atyourservice

Making of Baron 1898, episode #8: the first testing ride and a first impression of the newly composed music. (english subtitles available) Today Efteling also announced that Pinocchio will be the new addition for the Fairy Tale Forest in 2016. Efteling says they will use the original (Italian) story and not the more familiar version of Walt Disney. Pinocchio will cost 2 million euros. Efteling is also making a Pinocchio musical which will premier later this year at the Efteling Theatre near the entrance of the park.

Hi! I'm fairly new to this forum and I'm just reading this thread for the first time and I couldn't agree more! I know a lot of music festivals in the area where I live have already announced that selfiesticks are not allowed on the terrain, because they form a danger to the people around them and probably the artists on stage. I think you could make the same case for amusement and theme parks. The selfiesticks are not only dangerous in large crowds, but the real danger is in using them on rides. I can't imagine what the damage will be when someone sneaks a selfiestick on a coaster or fast ride. Maybe this person loses, or hits and breaks the stick with a heavy phone or camera at the end of it, hitting someone else in the back, who will probably be hurt a lot more than the person who brought it with him on the ride. I mean, umbrellas are also not allowed on these rides. Selfie sticks are essentially the same size. Besides the fact that it is annoying when someone blocks your view on shows etc. (for example at a show in a theme park or music festival). The main reason to ban the sticks from the parks is the safety of other people around you. What people do to themselves is their own concern.

Today, Efteling won eight(!) Diamond Theme Park awards, an initiative of several Dutch and Flemish fansites. After a jury had announced the nominations in the various categories (nineteen in total), the public could vote. They won the following awards: best park in Netherlands and Belgium, best attraction in the Netherlands and Belgium for George and the Dragon, most child friendly park NL/BE, best event NL/BE: Winter Efteling, park with the best service NL/BE, the E-award for best website, use of social media and apps NL/BE, most spectacular park of (only) the Netherlands and the last one: most beautiful park of the Netherlands. Considering the fact that Efteling is a lot bigger than all the other theme parks in the Netherlands and Belgium in terms of the amount of visitors every year, it is not very surprising that they won (again) a lot of awards, but hey! they get a some attention from the local press, which is good thing. In other (maybe more interesting) news: landscaping and fences seem to be the number one priority right now on the building site of Baron 1898. The following pictures were posted by twitter-user @84eric Trees! Another tree! Queue and... trees! @vijfzintuigen also posted some pictures today. Fences going up. They're pretty tall, but that is not very surprising considering the fact that you're so close to the track. Yesterday a new little shop for groceries and merchandise opened in the Efteling Bosrijk Village. Oh and before I forget! According to several sources of Looopings.nl, the first train for Baron 1898 will arrive this week. The second one mid-may and the third one two weeks later. Before they can do a testrun they have to wait for the 'green light' of the safety authority TÜV. The article also says that Efteling now knows the exact official opening date of the coaster, but is still reticent in communicating the date to the public.

For a long day at a park, I always bring my backpack, filled with: some sandwiches, bottle of water, sunglasses, a small umbrella and of course my iPhone and wallet. A sealed plastic bag for my phone etc. is a pretty smart idea. Not a big fan of waterbeds where you get soaked, but I'll certainly bring a waterproof bag with me next time!

The first turning wheel is being attached to the lift hill. Source: @sven_eft on Twitter EDIT: And it is complete! Source: @Davey_JF on Twitter This man is staying here for the rest of his life, turning the wheel, he will be fed every evening, and will be provided with a pillow and sleeping bag for the night : Source: @sven_eft on Twitter

The image on the golden plate of the housing of the wheels, is amazing. It reflects the story of the attraction perfectly. The woman holds a cornucopia ('horn of plenty'), but this time it is not filled with all different kinds of fruit, nuts and flowers but with gold, pearls and diamonds. Than the woman who holds it, is one of the Witte Wieven: spirits of the earth who hinder or help people who encounter them. She's is basically teasing the dragon (famous for protecting but also greedy for gold). I believe the complete story of the ride is already been told somewhere in this topic, so I won't repeat it completely (go read it, and look at the image again), but I'm just amazed about how they really put thought in what was on those wheel housings. They even changed the design from the one on the original concept art from last year (reason #1: there was already a "lady in white" on top of the Villa Volta Madhouse, as part of the story, and reason #2: this one fits the story much, much better). Can't wait to see what the end result will be like.