Efteling tips/advice?

[MarcellaBackland]

We will be in Amsterdam in a few weeks with our two DCs ages 5 and just turned 9, and we’d like to visit Efteling. I don’t know a single person who has been there but I’ve heard it’s lovely. Does anyone have any tips or advice? Is it possible to do it as a day trip from Amsterdam and if so is it worth it? Is my older DC too old? He’s generally pretty tolderant of little kid stuff but I want it to be fun for him too. Also do we need to book tickets or plan anything in advance? (I’m thinking of Disney World, which I’m told requires military attack style planning.)

Thank you for any info.

9 and 5 are perfect ages. It's two hours train/train/bus to get there from Amsterdam. I'd stay over.

No military planning required, by the way. Pick up tickets to the Ravelijn show (free, from the machines near the Droomvlucht ride) when you arrive. Eat lunch in the pancake house.

We’re off to the Efteling in a few days - love the park and try to go every other year. Efteling is great fun for all ages, its a beautiful park with loads of rides from toddlers to teenagers. The Fairytale forest is a pleasure to walk through, also for a 9 year old.
Some of the rollercoasters require a minimum height of 120 cm, so bear that in mind.
2 years ago we went for 3 days and stayed in an appartment in the holiday park, this year we’re staying only 1 night in the hotel. Loads of Dutch people go for 1 day, but if it’s busy you’ll struggle to take it all in, as the park is huge. If you have time/funds I’d look into staying the night.
Our dcs are 8&10 and can’t wait to go back.
Enjoy!

I went recently with my 10-year old and 8-year-old. There will be plenty of big rides for your 9-year-old to go on. Lots of Dutch teens sprinting from one fast ride to the next, etc. Queues are not as bad as Disney although there was one - the wooden twin rollercoaster one - which we had to leave until nearly closing time because long, long queues earlier in the day. One ride - Python - you have to get a timed ticket from the entrance to the ride to go on, unless you go on single rider. Or at least we did - it might be different at quieter times. Other than that ride they have no Fastpass system so no booking in advance or anything.

We stayed in a house in the Bosrijk village for 2 nights and combined it with a few nights in Amsterdam and a few nights in Duinrell on either side. Everything does feel quite spread out so there is a lot of walking - take comfy trainers. We found the food to be good quality - especially when compared with theme parks in the UK. Enjoy!

Hi @marcellabackland I'm an Amsterdam/Netherlands blogger. You might find this post on Efteling helpful (Efteling is wonderful but quite a long day trip from AMS)

amsterdamwonderland.com/2016/06/13/efteling/

Loads of ideas on the blog for Amsterdam and around. Do let me know if I can help with anything at all x

www.amsterdamwonderland.com

It's really worth staying over. What makes Efteling so special is that it's full of little details, from the magical lampposts to the benches in the park. You'd miss a lot if you were rushing. Also, some of the areas are best explored in the evening or at dusk and you won't be able to do that you don't stay over. Plus, it's about 20% larger than Disneyland Paris.
It is helpful to gain perspective on the 180-acre park, which is divided into four themed worlds, by boarding the old steam engine that rings it.
There are nearly as many rides aimed at older children as rides for the little ones.

Thanks for all of the advice! Lots to think about. Namely, how to convince DH we need to spend the night...