the rides have good capacity, and queues flow well, taking out a normal queue system of any kind is just terrible as people who arrive a bit later in the day are then unable to ride their favourite ride because all tickets/time slots are gone, and then it will only lead to complaints, I really don't know what they are thinking with this, yeah I know/realise its a trial thing but trust me, it won't work as it never worked at Alton and can't see it working here to be honest

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