If you’re still planning a trip to Efteling this Summer, you have some treats waiting for you!
An ice cream donut, a waffle with ice cream, strawberries and whipped cream, or a mermaid Cornetto are the options available to cool you down on a hot day.
If you need some ‘real food’, there’s a Summer Special Sandwich (inncluding a vegetarian option), a Tosti Caprese or a Curry Sausage Sandwich. Yum!
Drinks-wise there are options such as the Fanta Float, iced coffee or a raspberry frappé.
This definitely makes it worth visiting this summer 😀
I mean, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry, because of the situation. See this short video on how your potato slices on sticks are now served to you, due to social distancing.
In just 2 days, on November 11th, Winter Efteling begins again! It will carry on through December, January, and 2 days in February. With Winter comes many wonderful things, like fire pits, new merchandise, and entertainment, but most exciting of all is the new Winter food!
Photo from Efteling.com
Here’s a little look at some of the things you can get hold of during your Winter Efteling visit:
an apple dumpling with vanilla sauce at Restaurant Panorama or Station de Oost,
make your own cake on a stick at the bonfires in Ruigrijk and outside Carnaval Festival,
chocolate fruit/marshmallow skewers at Kogeloog opposite Langnek,
waffle on a stick at Flierefluiter opposite the cross-country skiing track,
warm waffles with mashed potatoes at Suykerbuyk,
Photo from Efteling.com
fresh stroopwafels at Capricorn Square and Ton van de Ven Square,
luminous cotton candy at Seylend Frigate and the Suykerhuys,
shortcakes and donuts at Diorama.
Sounds good!
Also on the subject of food, this year when you buy an Unox sandwich you will receive a blue scarf, which I believe lights up (exciting huh?!) and a blue Efteling travel mug when you buy a hot Chocomel.
The rest of Winter Efteling is ready, with bonfires and food stalls all set up, as well as the Ice Palace, and even the monkeys who are usually having a water fight outside Station de Oost are now having a snowball fight! It is interesting to note that ice skating children now have their own section in the ice palace.
Winter Efteling merchandise this year includes a very fetching Langnek jumper, a Winter Efteling pin, and Jokie/misc Carnaval Festival character baubles which light up.
And now a final farewell to Pandadroom…
We said goodbye to Pandadroom this month, and on the last day, some fans of the attraction came together to sing the song in the pre-show. Here’s a video from Eftelwesley showing the sing-along!
There’s been a few pieces of Efteling news over the last few weeks so I’ve put them all together here. Since I’m a little late to the party, you may already know about some of these, but here we go!
Probably the biggest news is that Efteling has said goodbye to Bob this past weekend. The ride had been open for 34 years, but it was finally time to bid it a fond farewell, with demolition beginning the day after closure. Check out Eftelwesley’s video below to see the demolition of the lifthill:
And on the subject of change, Polle’s Keuken will be expanding, with some of the outdoor terrace becoming part of the main restaurant, meaning that there will be more indoor seating, great for the colder/wetter days. This means 50 extra seats inside, and the new section will be themed around Symbolica’s old magic fairy, Aliciana.
From Efteling.com:
‘In her spice greenhouse she grows and dries the herbs used in the royal kitchen. Herbs can be seen everywhere: clumps of herbs hanging on the ceiling to dry, pots of dried herbs and naturally fragrant, fresh herbs. Aliciana’s herbarium, a book with dried Symbolic herbs, is located on a table in the center of the room.’
Speaking of pancakes, the new seasonal pancake at Polle’s is a cheeseburger pancake! (minced meat, cheddar cheese, iceberg lettuce, pickle, red onion, ketchup and mustard.) Just what we wanted! Or was it…?
Anyway, there is also a Cinnamon pancake available (warm apple slices, raisins, nougatine, dark chocolate and a glass of mocha mousse) if the cheeseburger one isn’t up your street.
Both pancakes are €13.
Moving onto merchandise (hooray!) there are a couple of very very nice tins available at Efteldingen and Marskramer for €15 each. One has the little writing gnome on the front, and the other has Hansel and Gretel. The Hansel and Gretel one comes with 16 bon bons, and the writing gnome tin comes with 50 postcards of Anton Pieck artwork. There’s definitely a reason to buy both, but the postcards are particularly attractive.
Also now available are more Efteling miniatures, also at the Marskramer store. Statues such as Pagode, the House of the Five Senses, and Steam Train Aagje have been released this month, so you can add them to your mini Efteling at home-if you have one!
If you’re a follower of this page then you may have noticed that I’m quite a fan of Restaurant Octopus. The theming is great and the food is pretty good too! Of course, later this year Pandadroom will be replaced with a new show called Fabula, and with that comes some changes to the Octopus eatery at the end of the attraction.
