Baron 1898 — Attraction in Loon op Zand

Extremely well themed ride. Build in 1898 by the mining corporation owned by the Baron, this huge tower leads trough the shaft to the underground mines where gold is found.

You take the role as a miner and enters first a locker room to change into miners gear. Here you are presented an old fashioned slide show on why you are here (it is in dutch, but one of the slides shows the English text).

The guardians of the gold visits the locker room in the shape of 3 white women and warn you about going further, but don't be alarmed the Baron says, its nothing to be afraid of... Next you visit the accounting department where the Baron greats you and you are placed by a mining operator in the right corridor for the mining cart (row 1 to 3, each with 6 seats, where the center 2 are XL-seats). When the signals flashes green the doors open and you are guided to board the cart.

The front row is most desired, and a special queue is required for this. When you are secured in the ride cart you are ready to depart, but the white women arrives again singing and their ghostly chilling puts out the fire in the boilers, that fuel the engines to the tower.

You have been warned, the ladies repeat, before they enters the boilers and set the ride in motion taking the cart to the top of the tower. Here the cart is pushed just over the top and now hangs free with your face directly towards the fog-filled shaft below.

The cart is released and you plummet directly downwards into the mist and enters the shaft. But the white women protecting the gold screams and sends you directly out of the shaft again in a roaring sound and you then continue in some half loop and corkscrews before the track takes a g-force spin and ends up in a final hill-jump and the magnet brakes kick in and brings you to a stop.

Even the exit of the roller coaster is themed and you get time to look at the huge station area and all the details put into this attraction. Before you exit the mandatory ride picture.

In Efteling I would recommend that you buy a "all ride pictures included", so you get all pictures digital after the day, just by handing in a barcode/code.

If you bring a back it is quite easy to hand it in in the queue area - or at the station as well.

It might be a little scary for the smallest children to go through the preshow, but if they are the appropriate hight it should not be a problem.

Hopefully you enjoy this ride as much as me. I still have the theme music in my brains as it is quite catchy. And hope this text helps you to understand the ride a bit better, as the story...

In 1898, the wealthy baron Gustave Hooghmoed (whose last name is a variation on the Dutch word for hubris) 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, Hooghmoed presses the destitute locals into working in his newly opened gold mine, where many of the workers suffer catastrophic accidents or are chased out of the cave by the "Witte Wieven" and her supernatural cohorts.

After the Baron is called out of his office to tend to an emergency in the mine shaft, mine overseer Laars will help guests into his specially designed mine elevator vehicles that are capable of traveling both vertically and horizontally. After the 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". Before Laars's office apparently explodes, he sends the miners out of the mine; 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 leave the mine, it stops as the "Witte Wieven" can be heard singing from the pit, from which smoke pours and lights can be seen. After a few seconds, the "Witte Wieven" scream, "You shall not evade my curse! Prepare to forfeit your lives!" as the miners plunge down the exit...

Need to specifically mention the logistics, which I was very impressed by. Love the system where you can queue for the first or 2nd + 3rd row, which speeds up the whole process. You also get a ticket further down which divides you into groups further. There is an usher who can take your backpack and gives you a numbered wristband in return. On the way out you pass the other side of the storage rack and you get your stuff back. This made everything go very smoothly and I only had to wait in line 10 and 20 minutes respectively when I rode the Baron twice, on a busy Sunday no less.

The show before the actual ride is pretty impressive and thematic. The ride itself is exhilarating, with a brief pause before you speed down a vertical drop into a mine shaft and up a loop. After some corkscrews and sharp turns, you're back at the station. I will say the ride is pretty short, but I still wholeheartedly recommend it. Best ride at the Efteling for...