First Visit to Toverland & Efteling - March 2023 - Part 2

[James F]

-March 4th: Toverland
I have been an enthusiast for as long as I can remember, but yet I still have less than 200 coaster credits. Since covid I am making an attempt to change that. Last year I was luckily enough to ride some incredible coasters. Why Toverland and Efteling? because the Netherlands was the cheapest place with the most credits available in winter.



The day started with with little to no crowds. I haven't come across many parks this empty on a Saturday. The chilled atmosphere was ruined slightly when 'Fenix' was listed as closed for the day.
I was half expecting this as the park is currently building a sky fly in the middle of Fenix's turnaround, but it still felt like a bit of a bummer. Still glass half full! as I can see the acclaimed Troy testing.

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I felt that it made more sense to do the smaller indoor rides first as they have lower capacity and are now at the back of the park. My first stop was 'Maximus Blitz Bahn' which is debatably a credit. I count it as one, but I'll take what I can get at this stage. I didn't take any photos of because I felt it would be intrusive to take close up pictures of strangers, but it was a fairly fun and forceful experience with a lot more theming than would would think for this sort of thing.



The next ride was the Mack Spinner 'Dwervelwind'. I have only done one other Mack Spinner which is 'Euro-Mir'. In comparison Dwervelwind is (as you would expect) a lot smother. There isn't a lot to say about it, other than it's a decent family coaster.



So I basically lied about Fenix being closed, well technically the park did first, but I needed some sense of narrative conflict to keep myself invested in writing.

So yay Fenix is open!




With Fenix only being my second wing coaster I was intrigued how this would compere with Thorpe's version.

Well It's basically an improvement in most cases. Fenix is a fast paced and a fairly intense experience.

The airtime hill didn't quite hit as much as I was expecting, but there was some decent floater. The best part of the ride is of course the ground hugging turnaround. This might look low key on POV's, but it one of the best moments of positive G's I have experienced in quite some time, to me it was reminiscent of the infamous helix on Nemesis. While the end of the layout is little lacklustre, the overall experience is solid and while I haven't been on many wing coasters I could see Fenix as being a stand out.





Troy does have a reputation for being one of Europe's best wooden coasters, but being a wooden coaster it can also ride very temperamental depending on the weather.

It was a chilly day, so I know I haven't gotten the best rides on this, but for me Troy was a disappointment. I would still say it's a solid 'good' coaster and I think I would rate it over Wickerman (which I also like), but did it rides like one of the best coasters in Europe? absolutely not.

It was rougher than your average GCI, nothing terrible but certainty noticeable. The ride had airtime but it was pretty mild. I did think it was better in the back, but even then it was nothing more than good. I think the laterals were strong, but that's not a huge plus for me.

A decent wooden coaster, but based on my rides I would take Wodan over this any day.




After rounding up the rest of the parks coasters and other rides I made my back to Fenix for some re-rides. After doing these mainland Europe parks I have come to realise that Vekoma has a complete stronghold of my coaster count. 20% of my coaster count is Vekoma, take that as you will.



After getting some last re-rides I called it a day. Toverland is a interesting park with 'small park vibes' despite having a B&M wing coaster and a 100ft+ GCI. While I think the park could do with a real stand out coaster or a stellar dark ride, it's a charming park which looks to have a bright future.

 

[Slamming Coastercore]

Great TR! It's such a shame that Troy has dropped off in the way that it has. On my first visit, it was phenomenal. The following 2 though, it felt really lackluster. I really hope that Toverland can return it back to its former glory!

 

[James F]

- March 5th: Efteling

To me Efteling feels like a mix of Alton Towers and Disney. It has all the attention to detail and beauty you expect from a Disney park with the setting and atmosphere similar to Towers. Granted Efteling of course has it's own identity outdating both parks, but I could help but feel oddly nostalgic walking around all the fairy tail theming within a woodland setting.

The crowds were a lot larger than they were at Toverland, but from just going into the turnstiles I knew that this wouldn't be an issue. This park has excellent crowd control and all of the rides were running at full capacity.

I originally planned to return for a second day, but as you will soon read; that didn't work out.



I made Symbolica my first ride of the day. It had already gathered quite a queue, but fortunately there was a single rider line that I could take advantage of. I got on the ride within 5 minutes and bypassed a 25-30 minute queue.

The ride itself is great as you would expect, but I can't help but feel that there is something lacking. I am sure if it's just me overhyping it or perhaps it's because it's just not as thrilling as all the other "world's greatest" dark rides. Spiderman, Forbidden Journey and Rise of the Resistance all having a 'Thrill' element to them that this just doesn't have, so as beautifully detailed and well put together the experience is, it just didn't give me that 'buzz' when I got off.

It's still undoubtedly a great dark ride though and I can see why people love it.



Vogel Rok was my first coaster of the day and wow this thing is actually pretty awesome!

While it's not going to make anyone's Top 10, I think it has a lot going for it. It's more forceful than I was expecting it to be and I loved the way it synchronised with it's soundtrack thanks to the on-board audio. For coaster built in the 90s by Vekoma, it's surprisingly smooth. I didn't have many expectations of it, but it was a pleasant surprise.



