What does Bart say? – A Theme Park blog!

Jan. 24, 2022, the day that is well remembered by every Efteling fan. Efteling comes out with a press release. We were all hoping it was a press release about reopening the park (with or without COVID-19 measures), but alas. The park remains closed. And that’s not the only thing that will remain closed. The Efteling announced in the press release that after the 2022 summer season, the Spookslot will close its doors and make way for a new attraction, yet to be announced for the 2024 season – Danse Macabre. The announcement came unexpectedly, especially for a park like the Efteling; it is regularly said by the park “We are building something for eternity“. Is Danse Macabre a worthy successor to Spookslot?

I was afraid of a chaotic opening, something similar like when Efteling sold the Spookslot pins and books. That was not the case with the opening of Danse Macabre, unannounced the park opened an hour early, along with all the attractions in the park. While a few ran into the park to be among the first to experience the attraction, the majority of people walked quietly towards the queue. The Efteling was prepared for crowds and created an external queue to accommodate everyone. An information board clearly indicated where the queue started, and what the waiting time was at that moment. At the time I joined the queue, the waiting time stood at 150 minutes.

After waiting in the external queue for about 80 minutes, the time had come … I was allowed to take my first steps into the Huyverwoud. The new themed area with catering, toilets (which are much needed in this part of the park), a souvenir store and Danse Macabre. Since I was still in an external queue, I quickly passed the new “Holle Bolle Gijs, brother Gijs. A beautifully executed Gijs that blends well into its surroundings.

Upon entering the queue, you notice right away that the Efteling has thought carefully about the queue. Most of the queue is covered. Which for our rainy country is not an unnecessary luxury. In the first part of the queue you recognize the sound of the monks from the former Spookslot. Nice to hear that this audio has not been lost. The queue is blocked at one point by a large double door, behind this door is the cemetery where you enter with a group of +- 108 people. Upon entering, the mausoleum of Joseph Charlatan immediately caught the eye. The conductor who together with his orchestra would first, and last, perform the Danse Macabre at the National Music Competition, on October 13, 1876. A nice detail on the graves of the orchestra members, and the mausoleum of Joseph Charlatan is the date of death; Oct. 13, 1876. After a voiceover tells the story of Danse Macabre, an iron gate opens and you are sent into the Huyverwoud. The story is told in Dutch, too bad. For an international park like the Efteling, you would have expected that by means of short English sentences (like in the preshow of Baron 1898) the story would also be clear to the international visitors. Perhaps something to add to the queue in the future. In the distance, church bells strike 12 times, and before you looms the abbey. Is now our time to play the Danse Macabre once and for all?

In the abbey there are 6 different corridors, each leading to a different choir stall. The corridors are dark, I am extremely night-blind so for me it was groping to make sure I didn’t bump into something, haha. At the end of the corridor is a door, which opens after a few minutes. A staff member waits for you with a lantern, and has you take a seat in one of the three rows on the choir bench. Before the Danse Macabre begins, there is plenty to see. My eye immediately fell on the organ, how beautifully executed it is!

It gets dark, and the Danse Macabre begins. The tension is well built up through light and sound effects. The disc begins to spin, and before you know it you are face to face with Joseph Charlatan. The conductor of the vanished orchestra, the violin appears and the Danse Macabre begins. You are short of eyes from this point on, no matter which direction the disc turns, in every place you see something appear.

The ride starts intense but ends moderately. At the beginning the tension built up so much that I expected more from the end of the ride. I feel that much more is possible with the ride system than the Efteling is showing right now. It is a prototype, so even for the Efteling it is discovering what is possible. I hope the Efteling is able to program multiple versions of the ride, so everytime you enter the ride it’s a different experience.

Besides the abrupt end of the ride, the squeaking sound is very disturbing, you can hear that the ride system is having trouble with certain movements. In my first ride I heard this less than the second time. It is not a disturbing sound, but once I heard it I started to focus on this instead of the music of the attraction.

To return to the question at the beginning of the blog “Is Danse Macabre a worthy successor to Spookslot?” I can say a resounding yes! With Danse Macabre and the Huyverwoud, the Efteling is setting the bar high for itself. After Max and Moritz (2020) and NEST! (2021), the Efteling has shown what they have to offer. After a period with fewer visitors (and thus less revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic), it is a bold investment, but I am glad the Efteling has taken this step. Intamin should be happy for the Efteling to put their new attraction type on the map like this.

Will we finally see the long-awaited “Strookrijk” as Eftelings next big project? Or does the Efteling have something else in store within the current park boundaries. One thing is for sure, if they keep developing at this level, the Efteling has a bright future ahead of them.

Thanks for reading, and until the next one!
Bart