Villa Volta

 Villa Volta is a Vekoma Madhouse in De Efteling theme park, The Netherlands. It is the worlds first large scale Madhouse, and arguably the most famous of all Madhouses.

Ride Statistics
Full Name: Villa Volta

Park: De Efteling

Country: The Netherlands

Capacity: 78 Person(s)

Rough Duration: 9mins

Manufacturer: Vekoma

Designer(s): Ton van de Ven

Status: Open

Opened: 1996

Music: Hugo's Huismaker

Composer: Ruud Bos

Story
Villa Volta's story begins in mid-18th century Netherlands, and is a slight extension on the myth of 'De Bokkenrijders'.

Around this time a wave of terror and destruction swept across the "Brabantse Kempen" and The Limburg Flatlands. The perpetrators of theses crimes where a band of thieves known as De Bokkenrijders (The Goatriders) who according to a middle ages myth, made a pact with the devil to sweep through the night sky riding on goats, setting fires, breaking into homes and spreading misery and anger in their path. The leader of this gang of brigands was Hugo van den Loonsche Duinen, a cruel, merciless and greedy man.

One day De bokkenrijders where passing through Belgium looking for homes to pillage when they came across The Abbey of Postel. Although every candle in the abbey was at its brightest, there were no signs of life coming out of the chapel, so De bokkenrijders decided to gut the abbey of all its treasures. Halfway through the pillaging Hugo felt a slim hand on his shoulder, he turned and saw a beautiful young woman surrounded by a brilliant light. She spoke: 'You, Hugo van den Loonsche Duinen, you desecrate this house, so repent, don't call the lords fury upon yourself'. Her words didn't impress the men, who left with all their stolen treasures in tow as she disappeared into nothingness.

However, when Hugo arrived at his home, the Villa Volta, the Lady of the Abbey was there, on the roof, her arms swaying in the wind. Again she spoke, her words echoing in Hugo's mind: 'Nowhere in your own home, nor anywhere in this world will you find peace and rest, now that you have violated the house of god... only when a noble human with the clear consience of a newborn child enters your home will you find peace, in your home and in your heart'.

Over 250 years later the curse still hasn't been broken, and it seems Hugos house will be blighted for all eternity...

Waiting line
Villa Volta's waiting line is a covered queue line at the right hand of the building with a turnstile at the end to admit visitors. On the wall next to the waiting line is a potted version of the myth of De Bokkenrijders in different languages.

Preshows
The first pre-show consists of a male voice explaining (in dutch) the story of de Bokkenrijders, with afflicted villagers giving their views on the band of thieves, and a picture depicting the sign of a goat foot. The room where preshow 1 is set is strangly filled with broken cartwheels, wickerwork baskets and other village related items.

The second preshow is told by Hugo van den Loonsche Duinen himself (in animatronic form). He explains how he got his curse, how to break it and expresses guilt about his deeds. The room where preshow 2 is set is littered with stolen goods from his raids.nds

Mainshow
Video: Villa Volta: Mainshow

The mainshow is Hugo van den Loonsche Duinens lining room, where his curse manifests itself. Its walls hold Hugo's various (probably stolen) possessions, including a goat's-head trophy, a suit of armour, a cupboard full of kitchenware and several pieces of art. The room also has 3 windows and a patio door, which light up with 'lightning' near the end of the show, a fireplace with a mirror above and several animatronic sculpted candle holders on the wall. The walls are coated in a peach victorian style wallpaper. The ceiling is white with crenellation moldings and several lights with sculpted shades which brighten and darken (for effect) during the show. The swing isn't as richly decorated as the rest of the room, with only 3 stand-up lamps and a wooden fence in the centre, the benches are wooden and adorned in the centre with a small metal plaque depicting a goat's face and, on the swing supports, 2 mirrors which lean to show the level 'zero point'. The floor under the swing is black-and-white tiled in the centre, and parquet on the sides. There are 2 oblongs the same pattern as the rest of the floor in the centre but made of a material similar to two-way mirrors, which allow light to show through. The show lasts approximately 3 minutes.

Music
Villa Volta's soundtrack was composed by Dutch composer Ruud Bos, and is one of the most famous soundtracks in the park. Villa Volta is the first song on De Eftelings sondtrack CD. The soundtrack has been remixed countless times by many different DJ's, commonly as a trance song.

Awards
In 1997 Villa Volta won the THEA Attraction Award, being the worlds first modern large scale Madhouse.

Trivia

 * In the second pre-show, if visitors look on Hugo van der Loonsche-Duinen's left-hand side they will notice a portrait of Villa Volta's designer, Ton van de Ven
 * In some languages 'Volta' transliterates to 'turn' or 'revolve', so 'Villa Volta' has become known appropriately in some places as 'The House of Revolutions'
 * Villa Volta is the only madhouse in the world to feature a video of the ride for disabled visitors who can't actually go on the ride. The video is located in a room on the left-hand side of the building.