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!
From July 18 the Efteling Theatre restaurant will be transformed into a Pinocchio themed eatery called Constanzo’s Marionette Theater. The theatre restaurant has seen many themes come and go, but this one sounds like one of the most interesting. Apparently Constanzo’s puppets provide ‘fun and entertainment’, while his family serve you. Interesting! The food on offer is of course, pizza and pasta, and the restaurant is open 17:00-19:00 until August 30th.
The Pinokkio musical starts at the Efteling Theatre on September 9th.
Although the weather is very changeable, both the U.K and the Netherlands have so far had a little bit of sunshine! Of course, when the weather is hot, what better way to cool down than with an ice-cream or an icy drink?
In Efteling, there is no shortage of these things!
Just the other day, Efteling posted a photo of their new Chocomel Frappe cart, where you can purchase…well, a frappé! As is standard in Efteling, the cart is beautiful, and we’re sure the frappés are too! We are left wishing for a Fristi cart of the same nature now 😉
Can someone send us one over?
Back on July 31st (we’re a bit late to the party on this one) a Magnum pop-up shop appeared in the park, where you can create your own Magnum. We’ll spare you the photos of the ice creams because they’re too delicious-looking, but the store is there until August 10th, so make sure to pop in and create your own Magnum. You get a choice of all kinds of toppings and sauces; it’s pretty magical 🙂
A pot of happiness!
Also, don’t forget the happiness stations! There are two in the park, one at Polle’s Keuken and one at het Witte Paard. You can create your own little pot of happiness here, with ingredients such as a range of different fruits and sweet treats, all swirled together with Wall’s ice cream. Yummy!
Of course, there are many more cool snacks available at Efteling!
At den Suykerbuyk you can grab yourself an oubliehoorn, which is absolutely delicious! There is a wide range of ice cream to choose from, and lots of choice of different fruits to go inside your over-sized ice cream cone.And how about popping into Polle’s Keuken for a cold treat? It’s not all pancakes pancakes pancakes in there! Oh no. They have ice cream too! Perfect if the heat is getting too much and you need some well-earned air-conditioning. It’s only polite to buy some ice cream whilst in there…
We could probably carry on talking about the many wonderful cold treats you can find in Efteling, but I’m sure those few are enough for any Efteling visitor to handle in one go 😉 Bon appétit!
From April 19th, Restaurant Applaus in the Efteling Theater will be home to a new buffet, a Sprookjesboom buffet! Formerly home to the Oriental Buffet, the Sprookjesboom buffet is a perfect tie-in with the new Sprookjesboom musical which opens on September 17th at the theatre.
Here is the menu: (excuse some of the translations)
Dinner buffet adults
On the table
Baguette with herb butter
***
From buffet we present:
Tomato cream soup with meatballs
Clear beef broth with fresh vegetables
***
Entree
Salad Roseval potatoes with herb mayonnaise and fried bacon
Niçoise salad with tuna, egg and beans
smoked ham served with melon
mini shrimp cocktail Norwegian prawns with garlic mayonnaise
salad of carrot and cabbage
salad of celery, figs and aged cheese
***
Efteling salad buffet Various delicious salads made according to the season.
As tomato salad with red onion, cucumber salad with sliced fresh dill,
chopped red onions and lightly fried bacon,
crunchy croutons and grated Reypenaer cheese
***
Main
Slowly, cooked at low temperature beef in a sauce with mushrooms, bacon and onion.
Tender chicken with vegetables in sauce
Pork tenderloin medallions with stroganoff sauce
Provencal fish stew of salmon, miscellaneous white fish and shrimp
Tajine couscous, vegetarian dish of semolina and vegetables
Penne Pasta, enriching it with a creamy carbonara sauce or Traditional Bolognese sauce itself
***
Side dishes
cream gratin potatoes
Seasonal vegetables
cooked white rice Natural
Chips on request
***
Create your own dessert Chocolate and strawberry mousse
Vanilla ice
Various kinds of fresh cut fruit
Various sauces and toppings
Whipped Cream
Dinner Buffet children
Especially for our smallest guests from the children’s buffet: Crispy fried fish with lemon and ravigote sauce
Longneck smoked sausages
Tender chicken in Sprookjesboom Sauce
Macaroni with cheese sauce
Fresh seasonal vegetables
French fries with mayonnaise and apple
pancakes with syrup and powdered sugar
***
Vitamins
Picks of Parisian carrots, tomatoes and cucumber
If you shop at an Emté supermarket, you may have noticed over the last few months that you can now buy bread which has been made by the people of Laaf! Of course, who better to make bread? The three bakers in the Laaf Village have been baking away for many years now, so their bread must be very tasty!
Here are the different types of Laaf bread you can buy:
The Emté site even has some recipes for the Laaf bread.
Here’s how it works…
The Three Laven Bakers day in and day out bake the most delicious fresh breads. Their secret?
