Duinrell Holland - best way to book?

Claremac

We're thinking of staying at the Duinrell Theme Park in Holland for 2 weeks in August with our sons of 10 and 12. Not been there before but have been with Keycamp to Brittany which we all enjoyed. I'm trying to work out the best deal and which company to go with. Would like to go for a really good mobile home. On the Eurocamp website it says that entrance to the theme park is free and the swimming park is free for 2 hours per day. The Keycamp website says that the swimming is free for 2 hours per day but doesn't mention the theme park. Can anyone tell me if there is a charge for Keycamp customers?
Also, I see that you can book directly through Duinrell. Does anyone have any experience of this as I find their website a bit confusing as it breaks out in Dutch every now and then and my Dutch isn't up to much (non-existent!):rotfl:
Any help/comments gratefully received.

Claremac

Just in case it's of any use to anyone else, I suddenly thought to phone Keycamp for the answer and they confirmed that the Theme Park is included in the price of the holiday. I think I have worked out the Duinrell website and it looks as though there isn't much benefit any more in booking direct with the site due to the weak pound.
Would still be grateful for any further thoughts on Duinrell.

creased-leach

Yup, anyone on site has free access to the theme park every day all day. Once you're through the gate, if you're in your own tent, a Duingalow, or a holiday companies accommodation you can wander freely in & out of the theme park. You'll only show ID as you come in through the main gates, and as you enter the pool which is free for two hours twixt 10 & 2 each day.

This is usually waived on your first day though when you may be able to swim later. You can also have your swim on your last day too.

Myself & others have posted lots of stuff about Duinrell lately- have a quick search & you'll find loads of info. Enjoy

sjpkgp

Just thought I would post to add our experiences of Duinrell/booking etc. We stayed in one of the better villas (not the mobile homes) and we were really pleased with it, we have got four kids 11,10, 4 and 3 and all of them really loved the holiday. We booked direct with Duinrell website who were offering deals at the time - although the inital price is plumped up with cleaning charges and this and that - worth noting that is also on the Sun holidays deal (same additional charges). My kids are not good travellers, so we flew into Amsterdam Schipol where you can get a direct nice train from the airport, it takes about 20 mins to Leiden. You have then got the choice of the bus which drops you off a good walk away out of season (about 1.5 miles), I think they run more direct ones in the summer to the site. It is about 5 miles from Leiden if I remember, and therefore a taxi would not be out of the question.

The theme park aspect of Duinrell is good (but not like disney, far lower key and european) but some good rides and attractions for all ages. Good "go ape" area for 10-11 year olds up.

The pool is fine, we stuck with our free hours and it was OK, queues were big though.

It closes at night early if you are used to disney and even keycamps.

The villas/lodges are not in the camping areas, the caravans are, when we went it was noisy at night even at distance from these areas.

Reminded me of center parcs more than keycamp.

The shop is quite expensive and does not sell alcohol over a certain percentage (no spirits so buy them beforehand if this is your thing). They bake things on site in the morning and this is excellent. There is an all you can eat restaurant, not particularly cheap but reasonable food in comparison with others in disney paris etc...There is a pizza place and somewhere else, but your dining out in the evening is limited if this is your thing.

We quite liked the TV blipper thing they sold us when we arrived (we were skeptical being money savers, but it does allow all of the usual english channels, and given there is little to do after 9pm, we used it more than we normally would have)

The queues in reception are horrible.

They have a "leave your luggage" thing downstairs from reception which I think was free (or cheap) and allowed us to get a later flight back.

If you are on a really late flight from Schipol, there is a holiday inn in Leiden. 10 mins in a taxi to the site.

We would definitely go again.

HTH
Sal xx

Claremac

Thanks to you both for the info. We have now booked for August 1st and have told our 2 boys tonight. They were very excited and we're all really looking forward to it.

aloiseb

There's aa lovely pancake place to eat in the theme park - it's where they have glassed in the old carousel, and it goes round really slowly so you can get on and off in between courses! Yopu have to pay cash for the pancakes though (HUGE kid's ones, however they seemed to go down!)
I did another post about Duinrell recently, somewhere on this forum, so did quite a few others.
Just 2 other things - the bread for some reason seemed to be baked late afternoon, not morning? it seemed an unusual time anyhow.
and ..If you go into Wassenaar town, say thanks in Dutch (Danke voel) to the shop people - I think they get a bit fed up with everybody being so resolutely English, even though they speak it perfectly.
Hope you have a great time.