7 Reasons Why Efteling Theme Park is Worth Visiting + Tips & Things To Know Before You Go
We tend to be Disney fans through and through, but our recent trip to Efteling in the Netherlands definitely lived up to many of the expectations of visiting a Disney theme park and may have even exceeded some aspects of Disneyland (or at least Disneyland Paris).
We visited Efteling after spending 2 days exploring the stunning tulip fields in Holland (only in bloom in the spring). The tulip fields and Efteling are just over an hour apart, making them perfect to do in the same trip.
Plus, add on some time in Amsterdam, and you’ll have created quite the complete Netherlands itinerary!
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This post is to answer the question, ‘Is Efteling worth visiting? along with what to expect when visiting and a few good things to know before you go.
🎡 EFTELING QUICK LINKS:
👉 WHERE WE STAYED:
🛏️ GUEST HOUSE HOTEL: SO CLOSE to Efteling (walking distance), amazing family rooms, delicious breakfast, play area for kids and even some room service for late night snacks. Much more affordable than accomodations in Amsterdam.
👉 ENTRANCE TICKETS (you need to book ahead):
🎟️ 1 DAY EFTELING ENTRANCE TICKET: Make sure you have your tickets reserved with your Efteling entrance ticket
🎟️ FROM AMSTERDAM:PRIVATE 8-HOUR DAY TRIP TO EFTELING INCLUDING TICKETS: Visit Efteling without worrying about transportation with this private day trip to the park!
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How to Get From Amsterdam to Efteling
Efteling is about a 1-hour and 15-minute drive or a 2.5-hour public transit ride from Amsterdam. Public transit requires both a train and a bus in the same journey. You can plug it into Google Maps under public transit to see which route works best for you.
We drove to Efteling as part of a greater Netherlands road trip to see the tulips outside of Amsterdam so we were able to easily reach the park.
**If you want to visit Efteling from Amsterdam but don’t want to hassle with time-consuming public transit, check out this day trip from Amsterdam to Efteling that includes park entrance tickets!
Where we stayed near Efteling
Efteling offers a host of onsite accommodations- some of them looking quite lovely and magical (you can check them out here). However, they were all a bit too spendy for us, so we instead chose to stay at Guest House Hotel, and we ended up really enjoying it.
**Guest House Hotel is within walking distance of Efetling (really, it’s so close), has a great breakfast buffet, a fun rooftop play area for the kids, and even a small menu of food you can order for room service (which was a lifesaver after getting to the hotel late one evening).
You can even rent bikes from the front desk to reach beautiful sand dunes in under 10 minutes!
The highlight for our kids was the fun bunk bed setup in our rooms- it was really quite genius.
We had a large bed next to a *comfortable* bunk bed with a trundle bed that could slide out between the two. They loved it!
How many days are needed to see Efteling?
Our kids typically just have energy for one theme park day, so we planned accordingly.
But if you are a massive theme park fan (like my husband) you may be grateful to have two full days to really take your time exploring the whole park and enjoy every attraction and show.
We spent one day at Efteling and were able to hit plenty of the flagship attractions, some of the smaller kids’ rides, playgrounds, and the fairytale forest (all before dinnertime).
I do feel like we could have easily spent another day getting to do more of the ‘kiddie’ rides that our 3-year-old would have enjoyed, since we did spend most of our time focusing on the larger rides that our 6-year-old could go on.
So all of that being said, 1-2 days should be enough time for your visit to Efteling.
7 reasons why Efteling is worth visiting
1. Efteling rivals Disney Parks
My husband is a lifelong Disney Park fan and has been excited to visit Efteling since we moved to Europe years ago.
He had fairly high expectations, but I never thought he would enjoy it MORE than a Disney Park. We were blown away by the park’s sheer size and number of high-quality attractions.
Efteling is actually larger than Disneyland Paris and boasts everything from thrilling rollercoasters to immersive and whimsical dark rides plus plenty of attractions for the little ones.
