An Enchanting Efteling Tour, part 1 Quiz

Answer: China

Efteling has a unique building restriction in that no permanent structure may rise above the treetops. This prevented them from building a standard observation tower - instead the ride uses a teeter-totter design. While it is loading, the observation deck sits on the ground as a single-story Chinese pagoda, which then rises above the trees on a massive pivoting arm to give visitors a spectacular view, especially in the evening.

A sunset or night ride on this attraction is almost a must if you can fit it in.

Answer: True

As of the writing of this quiz, there are no Diesel or electric engines to be seen in the Efteling - instead, traditional coal-fired steam engines, complete with a coal tender from which fuel is manually loaded onto the fire during each stop. The train has only two stations, neither of which is particularly accessible from the entrance. One is at the far end of the park, the other, while close to the entrance as the crow flies, is not particularly well connected to it via walking paths.

If you intend to visit the Efteling, plan on doing a lot of walking - the park is very spread out and the distances between the attractions are long, not least because the park is primarily designated as a nature park and thus has strict limits for how much area they can build on.

Answer: It's a Small World

Carnaval Festival is a very colorful and somewhat kitschy tour around the world, accompanied by a catchy musical tune that can easily transform into a persistent earworm, just as Disney's "It's a Small World". It's not a boat ride however, but uses a system of rotating gondolas.

The depictions of the nations and their inhabitants do poke some fun at them - if you're really sensitive, you might even consider some of them mildly insulting or racist. In fact, the ride was accused of being racist and, during a 2019 refurbishment, some scenes were somewhat adapted.

It's still playing with stereotypes and clichés even in the new version.

Answer: Honking the horn

Until the refurbishment, this ride had been just a quiet, slow drive through a garden which was rarely used by visitors. Since the addition of the scenes and the horns (very popular with small children even if there are none of the interactive scenes near), it has become a crowd favorite and, due to its low capacity, often has a longer wait than the park's coasters.

Like on nearly all Efteling rides, you can detect a lot of small details in the theming - each car has a license plate number fitting its theming (various companies) and the interactive feature is advertised in the queue with "Don't honk at the animals" placards that have the "Don't" stricken in red and replaced with a handwritten "Do".

Answer: The ride is elevated, thus giving a good view of the plaza

If you were expecting a major thrill, I am sorry - the freefall element is not even technically feasible in a ride of this type and it certainly would not fit the family oriented Efteling even if it were to exist. For a ride that lets you control the boats or the swinging gondolas, you'd have to go to Europa Park instead (which has both as unique custom rides).

At Efteling, you'll have to be content with the view over the grand central plaza of Ruigrijk, featuring the train station, the swinging ship and various carnival games and eateries. Again, this is a ride that becomes quite an experience at night when the area is beautifully lit.

Answer: A famous 17th century Dutch merchant vessel

The Halve Maen ("half moon") sailed to America in 1609, captained by Henry Hudson, who was employed by the Netherlands. While built as a three-master trade ship, she sailed as an explorer for her entire existence and her 1609 voyage to America was instrumental in the founding of New Amsterdam, now known as New York City.

The ride itself is, apart from its size and high swing angle (a full 90 degrees), a standard pirate ship swing. To optimize its capacity and allow riders to customize their experience, it features a split in the queue, letting passengers choose between the milder central seats (with a shorter wait) and the more thrilling bow and stern seats (typically incurring an extra 10 minutes of wait on a busy day).

Answer: A vertical face-down freefall section

Dive coasters are a relatively new development, first seen in the early 2010s. They typically feature cars that have 6 or 8 abreast seating with only two or three rows and their signature element is the vertical first drop. After the car is lifted to the top, it is briefly held in a position from where riders, already in a belly down orientation, can glance at the drop awaiting them (at least in the front row) before releasing it into the freefall and then a usually rather short sequence of inversions (Baron 1898 features two) and other track elements.

The theming of Baron 1898 revolves around a mine and the Dutch saga of the White Wives guarding the Earth's gold. It includes an intricate pre-show and some effects during the lifthill.

If you plan on riding the spectacular front row, either dash to this ride first thing in the morning or try your luck via the single rider line - with only three rows, you have a one third chance to get a front row seat that way, and often with a much shorter wait than on the main queue.

Answer: Boarding Pass

When the Boarding Pass was originally introduced, you had to get a pass (via either the Efteling app or a machine at the ride entrance) to ride at all while the system was active. Pretty quickly, a single rider queue was added and in 2019 the system became optional with a standby queue reintroduced.

In early 2018, the entire track of the Python apart from the station and lift sections was removed and replaced with a new track using the identical, classical layout of a first drop, two vertical loops, a hairpin turn, two corkscrews and a final upward helix slowing the train down before the final brakes.

If you wish to choose your row for the best ride experience on the Efteling's coasters, you need to visit on a slow day - if waits exceed 10 to 15 minutes, rows are assigned by staff to make use of the single rider line, however if you absolutely want a front or back row seat, it doesn't hurt to ask if you can wait out an extra train and get your desired row; more often than not, staff will accommodate you.

Answer: A splashdown and leisurely boat ride back to the station

De Vliegende Hollander is a combination of a dark ride, a coaster and a boat ride, although the boat sections are not truly boat rides: while the vehicles are boat-shaped, they do not actually freely float but rather complete the water segments on rails without making use of their own buoyancy.

As such, enthusiasts are split about the question of whether this ride can properly be called a water coaster - the strict definition requires a free-floating boat section, while the looser definition includes every coaster that has a splashdown, even if the vehicles run on track throughout the ride.

Answer: After an early mirrored section, they are rather different

Racing coasters feature two (or more) tracks where trains are launched at the same time and compete for which ones arrives first, with the winner usually determined randomly through a subtle delay in launch or a gentle, unnoticeable brake somewhere on the track instead of just gravity. Most racing coasters use identical or mirrored tracks, but Joris en the Draak diverges from this pattern, instead featuring a mirrored start, separate, crisscrossing middle sections and a parallel ending.

If you only have time for one ride on this coaster pair, I would recommend the blue (water) side as it has a slightly wilder ride. Solo visitors should take note that the single rider line won't let you pick the side, so if you definitely want to choose, you'll need the regular queue.