World of Wonders

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Efteling is the very first theme park that I have ever visited. It was around 10 years ago. I used to think that I was scared of roller coasters and that these were the only attractions that could be found in a theme park. I was so wrong!

One day, my husband convinced me to go to Efteling and I fell in love with this largest theme park in The Netherlands. As soon as you enter the area you feel like you were in a fairy tale (or movie set). You can find here many enchanting attractions, spectacular theme parks, crazy roller coaster and other small details that make this place unforgettable. Everyone can find something interesting in this world of wonders.

We've been here many times but there are new and new attractions added, so it is good to get your map and don't miss anything what you would like to visit or see.

Before we come here, we usually check their website to see which attractions are new. These are the ones that we do first as we saw the rest already.

There are always so many people and from my experience you have to wait in a queue for at least 30 minutes to get to any attraction. I don't think that we have ever waited for less than 30 minutes. It's usually more and it can also become a little bit annoying.

But if you know the park a little bit you can find quiet places too and you don't have to walk with hundreds of people. The Efteling theater Caro is definitely one of them, unless there is a performance.

From here you can reach many attractions and enjoy the peace and quiet while looking across the lake to the impressive palace of Fata Morgana that was built in 1986.

Fata Morgana, also known as the forbidden city or 1001 Arabian Nights, is one of my favorite attractions. You get on a boat that will take you through many scenes from Far East. You will see the life of wealthy as well as poor people, the dark cellars with criminals, beggars, rats, crocodiles, gems and lots of gold. There is music and scents that add to the oriental atmosphere.

Symbolica is one of the newer attractions (built in 2017) that we haven't visited before. I've heard that it was very nice but was not so sure what to expect. It was the most expensive project at Efteling so it had to be good. Its cost was EUR 35 Mio.

We had to wait for 45 minutes but it was absolutely worth it. There is even a tap with drinking water on the way, so you can fill your bottle while waiting. It's great in summer!

When you FINALLY enter the palace, you can choose from three tours of the palace - treasure, heroes or music. It means that you have to go there at least 3 times to see it all. We chose the treasure tour and didn't plan to go to the same queue again.

You will get an audience with the King and then you can enjoy your tour. Your car will take you through magical rooms and you will be amazed every time you see something new. I loved it! You enjoy the interiors of the royal palace, almost touch the food on King's table, join the dance, see reflections in many mirrors, huge crystal chandeliers, sparkle everywhere and many more magical things.

Pagoda is one of the transactions that I don't plan to visit as it seems quite boring to me. It's a Thai template that will bring you to the height of 45 meters. From there you can enjoy the views of Efteling and its surroundings. I'm not saying that it's not nice as I am sure it is. But I don't think it's worth that waiting time.

However it looks quite impressive with the palace of Symbolica.

Let's go to the Lava Bos!

This is the place where you can find the Lava people. People say that it's a mischievous folk, but I quite like them. Millions of years ago, they were looking for a place they could call their home and they found it in Efteling. They settled down here and from that time they live here peacefully and enjoy their daily activities.

You can walk through their land called Laafland and meet these special people. And you should also know that all their names start with the letter 'L', even all the names of their houses start with the 'L'.

They go to school...

Some of them are a little bit lazy...

And bake bread and make music..

A long time ago, there was a family of Holle Bolle Gijs who were always hungry. But they didn't like the food that we know, they preferred to eat paper. They settled down in Efteling and help to keep it clean and free from rubbish.

They say 'papier hier' (paper here) all day long and when you feed them with paper they will say 'dank u wel' (thank you very much).

There are a few of them in Efteling and kids love them. It's so difficult to take a photo of them as there is always a child feeding them with paper or climbing up on them. You have to be patient if you want to get a photo.

If you need some cash you can of course get it from the ATM here. There are a couple of them and they are hidden on the sides of this huge treasure chest.

This is Pardoes. He is a Magician who came to Efteling from the planet called Symbolica. You can find him wandering in the park and keeping the imagination alive.

He likes to send kisses 😊

I hope that you enjoyed our tour of Efteling. But let me tell you a secret...

There is more and I will share it with you soon!

Thank you for reading!

Cheers!

Martina


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24 comments
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"Jako z pohádky" používám většinou u tvých fotek přírody, ale tentokrát to sedí taky :)) Krása.

@tipu curate

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Dakujem velmi pekne :) Prepac, ze som ti este neposlala tie jesenne fotky.. myslela som na to, len som sa k tomu este nedostala :)

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V pohodě ;) Tady už to teď stejně vypadá spíš na zimu :D

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This is an odd theme park, I don't know what to make of it. It's like an ugly Disney land but cute....

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Hahaha :D I don't think that they tried to make anything look like in Disneyland or make people think of it. It features the most popular fairy tales and it's really cool. It's a little bit strange that they make all these figures but this is why they got so popular. They are different to other theme parks. You can't get the feeling of it as I could only took photo of the buildings because inside everything is spinning around and it's dark so you can't get a photo.. I'll do a story about the fairy tale forest and roller coasters next week, so hopefully you'll like it better :)

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Ok now I'm convinced you are some kind of royalty... there is NO people in any of the pics (except for that stock photo at the end), so that means 1) they let you in to enjoy the park while there was no one there or 2) they made everyone leave when you arrived so that you could enjoy it... Either way, what a very cool looking place! Now I have another awesome place to visit one day when I get the time to travel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome job Martina, what another wonderful post!!! :D

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Oh Dave, there were so many people. But I just know the park and know where to walk to meet just a few. Everything in the park is somehow connected but people don't know about it so they take the main route which is so crowded that you can't even walk at your own pace. It is terrible.

