I would 100% endorse your sentiments.
We went in 2018 and it seems we had better weather. I posted this report at the time.
https://www.internationalsteam.co.uk.../indexdd18.htm
Having met a number of Dutch railway enthusiasts over the years, I was not surprised to find everyone very helpful and almost everyone spoke embarrassingly good English.
As I had never been through the 'Chunnel', I was very glad when a friend of mine arranged a discounted Eurostar ticket to the 'last station in Belgium' which wasn't far short of Dordt. Fortunately, my son lives in London and we could leave our car with him.
We were also advised to book a hotel room in good time. Unfortunately, we were too late for the parade of steam ships on the Saturday, it would have meant an extra day's hotel stay.
The event is biennial, check out the 2026 one in good time.