9. Efteling

Efteling is the largest theme park in the Netherlands, and as it opened in 1952, it is one of the oldest theme parks in the world. Efteling is located in the town of Kaatsheuvel, in the municipality of Loon op Zand, and has received over 100 million visitors.

Originally the park catered towards children with a fairy tale theme. In over fifty years the park has evolved from a nature park with playground and a Fairy Tale Forest, into a full-sized theme park. It is twice as large as the original Disneyland park in California and predates it by three years. Nowadays, Efteling caters to both children and adults with its cultural, romantic and nostalgic themes and its variety of amusement rides. Efteling currently covers approximately 160 acres (650,000 m²). This area has changed only marginally over the course of its history. However, the park's foundation owns a much larger area of land, covered mostly with young forest, some grassland, roads, and an 18-hole golf course.

The park is divided into four themed areas or 'realms,' though these are not entirely comparable to Disney's 'lands.' Originally, the park was divided into four areas called North, West, East, and South, with most of the park's historical rides and attractions, like the Fairy Tale Forest, located in West. When the park reorganized its infrastructure in the late 1990s (adding the Pardoes Promenade and a central hub called Efteling Brink), it also changed its area names. North was changed to Reizenrijk (Travel Realm), West became Marerijk (Fairy Realm), East became Ruigrijk (Rough Realm), and South became Anderrijk (Differ Realm).

Although the park was not built with these divisions in mind and the names may seem cryptic, they do make a certain sense. Perhaps the area most suited to its name is Ruigrijk, where most fast rides like the double-loop roller coaster Python (constructed in 1981) are located. Marerijk is the home to the Fairy Tale Forest and the Fairies of the Droomvlucht, Anderrijk has some rides that are inspired by non-Western cultures (e.g. Fata Morgana and Piraña), while Reizenrijk har the Carnaval Festival ride, which travels through several different 'countries.'

Not only the Fairy Tale Forest, but almost the entire Efteling park was built in a rather rural area, with lots of pine trees, giving it a 'nature park' feeling. Together with the large ponds and gardens (with thousands of flowers, and maintained by an army of gardeners), the park's abundant green space is rather unusual among the world's leading theme parks. Unfortunately, Dutch climate and the reliance on greenery and trees for a huge part of the park's looks (and theming) prevent year-round opening in full. Efteling used to be closed all winter (only being open from April through October), but the park's management, struggling to make the park more profitable and creating a better return-on-investment, has been experimenting with a so-called "Winter Efteling" since 1999. Thanks to great efforts to decorate the park using loads of pine trees and thousands of Christmas lights in winter, "Winter Efteling" is growing more popular every year, reaching a climax during the holidays when thousands of people visit the park.

Below are some picture about Efteling Park: