Baron 1898

Baron 1898 is a steel Dive Coaster, currently under construction at the Efteling theme park.^[1]

Story

In 1898, the wealthy baron Gustave Hooghmoed (whose last name is a variation on the Dutch word Hoogmoed, which means pride) is led to discover a nearby cave that is rich in gold deposits by a spirit known as the Witte Wieven ("Wise women", "Dames Blanches" or "White ladies"); however, this spirit gives Hooghmoed the admonition that if he disturbs the gold in any way, he will suffer terrible consequences for the remainder of his life. In an attempt to circumvent the spirit's threat, Hoogmoed presses the destitute locals into working in his newly opened silver mine, where many of the workers suffer catastrophic accidents or are chased out of the cave by the "Witte Wieven" and her supernatural cohorts. Guests to the Efteling theme park take on the role of one of Hooghmoed's employees; the queue begins with guests crossing an iron bridge over a creek to the mine's central offices and barracks, where guests will have an audience with the headstrong Baron who will, via an application of the Pepper's ghost illusion, give his newly minted employees a brief safety lecture before sternly warning them against believing in the legend of the "Witte Wieven". After the Baron is called out of his office to tend to an emergency in the mine shaft, guests will move on from the office into the mine's machinery and maintenance shop, where mine overseer Laars will help guests into his specially designed mine elevator vehicles that are capable of traveling both vertically and horizontally. After guests board the special mine cars, Laars and the machine shop are suddenly attacked by vengeful spirits of miners who have previously vanished under the influence of the "Witte Wieven"; this effect is achieved through projection technology, animatronics and pyrotechnics (several beams fall from the ceiling and appear to almost crush the ride vehicles, projected ghosts fly over rider's heads, and several fuel tanks catch fire and appear to explode.) Before Laars's office apparently explodes, he sends the riders onto the lift hill; as the car ascends, a giant fireball bursts from the opening of the machine shop and almost reaches the rear car of the train. As the train is about to drop off the lift, it stops as the "Witte Wieven" can be heard screaming from the pit, from which smoke pours and various strobe lighting effects can be seen. After a few seconds, the "Witte Wieven" scream, "You shall not evade my curse! Prepare to forfeit your lives!" as the train plunges straight down into the pit before pulling out of the dive into an Immelmann loop. After the first loop, riders experience airtime and drop a second time. This later leads the riders into a zero-g roll before traveling through a fast-paced spiral. The final brake run follows, which leads into the mine complex's equipment storage area, where guests disembark.

• 

  December 2014.

• 

  February 2015.

• 

  February 2015.

• 

  February 2015.

References