Efteling

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Efteling
Location	Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands,
Website	www.efteling.com
Opened	1952
Operating season	April to October and December to January
Rides	32+ total 4 roller coasters 2 water rides

Efteling is the largest theme park in The Netherlands, and as it opened in 1952, it is one of the oldest theme parks in the world. Efteling is located in the town of Kaatsheuvel, in the municipality of Loon op Zand. In 1992 Efteling received the IAAPA Applause Award for Best Amusement Park in the World.

Originally the park catered towards children with a fairy tale theme. In over fifty years the park has evolved from a nature park with playground and a Fairy Tale Forest, into a full-size theme park along the lines of Disneyland It is twice as large as the original Disneyland park and predates it by three years. Nowadays Efteling appeals to both young and old with its cultural, romantic and nostalgic themes and its variety of amusement rides.

Contents 1 History 2 Design 3 Divisions 4 The park 5 Attractions, rides and fairy tales in Efteling and their designers 6 Awards 7 The Disney connection 8 Investments 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History

Efteling 'officially' opened on May 31, 1952, when the Fairy Tale Forest (het Sprookjesbos), designed by the famous Dutch illustrator Anton Pieck, was declared open. Initially, the Fairy Tale Forest was home to some ten different fairy tales, all of them brought to life using original drawings by Anton Pieck alongside ingenious movements and lighting and sound effects designed by the Dutch film maker Peter Reijnders. The life-size fairy tales, displayed together in an atmospheric forest, proved to be an enormous success. In 1952 alone Efteling welcomed 240,000 visitors.^{[citation needed]}

There is some debate about whether May 31, 1952, is the actual start of Efteling: some argue that 1950 should be considered the official year of the park's establishment, since in that year Stichting Natuurpark de Efteling, or Efteling Nature Park Foundation, was founded. Others prefer 1953, when Efteling was declared 'open' by a government official, coinciding with the opening of the park's second large restaurant facility that still exists as De Ballonvaarder.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Design

The success of Efteling has been attributed largely to its high-quality ride designs and architecture and its pleasant green environments and gardening. The park, under the aegis of its creative directors, has always had high standards. When Anton Pieck was asked to design the initial fairy tales for the park, he made sure the park would live up to his personal high standards: there would be no use of cheap building materials, plastic or concrete. Pieck's illustration style, somewhat grim and dark, yet also romantic and nostalgic, was the thematic base on which most future expansions were built.

Pieck worked for Efteling until the mid 1970s, when his position as chief designer was passed on to the young Ton van de Ven. Van de Ven had already been working for Efteling for several years and Pieck was very pleased with his work. The Haunted Castle (het Spookslot), which opened in 1978 as the park's first new large ride, was the first attraction designed entirely by Van de Ven (although he used some ideas from joint brainstorming sessions with Pieck). Later on he designed many more successful rides and new fairy tales, leading him to be considered by some as the world's best 'imagineer' after Disney.

Van de Ven continued his work until 2002, when he retired. A new team of imagineers is currently working on new Efteling rides.

[edit] Divisions

Efteling has been divided in four sections; the themepark (1952), the four-star Efteling Hotel (1992), the 18-hole golf course (1995) and the holiday park with bungalows which is about to be built. The theater which was used for park shows is to be developed in a property to house big theatre productions which are not included in park admissions. The theatre can therefore be considered as a fifth section. The hotel was operated by Golden Tulip for some years, but Efteling decided recently to manage it independently. All three divisions are profitable nowadays, although it took the golf course several years to break even. The divisions are contained in commercial corporations, but all shares are still held by the non-profit Efteling Naturepark Foundation (Stichting Natuurpark de Efteling).

[edit] The park

Efteling currently covers approximately 160 acres (650,000 m²). This area has changed only marginally over the course of its history. However, the park's foundation owns a much larger area of land, covered mostly with young forest, some grassland, roads, and an 18-hole golf course.

The park is divided into four themed areas or 'realms,' though these are not entirely comparable to Disney's 'lands.' Originally, the park was divided into four areas called North, West, East, and South, with most of the park's historical rides and attractions, like the Fairy Tale Forest, located in West. When the park reorganized its infrastructure in the late 1990s (adding the Pardoes Promenade and a central hub called Efteling Brink), it also changed its area names. North was changed to Reizenrijk (Travel Realm), West became Marerijk (Fairy Realm), East became Ruigrijk (Rough Realm), and South became Anderrijk (Differ Realm).

Most of these names may sound cryptic and whether they suit their areas is debatable, because the park was not built with this division in mind at all. Perhaps the area most suited to its name is Ruigrijk, where most fast rides like the double-loop roller coaster Python (constructed in 1981) are located. However, on closer inspection the other names make some sense too. Marerijk is the home to the Fairy Tale Forest and the Fairies of the Droomvlucht, Anderrijk has some rides that are inspired by non-Western cultures (e.g. Fata Morgana and Piraña), while Reizenrijk has the Carnaval Festival ride, which travels through several different 'countries.'

Not only the Fairy Tale Forest, but almost the entire Efteling park was built in a rather rural area, with lots of pine trees, giving it a 'nature park' feeling. Together with the large ponds and gardens (with thousands of flowers, and maintained by an army of gardeners), the park's abundant greenspace is rather unusual among the world's leading themeparks.

