Pink Cadillac
Giga Poster
Efteling didn’t really come onto my radar until this year. I always knew it existed but thought it was just a big family park in the middle of nowhere, which it is, but it’s similar to Disney so I had to go. I had a few hours to kill on the first day so I went to a pretty town called Utrecht as it looked nice and I had to change trains at the station. Funnily enough, another CFer was there like two days later.
It was a nice way to spend a couple of hours, but I now wish I had done it in Amsterdam (as I ran out of time there).
It had pretty canals and streets and was much quieter than Amsterdam.
In some areas you were able to get down to the canal level.
After I ate, I got lost. <3
I then got some fruit from this shop where it seemed compulsory to use your card to buy anything and caught a train to Den Bosch. I was surprised how modern and easy to use the buses (and bus stop) were. In the bus you get a list of all the stops and the estimated time of arrival. So impressed.
<3
One problem was the tap water tasted like blood.
The next day I went to breakfast which was free. I was very out of place, it mostly business people there. The hotel was supposed to be only 30+ minute walk away and I wanted to arrive to the park early. Obviously because I'm me, that didn't happen, but I arrived like 20 mins later. Oh and on on the way this motorcyclist (y'know those things that whiz past you when driving) was on the path and almost ran into me. And apparently it was my fault.
[strike]tbf it was[/strike]
I got really giddy walking down to the entrance.
It was weird being in a new park because I didn't know where anything was and I made the mistake of turning right after the entrance. However, I found Baron 1898 fairly easily.
It was amazing how many people were confused about the single rider queue despite it being explained in four different languages. The queue was also held up by groups in the single rider queue not wanting to be split up.
The wait times shown are the wait to get a ticket with your row number on (I got front row every time <3). Then you have to wait to get into the building, wait inside the building, stand through a pre-show, then wait in another room before going into the station and boarding. I only went on it three times across both days, but the process was getting a bit tedious. Having said that, I enjoyed the pre-show and the theming and It's better than standing in the outside queue the whole time.
I loved the coaster. The drop into the mist was great, but it's no Oblivion. The rest was fun, nothing more, maybe even a bit irrelevant.
The area was lovely and so well executed, it's hard to imagine what was there before. I thought it felt 'Disney' to me because everything was nice, clean, polished and prestigious.
The photos aren't perfect but I tried </3
There were nice little touches as well.
After one ride I wandered down to de Vliegende Hollander.
I was looking forward to this because I'd seen pictures of the theming and I knew it had a small indoor section.
The queue line was amazing as was the station area and the music is still in my head.
I did like the ride and it met my expectations, but I hated the jolt you got at the start of the lift hill.
I didn't get wet which was a bonus.
I can't take any photos of anything moving. ^ Those were the best ones </3
Next was Joris en de Draak which I was anticipating. I hadn't done a GCI since Gwazi, so riding a newer one would be a new experience. Waiting in the station with the music and the coaster roaring outside reminded me of when Harry potter was waiting in the tent to before taking on the Hungarian Horntail in the Goblet of Fire.
It was great, it had more laterals than I was expecting, especially after straight bit where you're next to the other train. I like how seriously the racing element of the ride is taken. You have to sit at the back to any airtime (only found on the first drop).
I don't know which side I preferred, but I noticed the water/fire effects were out of sync and ended making no impact on the riders.
I went to the area with the swinging ship (I hadn't been on one since I was very little, so I had to that).
And this thing almost got my leg ^
I continued round to Vogel Rok. It was cute. I didn't understand it, but it was cute. It was quite forceful too - on the second day I rerode it and on the ORP my neck was bent into this stupid position.
I love little things like this. Except for this thing:
[youtube]
which can go to hell.
I liked the clientele.
This looked nice from the outside, but wasn't that good. I didn't understand what was going on either.
Droomvlucht was amazing! I love the aesthetic and the vast scale and detail of the sets. Definitely the best non-Disney/Universal dark ride I've been on. I then went on a train ride around the park, got some lunch at Het Witte Paard and watched everyone struggle as it started raining.
