19 Monday Mar 2018
Posted in All Updates and News, Updates from 2018
It was revealed at a recent Efteling staff party that in 2017, the park achieved it’s 2020 goal of 5 million visitors, having a massive 5.2 million people walk through the park’s gates. In 2016 there were only 4.8 million visitors; still a lot, but not as impressive as 2017!
Well done Efteling! 🙂
01 Saturday Jul 2017
Posted in All Updates and News, Symbolica, Updates from 2017
July 1st is here! Happy Symbolica day! We’ve waited a long time for this day, through the Hartenhof years and through the building of Symbolica, the day is finally here.
This is Efteling’s first trackless ride, situated in the park’s ‘brink’ at the end of Pardoes Promenade next to Polle’s Keuken pancake restaurant, which shares the same theme as Symbolica. Here’s what Efteling have to say about it:
Come and visit the new indoor family attraction Symbolica. An enchanting palace in which nothing is what it seems. Enjoy an audience with the King together. Magic Jester Pardoes will ensure that every visit is surprising and enchanting. Let yourself be led along the secret corridors through into magical rooms and be amazed time after time.
Many of you may remember that Pardoes was the park’s icon for a number of years, but more recently we haven’t seen as much of him. Now, he is immortalised in this new attraction along with Princess Pardijn.
Riders will be taken on one of three different routes through the palace; Heroes Tour, Treasures Tour or the Music Tour. Each tour has already been posted on YouTube, so if you can’t wait to visit Symbolica, then see the video below of the Treasures Tour!
A new Efteling advert has also been created to include the new €35million attraction:
We can’t wait to ride it!
Happy Symbolica Day!
17 Friday Jul 2015
Posted in Accommodation, All Updates and News, Updates from 2015
Tags
accommodation at efteling, efteling, efteling from the uk, efteling hotel, efteling themed rooms, efteling uk
For a long time, the main part of Efteling’s website has looked a lot different from many of the other pages. Some of the site was updated, the rest was not, for example; the booking accommodation pages were still the same as they had been for years. Until now! Those pages have finally caught up with the rest of the site, and they look wonderful. Aside from looking good, the pages function better, and there is a better explanation of amenities and what is included in the price of your room. There are also better explanations of what can be expected of each themed room (very important if you’re planning on spending the extra cash to stay in one of these rooms).
Here’s a little look at the new pages:
Things are looking good! Oh, on the plus side, this is the English Efteling site. I know, I know, they’re spoiling us! And another thing that us Efteling geeks might like to get excited about…wait for it…They have made a nice map showing how to get to Efteling from the U.K! Exciting times!
25 Thursday Jun 2015
Posted in Accommodation, All Updates and News, Updates from 2015
The new accommodation in Bosrijk is now open for guests! These buildings hold 12-24 guests, so are perfect for large families or groups.
You can find more information on Efteling’s site here, including plans of the accommodation and contact numbers.
Here’s a little look around the new area, with thanks to Eftelwesley.
16 Tuesday Jun 2015
Posted in All Updates and News, Updates from 2015
Efteling have placed a two page spread in the July/August edition of National Geographic magazine (Traveller edition). What a surprise to see them in there! Thank you to Ryan for pointing this out on Facebook and taking a photo. Naturally, a copy had to be bought! So here’s a scan (which has been pieced together, so excuse any lines that don’t match up!) of the advert.
Click to read text!
As you can see, it gives a fairly clear view of where Efteling is situated, as well as pointing out ferry routes and airports. They’re definitely fishing for thrill-seekers judging my the coaster photos at the bottom, however, Sprookjesboom with the little girl on the main picture give a vague idea of the fairy tale theme (which is mentioned in the text).
It would be great to see a full article in the future, taking a better look at the hotel and Bosrijk, and maybe featuring Aquanura.
The Efteling word is spreading!
With thanks to Ryan M.
28 Wednesday Jan 2015
Posted in All Updates and News, Updates from 2015
No, that isn’t a typo! It was pointed out to us by our friend Milena that Efteling have added walking routes and mystery tours to the English part of their site. Apparently these have been on the Dutch part of the site for a while now. Awesome, we thought, something new and interesting! Well that’s what we thought at first. The problem being that even though these tours and routes are on the English language pages, they are all in Dutch! Nobody has translated them. It’s a shame because it’s a neat idea.
So, either we best all start learning Dutch (not that I’m knocking that notion at all) or these can just be disregarded completely.
Come on Efteling, show us some lovely English routes and tours!
28 Friday Nov 2014
Posted in All Updates and News, Seasons, Updates from 2014
16 Sunday Nov 2014
Posted in All Updates and News, Updates from 2014
Gone are the days of ‘365 Dagen Welkom’, even though we are still welcome all year! However, a new sign which simply reads ‘Efteling’ has been installed on the front of the House of the Five Senses. It’s classy, and nothing like the last sign which essentially looked like a cardboard cutout.
Old Sign
New Sign
Thanks to Eftelwesley for the photo of the new sign.
03 Friday Oct 2014
Posted in All Updates and News, Updates from 2014
Tags
efteling, efteling travel, efteling travel agent, efteling uk, getting to efteling, transport to efteling
We received this today, and every word is true!
People who visit Efteling soon realise what a beautiful, unique place it is – blending thrills with more tranquil areas in a stunning natural setting.
Attendance seems to be growing year on year, and new attractions appear on a regular basis.
In England however, Efteling seems to have gradually disappeared over the years. When I first visited the park, in about 1997, several tour operators included Efteling in their literature. This year (2014), as an experiment, I enquired at several travel agents. Only one woman in one of the shops had vague memories of hearing of it. Another offered to Google it for me!
In earlier days those loyal ambassadors the Laafs had a strong presence in many Garden Centres, with elaborate displays naming them as “Laafs of Efteling”. All are now gone – some retreating to the Laaf village or into private collections, and a few fighting a rear-guard action on e-bay.
The contrast with the publicity for that other well-known European theme park is dramatic. A multitude of travel brochures and TV ads all try to persuade you to visit the home of the “Mouse”. Eurostar will whisk you there faster than it takes to say Supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus.
Why is Efteling being forgotten by the British public and travel industry? Is it the difficulty of getting there? Without an organised trip, getting to the park by public transport can be rather involved, and not everyone will want to drive there. It should be easy for a travel company to put together a package of air and/or rail travel with a dedicated mini-bus transfer from the nearest station. But none seem to think it worthwhile.
Could it be a deliberate marketing policy by Efteling? Is the park in its present form approaching capacity, so that overseas visitors are not actively sought?
Whatever the reasons, it seems a great pity that many UK children (and adults) are, by lack of knowledge, missing out on a fabulous experience.
From Dave H.
06 Wednesday Aug 2014
Posted in All Updates and News, Food!, Polle's Keuken, Seasons, Updates from 2014
Tags
chocomel frappe, cold treats, efteling uk, fruit, happiness station, ice cream, ice cream cart, magnum, magnum 25, ola, oubliehoorn, polle's keuken, pop up shop, summer, suykerbuyk, wall's ice cream, zomer
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!
