Efteling — Attraction in Loon op Zand

Absolutely blown away.

We visited for 3 nights/4 days at the end of October 2025 and I genuinely do not know where to begin, this place blew my mind in so many ways.

ACCOMODATION

We stayed at the Bosrijk village in Poorthuys section, this is the closest you can get to the main reception/pool/restaurant and is more like a hotel. The rooms was absolutely lovely and huge, they are more like large suites.

The room was spotless, however it is not a full maid service and only towels are replaced. Beds are not made up nicely and toilet roll is not topped up, this has to be done in person at reception.

We used the pool twice and it was fantastic. The atmosphere in there is great with it being very dimly lit. There are lots of buckets above the main pool section that are always being filled up and a control panel at the side of the pool with levers on so you can control when they dunk over people. Our 9 year old daughter loved doing this! The pool was very busy but we did go after park closing, I assume it will be quieter earlier in the day.

Food at the hotel was great as well. Breakfast was a buffet with everything you could need. It is not a full English and the only 'hot' food is streaky bacon and scrambled eggs, however this was all great quality and you didn't need anymore. We loved having a chat with Mr Sandman's owl on the way in every morning.

We had dinner in the hotel on the first night and it was the best meal of the trip. The starters are shared out amongst the table as per one of these photos then you have a choice of main and desert. We opted for the duck and steak, both of which were great!

THE PARK

As we were there during UK half term, but not European holidays, it was DEAD. The most we queued for a ride was probably around 20 minutes for Max and Mouritz and Dreamflight. A lot of the rides were just walk on, we did Joris 3 times in 20 minutes when the park first opened.

There is such a great variety of rides and can only see this being better had Sirroco and Baron being open when we were there. Our favourites are hard to pick but I could literally have stayed on The Flying Dutchman and Dreamflight all day.

Danse Macabre was another highlight and we managed to do this 5 times in total, often by taking advantage of the virtual queue that was in place whilst we were there.

It is very easy to navigate around and the app is fantastic for this. You can look at the queue times (which were very accurate compared to Disney) and it even maps out a route for you as to how to get to the next ride.

FOOD

First night we ate at Bosrijk as previously stated.

Second night was at Polle's Kuchen, the pancake house. Food was great however service was a little lacking, they forgot to put one of our orders through and so ended up having to eat separately to each other with no apology offered.

Final night pizza delivered to our room after a swimming session. Amazing pizza, the chicken kebab one was one of the best I have had anywhere - no lie.

We snacked throughout the day too using the vending machine walls, stroopwaffels and kebabs. The best of these was the kebabs at Oase outside Fata Morgana. Very generously filled with lovely fresh salad and perfectly spiced kebab meat.

CARO

On our second night we went to Caro. The show was great for us however I wouldn't have paid more than we did (12.50 due to staying on site). There were lots of toddler age in the audience and I am baffled as to how they stayed still. It is visually stunning but I imagine would be boring for anyone under around 6-7 years old. It also has some dark scenes which did upset some around us.

TRAVEL

Travelling to the park was very easy, we took our car from Huddersfield to Hull to get the ferry over. It was a rough crossing going out but much calmer on the return journey. I was a little anxious about driving at the other end but there was nothing to worry about. After 5 minutes you get used to being on the 'wrong' side of the road and it felt very natural even in a UK car. The journey is mostly motorway and well sign posted.

I really wanted to award Efteling four stars, but various factors have held it back, despite some aspects undoubtedly being five stars in quality. One of the biggest gripes is what is the underlying story? What part do the characters play? It's fun to look at beautiful fantasy aesthetics but the absence of a story threading it together is apparent!

This unique fairytale theme park is quite successful, making $387.8 million in revenue on average annually, boasting almost six million visitors in footfall (2022 stat), and is supposedly very popular with the Dutch people. It has six rollercoasters and four water rides. In 2019 and 2022, it was the third most visited theme park in Europe, after Disneyland Park, Paris and Europa-Park, Germany. We visited the park from the UK, but unfortunately many areas of the park are presented in Dutch, meaning the language barrier compromised our enjoyment and accessibility. Seeing as the park is advertising itself internationally, they could do more to accommodate English speakers (Lingua Franca).

