LEGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Legoland Windsor)

Member Name: oioiyou

Product:	Legoland Windsor
Date:	31/08/09 (63 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: LEGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disadvantages: Can be expensive day out

LEGOLAND!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all I heard on our hour drive to Windsor! We traded in our Tesco points for some Full Annual Passes. Couldn't be happier with that as I and my older son got in free, the baby was free and the only thing left was to pay for my other half. If any of you have been to Legoland before you will know that normal admission for a family our size is £102! That's £37 per adult and a child at £28. The passes we got through Tesco are brilliant. Normally it would cost £73 for an adult and £55 for a child to get these passes and yet it only cost me £18 worth of Tesco points. I thought we were going to be given the Basic Annual passes but it's the next step up so we can get into the park for free all year round, and also jump the queue to get in which is a huge bonus.

Anyway back to our day out. We got to the park rather easily as it is very well signposted from the motorway. There was a bit of congestion on the roads as the schools are out and everyone is making the most of the sunny days but to be honest it wasn't that bad. The trip should have taken us about an hour and in total I think it took us 15 minutes longer. We drove into the park and towards the parking lot. To our left was preferred parking which is £5 or £4 for annual pass holders and to our right is the free parking for anyone who doesn't want to pay to be a bit closer to the park. Last time I did the free parking as I don't mind a little walk but this time with the baby and free entry I thought I'd go for it and pay. I drove up to a man collecting payment and said we were picking up our passes so he only charged us £4 (I'm terrible! Anything to save a £). We arrived at 10:30am so the park had only just opened 30 minutes earlier and we drove right into a spot at the front. Once we got out the car and packed the buggy with everything we would need and more we started over to the admission desks. The queues were enormous! Now as some of you may have guessed I tend to get away with murder as I am a cheeky little thing! I marched us into the guest services line and was in the park at a desk within 10 minutes. I told the lady at the desk that I had phoned ahead of time and was told to go to guest services to get the passes done. She smiled and said that's fine lets get you started (that was easy!). She took payment for my other half and we then moved into a line for our photos to be taken and put onto our official passes. This line was another 10 minute wait but we didn't mind.

We now had the passes and were very happy. We worked our way over to the train to go down into the park. We should really have walked to the right after entering and then we wouldn't have gone straight past the ride we wanted to go on first but oh well!

Vikings' River Splash
I remember a ride like this many years ago at White Water attraction park in America and it was great fun. My son and I waited for about 40 minutes to get to the front of the line. Along the way there were little windows where you could look out and see the ride. As we stepped onto the ride I suddenly realised I was wearing white trousers! What an idiot as I was entering a water ride! The ride started and the round boat type thing started to rock back and forth down the stream. The mum and child on the same boat as us were screaming every time a bit of water splashed on them which was quite amusing. The ride wasn't at all fast, only a little bit bumpy, and was over in a flash. There were one or two water guns that people shot at us as we went by but it barely reached us and could have gone completely unnoticed had we not already known they were there. I needn't have bothered worrying about my white trousers as they were only a bit wet and mostly because the boat itself was wet. We went into the haystack dryer to dry us both. It costs £2 but I thought why not. After we paid and had stood there for a moment a man and his little girl jumped in. I mentioned that it had to be paid for and we had done so for ourselves and he rudely turned to me and said that there was enough room for his child. Not the point but I couldn't be bothered to argue with him. Some other kids tried to jump in but thankfully their parents weren't brainless monkeys!

I noticed when we approached the end of the line that some people were cutting right in and that's when I realised what the signs for Q-bots meant. They are a hand-held electronic thingy that allows you to pretend that you are in line for a ride and then show up when it's your turn. Great idea but I remember seeing the queue to get one at the entrance and it was enormous so maybe next time!