Work has, however, started on that already as you can see from this video of the outside of the restaurant, where a terrace is being built. You can’t knock extra seating, especially on a nice day! There is also a a new digital board outside, advertising the sorts of food that you can find inside. I’m hungry just looking at it!
Videos belong to Parks and Rides TV and eftelingfan
Kogeloog, a catering outlet that stands opposite Langnek in the Fairy Tale Forest, is finally reopening after 17 years of being closed. Ice cream and a variety of drinks will be on the menu from the end of April through September, and there will be new seating available, as well as the benches that already face Langnek.
The tale which Langnek comes from is The Six Servants, which are illustrated on the walls (by Anton Pieck) alongside the serving hatch. This catering spot originally opened in 1967, and whilst Kogeloog is the name on the top, (Kogeloog means Bullet Eye, hence the bust above it) the name above the hatch is ‘De Zes Dienaren’ (The Six Servants). The bust on top of the building refers to the servant in the story who is ‘a man who wears a blindfold in front of his eyes because his glance is so powerful that it makes everything he sees split to pieces.’ Back in the 1950s there was a similar bust standing next to Langnek, which was removed a few years later, possibly because it didn’t make so much sense as
Kogeloog 1954, photo from Eftepedia.nl
regards the story!
The message in front of this statue read (not exact translation!):
‘This servant who used to make an army sniff with just one look is now, after all his glorious days, not even able to chase away a wasp’.
This indicates that he doesn’t have his special power anymore, in contrast to Langnek, but doesn’t explain why…This might be a reason that it was removed, especially since the new bust has a blindfold over his eyes, to stop him from causing any damage!
Take a look below at the other servants, as visible on the wall at Kogeloog…
I’ve just been a little slow to update. So, in case you’ve missed any Efteling news, here’s what’s been going on!
First off, Winter Efteling has already begun, which means that the Ice Palace is now open for another season. It looks as beautiful as ever, and here’s a video from Eftelwesley if you need a little reminder of how wonderful it is!
There are a few new additions to Winter Efteling in terms of snacks this year.
Efteling.com
The first being glittery cotton candy (I’m not sure about this one!), hot waffles which are available with hot apple compote, cinnamon sugar, whipped cream and ice cream (yum!) and luxury syrup waffles which you can customise yourself with chocolate and toppings.
Efteling.com
It doesn’t stop at the food either; also available is coffee and hot chocolate with a choice of toppings: syrup waffle pieces, a gingerbread man, or marshmallows. All of these sit on a blanket of whipped cream!
Oh, and on the subject of food and drink, this year’s Efteling mug features Rider Thomas from Raveleijn.
Another addition to Winter Efteling this year is a ferris wheel which can be found opposite Bob in the Steenbokplein. Last year in this location there was a rodeo moose, so this seems like a much better choice for Efteling! It looks lovely, and it’s 6 gondolas provide a ride capacity of 24 people per ride. It will leave on January 31st, so if you want a ride, you have a deadline!
Moving away from the park, and the Efteling hotel is receiving a new themed room. It takes the place of the Northern Lights room on the 8th floor. The room will be themed around Raveleijn, and the children’s part of the room will be accessible via a secret passageway.
Efteling.com
I’m still holding out for a Droomvlucht themed room! Although this one looks rather interesting.
Back to the park, and work has started on the next fairy tale in the forest, The Six Swans! Unfortunately last night some employees reported a gas leak, and it turns out that during construction, a gas pipe has been disrupted. Oops! On the plus side, by next Autumn we will have a brand new fairy tale to enjoy 🙂
That covers most of what has been happening over the last month. If anyone wants to send any photos to me please send them to our Facebook page: Efteling Fans UK, there’s lots more going on over there!
Longer days, nighttime entertainment and lots of cool treats, it is Summer at Efteling! The park opens until 8pm every night except from Fridays and Saturdays, when you can stay and play until 11pm!
Oh, and speaking of treats, a delicacy has arrived at Ton van de Ven Plein: Ice Donuts (Ijsdonuts). It consists of a chunky donut stuffed with ice cream and a topping which you can choose yourself, all for €3.95. Yum!
Today in the U.K it is pancake day! The Dutch will be celebrating at another time, but for now, let us take a moment to talk about pancakes…
Of course, we wish we were at Polle’s Keuken to celebrate this happy day, but alas, no can do! If you’ve never been to Polle’s before and would like to try it out, check out our review here.
While you’re in there, you can pick up some of Polle’s pannenkoek mix, to give your pancakes that ‘Efteling’ touch. Scroll down for your Polle’s Keuken fix, and see the menu to get some ideas for your own pancakes!