The entrance to the park is spectacular, and throughout I was seriously impressed by how well-kept, well-designed and sparkling clean the park is. A charming steam train circles the whole site but only stops at two stations; still good nonetheless. We visited in the off-peak season (weekdays in September) which meant little to no waiting times, but the drawback which we hadn't realised was several areas and rides were under maintenance. The water fountain display lake was under maintenance meaning no evening water light show. The flagship Baron dive coaster was also closed for maintenance or repair on both days. The water ride closed for maintenance too. Check the maintenance roster before you book! But this won't necessarily guarantee no closures. Disappointing.

For children and families the park probably brushes a soft five stars, it especially makes a great option for a child's first theme park experience. For adults, couples, young people and everything in-between, it's 3-4 stars. Many attractions are dated (although well-maintained) puppet shows and animatronics. The fairytale forest is incredibly charming, but the fairytale animatronics often struggle to illustrate genuinely engaging renditions of these famous fairytale stories. The language barrier problem rears its head here too, FYI. A small placard at each fairytale site with a heavily abridged summary seems almost pointless or rather insufficient as an insight into the given tale.

There are loads of food options available around the park at okay prices, which is all well and good for the options, however it feels like there are far too many eateries and because of this the park feels focused on upsells. A restaurant at every square meter just struck me as slightly odd.

The standout rides were the ‘dark’ rides, in particular the ride ‘Symbolica’ was incredible with wonderful details and colours. That ride contrasts the older dark rides quite dramatically. The ‘It's A Small World’ style (Carnival Festival) ride looked quite amateurish when compared to Symbolica. The park is a bit inconsistent in that regard. The ‘Vogel Rok’ coaster is underwhelming, it is a fast coaster in the dark. No visual stimulation at all. Once again, I found the closures of various rides disappointing with no recourse for compensation available.

Overall I'd visit as an added extra to a holiday in the region, I wouldn't travel here solely for the park unless you are coming as a family and want to enjoy a theme park cheaper than Disney, but nonetheless with its own unique offerings and strengths — that's also treasured by the locals and tourists alike.

For the past four years, our family has made it a tradition to visit Efteling once a year, staying overnight and enjoying the park together. We started going when we had only our first child, and now we return with all three of our kids. Over those years, the park has remained a magical place in many ways, and it has created some wonderful family memories for us.

Efteling is still an incredible park. The atmosphere, theming, and storytelling are truly unique, and it’s one of the reasons we keep coming back. It’s also very convenient for us since it’s only about a 1h30 drive. In my opinion, it has always been one of the best parks in Europe for families with children of all ages — from toddlers to teenagers. The quality of the attractions, the fairy-tale atmosphere, and the overall experience have always been exceptional.

That said, during our most recent visit we noticed a change that affected our experience compared to previous years.

The social media hype around Efteling has clearly brought the park a lot of attention. In many ways that’s positive — it likely helped financially and made projects like the new hotel possible, which is absolutely stunning. But at the same time, it also feels like the park is starting to shift toward something that resembles Disney in a way that, for us, isn’t necessarily positive.

One thing we noticed much more this year was the presence of large numbers of adults visiting the park alone and riding attractions specifically designed for small children — carousels and toddler rides — without kids. Of course, everyone is free to enjoy theme parks however they want, and people should absolutely feel welcome to visit. However, as parents of three young children, it was the first time in four years that we felt uncomfortable letting our kids move even a meter away from us.

In previous visits, the atmosphere felt overwhelmingly family-oriented, where most people around the children’s areas were clearly parents, grandparents, or families. This time it felt different, with a noticeable number of adults (many appearing to be 26+, and some well into their 30s) visiting alone and spending time in the youngest kids’ attractions.

Maybe this is simply a side effect of the park becoming more popular online and attracting a broader audience. But for us, it did change the feeling of the park slightly. Part of what made Efteling special was how safe and relaxed it felt for families with small children.

Because of that, our personal rating has shifted slightly. For many years we would have easily rated Efteling a 10/10. After this visit, we would say it’s closer to an 8/10 for us.

It is still an incredible park and absolutely worth visiting. However, for families with very young children who value that relaxed and safe family atmosphere, the experience feels a little different than it did a few years ago.

Efteling remains magical, but we do hope that in the future it continues to prioritize the family-friendly environment that made it so special for parents and children alike.