Efteling
Efteling is a large park built in a beautiful Netherlands forest. The park has an overriding theme of fantasy, with many of the rides being based on fairy tales and the whole park incorporating the theme. As you might expect, given this theming, there are a large number of attractions for young children. The park has invested heavily in dark rides and also includes some more thrilling coasters.
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Last visited June 2023
INVESTMENT
8
THRILL FACTOR
6
FUN &
LAUGHTER
7
STAFF &
FACILITIES
8
UNIQUNESS
6
VALUE
7
THEMEING &
IMMERSION
9
THOMPSONS'
RATING
6
Baron 1898
BEST BITS
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The theming is excellent from the second you walk into the park.
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There is no fast track which means the queue times are accurate.
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The park is really well organised. It's very rare to see empty cars going around coasters. That helps keep queue times down.
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The park is really beautiful. The forest and gardens throughout the park are very well maintained.
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We got there by car, but we understand it is quite easy to get to Efteling by public transport, with regular buses from two nearby stations.
DOWN-SIDES
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There is a lack of thrill rides, with only Baron 1898 being a thrilling coaster.
TOP TIPS
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Start with Baron 1898. Both Joris en de Draak and De Vliegende Hollander are nearby so it's easy to do all three before the queues build up.
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There are no rides with lockers. You either leave your bag in the ride station or take it on with you.
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Several of the rides have single rider queues, which can shorten your waiting time as long as you don't mind your group being split. This is a particularly good option for Symbolica as the single rider queue is likely to be much quicker than the normal queue.
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We found that 's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) is a really good place to stay to visit Efteling. It's a lovely city, and only a short journey from the park.
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We strongly recommend trying the dutch mini-pancakes.
Baron 1898
Thompsons' overall rating 7
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
8
7
6
6
9
Joris en de Draak
Thompsons' overall rating 6
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
5
6
6
6
6
Python
Thompsons' overall rating 4
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
5
3
3
3
7
De Vliegende Hollander
Thompsons' overall rating 7
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
5
8
8
8
6
Vogel Rok
Thompsons' overall rating 6
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
5
6
7
6
6
Pirana
Thompsons' overall rating 4
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
3
6
5
4
N/A
Symbolica
Thompsons' overall rating 5
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
2
6
8
6
N/A
Fata Morgana
Thompsons' overall rating 3
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
2
3
7
3
N/A
Droomvlucht
Thompsons' overall rating 4
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
3
5
7
4
N/A
Villa Volta
Thompsons' overall rating 6
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
4
7
8
6
N/A
The entrance to Vogel Rok
Baron 1898
Our view on the rides
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Baron is the only high-thrill coaster in the park. This is a dive coaster with a vertical drop and two inversions. It's very well-themed and smooth. The first drop is exciting and the ride overall is fun. The only issue (something which Joe found common to other coasters at Efteling) is it's a bit too short. It would have been nice to have a few more elements within the ride. But overall, it's a very good coaster. The queue splits between first row and rows 2-3. It is twice as quick to go into the row 2-3 queue. It's also worth checking out the single rider queue for this ride.
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Joris en de Draak is that rarest of things; an enjoyable and fairly smooth wooden coaster! As it's a dueling coaster there are two slightly different tracks, but we did not notice a significant difference between them. Vogel Rok is an indoor coaster. Whilst the layout is not particularly high or fast, the ride is almost pitch-black other than a few effects and this makes it more disorienting and thrilling.
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We really wanted to like Python because it's an old coaster which the park recently re-built like-for-like. Unfortunately, although it's quite smooth it is also a bit boring. We were also a bit disappointed by Symbolica. This is a trackless dark ride which uses the same technology as Disney have used for some of their recent rides. Sadly, Symbolica lacks any thrill. The theming is amazing, but overall the ride felt like a missed opportunity. Admittedly, it may be more immersive to Dutch-speakers.
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Both water rides are fun, but we particularly enjoyed De Vliegende Hollander. This is a combined dark ride and water coaster. The dark ride section is really well themed and atmospheric, giving you the feeling of being around pirate ships. The outside section is a fun coaster with a fairly small drop at the end. It's not particularly wet as most of the final splash goes outwards. Pirana is a enjoyable, if unremarkable rapids ride. Some riders will get a lot more wet than others. If you go around the back of the ride building you will find a place where you can squirt riders with water as they pass. Great fun!
Double loop on Python
Background - Joris en de Draak
Foreground - De Vliegende Hollander
Symbolica
The two tracks of Joris en de Draak