The only large park that seems to get close to this special atmosphere is Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.^{[neutrality disputed]} Unfortunately, Dutch climate and the reliance on greenery and trees for a huge part of the park's looks (and theming) prevent year-round opening in full. Efteling used to be closed all winter (only being open from April through October), but the park's management, struggling to make the park more profitable and creating a better return-on-investment, has been experimenting with a so-called "Winter Efteling" since 1999 (see index below for attractions closed during "Winter Efteling"). Thanks to great efforts to decorate the park using loads of pine trees and thousands of Christmas lights in winter, "Winter Efteling" is growing more popular every year, reaching a climax during the holidays when thousands of people visit the park.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Attractions, rides and fairy tales in Efteling and their designers

1952 - Fairy Tale Forest (Anton Pieck, Peter Reijnders, Ton van de Ven, Henny Knoet, Michel den Dulk and Karel Willemen)
1956 - Steam Carousel (Dutch: Carrousselpaleis, bought from L. Janvier)
1969 - Efteling Steamtrack Line (Dutch: Efteling Stoomtrein Maatschappij, a large scale Train ride)
1971 - Diorama (Anton Pieck)
1978 - Haunted Castle (Dutch: Spookslot) (Haunted attraction, Ton van de Ven)
1981 - Python (double Loop Corkscrew Roller coaster, Vekoma) Closed during “Winter Efteling”
1981 - Gondoletta (Water ride, Ton van de Ven) Closed during “Winter Efteling”
1982 - Half Moon (Dutch: Halve Maen) (Ship swing, Ton van de Ven) Closed during “Winter Efteling”
1983 - Piraña (a River Rafting Ride, Ton van de Ven) Closed during “Winter Efteling”
1984 - Carnival Festival (Dutch: Carnaval Festival) (dark ride, Geesink)
1984 - Polka Marina (a combination of a carousel and a mini-rollercoaster)
1984 - Tin Lizzies (Dutch: De Oude Tuffer) (Car Ride, Ton van de Ven)
1985 - Bob Track (Dutch: Bobbaan) (Bobsled roller coaster, Intamin) Closed when snowing during “Winter Efteling”
1986 - Fata Morgana (dark ride, Ton van de Ven)
1987 - Pagoda (Observation tower, Ton van de Ven)
1988 - Monsieur Cannibale (Teacups Ride, Henny Knoet)
1990 - The People of Laaf (Dutch: Volk van Laaf) (Ton van de Ven)
1991 - Pegasus (Junior Wooden roller coaster, Dinn & Summer) Closed during “Winter Efteling”
1993 - Dreamflight (Dutch: Droomvlucht) (dark ride, Ton van de Ven)
1996 - The House of the Five Senses (the park's spectacular entrance, Ton van de Ven)
1996 - Villa Volta (madhouse, Ton van de Ven)
1998 - Bird Rok (Dutch: Vogel Rok) (Enclosed Roller Coaster, Ton van de Ven)
2002 - Efteling Theatre (Dutch: Efteling Theater) (Theatre, Ton van de Ven)
2002 - PandaVision (Dutch: Pandadroom) (a 4-D film cinema, Van Doorn and associates)
2007 - The Flying Dutchman (Dutch: De Vliegende Hollander) (Water coaster / dark ride, Karel Willemen)

[edit] Awards

• In 1972 the Efteling was the first theme park to receive the Pomme d'Or for best European themepark. The Pomme d'Or (Golden Apple) is the highest award in the European tourist industry.
• In 1992 the IAAPA Applause Award was awarded for the best themepark in the world.
• In 1997 Villa Volta as first 'new style' madhouse in the world receives the Thea Attraction Award.
• In 2005 the Efteling received the THEA Classic Award for the year 2004, a notable token of recognition for an amusement park, because it is awarded by other people in the industry.^[1] Efteling is the second park to receive a prize for their entire oeuvre, the first being Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark.

[edit] The Disney connection

Efteling has a good relationship with the Disney themeparks. Disneyland Paris consulted Efteling during its construction and design phase, in order to adapt the American park to European culture. As a token of appreciation the Disney Company gave Efteling a small statue. Ton van de Ven, who designed many of Efteling's attractions, is also a good friend of Disney's Tony Baxter (senior vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering). The relationship between the two parks was emphasized when Efteling won the 2004 Thea Classic Award, the highest honor awarded by the Themed Entertainment Association: Efteling had, as it turned out, been nominated by Tony Baxter.^[1][2]

There is in fact a legend of sorts connecting Disney and Efteling: for years, rumors have circulated that Walt Disney got his inspiration for Disneyland (which opened in 1955), from Efteling (which opened in 1952)--and in the early 1950s Walt Disney traveled to Europe a few times, visiting tourist attractions. Reportedly, a brochure from the IAAPA, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, even states that Disney "spent a great deal of time studying Pieck's work at Eftling [sic] before beginning his own parks." However, the rumor was discretited by Efteling: one of the causes of the rumor was an off-hand remark by a PR person for Efteling, who had dropped to reporters that Disney could well have visited Efteling--the reporters accordingly dropped the hypothetical from the phrase, and a legend was born. Disney probably did not visit Efteling at all, though he did visit Madurodam and Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen; the latter actually did provide some inspiration for Disneyland.^[3]

[edit] Investments

On December 11, 2008, theme park officials announced that they would spend 40 million euros during the years 2009-2012 on 3 large construction projects: a convention center (accommodating 1500 visitors), an arena from the Middle Ages for 750 show spectators, and a redesign for Snack bar "De Likkebaerd" to turn it into a station for the park's steam train. They also said they didn't expect to suffer from the economic crisis because they have drawn more visitors in such periods in the past.^[4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Efteling

• Efteling.com (official website)

Coordinates: 51°39′01″N 5°02′53″E / 51.65028°N 5.04806°E / 51.65028; 5.04806