Legoland Trip Reports

[Mark9]

We do not have a topic for Merlin's second best opening hours theme park?! How is this possible. I;ll start us off.If you know me, you know I hate Legoland. With its branding getting in the way of interesting and original themes, it was never my favourite park to visit. On my first visit, queueing 40 minutes for a Rocky Express clone seemed ludicrous, an hour for a wildmouse that dies after its first drop? Seriously?So we wind round to 2012. Since my last visit to Legoland, I've got a bit older, that bit wiser and was willing to give Legoland another chance. One because its had a few new rides and two, the boyfriend forced me to go.So we rolled up about 11:20.I give em one thing, they've got the best entrance area of the parks. I adore the view over Windsor and the castle. So onto the first ride, the Viking Rapids ride. Like the majority of UK rapids its the little things on the side that get you wet, nothing to do with the actual ride. A shame and Chris wasn't exactly pleased with his level of wetness.Next was the Spinning Spider, not bad! Had some good moment and the staff member was incredibly jolly despite there only being five guests on the ride. Onto the Jolly Rocker, a ride which takes the adult on each side of the boat to the absolute exteme. Who introduced this ridiculous rule? Was it Helath and Safety or the parks own stupidity which has meant what is supposed to be a high throughput flat, has become a five minute nightmate. I despair for the staff who have to use the whole area PA system to beg any adults within a five mile radius to have a ride. Must be an absolute nightmare in school weeks.Next! The Dragon. I love the Dragon and think it is the very best family rollercoaster in the country. Forget Thirteen and its attempts at thrilling you by banking very oddly on a straight bit of track, it's all about The Dragon. That castle theming is exemplary, it's station is gloriously gloomy and its pre lift hill section is inspired. The air time and speed through the rides relatively short coaster section is punchy and perfectly pitched. They were running two trains and it was just great. Legos star attraction.Had a go on the Rocky Express ride (it's name escapes me) and Dragons Apprentice which is very good for a junior coaster. We then headed off to Pirate Falls which consists of that parrot just telling you which way to go, getting you to your destination and then telling you to go back. Just bugger off. The ride is severely lacking in a proper storyline and with only one drop, it feels a bit half hearted. It's a very wet flume though which gives it cred points.Next, after narrowly avoiding a camera disaster it was Laser Raiders. Now apparently this ride is hated with a passion met only by my hate for Saw the Ride. I really liked Laser Raiders. sure, it's just a rip off of Tomb Blaster (with less detail) but at least it had pace and shooting things caused amusing movements in the props around the ride. I found it slightly bizarre that the railway line goes through it's queueline. Must admit that I've never seen that before at a theme park. The final ride of real note at Legoland is that Atlantis Submarine Voyage that is actually just a disguised Sea Life centre. Lets be honest here, the joy of the Sea Life centre is taking your time by looking at the creatues. Legolands doesn't bother with this and encases you in a yellow submarine which literally goes round one corner and thats it. It's a huge waste of time because of how short the ride is. The noises in the submarine also distract you from the fish anyway. Just stupid. Much prefer Chessington's and Alton Towers's sea life centres.So has my thoughts on Legoland changed much? Yes actually but it really is a park you need to go to on a quiet day. Visting on a day with 14,000 other people is an absolute nightmare as the place just doesn't have the rides or throughputs to cope with such a huge weight of people.

[Coaster]

Is there a Thorpe park trip report page?Because I would like to post one.Thanks for help

[Ryan]

Is there a Thorpe park trip report page?Because I would like to post one.Thanks for help

http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/104-thorpe-park-trip-reports/Pinned right at the top of the 'Planned Trips and Reports' sub-section of the forum

[Coaster]

http://forum.maniahu...k-trip-reports/Pinned right at the top of the 'Planned Trips and Reports' sub-section of the forum

Thank you so much

[NikhilSharma]

I did my work experience here this year in the dept rides and attractions, I saw pretty cool stuff like the ride safety checks they've got to go through everyday and the powering up of the ride especially a behind the scenes look of atlantis and star wars. I was a welcome host on both attractions .

[Rocket]

I did my work experience here this year in the dept rides and attractions, I saw pretty cool stuff like the ride safety checks they've got to go through everyday and the powering up of the ride especially a behind the scenes look of atlantis and star wars. I was a welcome host on both attractions .

Work experience is the best at LL, I did rides and attractions in 2010 and got to work on rocket racers, laser raiders,driving school and more my favourite was rocket racers to work on and I miss that ride soooo much!

[BigBobJones]

I almost live next door to Legoland and have driven past is thousands of times, shame its my least favourite park out of all the Merlin parks.

[Matt 236]

Last visited the Patk a couple weeks back for Christmas event which despite the rather pricey pass holder fee, was a very nice day. Very friendly staff, lots of loverly Christmas decorations scattered everywhere throughout the park and completely quiet with no queues at all (often rides to ourselves) making for a very relaxed day (which is something I definitely cannot say about Legoland very often).

