EFTELING
The Netherlands
 Park News - (2/24/2025) The DarkRide DataBase (DRDB) has revealed that Efteling’s De Vliegende Hollander has been completely renovating one of the dark ride scenes this winter. The scene in question is the lift hill located at the end of the dark ride portion of the water ride.
According to their report, previously the riders would be “swallowed by the ghost ship and plummet into darkness.” In the darkness the face of the captain would be seen on the ceiling, where it would eventually morph into a skull.”
The new scene will replace the captain’s scene with new scenic work that will appear to be the burning insides of his ship, The Flying Dutchman (De Vliegende Hollander), featuring smoke effects, burning barrels and more. According to the ride’s design, the scene is meant to be a visualization of the captain’s rotten soul.
The renovated scene for 2025 continues the ongoing efforts of the park to renovate and update other scenes in the ride, with the last updates done in 2023 when a ship graveyard scene was added.
(12/13/2024) Blooloop reports that Efteling has launched an updated version of the park’s current Aquanura water show, “Efteling Symphonica”. The show has been updated to become more environmentally friendly, removing the propane fueled fire effects and replacing them with various new lighting effects. The musical score has also been updated as well to create a new show experience.
Efteling has a long term plan to be “climate neutral” by 2030 and has a number of changes in the works. Already complete was the addition of a new sustainable energy system for heating and cooling in part of the park, and they are also working on updating the old steam trains to be electric instead, but will mimic the look and feel of the steam engines through special effects systems instead.
(11/21/2024) Blooloop reports that Efteling’s original Efteling Hotel will close for extensive renovations from January 2025 through to mid-April, and reopen under the new name, “Efteling Wonder Hotel”. According to the story, the hotel’s rooms were updated in 2021 and much of the exterior was updated in 2023, so this latest closure will complete the transformation with a complete renovation of the ground floor spaces.
This will also be done ahead of the delayed grand opening of the new Efteling Grand Hotel, now set for sometime later in 2025, so resetting the brand-name and identity of the original hotel to set it more apart from the new Efteling Grand Hotel is a smart strategy.
Late 2024 - Danse Macabre - (11/3/2024) Danse Macabre has finally opened att Efteling, and you can see a fun POV or two below showing off the new ride experience full of music and special effects! As you might expect, it is a very DARK experience, and I love how the ride ops escort groups to their seats with lanterns, adding to the creepy dark atmosphere of it all. Then the music rises and it’s all spinning, whirling, rise and falling with the music for this epic haunted concert of an attraction that looks so unique. Check it out below!
(10/3/2024) Efteling is now teasing the upcoming October 31st grand opening of their new Danse Macabre attraction. In addition to the online teaser, they’ve posted what is likely the final behind the scenes video about the creation of this massive new themed attraction that will actually give you a brief look at the new ride system in action as well as the incredibly themed dark landscape that surrounds it all.
2025 - Efteling Grand Hotel - (3/17/2025) According to Blooloop, the new Efteling Grand Hotel is now set to open to guests starting on August 1st, 2025, and reservations are now being accepted.
(2/4/2025) Efteling shares a sneak-peek inside their newest resort, the Efteling Grand Hotel, which is set to open this Summer. The unique 140-room property will actually be located within the grounds of the theme park itself and feature a number of unique offerings to future guests.
(1/7/2023) Efteling has started construction on a new hotel located next to the park’s main entrance building. You can get a fantastic look at the site from new aerial photos posted in the tweet below from @ringelbegNick .
(4/9/22) Efteling has revealed their next resort project will be called the Efteling Grand Hotel. Set to open in 2024, this will be the largest hotel at the theme park resort, and actually located within the park itself. Guests will find the new hotel overlooking the Aquanura water show and the Fairytale Forest sections of the theme park. Look for construction on the seven-story 143-room / 700 bed resort to begin this summer. Once it opens, the experience will be also available to theme park guests to come visit and enjoy the shops and two-restaurants built into the ground floor.
2025 - A New Fairy Tale - (6/30/2024) Efteling has also announced a new fairty tale will be added to Fairy Tale Forest, as they seek to create “The Princess on the Pea” by Spring 2025.
2030 Masterplan - (7/18/21) Efteling talks with BlooLoop about the development of the park over the years, as well as a peek at where they are going, now that the park’s 2030 development plans were finally approved in June. This includes a map of the overall site, with several future areas marked for expansion or “Uitbreiding” of Efteling Park in various directions.
(6/3/21) Efteling has won approval for the theme park resorts 2030 master plan, detailing how they would like to expand the resort over the next decade. Specific attractions are not mentioned, but they do show expansion sites for the park to use behind the Reizenrijk area, next to the Efteling Hotel and on sites currently used for overflow parking. Based on past rumors, it sounds like the expansion plans once intended for 2020 may be the first ones to be worked on in the near future, which was to add a new expansion land, possibly connected to the Reizenrijk area.
(1/20/18) Efteling is ready to begin moving forward with a dramatic plans to expand the park into new land as part of their "World of Efteling 2030" masterplan. According to a new post at BlooLoop, they have come to the government to ask for permission to begin working on the first phase of this expansion in order to prepare the 3 hectares site for a new attraction they wish to open in 2020.
According to a map shown, the first phase site will be across the back road of the park, right next door to the Efteling Hotel. This makes me wonder if the 2020 attraction, may be part of the New Coaster rumor we heard a few months back predicted for 2019... as the location given for the coaster (somewhere between Vogel Rok and the Ruigrijk area) is also exactly where the future 2020 to 2030 expansion site lies. Stay tuned...
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