Fata Morgana (Efteling)

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Market scene

Belly dancing for the lads

Harbor scene

Harem

Throne room

Fata Morgana, the forbidden city, also known as 1001 Arabian Nights (or "1001 nachten" in Dutch) is a dark ride in amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands. It was designed by Ton van de Ven and Jan Verhoeven and opened its doors in 1986.

16- passenger boats pass through a fairy-tale style Arabian city that is populated by 140 animatronics. Only one transport boat is present in a scene at the same time. The ride begins in a twilight setting, showing a jungle and the skyline of a distant Arabian city. Upon entering the city, in the poor quarter, beggars and merchants call for attention. The next scene shows a palace and a harbor with ships, followed by a prison and torture room. Passing by a harem the real ride ends in the throne room of the pasha. Total ride time is 8 minutes, capacity of 1800 persons/ hour.
Scenes:

Prelude: jungle & wizard
Poor quarter
First market scene
Second market scene
Dark tunnel with crocodiles
Scene at the falling gate
Prison scene
Torture scene and wizard
Harbor scene
Harem scene
Throne room scene
Treasure room scene and wizard
Storm scene
Epilogue: jungle

[edit] History and details

The attraction is considered to be the link between the old fairy- tale style of Anton Pieck and the newer, more intensive rides.
The opening was planned for 1984, but in order to give more time for the designing team it was postponed to 1986. The original name Fata Medina was changed to Fata Morgana to avoid confusion with the Islamic holy city, though it is more likely that it was a reference to the first completed part of the ride, the Medina quarter- the poor district and central marketplace.
The decorative art was bought in the Marrocan city of Marrakech and the animatronics were dressed by belgian designer Jeanine Lambrechts.
Underwater rotating disks regulate the transport system provided by the swiss manafucturer Intanim.
Total cost, converted to Euros: 7 million

[edit] Music

The music for Fata Morgana was composed by composer Ruud Bos, who also wrote the musical themes for Dreamflight, the Haunted House and Villa Volta.

Naturally he choose a Harem style as the base theme for the music. More specifically, the beginning of the ride is linked by orchestral music to the dreamy, mideastern music with flutes and violins of the market, the first setting of the attraction. The music gets darker when the ride passes the prison part. A slow melody sets in upon entering the harbor but is extended with instruments like violins, gongs and a percussion. The musical climax comes when the ride ends in the final scene of the throneroom.
There are five compositions: