Monday, March 8, 2010

The Happiest Place in Holland

Ok since I was too tired to write when I got home on Sunday, I am now in a pickle.  Do I write about the Oscars (of which I didn’t see, but thank you youtube) or Efteling, an amusement park I went to yesterday.  I was going to write about the Oscars because it’s topical, but then a friend at home told me via facebook status that I needed to post about Efteling.  And I don’t like to disappoint.  So Oscars - another day.  Or maybe not.  Except I have a really cute video I want to share.  So probably Wednesday.  And now (and you can all thank Tracy)…


Efteling!
Efteling is the Dutch version of Disneyland.  We got to go for Suzan’s work.  The park wasn’t yet open for the season, because unlike Disneyland, it’s not above freezing all year round.  But there is however a winter wonderland section opened for a few months with sledding hills, ice skating, and other fun things, but of course it was ironically too warm for any of that anymore also.  But there were only about 4,000 people there making for some awesome-ly fast lines.  Now my family basically raised me on Disneyland.  Living only a day’s drive away, we made yearly pilgrimages.  I have many a story, many a picture, and MANY a memory.  Later when I moved down South for school, I had an annual pass for four of the five years I was there, and also worked there for about 8 months.  So you could say I was a little excited.  Of course Suzan, Rogier, and Fien had a blast as well, but I’m pretty sure they thought I was a little crazy in my eagerness to go.
The park itself is really cool.  It was built 3 years before Disneyland and it is said that Old Walt got many of his ideas from it.  Whose ideas they were first, I cannot tell you, but I can tell you that there is a lot of overlap.  But the Dutch like to push the envelope.  Here are some examples…

Instead of Mickey and Minnie greeting you…
These guys do…

Instead of a castle…
You have this entirely wooden construction…

Instead of enjoying a wonderful tea party with the Mad Hatter and March Hare…
You get boiled alive by cannibals…

Instead of Princesses wandering around taking pictures…
You have storybook characters…
(no photo available because, like most two year olds, Fien was scared to Death of all of them)

Instead of the Matterhorn…
You have an actual bobsled run that shoots you down a tube with no track keeping you from going over the side and falling to your death…

Instead of Ariel…
You have the hobag little mermaid who lost her seashells…

Instead of King Arthur’s carousel…
You have one of the fastest, crazyist, merry-go-rounds I’ve ever ridden…

Instead of Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, Frontierland, (and others I know),
You have Ruigrijk (Adventure Realm), Reizenrijk (Travel Realm), Marerijk (Fairy Realm), and Anderrijk (Alternative Realm.)

And my favorite – Instead of “Small World” with its embrace of all cultures (and stereotypes)…
You have “Carnaval Festival” with its embrace of all stereotypes (and cultures)…
 
 

Of course they did have some attractions that were just their own.  Being in Holland, they had to have something with “De Vliegende Hollander” (or The Flying Dutchman).  Not only did they have a ride, but they had a living statue…

They also had a fairytale garden where you walked through and saw animatronics reenactments of all the fairy tales (all wearing wooden shoes of course)…
 
  
  
 

And no trip to an amusement park would be complete without snacks, so of course it’s only fitting that we would stop for the epitome of Dutch snacks – poffertjes – mini pancakes with butter and powdered sugar…so lekker!!!

It was a wonderful day.  And I think the biggest similarity between Efteling and Disneyland, is the excitement I felt the entire day, and the pleased sigh as I got home and snuggled into bed.
 

Word of the Day: sprookje - fairy tale

2 comments:

  1. I think that place looks amazing!! I so want to go there now!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great pictures but some of them are downright scary!

    ReplyDelete

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