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Lets Talk About Food!

20 Wednesday Jan 2021

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Food!

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

90s Efteling food, efteling, Efteling food and drink, Eftelings kids meal, eftelinguk, food, Symbolica meal

Theme park food, you either love it or you hate it. But how do Efteling’s food offerings measure up against other theme parks? Let us take a look at some Efteling food; if you’re not hungry, you will be soon! In this post I am focussing only on counter service meals, maybe another day we can talk about the restaurants.

Burger, fries and a drink. Maybe a hotdog instead of the burger. That’s probably what comes to mind when you think of theme park food, but that’s not always the case. Over the years, the food available at Efteling has changed drastically, in my opinion, for the better. Back in the 90s, if you turned up at a counter service restaurant in the park, you would be greeted with something like this:

De Likkebaerd in 2002, image from Eftepedia.nl

Of course, you could be easily fooled into believing that the image above is from any regular fast food place (just look at those perfectly formed burgers!) but it is actually from the Likkebaerd, which stood where you will now find Station de Oost. In comparison to what looks like a very limited menu here, Station de Oost sells items such as Turkish Pizza, Doner Kebab, Salads, Soups, Baguettes, Fruit, Chips, Yoghurts, Cakes, wall food and more! A massive improvement in choice, and the whole building itself is in fact a huge upgrade compared to the Likkebaerd.

So in this case, many burger meals were swapped for many different choices and a beautiful building with lots of seating. Where else provides good choices, with healthy options?

Definitely Fabula World Kitchen! How many theme parks can offer you a Norwegian salmon baguette, a grilled soy paprika burger with kimchi, or giant couscous with cod fillet and grilled vegetables?! That’s without even mentioning the korma curry, the chicken with ratatouille or the salmon burger. The kids aren’t excluded from these amazing choices either. Far from shoving a few chicken nuggets in a box with some fries, the Fabula World Kitchen offers choices of chicken burger with sweet potato chips, small vegan pasta or small wrap with sweet potato chips, all of which come with juice or water, and fruit salad or vegetables, and you get a free plate to take home too! Click here for a look

This counter service restaurant is located not far from the park entrance, and is also accessible from the exit of Fabula. It is marketed as ‘Burgers, Mealboxes, Salads’ and you can order via interactive screens inside the restaurant if you wish to do so. Also located in this building is the Savannebar which of course serves drinks, as well as some cakes. The drinks range from basic Coca Cola to Pineapple and Mango Yoghurt Smoothie, and from coffee to Chocofabunaan (hot chocolate and banana, I highly recommend this one!).

Chocofabunaan

As I’ve already mentioned kids meals, I have to briefly look back in happy nostalgia and slight horror at the 90s food offerings for kids. Nostalgia for the nice presentation and horror for the food (I’m laughing on the inside). Check these out:

Image from Eftepedia.nl
Image from Eftepedia.nl

Nineties fast food at it’s smiley-faced best, complete with toy and amazing take-out boxes, what child in their right mind could resist these beauties?! In fact, the first box won an award for design! I’m not ashamed to say that I still own my Kijkdoos box, it was just too pretty to throw in the trash. As well as the little Pardoes keyring which came with it. Of course, Efteling do still sell kids boxes, most recently being the Symbolica box that comes with a toy twinkle torch, and they’ve marginally improved it by adding a fruity dessert and a carton of juice or bottle of water.

Image from Eftepedia.nl

Alternatively, I did come across a small meal designed for kids, a cold food option, at Het Witte Paard, although it was hidden amongst all of the other sandwiches. It includes a small sandwich, a piece of fruit, a small pastry and a slice of cucumber with a tomato. Perfect for the little people, or anyone who doesn’t like to eat much.

Without going into detail on every eating place in the park, some honourable mentions for ‘better than theme park food’ food also go to:

De Vrolijke Noot – Just inside the entrance, completely focused on healthy food and drink,

Toko Pagode – Thai style takeaway food,

Den Gulden Gaarde – Healthy soups, smoothies, fruit cups and baguettes,

De Meermin – Fish and chips, herrings, lots of ice cream,

Panorama Self Service – Soups, stews, sandwiches and salads, lots of sweet treats.