Ride rules:
* Not accessible to wheelchair users
* Must be a minimum of 1.0m to ride
* Guests under 1.3m must be accompanied by an adult

Longboat Invader
A Viking-ish looking longboat that rocks and spins at speed. It didn't look like my cup of tea but my other half and son came off saying it was lots of fun and wanted to go again. After the second go I made them move on.

Ride Rules:
* Must be a minimum of 0.9m to ride
* Guest under 1.3m must be accompanied by an adult

The Rat Trap
A favourite from our first visit. My son spent a good hour here last time. It's basically a maze of climbing frames, slides and ropes bits. It has a few different levels and I managed to walk the baby around a bit of it and go down one of the slides. We all wanted lunch so we didn't stay long but there is a parent seating area at the entrance if you fancy rest.

Hot dog stands, the Pitstop Diner, The Great British Carvery, City Walk (pasta, pizza, salads), BBQ, and Knights' Table. Loads of food to pick from. We wanted to see as much of the park as possible so we grabbed hot dogs and started walking. The dogs themselves were ok. Nothing overly exciting but not bad. It was whilst in line that I had the worst time! I looked over at the slushy machine and saw a few wasps inside the machine. You can probably understand why I made my son get a bottled drink! They had one of those nectar traps that wasps fly into and get stuck but there were so many everywhere that there was no way of managing the situation any better.

Vegetarian? Not a problem as there are a number of veggie choices at every stop. Not so much veggie at the stalls but in the restaurants you'll find some options.

Also I was rather interested to find they had Annabel Karmel kids menus. Ever since my midwife ripped into Mrs Karmel saying she didn't know what she was talking about I've taken all advice from her books with a pinch of salt but I do think she's good with food ideas and love The Complete Meal Planner book (see older reviews).

My little man had seen people walking around with Legoland bottles that can hang off your shoulder and had big straws ... Of course he then had to have one so we went up to a stall and bought one. The lady told us once you've purchased one it can be refilled at any stall with the refill sign all day for free. She then asked what drink we wanted in it so I asked what the choices were. Mostly it was the children wanting these bottles and all that was able to be put into them was drinks from the fountain which means Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta, Spite and something else. I don't allow my son to have these sorts of drinks so I had to claim the bottle and get him a Capri sun. I explained why and he knew the score and was fine with it but I can imagine some children might kick up a fuss.

Pirate Falls
I remembered this one from last time and how much my young lad cried! He he he! He's refused to admit the crying now and begged to go on this ride. It's another water ride in which you are carried through in a hollowed out log type boat down a stream that passes pirate scenes and is a bit bumpy. Nearing the end the log is pulled up a hill, you reach the top only to see that you are about to plunge to the bottom in a wave of water which will get you a bit wet! I went on this one twice and my other half went the third time. It's a good classic ride and worth a go.

Ride Rules:
* Must be a minimum of 1.0m to ride
* Guest under 1.3m must have an adult with them

We next started to make our way to the Kingdom of the Pharaohs. On route you'll see the toilets. With children you always make a stop just to be sure. I took my son to the loo. The electronic sign at the door said the facilities are checked every 60 minutes and then had a countdown to the next check. There were 34 minutes left so right in the middle. The bathroom had a flow of people coming in and out but wasn't busy. The smell was near overwhelming and the toilet was surrounded by loo roll that had been dropped on the floor. To save male readers and those who just don't want to know I won't go into any further details about the state in which I found the toilets! The sinks were ok and the soap containers had soap in them so nothing wrong there. I still used the no soap hand wash I keep on the buggy when I got out but that's just me being a bit neurotic. I took the baby and headed over to the baby change. I stepped one foot in and turned around! The smell alone was enough. I instead changed the baby on the buggy.

Laser Raiders
The line for this was labelled as 1 hour and 45 minutes long! Forget that! It must be good but not this time ... Next time when we get a Q-bot I'll think about it!