They are up early in order to harvest the grain. Between the millstones of Lariekoek Huys in the Laaf Village, the grain is freshly ground and the best meal of the whole Lavenlaar made. In the bakery the Bakers knead the dough until it is elastic. The dough is left to rise, and baked in the oven using traditional methods. When the bread smells delicious and is a light brown colour, it is ready to leave the bakery. Then off it goes to the EMTÉ supermarket…
It’s very nice to see the people of Laaf getting around outside of the park again!
The White Horse restaurant was recently renovated, and Efteling have posted a little ‘making of’ video to show the transition. They have also created a story to go with the new theming of the restaurant. We’d like to say thank you to our friend Milena for providing a translation of the story. You can read it on her website here in both Dutch and English, and we’ve also included it in English below.
The White Horse
There was once a poor work horse that spent its days with a mean old farmer. The horse stood lonely and alone in a damp shed. Its fur was grey and drab.
“Oh if I only had a little friend” the horse thought often. One day the farmer harnessed him to the plough. The ground was hard and progress was difficult.
“Faster, you lazy thing!” the farmer who whipped him ranted. “Work! Until you drop!” Suddenly a coach drove past. It had little children in it who were singing cheerful songs. But the horse was especially interested in the strange black stallion who pulled the carriage. Its long tail shone blue-green in the morning sun.
“What are you staring at old nag?” shouted the farmer. “Get!” The whip cracked again while the coach disappeared from view. That evening there sat a peacock on the roof of the shed. He put his head through a hole in the roof.
“I saw you getting fiercely whipped”
“Oh you saw that?” the horse asked with some surprise.
“It has always been like that unfortunately”
”Then its time you escaped”
“But where would I go?” asked the horse.
“Walk into the forest straight away” Said the peacock
“Then everything will be all right” The next minute he disappeared. The horse decided that the peacock was right. The misery had lasted long enough. The next day was a Sunday. The horse knew that the farmer always went away on that day although he did not know where. But this was the best time to escape. With a savage kick the horse kicked the shed door out of its hinges. He trotted into the forest and enjoyed his freedom. But after a little while he grew tired and hungry. Suddenly the peacock appeared again.
”Hold on!” the bird shouted cheerfully.
“You are going the right way”. And he was gone again. The horse walked on, deeper and deeper into the forest. But his courage was sinking into his hooves. The next day the peacock crossed paths with him again.
”Hold on! You are on the right track” Again the bird vanished into the forest. The horse just about saw a glimpse of its beautiful tail. He was suddenly reminded of the stallion that had the brilliant tail, the one who pulled the carriage. Also in the following days the peacock came for a moment and kept telling him to hold on. But the poor horse couldn’t. He had been dragging himself along for too long without food or drink. On the morning of the seventh day the peacock again stood before him.
“Oh no” The horse shouted angrily.
“Here he comes again with his ‘hang on!’
But the peacock said happily: “Not this time because you are there.” And sure enough, the very next moment he came to a sunny spot. There stood a stately white house with peculiar vases on the roof. Through the open doors happy voices sounded and on the terrace children were playing. They ran to him and patted him gently on his flanks.
“He looks so dreadful” A girl said. “So thin and dirty” Then they let the horse eat off their plates and drink from their glasses. It tasted delicious. The host of the teahouse came outside.
“Now, now you’re a sight old boy! We will give you a thorough makeover.” As soon as the horse had eaten his fill the children started on him with buckets of soap. They scrubbed and brushed his fur, washed and combed his mane and kept hugging him. The work horse felt like a luxurious horse and was enjoying it very much.
“You look like a parade horse with that lovely shiny fur!” said the host. He took the horse inside, where cheerful people were sitting at splendidly decked out tables. “Dear people” shouted the host. “Does anyone recognise this beautiful horse? It walked in today. Most people shook their head. Suddenly the horse was terribly frightened. Right by him sat the mean farmer! But to his surprise the farmer didn’t recognise him. The farmer said
“What a nice nag you’ve got there, host! It’s very different from the ugly beast that ran away from me last week. Well… its best days were behind it anyway!” Relieved the horse turned its head. Then he saw his reflection in a big shiny vase. But it wasn’t a drab, grey horse that he saw. No, there stood a splendid white horse straight and proud. It gave him a warm proud feeling. The host took him outside. “Well if you don’t belong to anyone then you will just have to live here. And from now on my establishment will be called ‘The White Horse’!
“You see don’t you?” said the peacock to the horse a little while later.
“As long as you hold on”,
”Yes certainly, thanks to you” The horse answered happily.
“If you say so” the peacock laughed. And before his eyes the bird turned into the blue tailed stallion. The white horse was speechless.
“If you will be living here from now on, we could be friends.” said the other horse.
“This is the best day of my life!” cheered the white horse. He reared in his joy. The new friends were strung in front of the carriage together. The children climbed inside and they rode away singing. Their song sounded like music in polished clean ears of the overjoyed horse:
“On Sundays we drink lemonade And eat whipped cream pie Then we play the whole day long At ’The White Horse’!”
We’ll spare you the photos of the ice creams because they’re too delicious-looking, but the store is there until August 10th, so make sure to pop in and create your own Magnum. You get a choice of all kinds of toppings and sauces; it’s pretty magical 🙂
