Earlier this year, Efteling, the fantasy-themed amusement park in the Netherlands, unveiled its new spooky-themed area and indoor attraction, Danse Macabre. Set to open in 2024, the attraction will feature a unique ride system, not yet built anywhere else in the world. The 18-metre-wide turntable will have six smaller turntables sitting on top, with six choir stalls, seating a total of 108 guests. The larger turntable will be able to rise, tilt and fall, spin like a coin, and fall flat.
Set within a 20-metre-high attraction building, the new Danse Macabre ride will be the centrepiece of Efteling’s newest themed area, which will cover an area of 17,000 square metres. There will also be themed food and beverage, retail and matching spooky entertainment. Danse Macabre is replacing the park’s Haunted Castle, or ‘Spookslot’.
An immersive thrill ride
Intamin, a creator of record-breaking amusement rides, has worked closely with the Dutch park to create an entirely new ride system. It brings together a number of existing ride components, resulting in a thrill ride that has never been done before. Danse Macabre will also feature immersive show technology.
The dark ride will be located in the creepy Huyverwoud Forest area, and visitors to the park will get a sneak peek of its new inhabitants, the Charlatan family and their remarkable barrel organ Esmeralda, from 19 November onwards, close to the Danse Macabre construction site. The travelling Charlatan has been exploring the world for decades, and now Professor Dr Virginie Charlatan and her husband Otto will be settling into the Huyverwoud Forest.
Danse Macabre is replacing the park’s Haunted Castle, or ‘Spookslot’. The themed area, which will cover an area of 17,000 square metres, will be anchored by the new indoor attraction. Named after French composer Camille Saint-Saëns’ tone poem, Efteling’s latest offering will be “creepy and terrifying”, according to a press release. Efteling described the setting as “mysterious”.
Efteling will also open the new Efteling Grand Hotel in 2024, and construction is already underway. Part of the ‘World of Efteling 2030’ expansion, it will be Efteling’s largest hotel and the first to be located within the theme park.
Images: Efteling
