Okay, maybe I’m a little biased here, because I was born and raised in the Netherlands and I did have a year pass when I was 4 years old to the theme park or amusement park called ”de Efteling”. I’ve lived in the USA now for 16 years and we’ve visited several other amusement parks there, but also in Japan, Germany and Belgium. So why do I think “de Efteling” is so special and the best park in the world? This can be part of a trip to the Netherlands soon!
The History of “de Efteling”
When you walk through de Efteling these days you’ll notice a specific design of the park. Not only the buildings of the roller coasters, but even the garbage cans or in this case ”baskets” are designed in an fairy tale like way. It brings the park together. Someone like Walt Disney must have designed this.
I remember seeing pictures when I was 3 at de Efteling, and that was in the late 70’s, so the park is older than that. My mom told me, she visited de Efteling in de 50’s. It was a big playground then! So it is even older than that!
So when did this idea for a well organized theme park start?
From Soccer Field to playground (1933-1936)
In 1933 a pastor and a chaplain had an idea to build a sport complex in the south of Kaatsheuvel in the Netherlands. A place for the residents to work out a be active. Two years later the park was a reality. A walking park, a soccer field and a playground. The playground expanded a year later with a merry-go-round and high slide, a cable car and pony rides!
1950: the park keeps growing!
Till 1950 the park keeps expanding with more activities. The park is not only for the local residents now, but tourism is a great factor. More and more visitors are coming each year. ”Nature-Park de Efteling” is getting its first director. In 1951 the park has parking lots, a tea house and a pond. By this time de Efteling grew till about 65 hectare (160 acre). This is the same size Disneyland started in 1953 in Anaheim, California.
Artist Anton Pieck, the mayor at that time and the cineast Peter Reijnders were the real founders of de Efteling. Anton Pieck made more than 1500 sketches of fairy tales. The cineast made the sketches into 3 dimensional, ”moving” attractions.
1952: The Fairy Tale forest opens it doors
With 10 fairy tales back then, the forest is still the heart of de Efteling. It even grew in the last 5 years.
Visitors kept coming and a ticket was 80 cent (36 Eurocent). More fairy tales were added in the years up to 1959. A cafe/restaurant, an outdoor swimming pool and rowing boats in the pond were new additions. I remember the big white elephant in the swimming pool and the rowing boats in the pond.
By this time 700,000 people were visiting de Efteling each year.
Brilliant ideas are coming to de Efteling from 1959-1970
I taught all my kids to say:” Papier Hier!” All around de Efteling you’ll find brilliant solutions of ”trash cans”. The most famous one is ”Holle Bolle Gijs”. He made his entrance in 1959. The kids love to throw trash into is open mouth. He says ”papier hier” (paper here) and “dank je wel” (thank you).
The steam carousel started to turn in 1956 and in 1971 the steam train started to ride around the park in 1971. I still remember the smell!
More than a Fairy Tale Forest after 1978
De Efteling keeps growing! In 1978 the Haunted House opened its doors and the first roller coaster was build in 1981. When my brother and I were in elementary school we had a day off on the first Monday of September, because that was the fair in our town. After a few years, the fair became boring, not to mention expensive. My mom decided we should go to de Efteling that Monday. De Efteling was almost empty of course and we decided to go into the new roller coaster 10 times in a row…..no lines!
De Efteling received several awards and the park was and still is adorned with lots and lots of plants and tulips. Since 1992 visitors can stay at de Efteling Hotel. More roller coasters are being added and they’re all so well done.
Up until 2022
It’s so amazing how de Efteling has changed just in the last few years. Here are the attractions of de Efteling up until 2022. Click on the names of the rides to see more pictures and video’s.
Best attractions of “de Efteling”
Fairy Tale Forest
The small, quiet, winding paths lead you to the next fairy tale. I magical peace, away from the loud roller coasters. Most of the fairy tales I remember from when I was little: Haensel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, the Wolf and the 7 little Goats, the Fakir and the Gardener and more. New fairy tales which were not there in 2016, when we went for the last time, were Pinocchio and the Emperor’s new Clothes.
Piraña
This is a river rapids ride. It was our first ride last summer, because the chances are high you get wet. It was a warm day, so there would be enough time to get dry for the next ride.
This was always a favorite. The park made it more interactive: People on the side watching you, can spray water at you.
