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Efteling Expansion + New Coaster

Matt N

CF Legend
PA marketed Shambhala as a family coaster when it first opened, and that reaches 83mph! What are we trying to prove here?
 

Skip6788

Roller Poster
Im hoping for a vekoma mine train a la Big Grizzly (Disney HK Resort) would fit with the mining theme of the Baron.

Edit: Tokyo is ofcourse HK.
 
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Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
To be fair, the rides are pretty similar. But for the statement to be correct, "glorified" should be read as "done gloriously". It's the same basic concept at heart, a fast launcher which doesn't go upside down or very high. The problem with Rita is that that is all there is to say about it. Taron added a second launch, a few dozen near-misses, and reportedly some great forces (probably the result of a decade or so of software development allowing forces to be fine-tuned), and ended up making a much better ride on the same template.

For the record, some eyeballing suggests Taron and Rita having approximately the same footprint, although Rita is P-shaped while Taron fills pretty much all of a rectangular shape. Taron is obviously a lot longer, and a tad taller and faster, but they occupy roughly the same physical space. Colour me impressed with how large of a coaster Intamin has actually managed to build for such a small area. It also makes me optimistic about what Alton could actually do with the plot the day Rita finaly kicks the proverbial bucket, or for that matter what kind of coasters that could be delivered to parks with little room to spare.
 

Howie

Donkey in a hat
^'Mine' train + 'mine' themed dive coaster, geddit? S'obvious.
It probably won't happen, but having just had a peak at the Big Grizzly POV on YooToob, yeah, I can imagine Efteling doing something like that really well. Obviously they'd have to do it their way, the Efteling way, and not just copy the Disney ones, but hot damn, I would totally be 'on board' (geddit? ;) ) with a fairytale inspired, Efteling mine train.
 

Crazycoaster

Giga Poster
I think the “Huh?” Is more because the new ride is in a completely seperate part of the park, and it would not make sense to theme it to the Baron. Plus Efteling have already said that the theme of the ride will be “travelling”.
 

zazobo

Hyper Poster
To be fair, the rides are pretty similar. But for the statement to be correct, "glorified" should be read as "done gloriously". It's the same basic concept at heart, a fast launcher which doesn't go upside down or very high. The problem with Rita is that that is all there is to say about it. Taron added a second launch, a few dozen near-misses, and reportedly some great forces (probably the result of a decade or so of software development allowing forces to be fine-tuned), and ended up making a much better ride on the same template.

True, and your comparisons are interesting, but to me they're still so vastly different. You also make a valid point that it would be SO exciting to see what AT could put in Rita's place when it goes. Sadly I don't have the same faith in AT as I do in Phantasialand and I'm almost 100% sure we'll never see anything half as epic as Taron at AT :( ...but that's a different topic!
 

CSLKennyNI

Giga Poster
Efteling attracted a record number of visitors last year. 2017 saw 5.2 million people visit.
This means Efteling's target of 5 million visitors by 2020 has been reached 3 years earlier than anticipated.

Overview:
2014: 4.4 million
2015: 4.68 million (+ 6.3%) - Baron 1898 and Holiday village Bosrijk added.
2016: 4.76 million (+ 1.7%)
2017: 5.2 million (+ 9.2%) - Symbolica and Loonsche Land accommodation added.

Symbolica, Baron and all the new accomodation certainly did the trick.
The park's next target aims for them to attract 6 to 7 million visitors by 2030. To achieve this goal, they will continue to expand their accommodation offerings in the coming years and new attractions will be added.

http://eftelingsestraat.nl/efteling-nieuws/record-aantal-bezoekers-efteling/
 
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JoshC.

Strata Poster
A near 10% increase in visitors is good for any park really, but it's even more impressive for a park with visitor numbers like Efteling.

I hope that they can sustain those numbers and continue to grow! The new expansion should really help..
 

Dar

Hyper Poster
So spending money on new attractions, while also spending money on general upkeep and steady improvements, draws more people in and improves the bottom line, meaning they have even more cash to spend on large scale projects like Symbolica and the new area (that involves moving an access road) and vanity projects like re-tracking a 30 year old ride?

Someone should tell Merlin Ents.
 

CSLKennyNI

Giga Poster
Looopings.nl has now claimed that the 2020 launch coaster will be a family coaster with a low top speed and no inversions.
Good news for scared Efteling visitors: the new Efteling roller coaster will be an attraction for the whole family. In 2020, the Efteling wants to open a sensational rollercoaster with a launch, but it will not be an extreme ride. The fairytale park will build a large family attraction that is suitable for almost all ages.
Looopings can report this first. The launch roller coaster does not invert. Moreover, the pace is relatively low, just like with the Bob, for example. In this way, the Efteling wants to appeal to as broad a target group as possible.
The rollercoaster from the Swiss manufacturer Intamin will be located on a new piece of park between the Efteling Hotel and the Traptreintjes. For the time being, the Efteling says 2020 will be the opening year, but the municipality has not yet given planning permission for the construction.
The new attraction is becoming increasingly clear. Last month was already out that the Efteling has chosen a roller coaster with a launch. The park itself has not disclosed anything about the type of attraction. So far, only the location and the planned opening year have been confirmed.

Pretty much just what all the other rumours have been saying for ages (so it made me laugh that they boost about how they are reporting this first). Still expecting something like Juvelen.
 

CrashCoaster

CF Legend
The fact they seem to be promoting it as slow just makes it sound like ****, especially for coaster enthusiast. It makes me picture something like Yippe as opposed to Juvelen.
 
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