Efteling Discussion Thread

[Nrthwnd]

Thank you! And we're sorry.

One of the highlights of Efteling Parfk IMhO...the Carousel Bldg. w/Jon. TPR 2010 Europe Tour.

[RCT3Bross]

So I've been doing some research but I can't find my answer.

Does Mack Rides still sell bobsled coasters? I mean there last one dates back to 2001 (according to RCDB), but there website still has them under the Classic rides banner, but I understand that can also mean they still support the product.

 

For people wondering why I ask that here.

Recently we've gotten a date when the bob at the Efteling closes, this would be September 1st, this restarted the discussion whether Powered coasters are a good replacement or not. Some people suggested a Mack Bobsled coaster would have been better, I actually had a long time where I thought it would be the perfect replacement for the bob, a bob for a bob. So I went to Mack's website and came to the conclusion they might not make them anymore, I just wonder if anybody can confirm this.

 

returning on that closing date, on a Dutch action site the chairman of the Efteling is selling one of the bob cars, highest bid is now €150.000,- what is insane if you ask me , there he states that on September 1st they will say goodbye to Bob. Yesterday I was in the park and asks some staff if this is true, they weren't sure but it coincided whit what they heard.

[robbalvey]

Here is my final ride on "Bob!"

[Dim4ksan]

Here is my final ride on "Bob!"

I was there, it was very cool)

[A.J.]

It looks like Robb had fun on Bob(b).

[cfc]

Bob likes to bang around a bit, but it was a fun coaster in a beautiful setting (the woods enhanced the ride).

[RCT3Bross]

So this weekend is the last for the Bob and I decided to go 2 days instead of my usual 1.

The park has been cutting trees down near the ride and this gives a whole new look on the Bob.

The station of the Bob that will be reused for Max and Moritz.

This really opens up the place. Looks very strange.

Just felt like making these.

Clear look the lift from every angle.

While the Trees where beautiful in the experience of the ride without them the ride looks more beautiful.

People where queuing up for a last ride.

One from the single rider queue.

When it rains the ride stops and it was for me a reason to call it a day. Tomorrow are the last rounds of this rare ride and I will be there.

 

Edit (9-9-2019): Pictures from 9-1-2019 Closing day:

Prep work was done.

Flag hangin on the operator booth with opening and closing date.

Lots of traffic jams at the exit.

As a T-Shirt collector I was happy with this shirt.

These little flags where handed to people all day, there where moments no bob left without everybody waving them around. At the end of the day the track was full of them.

A not so good onride shot, but if you look at the inside of the turn you might see a couple of flags.

Without the trees this is how open it looked.

For my last ride I took the regular queue to see the decorations for the last day.

As I was waiting for my last ride it broke down for a minute or two, it just had to happen the last day.

Red carpet at the exit as the ride was getting ready to close down.

Half an hour before the regular queue closed the single rider queue already was shut.

My last picture of the ride.

A small gathering before the queue got closed for good.

Closing the gate.

And the end of the Bob 1985 - 2019

A small party was going on near the exit when the queue was closed.

Edited September 9, 2019 by RCT3Bross

[cookiex]

I'm kinda sad to see Bob go, even if its demise has been a long time coming. Efteling was (and still is) on my to-do list and Bob was one of the rides I was hoping to try out, especially since it's the only one of its kind on this side of the Atlantic. Oh well.

[DBru]

Wow! So weird to see it without all of the trees! I thought Bob was SO much fun—way more fun than it looks, and I’m sad to see such a unique ride go. Here’s to hoping the replacement coasters are even more fun...and that they replace all of the trees!

[SharkTums]

^Yeah, that's a really crazy difference!

[RCT3Bross]

I added the pictures of the closing day to the previous post.

 

^^ Those Trees will be back, I have no fear when it comes to that with the Efteling.

As the ride gets taken down these days some things of note also happend. The queue is also destroyed, people expected that the queue would be reused with Max + Moritz but no it got sold on the internet (People where able to by the log posts that made up the queue for 50 Euro per log.)

Also I guess this wasn't mentioned here before but we also know that the new Fairy Tale, The Six Swans, will open September 28th, they are testing the ride aspect.

[Evan-500]

It just dawned on me! I am going to Amsterdam March 13-18! I always heard Efteling is amazing.... should I be making this a must do? Can I do a day trip where I come down, and get back to Amsterdam the same day? Is it worth it in March? Help!

[Canobie Coaster]

^ I had a car in the Netherlands, so I'm not sure what your transit situation is like. The park is massive in terms of land. That combined with it being a pretty busy day meant I had to cut things out. I had almost 8 hours there for reference. I'd definitely say go there though. It's a beautiful and well-themed park even if you can't quite see everything in a single day.

 

It's crazy how quickly they removed the trees around Bob. I rode it just two weeks before that and it seemed well covered minus the field to the right of the lift.

[Hermanus]

It just dawned on me! I am going to Amsterdam March 13-18! I always heard Efteling is amazing.... should I be making this a must do? Can I do a day trip where I come down, and get back to Amsterdam the same day? Is it worth it in March? Help!