And so many more things that I either don’t know about or have forgotten to mention, but really, it’s all good food, and more importantly it is also at a good price!

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Efteling Hotel Renovation

07 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by EftelingUK in Accommodation, All Updates and News, Updates from 2020

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Tags

efteling, efteling hotel, eftelinguk

On January 4th, refurbishment of the Efteling Hotel’s comfort rooms and junior suites will begin. The two-person rooms will gain an extra bed, making it a three-person room, the floor will be given a new carpet around the beds, and a wooden-look floor in the rest of the room, and the bathroom now appears without a bath, and has a walk-in shower instead. The corridors and the elevators will be re-themed in the near future too, which hasn’t been done for a while.

Yes that does appear to be a duck with a lamp as a head…

The new rooms look very nice of course, very different from the fresh white and royal blue that they are now. Personally I can’t see that they needed refurbishment because I always thought that they looked great, but change isn’t always bad! Having said that, I can’t agree with ditching the bath, because sometimes after a long day of walking around, you just need to take a bath! Or you might have a baby, who you can’t just stick in the shower.

The walk-in shower.

The hotel will reopen on March 8th (closed from January 4th).

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Aquanura met een Zachte G

05 Thursday Nov 2020

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Aquanura, Updates from 2020

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Tags

2020, aquanura, efteling, guus Meeuwis

A few weeks ago, Efteling debuted a new incarnation of Aquanura, featuring Dutch singer Guus Meeuwis. I have to be honest, I’d never heard of him before now. The show however, has definitely grown on me. The Carnaval Festival segment in particular is very catchy and gets into your head. This show also features Symbolica which was really nice to hear.

Check out the video below.

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‘The Magic of Efteling’ Vlog

16 Sunday Aug 2020

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Updates from 2020

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Tags

efteling, efteling vlog, magic of efteling, marshall lemert

Whilst spending a lot more time at home, one has to keep up their Efteling consumption! Part of this includes watching vlogs on YouTube. I’ll probably end up sharing a few that I’ve watched because there’s some really good ones, but I really enjoyed this one here by Marshall LeMert.

Take a look!

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Summer Food and Drink

09 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Food!, Seasons, Updates from 2020

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Tags

efteling, efteling summer, eftelinguk, fanta float, ice cream donut

If you’re still planning a trip to Efteling this Summer, you have some treats waiting for you!

650x370-ijsdonut

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.

 

650x370-broodje-unox-zomerspecial

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.horeca-specials-frozenfanta-650x370

This definitely makes it worth visiting this summer 😀

Images from efteling.com

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Efteling With a 1 Year Old

26 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Seasons, Updates from 2020

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Tags

efteling, efteling with a 1 year old, efteling with a baby, efteling with kids, eftelinguk

I wrote this thinking that it might be helpful to some people who are embarking on an Efteling trip with a baby (around the age of 1). In fact, I wish I’d read this before going for the first time with a small person!received_575907909626086

You don’t realise until you have a baby, how much things change once they’re here. This of course also applies to going on holiday with them. Long gone are the days of zipping from coaster to coaster and then having an extra ride on Droomvlucht, eating lunch when you get hungry rather than when routine dictates it, and staying in the park until the very last minute!

After visiting Efteling since the mid-nineties, you’d think I would have it sussed, even with a baby! There are however a few things that are handy to know before you visit with your small person (or people), especially if it’s your first time.

 

First off, it’s important to note that we visited during Winter Efteling so that does play a part in some of the things we encountered. We were staying at Bosrijk in the Landhuys, and the baby had just turned 1 that week.

I’ll start with talking about Bosrijk;

I have stayed here many times before and the main attraction with the room in the

Landhuys was that my daughter would have a room to herself where we could put her cot.

IMG_20200121_151704294

Main bedroom

I did notice though, that even though the heating in the main room was turned up and was warm, the kids’ room was rather chilly. Obviously it was January, but I’m not sure why the room wasn’t warming up. It could have just been a fault with that particular room, but it is something worth mentioning. Also in relation to the room, there are no longer cots located in there, so you have to hire one, for €10 a night! 

