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- Efteling: World of Wonders
Staff favourite
1/11
The Efteling theme park is a magical experience for all ages. With a Fairytale forest, thrill rides and daily shows it is a fantastic day trip.
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- Fun for the entire family with everything from gentle rides to roller coasters
- Attractions based on folklore, fairy tales and ancient legends
- Enjoy a full day filled with wonder and excitement
Children
Everyone over the age of 3 needs an adult ticket
Free entry for 0-3 year olds when accompanied by an adult
Opening hours
Monday - Friday: 11.00 - 18.00
Saturday - Sunday: 11.00 - 19.00
Different opening times during holidays
Ticket information
Ticket includes entrance to the theme park and the attractions
Ticket does not include transportation to the park nor food and drinks
Ticket directly available on smartphone
Tickets can be used once and are valid until 7 January 2024, tickets cannot be cancelled
More information
For questions about the product, please contact [email protected]
Accessibility
- Wheelchair friendly
- Free access to bathroom
Efteling
Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Discover a World of Wonders
Efteling is the biggest and most beautiful theme park in the Netherlands and definitely worth a visit. With more than 50 attractions, it is a wonderful day out for the entire family. This unique park surrounded by nature makes you feel like you stepped into a fairy tale.
Board the Droomvlucht (Dreamflight) dark ride filled with fairies and forest animals, walk between giants and trolls in the Fairytale Forest and feed Holle Bolle Gijs who is always hungry. Discover Laafland from above on the monorail and be enchanted by Symbolica, the Palace of Fantasy, where nothing is what it seems.
It is not all dreams and fairy tales in Efteling, as there is a lot on offer for daredevils too. Step on board Baron 1898 and free fall straight down into a mineshaft at 90 km/h or step onto the wooden rollercoaster Joris en de Draak (George and the Dragon) that will take you on a double-track race. You won’t want to miss the Python or the Flying Dutchman either.
Besides the attractions, there are daily shows performed throughout the park. These spectacular shows are filled with action and special effects and are enjoyable for the whole family. The park also has several restaurants and food stalls. If you stay till the end of the day, make sure to watch the amazing watershow Aquanura, where music, water, fire and light come together.
The past and the future
The Efteling theme park opened its doors for the first time on 31 May 1952. It started with only the Fairy tale Forest with original fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and The Frog Prince. Dutch artist Anton Pieck helped create the theme park and added the romantic touch that sets the Efteling theme park apart from others.
Over the years more attractions opened and now there is even an Efteling Hotel and an Efteling Golf Park. And Efteling never stops reinventing itself with new rides. On 31 October 2024, the newest attraction opens: Danse Macabre! And more new attractions are already in the works.
Book your Efteling tickets now!
Are you up for an adventure and do you want to escape the busy city? Plan your enchanting Efteling visit now! Efteling’s World of Wonders is easily reached by either car or public transport. Get your Efteling tickets here and get ready to be transported to a World of Wonders.
128 Reviews
4.8
Average rating from
Tripadvisor
natashakB8565IU
Best theme park experience
Best theme park I’ve been to, staff were amazing and friendly, English speaking was no issue, navigation around park was easy with the app, rides were magical and so well designed, pricing in and around the park spot on for families, my only complaint is a day is not long enough! So planning another trip! This time was a tour next time I’m going to do it myself, train or car. My daughter is 6 this was her birthday present, and she isn’t big on rides with too much motion, watching videos on your website meant I could preplan all the rides so every experience was enjoyable. Ques were at such a good level that my husband could go off and do more thrilling ones on his own without anyone waiting around, I have family members with disabilities who only managed 4 rides in a weekend trip to Disney, I recommend they come here. Also your app, website is also spot on! In the uk I’ve got very stressed an disappointed with theme parks prices ques and experience, waiting 1.5h for a 2min ride. My longest que here was 15mins and what an experience that que is! It’s like part of the ride (symbolica)! Thankyou eftling for creating the most magical experience!
Feb 24, 2025759fennev
Amazing park but they need to fix some major issues.
I love the efteling. It's a very pretty park, the theming is stunning and the rides are nice. There are a lot of food choices and enough places to seat down and have dinner. Old and young kids will have a lot of fun here but there are some negative things I need to comment on. - Ride closures. Rides are closed all the time and often a lot of the big rides are closed at the same time. The efteling is known for this issue but they aren't improving it. - Parking is insane. Parking is really expensive and if you get parked all the way in the back it can be a 30 minute walk with kids. Even on slow days you get parked in the back sometimes. - The medical theme sucks! My sister fainted on a ride and it took them more than 20 minutes too arrive. The staff handeled this great though. Luckily for us one of the people who controlled the rides was a fireman and knew how to handle the situation but the first aid team really took too long! - The efteling oversells tickets. Don't go in the summer holiday, half the country will be there. - The winter efteling isn't worth it. It gets marketed greatly but it's not what you think. There's barely any christmas decoration, only a christmassy area. I would absolutely recommend the efteling since it's a great and magical place to be and there's lots of fun for all ages and you will have fun all day. There are just some things you need to watch out for.
Feb 22, 2025153lizzies
amazing and thrilling rides
Loved every ride . I highly recommend Baron and python if you are brave enough height restrictions are low so short people can go on . Everything was clean and accessible . Very family friendly and all the staff I met were extremely helpful. The longest queue was only 30 minutes . I would recommend staying at the Efteling hotel since you get early access to all the rides. You also get to stay and watch the amazing light show .
Feb 22, 2025inspec71
A brilliant experience and great alternative to Disneyland Paris
Visited with a family of four, including two boys aged 7 and 4. Normally we visit Disneyland Paris in February each year, but having heard so much about Efteling we decided to try it. We booked several months before travelling, and stayed at the Efteling Bosrijk Hotel. We drove from the UK via the Channel Tunnel. Once in France it’s about three hours in the car on a simple route through Belgium into The Netherlands. Our first day was travelling and on arrival we used the Efteling app to get past the car park barriers and we left the car before walking straight to our room. The app provides a digital key and your room number. Very handy. You can also drive closer to the hotel or some of the pretty houses and cabins in the Bosrijk area to unload and load, before putting the car back in the car park. Our top floor room in the Landhuys building was generously sized, had a separate bedroom with large bunk beds for the kids, a four poster double bed in the main room, a comfortable lounge space, large bathroom and separate WC. The hotel was quiet, comfortable and spotlessly clean. The first night we walked through the landscaped Bosrijk area to the Eethuys restaurant where we had reserved a table. The staff were friendly, service was great and the food so much better than expected. Not cheap, but infinitely superior to what you’d find at Disneyland. Breakfast is included with the hotel and was served buffet-style in the same restaurant each morning. You need to reserve as it can get quite busy. Staff were again extremely friendly and some of the Efteling characters are there to greet you as you eat. From the hotel it’s a five minute walk to the park itself. We needed three days to have a good look around and still did not see it all. Different in feel to Disneyland, the variety of attractions ranges from charming 1950s fairy tales to modern white knuckle rides that have a depth and quality that easily rivals what you’d find in Paris. The staff were without exception friendly, the wide range of more affordable park food and dining options very welcome and at this time of year we never had to wait more than twenty minutes for any attraction. There are no expensive fast passes necessary, the gifts and souvenirs are far more reasonably priced and the whole thing feels less cynical and so much more welcoming than Disneyland. On top of it all, the entire package was about two thirds the cost of Disneyland and we never felt like we were missing anything. If you’re considering an alternative to the overpriced, overcrowded Disneyland, it takes the same travel time, costs less, feels magical and is so much more friendly at Efteling. We will be back!
Feb 21, 2025dimuu
Efteling during Christmas
It was my first time and was really looking forward to finally go and expected it to have a more festive vibe as it was during Christmas. For me it could be more festive, especially the theatershow CARO on Christmas day which was their standard show that was fun and funny though, I enjoyed it. Despite the fact that it was in December in Winter time, cold and a bit rainy, we enjoyed the park and will definitely come back, but during the warmer months. It was also nice that it wasn't too crowdie and no long queues for rides, making the experience pleasant. In Summer this will surely not be the case.
Jan 17, 2025zeynthechef
Age limits of rides in efteling
Is efteling ristrict about age limits of rides for children? Or just a reccomendation? Because we had haunted house ride in disneyland and my 5 years old had really fun☺️i didnt see any bad effect.
Dec 9, 2024McPherson9
Magical Experience
This was our second trip to Efteling. After the first trip I wasn’t sure if I enjoyed it or not, we didn’t really plan our time well and ended up wasting a lot of time. But this time we planned ourselves a lot better and we all absolutely loved it. The rides were excellent, lots of rides even for my 1 year old to go in which is amazing as she is to little fir rides most other places. Was something for everyone and I now highly recommend Efteling to anyone. Was a few things not working/under repair but these things happen. We will most definitely be back here again, our kids keep talking about it.
Nov 19, 2024Safari561380
Danse Macabre was the draw but check out August and his pet monkey Aagje
We returned to Efteling once again after visiting many times before. This time we was so excited for the newly opened Danse Macabre. After Efteling retired the former version. We were back- After a wait of around 75 minutes we were allowed into the chamber. The ride is set like a huge teacup ride movement with guests seated in alternating pews. I suffer from a lack of full bend false knees and found the legroom somewhat a challenge but after the patience of the ride operators I managed to bend the knees enough into the space. It was a tight fit though. Whilst not a ride designer I would suggest a gap to put your feet, under the seat in front - exactly as you have on the Flying Dutchman ride. As allows better access. That aside the ride was really well imagined and was exceptionally good. I won’t cover the other rides as many on here have already done so. However what stole the show was a magical hidden gem. Tucked away in a tiny theatre opposite the Efteling museum is a tiny puppet theatre. We learned from the most incredible and informative lady at the door was this was Established once again in spring this year, but blink and you will miss it. I must say what a joy. My wife and I joined a very small group as the tiny theatre doors opened. The host that welcomed us was from the outset the complete showman. As was his wonderful assistant who shared the history of the theatre. The show was to be in Dutch but as we are from England and the fellow audience folks asked for it to be performed in English the host agreed. What followed was a wonderfully innocent yet imaginative and entertaining beautiful performance. This one person show however simplistic transported one back to childhood. We have marvelled at big budget Caro and fell in love with the spirit of Efteling, yet we ventured for the big ride of the year in danse macabre but it’s safe to say that August and his pet puppet monkey was an absolute hidden gem and made our trip complete. Do not miss this- it’s a treat!
