Droomvlucht ("Dreamflight" in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

) is a

dark ride A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects. Appearing as early as the 19th century, su ...

Efteling Efteling () is a fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands. The attractions reflect elements from ancient myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore. The park was opened on May 31, 1952. It evolved from a nature p ...

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It was designed by

Ton van de Ven Ton van de Ven (1 January 1944 – 16 September 2015) was a Dutch industrial designer. He is best known as the creative director at the Efteling theme park. Van de Ven was born in Eindhoven, Netherlands, where he also studied at the Design Acade ...

, built by Translift and opened in 1993.

History

In Droomvlucht, the visitors fly through a dream world of forests, castles, fairies, trolls and other fairy-tale-like creatures and scenes. The visitors are seated in small open cabins hanging from the ceiling. The ride takes them past five different scenes in about six minutes: the Castle

Realm A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a monarchical or dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the German Empire. Et ...

, the Wondrous Forest, the Fairy Garden, Heavenly Strongholds and the Squelch Forest. The speed and height of the individual cabins vary throughout the ride, with a climax in the troll marshes at the end, where the cabins come to a seeming free-fall in a spiral downwards from 13 meters of height. Efteling wanted to present Droomvlucht in 1992, for the 40-year anniversary of the park, which coincided with the opening of

Disneyland Park (Paris) Disneyland Park, originally Euro Disneyland Park, is a theme park found at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. The park opened on 12 April 1992 as the first of the two parks built at the resort. Designed and built by Walt Disney I ...

. However, due to problems with the seating cabins it was not ready until 1993. Due to this problem, the ride cost

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

4.5 million more than was estimated, bringing the total costs up to €12.5 million.

The ride

Due to the ride's popularity, the original entry was moved from the thematic hall to a standard queue line. The original entry hall is still in use for special events. The ride starts with some

animatronics Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions. It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy ...

. Integration between the scenes consists of scarcely lit tunnels with

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It ...

. The ride contains 48

fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

, 10

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human ...

s, 38 animals, 1 million flowers, 1.5 million plants and 3.8 million leaves.Technical details
/ref> * The Castle Realm The dream begins upon entering the Castle Realm. Four lighted castles float against the evening glow. The hazy realm also has a waterfall and a smell of moist vegetation. * The Wondrous Forest The forest is filled with fairies and creatures that look like

faun The faun (, grc, φαῦνος, ''phaunos'', ) is a half- human and half-goat mythological creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology. Originally fauns of Roman mythology were spirits (genii) of rustic places, lesser versions of their ...

s, but because of the lack of goat-like legs they appear to be

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, ex ...

s. Another one is a troll-like creature, the Squelch, here playing a harp. Behind a magic fairy a satyr can be seen bathing in the nude, and above him is a

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

. * The Fairy Garden In this garden

can be seen paddling and swinging, while others watch the visitor from branches on all sides. A deer is quenching her thirst. The troll king

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fairi ...

is waving the guests out, into a long tunnel with stars. * Heavenly Strongholds In this scene there are several moons and strongholds circling each other against a starlit sky. The moons are urbanized with magical cities. Several giant lighted strongholds are floating in the latter part of the scene. * Squelch Forest The last scene spirals 13 meters down into a rain forest, populated by trolls and squelches who are enjoying themselves in the rain. A troll comes at the car when at ground level. Some elves, trolls and squelches conclude the ride.

Music

The music for Dreamflight – for each scene a different theme - was composed by Ruud Bos, who also wrote the musical themes for (among other attractions) Fata Morgana,

Vogel Rok Vogel Rok (" Bird Skirt" in English) is an enclosed roller coaster in the Efteling amusement park in the Netherlands. History and details The name of the ride, Vogel Rok, refers to the adventure of Sinbad and the Bird Roc from the 1001 Arab ...

and Villa Volta.

References

External links

Official ride website

Company information
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