But you can still think that I'm some kind of royalty :) I have always wanted to be a princess ;)

Thank you for your kind words!

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"World of Wonders" indeed @delishtreats! Really enjoyed "seeing" this place, through your experience, as always, you are very good at capturing it.

Years ago my beloved and I had a similar experience visiting the original theme park like this (as far as I know) - Disneyland in southern California. While we had many memorable experiences, I remember two major challenges that would make us think twice about ever going again.

  1. The waits were just staggering. Most particularly for small town folks like us, who are accustomed to only 2 or 3 stoplights in town ... :)

  2. By far, the greatest attraction which "lured" us there, in the first place, was closed! For "maintenance"!? Arrggh, how could they time something so poorly, with all the revenue lost, as a result? As it turns out, there were several major attractions "down," but we did at least get to still create some nice memories.

Doesn't appear that you had any issues with either of these issues ...

Until "next time," all the best to you! 🙂


P.S. Have I missed any update posts on your restaurant plans? Or how you just not written any updates?

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Hello my friend! Long time, no speak! I hope you're doing well.

In summer you have to wait for at least an hour and it is so annoying. I'm actually coming from a city without stoplights :D They installed the first (and the last) one just a couple of years ago :) And I also can't handle too many people. I get panic attacks (maybe it's a strong word but I can't think of anything else) and can't breath. It feels like there is no air around me and I start sweating and once I even fainted. Anytime we go there we keep distance from the people in front of us and always have some snacks and water in the backpack just in case.

When it's colder you don't have to wait for that long but at least 30 minutes is normal. I usually do something on my phone or talk to my husband but it is indeed long. The best time to go is when it's raining or very cold, then there are not that many people :)

I don't remember that it would ever happen to us that something would be closed. I guess that the maintenance is needed but it should be scheduled properly.

I'm sorry to hear that you had such an experience but I also hope that you would give it a chance and go if you would ever happen to be there :)

I didn't write any updates about the restaurant but I'm working with one lady who has a place that I could use, so I will see how this works out. I would like to start from Jan but I will know more next week as we will sit together and talk about the project.

Have a lovely day!

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Yes, my dear friend …

”Hello my friend! Long time, no speak! I hope you're doing well.”

… it has been awhile @delishtreats. Far too busy with higher priorities “out there” to spend the time I once did “in here.” Perhaps someday that will change. I do make an attempt to comment here and there. I even create a post every once in awhile (although uhhh ... "New Steem" frowns on that) … 😉

Thanks for the additional detail of the challenges you faced at your theme park. Similar to ours here … At least you didn’t face the main attractions being closed …

While I don’t get panic attacks …

”And I also can't handle too many people.”

… we are “kindred spirits.” Although my description would probably read more like ”… I also can't handle don’t like too many people.” Hahaha … 😉 (I recall one of the many psychological profiles I took over my long professional career saying I was "selectively sociable" ...)

I have such a dislike for the greater Los Angeles metroplex (something like +15 million people …), where Disneyland was built, that in my “Road to Recovery” trip I talked about the effort I made to give it wide berth (on my way to the sea), although costing me extra time and effort. Well worth it …

This sounds exciting …

”… but I'm working with one lady who has a place that I could use, so I will see how this works out. I would like to start from Jan but I will know more next week as we will sit together and talk about the project.”

… so I hope I catch it, when you publish the post (if you do). If you think of it, I would welcome a "call out" in a comment or something, so I know you have written an update. Until "next time," all the best to you my friend!


P.S. I will be very busy “out here,” given a family crisis here close to home. Back and forth to a local hospital, while our beloved daughter fights to give life to our 7th grandchild. So … “In and out” as time allows …

#sbi-skip

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I would love to visit Efteling, I bet my 6 yrs old son will love it as well. Didn't knew about it but I've been to Disneyland Paris in the past and I had a great time. While saving the location on Google maps I noticed it is close to Koningshoeven Abbey which I also saved in the past after reading one of your posts :) Btw I missed talking to you.

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Your son would love it! Just wait until he is 120 cm so that he can enjoy all attractions :)

Hahaha, that is true :) The Netherlands is small so everything is close to each other :)

I have also missed talking to you! Have you finished that project that you mentioned?

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That is a very important detail to remember which can spoil everything. He is now around 115 cm and by the time will get there, sometime in the future (1-2 yrs) he should be more than 120 cm, they grow up quite fast. The local project I'm contributing is still in its infancy but I want to believe I planted the seed for a future bike path along the Danube near my home town. Hopefully one day I'll use it to cycle with my son :) I think it's something worth doing for the community.

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Hello Dear Martina! Magical places like this are my favorite and I really enjoyed visiting this one with you. It is so unique and adorable! I know the whole Netherlands is like a fairyland, although I never been there. Maybe someday 😊

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Howdy Princess Martina! Well actually I guess that is an insult now isn't it because you are really the Queen of Steemit! I'm trembling as I type this because I'm just a commoner addressing royalty. lol.

Wonderful tour of this magical place, I can see why you love it!

Hey, how are the restaurant plans coming, anything happening?

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Wonderful photos and colourful descriptions. The way travel writing should be! Thanks for sharing, @delishtreats.

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