De Efteling knows how to bring fairytales to life like very few theme parks can, and it is easily my favorite theme park anywhere. I've been to most of the "important" theme parks in Europe and a couple in the USA, and only a handful of those have the same charm as de Efteling has, it's a "magical" place. Most theme parks focus on rides and excitement, but neglect story telling and moments of serenity, both massively important (imho) for a well balanced theme park. But de Efteling never forgot about it's roots, it started as a "fairy tale forest" with less than a handful of rides, and grew into a park that has it all, including the old first generation fairytale forest which is still as popular today as it ever was. They also have been pioneers in special effects, using holograms and mirror projections decades before it became common in other theme parks. That all (and far more) created that magical feeling of fairytales and even being a part of it, which de Efteling became famous for, a truly wonderful and child-friendly place to visit. And they are not afraid of going for the big stories, the difficult ones to create an experience around... like Danse Macabre, i already know it is going to be a massive success because i know the standards of demand that they have for their attractions. (it's VERY high standards) We still like to pretend that this park inspired Walt Disney to create Disney world, but that is not factually true, albeit that it is very likely that Walt knew about de Efteling and how popular the fairytale forest had become. I hope you and your loved ones will be able to see and feel "the magic" of de Efteling for yourself some day, one thing i am sure of though, it will be a memory for a a lifetime.
FYI it's set to open next 👻Halloween season👻 (providing there aren't reasons to delay, who knows what will happen when building an attraction about misfortune😅) I believe they are aiming at 6 episodes till opening so next episode is probably the exterior done (and the "Koetshuys"* done) episode 6 just before opening with some interior shots but not giving away the actual show, or just after opening with the opening ceremony (I'm guessing/hoping an "undead orchestra" playing the Danse Macabre song "one last time") *= Koetshuys (or koetshuis) means Carriage storage, it will look like Carriages have been stored there in the past and if information is correct it should be another food stall/selling point Again in the same theming as the In Den Swarte Kat, the Abbey itself etc. Note: Efteling has it's own "Old Dutch" language they use when naming things, it's to keep the illusion it's all waaaay older then the park itself... Language is something that changes over time so they use this own interpretation instead of using the correct current spelling and pasting "Ye Olde" in front of it 😛 -At least according to the online Old Dutch Dictionary "huys" never existed as an (official) word
