Dutch theme park Efteling has debuted its €35m (US$39.9m, £30.7m) Symbolica: Place of Fantasy – the operator’s largest ever investment to date.

Located in the middle of the park, the family-friendly indoor attraction invites visitors for “an audience with the king”. Sander de Bruijn, head of the design team at Efteling, was responsible for realising the project, which places six people into a single carriage, choosing one of three different routes – the Heroes Tour, the Treasures Tour or the Music Tour. On each of these routes is an alternate story with different adventures and interactive elements.

“Visitors live a whole adventure in Symbolica,” said de Bruijn. “They are invited to the palace by King Pardulfus to have an audience with him. When they enter the palace, there is a twist in the story. We enter rooms where we should not really be and that's when the adventure starts.”

The concept is based on the drawings of former Efteling designer Henny Knoet, who died in 2013. Working with de Bruijn, a style book of Symbolica was created, detailing everything about the fantasy world and its characters. That work was the foundation of the new attraction.

The project was first unveiled in January 2016, taking 18 months to develop from concept to completion.

“As a designer it is a dream to be allowed to build something so grand and beautiful,” said de Bruijn. “It is unique for all of us to be able to work on such a large dark ride, on an enormous scale.”

In addition to Symbolica, Efteling has also debuted its €30m (US$32.3m, £22.8m) holiday village, which borders the theme park. Sitting on the edge of the adjacent nature district Loonsche Land opened to the public on 31 May and offers 75 hotel rooms and a new restaurant.

Through a programme of phased growth over the coming years, Efteling chiefs are planning for the theme park to become an international destination, setting a target of five million visitors per year by 2020.