Fata Morgana

I love this picture of the flame outside the Fata Morgana :-)

Again Efteling excels at the design of its scenic rides, this one is an Arabian adventure... take a look at the video below:

Teacups/Cauldrens

I've never been on a teacup ride before (Must've had a deprived childhood), In never knew that the wheel in the middle could be turned to spin the cup around... you learn something new every day don't you? :-)

Pandadroom

The Pandadroom is a 3D show depicting the damage that man is causing to our natural environment. Now whilst I agree with it's principal of "shock tactics" to enlighten the masses, I disagree with its placement in a theme park, at least without warning its content. But in saying that I wouldn't have been able to read it as it would have been in Dutch... so catch 22.

So rant being over it was a fantastic piece, Nomi has never seen a 3D show of this kind before (There's tons of them in the US, but none in the UK) and it had her flinching when she thought things were going to hit her :-)

The Donkey that Giveth

The Donkey has got to win a prize for being the oddest thing ever... insert 30c and it lifts its tail and a gold Efteling coin shoots out!

Frogs

It's the small touches that make Efteling beautiful...



And in some places just damn funny :-)

Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretels house is another of the fairytale scenes at Efteling... it has 2 fountains that are dyed red to look like something sweet... wonder if any birds use it as a birdbath and get a shock?

Dancing Shoes

The Red Shoes although not remarkable by today's standards has 2 magnetic shoes dancing on a glass table... however taken in context that it's now 55 years old it must have been remarkable at the time and to some appear supernatural enough to warrant being stolen!

Nomi

Nomi is the Queen of the Gnome kingdom (otherwise known as the mushroom kingdom), we actually got lost trying to find our way out of here!



Notice the small gnome clothes on the washing line.



The Gnome king... I thought Nomis dad lived in Scotland?

Carousel

This is truly beautiful... it's a 100 year old Steam Carousel that's been converted to electricity, how much of it remains true to the original I don't know, but it appears to at least have punch tape driven music:

Talking Bins

Whoever came up with this idea is a genius... most of the bins in Efteling are built into the scenery and talk, most call out "papier here" at various intervals and when you put something into them they say "Dank u wel" (Dutch for "thank you"). As a result you get loads of kids picking up any rubbish that lies around just to "play" with the talking bins. Unsurprisingly Efteling is the cleanest theme park I've ever seen!