Afterwards the heavens properly opened. </3
I didn't know this was here.
Spookslot was next. I knew it was a haunted attraction, but I didn't know what it was. Walking into pitch darkness is always fun on your own. The attraction was completely bizarre.
Its time for the people eater! With an unnecessary amount of cattlepens.
I loved it. It was imaginative, long and had loads of animatronics (especially in one scene). The area and the music was great too.
I then did up the other creds which were alright and whored Joris as they were running two trains on each side. I noticed Baron 1898 had a 15 queue so I headed over there thinking the single rider queue would be even shorter. It wasn't. It showed 25 mins! (this was a regular occurrence) :--D :--D :--D :--D :--D :--D :--D *walks away calmly*
1 minute later...
I hid in the Bob queue.
I hadn't seen Raveleijn yet so why not now.
Didn't get what was going on. But I enjoyed the set design.
And they had a five headed steampunk dragon. My favourite part was the bit with the crows/ravens. This fab woman clicked her fingers and they all flew to her.
We both just stood outside the restaurant realising it was closing time. So it was ice cream and donuts for dinner. I got soaked on the way home and it only started raining 1 minute from the hotel.
As I was late to the park the first day I just knew I was going to be on time today. Surprise. I left ten minutes before the park opened and broke a heel trying to make up the time.
I went on the rapids first because i though I'd get my own raft.
It wasn't very good. The raft ahead of me was stuck - I bumped into them and they were off and I was stuck. The next people came and bumped into me and we were both stuck. From then on the other rafts just went up the inside of us and we were left bobbing in the water for ages. It was a bit awkward.
Did some of my faves before heading to the fairytale forest.
Crows <3
Me when anyone spoke Dutch to me.
The kid didn't catch his coin and rolled underneath the construction walls behind. *cackles*
This was impressive and the way the branches swayed was very effective.
Fairytale forest was alright-ish. Wasn't expecting much from it.
I went on Pandadroom which was TRAGIC. The seatless pre-show with pillars blocking the screens. The cgi. The delayed and pointless 4D effects. The felled tree coming down from the ceiling. The lack of any sort of plot. It's only saving grace was the exit area, which is where I had lunch (The Octopus restaurant).
This area was nice too
There were these grimy things that held water and there was a sign saying "drinkwater" but the water was green and I was confused and repulsed. Someone explain.
I noticed the boats were sheltered, which gave me something to do in the rain.
My friends joined me.
I can't remember what happened next, but at the end of the day I watched the fountain show.
Everything is nice here.
It was good. I like the incorporation of the theme park music.
The final day was to be spent in Amsterdam. My flight was at 22:00 so I'd have most of the day there. When I got to Amsterdam I headed for the Anne Frank House. I wasn't really sure where I was going, but I found it from the queue. The queue was huge and my patience wasn't. This is when I realised how flawed my "day plan" was. I was supposed to visit Zannse Schans after the AFH, but I couldn't be bothered walking back to the train station so I headed south.
There was a large square full of tourists.
There as a quiet place called Begijnhof, which was much needed because I was getting a bit overwhelmed, but it was raining hard (I was desperate enough to hide in a church), so after 10 minutes I moved on.
After a few wrong turns I found the Amsterdam Dungeon. I was going to be brave and do this so I stood in the queue.
1 minute later I was on my way to the bloemenmarkt.
I was really disappointed with myself because I hadn't actually done anything yet or committed to anything and it was the afternoon.
The canal cruise was good. The audio was a bit corny but interesting.
Anne Frank House
Her actual house?
Very dark + rainy + poor photography
They used these hooks to get large objects like furniture into the houses. I think.
I don't recommenced this.
The Rijksmuseum is world famous (apparently) but it looked really boring so I stayed clear.
f-ff-football... *shudders*
This is more me and I got a student discount via a university I don't go to. <3
It was a modern art museum. The ground floor was my favourite which was about art through household objects. I only took one photo because it was flashing this red light so I didn't risk annoying people with it.
Time to head back. I didn't get much done but oh well.
