Efteling Baron 1898 Media Day

We were invited to go to Efteling today for the opening of their new coaster Baron 1898. Of course Efteling, being who they are, created a nice legend around this new ride.

The story goes that Baron Gustave Hooghmoed once found gold in this fertile soil. Now he has built a mine to delve this gold and become very rich. The earth spirits, appearing as white women (witte wieven in Dutch), tell him to leave the earth in peace. The Baron does not listen to them and is looking for miners to work in his mine. And so we as park guests can enter this mine and find out if we can survive the wrath of the white women.

 

The theming of this ride is awesome. There are so many details to look at and wherever possible authentic materials have been used alongside mist effects and video mapping. This creates a great atmosphere, as if you are entering a real turn of the century goldmine.

The ride itself is solid. It is a short coaster but the elements are nice, fluent, the helix pulls some G’s and to finish there is a nice little floater airtime hill. There are two preshows in the station building that are bilingual, Dutch and English. Another preshow is found after boarding the train and before going onto the lifthill.

 

I really liked the ride overall. I am a theming enthusiast, so the backdrop and story add a lot for me. I think the ride is perfect for Efteling to expand their ride offering to a more adventurous public. The park targets an audience of families and now they offer more for the daredevils every family surely has, while still maintaining the Efteling feeling.

 

But a picture says more than a thousand words, so here are a few.

 

We got the key to the new coaster today

But I had to dress up as a miner

Looks like I did a good job

I am part of the crew now

I love an event with chicks

The welcome was in front of the Efteling theater

And a marching band was disrupting the festivities

So the miners decided that we should follow the band to the mine

Lots of noise

Luckily the band knew the way and we did not get lost

There were quite a few guests

Efteling put up these big screens for people that were standing far away

The placing of Saint Barbara, patron of miners around the world

Baron Gustave Hooghmoed himself ushering us into the mine

The first riders

I can see myself!

After exiting the mine it is custom you drink milk to cleanse your insides of the dust

Efteling did a good job with the food at the event

My lovely photographer showing us where the coaster is

You can choose to be single rider or be fun and hang out with your friends

When entering the coaster they will give you these tickets that indicate your row

The entrance to the mine and the ride sign

Signage

Storage

Even the garbage bins have been given a Baron 1898 touch

Random bucket (or is it?)

Yes, we will join and work in the mine

This bell sounds every time a train goes down the shaft

There are so many lovely details on the building

The tower is just stunning!

More miners going down into the mine shaft

They look happy

More happy riders

We can fly!

Going upside down

Round and round

Even the chimney works

One last look at the mining complex

We had a lovely day! Thank you Efteling for building this great ride!

Edited July 1, 2015 by cfc

Great Opening Day EB! I wish I could get over there, and ride it now!

 

Am curious - are the loc-kers free, or needing a coin?

amazing theming, and it looks like a hella-fun ride!

It's not the biggest or fastest, but the theming and detail really make me want to ride that! Thanks.

Such a stunning ride, and great photos. Thanks for sharing! Glad to hear it is a good addition to the park!!

 

I wish more parks would invest the time... (and money) to have rides themed this well. (Obviously aside from Disney, Herschend, Universal and a few others.) Theming can take what would not normally be an "amazing ride," and turn it into an amazing masterpiece.

Thanks EB, I'll be adding pictures to the Park Index soon

I love it when parks go the extra mile with their theming. It looks like Efteling has done a fine job.

Awesome theming, looks like a fun ride. Great report EB.

Efteling have done a fantastic job with the theming on this new ride,looks awesome!

It's not the biggest or fastest, but the theming and detail really make me want to ride that! Thanks.

 

My sentiments exactly.

That is an awesome structure, imagine if they did that on Griffon at Busch Gardens, that would be a massive structure.

The theming of this ride is Disney level work. It looks like they really paid attention to every detail in making this ride. The actual coaster looks pretty basic but the theming makes up for it big time.

When you see something with this kind of theming, it makes you realize how truly C-class most of the parks in the US are (Cedar Fair, Six Flags, ect).

Dive coasters are so badass. I don't understand people that don't like them.

Great TR! Can't wait to ride in the coming couple of weeks...

Am curious - are the loc-kers free, or needing a coin?

 

I do not know, sorry. I think I read somewhere they are supposed to be free of charge but we did not use them so I do not know how they operate. The station itself also has bins for bags and glasses/mobile phones.

Love the amount of detail and the back story that has gone into this. Makes for a better experience then just a coaster!

Beautiful ride. Efteling is an amazing park. I wish more American parks followed this type of ride development.

Am curious - are the loc-kers free, or needing a coin?

 

You need 1 Euro to close the locker, when you open the loc-ker again you will get your Euro back.

For Dutchies the nearest dive coaster is in Northern Germany or the other side of the Channel, meaning that basicly for the regular visitor the ride on itself is already a huge deal. The theming just adds up and shows that a park, not owned by any chian, can surely make it. This ride just makes Efteling more interesting for families with teenagers, dads who like a thrill and also just teenagers on their own. Baron is, in my opinion, a thrill ride that still holds on to that Efteling and Dutch feeling.

 

Cannot wait to ride it!

I can't believe I got to ride it today. It's a fun ride and the queue is just beautiful (inside the building). Great report.

 

That drop looks to be >90°. Maybe it's just the angle of the photograph.

 

This coaster still delivers, in spades, despite it's rather small stature.

Yep, the drop is 87-degrees. I think most (if not all?) of the smaller diver coasters have shallower drops.

If you look closely, you will see the themed "cave" with little gold pieces.

 

 

 

source: http://themepark.nl/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2242929#Post2242929

^ I swear I knew there was gold somewhere (saw them lowering it inside the tunnel during construction) but you can't see it during the ride, Or yesterday I didn't see a single piece of gold. Nice touch tough.