Scarab-Bouncers
I love this one. It's a silly ride that mostly the little ones go one but it's quite fun. My son and I jumped on after only having to wait 5 minutes. The ride basically goes up about 8 feet and then bounces back down and then does it again and again. It's not too fast so won't make you feel ill or anything. A young girl (maybe 4 or 5 years old) was seated next to me and her mum was watching from the side with a younger sibling who was too small to go on. After the first bump she let out a cry and I thought oh here we go. My son bent over my lap and held her hand and told her to raise the other one! It was really cute watching him help her out. She was fine after that. My son the hero! There's a little gift shop attached to this bit and my other half had the baby trying on Indiana Jones hats.

Ride Rules:
* Must be a minimum of 0.9m to ride

Just after leaving this area there was the need for another pit stop at the toilets so I left them to it and took the baby on the carousel. He loved it. The ride was really interesting as you could look at all the different Lego decorations as you went round.

Ride Rules:
* Guests under 1.1m must have an adult with them

Brick Bros Souvenir Company
Another great gift shop. This is one of the big ones. We got my son's name in Lego on our other visit so we got the baby one. My elder son had his made and it's all different colours whereas these days you make it yourself and the letters are red only. I found blue bricks to make the base and spelt out his name on them. To jazz it up as his isn't as colourful I put together a Lego person to go on it.

The Ice Factory
Who doesn't like freshly baked doughnuts, cookies and a selection of ice creams!?! The kids had cookies and we got coffees to keep us going. Just outside is the water area where I remember last time seeing a show at but we had 45 minutes before the next showing and didn't want to wait around as everyone was eating and the wasps were gathering their army!

Last time my son went on L-Drivers and got a little drivers licence with his picture on it. He had a blast. This year he went to Driving school as he's now in the older age group. He had just as much fun and a new licence. It's kind of cute as there are working speed cameras and petrol stations. The kids were having a great time until one older lad decided it was bumper cars. Lego staff removed him rather quickly to the embarrassment of his mother. Looking at the website now it says to bring proof of age for children to ensure safety but they took my word for it. Might be an idea to take something just in case.

Water Works and Duplo Train
My son saw the water play area and changed into his swimsuit. I had forgotten a towel of course so popped into the shop just there to buy him one. Whilst he was running around like a nut I took the baby on the Duplo Train. It's a very small train for the very little ones. You have to have the kids sit next to you so no very little babies. It's a slow-ish ride that goes twice round the track before letting you off. The staff member in charge could have shown a bit more enthusiasm but then again I would have been bored stupid too! The baby thought it was wonderful though. He saw daddy each time and waved. He cried when it ended so I had to get back in line and do it again. After three goes I'd had enough!

Miniland
This bit is amazing! Lego built versions of actual places. The scenes are up to date depicting football matches due to be played over the following days, moving pieces for cars, trucks and changing of the guards at Lego Buckingham Palace. It never stops amazing me the things that can be built out of Lego. According to the website some 40 million pieces have been used to show scenes from the US and Europe (including Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Paris and London).

If you think this bit is cool then remember to go to the little museum (Lego creation centre) near the entrance which shows you work room and other cool things made out of Lego.

Sky Rider
Before you go check out the sites of Legoland from the Sky Rider. We didn't do it this time as the queue was stupidly long but last time it was good. My other half hated it as it feels like you're over a huge drop at one point but you can get some great photos of the park!

Ride Rules:
* Must be a minimum of 0.9m to ride
* Guests under 1.3m must have an adult with them

There is an area especially for the very little ones where they can play with large soft lego peices. If the building hadn't been coming under attack from wasps we probably would have stayed there for more then the 5 minutes we did!

No trip would be complete without a trip to the big Lego shop before leaving! We got Lego Star warts for the Playstation and have been addicted ever since!

We missed out a lot so maybe next time I'll get to the other rides and give this review an update.

Have a good time but remember if you're not using Tesco points it's rather expensive to get in!

© oioiyou 2009

Summary: Hoping to go again in the half term!