News about Dragonwatch

On 31 March 2025, Toverland leaned into the annual build-up to April Fools' Day. The Limburg park claimed it would rename all forty attractions with simpler titles, supposedly because visitors do not always use the official names. The joke was obvious, but it worked because it played with a real theme park habit: guests often describe rides in their own shorthand.

The examples made the idea immediately recognisable. Booster Bike would become Motortjes, Fēnix would be renamed Vuurkip, and Speelkasteel would turn into Krijspaleis. In the mock internal memo, Dragonwatch became Parachuutjes, Merlin's Quest was reduced to Bootjes, and Dwervelwind became Draaiende Karretjes. Even entire areas were simplified: Land van Toos would become De Eerste Hal, while Avalon was labelled Het Nieuwe Gebied.

For visitors, the humour came from recognition. Toverland used the language of official park communication while exaggerating the informal names guests might actually use. That made the stunt more than a throwaway post: it showed a park comfortable enough with its own brands, themed areas and fan culture to poke fun at them.

In late April 2024, the long-awaited turnaround arrived: Dragonwatch reopened after almost four months closed. Toverland had made technical adjustments together with Intamin and presented the return not only as a repair, but also as an improvement. Speeds were increased, intervals between rising and dropping were shortened, and new Merlin audio effects were added at the top of the tower.

For visitors, this mattered because Dragonwatch finally became a ride again rather than a problem on the operating calendar. The timing helped: the reopening came at the start of the May holiday period, when Avalon's capacity was particularly useful. For fans, the key question remained whether the tower would now stay reliable, but Toverland expressed confidence in the adjusted installation. In Dragonwatch's history, this article is the recovery chapter. After months of breakdowns, evacuations and doubt, the ride received a second chance as Avalon's family-friendly landmark.

Booster Bike showed on 20 April 2024 how sensitive a launched coaster can be to conditions that visitors might simply read as poor spring weather. It was only 6 degrees Celsius at Toverland that morning. During start-up, the train failed to make it around the course, leaving the motorbike coaster stranded during testing before the day had fully settled into its operating rhythm.

The timing made the incident more noticeable. Earlier that week Toverland had switched trains, and the train in use had been fully maintained and had already completed its first test laps the day before. The cold still proved decisive: at low temperatures, wheels and running gear behave differently, and a train can lose too much speed on the layout. Staff had to pull the train back towards the station. For guests, that meant uncertainty around one of Toverland’s most recognisable coasters, with the park hoping Booster Bike could return the following day. Dragonwatch was also closed at the time, temporarily leaving the park without several prominent rides.

By late March 2024, Dragonwatch had been out of service for twelve weeks since the 2 January incident. Looopings underlined how painful that was: the multi-million-euro investment had already spent months closed during the nine months since its opening ceremony. The question of whether Toverland had taken a difficult risk with the Intamin tower became hard to avoid.

The value of this update lies in the context. Dragonwatch was not facing one isolated fault, but a pattern of belt issues, evacuations and an electric drive system that differed from older parachute towers. For visitors, the closure meant a prominent new attraction was missing at the start of the season. For fans, the tower became a case study in innovation and risk. Toverland gave little detail beyond saying it was working hard on a reopening. The uncertainty made Dragonwatch almost as notable as a technical problem as it was as a ride experience.

After the second major breakdown, Toverland drew a clear lesson: for Dragonwatch, the park did not want to remain fully dependent on the fire brigade and specialist rescue teams. Its own emergency team would be trained to carry out similar evacuations more quickly and safely. The park also considered acquiring its own equipment, including a platform vehicle.

The update matters because it shows how a technical attraction can reshape the organisation behind the scenes after opening. Dragonwatch did not only require engineers to solve a mechanical problem; it also forced new emergency procedures. For visitors, that matters because they mainly see the ride, but rely on the park to act quickly in unusual situations. With this step, Toverland tried to regain control and shorten response times. In Dragonwatch's history, it belongs to the maturing process of a fragile but important new attraction.

One day after the major evacuation, attention shifted from the incident itself to the technology behind it. Looopings explained that Dragonwatch may resemble Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop at Disneyland Paris, but differs in a crucial way. Older parachute towers use hydraulic drive systems, while Intamin chose an electric belt-based solution for Toverland.

That choice made Dragonwatch more interesting, but also more vulnerable. It was not simply a copy of a proven ride type; in this form, the tower was effectively new. That helped explain why the early problems were more persistent than guests might expect from a concept that looked familiar. For the attraction's history, this context is important because it links the failures to design choices rather than treating them as random bad luck. Dragonwatch was built as a family-friendly innovation, but during its first year it visibly paid the price of being close to a prototype.

The incident on 2 January 2024 made Dragonwatch's problems much more serious. This time, ten guests were stuck around 15 metres above the ground while rain and cold made the situation uncomfortable. The fire brigade responded with equipment, but because one gondola was positioned above water, a specialised rope rescue team also had to be brought in.