IMG_20200121_151753855

Kid’s Room

We were fine as we’d brought our own to use on the ferry, however, I do find it quite astonishing that they charge that much, instead of loaning you one for a deposit or even maybe €10 for the duration of your stay. If you’re staying for a few days then it makes more sense to buy your own, because you’ll have paid for one by the time you leave! 

Our baby was still having bottles at this stage, so we were a bit disappointed that the only microwaves available are now located just inside the entrance to the Landhuys (we had a microwave steriliser). This wasn’t too much of a problem, as our room was as close as you could get to the main entrance, however it might prove a bit more of an annoyance if you have to go wandering around with sterilisers/bottles/baby food to rooms that are further away.

Snapchat-1948376361

At the Eethuys

One more annoyance (sorry for the negativity Efteling) is that the new fridges are very small. As in, I had to remove the shelf to get an average carton of juice in there. There’s also no freezer compartment.

Onto a positive now, I always loved the bathroom, but now I have a baby I can see the value of having a bath that has a wall on both sides, just in case they decide to make the great escape. Also, the bathroom has its own thermostat so it gets really toasty in there.

It is such a shame that Efteling chose to take out the dining table from these rooms, mostly because, as you can still order pizza/pasta to the room, you need somewhere to eat it, rather than balancing it on your knee. This was a problem when we did order food to the room, as we didn’t want the baby walking about whilst eating. I have learned since that you can hire a high chair for €5 a day, but that only helps the baby really and not us.

FB_IMG_1579810327150

Characters at breakfast

Onto the rest of Bosrijk now, namely the Eethuys. Breakfast is included now which it was not before; some people like this change, some folks not so much. With a baby however, having it included is one less thing to worry about, as on previous visits I would have bought things from the Bosrijk shop, or gone out to the nearest supermarket to buy food. This way, everything is ready for you, all you need to do is turn up. The bonus is the characters that come to visit your table, a nice distraction for a baby who gets bored easily. Suitable breakfast items for the small person include pastries, yoghurt, meats and cheeses. There are doughnuts available for kids too but we skipped those!

 

Onto the park!

One of the first things you might like to do is familiarise yourself with the changing areas, either by picking up a park map or looking on the Efteling app.  There are changing tables in most toilets and there are also feeding rooms available which require a key (info on where to get the key on the Efteling app). Some of the changing areas are shared, as in there are 3 changing tables together, such as in Het Witte Paard. This for us was a good thing as our little girl isn’t a fan of getting changed, so seeing other people with babies in the room was a welcome distraction.

IMG_20200123_145638805

Mini food!

Whilst mentioning Het Witte Paard, this is where we found ‘mini food’. This was a little tray with a small pastry, a piece of fruit, a mini sandwich, a piece of cucumber, and a tomato. I didn’t notice this offering anywhere else but I’ll look next time, because it was a good option for a baby who is past baby food but not onto large meals yet. In general however, the food in Efteling is varied and there are plenty of healthy choices, so there are things that baby could share with you rather than buying them a full meal.

As a side note, it is useful to know that the Dutch seem to microwave baby milk rather than using bottle warmers (or at least Efteling do this). If you aren’t happy with doing this then you might be best to take a travel bottle warmer with you and fill it before you leave on a morning.

In terms of rides, there are plenty that babies are allowed to go on. Our go-to was Carnaval Festival. She’d been prepared by watching a YouTube video several times beforehand, so she already liked the music, and of course the lights and figures are fun to watch. It is a gentle ride and it doesn’t last too long, so it is a great choice for the little ones.

IMG_20200122_104401975_HDR

She’ll have to grow a bit to get on here!

This is similar to Symbolica, lots to look at, a gentle ride and not too long. Our daughter did have a little panic on Droomvlucht when you first go up the little hill, but she was fine after that. Maybe for a small person it really does feel very high up, so if you think that your baby might panic and wriggle out, maybe it is best to skip that one. On these rides it is important to say that the staff members told us that the baby had to be able to sit on their own under the bar, and not on our lap.