Nov 19, 2024glensY7954SO
Fantastic day
Really didn't know what to expect when taking a day trip with friends out of Amsterdam to the theme park, but I was blown away! The park never felt packed, and we made use of the app to avoid massive lines/waits! The park itself felt magical with a new suprise around every turn! The rides were some of the most original theme park experiences I've ever had! You also don't feel like you are being ripped off with the ticket being reasonable and the food and drink being the same! The experience gets taken to another level when the sun goes down as the park looks and feels completely different! All in all, it was a really fantastic day out and might be my favourite day of the holiday
Nov 5, 2024KayleighB347
Must visit
What a fantastic place, something for everyone to do here. Went as a group of 12 with kids ranging from 3-12, everyone had a fantastic day. Would definitely say to plan your visit before coming (download the app and decide what you want to do most). This park is soo big that I think we only got to maybe half of it! So I would suggest if you enjoy all the things on offer plan for a 2 day visit. The attention to detail of the rides and the characters who you interact with is soo good. Lots of options for food and drinks as you travel around, but at busy times you could be waiting a while. Think you can also order on the app at some places but I'm not that clever. 100% would visit again and do all the things we missed. A must do if ever in the area
Nov 3, 2024markbH648TP
Great value for money Theme Park
This was our first time visiting the park and we took our granddaughters (8 & 5) and our son (17). We stayed for 2 nights, so had access to the park over 3 days. We stayed in one of the lake side themed cabins in Loonsche Land. The walk was quite long for little legs at the end of the day but there are free mini buses if you need them. The walk was about 15 minutes through the woods which the children enjoyed. The drive to Efteling from Le Shuttle was straight forward and with a short comfort break, took about 3 hrs. The park is amazing and puts UK theme parks to shame. They are clean, well maintained, spacious and most of all, Magical. Everything that the UK parks lack. Food was plentiful with so much variety to choose from and really reasonable prices. The children loved the waffles and my son enjoyed the chillie hot dogs. We had breakfast each morning in the hotel. The selection was great, help yourself buffet and the staff were helpful & cheery. The whole family really enjoyed the rides. They were amazing with rides to suit all ages. Our granddaughters particularly loved Max & Moritz, Droomvlucht and Symbolica. The adults loved Joris en de Draak, Baron & Python Queues averaged between 5-30 minutes, even for the most popular rides which is a fraction of the time you'd spend in queues in the UK. That, of course was with the exception of Danse Macabre! We were there on opening day and queues were in excess of 4 hrs!! Fair to say, we skipped this ride. The girls loved the fairy tale Forest and my wife was able to recount all the fairy tales from her childhood. The girls absolutely loved Long Neck and the pooping donkey. We had pre booked Caro for one evening and although we had no clue what was actually going on, we were able to identify the music which related to the rides within the parks. Luckily, we knew about the death of one of the characters within the storyline and were able to pre warn our little ones. We also visited Ravelijn on our last day which we all really enjoyed. Don't miss it!! If we had any complaints, it would be that the rooms were probably too small for a family of 5 (they sleep 6) but I suppose we were literally just using them to sleep in. The beds were all singles (I'm a big lump) and the pillows were a bit old & lumpy. We would highly recommend a short break to Efteling. Download the App and go!!
Nov 2, 2024sallyesom
Fun for all the family
A great day out with plenty of rides and attractions to keep our varied tastes happy. Lots of different places to stop and eat. Great facilities. Highly recommend the Poffertjes house. If possible avoid Dutch holidays as this is very popular destination and this can make queue times long. On average we waited 30-40mins per ride but most people were waiting for the new Danse-Macabre which has just opened. The park itself does not feel busy and it is well set up for high footfall.
Oct 31, 2024291stephenp
Loved it!
Consistently surprised by how good it was. A Hipster Disney submerged in a beautiful forest for a fraction of the price. If you want a theme park devoid of corporate nonsense and an attitude of I-paid-more-so-I’m-skipping-the-queue, then this is it. Loved every minute. Cannot recommend enough.
Oct 30, 2024M28601
Fantastic stay
Absolutely fantastic park - cannot praise it enough. We spent 5 days here and the family loved it. The staff were exceptionally nice, the park was very clean and the lodges were fantastic. Very comfy beds! In the park there were great food options, a variety of rides and just so much room to wander and explore. So glad we went.
