HkPass the impressive gates - The House of the Five Senses - of the Efteling and enter an unique world. The park is famous for the enchanting atmosphere, lush green landscaping, meticulous attention to detail, excellent dark rides and broad family appeal. With around five million visitors annually, it's in the top of European theme parks attendance. Around 20% of the visitors are foreign.
The following decades Efteling expanded the number of fairy tales but also increased the scale. Struggling the remain relevant the park successfully added thrill-rides such as roller coaster and rapid rivers to expand its target audience beyond young families. With the opening of Disneyland Paris, Efteling feeling the competition geared up to become an international destination. Up until now Efteling has expanded its accommodations and upgrading or even replacing its existing attractions while adding new ones to increase its catalog. In the future Efteling will try to expand and grow even further including rumours of a second gate
Efteling started very small as a general nature park with playgrounds, sporting complexes and most importantly a fairy tale forest. Defying odds Efteling in 70 years has evolved and grown into one of the leading theme parks in the world, and some of it's humble origins are still visible.
It all began in 1950. Artist Anton Pieck and inventor Peter Reijnders set out to create a quality fairy tale forest. Pieck's remarkable, nostalgic style combined with Reijnders ingenuity and the use of real materials created an enchanting forest that immediately profiled Efteling as a national attraction upon its opening in 1952. The style set by Pieck has been the base and guidline for most developments.
