Vogel Rok

Vogel Rok ("Bird Roc" in English) is an enclosed roller coaster in the Efteling amusement park in the Netherlands.

Vogel Rok
Efteling
Location	Efteling
Park section	Reizenrijk
Coordinates	51°39′08″N 5°03′09″E
Status	Operating
Opening date	April 9, 1998
Cost	€ 12 million
General statistics
Type	Steel – Enclosed
Manufacturer	Vekoma
Designer	Ton van de Ven
Model	Custom MK-900
Lift/launch system	tyre-driven lift-hill
Height	82 ft (25 m)
Drop	62 ft (19 m)
Length	2,296 ft (700 m)
Speed	40 mph (64 km/h)
Inversions	0
Duration	1:41
Capacity	1600 riders per hour
G-force	3.5
Height restriction	47.3 in (120 cm)
Vogel Rok at RCDB

History and details

At night

The name of the ride, Vogel Rok, refers to the adventure of Sinbad and the Bird Roc from the 1001 Arabian Nights; the extensive theming covers, beside the ride, the building and the queue line. The building has as a frontage a giant colorful Roc, the largest bird in Europe, according to the Guinness Book of Records. In the opening year there weren’t many effects in the ride, and the link between the story and the ride wasn’t clear. Since then a Serpent’s mouth has been added at the end of the ride, which lights up as the train goes through it. There used to be a laser-light-show at the queue, but that has been removed. This was done as the lights were too low, thereby damaging people’s eyes. A new queue line was constructed in 2007, Replacing the old queue line, More themed decorations were also added.

Vogel Rok used to operate with three trains. Problems with the brakes in 2015 forced the ride to operate with two trains only.^[1] This issue was solved as part of a renovation in 2018.^[2]

The ride

Lasers project over the train as it climbs the lift-hill and seen to the left are four Rocs flying off. In a strong curve down leftwards the train dives towards the ground and several more curves bring the train through a tunnel of lasers.
The train then falls into a helix and goes through a Serpent’s mouth, which lights up as the train passes through it. The last curve is decorated with fiber optic lights, portraying the diamond treasure.
Apparent wind-effects stimulate the ride-experience.

The ride has an onboard sound system with a synchronized soundtrack written by composer Ruud Bos, who also wrote the musical themes for Droomvlucht, Fata Morgana and Villa Volta.