For visitors and fans, this was a turning point. Technical faults can happen, but a second major evacuation within a few months raised questions about both the ride system and emergency procedures. Avalon was closed off, riders received thermal blankets and everyone was checked medically afterwards. Nobody was injured, but the effect on confidence was significant. Dragonwatch was meant to be an accessible family ride, not an attraction mainly associated with incidents during its first year. This article is therefore central to the tower's story: it made the early technical problems public, visible and urgent.

In October 2023, Dragonwatch faced the kind of incident that quickly changes the perception of a new attraction. The parachute tower stopped because of a technical fault while two guests were inside a gondola. When Toverland could not lower the gondola manually, the fire brigade was called and a platform truck was used for the evacuation.

For visitors, this became a matter of safety and trust. The weather was cold and rainy, and the ride had only been open to the public for a few months. Toverland looked after the affected guests in The Flaming Feather restaurant and offered compensation, but the image was clear: Dragonwatch was not just a new visual landmark, it was also a young installation with technical growing pains. In the attraction's history, this marked the shift from opening excitement to operational reality. From that point on, discussion included reliability as much as views and theming.

Shortly after opening, a photo report placed Dragonwatch properly in context. The ride was described as unique in the Benelux and as a rare European take on the parachute tower concept. The comparison with Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop at Disneyland Paris helped explain what Toverland had added, while Avalon's version had its own colourful medieval dragon setting.

The report looked beyond height alone. Dragonwatch reaches about 40 metres including decoration, but the gondolas themselves rise to 17 metres. Inside, guests pass dragon paintings, a pre-show-like room and a projected safety instruction. The single-rider entrance also stood out as a first for Toverland. At the same time, the downside was already visible: the tower suffered from early technical issues and was approved only on the day of the opening ceremony. That made Dragonwatch a ride with both strong potential and clear vulnerability from the start.

In late June 2023, Toverland shared the first moving footage of Dragonwatch. The gondolas made test flights, not yet at full speed, as the park worked toward the final ride programme. For fans, this was the moment when the tower stopped being only scenery and engineering and started to feel alive.

The tests showed what Dragonwatch was meant to become: a family-friendly drop tower with views over Avalon, the park and the wooded surroundings. The gondolas would eventually rise to 17 metres and descend at around 19 kilometres per hour. The comparison with Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop at Disneyland Paris also underlined that Toverland was bringing a rare ride type to the Benelux. For visitors, the video increased anticipation just before opening. The ride did not promise extreme thrills, but the kind of accessible excitement that can make a family area feel much more dynamic.

With the opening date announced, Dragonwatch finally had a fixed place on the calendar. Toverland said guests would be able to try the new Avalon attractions from 1 July 2023, including the Dragonwatch parachute tower. A private opening and staff previews would take place before the public debut.

For visitors, this turned a long construction period into something concrete. Dragonwatch was part of a broader Avalon upgrade with several rides and experiences, from Pixarus to water play areas and an interactive street. The investment reached 11.5 million euros, showing that Toverland wanted to do more than add a few loose attractions. The park aimed to make Avalon livelier and more complete. Dragonwatch's role was that of a family-friendly thrill ride: visible, accessible and still exciting. The date made clear when that promise would be tested by real guests.

Before opening, Dragonwatch received an operational feature that was new for Toverland: a dedicated single-rider queue. The reason was practical. Each gondola has two benches for three riders, so groups of two would often leave individual seats empty. By gathering solo visitors separately, staff could fill the ride more efficiently.

That may sound like a small detail, but it matters to guests. A family tower with limited capacity can quickly build a queue, especially in a newly expanded themed area where many people want to try every addition. The single-rider line also gave individual visitors a realistic chance of a shorter wait. For Toverland, Dragonwatch was therefore not only a new ride but also a test case for more modern guest flow. In the attraction's history, this shows that Avalon's expansion involved operations as well as decoration and hardware.

A month after the central column was installed, Dragonwatch reached its highest point. Toverland placed the tower room, spire and dragon on top of the structure, turning the ride from a bare technical installation into a recognisable part of Avalon.

That milestone mattered because Dragonwatch was never presented as just a ride system. The tower had to fit the medieval fantasy area, where guests would be lifted up to spot dragons in the surroundings. The themed pieces gave the roughly 40-metre structure its own identity and helped make the attraction readable from a distance. For visitors, it meant the new ride already had a strong visual character before opening day. Within the wider Avalon expansion, Dragonwatch was not only the literal high point; it also became a symbol of Toverland's effort to make the area richer, busier and more alive.

In March 2023, Dragonwatch became visible to visitors in a very literal way. After groundwork for the foundations and queue, Toverland installed the tall central column that would form the core of the parachute tower. It was more than a construction update: Avalon was gaining a new vertical landmark, intended to add movement and energy alongside Fenix and Merlin's Quest.

The details also explained the guest experience. Dragonwatch would feature six gondolas, each with two benches for three riders, and a ride of roughly one and a half minutes. The gondolas would rise to 17 metres, while the themed structure would reach around 40 metres in total. That gave Toverland a family-friendly thrill ride built around views, mild drops and a dragon-spotting story. The column marked the moment when Avalon's expansion moved from concept drawings to a changed skyline.