We love Disney theme parks for the unique stories, immersive theming, and beautiful surroundings and we found that Efteling delivered on all counts!
2. Efteling is Inexpensive
Park tickets to Efteling are very inexpensive compared to other similar theme parks like Disneyland Paris (which itself is actually a bit cheaper than American Disney Parks).
Efteling tickets in range from €38 on the cheapest off-peak days to €53 on peak days, making it a relatively affordable theme park option.
In contrast, Disneyland Paris tickets start around €51 on the quietest days and rise to as much as €150 on peak days😳.
Don’t get me wrong, we love a Disneyland trip, but we were just very impressed by the value of Efteling compared to our recent Disneyland Paris trips.
3. The Crowds and Queues at Efteling aren’t bad
If you are accustomed to theme parks like Disneyland or Universal Studios, you’ll likely find the crowds and queues at Efteling to be very manageable.
Compared to Disneyland Paris, Efteling offers much shorter queue times—most rides are between 10 to 20 minutes, with peak waits generally under 50 minutes.
Comparatively, Disneyland Paris queues average between 20-40 minutes, with peak waits for popular attractions frequently more than 60 minutes.
Both parks offer single-rider queues and rider swap services, which is great for families like us travelling with small children. Not all rides have these options, but
If you are new to theme parks, here is a quick breakdown of how these services work:
Single Rider Queue: This is exactly what it sounds like–a separate line for people riding alone. The wait will be much shorter than the standard queue and is usually marked with a sign. You CAN go as a group, but your group will be split up to fill empty spots in the ride vehicles. Great way for mom or dad to quickly hop onto a large ride that the little ones can’t go on. Not all attractions have this option –click here to see which rides do.
Baby Switch/Rider Swap: If you are travelling with small children, one parent (or in our case, usually a parent and our oldest child) can go on an attraction and then request a baby switch/rider swap pass from one of the employees in the unloading area. The waiting parent can then use the pass to bypass the line and enjoy the ride without the wait. It’s pretty great! Click here to read more about baby switch at Efteling.
4. Efteling has unique whimsical attractions for all ages
We’ve visited quite a few European theme parks with our kids over the years (Disneyland Paris, Legoland Billund, and Tivoli, to name a few).
And even with all of those visits, we were impressed with how Efteling has so many rides and attractions for visitors of all ages and interests.
Joris en de draak (a wooden rollercoaster) is deceivingly thrilling and won over our 6-year-old, who declared that it was better than her previous favorite ride: Thunder Mountain (and I agree- it was SO fun).
Symbolica is a trackless dark ride that takes guests through a magical castle and is a must-do ride. The theming and pre-show scenes are immersive and as beautifully designed as any Disney attraction.
De Vliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman) is a combination water coaster and dark ride that has a slow, moody opening boat ride that crescendos with a beautiful classical score and a drop down the track into the water below.
I was expecting something more like The Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland, but was pleasantly surprised with the dramatic effects and music.
Droomvlucht (Dream Flight) is a suspended dark ride that is great for younger kids and immerses you in a mystical fairy forest with a surprisingly fun descent as you wind your way down through the trees.
Baron 1898 is an epic dive coaster that any rollercoaster junkie will appreciate! A normal amusement park might have a similar dive coaster but Efteling pulls out the stops with an immersive story centered around a greedy Baron and a cursed gold mine.
The Efteling Stoomtrein (Steam Train) is a cute scale railroad train that takes you for a loop around the park with a couple of stops.
The Stoomcarrousel (Steam Carousel) is a classic and actually was one of the first rides introduced to Efteling in the 1950s. There are almost too many small, kid-friendly attractions to count so there’s bound to be plenty of rides that your little ones will enjoy.
5. There’s a donkey that poops gold coins
If you are not a rollercoaster or ride junkie and just want to immerse yourself in a fairytale world–it’s hard to beat the quiet and quaint atmosphere of Efteling.