 

Wheter or not you should visit the park it up to you, if you're a huge thrill/coaster fan the park may not offer what you seek. If you love a good atmosphere, fairytales and darkrides you're in the right spot. I only know that each time I come back to the park after visiting Phantasialand/Disneyland I'm surprised by how good the park looks.

 

About going there, the park is very easy to reach with public transport. The journey should take about two hours, which includes the train from Amsterdam Central and the bus from 'sHertogenbosch. If you are in the Netherlands, Google Maps added almost all publiuc transport, but there also is https://9292.nl/en which got me round the country in my time as a student.

 

TLDR: if you like a good atmosphere and a beautiful park go there. Two hour single way with public transport.

[ILikeRollerCoasters]

It kind of looks like a giga lift.

[Robin Hemerik]

It just dawned on me! I am going to Amsterdam March 13-18! I always heard Efteling is amazing.... should I be making this a must do? Can I do a day trip where I come down, and get back to Amsterdam the same day? Is it worth it in March? Help!

 

Yes, go there! It is amazing any time of year. Unfortunately you will miss out on either winter or summer activities that time of year. It would be a full-on day with about 4 hours worth of commuting (door to door both ways) but hey, how often do you get the chance... The park closes at 6 PM that time of year, so you will be back in Amsterdam by 8PM.

[Johano]

A new fairytale has opened in the fairytale forest.

 

Based on a Grimm tale, `De Zes Zwanen' (The Six Swans, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Six_Swans) has been designed by Sander de Bruijn, who was also responsible for designing i.e. Raveleijn and Symbolica, has been officially opened this morning.

 

Below are some pictures, all owned by http://www.looopings.nl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And also some videos by Efteling, showing the two routes:

 

The walkthrough-route.

 

The swans-route.

[RCT3Bross]

It's been a while after the last post here but a lot of work has been done by the park.

Pandadroom has been closed down reworked and reopened as Fabula. Also Max + Moritz had all the track-work done last Friday:

Placing the last piece

One during the day.

(Picture source: Efteling Facebook page.)

We also know the rides are 300 meter (984,3 Feet) long, 6 meter (19,7 feet) high and have a top-speed of 36 Km/h (22,4mph).

The park also has taken down a fairy tale house to rebuild it very soon.

To finish this off Joris en de Draak has a malfunction that last a couple of weeks now. This Saturday I was in the park and you really miss it as Bob is no longer there, Max + Moritz is not open yet and de Vliegende Hollander is in maintenance cutting their coaster selection in half leaving only Python, Baron and Vogel Rok.

So a bunch of things happened here after the opening of the last fairy tale, I thought it was worth sharing.

[A.J.]

So I know that they'll depart in opposite directions, do we know if you get two circuits per ride or just one?

[Jeroen_twee]

They get one track each and go 2 rounds.

 

Today the first train arrived, and the first animatronic showed himself.

 

[exzantia]

It just dawned on me! I am going to Amsterdam March 13-18! I always heard Efteling is amazing.... should I be making this a must do? Can I do a day trip where I come down, and get back to Amsterdam the same day? Is it worth it in March? Help!

 

It's very do-able and well wroth it if you're willing to get an early train from Amsterdam. I did it a couple of years ago without any problems. Train down and then a local bus to the park.

[Electerik]

Re: The Six Swans

 

So it's a children's flat ride with a dark ride "section"? I love it!

 

Really enjoyed my first visit to Efteling this last year. It's like Disney without all the icky Disneyness.*

 

 

*This one's going to get me in trouble.

[Nrthwnd]

I dunno. Every time I see some of the animatronics in Efteling

(and a few other European parks), I think of this...

[Nrthwnd]

Efteling has just posted on it's site, a drone overview of the empty park.

But with all the spring landscape blooming and greening, it's gorgeous views!

 

 

Enjoy.

During my last visit to Efteling Park, on the TPR 2010 Europe Tour.

[A.J.]

Efteling is targeting re-opening on May 20th.

 

https://www.efteling.com/nl/pers/efteling-heropent-haar-deuren/

 

Note that the above press release is not available natively in English.

 

In close consultation with the safety regions, Efteling has decided to work with concrete steps towards a reopening of the amusement park. We aim to reopen our doors on May 20, 2020. We do this in an adapted manner and with a maximum number of guests (maximum 1/3 of the capacity of Efteling).

 

The cabinet's instruction 'stay home as much as possible' has now been relaxed to 'avoid crowds'. As a day attraction, we can take care of that like no other! We have all the necessities, knowledge and expertise in house to, even now, receive guests safely. We are ready for this with the protocol drawn up by industry associations Club van Elf and the Dutch Association of Zoos.

 

Safety is always our priority. We therefore open our theme park step by step. We start with a small group of guests and then welcome an increasing number of guests to our park. In this way, our employees can get used to new working methods and, if necessary, we can put the finishing touches.

 

The way it will work is that they will be doing empty trials with staff first. Then on the 16th and 17th, it's staff member families and locals. Then on the 18th and 19th, it's a select group of passholders. Finally, on the 20th, the park opens to everyone, but at a total of one-third capacity.