Kids in (outer) London – Legoland Windsor

As my kids are a bit older now, I had to borrow a four year old to experience the delights again of this fabulous theme park – and I am so happy to report that it has grown and developed well since my last visit several years ago. It is an absolute must for those with younger kids.

My companion reported solemnly when we took our seats on the train that he had never been to Legoland before – although his brothers and sisters had been. He was quietly excited – not knowing quite what to expect. And we passed the train journey talking about pirates – one of his most favourite things.

On arrival we passed through the gates relatively quickly and his eyes grew very round when we spied the first models – some giant dinosaurs. “They are made all out of Lego bricks!” he said happily. This was a phrase I was to hear throughout the day – much to the amusement of those around me in various queues.

At “The beginning”, where it is much better to walk down the sloping pathway that has a tiny stream to amuse the young folk, and from where you can admire the fabulous view across the whole park and arrive into the area with all the models, my young friend caught sight of the brightly coloured Hill Train and that was it. We had to get on. Luckily, we only had a wait a few minutes and we were on the train on our way to our adventures.

Once off the train he didn’t quite know where to look first – there were balloon rides in one direction, Lego models of animals in another, kiosks and happy people everywhere he looked. I solved his dilemma by suggesting that we seek out the pirate ride and so we followed the signs to the Wild Woods. There are electronic signs showing you the current waiting times for the main rides – and most of them were showing from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. Fortunately, as we waited the 25 or so minutes for the Pirate Falls ride, we were entertained by numerous screens showing pirate-clad entertainers messing around – and there were a few rounds of pirate songs. A lot of younger kids left their parents in the queue while they played happily with large tables provided with Duplo bricks.

Anyway. Finally it was our turn to cross the bridge and wait for the attendant (who was rather engrossed in her conversation with the guy in the operator box – this was an unhappy theme that repeated throughout the day and my only real complaint about the whole experience) to walk us across the moving platform to get into our boat. Two rather well dressed and child free ladies sat behind us and off we went. The boat follows a narrow channel through a series of pirate themed models – some of which squirt water at you as you pass. The crocodile was a big favourite. Then the boat goes up a ramp and through a cave like area before hurtling down a shute with a major splash at the end that generated screams of delight (and shock at the cold water) from everyone. We looked at our photo at the end and set off for our next adventure.

He looked longingly at the Dinosaur Safari ride but we were warned that there was a technical hitch. My four year old wisely told me that the Jungle Coaster was probably too high and too fast for us. I didn’t complain. He took a look at the Drive School and the drive your own boat place – but these were not tempting enough to get him into a queue. But the minute he saw the Wave Surfers he was adamant that we would wait in line. And it was a good call because these are really fun machines – you control how far out in the water you swing (and therefore the excitement level) and it is fun having water explosions all around you. He loved the Fire Engine ride – where you have to pump to make the large fire engines move along a track and them get out to pump water to squirt into the houses.

Then we passed through Lego City where he was enthralled at the lake and the lighthouse. I thankfully grabbed a cup of coffee here while he wondered around the various stores here (we ended up with significant pirate bounty). Be aware that there are a lot of pirate cutlasses and knights swords! Then we joined the queue for the JCB Digger experience – where you get to operate your REAL JCB digger to move lots of balls around.

Then he saw the “big train” (Orient Expedition) so we joined that queue. Nice ride with lots of Lego models to see on the way – and he loved it when we passed over the elevated section and peered down at all manner of animals and other delights. Then hardly any wait at all to get onto a small balloon carousel – and you should have heard him squeal with delight when we rocked gently as it stopped right at the top providing a great view.

We ventured into Kingdom of the Pharoahs and went into a dark building. The models here were excellent – and there was fantastic designs on the walls. The screens were here too – showing the fun Laser ride ahead – interspersed with adverts for EqyptAir! He loved this ride best – you are moved through models of the interior of a pyramid whilst using a laser gun to shoot targets and make the models move. Your photo at the end even shows your score and I was quietly proud of the fact that I beat every other adult!

The rain was relentless. But the good news was that this removed attention from our soaking wet clothes from all the wet rides! It also meant that there was no queue for the Spinning Spider ride – great models again. But this ride was very fast and very spinny – we had to slow it down a bit because we were a bit scared on this one – but we managed to laugh out loud a lot and were very wobbly when we got off. Then into the Land of the Vikings (sponsored by the Denmark Tourist Board – lots of educational information boards to look at) and walked up the hill and past the rather grown up Longboat Invader ride til we got to the Vikings River Splash. We were joined in our large round boat by another family and off we set. We got drenched as the boat bumped its way along – passing through real misty dinosaur bones and near ferocious dragons. This ride was over way too quick – and we nearly had to rejoin the queue straightaway to do it again!

But we returned instead to my favourite – Pirate Falls – where there was happily no queue. We were wet (it was raining harder) and a bit cold and it was starting to get dark (although it doesn’t close til 7pm) but we risked rushing to the Knights Kingdom which had lots of dragons and a huge castle. The walk through the castle was amazing as we made our way to the Dragon ride. This started calmly enough with models of wizards to admire and then turned into a dramatic (for a four year old) rollercoaster ride where we all screamed very loudly. Then we walked quickly back to the Hill Train where we exchanged stories of our day with a family sitting next to us. Very happy, and very tired – and rather wet – children all around.

We had spent the entire day at Legoland and had still not seen half of the areas and rides – so we will have to return again soon. What thoroughly good fun!

Until the rain started in earnest towards the end of the day, most of the rides required us to wait for at least 30 minutes. I think the longest wait was for the JCB Digger experience where there was little to entertain you while you waited and no cover from the rain. When we joined the queue for the Laser Raiders we were warned the queue would be 1 – 1.5 hours and it was actually only 50 minutes. The folk with Q-bots (where you pay a rather steep £10 for each member of your group in order to jump most of the queues) were a bit irritating to those of us who had waited patiently in line for our turn – so be prepared to have things to do to amuse the little ones. Although I am sure it is against the rules, I used our queuing time to snack on bits of cucumber, carrot, tomato and other yummy things instead of having a proper stop for a picnic lunch. However, there are lots of places where you can buy food if you prefer not to carry things.

Windsor is just under an hour on the train from Waterloo – but the trip is well worth it. You can buy a combined rail and park entry ticket (although you still need to queue to exchange it at the ticket desk when you arrive – so better if you book on-line so you can also get a discount – otherwise prices are adults £37 and children £28). I thought that our ticket had included the shuttle bus that goes between Windsor and Eton Riverside station and the park, but I could not see any signs for the bus at the station. With an excited four year old I had little option but to take a taxi (£10) – and we passed the bus stop which is about a five minute walk from the station just by Windsor Castle. You should also be aware that Legoland only permits smoking in designated areas (where the inhabitants are hidden by huge fences) – and there are not many of them!

:pirate2: :pirate: :wizard: :applause: :thumbsup: