1 april, kikker in je bil! (April 1, frog in your butt!) Every year, on April 1, people play pranks on each other – and 2018 is no different! And it is not just your brother, dad or neighbor that jokes with you, but also companies and news sources! In my opinion, the Dutch have a pretty great sense of humor. Combine that with a day like this, and it is a match in heaven. Let’s see some of the 1-aprilgrappen (April Fool’s jokes) that made some waves in the country yesterday!

Baby’s in de achtbaan

A part of the Python – would you let your infant enter? (Image by Randy at Flickr.com under license CC BY 2.0)

One of the best jokes came from De Efteling, a famous attractiepark (fun park) in the Netherlands, mainly aimed at kinderen (children). Achtbanen (roller coasters) normally have age and height restrictions, because you could otherwise maybe fall out of the cart or the forces could be too strong. But apparently, De Efteling found a solution, because yesterday, they announced something rather special: We gaan baby’s toelaten in de Python (We will allow baby’s into the Python)! A rather exciting achtbaan, but why not?

“Supergaaf, dat de kleintjes er nu al in kunnen en het echte Efteling-gevoel vanaf begin af aan al kunnen meemaken” (Awesome, that the little ones can already enter now and can experience the real Efteling-feeling right from the start), says one excited moeder (mother).

Cursus Manueel Fluiten

pic.twitter.com/YGeMM5jB4T

— NS online (@NS_online) March 29, 2018

You gotta run, your train is about to leave! You jump in, you hear the fluitje (whistle) of the conducteur (conductor), and off it goes! The Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS, the Dutch Railways) have a problem, however: Their fluitjes will no longer be replaced. And so the conducteurs need a cursus (course) on manueel fluiten (manual whistling)!

After all, “als je je fluitje kwijt raakt, […] dan moet je wel kunnen fluiten om je vertrekproces te kunnen starten” (if you lose your whistle, […] you still have to be able to whistle to begin the departure procedure), Carola says, Hoofdconducteur (head conductor) at NS.

Bestuurbare vuilnisbak

It is one of those days again: Het vuilnis moet aan straat (the garbage has to be taken out to the sidewalk). Zware vuilnisbakken (heavy garbage bins) make it quite the chore. But no more! Garbage collection company HVC developed vuilnisbakken that you can control with your phone with their updated app! The motorized bins can be put out easily, never again heavy lifting with your vuilnis!

Which of these three did you like most? Did you see other jokes? What jokes were done in your country? Let me know in the comments below!