I had high expectations of Efteling and the park fulfilled them. There's something about it that Phantasialand lacks. I'd also say Amsterdam was one of the better cities I've been to. Not very insightful, but I just want this thing posted.
It was a nice way to spend a couple of hours, but I now wish I had done it in Amsterdam (as I ran out of time there).
It had pretty canals and streets and was much quieter than Amsterdam.
In some areas you were able to get down to the canal level.
After I ate, I got lost. <3
I then got some fruit from this shop where it seemed compulsory to use your card to buy anything and caught a train to Den Bosch. I was surprised how modern and easy to use the buses (and bus stop) were. In the bus you get a list of all the stops and the estimated time of arrival. So impressed.
<3
One problem was the tap water tasted like blood.
The next day I went to breakfast which was free. I was very out of place, it mostly business people there. The hotel was supposed to be only 30+ minute walk away and I wanted to arrive to the park early. Obviously because I'm me, that didn't happen, but I arrived like 20 mins later. Oh and on on the way this motorcyclist (y'know those things that whiz past you when driving) was on the path and almost ran into me. And apparently it was my fault.
[strike]tbf it was[/strike]
I got really giddy walking down to the entrance.
It was weird being in a new park because I didn't know where anything was and I made the mistake of turning right after the entrance. However, I found Baron 1898 fairly easily.
It was amazing how many people were confused about the single rider queue despite it being explained in four different languages. The queue was also held up by groups in the single rider queue not wanting to be split up.
The wait times shown are the wait to get a ticket with your row number on (I got front row every time <3). Then you have to wait to get into the building, wait inside the building, stand through a pre-show, then wait in another room before going into the station and boarding. I only went on it three times across both days, but the process was getting a bit tedious. Having said that, I enjoyed the pre-show and the theming and It's better than standing in the outside queue the whole time.
I loved the coaster. The drop into the mist was great, but it's no Oblivion. The rest was fun, nothing more, maybe even a bit irrelevant.
The area was lovely and so well executed, it's hard to imagine what was there before. I thought it felt 'Disney' to me because everything was nice, clean, polished and prestigious.
The photos aren't perfect but I tried </3
There were nice little touches as well.
After one ride I wandered down to de Vliegende Hollander.
I was looking forward to this because I'd seen pictures of the theming and I knew it had a small indoor section.
The queue line was amazing as was the station area and the music is still in my head.
I did like the ride and it met my expectations, but I hated the jolt you got at the start of the lift hill.
I didn't get wet which was a bonus.
I can't take any photos of anything moving. ^ Those were the best ones </3
Next was Joris en de Draak which I was anticipating. I hadn't done a GCI since Gwazi, so riding a newer one would be a new experience. Waiting in the station with the music and the coaster roaring outside reminded me of when Harry potter was waiting in the tent to before taking on the Hungarian Horntail in the Goblet of Fire.
It was great, it had more laterals than I was expecting, especially after straight bit where you're next to the other train. I like how seriously the racing element of the ride is taken. You have to sit at the back to any airtime (only found on the first drop).
I don't know which side I preferred, but I noticed the water/fire effects were out of sync and ended making no impact on the riders.
I went to the area with the swinging ship (I hadn't been on one since I was very little, so I had to that).
And this thing almost got my leg ^
I continued round to Vogel Rok. It was cute. I didn't understand it, but it was cute. It was quite forceful too - on the second day I rerode it and on the ORP my neck was bent into this stupid position.
I love little things like this. Except for this thing:
[youtube]
I liked the clientele.
This looked nice from the outside, but wasn't that good. I didn't understand what was going on either.
Droomvlucht was amazing! I love the aesthetic and the vast scale and detail of the sets. Definitely the best non-Disney/Universal dark ride I've been on. I then went on a train ride around the park, got some lunch at Het Witte Paard and watched everyone struggle as it started raining.
Afterwards the heavens properly opened. </3
I didn't know this was here.
Spookslot was next. I knew it was a haunted attraction, but I didn't know what it was. Walking into pitch darkness is always fun on your own. The attraction was completely bizarre.
