Thanks to the charity Dreams and Wishes, we recently went to Legoland Windsor and spent two nights in the Legoland resort hotel. It was a lot of fun and very tiring and there are a few things I’ve learnt that will make the trip easier next time. The kids both had a lot of fun, both in the hotel and in the park and hopefully, we can go again sometime when Beany is a little taller and able to go on more of the rides.
That’s not to say there wasn’t plenty for Beany to do. She loved the trains and the splash park the most. Duplo Valley is made for the tiniest of lego fans.
This blog post covers tips for both the park, and for staying in the legoland hotel.
At the hotel
The hotel is awesome. There is a nook with a bunkbed and a tv for the kids to sleep in, meaning you don’t have to sit in the dark while they’re trying to sleep. There is lego in the room to build with, and a treasure hunt for a gift for the kids. The rooms are really well thought out.
If you stay at the hotel – you need to book breakfast and the swimming pool. Except…you can usually get into the restaurant to have breakfast even if you don’t book. We did on the second morning we were there and it was fine. Go earlier in the morning, because the service was awful when we sat down for breakfast at ten am.
The breakfast is okay, it’s nothing special. But we did over-order and take a lot of pancakes for the journey home.
Don’t eat dinner at the hotel restaurant though. It’s pretty expensive and all reviews say the food isn’t great. We ordered a takeaway from Deliveroo and ate in our room.
The hotel also has a concierge service, and you can leave your bags at the reception after you check out if you’re planning another day at the park.
At the park
My top tip for a good day at Legoland, is to not stress about it. Don’t worry about doing everything, it’s not going to happen. There is a lot to do, and there are queues so you should focus on what you all want to do the most and plan for that. The park is cashless as well, so make sure you’re prepared for that.
Plan Ahead
Download the Legoland app. You can plug in everyone’s ages and heights and it will tell you what rides your group can and can’t do. It also asks what you’re interested in and gives you a plan you can follow that includes the shows. We didn’t really follow that, but it was really helpful to see what Beany could and couldn’t do.
Book some things ahead of time. We didn’t want to drag a suitcase and a buggy across the country so we hired a scooterbug. We did that online and were able to pick it up right away for Beany to sit in.
We also booked the Minifigure Factory in advance too, it looked really cool and I figured it was best to book it rather than miss out. You can find it in the main shop at the entrance.
Food and Drink
Don’t eat at the park if you can help it. The food is crazy expensive. So are the drinks. A bottle of diet coke was £2.50. I didn’t need the caffeine that much and I’d been to a shop in Windsor that morning.
If you do eat in the park – eat at the All-you-can-eat pizza and pasta place in Hear tlake City. As it says, it’s all you can eat. And also drink. And it’s still expensive, but I didn’t pay for us all, just for one adult and one kid and we all shared. And also took some extras.
Get a slush. They come in a cool vessel and then the refills are cheaper. I found them a little sweet but the kids loved it.
The Rides
Beany didn’t meet all the height requirements for some of the rides, which we expected. So while Flower did a couple of rides, Beany went to Duplo valley and we took turns. She loved the little train there (she went on it four times) and the splash park. She struggled with the idea of queuing so it was handy to have something she could do instead while me and Flower queued for the boats.
There are lots of signs around the park showing current waiting times for rides and the app has a list of them too.
Some of the rides keep moving while you get in and out, but staff will stop them if you need them to. Which is handy when you have a crutch, or a toddler, or a twisted ankle. Or all three.
If you do have a disability, look into the accessibility options on the website beforehand. I kinda which I had because we could’ve done with some extra assistance.
The Shop
The lego sets in the shops can be bought anywhere. Even the Legoland exclusive sets based on the park can be found online. The sets are all retail price at the shop too, but there are also cheaper ones second-hand, or discounts online.
I found that the minifigure plushies are harder to find online, we bought one of those (a chicken suit minifigure) and Beany got a stegosaurus which was pretty good value It wasn’t a lego one, she just likes dinosaurs.
Don’t buy a towel there, if you need one after the splash park. Buy a blanket instead. They’re over half the price and over twice the size of the towels (£8 for a blanket and £20 for a towel).
Don’t buy any of the books there either, again, they’re cheaper online. Plus, the books usually end up in the middle of Lidl eventually for about half the price.
A Fun Day Out
We had lots of fun at Legoland, Flower really liked the Haunted house ride and the boats, Beany really liked the trains. We went on the hilltop train and the express train that goes around the park. Miniland was as cool as I remember from when I went as a kid but definitely needed a powerwash in places. The submarine ride was a must for us, and was very cool. We didn’t watch any of the shows, we caught the beginnings and ends of the Lego Friends shows in Heartlake city, but they were so loud. Plus I found the over the top American accents annoying.
The hotel activities on during the evening, some were really loud from what we could hear. There is the retuarent and the bar right next to each other, and there is a little playpark just outside as well. You can enter the park from the hotel too, but it does mean you miss the entrance and need to go back up the hill for the main shop (but there is a train).
I hope these tips will come in handy to you on your next trip to Legoland Windsor and remember – don’t injure yourself half an hour before the park opens like me and you’ll be fine!
