BigShadowtinytree
TS Member
Can’t believe I’m finally here and wow what a park The Efteling is and I’m saying that after only one day and still 2 more to go. Thought I’d write a little trip report of my adventure with the other half and our kids. Going to try and do it day by day, if I try and do it at the end of our trip I’ll forget things and it’ll end up being stupidly long, I feel like I have so much to say after one day.
29th December 2022 - long post
We woke up bright and early this morning at Novotel Eindhoven, left the hotel at around 7.45am. The plan was to walk back down to Eindhoven airport and get McDonald’s breakfast before travelling to The Efteling on public transport, but we got there to find it doesn’t open till 9! We had wrongly assumed that because it’s next to the airport that it would be open early. No worries, popped into a shop in the airport and picked up some drinks and pastries, a lot cheaper than a McDonald’s breakfast anyway.
After that it was time for our journey. Caught the number 20 bus from outside the airport, then the train from Station Best to Hertogenbosch, then the 300 bus to Horst (easier to get to the hotel from this stop rather than the Efteling stop). Was really impressed with the buses and train. Train was so clean and modern compared to the ones we are used to at home, and the information on the screens on both buses and train was spot on and really helpful. They have made it almost impossible to get on the wrong bus/train. Funnily enough we did actually get on the wrong number 20 initially, apparently that one only went to the Tech College, but the driver informed us before we set off, the next one that came a few minutes later was the one we wanted. Everything went as smoothly as it could possible go and everything was on time.
A very friendly Efteling employee who got off the bus with us at Horst said we could follow them to the Efteling Hotel which was a lot easier than trying to navigate the map app on my phone whilst it was raining. She was lovely and it was good start to our visit.
We got to The Efteling hotel at around 10.30. Dropped our bags in the luggage storage using the room key on my phone - incredible technology. Then headed into the park. It was still raining at this point so we headed to Villa Volta and waited about 5 minutes. As far as mad houses go, I thought it was alright. I thought the experience was pretty well done, pre show felt a bit long but that might have been because I didn’t fully understand what was going on, but the actual mad house part was cool, I enjoyed the decor and all the things to look at as well as the sensation of the ride itself. Even though I know how they work, my brain still can’t comprehend it whilst on the ride.
The rain had let up for a bit so we decided to go into the Fairytale Forest. I don’t think we have even scratched the surface with this area, it feels massive and there’s a surprise around every corner, a few little shows if that’s what you’d call them. I especially enjoyed the one involving water lilies and the witch. The kids loved Long Neck. A red squirrel was going to town on his scarf, trying to nick it for his nest I assume, which we all found amusing. Never seen a red squirrel in real life. Shame we don’t have many in the uk anymore. All the props in the forest are really well kept, not something I am used to visiting mostly Merlin parks over the last year. The only reason we left the area was because the kids were getting hungry.
Stopped off at a hot dog place for lunch, I’m not keen on hotdogs so I went to get myself one of those potato skewer things to tide me over - I forget what they’re called, but it was delicious and cheaper than I expected (€3.75 for an ‘xxl’), could see uk parks charging at least £5 for the same thing.
After this we took a ride on Pagode and got some great views of the park and beyond, the kids were terrified because of the height and being able to stand up freely. We followed this with a ride on Gondoletta. A long boat ride but we enjoyed the chance to sit for a bit. Saw a kingfisher, another animal I’ve never seen in real life before, it was beautiful and I wish I’d taken a photo but it flew away before we could get close enough. We queued about 15 minutes for each ride.
We did the Moritz side of Max and Moritz and I found it to be a really enjoyable coaster, quite nippy actually. The children really enjoyed it too even in the drizzle. Waited about 25 minutes to get on which was accurate to the advertised queue time.
It was now time for one of my most anticipated rides - Symbolica. We did the Heroes Tour and it was a great ride. Loads to see, lots of physical props, few screens but only when needed as part of a bigger scene. I feel like I missed a lot from trying to see everything if that makes sense. Can’t wait to do the other two versions in the coming days. This was our longest queue of the day - 60 minutes.
We needed to kill some time before our pre booked evening meal at Pinnokkio’s - it was also raining again. So we went and did Fabula the 4D film. Actually thought it was brilliantly done, I wasn’t expecting much as most 4d films I’ve done have been a bit rubbish. The story was charming and funny, and there are no words so no worries regarding language barriers. The little indoor play area you come out to was also excellent, it wasn’t a soft play, more like an outdoor play area but indoors, perfect for a rainy day like today. We let the kids play whilst we sat with a drink for half an hour before heading to Pinokkio’s.
Dinner at Pinokkio’s was lovely. My partner and I had pizza, as did the youngest. The eldest went for lasagne. Unfortunately my slightly fussy youngest didn’t particularly like the sauce on the pizza, I think it was just a bit rich and maybe less sauce would have made it a winner, there was also some dismay over the lack of ketchup available. Eldest enjoyed the lasagne but wasn’t a fan of the aubergine in it. Personally I found the pizza sauce and pizza itself to be really tasty as did my partner. €60 euros well spent.
Just as we came out of Pinokkio’s, the Aquanura water show was starting so we stopped to watch that and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Still had a good while until park close at this point, so we decided to do the Max side of Max and Moritz in the dark. Found it good fun again, although we all unanimously agreed that Moritz was our favourite side of the two.
After this we did Fata Morgana as it had a 10min queue, which quite honestly blew me away. Just so much to look at on that ride, definitely going to have to go on it again as I am certain I completely missed a lot of stuff.
We noticed that Pirana was open, which we really weren’t expecting as we were under the impression that the water rides were closed during winter. It was walk on so we thought why not, it’s the end of the day and if we end up getting soaked we can just go to the hotel.
Maybe I’m just so used to CRR at towers but wow this rapids was so much fun. We all got wet but luckily had our waterproof coats on so didn’t actually feel it. It also had working waterfalls. It was a right laugh and we ended up going round twice because it was so much fun. Had a funny interaction with the people in the boat next to us as we ended up overtaking them, and jokingly pointed and called them losers, then later on they overtook us and they then pointed and called us losers. I love that kind of interaction on rides like this. My coat was pretty wet by the end of it.
We started making our way to the hotel exit, we decided to snatch one last ride. This time on Carnaval Festival. Really cute ride, reminded me a bit of It’s A Small World. Had a brief stoppage, we were concerned they’d forgotten about us as the ride was empty apart from us and another couple, and the ride happened to stop dead on 8pm when the park closed, 5 minutes later we were on the move again though.
The kids briefly stopped to play in the Kleuterhof playground since it hadn’t rained for a while and the equipment was dry, it was also well lit, before heading back to The Efteling Hotel to collect our bags and finally go to our room.
Got free Christmas crackers from the hotel reception and my other half was given a free drink from the bar for seemingly no reason, so that’s a win. Staff super friendly and helpful.
Joris wasn’t open today but was testing all day, I really hope we don’t get spited as apart from Max and Moritz, it’s the only coaster at the park my youngest can go on, and I really wanted her to experience her first wooden coaster! Come on Joris get it together.
Hotel room is great. Only minor issue is finding a used contact lens on one of the bedside tables but I can see how cleaners who have a tight schedule to keep could have easily missed that. The rest of the room seems very clean so no complaints overall, bed seems comfortable enough and it’s not too hot unlike our room at the Novotel. Lots of nice touches in the room that make it worth paying extra to stay on site such as a cat lamp, a board game set up inside a crown shaped table, a giant boot for a bin and a mouse hole with a little mouse on the bunk beds.
Christ this turned out to be long, I’m really sorry! I did try to keep it as brief as possible but I guess I’m still buzzing from the first day (hence why I’m not asleep yet) Thank you to anyone who got this far and I’ll try to be a bit more concise with the next one.
Tl:dr - had a fabulous first day at The Efteling. Food good, rides good, weather not so good - fair bit of rain. Hotel good.
29th December 2022 - long post
We woke up bright and early this morning at Novotel Eindhoven, left the hotel at around 7.45am. The plan was to walk back down to Eindhoven airport and get McDonald’s breakfast before travelling to The Efteling on public transport, but we got there to find it doesn’t open till 9! We had wrongly assumed that because it’s next to the airport that it would be open early. No worries, popped into a shop in the airport and picked up some drinks and pastries, a lot cheaper than a McDonald’s breakfast anyway.
After that it was time for our journey. Caught the number 20 bus from outside the airport, then the train from Station Best to Hertogenbosch, then the 300 bus to Horst (easier to get to the hotel from this stop rather than the Efteling stop). Was really impressed with the buses and train. Train was so clean and modern compared to the ones we are used to at home, and the information on the screens on both buses and train was spot on and really helpful. They have made it almost impossible to get on the wrong bus/train. Funnily enough we did actually get on the wrong number 20 initially, apparently that one only went to the Tech College, but the driver informed us before we set off, the next one that came a few minutes later was the one we wanted. Everything went as smoothly as it could possible go and everything was on time.
A very friendly Efteling employee who got off the bus with us at Horst said we could follow them to the Efteling Hotel which was a lot easier than trying to navigate the map app on my phone whilst it was raining. She was lovely and it was good start to our visit.
We got to The Efteling hotel at around 10.30. Dropped our bags in the luggage storage using the room key on my phone - incredible technology. Then headed into the park. It was still raining at this point so we headed to Villa Volta and waited about 5 minutes. As far as mad houses go, I thought it was alright. I thought the experience was pretty well done, pre show felt a bit long but that might have been because I didn’t fully understand what was going on, but the actual mad house part was cool, I enjoyed the decor and all the things to look at as well as the sensation of the ride itself. Even though I know how they work, my brain still can’t comprehend it whilst on the ride.
The rain had let up for a bit so we decided to go into the Fairytale Forest. I don’t think we have even scratched the surface with this area, it feels massive and there’s a surprise around every corner, a few little shows if that’s what you’d call them. I especially enjoyed the one involving water lilies and the witch. The kids loved Long Neck. A red squirrel was going to town on his scarf, trying to nick it for his nest I assume, which we all found amusing. Never seen a red squirrel in real life. Shame we don’t have many in the uk anymore. All the props in the forest are really well kept, not something I am used to visiting mostly Merlin parks over the last year. The only reason we left the area was because the kids were getting hungry.
Stopped off at a hot dog place for lunch, I’m not keen on hotdogs so I went to get myself one of those potato skewer things to tide me over - I forget what they’re called, but it was delicious and cheaper than I expected (€3.75 for an ‘xxl’), could see uk parks charging at least £5 for the same thing.
After this we took a ride on Pagode and got some great views of the park and beyond, the kids were terrified because of the height and being able to stand up freely. We followed this with a ride on Gondoletta. A long boat ride but we enjoyed the chance to sit for a bit. Saw a kingfisher, another animal I’ve never seen in real life before, it was beautiful and I wish I’d taken a photo but it flew away before we could get close enough. We queued about 15 minutes for each ride.
We did the Moritz side of Max and Moritz and I found it to be a really enjoyable coaster, quite nippy actually. The children really enjoyed it too even in the drizzle. Waited about 25 minutes to get on which was accurate to the advertised queue time.
It was now time for one of my most anticipated rides - Symbolica. We did the Heroes Tour and it was a great ride. Loads to see, lots of physical props, few screens but only when needed as part of a bigger scene. I feel like I missed a lot from trying to see everything if that makes sense. Can’t wait to do the other two versions in the coming days. This was our longest queue of the day - 60 minutes.
