Joris en de Draak is a racing wood coaster at Efteling. Built by Great Coasters International,
this ride is everything I wish Hersheypark’s Lightning Racer was. Find out why this is
the world’s best racing coaster in this review. From 1991 to 2009, Efteling was home to Pegasus.
This was a smaller wood coaster was ok by all accounts but nothing special. The most
notable thing with that ride is that the Dinn Corporation started building it, but after they
went on strike, Intamin finished the project. In the summer of 2010, Efteling opened Joris
en de Draak on the site of Pegasus. This would be the third racing coaster GCI had built after
Gwazi in 1999 and Lightning Racer in 2000. And Joris is easily their best in this department.
Gwazi had a layout reminiscent of the Roar coasters at Six Flags.
The ride was liked in its early years, but the PTC trains and Florida climate led to
rough ride experience. Busch Gardens tried putting Millennium Flyers on this coaster,
but the coaster ran slower and was still rough. Lightning Racer is very smooth even 2 decades
after opening. The racing element is executed about as well as any coaster
with all the near-misses. However, the layout doesn’t pack the same punch as other GCIs.
Mike Boodley designed both Gwazi and Lightning Racer. Jeff Pike started designing coasters for
GCI in the mid-2000s and his layouts offered a more dynamic and airtime focused ride experience.
Joris would be built by Jeff Pike, which explains the wilder ride experience.
Joris en de Draak is located towards the back of Efteling near their other major roller coasters.
This ride looks sweet with its intertwined wood structure and placement adjacent to the water.
And the ride also has some theming. The ride is themed to Saint George. Joris
en de Draak translates to George and the Dragon. In this legend, Silene, Libya is being tortured
by a dragon until George slays it with a lance. And you can find this gorgeous dragon next to
the structure. You don’t really notice it on-ride since you’re flying so fast, but you definitely
see it while you’re in that queue line. And you may be in that line a while.
Joris regularly has the longest line of any attraction at Efteling,
clocking in around 45-50 minutes most days. Each side almost always runs two trains, each seating
up to 24 guests across 12 rows. And the park has a 5th train that can be used on either side
if one needs maintenance. So the ride has a really high hourly capacity. It’s just really popular.
The queue travels right next to the coaster, which offers the best views of the ride and
gets you amped up for your ride. You also can bask in the glory of this ride’s amazing soundtrack.
If you want trim your wait in half, you can use the single rider line. This is the most efficient
single rider line for the park’s major coasters. However, I prefer to wait in the main queue so I
can try to request a seat. You also can select which side you want in the regular queue since
the queue splits off into the two sides at the end- Water and Fire. Outside of covid times,
the staff working Efteling has been accommodating to seating requests.
For the best ride, you absolutely need to be in the very front
or very back of Joris. The middle seats are significantly tamer.
And the ride’s height restrictions back this up. The middle cars have a lower minimum height limit.
I think that’s awesome how Efteling was able to achieve that for younger guests, but as
a thrill-seeker, I want to avoid those seats. The station is lively with the trumpets blaring
whenever a train dispatches. And whenever a train returns, one of two things can happen.
If the train is victorious, a celebratory banner drops. If the train lost the race,
a chorus of boos rain down similar to what happens when the Yankees visit Fenway Park.
There are two aspects about the racing element that I really appreciate. One, this ride
always races. The one exception is if the ride has a technical fault, which
I did see after a lift stop in my 2021 visit. Two, the winner seems to genuinely be random.
On some racing coasters, one side seems far more likely to win than the other.
The Millennium Flyer trains feature the familiar seatbelt and T-bar restraint combination.
As always with this train, I strongly recommend holding onto the lap bar after it’s checked.
Otherwise it will continually ratchet tighter during the ride’s valleys.
Once dispatched, you ascend the 82 foot or 25 meter tall lift hill.
It’s one of GCI’s smaller coasters, but that height doesn’t hold it back.
At the top, you turn 180 degrees getting some ok laterals due to the lack of banking. You then head
down a rare straight drop on a GCI. If you’re in the back, you get some nice floater airtime here.
In the outward leg, the two tracks run side-by-side, creating some exciting visuals.
The sense of speed is awesome between the racing and surrounding wood structure. You then ascend a
triple up. All three hills deliver nice floater pops up front. Towards the back of the train,
you get much weaker pops on the first two hills. The subsequent drop is one of the largest on
the ride, so if you’re in the back, you get some solid floater airtime.
You then whip around speedy turnaround that gradually banks upwards,
getting some good laterals. The element ends in a double down. And if
you’re in the back, you get the two strongest pops of airtime on the ride back-to-back. Towards the
middle, you only get faint pops by comparison. The middle section of the ride is a series of
bunny hills. This is the one section of the ride where you really can’t see the other side,
but the elements are mostly identical. The one difference is that water has an extra
bunny hill after the double down. Water’s bunny hill gives a decent
pop of airtime throughout the train. Both sides then twist slightly off the ground and
traverse a dip back down to ground level, which gives good floater airtime if you’re in the back.
You then navigate a double up, getting two fine pops of airtime up front.
Then the drop on the other side of the element gives floater airtime in back.
The entry into the turnaround is a banked double up, giving two more pops of airtime
for those up front. This middle sequence is fast-paced and particularly good up front.
If you’re in the middle of the train, this section just doesn’t deliver in the force department.
The two tracks reconnect on the turnaround as they twist towards each other for an exciting visual.
Now I love the first two thirds of Joris, but the finale is pretty lackluster.
You have an extended bit of straight track followed by a weak turn, a nothing bunny hill,
and another weak turn. It’s a buzzkill after the great start. The one redeeming factor
is that you’re at least racing the other train. You then hop into the brake run, getting a little
pop of airtime if you’re up front. And this ends the 2657 foot or 810 meter long coaster.
Some GCIs have gotten a bit of a shake or a shimmy, but thankfully Joris is still
riding very smoothly on both sides. Efteling seems to take very good care of this ride.
So what would I rate Joris en de Draak? I would give this GCI an 8 out of 10. The first two-thirds
of Joris are fantastic if you’re in the front or back of the train. You have a rapid-fire series
of hills that consistently pop you out of your seat. This part of the ride is so well paced.
But the finale drops the ball. It just doesn’t do anything. That’s the ride’s biggest weakness.
But beyond the base layout, you also have that well-executed racing element
and some decent theming both around the attraction and in the station.
All of these factors are why I think this is the world’s best racing coaster
and it’s also my favorite coaster at Efteling. So those are my thoughts on Joris en de Draak.
What are your thoughts on this GCI? Do you agree it’s the world’s best racing coaster?
Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it if
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