Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Efteling: land of magic and fairy tales


 Last weekend was amazing! My mother in law has a very important birthday coming up and we have been celebrating the whole weekend, starting by a delicious Thai dinner on Saturday night (where baby Y. socialized and then proceeded to fall asleep in dad's lap) and following up on Sunday by a surprise visit to De Efteling, what used to be the largest amusement park of Europe (now it's second to Euro Disney).

The place is amazing. It is themed around fantasy, myths, legends, fairy tales, fables and folklore. Right up my alley.


"De Efteling is one of the oldest theme parks in the world, located in the town of Kaatsheuvel, in the municipality of Loon op Zand.  Since its opening in 1952, Efteling has evolved from a nature park with a playground and a Fairy Tale Forest into a full-sized theme park.  It is twice as large as the original Disneyland park in California and predates it by three years."


 Yu was allowed to go on her first-ever amusement-park ride, the "Dreamflight", where you  float and glide through a dream world full of castles, elves, fairies, trolls, woodland spirits, fauns and King Oberon. It was amazing. She is mesmerized by light and lamps, we were a bit afraid that she would get scared and freak out, but she was calm and happy. It was so nice to see her enjoy. I wonder what kind of memories this will create in her! 


The Sproojkjesbos must be my favorite part of the park. As you walk through the woods you encounter creatures (an ent!) (a dragon!) (Rapunzel!) (The little mermaid!) and places that bring classic Fairy tales from Hans Christian Andersen, The Grimm brothers and Perrault among others come to life. You will find Hansel and Gretel's House, the red Dancing shoes, the house of the 7 goats... 



Definitely a place to visit for young and old alike (there are more than a few rollercoasters, water rides... ). A magic place for sure!



4 comments:

  1. That looks so wonderful!! I would have died to go there as a kid. I was sure faeries and elves lived among us and want my kids to love stuff like that too. We live near Disneyland and we have season passes, which means we can go for just three hours and call it a day which is the perfect amount of time for a baby. Owen loves the rides and now he loves the characters too. He likes to hug them and wave at them.

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    1. I know, the place is amazing even now, I am such a fan of fairy tales. Living so close to Disneyland must be great, I have really special memories of that place, I was certain the animals in the jungle ride were real, and it is just so much fun, the parades, the fireworks, the shows... It is so cute that Owen is already waving at them!

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  2. Vi tus fotos, me encaaaaantó. Quiero ir a abrazar al Ent y soplar la casa de los "cerditos" o cualesquiera bichos vivan en ella :)

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    1. Croe que era la casa de unas cabritas, me encanta este parque porque habla de muchos cuentos de todo el mundo y hay bastantes que yo ni conocía!

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