October 2019
Duinrell Theme Park in Holland
We spent a lovely 6 nights at Duinrell holiday park through Alfresco holidays. We booked the Dover Premier inn for the night before to break the journey up as we drove from Weymouth which took 3 hours and the room was only £25 for 2 adults 3 children so how could we could we not at that price! I booked breakfast for us, as all children eat free , so we filled up our belly’s before we got on the ferry to Calais. I used my Tesco points to pay for the ferry which would of been £59 each way so a good saving there!
The drive from Calais to Duinrell took us 5 hours instead of the original 3 hours due to road closures ect. The park is in Waasenaar, Holland with a huge water park and a theme park onsite . I booked through Alfresco holiday’s and paid £300 for a 3 bed Toscanini lounge mobile home for the 6 nights in October half term so was really happy with the price. We took our own bedding but did pay the £10 security , you don’t have to pay that but if you don’t they ask for £50 to hold during your stay . The mobile home was fully equipped which was great because we cooked to keep costs down. WIFI wasn’t included but you can purchase a code, we bought it for 5 devises for 4 days at 29 euros .
Duinrell ticked all of our boxes , we are big fans of theme parks and waterparks ! There is something there for every age . Duinrell is ideally located for exploring the sights of Holland but the site itself is well equipped to keep you entertained.
The theme park
Just a short walk from our mobile home you enter the them park , beware as the timings online were different to the actual opening times while we were there . The theme park opened at 11am and closed at 4pm and not all rides were manned , the attendants rotated on most . Because we didn’t know this we had an hour to waste which was spent in the park with the biggest slide I have ever seen! We did get all rides done on our first day but that didn’t bother us as we knew we would still come again throughout our stay. Dad and the girls went on all the big thrill rides while I took our 5 year old on the smaller rides as he’s still not quite sure on the faster rides . If you have children that don’t like rides at all there were three play areas in the theme park ( which are always open) my son loved the ball pit!
There are many rides to choose from , just as fun as a day at chessington in the UK .
The water park
The water park is a big swimming complex with indoor and outdoor pools , 21 water slides , a wave pool and lots of water activities for the younger ones. There is lots of seating inside the complex if you fancy a rest while the older kids are still too busy having fun! There were lifeguards spread around watching for safety , there was also a café to buy food and drink . The water park wasn’t included for us , from what I could gather if you book direct it is included with certain accommodation . For 2 hours entry it cost 6 euro per person , 2 hours was more than enough for us as it wasn’t busy the evening we went . The outdoor pool area was closed while we were there because it was end of season and cold! But like I said there is more than enough to do inside.
FOOD
We did a little food shop at the ALDI around the corner on our second day , just for things like milk, cereal, bread , snacks, and a couple of frozen bits and water /juice. But while staying at the holiday camp we couldn’t not try their pancakes! which was a lovely café inside the theme park which had a working carousel in the middle to use for free . The kids loved the huge candy floss and mini dutch pancakes. One evening we also got pizza to take away from La plage restaurant after a night in the entertainment complex. There were plenty of places to grab food and drinks so don’t worry about missing out .
The holiday park had plenty to do outside of the theme park with a bowling alley , arcades with plenty for all ages . The two evenings we popped in for a cheeky wine while the kids bowled I did notice a kids disco happening with an entertainer, our kids were more interested in spending money on games ! Drinks prices were similar to UK prices ie 5 euro for a pint of lager . There is supermarket and this is where you get your wifi code . Although it was Halloween halt term , there was nothing extra going on but there were a lot of mobile homes decorated which the kids enjoyed looking at. The complex also has bike and go kart hire , we let the kids hire go karts which you get for 24 hours and cost 14 euro each. Bike hire started from 7 euro .
Waasenaar
Duinrell is located in a small town in Holland, its just a minutes walk from Duinrell. It is a small town with a few shops and restaurants , very pretty to walk around for a couple of hours in the afternoon, the architecture is lovely . There is even a windmill in the middle of the town centre.
Scheveningen
We took a drive here as we love to explore the area we visit on our holidays. We managed to find a free parking space on the sea front . It was so cold that day and made worse being on the seafront ! Everything was pretty much closed now and a lot of refurbs were happening ready for the new season . We walked on the pier, again nothing open so we decided to walk further up where there was a shopping center, the shops were open so we had a walk around to warm up and saw that there was a glow golf inside so we decided to do that so our journey wasn’t wasted . It cost 30 euro for 2 adults 3 children . I bet it’s buzzing here in the summer months as there was a lot there just not open in October.
Amsterdam
This was one place I researched a bit more on just so we knew where to go and visit ect, as a lot of people seem to think its just for adults but it really isn’t there is so much to do as a family from museums to canal cruises . Sadly the weather was not kind to us on this day and it rained all day ! but we made the most of it while there just wondering the streets and walking along the canal eating doughnuts and churros . The square was buzzing with acts performing , my son was happy just to be running around in the rain catching bubbles that were being blown .
Getting there……
I had joined a facebook group before our holiday called Duinrell chats and tips for holiday makers which was fab for info , a very helpful group and is where I found out how to get to Amsterdam without it cost the earth ! . We took a 35 minute drive to Amsterdam Noord where there is a huge cark park in an industrial park at the port, it cost 7 euro for 24 hours parking. You then walk 2 minutes to a free ferry which takes you to Amsterdam central , it took 10 minutes to get across and they were regular back and forth . While we waiting for the ferry to take us to Amsterdam my son needed the toilet so we popped into a little café opposite , while I took him my husband had bought chocolate brownies for the children and waited outside . When I met them he gave out the brownies and the kids were enjoying them when I noticed they had green bits in them , I told them to stop eating them and asked my husband to go back in and check what the ingredients were ! as Amsterdam is famous for the other green stuff….. thankfully it was pistachio ha ! so we carried on eating the fresh delicious brownies .
Thanks for reading! hope it helps you when and if you ever decide to visit Duinrell Holland.
cox family of five adventures 