Oct 14, 2024petesargearing
Prefer Efteling over Disney
There are a lot of great memories of Efteling during my hubby's childhood. It was wonderful enjoying the park together. To think that it has been around for more than 100 years is amazing. The development of modern/traditional is a great mix. They maintained having trees and greeneries around so it is very "calming". The rides are amazing! Tons of food options. The fairytale forest is a must!!! If you are travelling to the Netherlands, we highly encourage visiting Efteling. I prefer it now to Disney because of the variety it offers.
Oct 11, 2024rowanm968
Best theming in a theme park
Seeming is the best theming that I’ve ever seen at a theme park I’ve definitely recommend this if you have young children. there are so many rides and it’s very thrilling. this is an amazing day out even if you are an adult as they have loads of rollercoasters is and so much stuff to do.
Aug 24, 2024debbiepL860SA
Top class theme park brilliant family experience
This theme park is the best ever! Amazing themed rides as well as big coasters, best vibe of all these parks, entertainment around the park, clean, amazing food, great to walk around, droomvluct virtual queue, everything is top class and can not be faulted it is amazing for all ages
Aug 9, 2024heatherwJ923TT
Amazing!
Visited during May half-term with a 7, 14, 17, and two 40-odd year olds for the second time, our first trip being back in 2019. We stayed for 2 nights/3 days and had self-catering accommodation in Loonsche Land which was fantastic. I think the package of staying onsite that includes entry to the park represents good value. We had absolute blast, the park remains an amazing experience, with something to do for everyone, whether you like rides or not. A few rides were closed for maintenance, there was quite a lot of construction work taking place when we went, and Dutch teens need to learn respect and manners (i.e. spitting on people when on rides, it didn't happen to us directly, but we saw it happen to others several times, plus queuing is not something they believe in) - but none of this really impacted on our experience. We were shattered when we headed back to the UK, but we had the most fantastic time, core memories were made, and hopefully one day we will be back again.
Jul 23, 2024Guide39212903359
a magical place
We visited Efteling with a 2.5 year old and spent two days there and even then we didn't get to cover everything in the park. To be fair that is because we really wanted to have a relaxing visit and not rush going on everything just for the sake of it, especially when we have a toddler with us. Really enjoyed our time there and there's plenty for a toddler to do and ride. The reason why we chose to go to Efteling is because a lot of the rides, especially the dark rides, don't have a minimum height so our toddler can pretty much join us on the rides rather than taking turn between parents (I'm sure a lot of parents can relate). Definitely agree with a lot of the reviewers about the food & beverages. There were plenty of options in the park and they are all not only just VERY reasonably priced (for theme park standards) but also actually pretty decent food. A good-sized hot dog was €6.50 and plenty of different generously-sized main meals are sub-€10 (as of June 2024). The coffee was €2.95 which happened to be the best coffee, and also the cheapest, we had during our whole stay in the Netherlands. I'd say if you have young kids you almost definitely need more than one day. The only downside to this is that Efteling do not offer any multi-day tickets so you don't really 'save' money if you want to go to the park for more than one day. But having said that, the entrance ticket is not massively expensive because even in recent months we've paid the similar price for a different park that is less than half the size with less than half of the attractions & 'production value'. So can't really complain there!
Jul 11, 2024Andrea_Wallette
Fantastic four days!
Stayed on the park and definitely worth it! We could walk in and explore for three full days. Lots of rides for different ages. Easy to navigate through the park with a stroller. Pack the water because there is not much shelter - too many rides! Favourites - train ride, pagoda ride, and the pancakes!
Jun 22, 2024AmberMorrice123
Efteling Theme Park
I think that the park was amazing and I want to say thank you to Elise for being the best and helping me and my friends when we needed it at the Python roller coaster. She was fantastic, thank you Elise.
Jun 21, 2024205hazell
Beautiful trip
We took our 3 children to Efteling from the UK for a five day trip, staying at Bosrijk village. The park is huge and spotlessly clean. The staff are all hardworking, approachable and tremendously polite and helpful. We visited the park three days in a row and managed to visit every ride and see every attraction that we wanted. Thanks to the very helpful Efteling app, I think the longest we ever waited for a ride was 25 mins and a lot of the time the wait was 10 mins or so, which was fantastic. We watched both the Aquanura water show and the Caro show, both were wonderful. There is a good variety of things to do for different ages. Our children are 12, 9 and 6 and they all had something "for them", and even I really enjoyed quite a few of the rides. It really is a well-run, clean and friendly place to visit. Even though it was busy when we visited (May half term week), we never felt crowded, the park is just so big!
May 31, 2024671stefanoso
Amazing experience
Amazing! Well organised and really friendly staff. Its my 5th time visiting the park and always amaze me how nice is it really good work
May 26, 2024jans531
Unforgettable Theme park with consistent style
This themepark started in the sixties around images of fairy tales, now it has attractions for all ages. Remarkable is the efficient organisation with hundreds of staff taking care of the wellbeing of visitors and the consistency in the styling of every detail. The original designer/architect Anton Pieck left his mark to date. We spent three full days here and some kids had to cry when leaving was unevitable.