There are plenty of places outside of the rides to leave your stroller, however most of them are not covered over, so you may need to put on your rain cover before you leave if it’s raining. Fabula does have covered stroller parking, as does Polle’s Keuken, and the Sprookjesboom show, which makes me think that these are provided in places where you are going to spend longer. The (small) stroller parking place for Symbolica is located next to the path to the right of the ride, which is not immediately noticeable (you can tell by all of the strollers parked right at the entrance to the ride!).

I just mentioned the Sprookjesboom show in the fairy tale forest which is of course aimed at the younger guests, as well as Jokie en Jet outside of Carnaval Festival and various fairy tale characters roaming the park; all of these are great and less intense attractions for the babies to experience. Our girl loves the Jokie en Jet show.IMG_20200122_153712201

As I mentioned, we visited in January so it was still Winter Efteling. Although there are plenty play areas in the park which are great in the Summer, there just isn’t really anywhere like that to enjoy in the Winter (or just on a wet day). An indoor themed play area would be totally perfect, a bit like what they have attached to the bar in the Efteling Hotel.

P1090240

Efteling is a big park, so it is a great place to walk the baby to sleep, and we found that she actually slept quite a lot (thank you cosy snowsuit).

There is a baby switch available if there are two of you and you both want to ride one of the bigger rides, but as we’ve been before, we didn’t use this because we didn’t need to do every single ride.

After trailing the baby around all day, we wanted her to watch Aquanura, however, even though it was only 6:15pm (to be fair her bedtime was about 7pm) it was really hard for the show to hold her attention, and ultimately we left before the end because she was very restless.

In conclusion;

In all though, it was a successful visit, and we got a lot of lovely photos (including on-ride photos) to show her when she’s older. You may also find that you’ll spend more money in Jokie’s Wereld than you ever thought you could!

If you’ve never been to Efteling before and you’re doing it with a very small person, expect to not get everything done, but going at a slower pace really does help you to take in the park better than you would normally.

IMG_20200122_183645743

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Efteling in Autumn

30 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Seasons, Updates from 2019

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

autumn, autumn efteling, efteling

A friend of the site was in Efteling last week and sent me a lot of lovely photographs.

I’ve chosen a few to share here, because Efteling in the Autumn is really beautiful!

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Click the images for a closer look!

With thanks to Marianne.

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The Six Swans Opens Tomorrow!

27 Friday Sep 2019

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Sprookjesbos, Updates from 2019

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de zes zwanen, efteling, eftelinguk, sprookjesbos, the six swans

Image by Efteling

The Six Swans, Efteling’s 30th fairy tale in the fairy tale forest, opens tomorrow. Visitors can walk through the attraction or take a short ride on a swan boat which takes you inside the building.  There are (of course) six swan boats to ride in, all with slightly different details around their necks.  The tower of the castle building is 15 metres high, and you can find it between Snow White and Cinderella in the fairy tale forest.

I don’t condone too many spoilers; it is nice to discover new things for yourself, however if you would like to see a walk-through which was filmed by Efteling, then see the video below!

There will also be a pin available to buy tomorrow to celebrate the opening of The Six Swans, which ca be found at Den Ouden Marskramer.  Pins are a limited edition of 1,000 and are also limited to 2 per person.

Image by Efteling

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The Six Swans: 1 Month To Go!

27 Tuesday Aug 2019

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Sprookjesbos, Updates from 2019

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de zes zwanen, efteling, eftelinguk, sprookjesbos, the six swans

It is only 1 month until visitors to Efteling can ride on the park’s newest attraction: The Six Swans.  Located in the fairy tale forest next to Cinderella, guests will be able to take a ride on one of these beautiful swans, which have arrived at their new home today.  I can’t wait to see it up close!

Images by Efteling

Images by Efteling

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Six Swans Boats: First Look!

27 Saturday Jul 2019

Posted by EftelingUK in All Updates and News, Sprookjesbos, Updates from 2019

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

efteling, fairy tale, sprookjesbos, the six swans, zes zwanen

The 30th fairy tale in the fairy tale forest is due to open next autumn, and construction has been coming along very nicely on the new attraction. The Six Swans will house a small ride, where visitors can board a swan for a trip around the building’s moat. Eftelingsestraat.nl have some great first photos of the boats behind the scenes at Efteling, presumably getting ready for their decoration.

Click here to take a look at the beautiful new boats!

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