Theme Park Discussion / De Trip to De Efteling!

Last week I was on Easter vacation, and I got to spend it with one of my best friends who happens to live in Waalwijk in The Netherlands. She lived within biking distance from Efteling, so we absolutely HAD TO GO! My friend (who also happens to work there) gave me a "VIP" tour of the park, and I fell in love!

 

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Yup...that's me. The awkward kid with lady-hair

 

After walking through what seemed like an eternity of planters filled with tulips and fountains surrounded by tulips and buildings lined with (you guessed it) tulips, we came upon the dream flight which I had to BEG my friend and her brother to actually go on because to them it was "boring and slow". I probably looked like a 3-year-old while riding the Dream Flight (actually I know I did because of the picture they take at the end). The style of all the little dioramas was great, and it was fantastic to see it in real life and not on YouTube as a poorly lit POV or an RCT3 recreation.

 

We then strolled back to the corner where all the "fun" rides are.

-Python was...well, a Vekoma Corckscrew. two loops, a helix, and some corkscrews can only be so fun. But the ride's age did make it all a bit more intense, thus a bit more fun.

-Joris en de Draak was amazing. I have been on several racing woodies before, but never on one where both trains were actually running because Six Flags isn't exactly good at the whole "ride maintenance" thing. Fast, winding, intense woodies are my absolute favorite kind of coaster and it exceeded all of my expectations. I rod on the Water Dragon, and (sadly) we lost.

-The Flying Dutchman. Let me tell you, this was probably one of the best dark rides I have ever been on. The atmosphere of the indoor pars exceeded anything Disney has ever made. The giant ship and everything was absolutely fantastic, but I didn't get wet. At all. 

 

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Dat theming tho...

 

We also went on Vogel Rok which was a surprise. It's not a ride you often hear about, but it is really fun. I wasn't expecting it to be as roller coaster-y as it was. From what I had heard prior to going on it, I thought it was going to be like a faster Dream Flight, but i was MUCH faster and MUCH more fun than I thought!

 

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We also saw Raveleijn which was amazing! THAT HORSE WAS ON FIRE! Though I wish they told the story in English (so not JUST Dutch people could understand it), I had my trust little translators sitting beside me to help! 

 

Villa Volta was basically a GIANT mind fuck...like literally, what the fuck. And then, we ate pancakes at Polles Keuken. Funny story, "keuk" means something very........not good in Swedish so I couldn't help but giggle when I first saw the sign.

 

We rode Bobslee de Efteling which was also great. I felt like i was literally riding a magnificent piece of history, seeing that it is one of the oldest bobsled coasters operating today. We went to the haunted house which was...hilarious(?). I didn't know how I felt about it. I think we were just too old for that. Then, we rode the Pagoda because you have to ride the Pagoda. The view was so beautiful and you could see all the newly budding trees, and the forest was fifty shades green.

 

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We finished the day off with a walk through the fairy tale forest and a waffle from which I learned one very important lesson. Swedish waffles suck compared to the magic of chocolate-covered Dutch waffle. DAMN! That shit is good! During my week in The Netherlands, I think I ate at least 10-12 of those waffles. Thank you Dutch people for understanding how to properly eat waffles!

 

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All in all, I had an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC time in De Efteling! It definitely deserves the "Most Beautiful Park" award. The attention to detail was phenomenal, and I only had one complain: the employees seemed so depressed! Maybe i am just used to the incredibly garish "smile, smile, smile" attitude of Disney, but sometimes I just wished the people running the rides would try to have a little bit of fun with things, but the beauty of the park out-shined the employee's fat attitudes (which were still 100X better than any person working at Six Flags). The food beat every theme park (including Disney) by a long run.

 

There is definitely a reason why The Netherlands has a very solid (and superior) presence in the RCT community. If I had this easy of access to such a top-notch park as Efteling, I think I would have delved deeper into the world of coasters and RCT much earlier in my life.

sounds like you had a fun week!

 

also if you think those waffles are good, try them out at a 'poffertjes kraam', they have the best waffles ever there. but right now i feel weird, i've actually only gone to the efteling when i was like 5 in the winter and the rollercoasters were closed >_<

The food beat every theme park (including Disney) by a long run.

 

But only if you know, where to get it. A few weeks ago, MCI, Jonny93, me and three other guys visited the park an MCI got a Schnitzel which totally sucked. I think going into the fairy tale forest with someone who knows exactly how to get out of it is pretty good. That shit is a peepjam in real life.

 

I do understand your view about Droomvlucht. Honestly, when I visit the park it's not for the coasters, but for Droomvlucht, Fata Morgana and the Dark Ride Park of Vliegende Hollander. Btw, Raveleijn is supposed to have headphones with translation. I din't notice it either on my first visit.

 

Still, the theme park scene is incredibly strong in the Netherlands. It's just a small country with 2 incredible parks (Efteling and Toverland) and a very good park (Walibi Holland).

Walibi Holland gets more sucky every year though.

Walibi Holland gets more sucky every year though.

 

You sure? Xpress got a really great Queue and Station this year.

De Vliegende Hollander a good 'dark ride'? Or do you mean 'dark' ride? I don't think I've ever heard such a positive opinion on DVH's dark ride part... Have you been on Fata Morgana, by the way? Now THAT's a good dark ride. Also superior to Droomvlucht in my opinion.

 

You sure? Xpress got a really great Queue and Station this year.

 

Personally I don't really care about all that... They can paint as many rides as they like, but that doesn't make the park more or less interesting to me... Maybe less actually, as that whole band concept they got is horribly annoying and cringe-worthy... Goliath, Xpress' launch and the bumper cars are frankly the only reasons I still consider going to Walibi.

De Vliegende Hollander a good 'dark ride'? Or do you mean 'dark' ride? I don't think I've ever heard such a positive opinion on DVH's dark ride part... Have you been on Fata Morgana, by the way? Now THAT's a good dark ride. Also superior to Droomvlucht in my opinion.

 

The first ride on the Hollander is pretty mindblowing, tbh. I agree, that it loses his touch, when you are familiar with what happens.

 

Personally I don't really care about all that... They can paint as many rides as they like, but that doesn't make the park more or less interesting to me... Maybe less actually, as that whole band concept they got is horribly annoying and cringe-worthy... Goliath, Xpress' launch and the bumper cars are frankly the only reasons I still consider going to Walibi.

 

I really like th park, as it has a great number of decent and good coasters. With all these heavily themed parks in germany and the netherlands, I really enjoyed the stay in a park with a good amount of thrill coasters and attractions

I meant that Walibi's idea of a 'new' rollercoaster is just giving it a new paint job and call it new. Nothing good has happened there since it stopped being Six Flags Holland. 

I meant that Walibi's idea of a 'new' rollercoaster is just giving it a new paint job and call it new. Nothing good has happened there since it stopped being Six Flags Holland. 

 

The Speed of Sound is amazing now, and it has new trains. I would call that "something good"

i hate to agree with liam, walibi does get worse. the whole band thing is indeed cringy and IMO the speed of sound was better before it had the sucky music. also they haven't made new additions in ages. i do like the magician show though. and now with them replacing the classic colours of goliath i'm losing more and more faith in them. 

I was hoping they would maybe add a coaster some day, instead of just adding new trains and demolishing rides.