We needed to kill some time before our pre booked evening meal at Pinnokkio’s - it was also raining again. So we went and did Fabula the 4D film. Actually thought it was brilliantly done, I wasn’t expecting much as most 4d films I’ve done have been a bit rubbish. The story was charming and funny, and there are no words so no worries regarding language barriers. The little indoor play area you come out to was also excellent, it wasn’t a soft play, more like an outdoor play area but indoors, perfect for a rainy day like today. We let the kids play whilst we sat with a drink for half an hour before heading to Pinokkio’s.
Dinner at Pinokkio’s was lovely. My partner and I had pizza, as did the youngest. The eldest went for lasagne. Unfortunately my slightly fussy youngest didn’t particularly like the sauce on the pizza, I think it was just a bit rich and maybe less sauce would have made it a winner, there was also some dismay over the lack of ketchup available. Eldest enjoyed the lasagne but wasn’t a fan of the aubergine in it. Personally I found the pizza sauce and pizza itself to be really tasty as did my partner. €60 euros well spent.
Just as we came out of Pinokkio’s, the Aquanura water show was starting so we stopped to watch that and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Still had a good while until park close at this point, so we decided to do the Max side of Max and Moritz in the dark. Found it good fun again, although we all unanimously agreed that Moritz was our favourite side of the two.
After this we did Fata Morgana as it had a 10min queue, which quite honestly blew me away. Just so much to look at on that ride, definitely going to have to go on it again as I am certain I completely missed a lot of stuff.
We noticed that Pirana was open, which we really weren’t expecting as we were under the impression that the water rides were closed during winter. It was walk on so we thought why not, it’s the end of the day and if we end up getting soaked we can just go to the hotel.
Maybe I’m just so used to CRR at towers but wow this rapids was so much fun. We all got wet but luckily had our waterproof coats on so didn’t actually feel it. It also had working waterfalls. It was a right laugh and we ended up going round twice because it was so much fun. Had a funny interaction with the people in the boat next to us as we ended up overtaking them, and jokingly pointed and called them losers, then later on they overtook us and they then pointed and called us losers. I love that kind of interaction on rides like this. My coat was pretty wet by the end of it.
We started making our way to the hotel exit, we decided to snatch one last ride. This time on Carnaval Festival. Really cute ride, reminded me a bit of It’s A Small World. Had a brief stoppage, we were concerned they’d forgotten about us as the ride was empty apart from us and another couple, and the ride happened to stop dead on 8pm when the park closed, 5 minutes later we were on the move again though.
The kids briefly stopped to play in the Kleuterhof playground since it hadn’t rained for a while and the equipment was dry, it was also well lit, before heading back to The Efteling Hotel to collect our bags and finally go to our room.
Got free Christmas crackers from the hotel reception and my other half was given a free drink from the bar for seemingly no reason, so that’s a win. Staff super friendly and helpful.
Joris wasn’t open today but was testing all day, I really hope we don’t get spited as apart from Max and Moritz, it’s the only coaster at the park my youngest can go on, and I really wanted her to experience her first wooden coaster! Come on Joris get it together.
Hotel room is great. Only minor issue is finding a used contact lens on one of the bedside tables but I can see how cleaners who have a tight schedule to keep could have easily missed that. The rest of the room seems very clean so no complaints overall, bed seems comfortable enough and it’s not too hot unlike our room at the Novotel. Lots of nice touches in the room that make it worth paying extra to stay on site such as a cat lamp, a board game set up inside a crown shaped table, a giant boot for a bin and a mouse hole with a little mouse on the bunk beds.
Christ this turned out to be long, I’m really sorry! I did try to keep it as brief as possible but I guess I’m still buzzing from the first day (hence why I’m not asleep yet) Thank you to anyone who got this far and I’ll try to be a bit more concise with the next one.
Tl:dr - had a fabulous first day at The Efteling. Food good, rides good, weather not so good - fair bit of rain. Hotel good.
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