Its time for the people eater! With an unnecessary amount of cattlepens.
I loved it. It was imaginative, long and had loads of animatronics (especially in one scene). The area and the music was great too.
I then did up the other creds which were alright and whored Joris as they were running two trains on each side. I noticed Baron 1898 had a 15 queue so I headed over there thinking the single rider queue would be even shorter. It wasn't. It showed 25 mins! (this was a regular occurrence) :--D :--D :--D :--D :--D :--D :--D *walks away calmly*
1 minute later...
I hid in the Bob queue.
I hadn't seen Raveleijn yet so why not now.
Didn't get what was going on. But I enjoyed the set design.
And they had a five headed steampunk dragon. My favourite part was the bit with the crows/ravens. This fab woman clicked her fingers and they all flew to her.
We both just stood outside the restaurant realising it was closing time. So it was ice cream and donuts for dinner. I got soaked on the way home and it only started raining 1 minute from the hotel.
As I was late to the park the first day I just knew I was going to be on time today. Surprise. I left ten minutes before the park opened and broke a heel trying to make up the time.
I went on the rapids first because i though I'd get my own raft.
It wasn't very good. The raft ahead of me was stuck - I bumped into them and they were off and I was stuck. The next people came and bumped into me and we were both stuck. From then on the other rafts just went up the inside of us and we were left bobbing in the water for ages. It was a bit awkward.
Did some of my faves before heading to the fairytale forest.
Crows <3
Me when anyone spoke Dutch to me.
The kid didn't catch his coin and rolled underneath the construction walls behind. *cackles*
This was impressive and the way the branches swayed was very effective.
Fairytale forest was alright-ish. Wasn't expecting much from it.
I went on Pandadroom which was TRAGIC. The seatless pre-show with pillars blocking the screens. The cgi. The delayed and pointless 4D effects. The felled tree coming down from the ceiling. The lack of any sort of plot. It's only saving grace was the exit area, which is where I had lunch (The Octopus restaurant).
This area was nice too
There were these grimy things that held water and there was a sign saying "drinkwater" but the water was green and I was confused and repulsed. Someone explain.
I noticed the boats were sheltered, which gave me something to do in the rain.
My friends joined me.
I can't remember what happened next, but at the end of the day I watched the fountain show.
Everything is nice here.
It was good. I like the incorporation of the theme park music.
The final day was to be spent in Amsterdam. My flight was at 22:00 so I'd have most of the day there. When I got to Amsterdam I headed for the Anne Frank House. I wasn't really sure where I was going, but I found it from the queue. The queue was huge and my patience wasn't. This is when I realised how flawed my "day plan" was. I was supposed to visit Zannse Schans after the AFH, but I couldn't be bothered walking back to the train station so I headed south.
There was a large square full of tourists.
There as a quiet place called Begijnhof, which was much needed because I was getting a bit overwhelmed, but it was raining hard (I was desperate enough to hide in a church), so after 10 minutes I moved on.
After a few wrong turns I found the Amsterdam Dungeon. I was going to be brave and do this so I stood in the queue.
1 minute later I was on my way to the bloemenmarkt.
I was really disappointed with myself because I hadn't actually done anything yet or committed to anything and it was the afternoon.
The canal cruise was good. The audio was a bit corny but interesting.
Anne Frank House
Her actual house?
Very dark + rainy + poor photography
They used these hooks to get large objects like furniture into the houses. I think.
I don't recommenced this.
The Rijksmuseum is world famous (apparently) but it looked really boring so I stayed clear.
f-ff-football... *shudders*
This is more me and I got a student discount via a university I don't go to. <3
It was a modern art museum. The ground floor was my favourite which was about art through household objects. I only took one photo because it was flashing this red light so I didn't risk annoying people with it.
Time to head back. I didn't get much done but oh well.
I had high expectations of Efteling and the park fulfilled them. There's something about it that Phantasialand lacks. I'd also say Amsterdam was one of the better cities I've been to. Not very insightful, but I just want this thing posted.
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. Efteling is at the top of my park bucket list, even more so after reading that...