As you can tell, it was an overcast day, but Efteling still looks beautiful. If nothing else I think it's one of the prettiest parks I have been to, even more so than Disney or Europa.



Time to try the "no-so Vekoma" Vekoma. I don't have any complaints, it's as smooth as glass, the loops have a bit of bite to them, nothing above a 7/10, but it's the best ride it could possibly be. I glad the park invested in this coaster, there is something about an old school looper that is genuinely charming.



So I did miss out on the park's water coaster "De Vliegende Hollander", but on a cold March afternoon I wasn't exactly heartbroken.
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Joris en de Draak is the main coaster I was here for. After the disappointment that was Troy, I feared that it would be a repeated performance of a rather pedestrian experience (okay I am exaggerating a tad). Guys, Joris was running sooo much better than Troy. I am guessing it because it's being running throughout the winter? but wow this is what I want out out of a GCI, a fast paced and out of control experience with plenty of airtime pops. While admittedly not the best GCI, this duelling woodie is just pure fun and was certainly my favourite coaster of the trip. The work GCI have done with their titian track in incredible, not only is the turnaround silky smooth, but the transition back to the wooden track is flawless.
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Out of the two I had a preference for the water side as it has one of two extra airtime moments and feels a tad more intense.
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Oh and I have to mention of much of an earworm that soundtrack is. It slaps.



Take a small scale B&M dive coaster and give it Disney level theming. This is Baron and it's pretty darn good!

I got a back row ride on this and while the drop isn't as impressive as Oblivion's or Sheikra's it still packs a punch with a decent amount of floater on the way down. I remember the zero g roll feeling fairly whippy, but I don't remember much else.

For me this ride is all about the build up and in this instance I think it's a more than satisfying experience. Not to mention all the unnecessary but brilliant thematic little details you find in the queue and exit.



Fata Morgana was an interesting ride. Again brilliantly themed (other than the queue line). I can't say that I followed what exactly was happening, but I appreciated the amount of care than has gone into preserving a ride like this.



One last highlight from me was the Pagoda. This might sound weird, but the ride system reminded me of the tripod's in 'War of the Worlds'. There is something hypnotically terrifying about it. I couldn't help but think of that scene where the tripods emerge above the trees while Tom Cruise gets his steps in.

It's probably just me who thinks like this.

Anyway, it's another cool and unique experience that just adds to Efteling's charm.



I decided to leave the park a little early as I had gotten all the credits (Max and Morris was pretty decent - forgot to take a pic) and I had also done most of the major dark rides.

With the park fairly busy and knowing I had to get a bus back to the train station I felt it was best to get ahead of the crowds.
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Although If I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to the park tomorrow I would of stayed until close.
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The original plan was to revisit the park the following morning for some re-rides before my flight home in the evening, but sadly the train strikes on the 6th prevented me from doing so, I did look for alterative routes, but as I knew I would need to make it back to Eindhoven for my flight, I decided against it. While it would of been good to get a few more re-rides on Joris and Baron, the priority became getting to the airport. (on a dangerously crowded bus)

Hope you found some interest in reading, What do you guys make of Toverland and Efteling? I much preferred the latter, but there isn't really competition there.

While there wasn't any "elite" coasters on this trip, these parks have given me the opportunity to do something in the most boring period of the year, for that alone I believe this was a worthwhile trip.

 

[Brams]

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Troy does have a reputation for being one of Europe's best wooden coasters, but being a wooden coaster it can also ride very temperamental depending on the weather.

It was a chilly day, so I know I haven't gotten the best rides on this, but for me Troy was a disappointment. I would still say it's a solid 'good' coaster and I think I would rate it over Wickerman (which I also like), but did it rides like one of the best coasters in Europe? absolutely not.

It was rougher than your average GCI, nothing terrible but certainty noticeable. The ride had airtime but it was pretty mild. I did think it was better in the back, but even then it was nothing more than good. I think the laterals were strong, but that's not a huge plus for me.

A decent wooden coaster, But based on my rides I would take Wodan over this any day.

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Troy is normally on fire but the good train is in maintaining. Now on the track is standing the second train that kinda bad. Its shakes a lot more in this train

 

[Coastercal]

Hey, great read.

I’ve never done Efteling as of yet but have done Toverland. It’s a great park but I didn’t get any desire to rush back there. I feel their target is the same kind of audience Chessington target in the U.K but with a couple of bigger coasters. I loved Fenix there but prefer The Swarm still sadly. Troy was good fun but like you, I’d take woodan every day.

As someone who is planning to get to Efteling this year, would you recommend 1 or 2 days?

 

[James F]

Hey, great read.

I’ve never done Efteling as of yet but have done Toverland. It’s a great park but I didn’t get any desire to rush back there. I feel their target is the same kind of audience Chessington target in the U.K but with a couple of bigger coasters. I loved Fenix there but prefer The Swarm still sadly. Troy was good fun but like you, I’d take woodan every day.

As someone who is planning to get to Efteling this year, would you recommend 1 or 2 days?

Thanks!

It depends what your priorities are, if you are just there for the credits and the main rides then one day is fine, but if you want the full experience (the shows, fairytale forest, re-rides) then two days is your best bet. It's a shame I didn't get to experience a second day at Efteling because I think I would of rated the park higher if I had more time there.