General info
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Category
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TypeEndless Chain
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StatusOperating
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Opened1 June 1984
Description
In Carnaval Festival guests are transported along various scenes that each represent a country around the world. The NetherlandsFranceGermanyItalyJapanChinaAfrica and Mexico are some of the included locations. In each scene guests can spot the ride's mascot Jokie and his friend Jet. All figures in the ride are d to resemble the local tradition of carnival floats.
History
Carnaval Festival is the first dark ride that opened in Efteling. It was designed by Dutch film producer Joop Geesinkwho worked mostly on puppet movies. Geesink was an adviser for Efteling in the years leading up to this project.
It became clear in 1983 that the development of what was supposed to be Efteling's first dark rideFata Morganatook longer than expected. Geesink pitched the idea for Carnaval Festivalinspired by Disney’s It’s a Small World. To this dateCarnaval Festival is the only ride at Efteling for which the complete development was outsourced. Joop Geesink passed away a couple weeks before the opening of the ride.
While the puppet figures were created by Geesink's own studiothe mechanisms along with the larger animated figures like the dragon and gorilla were supplied by Heimo.
The melody for the music was created by Dutch comedian Toon Hermans. Ruud Boswho later became Efteling's main composertook this melody and arranged it into a complete soundtrack with variations for the different countries.
The ride was modified several times over the years. Loekie de Leeuw (a puppet from stop-motion commercialsoriginally created by Geesink) was added to various scenes in 2005 and was removed in 2012. That year also marked the re-introduction of Jokiethe mascot for the ride. In 2019 the Asian and African scenes were altered following controversy over alleged racial stereotyping.
Statistics
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Building costƒ 900,000
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Number of vehicles118 vehicles
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Seats (per vehicle/theatre)2 seats
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Capacity1600 p/h
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Ride duration8 minutes
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Ride length240 m
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Maximum speed1.4 km/h