Full report of the trip can be seen here
http://forum.maniahub.com/blog/34/entry-649-legoland-a-brickmas-special/

Videos of the trip can be seen below

[CWOAfanMalcolm]

Went to Legoland yesterday for the Christmas event and have to say I was quite impressed!    

 

Ride count 

 

Laser raiders- 12

Aero Nomad -3

Desert Chase-2

Thunder blazer-1

Dragons Apprentice-3

Longboat invader-1

spinning spider-1

jolly rocker-1

Lokis labyrinth-2

bricksmas express-1

Star wars miniland- 1

Knights quest-1

 

Positives- The park looks fantastic for christmas 

Limited people meant I was the only person on the jolly rocker on my second ride and with little to no q's for any rides. Longest Q was a 20 minute Que to get down on the the hill train/Bricksmas Express

Staff were friendly especially the ones in laser raiders

Park looked amazing at night christmas decorations were fantastic

 

Negatives-

Shame the Dragon was not open but that wasn't the end of the world! 

 

It was a good day!

[Matt 236]

I agree with a lot of that,

Loved the festive theming and stmosphere they did there and quite a lot of effort was definitely put in by the park plus the staff there were very friendly and I did feel like I had the place to myself.

No Dragon and the slightly expensive entry were tge only drawbacks there for me

[huzzellio]

I also went yesterday, totally agree that it was very well done. I have two children so did the whole meet Father Christmas thing. It was really well done and everyone was in good spirits (honourable mention goes to the guys on Laser Raiders). I think because of the children the entry price was worth it. The decorations look great too.

The new Father Christmas location worked a lot better this year too.

Only downside was it was FREEZING after 3.00pm! Can't really blame Legoland for that though eh?

[CWOAfanMalcolm]

Only downside was it was FREEZING after 3.00pm! 

You can say That again. Was one of the Reasons we left legoland early! (5.30 pm)

I do think the price was a little high without miniland or the dragon etc. we ran out of things to do by 3.00pm not what you expect from a £22 entry fee on top of the annual pass .

however you did get quite an expensive christmas gift and a hot drink so I suppose they could just about justify the price. 

But next year I hope they open dragon atlantis miniland and imagination theatre as I think then I would be more then happy to stay the whole day and pay a price of £15-20

 

It was still cheaper then winter wonderland though £22 for over 25 rides there compared to £39 for six rides at winter wonderland! 

[Matt 236]

Ok, so I went to Legoland yesterday with Fish, Myk, Stacey and Taron yesterday and had a great day.

Legoland Windsor

Date 27/06/2015

Park open 9:30-19:00

Rides closed none that I'm aware of

Park busyness Very Busy

Ride count

Star Wars

Sky ride

Mini land

Fairy Tale Brook

Boating School

Atlantis

Dino Safari

Mia's a Riding Adventure

Olivia's House

Laser Raiders

Viking River Splash

Loki's Labarynth

Spinning Spider

Jolly Rocker

Pirate Falls

Knight Quest

Dragon 4x

Pros

Getting four rides on the Dragon

Getting the last ride of the day on dragon

Park staff very friendly

Heart lake City has had more theming added and looks nicer

Legoland hotel buffet was really good

Lego fries

Spinning ridiculously fast on spinning spider (I think our spinning is only second to Peaj's)

Getting the back row on a Jolly Rocker

The fast moving queues of Atlantis,Vikings and Mia

Dragon was running well (and on three trains)

Crazy Horses (Mia's riding adventure)

Getting my 15th visit collectors brick

The lack of traffic when leaving Legoland (best I've seen it on a park day for a while)

Park closing extended to 7pm (previously 6pm)

Creams (need I say more)

The company (of course), made a good trip a great one

Cons

Some Lego water features were dry including the entrance to Loki's and the drunk monk in dragon

Park was very busy with several queues exceeding an hour

Squid Surfer's left turntable broke down around 11am when we were still 30 people away from getting our ride (which on something like this is easily a 30 minute plus queue)

Ice cream machine in the bricks restaurant was broken

Not receiving park discount on my drink at Piratew BBQ, £2.50 is far too much for a bottled soft drink (even in a Themepark)

Some guests seemed problematic (but unfortunately you get that on hot busy days)

Knights Castle needs a good clean p,U.S. There was a pigeon Colony in the first turret (most of the shields have been removed)

Receiving noticeable sun burn on the neck (worst sun burn for four years)

Despite those flaws was still a great and really enjoyed it. Massive thanks goes to fish for collecting me to and from Legoland and Myk for organising this, whom without I wouldn't have been able to go.

[TPJames]

Well we adventured down to Legoland for the first time in over a decade... It certainly wasn't what I was expecting however it shaped up to be a very nice park overall!

Ride count:

The Dragon x2

Viking River Splash x2!?