”De Baron 1898”
This was a roller coaster, I was happy to decline and stay with our youngest. Dad and our 2 teenagers were eager to go and thought this was (together with ”Vogelrok”) the best roller coaster ever. You are hanging in your cart (feet are dangling free) and you have a free fall into a misty hole in the ground. Two seconds later you come out, up, up with a twist….yeah, no thanks!
“De oude Tufferbaan”
When the rest went into ”de Baron”, we took it easy and had fun in ”de oude Tufferbaan”, which are old-timer auto mobiles on a track. Little kids love it, because it makes them feel, they’re really driving a car…and they can honk as much as they want….scaring chickens away.
“Joris en de Draak”
This is a wooden roller coaster, actually 2, which are going at the same time. I don’t think any of us went in there this time. It looks like a nice one.
“De Python”
This is the roller coaster I was telling you about earlier. The one where my brother and I went on 10 times in a row when we were little. It has a double looping and corkscrew right after. Our 2 oldest went and it was….too short! They wished it was a little longer!
“Droomvlucht”
This is so cute. It’s all about fairies and trolls. You’re in a cart which brings you to several Fairy and Troll worlds, Don’t forget to take in the smells!
“Villa Volta”
According to our oldest, this was very confusing. I didn’t go, because I get motion sickness easily. This villa turns around you. This is about a story about a bunch of thieves (”de Bokkenrijders”) in the 18th century. The leader of this gang had a villa. Why it turns?… I don’t know!
“Max en Moritz”
A new roller coaster for us. Before this one, was a bobsled track in the same kind of environment. German/Austrian/Swiss influences you can see throughout this area. Great details!
Two easy ride roller coasters which go at the same time. Are you choosing Max’s or Moritz’s soap box roller coaster?
“Symbolica”
This is a beautiful new and interactive attraction. A castle full of magic. Not to mention the huge whale…behind glass….until the glass breaks…..
“De Vliegende Hollander” (the flying Dutchman)
This roller coaster was new when we visited de Efteling in 2016. At that time, our oldest was JUST tall enough to do this ride. They agreed and I just hoped they felt safe enough between my cousin and I. This is a roller coaster/boat ride, a steep dive into a hole in the ground and a big splash at the end.
Unfortunately we didn’t do this one this year.
“Fata Morgana”
This is a slow boat ride inside with lots of things to see about Arabian Nights, like tigers, pirates, golden treasures and palaces of the sultan.
“Vogelrok”
This was our last ride. We did it even twice! I forgot that it was a little scary: A fast roller coaster in the dark! Our youngest gave a thumbs up after the first ride and asked to go again! I didn’t expect that. She still talks about it!
Our families review about “de Efteling”
Before visited de Efteling, we downloaded their app and bough tickets online. We bought them for 46 Euro each. A parking ticket was 10 Euro. It said online it would be a busy day because of the summer time.
The way to the parking lot was easy. We didn’t have to wait long, followed other cars and parked underneath solar panels, GENIUS!!!
No waiting lines at the entrance. A quick scan of our tickets on the phone and we were inside the park.
And talking about waiting lines. On the app you can see how long the wait was, but in general, we never had to wait that long. The lines always kept moving and around every corner there was something engaging and new to see!
There are a lot of restaurants to choose from. From burgers and fries, pizza, to the typical Dutch ”get-your-food-out-of-wall”, poffertjes and seafood. It’s all a little pricey, but all amusement park are expensive. I only wished they had free drinking water, instead of selling water in plastic drink bottles. The trash cans were filled with them.
This park is definitely for all ages. I didn’t get into the little kids rides and activities, like ”het Land van Laaf”. The other day we went to Six Flags amusement Park in St. Louis, USA. It was difficult to find easy roller coasters for younger kids.
De Efteling has a lot of details. Every building, the parks with flowers and path ways are so nicely done and CLEAN! They hid the mechanical parts of the roller coasters or any attraction nicely.
Oh, and don’t forget, if you’re able to stay till the park closes…there is an amazing water fountain show at the entrance. Don’t miss that!
And yes, there are ways to stay and spend the night at de Efteling: At the Efteling Hotel and there is a bungalow park.
I just love this park and now I have my kids hooked as well!
Hello everyone,
Welcome to my Crafty Dutch Girl blog! Grab a cup of “koffie” and browse through fun blog posts about our Dutch family expat life in the USA, Dutch history, Dutch recipes, Dutch things to do in the USA and all kinds of crafts and activities. Don’t forget to connect with me for new ideas! “Groetjes en tot ziens”.