Efteling’s oldest and most iconic attraction is the Sprookjesbos (Fairy-tale Forest), which invites guests to explore the forest paths through over 30 fairy tale story scenes from familiar classics like Pinocchio and Snow White to lesser-known gems like the coin-pooping donkey.
The Donkey comes from a quirky Dutch fairytale that we were not familiar with but immediately resonated with our kids. You insert one euro, and the donkey will promptly shoot out a plastic gold coin for the kids to scramble after.
But seriously, the coin-pooping donkey was the highlight of our kids’ visit to Efteling, and our daughter spent the last of her spending money to collect all the coin variants from the donkey.
Besides the donkey, there are over 30 fairytales depicted in the forest, each with a distinct charm that we have not found at any other theme parks–you really feel like you are inside a storybook!
Besides the Fairytale Forest, there are tons of other things to enjoy around the park, from the paper eaters to characters and live shows.
The paper eaters were a highlight for our daughter, who was collecting any bottle or trash she could find to get sucked into the mouth of the paper eater (with random sound bites thanking you or asking for more in Dutch).
Our daughter also loves interacting with characters at theme parks so she was enchanted when we stumbled upon a dragon-riding knight in our path! We were impressed with how many languages the character spoke–shifting effortlessly between Dutch, English, and German.
6. Efteling has amazing playgrounds for kids
While our daughter is a rollercoaster enthusiast, our son is more interested in playgrounds. We spent a while at the Nest playground so the younger kids could play the other family members took turns on the nearby rides like St George and the Dragon and The Flying Dutchman.
Nest! features a broad variety of play structures that entertained our kids for quite a while. They could’ve spent even longer playing there, but we knew we had a lot we needed to see in the park.
7. THe treats are delicious
When we visit theme parks we tend to lean more towards packing lunches than dining in a restaurant (for sake of cost and convenience) but we are always ready to try all the theme park treats!
We loved the Dutch style mini-pancakes from t’ Poffertje, a fried potato stick from Eigenheymer Ruigrijk, and some tasty hot dogs from De Smaeckmaker.
Efteling is by no means a major culinary destination, but we found all the food and snacks to be tasty and reliable.
A Few Extra Efteling Tips & Things to Know
- Be sure to book your tickets ahead of time as the park can sell out. Check park availability and book a ticket here.
- The main language of Efteling is Dutch; however, that was rarely an issue. The main time we noticed it was in the fairy tale forest when we couldn’t understand the recorded stories being played at each stop.
- Efteling is a great stop on a larger Netherlands itinerary. Check out this Amsterdam with kids post or our 2-day itinerary for experiencing the tulip fields in Holland! Both places are only a little over an hour away from Efteling! We visited the tulip fields for 2 days before continuing on to spend 1 day in Efteling. It was perfect.
- If you want to visit from Amsterdam, but don’t want to hassle with transportation, this day trip from Amsterdam to Efteling, including entrance tickets looks like it could be a great option! Click here to check availability.
- Although Efteling is open year-round, I would suggest aiming for the warmer months of May-September to fully enjoy the park. December seems like it could also be a cozy month to visit with Christmas decorations, magical bonfires, and lights.
And that’s everything I think you need to know about visiting Efteling in the Netherlands! Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions. I’ll be sure to get back to you.
🚲🌷 BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY OTHER GUIDES TO THE NETHERLANDS! 🚲🌷
🌷 LOOKING TO SEE THE TULIPS IN HOLLAND?
- 13 Things You Need to Know Before Visiting the Netherlands to See the Tulips
- Our Perfect 2 Day Itinerary To See Tulips Fields in The Netherlands with Kids
🚲 LOOKING TO VISIT AMSTERDAM?
- 22 Fun Things to Do With Kids in Amsterdam
- The Best Family Hotel in Amsterdam?: Van der Valk Amsterdam Amstel
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