Grote Zweefmolen (1977)

Ride
Grote Zweefmolen
Efteling
Location Kaatsheuvel, North Brabant, The Netherlands
Coordinates 51°39′09″N 5°02′59″E / 51.652603°N 5.049758°E / 51.652603; 5.049758
Park section Marerijk – Anton Pieckplein
Status Defunct
Operated 1977 to October 20, 2020
Theme Old timey Funfair
Rider height 100 cm minimum
Replaced by Grote Zweefmolen
unknown
Location unknown
Statistics
Manufacturer unknown
Product Chair-O-Plane
Designer / calculations Ton van de Ven
Capacity 32 guests per ride
Cabins 16
HELP

Grote Zweefmolen was a Chair-O-Plane built by an unknown manufacturer, and used to be located at Efteling in Kaatsheuvel, North Brabant, The Netherlands.

Origin

The ride was originally bought by Efteling on January 25, 1977. A team from the park traveled to Friesland to check out the ride in a meadow. The ride was around 75 years old at that point, making its date of build around 1900. When bought, the ride was in a terrible condition. Efteling opted to fix the most crucial things immediately, and fix all the other things later, since they wanted to open it as quickly as possible. The ride later got a overhaul done by Efteling designer Ton van de Ven.[1]

Closure

The ride closed unannounced on the 20th of October, 2020. It would get scrapped and replaced with a new version, this new version would recieve the same name and design, but would be build by Wooddesign Amusement Rides and opened on November 19, 2020. No parts of the old ride where reused for this version, even the decorational panels where remade from scratch.[2]

Location

The ride was located within the "Anton Pieckplein" (roughly translating to "Anton Piecksquare"), an area of the park themed to an old timey Dutch village in the middle of a classic funfair. Other rides in this area are Anton Pieckcarrousel, Kleine Zweefmolen, Vermolenmolen and Vlindermolen. The area received a facelift in 2003, adding more theming and removing some older rides (such as the Jeepmolen).[3]

Etymology

Grote Zweefmolen is Dutch for "Big Chair-O-Plane"

References

  1. "Grote Zweefmolen on Eftepedia".
  2. "Efteling is working on a new version on Grote Zweefmolen".
  3. "Anton Pieckplein on Eftepedia".
Articles on Efteling