Efteling are making Christmas dinner! If you’d like to have a Christmas dinner cooked by Efteling chefs, ready for you to pick up on Christmas Eve, this is now possible.
Choose from a menu of meat, fish, or vegetarian, and priced at 29,50 per person (19,50 for kids). You can book your meal and pick a timeslot in which to pick it up on on December 24th; I believe you pick it up from the Efteling Hotel car park.
As there can be no Ice Palace at Efteling this year, they have set up a ‘Winter Meadow’ instead. It includes food stands, merchandise stalls, and a fire pit. There is also a lovely sleigh which you can sit in and have your photo taken. It is in the same place as where the Ice Palace usually stands, so it is nice and spacious. Live entertainment such as the Lichtpuntjes and the Fire Prince and Snow Princess can also be seen here. See the video from Eftelwesley below:
Efteling have also introduced some covered seating to a few places in the park, such as on the Ton van de Ven Square, since you can only buy takeaway food still for the moment.
Photo from the Efteling blog
In other non-winter related news, November 30th is the last day to ride Polka Marina. It has been in the park for 36 years and has come to the end of its life. In summer 2021, a play area called ‘Nest’ will open. From the Efteling blog:
‘Between De Vliegende Hollander and the Game Gallery, Nest! Will open in the summer of 2021: a play forest with various play options for all children, with or without a visible or invisible restriction.’
Concept art for Nest
I’m personally not sure about this change, although I’m sure that it will be great because Efteling do great with everything that they do! As the parent of a toddler, I really do wish that there was some sot of indoor play area for the little people, for the times when it is raining or just too cold outside.
Today marks the end of Winter Efteling. Here’s a little look back at the colder weather, and now we can look forward to lighter, brighter, warmer days!
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!
I have been watching a lot of videos by this channel recently, Theme Park Worldwide. You can visit so many theme parks from the comfort of your living room through these guys, and of course, there is an Efteling vlog on the channel! A few in fact. I thought I’ll share a couple here, but please do check out the channel, you can learn all kinds of things about loads of different theme parks!
Winter Efteling came to an end at the end of January. A friend of the Efteling UK Facebook page sent over some lovely Winter Efteling photos, which I’m only just getting round to sharing now!
Although I realise that Spring has finally sprung (hooray!) and the Efteling tulips are almost in full bloom, I remembered that I had some wonderful Winter Efteling photos that I wanted to share.
Marianne sent me some photos back in January of a visit to Efteling on January 8th for her birthday. Better late than never to share them at least!
This year, Winter Efteling starts on November 12th, so maybe it is time to start planning a Winter trip now? These photos will surely inspire you…
A new year seems to mean fresh Efteling news, so here’s a little look at what’s going on at the moment…
First off, the Python is being ‘renewed’. It seems that the track, which has been standing since 1981, is receiving most of the maintenance, as in previous years the ride cars themselves have been replaced several times. So for a while, that corner of the park will look a little naked, at least until March when it is due to reopen.
Elsewhere in the park, there’s the good/bad news that PandaDroom will remain open for at least the next 3 years, as a new contract has been signed with the World Wildlife Fund. As visitors are aware, the technology used in the show is now rather outdated, with this 3D show opening in 2002 and not really changing since that time (hence the ‘good/bad news’). It would be nice to see a new show here along the same theme, just more 2018 and less 2002!
And most importantly, Efteling is expanding! Between Vogel Rok and Python, 8 hectares of land will be added, and a new attraction is expected to open here by 2020. If you take a look at Google maps, it seems to be where the road ‘Horst’ is now, this is the road that Efteling Hotel guests need to cross to get to the park.
So, soon there’ll be more Efteling to love! Well, in a couple of years, but until then we have more PandaDroom to enjoy! 😉
Lastly, thank you to my friend Eftelwesley for continuing to produce beautiful Efteling videos that we can all enjoy. Especially this one below which is stunning! Thank you for braving the snow!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! On November 13th, Winter Efteling arrived again, and with it came a new Ice Palace! There have been many photos posted online of the new Ice Palace, but the best way to explore it is through a video:
This new palace is much ‘cleaner’ compared to previous years, which were based around a woodland/rustic theme. The eating place looks like something from the Efteling hotel, very bright and tidy! There’s loads of places to sit, as per previous years, and Efteling mugs and hats are sure to be found when purchasing food and drinks. If only we had smell-o-vision, as in previous years the smell in the palace has been divine and very festive.