Winter Efteling Marks It's 25th Anniversary!
Winter Efteling – Efteling’s iconic festive winter event is marking it’s 25th anniversary today (11/12/2024).
It’s exactly one quarter of a century to the day since the beloved Netherlands based theme park resort decided to launch their spectacular festive extravaganza.
Upon launch, Winter Efteling was the first event of it’s kind in the Benelux region making Efteling the first theme park to open it’s doors to the public during the winter season.
The event first launched to the public on December 11th 1999 when visitors were welcome back to the park to enjoy an atmospheric winter display and an array of fairytale décor inspired by Anton Pieck’s iconic style.
What originally started out as an experiment to gauge visitor interest during the ‘quieter months’ quickly became an unprecedented success with the park going from opening purely during weekends & the Christmas Holidays to all year round.
During it’s first season Winter Efteling welcomed 188,000 guests, however over the years since it’s launch, attendance at Winter Efteling has grown exponentially with each and every year that passes.
This has meant that the resort have invested more and more into the event with the sole aim of making the park feel ‘winter ready’ for when the festive offering begins.
From catering to decorating attractions and making the park feel as Christmassy as possible, all bases are covered when it comes to creating a truly special winter experience.
As a result, many other theme parks have also followed suit, each offering their own take on the quintessential festive event.
As a result of the success of Winter Efteling, the Netherlands based family theme park resort is now able to welcome guests all year round – something which UK theme parks tend to lack.
From snow topped roofs to crackling bonfires, twilight lanterns and an outdoor ice rink, Winter Efteling is said to guarantee “a charming fairytale experience” for visitors of all ages.
As well as everything else currently on offer at the park’s festive event, this year also offers guests the chance to marvel at a new nine-metre-high interactive Wonder Winter Tree covered in twinkling lights.
On Ton van de Ven Square and in Ruigrijk there are also a full range of “life sized snow globes” which guests can enjoy standing inside and having their picture taken. You can even encounter the fairies of Droomvlucht (Dreamflight) atop their very own music boxes.
Finally over at the Warme Winter Weideguests can enjoy the chance to take to the ice with the park’s giant outdoor ice skating rink. The area also features a variety of different catering options and regular entertainment with Pardoes and Pardijn.
If you fancy a festive sing-along then why not head over to the Carousel Palace on weekends and holidays where you’ll find Mr & Mrs Time (from the theatre production CARO) entertaining guests with plenty of well known songs of the season.
*Check out our below VLOG from our recent visit to the park where we check out this year’s spooktacular new attraction – Danse Macabre!