Efteling

Yesterday I was at the Efteling for the first time since the reopening. Pretty crazy to walk in an amusement park again after many months. A visit to the Efteling is not yet like it used to be, but it is starting to look more and more like it. In this article I will take you through my Efteling day: how to get in, is it crowded, what is it like in the attractions, what are the measures and much more! If you have any questions after reading, please send me a message on our social media! Efteling in 2021: my visit June Yesterday, on June 10, was the day, going to the Efteling for the first time after months. My last visit was in September 2020, even then there were a lot of measures, but not as strict as now. Therefore, I was quite hesitant before my visit, how fun would the day be! But, spoiler alert, it was really a lot of fun. We stayed the whole day, from 10 to 18, and we were never bored. Are you going to the Efteling soon or are you still in doubt whether to go this year? Then I will give you as much information as possible below about what an Efteling day looks like in 2021. Let's start with parking and entering the park. Parking, time slots and getting in the park Like many visitors, we were by car. To get to the parking lot there was a small line. Despite the fact that the Efteling site stated that it would be a day with "normal" crowds, I thought that the parking lot was quite full. Something else we noticed were the two huge lines that formed in front of the entrance. It did get me a little nervous quite honestly, because how busy would it be in the amusement park itself? But in the end, it really wasn't that bad. The lines moved smoothly and within about 10 minutes we were inside. By the way, these lines are to dose the number of people standing under the covered entrance. As soon as you get to the covered area, you are asked to put on your mouth guard. This is one of the measures in the park, but I'll come back to that later. All in all, it took about 10 minutes to get in, despite the lines. Well, I must say that we were there at 10 o'clock exactly, at the beginning of our time slot. Before that time they stop you so getting in earlier is not an option. Wait times and crowds in the Efteling in 2021 The most frequently asked question is: how crowded is the Efteling since the reopening? The answer is, busier than I expected. We were there on a weekday, outside of school vacations, and the park still felt pretty full. Despite the fact that they are, of course, only allowed a limited number of visitors. On the walkways you had a lot of space, then you notice that the Efteling is really a big park. You can walk without seeing other people, even on busier days. At the rides, the wait times were average. Or as the Efteling calls it, normal crowds. The longest we waited was for Joris en the Dragon. There was a stated waiting time of 20 minutes, but in the end we waited about twice that long. Shortest waiting times were at Droomvlucht, Gondoletta and Fata Morgana, where we could walk straight on, there was no line. Carnival Festival had a line of about 15 minutes, as did Vogel Rok. Baron 1898 had a 35-minute wait, but we ended up queuing for only 20 minutes. In the end, the queues were not too bad, it just feels longer sometimes, and that is because of two of the current safety measures. In the queues you have to keep 1.5m distance, you do this by standing in the indicated boxes. This makes the queue seem much longer, because you have to travel a greater distance. While there might not even be that many people in front of you. In addition, there are also far fewer people who are allowed in the ride vehicles of most attractions. At Joris en the Dragon there were two rows between the different groups. These were sometimes filled with children up to 12 years, but usually the ride vehicles were almost empty. The same at Fata Morgana and the Flying Dutchman, where only 2 groups were allowed per boat. At Carnival Festival, a vehicle was left vacant between groups. And at the Baron, the middle two seats of a row were empty. The only attraction where every vehicle had guests was Dream Flight. In this, you just sit next to another group with a plastic screen between you. Because there is less capacity in the attractions, the wait is sometimes agonizingly long. Especially if you go on a hot day. But know that in the end you won't even wait that long because of the low number of visitors in the park. Corona regulations at the Efteling You'll see these signs with the regulations on them everywhere The first measure that the Efteling has taken to welcome visitors safely are the time slots. To enter the Efteling you need a valid entrance ticket and a reservation. When making your reservation, you select a time slot. These are the times between you are allowed to enter. If the time slot is full, you will have to choose another one. Another measure is the 1.5 meter distance in the queues. These are indicated by white and red boxes. Sometimes it takes some searching to find them, but you can recognize the boxes by colored stripes on the side of the fence. You stand in the white boxes, the red you keep empty to keep the right distance. Does everyone keep to it? No, actually not, we have had people standing right behind us at almost every queue. The Efteling does not enforce this, so you will have to say something yourself if you find it annoying. Another measure is to wear mouth masks/face masks. This is mandatory in indoor venues. In queues it is not, until you go inside. The point at which you must put on the mask is indicated at each attraction. You keep the mask on until you are in the vehicle, then you may take it off. Just before you get out of the attraction you must put the mask back on. A bit of a hassle at first but you get used to it quickly. Finally, disinfecting and washing your hands is your responsibility. The vehicles are not cleaned, so you will have to disinfect your hands after your ride. This can be done at the - sometimes well hidden - disinfection stations throughout the park. But I would personally bring hand gel from home. Food and drinks All that walking in the Efteling makes you hungry. Of course you can eat your own sandwiches, but you can also get something tasty at one of the restaurants. When we entered, there was already a long line of people at Polles Kitchen restaurant who wanted to make reservations for lunch. You can also do this in the Efteling app if you find that easier. At the restaurants with table service or where you eat inside, you must leave your information when you enter. This is to call you in case of a corona infection. After this you can actually eat as usual. If you pick up your meal, you don't have to fill in any details when you eat it outside. Then you just find a picnic table and you can enjoy your meal. Face coverings, of course, are not needed then. Going to the Efteling in (the summer of) 2021 Now the question, is it fun to go to the Efteling now…. yes, actually it is. As I wrote, it feels like old times. The rides are open as are most of the restaurants. We really enjoyed it! You get used to the measures pretty quickly and they don't really bother you that much. In fact, we had the best seats in the roller coasters time after time. Front row, or right at the back. The same was actually true for all attractions, we have never been able to see and experience so much. Yes, the queues are a bit slow at times. Plus, if you don't like having people standing right behind you, then I'd avoid the park, because almost no one adheres to the boxes in the queue. But otherwise, I really see no reason not to go. Especially now that all indoor rides are open again. In addition, you do not have to wear a face mask in the attraction so it feels like "old times" again. We really had a nice day. It was busier than expected, but in the end we did not have to wait very long anywhere. The only attraction that we skipped was the Flying Dutchman. There the queue was about 35-40 minutes throughout the day and I think that is too long for a ride of less than a minute. Would I go to the Efteling again this year? Definitely! Maybe I'll plan another visit after the summer.

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