EFTELING
The Netherlands
 Park News - (3/11/2023) Congratulations to Efteling, as the theme park has officially reported hitting their highest attendance levels in the entire history of the park during 2022. According to the report at Blooloop, the Dutch theme park welcomed 5.43 million guests last year, and this was despite having a temporary closure of the park early on in the season due to government COVID protocols in the area. This was helped by the park celebrating its 70th Anniversary in 2022, opening the World of Sindbad area along with new attractions.
(1/21/2023) Efteling is said to be currently installing an additional 12,000 solar panels as part of an initiative for the theme park to become “climate positive” by 2023. The massive solar array was said to be comparable in size to six football fields and be hidden from sight by embankments, trees and hedges. It is estimated that this new solar generator would be able to provide about 35% of the park’s annual electric needs.
(12/26/2022) Some great pictures of the new Titan Track being installed at Efteling on Joris en dr Draak have been posted to Twitter. Looking good guys… and pretty soon you’ll be able to enjoy a smoother ride experience.
(12/5/2022) Pictures posted by Theme Park Insanity on FB confirm that yet another wooden roller coaster is adding sections of GCI’s new Titan Track to help smooth out rough or troublesome sections of the park’s Joris en de Draak coaster.
2023 - Nothing is expected to be added at this time...
2024 - Danse Macabre and Efteling Grand Hotel - (3/11/2023) Efteling has revealed some new concept art for the upcoming Danse Macabre attraction, which will feature the creation of the errie “Huyverwoud Forest” area, along with some equally creepy new food and beverage locations called “In den Swarte Kat” and “t Koetshueys”. The fascinating new attraction will also see the premier of a unique ride system not used anywhere else in the world from Intamin.
(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 .
(11/9/22) Just a warning, but fans of Efteling may cringe a bit watching the videos below. They show off a demolition crew slowly breaking down portions of the the old Spookslot themed exterior building. Piece by piece, brick by brick, the crumbling mass comes tumbling down as the crane operator expertly picks and claws and cuts away at it, crushing the sections into rubble to make way for the new Danse Macabre in 2024.
(11/2/22) According to Blooloop the new Danse Macabre attraction opening at Efteling in 2024 will feature a unique ride system not seen anywhere else in the world. They describe it as having an 18-meter wide turntable, with six smaller turntables on top, each with “six choir stalls”, holding a total of 108 guests. The larger turntable will then be able “to rise, tilt and fall, spin like a coin, and fall flat. “
Intamin has been working closely with the park toi create the new ride system for the attraction that will replace the park’s former Haunted Castle / Spookslot attraction.
(5/21/22) Efteling has confirmed that the park’s Spookslot haunted castle attraction will be replaced by a new dark themed attraction called Danse Macabre in 2024. The new indoor attraction is said to be the anchor of a new themed area for the park. The new attraction will use the former Spookslot as inspiration and may even feature some fun throwback elements along the way.
Meanwhile, guests have until the end of this summer season to enjoy Spookslot before it closes for good.
(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.
(1/27/22) We also have a bit of bad news for Efteling fans. The park announced that they will be closing down the Spookslot Haunted House attraction later during the 2022 season. The attraction is leaving to make way for a new high capacity indoor attraction concept that is expected to entertain 1250 guests per hour. The new attraction will be built as part of a “renewed thematic area” between the Pardoes Promenade, Baron 1898 and Max & Moritz attractions. No timeline was given as to when the new attraction would open.
Meanwhile the park also plans to build a new seven story hotel with 143 rooms. Both are expected to open for the 2024 season. Look for the new hotel to be built near the park entrance.
Below you can also see a video of the Spookslot attraction experience that seems to be a blend of a walk-through experience with a big show scene for the finale.
???? - New Attraction - (10/15/20) With the announcement of “Nest!” for 2021, it seems that the previous 2020 plans that were already pushed back to 2021 way back in 2018, have likely been pushed even further back. Stay tuned!
(10/10/18) According to the report posted at Themeparks.EU, Efteling former 2020 plans have been pushed back to 2021. This will see a new attraction expansion on the east side of the park, near the hotel, that will include a new themed area that will become part of the Reizenrijk area of the park.
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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