Holland - Duinrell and Efteling

[BabaYagasLittleSister]

We are going to Holland last week of August, staying at Duinrell and travelling one day to go to Efteling. Anyone who's been before have any tips or recommendations for us?

I have one autistic delayed 5 year old and one 7 year old. Restaurants and formal eating places can be difficult with my youngest. If there's any where we can eat where he can get down from the table and play somewhere etc that would be brilliant. Or is the food good at Duinrell, takeaways etc?

I'm not a Duinrell expert, but I love Efteling. Though the things I love best there may not work for you. For example, the Efteling pancake house (Polles) is beautiful, with loads of cool things to see, but there's no play area or anything. (The service is brisk by Dutch standards, though.) Wereldkeuken, on the other hand, is dark and sepulchral, but has a play area!

You'll find lots of Dutch restaurants with play areas. Pancake houses (Google "pannenkoek") are often very child friendly and have a better than even chance of having an indoor or outdoor play area.

Oh great thanks! Both kids love pancakes!
I love the sound of Wereldkeuken.

Anyone else?

I don’t think there are any local restaurants where your youngest could get down and play safely, but there are some that do take away if that might work better? I can’t think of anywhere local with a play area.

The food at duinrell itself isn’t amazing, the restaurants across the road are far better. In duinrell there is a la place cafeteria next to the big playground, but it’s expensive and can be slow to get served. I think it is only open during the day? In the evening I think there is just the plaza open, which has a burger place, takeaway pizza, and a pizza restaurant.

There are a few restaurants at the beach a few miles away, which could also be an option? Plenty of space to run.

TiredArse has reminded me about Dutch health and safety. You may see a play area and think 'ah, it's for children, so I'm sure it's safe'. Drop that thought immediately. The café I just recommended at de Efteling, for example, has more than one exit, so if you have a wanderer, you need to keep an eye out! I used to take mine to an indoor play area in a pay-to-get-in park called Plaswijck. I swear there were at least ten ways in and out. And the park had a great deal of water, not all of it fenced off. The onus very much is on you as a parent. The kids and I loved it, but I have relatively predictable children...

We’ve done Duinrell and Efteling twice with my two including one with ASD. She’d mostly grown out of the restaurant wandering by the time we went but we mostly self cater anyway. If you’re only at Efteling for a day you could just do fast food options. The takeaway hot dogs are lush (we have the meat free ones). You can get kids meals from chippy takeaway type places with a toy included. There are plenty of outdoor seats.

We didn’t eat more than chips and mayo at Duinrell. There is a Jumbo supermarket over the road so we mostly cooked our own stuff. I think we had pizza from the Duinrell takeaway once which was nothing special. There is a lovely Italian restaurant in the town over the road. Gets really busy and not much room for a wandering child.

Have a wonderful time. My two absolutely loved those holidays. Efteling is really worth going to.

Oh yes, there is definitely a very relaxed approach to health and safety.

Actually, with that in mind, there is quite a bit of open water at duinrell, much of which doesn’t look like water (to a child) as it’s covered in green weed. Might be worth asking to be away from that if possible, if he’s a runner?

You can also hire a buggy or beach wagon if needed?

There's a cafe place in Efteling called Fabula which has a play area in it. My kids loved it.
You can just use the cafe, or can watch the mini film (10mims ish) which exits through it.
There's also loads of places to pick up snacks throughout the park, like hotdogs & potatoes on sticks (sorry can't remember the proper name!).
Efteling have an app too, which gives you wait times for rides, times of shows etc.
Have a fab time!

I have relatives who live near the Efteling so have been there a few times. It’s absolutely wonderful. I prefer it to Disney Paris.

Get pizza delivered to your Duingalow from Da Alfio ! Really excellent pizza .

Both Duinrell and Efteling are amazing ! Been to both many times .

Ah thank you everyone. I didn't get notified of these updates for some reason but really appreciate your suggestions.
Good to know about the health and safety side of things, although we always follow him around and watch him like a hawk. I usually watch him and DH watches DD because she is a lot more predictable!
I will definitely be referring back to this while we are away.

The ice cream parlour in Wassenar is amazing - Lucianos definitely worth a wander from the park. I think there were a few play things outside it too. There’s a good pancake house just outside the entrance. Our girls loved Madurodam just outside The Hague, it’s a miniature Netherlands and lots of hands on, the cafe was good value there too.

I would avoid eating in Duinrell - expensive and over priced. We found Wassenar much better value. If you haven’t joined it then there’s a Facebook group - Duinrell Chats and Tips for holidaymakers. There’s a wealth of information on there.

We’re going back this summer, our pair can not wait!