When we were given the opportunity to team up with Eurocamp again, choosing where to go was not easy. On our first Eurocamp holiday, a good few years ago now, we visited the beautiful La Croix Du Vieux Pont. But this time around, with the kids being a good bit older, we needed something with a little more. Which is when I came across Duinrell Holiday Park, it was an instant family joint decision. Consisting of a big fat yes! It was a collective yes because onsite was not only a waterpark, but a theme park too!

The reviews online were great and a few friends of mine had also spent time in Duinrell Holiday Park themeselves. And after hearing their thoughts, we could not wait to go!

Booking our Holiday

We were invited along to stay with Eurocamp during our week in Duinrell, Holland. This is known as a press trip, if you were not aware. And we were gifted our accommodation during our stay and everything else i.e. travel, food etc was all paid for by us. You can read my honest review on our Eurocamp accommodation on the blog. 

Duinrell Holiday Park

As stated in my Eurocamp Accommodation review, Duinrell Holiday Park was going to get it’s own blog post and here that post is. In this post I will include everything from the rides in the park, how to book your swimming, where to buy food, where to eat onsite and offsite and so much more.

Just to be clear, we stayed with Eurocamp so we did not get any of the Duinrell perks if you book with them directly. These are things like, not having to pay an additional fee into the TikiBad water park {with eurocamp it is 10 euro per person} and free wifi depending what Duinrell accommodation you stay in. 

Supermarket onsite

First things first, there is a supermarket onsite. It is situated inside the Duinrell Plaza and it is open from 0930hrs to 2100hrs, seven days a week. We would do a morning ‘bread & pastry run’ each morning, because these do not last long in Duinrell. Europeans love their pastries! And it will cost around one euro for a pain au chocolat or a criossant. However, there is plenty to choose from. 

The supermarket is great for all of your essentials i.e. black bags, fairy up liquid, frozen produce, fruit, vegetables etc. However, it can be a good bit pricier than than stores offsite. We often made the trip into Wassenaar {10-15min walk} to their Jumbo store. And our money stretched a little further in there. So bare that in mind.

Duinrell Pub

This is a handy hangout spot in the evenings because the theme park closes at 5pm or 6pm, dependant on the day. Which is a shame, but it is what it is. More on that later! The Duinrell Pub opens from 4pm until whenever they decide to close. It also has a bowling alley, arcade machines, a bar, seating areas and two pool tables. It can get very busy in the evenings and you can be waiting upto 30mins to be served by the staff at the bar. This was one of my pet peeves during our time there. There is no queue system, you are just served by pot luck it seems. 

As for prices, it cost us just over 22euro for 6 cokes and it can cost you 10 euro for a cocktail. Which after having one, were not worth it, sadly. As for drink liquor options, it is minimal i.e. vodka, bacardi, whiskey, malibu, gin {no pink} etc. If you are a beer person, you’re going to be winning. Heineken on tap was a favourite!

To play pool it is a 5 euro deposit, which you will get back. This is for the cues and a further 2 euro to play at the pool table. When we were there, one table was out of order, so getting to play is luck of the draw really.

La Place

After looking inside the La Place, as pretty as it was, we made the decision to not eat there during our stay. The food was heavily overpriced and the majority of it, our gang would not have eaten. The kids food was so basic, literally curly fries and dry chicken nuggets. Nothing more. No beans, no vegetables, garlic bread or even rice. And even though we cannot say what the food is like for ourselves, from others we heard that the food isn’t anything special and in alot of cases, not great at all.

Which sadly, at every single onsite holiday park we have ever stayed at, whether that be Eurocamp or Haven, the onsite food places have never been good.

Our boys however did have some pizzas from the Pizza to Go takeaway and they both said even though the pizza was thin, it was still good. So perhaps that can be an option if you are pizza lovers. They cost around 11 euro for a 12″ pizza. No other sizes or base thickness is available.

Other onsite food options

There are loads! From pancake houses and hot dog vendors. There is a literal wall of snacks, frites to go and even pizza slices too. These can all be found in the centre of the theme park, round by the other La Plaza restaurants. On top of those there are chocolate covered fruit vendors, candy floss vendors and dutch pancakes galore! 

From chocolate covered fruit platters, crepes, candy floss and so much more. So you will never be left short for snacks and food on site during your stay in Duinrell.

Duinrell Theme Park

Now this was our main reason for choosing Duinrell Holiday Park for our family holiday! This place was not only beautiful, but huge! I loved nothing more than sitting out on our decking, with a book and a cup of tea and hearing the screams of the excited kids in the morning. Lucky enough to be the first in line to get on the DragonFly no doubt! But when I tell you there is something for everyone, there is! 

There are many entrances to the park that can bring you to either the ferris wheel, Wonderland, the Aqua Shute and more. Where we stayed, in the Eiland area of the park, we usually went in at the Katapult and Wonderland entrance. It was just around the corner from us and it meant that our first port of call was Schips Ahoy. It is like a mini big dipper {think of a big swaying ship} and we absolutely loved it! 

There are height charts at every ride within the park, so you will know if your children are too little or not to go on each one. Annabelle was gutted that she was not big enough for the Katapult ride. She was literally 1/2 cm off, but the height restrictions are there for a reason and she came away saying “next year!”. Bless her.

There are over 40 rides and attractions on site and Annabelle, at the age of 9yrs was almost able to go on every single one. She was even big enough to go on the Falcon, but that was a firm no from me! But again she said “Next year!”, so I might be onto a promise with that one!

Rollercoasters for everyone!

There are rollercoasters for everyone, from the little ones to the big league thrill seekers. The Kikkerachtbaan which we nicknamed Ricks Rollercoaster because we could not pronoun the actual name of it for the life of us! And for reference, we called it Rick because the name of the frog you will see all over the park, is Rick. you’re welcome. 

This rollercoaster is so much fun and goes much faster than what you might think! It is perfect for the little ones and the big ones too! This was a firm favourite of ours during our stay! And even if the queues are long, they are so quick, you will be on board, being whizzed around the tracks in no time.

The Dragonfly was a rollercoaster that I was very nervous to go on at first. But once we braved it, we were 10000% hooked! No matter how many times you go on it, nothing will prepare you for that first drop! And as a tip? Being at the very back of the Dragonfly hits different. You will have to try it for yourself to understand what I mean! Also, rule of thumb is, it’s arms up from the moment you start to drop! Can you brave it?

On super hot days, nothing beats going on the Splash rollercoaster. It is wild and you can either be brave and go down in without the roof or covers to keep you a little dry or you have the option to go down it with a roof. Bear in mind though, this will not keep you fully dry either and do not sit in the middle! I did and I got drenched and this was with a roof! But the kids and I went on this multiple times after swimming in the Tiki Bad, without the roof or covers and it was so much fun!

Another favourite ride with all of us was the Monorail “Cycling in the air” and it takes you around a section of the park. They are for two people and they are quite fun and these were a big hit with my bunch.

The toboggan ride is a must-do when visiting the theme park! The queues may be long, but we waited {I think} for upto 20mins, which is pretty average for most rides during peak times in the park. It is worth the wait and this ride was up there with one of Annabelle’s favourites. You get taken up by an electric track and then once at the top, you can whiz down to the bottom. Super fun and height restrictions apply!

Play Parks in Duinrell Theme Park

There are loads of play parks, both big and small scattered around the holiday park. Slides, roundabouts, climbing frames and so much more. All of them, from what I noticed have fencing around them and gates to keep in the little ones.

The other things I noticed was that some of the play parks, especially in the theme park, had sand as a base which I thought was a nice touch. Messy, but kids love the sand!

There are other little play areas dotted around the park, some obvious, others not so obvious! But it is awesome that due to the vastness of the park, Duinrell have sprikled lots of play areas around for the kids to enjoy.

Negative point about the Amusement Park

The only negative thing I have to say about the Duinrell Amusement Park is that it closes at either 5pm or 6pm, dependant on the day. I think closing that early, during the summer months especially, is a real shame.

Bike & Kart Hire

There is bike and kart hire during your stay at Duinrell Holiday Park. You can hire by the day or for a number of days in a row. We didn’t do this during our week in Duinrell because there were six of us, and it would have cost 70 euros for a single day, or almost 300 euros for us to have them for the week. This is something that we did not specifically budget for, but we will know for next time. Because we missed out on a good bit of exploration due to not having the bikes, so when we go back, because we will, we will hire bikes for the duration of our stay.