May 13, 2024JamesS1770
An immersive park that rivals DIsney.
Beautiful park that is up there with Disney in some areas. We visited out of season in March 2024 and as this is a year round park a few rides were down for maintenance, which is understandable but still a little disappointing. Also the front of the park was undergoing major construction (car park/new hotel) which looked a little unsightly. The park is huge and ideally you should set aside at least 2 days. However as it was pretty quiet and some rides were down we got to see most of it and get a couple of re-rides in too. The food was your usual theme park fare however we were a little disappointed with the pancake restaurant as we had heard great things. The majority of the staff were lovely but there were a couple that had a bit of an attitude problem. Overall its an incredibly immersive park with some very unique attractions and hopefully one day we'll get back to do the stuff we missed out on this time around.
Mar 23, 2024Discover17433283429
Must do
It was amazing best day of my life this is a must do, it's very detailed and nice it's for the little ones but also for the daredevils but it is still really nice and detailed
Feb 21, 2024Louise131313
Magical Efteling
Efteling is magical. Staff are so unbelievably nice and pleasant and the whole experience we just had woth pur family was well worth the trip from Dublin. Transport is easy and reliable and we stayed in a hotel on the site of the theme park itself which was fabulous too. Thank you for a memorable stay. The staff should be very proud of hoe they conduct themselves..
Feb 18, 2024cosmiclairea
Best European theme park! Highly recommend!
This was our first trip to De Efteling, and what a lovely magical one! Firstly the staff are ALL so very helpful and friendly, much better than UK theme parks. They go out of their way for the customer. The park itself is huge, spaced out and well themed. There is too much to see in one day, I recommend 2-3 days to get the best experience and see everything. You should make time to walk around the magical forest area Sprookjesbos, telling the story of various Fairytales. We found the Donkey that shoots Coin tokens out of it's bum very amusing! The talking bins were also very funny. How lovely to also see happy wildlife at the park, various birds and red squirrels. The Aquarena fountain show at the end of the day is definitely worth seeing too. The que times for rides were very fast, I think the most we waited for was only about 15min at most. We managed to get on 14 rides in one day! There was 5 rides we wanted to go on shut down for maintenance, but that is to be expected at this time of year, and we will go back to hopefully experience these next time. Our personal favourites were Baron 1898, Vogal Rok, and Villa Volta. Unfortunately the Baron ride photos were not working for 2 days and there was no staff at the booth to help, so we missed out on getting those, this is our only complaint. The park is helpful for disabled guests, offering free wheelchair rental, and some of the rides you can get on a separate que (using their facilities card) for those who cannot stand for long. One particular member of staff for the Symbolica ride was very kind to me helping me to download the facilities access and get on the ride easier! There is a variety of food around the park, at reasonable prices (some cheaper than the UK theme parks). We particularly recommend the Currywurst hotdogs at the hut near the Max & Moritz ride, and the Stroopwaffles near Long Neck. Pinokkios pizza was also nice, and the Venison steak at the Efteling hotel. The only suggestion we have is that the menu at the hotel restaurant was very small and limited, would be nice to see more choice. We stayed at the Efteling hotel, which was lovely and had it's own entrance to the park only 5min walk away and early access to some rides at 9.30am. The reception staff there are very friendly and helpful! They helped us many times with questions. I lost my phone charger and they found and lent me one immediately. They also helped me post some postcards. The rooms are big, clean, comfortable and well themed, with a nice hot shower. We requested a high floor room with a view facing the park, and they honoured this request. Breakfast was continental and fresh. The only thing missing I noticed was some sugar or sweetners for tea. The Bathouse swimming pool was also nice, warm and fun, although it was very busy when we went about 7-8pm. The lifeguard staff were very helpful, to lend us some towels and arrange for us a free shuttle minibus to take us back to the Efteling hotel as it was dark and cold after park closing time, and would have been a long walk. We appreciated the help! We really enjoyed our stay at Efteling and hope we can come back again soon! Highly recommend to anyone.
Feb 16, 2024K9859KWjenniferd
Magical Place for anyone and everyone!
This place is absolutely magical! The child stories from the Dutch and European culture was so fun and enlightening. I was amazed the entire time. Highly recommend anyone to go who has the chance to visit The Netherlands.
