Efteling Theme Park, Netherlands
The Meek Family
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Ella's birthday always falls during the summer holidays and more often than not we are away. This year is no different. Since we knew we were going to be in the Netherlands at the end of July, we planned our stops so that we would be near Efteling theme park on the big day, not far from the site that we were staying at (Beekse Bergen).
Efteling is the biggest theme park in the Netherlands and one of the oldest in the world. It opened in 1952 as a nature park with a fairy tale forest, home to ten fairy tales brought to life mechanically using drawings by famous Dutch illustrator Anton Pieck. and has grown into the popular theme park that it is today. It is believed to have even inspired Disney! A Dutch friend said to me that is it every child's dream to spend their birthday at Efteling.
Efteling is built into the surrounding forest. A beautiful thatched building with dramatic spiked roofs which rises out from the car park, is the entrance to the magical world of rides, amusements and shows. The attractions fit into the surroundings beautifully and the architecture is to be admired whilst walking around; high-quality rides sit nestled amongst greenery, manicured gardening and lakes. The fairy tale theme runs throughout. Characters dressed in elaborate costumes greet you from the moment you enter and one of the four sections is Marerijk, the fairy realm. This is where the Fairy Tale forest is located and where visitors can see the fairies of Droomvlucht. The other three areas of the park include Reizenrijk - the travel realm - where the popular Carnival ride travels through different countries for a trip around the world; Anderrijk - other realms - where non-western inspired rides like Fata Morgana and Pirana are found and Ruigrirjk - adventure realm - the area where the most adventurous and thrilling rides are located.
Our two have outgrown the fairy tale world and were certainly too big for the younger kids rides; they were keen to spend most of the day in Ruigrirjk queueing up for the rides labelled with a red icon (for dare devils). We began our ride experience with one called Bob. After a very short wait in the queue we were strapped into six-person sleigh and were slowly climbing to the top before being released onto the slide. The sleigh was not attached to rails and freely rolled down the shute just as real bobsleigh would. It was a thrilling but bumpy ride!
The rides then continued to get better and better. We queued for the Dragon, a large wooden roller coaster with a dramatic fire-breathing dragon sat outside it. Before climbing into the carriages, the queue splits into two teams - red and blue. Two trains of carriages set off at the same time and whizz over, under and past each other, competing to see who will get to the finish first. The winning team are cheered as they return into the loading bay. This was Ella's favourite ride and she went on it 5 times!
Amy's favourite ride, on the other hand, was one of the newest at Efteling (built last year). It was called The Baron and was based on the story of a haunted mine. At the start of the ride the carriages climb slowly to the top of the mine where they then hang for three seconds before dropping vertically over 30 metres into a misty cavern. As they emerge the carriages then snake and corkscrew to the end. This ride looks as dramatic as it feels. The drop is quite a spectacle as groups of people gather beneath it to watch fear-stricken riders screaming as they plummet down in front of them.
Other thrilling rides included: the Python, with two loop the loops and two corkscrews; the Flying Dutchman, an exciting roller coaster with amazing architecture to admire as you queue before twisting and turning through tunnels and splashing into the lake; the Pirana, a fun water rapids that guarantees to splash you; a roller coaster in the dark and pirate ship.
The park also has the usual eating places offering a range of snacks and meals. Fair ground style stalls also provide entertaining challenges from throwing basketballs in hoops, rolling balls into numbered channels, hooking bags and throwing darts to win large cuddly toys.
The park is open all year round from 10am. It gets over 4 million visitors a year and although there are a lot of people wandering around, it never felt overly cramped. Queues varied in length and were much shorter earlier and later on during the day. The longest queue was for the front row of the Baron which, at its peak, was about an hour long, which is shorter than many of the queues we've had to stand in at Alton Towers.
Efteling was a fabulous place to spend a birthday. We enjoyed a full day out on the rides and would certainly recommend a visit if you're near Kaatsheuvel!
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It was a fantastic day out and certainly a special day for Ella. In fact it stopped us going to Legoland in Denmark because we didn't think it would be as good as Eftling.
Glad you have such fond memories of it. Hope the girls will remember it as fondly in the future.
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