Celebrating Laia’s Birthday at Efteling

I was never a fan of a theme park when I was in the Philippines until I had my own child. We were thinking of a good idea what to do for Laia’s second birthday celebration in which she will enjoy and learn at the same time. My husband Marlon, thought of a theme park and then we have looked at what is nearby that can be magical for a little girl like our dear Laia. We came up with a list we have looked at over the internet and we found Efteling! Our stay was planned out to be a long weekend, we stayed at Hotel Van der Valk which also have a good Efteling ticket price inclusive with our stay and adventure. We decided to buy the tickets and reserved everything, I can say not too pricey but looking up the Efteling website then, it should be worth it. Then, we have to plan out everything:

• What to bring? The Luggage
• What time to go? The Travel 
• What are the activities we should see and do? The Attractions 
• What to do in the Hotel with a toddler? The Stay-cation

THE ESSENTIALS

We begin with The Luggage since we are used going to the seaside for a weekend. I know basically what to bring. The only thing I should do is make a list and prepare them. That is easy huh? So, your essentials, Mom and Dad plus baby. Do not forget the medicine, thermometer, extra everything as it is a theme park, accidents may happen to your clothes and a small emergency kit may help in any case.

Now for The Travel, make sure that your car is a full tank. We are going 2-hour long drive to The Netherlands, I say this is nothing from the 12 hours mountain drive we had during our Christmas holiday going to Meribel, France. We are blessed to drive a large car from my husband work, which he has the privilege of borrowing one when he needs it. Thank God!

The stay-cation is quiet wow! We arrived in this room! My husband chose to have the bath, the Italian shower and the Infrared Sauna in our room itself. This helped us to have a good quality stay even if we have a toddler that needs our attention to take care of. We also have unlimited coffee! I also like that they have provided a bed for Laia and she can sleep well during the night ready for the next day adventure we had in Efteling.

The other amenities we have enjoyed as well are the pool, the jacuzzi by the pool, the tanning room, the Turkish bath and the bar at the wellness area, which kids can play also we can get drinks while we stay.

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THE ATTRACTIONS

What I love about Efteling is they have so many kinds of attraction not only for the teens but for all ages. They value the magic of fairytales so here are the attractions we did for Laia.

Fairytale Forest is with the enchanted Marerijk, they have magical stories all the way as we walked through the forest! To name some:

• Pinocchio
• The Dragon
• The Wolf and The Seven Kids
• Hansel and Gretel
• Tom Thumb
• The Indian Lillies
• Wee Walter Messenger
• The Emperor’s New Clothes
• Cinderella
• Donkey Lift Your Tail
• The Little Match Girl
• The Little Mermaid
• The Frog Prince
• The Magic Clock
• Rapunzel
• Rumpelstiltskin
• The Red Shoes
• Mother Holle
• Fairy Tale Tree
• The Six Servants

A video of the Fairytale Forest attractions summed up! Credit from: ME Pictures Freizeitpark TV

I cannot believe that we have done the entire forest trail. It was really a magical experience and children are learning! Laia enjoyed every bit of it and she ended up sleeping after on her stroller. Here are my favourite photos from the first part of the attractions we visited:

My husband made it riding the devil attraction Baron

He said that it was really worth screaming and he wanted to do it again! The 360 drop was amazing as I can hear people screaming from it. plunges you down a 37.5 m free fall into the mineshaft at a speed of 90 km/h. I can never see myself trying this one and they said even the bravest people will have their hair standing up! So what now for me? No way! Haha!

We really enjoyed the Symbolica- Palace of Fantasy, here is a video, on-ride, credit from Efteling, YouTube account:

Also, we loved The Carnaval Festival, here it is!

If you are a tourist and planning your Europe trip and dropping by The Netherlands, include this itinerary for your kids. The magic of the Fairy Tales and the history of Wonderland is here! We have also experience riding the first card Henry Ford has made. Here are some more photos we had around the Efteling theme park:

We ended with a very relaxing boat ride as our last and final attraction to see at Efteling. We are very happy with our simple celebration for Laia is a success!

Til our next adventure!