Feb 5, 2024Carrsontheroad
Fairytales and Coasters
As lovers of UK Theme parks we were keen to give Efteling a go. The many reviews we read were all positive for this family park, with many saying they loved the atmosphere. Choosing to split our visit over two days we arrived on a wintery weekday, late morning, ready to fit in as much in as possible while the weather was dry. From the grand entrance to the welcoming staff, you feel transported to a world of make believe. We headed first to Python and Baron 1898 and enjoyed adding both to our coaster list! The park is a fair size so to get our bearings, we jumped on the train and took a trip around the different areas to plan our afternoon. Even during the quiet winter weekdays there were plenty of places to stop and grab a drink and treats. One of the biggest surprises was deciding to ‘nip through’ the Fairytale Forest only to emerge 90 mins later! The scenes were so detailed and plenty to look at wondering this whimsical little trail. Sadly the weather wasn't quite so kind as the day went on so we gave the light show a miss at the end of the evening. Armed with a plan we headed back in for day two, fitting in the many attractions we missed the day before. Without sharing to much, the dark rides were fab, there really is something for everyone at this park. It was so clean (helped Im sure by the fact everyone wants to feed their rubbish to the talking bins) plenty of places to sit and enjoy picnics in the sun and undercover in the rain and lots of facilities dotted about. One thing we really liked was the little museum with plenty of old props and drawings telling the history of the park. We loved this park and there was so much we wanted to go back to but just run out of time. We were aware of the closed rides but enjoyed the couple of days so much, even with those main attractions closed for maintenance. We will be back soon! Oh don't forget to visit Volk van Laaf, home of adorable little folk.
Jan 25, 2024sabinaz2022
We love Efteling
Magical! We LOVE the Netherlands, and Efteling adding to another amazing time there! I can't wait to take the kids there too! Some super rides for adults, as well as for children from what we could see. The theming in the Netherlands is much better than how the Brits do it!
Jan 25, 2024kren250
Amazing dark rides
I’ve wanted to visit Efteling for years, ever since hearing about their dark rides. We arrived right at opening, parked, and entered the park (very short line to enter). We were there over Christmas break; it was quite busy, but the park handles crowds well. Wait times for most of the rides were about an hour. We did all four of the dark rides. The Carnavale ride was decent, the pirate ride great, and Dream Flight and Symbolica were both excellent! I also really enjoyed exploring the Fairy Tale forest and Laaf land. There was a small Christmas section, with decorated trees and a Christmas market of sorts.
Jan 14, 2024Louisena
Wonderful, kooky, unique and memorable.
Magical and memorable. Knocks the socks off the standard UK theme parks. We visited in the unbelievable October rain but still had a magical, albeit soggy, family adventure. We will be back to explore some more. Thank you Efteling.
Jan 11, 2024Y1274KXmichellew
The cosiest, most magical Christmas.
Me and my husband came over from the UK for Christmas with our 5 year old and 7 month old. Efteling has been on our bucket list a few years, but particularly over Christmas. It didn't disappoint. We stayed at the efteling hotel, a short 5 minute walk away which was very useful with small children. We had 2 days there and honestly wished I had booked longer. Everywhere you turn there's something magical or unique to look at or do. Rides were brilliant, and next to no ques. Adding in the winter wonderland, ice rink, etc it was the perfect Christmas holiday for us. Its been nearly a month and ny 5 year old talks about it everyday, and wants to see the photos and videos, particularly the carnaval festival ride ( his favourite!). If your thinking of booking it, do it! Plenty of places to stop, sit, eat ao perfect for families and children. Cannot wait to go back!
Jan 9, 2024Z5028AZnicolag
Best theme park in Europe
Amazing place and fantastic visit. We went with our 11, 9 and 4 year old and we all had a wonderful time. Lots to do for all ages and comfort levels, loads of choice of places to eat. Queues were fine, longest one was 35 mins but most were about 10 or so and towards the end of the day there were no queues on some of the rides. The app tells you the times so you can easily navigate around hat. Went to Disney in Paris earlier this year and wouldn't rate it at all By contrast Efteling was everything a theme park should be; a magical place for all the family to enjoy. The fountain show at the end of the night was fab, staff were friendly, didn't feel like they were constantly trying to get money out of you. We had a wonderful time and would recommend to everyone. Can't wait to go back
Dec 30, 2023LindaB449
Another wonderful visit.
Our second visit and equally as good as the first. It was a very quiet week so we were able to jump on rides without too much queuing. The restaurants in the park are excellent - especially the pancake house. We borrowed a wheelchair for our grandson and had a disability access card - the staff were excellent making sure his needs were catered for. We will be visit again next year. The staff all around the park are so happy and obviously enjoy their work. We loved the shows around the park and Caro show was excellent.
Dec 24, 2023LittleTiggs
Better than Disneyland...!!!
Totally magical world with everything you could want and more. Efteling was amazing, so much fun around every corner, so much to discover and immerse yourself in. Love the roller coasters, the equstrian riding display in Raveleijn and CARO. Our accommodation was brilliant. The staff attentive. The gift shops. The food. All quality and reasonably priced. We will be back....!!!
