Fata Morgana

Ride
Watch the on-ride POV
Fata Morgana
The only recurring character in the ride, the caliph.
Efteling
Location Kaatsheuvel, North Brabant, The Netherlands
Coordinates 51°38′49″N 5°02′44″E / 51.646978°N 5.045477°E / 51.646978; 5.045477
Park section Anderrijk
Status Operating since March 27, 1986
Cost 15 million ƒ
Soundtrack Ruud Bos
Audiocult
Theme 1001 nights
Rider height 120 cm minimum
Statistics
Manufacturer Intamin
Product Tow Boat Ride
Builder Heimo
Designer / calculations Ton van de Ven
Henny Knoet
Onsite construction Pepping
Type
  • Dark boat ride
  • Enclosed
Hourly capacity 1600
Speed 2 km/h
Cabins 14
Track length 285 metres
Animatronics 137
HELP

Fata Morgana is a Dark Boat Ride built by Swiss manufacturer Intamin currently located at Efteling in Kaatsheuvel, North Brabant, The Netherlands.

History

In 1981, Efteling became very successful with Python and Spookslot. This made them want to invest in something far greater, kick starting the development cycle for what is now known as Fata Morgana.

Efteling designer Ton van de Ven recently came back from a visit to America, where he rode Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland. This inspired him to design something similar, yet completely different.

Fata Morgana's original design on the island, boats would enter the palace through the cave.

The original idea of the ride was to build it in the middle of the island located in the lake of the park, a test ride, Gondoletta, was build. While Gondoletta was a successful ride, the concept itself was dropped due to the island itself being too small for a full fledged dark ride. This resulted in the Gondoletta staying as its own ride, and Fata Morgana being build on another location.[1]

Design

The ride features 14 scenes and 137 animatronics

Ride system

The ride utilities the Tow Boat Ride system build by Intamin, it features a turntable station. There are 14 boats in total, each boat seating 16 guests. The track has a length of 285 meters and a maximum speed of 2 km/h.

Scenes

Scene Name Animatronics
1 Jungle 3
2 Armenwijk (Poor neighborhood) 9
3 Markt (Market) 31
4 Tunnel 6
5 Vallend Hek (Falling Fence) 3
6 Voorportaal (Vestibule) 12
7 Gevangenis (Prison) 8
8 Haven (Harbour) 12
9 Harem 7
10 Troonzaal (Throne room) 48
11 Schatkamer (Treasure Room) 2
12 Storm 0
13 Kantelkamer (tilting room) 0
14 Jungle 0

Location

The ride is located in the "Anderrijk" area of the park, roughly translating to "Different Realm".

Etymology

Fata Morgana is an from origin Italian word that has been adopted by many different languages, such as English or Dutch. It stand for a mirage, a hallucination people often see when wandering deserts with no food or water in sight. This links back to the attraction seeming to have all been a Fata Morgana itself in the end.

Theme

The ride is themed to the story's of 1001 nights.

References

  1. "Fata Morgana on Eftepedia".
Articles on Efteling