One point I will make is that there are constant reports of bikes {and karts} being taken by other children. Whether your bikes etc are locked or not, they are still being taken by other people without consent. Report this immediately to security and they will hopefully find them and return them to you. A massive downside because they are not cheap to hire and if damaged, you can be held liable to fit the bill. So something to consider when making the decision to hire bike and or karts, or not.

Tiki Pool Waterpark

The Tiki Pool at Duinrell Holiday park is lots of fun and it has something for everyone to enjoy. It has indoor and outdoor pools, so dependant on the weather on which you’d prefer to book. There are 21 unique slides to enjoy, from childrens slides in the Playa area, to medium speed to turbo! Height restrictions apply on the faster slides for obvious reasons. There are slides that you can go down with a friend or family member or slide down solo! Having tried almost all of the slides during our week, I can confirm that you will not be disappointed!

The Triton, Starfright, Moonlight and the Tyfoon are excellent fun! Although, bare in mind the tyfoon reaches speeds of up to 50km/h and I can confirm that the g-force is fierce! And the Moonlight is almost fully pitch black with only a few starry tube moments to light your way. So you have no idea whats about to happen next!

As well as the slides, there is a lazy river {our personal favourite}, a wave pool and so much more. The two hours you have there is not long enough, in my opinion. As well as the indoor pool, there is also an outdoor pool to enjoy if the weather is good! With more slides and water features to have the kids get involved with, too. 

A few negative points about the Indoor Tiki Pool Waterpark

• On the first day we had booked for the Tiki Pool, there was a local school booked in at the same time. There was nothing to indicate this whilst booking, because if it did, we would have booked for a different time. It was chaos. The kids pushed and shoved passed everyone, almost knocking over myself, smaller children and even a bin in the foyer. The teachers of the herd of kids {there was around 60 of them} did not care. I asked the Tiki Pool staff member why this information of schools being booked at the same time as holiday park guests isn’t made known and she just shrugged. I was told that every Wednesday has schools visit the Tiki Pool, however this still does not explain why this information isn’t provided to Holiday park guests. Which don’t seem to really matter in this instance, sadly. Whether you are staying direct with Duinrell and getting your pool time free, or with Eurocamp {like us} and having to pay 10 euro per person, it’s not a good look to be honest. Because it was chaos with them pushing everyone, jumping the queues, running through the toddler and baby pool with zero regard for the small children. It’s not a good look is all I am saying. I would have thought holiday park guests would be given priority over outside groups coming in. But sadly not. 

• The floors are not anti-slip. So be very, very careful! Other than the stairs which have an anti slip surface, but nowhere else had that and it is very dangerously slippy. So bare that in mind.
• Not enough lifeguards. Now, I understand this could be due to a staff issue. However, not having enough lifeguards to keep a place of that size safe, is madness. 

Not many negatives, however, I think 90% of the indoor flooring not being antislip is a massive issue, alongside the lack of lifeguards manning every corner of the place. So many places where accidents can happen, so I personally think they need addressing. 

Overall thoughts

Duinrell Holiday Park is somewhere that me and my family would recommend to visit if you haven’t already. It is huge, fun and there really is something for everyone. You also have the option to stay with a selection of accomodation providers, such as Duinrell directly, Eurocamp, Alfresco and Canvas. Getting to the park is pretty easy, you can either get a train & then a bus, or do what we did and just pay for a transfer. So much easier and cost us around 80 each way and for a family of 6? That’s pretty good! We used the Amsterdam Man, incase you were curious.

We did initially book Wassenaar Taxi’s however, they were late, with really weird communication as we waited for 90 mins after landing. No apology from the owner or the driver who eventually picked us up, so we would not recommend them. Duinrell also have a transfer taxi firm that they can recommend, just ask for more information at the main reception.

I think that has covered everything that I can think of, if I do recall anything else I will be sure to add it into this post. If you do have any questions however, please do not hesitate to ask in the comments below. Or, if you’ve ever been to Duinrell, let me know what you thought of it!