Dec 18, 2023DonCheese
Puts every UK theme park to shame
What an amazing theme park. We visited at the end of October 2023. It was our first European theme park visit as a family after years and years of going to the same UK parks over and over again, and what an eye-opener it was. The Efteling really puts the “theme” into theme park. Every ride and attraction, including other buildings and infrastructure are heavily themed and seamless. The park is absolutely huge - sadly we were only able to visit for a single day so only enjoyed a fraction of what the park has to offer. You would have plenty to do over two or three days (or more). Food options at the park are impressive - from the basic vending snacks (reasonable prices, hot and delicious), the hot chips on a stick, and the highlight of dining experiences at the park - Polles Keuken (the pancake house). Thank goodness we had booked a table (highly recommended - a lot of walk-ins were stood outside looking very disappointed). The pancakes were amazing (sweet and savoury) with very friendly staff and heavily theming throughout the restaurant. We also had the pleasure of meeting Pardoes, the mascot and face of Efteling, who was walking around the restaurant interacting with guests. The rides were also very impressive - The Baron is a beautiful B&M dive coaster with a great storyline and impressive theming. It was very smooth and graceful and not as intense as you might think! Highly recommended for thrill seekers who are graduating from the smaller family coasters taking the next step to something bigger. Unfortunately we were unable to experience Joris en de Draak (a fabulous looking GCI wooden racing coaster) as it was closed for maintenance. But we did get chance to ride Max & Moritz, a fun family powered racing coaster with on board music. Fata Morgana was a beautiful dark ride, similar to Disney’s Pirates Of The Caribbean rides but with an Eastern theme. For fans of It’s A Small World at the Disney parks, Efteling’s very own version “Carnival Festival” is highly recommended. The highlight of the park currently is probably Symbolica, an absolutely gorgeous trackless interactive dark ride with music and effects and plenty of appearances from Pardoes. Probably the best dark ride I’ve ever seen. It’s nice to see another addition will be opening at the park in the near future too, the “Danse Macabre” flat ride. I’d love to know what the next coaster will be…. On top of all this and highly recommended is the Fairytale Forest, a collection of animatronics creating scenes from famous (and not so famous) dark fairy tales. This can take up to a couple of hours to see properly, but well worth it if you have the time. The mantra of the day was “why can’t parks in the UK be more like this”? In fact, we’ve now cancelled our Merlin Passes and will be using the money we’ve been wasting at Alton Towers and Thorpe Park to better use by visiting more European theme parks from now on. But I think the bar has been set pretty high by Efteling. I hope we can come back again soon, as I feel we barely scratched the surface at this amazing park. ❤️
Nov 6, 2023Getaway08151354817
Brilliant for young families
We recently travelled to Efteling with 2 young children under 10 years old. We spent 4 full days in the park and still struggled to do everything. Prices were mostly reasonable. For example, candy floss/ doughnuts were €2, sandwiches were around €6-7. Queues for most rides were no longer than 10 minutes, but could be avoided if timed right. This was during October half term as well! Most attractions were in Dutch, but this didn’t detract from the overall experience. Friendly staff and great surroundings. I’ve been to Disney plenty of times, but will definitely be returning here.
Nov 5, 2023PeterO1849
A truly special place
What can be said about the wonderful Efteling that hasn't been already said? This is for me the most charming and indeed magical place in the world. It will fill your heart with a wonderful mixture of awe, excitement, nostalgia and peace.
Nov 5, 2023Mr_Iain
Magical place!
What a magical place! We visited from the UK after getting recommendations from Dutch friends. The park itself is pretty big with rides for all ages, we were with a 5 and 8 year old but there are rides big enough for older kids and adults. The theming is incredible and detailed, and the staff are all super friendly and helpful. the fairy tail woods are definitely worth a walk around - we visited as it was turning dark and it really added to the magic. We also found the food much nicer than UK theme parks - they served what felt like actual meals at a reasonable cost. We stayed overnight in the Efteling Hotel which gets you two full days in the park (so it’s t quite as expensive at it looks at face value). Highly worth it - it’s a lovely hotel and gets you direct access to the park 30mins before opening (though be aware this is only really for the main rides - and does not include symbolica). We will definitely be going back!
Oct 29, 2023JSY2020
Wonderful family day for kids and teens! Designers have sense of humour for sure!
Wonderful day out as park suited both younger children as well as teens. We went at UK October half term and the weather was torrential rain until the Thursday. This must have put people off, as although it was dry all day, the park was quiet. We waiting about 5-10 minutes for most rides including the big coasters which we went on a couple of times (each one). Plenty of staff around and rides were well managed and controlled. Many of the rides are hidden inside buildings so you don’t know what you are getting, until you step inside. A lovely mix of ideas, such as a boat ride, which turns into a roller coaster and ends up back in the water. Great fun! We had a lovely lunch at a large cafeteria near the grand station. As well as the usual ( junk) food, hot dogs and chips etc, they served a selection of homemade soups, salads and baguettes which is great for the mums! Plenty of room and lush gardens, a spacious feel to the park which is clearly well run, and set up for enormous numbers. Worth going on a quiet day for sure, as for me, crowds and queues would ruin it - but not always possible. They are building a new hotel there which may be interesting for future trips. The entrance fee for us was 45 euro per person, which I thought was reasonable compared to other places. Worth researching for sure!
Oct 26, 2023snaphappy2
Great family day out
Brilliant day out as a family - would definitely recommend. The app is super helpful to know waiting times. If you want to visit the restaurant, book in advance.
Oct 21, 2023Travel_Girl_Reviews
Always magical….
The Efteling has a lovely magical feeling to it, and I think that I’ve been around 10 times now. We bring our kids once a year and they love the treat and day out together. The best tip I can give is to download the app in advance. The park is big and so the app helps as there is an interactive map and most importantly - you can see the wait times on all of the rides. The fairytale forest is so sweet - it’s part of the magic of the Efteling so don’t miss it. My favorite ride is the Dream-flight/Droomvlugt which is so much fun and is the very definition of the Efteling. Sadly on our visit today it was closed, but it’s still remains my #1 I love the wooden roller coaster called Joris and the Draak - it’s so fast and so much fun. Also, the Flying Dutchman - a real highlight. How to beat the queues?! Good question. Avoid busy days if you can but outside of that, use the app and look at the wait time of the rides and move around based on that. We pick our top ride each - make sure we do them, and then we move around as the q times are shorter. If you can, the single rider option is a life saver! If you want to all sit together then that’s fair enough, but if you don’t mind going on the single rider, your wait times can be cut dramatically. That way, you can also do more on each day. For example some single rider waits were 10 mins whereas the regular q was 45 mins. Efteling is also great as there are lovely play areas that are not rides, it’s a nice break in the day. The park is sparking clean. It’s is also beautifully maintained. As you can bring your own food and drinks it’s also good to note that there are also lockers which you can use.
Oct 13, 2023HollyPoppy10
Magical Place for people who love Fairy Tales
I had an incredible time at Efteling. The app is very good for wait times, the longest time I had to wait was under 20 minutes, I managed 17 attractions in one day which I'm very happy with. The fairy tale theme is amazing, the music is so catchy, personal favourite songs are Carnaval Festival, Droomvlucht, Max & Moritz and De Vliegende Hollander. I'm so excited to return to this beautiful park one day.
Oct 9, 2023Anon100001
Decent but tiring day out
Eftling is a massive theme park - we did 25,000 steps in the day. In the morning, it was incredibly busy - both to get in, for parking and then to enter the attraction. Lots of queues on the rides (was helpful to identify the rides ahead of time via the app and also use the app to see queue times). We were only able to get 2 rides done in the morning - so did feel like a waste of time, but after 3pm things started to quieten down and were able to do lots of rides in the afternoon/evenings - glad that it closes at 10pm as we spent the whole day there and then it was worth it. There are no really big rollercoasters but good choices for families. One thing to note is that the shows were all in Dutch with no English translations so could have skipped this. The fairy tale park is nice. Would recommend the park overall.
Oct 4, 2023Paul_1974_UK
Such a great park
After being underwhelmed by Eurodisney last year, mostly how long ride wait times were and how they have hiked up the prices since Covid, we decided to check out Efteling this year instead, with our son now 6. We stayed at the Borsrijk village which is about a 15min walk to the park and the accommodation was great, having a separate bedroom for children is very handy and the pizza delivery direct to your room is a nice touch. The park itself has more of a relaxed feel than other similar parks and wait times for rides when we were there during the UK school holidays never went over 45mins, even for the most popular rides. There are also lots of non ride areas, like the water park, enchanted forest etc. Which a lot of people use, which helps keep the park never feeling overcrowded. Food and drink are at a premium as it's a theme park, but still around half what disney now charge, also all the staff are so much more friendly. They were refurbishing their horror area when we were there as they have a new, first of its kind, ride opening there next year, so have already booked to go back in 2024 and can't wait.
Sep 21, 2023Roam27202557175
ENGLISH
The place was very big. The people where nice. The food was good. The park is very big. The park has multiple hotels. There are lots of things you can do at the park. The park is for all ages. The park was fun. You can use the app to see the times of the queue's. Sometimes the queue is long.
Sep 19, 2023GavinTL
Enchanting experience in a friendly and welcoming theme park. Enjoyed by everyone, young and old.
We added a couple of days at Efteling in our way back from a European road trip with our young family. My wife booked to stay at Loonsche Land hotel for two night, which includes the park tickets. It was an amazing experience and so different to UK theme parks. It felt so much more friendly, welcoming and just a less frantic and more pleasant experience. The rides are better for younger children, but there are enough “big” rides to keep the parents happy when you get a chance to dash off on your own to go on one. I would highly recommend a visit. It’s not cheap, but at the end of the trip I felt it was good value for the quality of the park and the whole experience. Oh, and the hotel was amazing and served some of the best food for the price I’ve ever had. Not “theme park” food! I nice little treat for the adults after a long day walking around the park.
Sep 12, 2023Poekem
Magisch
Na vele vele jaren brachten we weer eens een bezoek aan de Efteling, omdat we op een doordeweekse dag buiten schoolvakantie gingen was er nagenoeg geen wachttijd en hebben we dus enorm veel kunnen doen. Hoogtepunt voor mij blijft toch wel Droomvlucht en nu voor het eerst gedaan (oké gelijk 3x) Symbolica. Volgende keer gaat het geen jaren meer duren.
Dec 26, 2024
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