Pirate Falls x1

Laser Raiders x1

The Hill Train x1

Miniland x1

Squid Surfer x2

Atlantis x1

Park was very busy as a whole, certainly had a good atmosphere to the area overall however queue lines were pretty much full for the more popular rides; Common queue times ranged from around 30-60minutes. Several school trips were also present on park. It must also be observed that food, merchandise and any sort of time you can purchase within the park is more expensive than at any other merlin park,(£2.50 for a bottle of coke anyone!? Or £9 for a burger meal!?) maybe that's the main reason Legoland haven't been doing so many cutbacks..?

In terms of individual rides:

-Pirate Falls; this was certainly a fun and enjoyable log flume experience with many interactive sections and certainly got you absolutely drenched; both from the drop and several water effects from around the ride! The queue for this reached 50minutes later in the day, however we only waited 5 at the beginning so that was no problem whatsoever.

-Viking River Splash; this was a fast, fun and wild rapids ride. Much more intense than the likes of rumba rapids and a much better experience than I was expecting it to be. The water effects around the ride and theming items get you absolutely soaked through(darn that water bucket at the end of the ride). Waited about 20minutes and after our ride once we returned to the station, the doors failed to align which meant that we had to go again. I was crying inside as my whole boat was laughing at me because I was freezing cold and soaked through to the bone! Two rides for the wait of one I guess though however the ride system is seriously flawed as that appeared to be happening a lot!

-Laser Raiders; the throughput on this thing is absolutely dire, it was advertised as a 60minute wait and we weren't expecting it to be that long as I thought it was a similar ride type to tomb blaster. However, the ride cars are the same as tiny truckers which means the throughput is awful. Only about 1/4 of the main queueing area was full so I would dread to think what it is like when full. Got 22,000 points, no idea if that is any good?!

-The Dragon; the theme based around this ride is absolutely superb, from the castle queue line to the dark ride section before the main rollercoaster. The ride itself is fun, however is relatively short and could do with picking up a little bit more speed around the corners. Length is the main problem with the ride though, each section last abouts 20-30seconds max after the relevant lift hill. It completely serves it's purpose though and it's a fun little rollercoaster

-Squid Surfer; I absolutely ADORE these rides. In the morning, the queue board said 60minutes however we only waited 30minutes(cattlepen was full) however I was put on number 9 which didn't work at all and was broken resulting in it getting completely flooded during the ride. The wheel on the car wouldn't spin properly and I could literally lift it out and dismantle it from its socket if I wanted to. Some other members of the public overheard me as well, and they also told me they had ended up with the same problem. We returned later and number 9 was luckily closed off. The queue was displayed as 45minutes the second time however we only waited 15. This ride is great, the trick is to turn the wheel all the way to the left then let go completely or spin it to the right to fling out to the side. If your lucky, you will also receive a drenching from the water effects erupting from all around the ride!

-Mia's riding school; the Heartlake city area looks like a nice addition to the park however the Lego Friends show is one of the most cheesy, annoying and frustrating shows I have ever walked past in my entire life. Maybe it's good for kids however I wouldn't know. Mia's riding quest itself looked like a slower version of Kobra, so I didn't feel the need to ride it. It looks like a decent investment for the park and looks like great fun for the little ones however I didn't see any personal draw to the ride as I have experienced the pain from Kobra before and I don't particularly find Kobra particularly enjoyable or thrilling.

Had a great day and if I return in the future, I must have a go at the Fire School ride as this had an insanely long queue all day and the throughput of this ride is absolutely dire however looks like amazing fun!

Thank you very much for reading

[JoshC.]

Visited Legoland today.  Was quieter than I expected given they'd been closed Tuesday and Wednesday, not that I was complaining.  A few thoughts...

 

-Did Viking River Splash for the first time.  It wins the award for worst queue ever for me.  Ride is alright at best. 

 

-Atlantis remains surprisingly good.

 

-There seemed to be very little audio around the park; felt very dead in places.

 

-The Chicken Rotisserie place had terrible service; waited over 40 minutes for food.  Seemed to be a common scenario too, which is confusing given how quiet it was.

 

-How reliable is The Dragon normally?  During my past 2 visits, it's had extended periods of downtime whenever I've been nearby - hard to tell whether I've been unlucky or if this is the norm.

 

-Queue times were particularly badly presented; anything that did have a queue displayed rather inaccurate queues.  Oh, and Atlantis displayed a 355 minute queue in the morning, before going down to 200-odd, whoops.

 

-Ninjago site seems to be progressing well; no photos though unfortunately. 

 

Despite some of the negatives above, I still had a fun day overall.  Just a few little issues which puts the park down a bit.

[SteveJ]

I agree with your thoughts but odd that you thought most places had no audio - Legoland has always been deliberately a more peaceful, quieter ambience park but is actually 80% covered by background audio and usually the complaint is those areas are too loud! Interesting.

[JoshC.]

Hmm, interesting.  Maybe it's more that I just didn't hear much of it then, rather than it not being there?

 

I'm all for the more peaceful atmosphere, but I'd have liked to have heard things a bit more.  But I guess not being the target audience, my preferences will differ, so no real big issue really.