Efteling…the Netherlands version of Disney World
A few months before we left for the Netherlands I saw a random travel article on CNN that listed the top European amusement parks. Intrigued, I clicked on the link and was surprised to see that in the #2 slot, right under Disneyland Paris, was a park in the Netherlands called Efteling. I researched the park more and found out that it was a Disney-esque theme park with a fairy tale theme that seemed to be especially well suited to the under 5 crowd. Conveniently, it was only an hour from our house so I added it to our “Stuff to do in the Netherlands” list.
I bought tickets online and we planned to take the kids on a Monday in late July. When that day arrived, it was over 90 degrees and we decided that a day at Schevingen Beach would be more fun so we postponed our Efteling trip until the end of August. This turned out to be a great idea because the week we ended up visiting Efteling, the last week in August, was also the first week school was back in session in the Netherlands so the crowds at Efteling were considerably smaller than they would have been had we visited in July.
Our plan was to leave the house at noon and drive to Efteling while the kids napped so that they would be re-energized and ready to spend the rest of the day at the park until it closed at 8pm. In theory, this was a good plan. In reality, Jack was so excited to go to Efteling that he didn’t sleep at all in the car on the way there making this one of only a handful of days (ever) where he has completely skipped his nap.
The park was easy to find and parking was easy. We unloaded the stroller and the baby carrier before I realized we had forgotten to pack any diapers for Ben. Uh oh. The people who parked next to us also had little kids so I asked them if we could borrow a couple and they gave me two size 3 diapers…for my kid who wears a size 5. I crossed my fingers that he wouldn’t have a giant blowout as I hadn’t brought any extra clothes either. I’m definitely that mom that just shows up with her kid and hopes for the best.
Once inside the park, we headed for the Fairytale Forest. This place was equal parts charming and unsettling all at the same time. There were little themed houses with scenes from famous fairy tales. We saw Rapunzel, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretl and a bunch of other fairy tale characters I didn’t know as well. These weren’t the Disney versions of the fairy tales. They were the original, typically kinda creepy, versions. It’s strange to have to explain to a 4 year old that the witch peeking out of the gingerbread house wants to eat Hansel and Gretl. Or that Rapunzel is being held hostage in a big tower. I found myself editing a lot of the fairy tales so they weren’t so macabre. Jack and Ben really liked the forest, but it took forever to walk through. We skipped the last 3 fairy tales because we were ready to go on some rides.
After we exited the Fairytale Forest we got on the first ride we came to – an indoor carousel with no line. Score. Then I realized why no one wanted to go on this ride. The music inside the building was ridiculously loud and annoying and the carousel was spinning faster than I have ever seen one go. Thankfully, the workers standing on the carousel were wearing ear plugs because they would have been deaf in a few days if they forgot to bring them. I couldn’t believe none of them were puking in the corner after riding that thing around and around all day. We jumped on, each taking one of the boys, and rode around once. I couldn’t wait to get off.
Next we headed for the back of the park where I had heard there was a ride reminiscent of “It’s a Small World” at Disney and another similar to the spinning teacups. After waiting in line for about 15 minutes, we boarded the Carnaval Festival. We sat in little 2-person cars that traveled through different “countries” with little characters acting out traditional scenes. Coming from an area where there is so much emphasis on being politically correct, it was a little strange to see the characters from Japan look like World War II propaganda posters. There was definitely some noticeable stereotyping going on with this ride. Once you looked past that, the ride was fun and whimsical.
Our next stop was the spinning teacup-like ride called Monsieur Cannibale. Instead of teacups, we sat in boiling cauldrons while an African chef stirred a big pot in the middle of the ride. This was strange…the ride was about eating people. Another strange thing to explain…or avoid explaining. The ride had a really catchy song playing in some other non-Dutch language. All we could understand was “Monsieur Cannibale…”, but that didn’t matter. I was still humming this song in my sleep for a couple nights. When we sat down in our cauldron I put my bag on the seat next to me and the boys were sandwiched between Brian and me. The ride started to move and it spun FAST. My bag almost flew out of the cauldron and Brian and I looked at each other with huge eyes and he quickly scooped up Ben and held on to him tight. Then we laughed hysterically at how fast this thing was moving and how there was no way this would be allowed with all the safety regulations we have in the U.S.
Across from the cauldrons was a roller coaster that Jack really wanted to ride. I tried to logically explain that he was too short to ride the roller coaster, but that was futile and he insisted on walking up to the line to see for himself. After realizing he really was too small, he had a giant meltdown.
The next part of the park had a couple rides the kids really liked. There were these old Model T Ford’s the kids could drive around and another ride with a whale and some kind of flying ships. Then Jack spotted a giant swinging pirate ship and begged to go on it. I really didn’t want to go – rides like that make me dizzy and nauseous almost instantly – so I told him he was too little. Brian either didn’t get my attempt to get us out of this ride or didn’t care, so he said he’d take Jack. He immediately regretted this decision as soon as the ride started moving. I wasn’t sure if Jack was going to love it or scream instantly that he was scared and wanted to get off. Turns out I was the one being wimpy. If you ask Jack what his favorite part of our Netherlands trip was, he will tell you it was the pirate ship at Efteling.
We ended up staying at Efteling until the park closed at 8pm. In this time, we got to do pretty much everything we had planned. Most of the lines were short so it was easy to pack in a lot of activities. Other cool rides included Droomvlucht, a dark ride through a land of fairies and trolls that was my favorite, a train that went around the perimeter of the park, a giant pagoda that rose up into the sky and Symbolica, a strange fantasy palace that had the longest line of the night and was probably my least favorite ride. On the way out we watched a Bellagio-style water and lights show that would have been cooler if it had been dark.
This park was perfect for our kids and I was so glad we visited on a day when the lines were short. We had a ton of fun, but I can’t imagine doing a park like this with little kids and long lines – especially on a hot day. Considering we spent only $135 for the whole family to visit for a day – just a bit more than a ticket to Disney World for 1 person – Efteling was a great deal.
