Efteling to expand?

[peep]

It would appear that Efteling is currently consulting with the local community about expanding on a large piece of land. Apparently there are no plans for the land yet so I'm assuming this is just to set aside enough room for any future expansion plans.

I noticed there's a road running straight through the middle of it and I can't see them expanding the park on to that land either so I can only imagine this is for a second park or future hotels.

Apparently the Efteling resort gets around 10 million visitors a year and by 2025 they want to double this figure to 20 million.

I do wonder if I'm getting a little lost in translation though so take my words with a pinch of salt

Source: Efteling Fansite

 

[nadroJ]

Double visitors? That is a massive undertaking, but if they've got the money to invest in a project like that then I say let them at it!

 

[Gavin]

That size area of land definitely looks like 2nd park territory. Efteling is pretty huge as it is and is already a full-day park. It would make no sense to expand by pretty much 100%. A second park doesn't mean they have to get 20 million visitors either; they just have to get the original 10 million to also visit, and pay for, the second park.

Easy!

 

[Martyn B]

Yes, my money would be on a second park too. That blue area is being shown as a car park.

 

[Nic]

It takes them about 5 years to build each new ride. The human race will have been wiped out by the time they finish building a whole new park. It's taken them over 60 years to get this far with the one they've already got!

 

[nadroJ]

Rumour going around that they're jumping on the mini-drop tower bandwagon:

Laaf Themed Double Drop Tower Ride - Rumor - (3/28/13) I’ve been told that the double family Zierer tower ride coming to Efteling is planned for 2014. The ride, themed to the Laaf origin story about how they traveled from the North Pole through caves in the earth to find Efteling. It will feature a cave themed queue and pre-show environment with projection effects. Along with this the park will open a newly revitalized and updated Droomvlucht in 2014. I’ve been told that Efteling will close down Droomvlucht for a 3.5 month long rehab project starting in September 2013.

 

[peep]

Yeah I saw this rumour the other week but seeing as they're only family drop towers thought no one would care.

I love the sound of the theming of the attraction and I hope it's true. If it happens it'll be expanding the Laaf people area next to the Anton Pieck square. The theme will apparently be an expansion of the Laaf World with a new TV show in development for the new characters being created.

The towers being referenced are the same as the ones installed the other year at Phantasialand. They're a fun little attraction and I can imagine heavily themed version of that ride type being even better. One thing that concerns me would be the throughput.