AIBU and a misery guts? Legoland

[notsohippychick]

Ok, so arranged a day out at Legoland yesterday. I was able to get free tickets as my son is disabled via charity, so that was fabulous.

Off we trundled, full of excitement and hope! Its 2 hr and 40 min drive however it took us 5 hours!!!!!!!! M25 was a nightmare as part of it was closed!!

Got there - queued for our tickets. Of course the 'BIG LEGO' shop is in full view of the queuing area, which caused a bit of hassle before we had even got in.

To cut a long and very stressful story short, I hated every minute of it - the queues, the crowds, the insanely overpriced ice cream. I was so disappointed that id imagined this unforgettable day out, didn't live up to expectation. Never ever again. My son loved the mini lego village and luckily there was fireworks that night which was a huge saving grace!

I just didn't 'get it' - I didn't understand the fascination, and it didn't give me the 'wow factor', but then I'm not a child! This morning I calculated what it would have cost to enter with day tickets. £150 for three of us, and my 2 year old would have got in free. That doesn't include parking but did include an advanced booking discount. I was horrified!!!!!

However, on the positive side it has taught me that my son is quite a simple soul, he wasn't really interested in the rides, or the weird dancing Master Wu. He'd much prefer to kick a ball around a field or paddle in the sea. I'm trying to put it down to experience!

So this leads me to this question, when have you been disappointed by a day out you've had so much hope for?

[gamerwidow]

I think most people don’t really enjoy kids activities and venues that much. The pleasure comes in seeing your kids enjoy it rather than having a great time yourself. I once foolishly went with a group of adults to fright night at Thorpe Park which turned out to be the most miserable weekend I’d ever had!!!

[notsohippychick]

Oh god! Please tell me there was booze there???!!!!

The adults seemed to be loving it yesterday! I felt like I was the only misery guts - I just couldn't get into it!

[Wishfulmakeupping]

We were disappointed with CBeebies and Alton towers- my dc prefer Thomas land and I've got to say so do I

[firawla]

I actually enjoy legoland, as long as you have some kind of queue bot and don’t have to queue up. We’ve been the last couple of years for the fireworks, will miss it this year as trying to go somewhere cheaper.

[MamaOfTwos]

My DD would always prefer a zoo/petting farm over massive crowds and rides

[Unihorn]

I would only go to British theme parks at off peak times. They are fucking awful at the sign of any crowd. Charging people for something that gets people out of queues so they can spend money in shops and restaurants baffles me. Also there are always an inordinate amount of wasps in Legoland!!

We do the Disney parks often and they have free FastPasses as they understand fewer queues = more revenue and happier guests. I wish Merlin would understand that!

[BuggertheTabloids]

Oh God we are going on Monday, am feeling very nervous about it now!
Am hoping won't be too crowded as out of half term (inset day for us)
And have cheap tickets.
If anyone has any top tips on how to survive the day I'd appreciate it!

[Unihorn]

BuggertheTabloids all of Wales is on half term. Just a heads up

[gamerwidow]

No booze notsohippychick! I went home after one day and left them all there!

[OhShit2017]

I went once.

Quite literally the worst day of my life.

I’m never going back!

[notsohippychick]

Buggerthetabloids

Please don't feel nervous! The drive down put a huge damper on things! My son has ASD so he was very reluctant to do most things, but I thought as we had free tickets we'd give the day a go. He was being very difficult so perhaps I wasn't in the best of moods to enjoy it!

[notsohippychick]

gamerwidow

Jesus! I don't blame you!

[userabcname]

Alton Towers. Last time I went it was an absolute shit show. Hardly any of the rides seemed to be functioning - queued for hours for different rides only for them to break down as we reached the front. At one point, we had just got to the loading bay of Thirteen when it stopped working so we were fast-tracked to Rita....which, you guessed it, broke down immediately. We complained afterwards and got free tickets to return (we wanted a full refund) but we have vowed never to go again. We gave the tickets away in the end.

[cricketballs3]

We did a whole surprise trip for DS2 as he's obsessed with Lego - whilst he loved it I really couldn't see why we paid so much money as it was rubbish!

[notsohippychick]

OhShit2017

LOL - was it the queuing? It must have been the queuing, or the fight to get out of the carpark? It took us an hour. That was lovely.

[notsohippychick]

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186419-d207144-r298217582-Legoland_Windsor_Resort-Windsor_Windsor_and_Maidenhead_Berkshire_England.html#REVIEWS

I urge people to read this review - it actually caused tears of mirth!!!!!!!

[yummumto3girls]

I think the only way to do these places is over 2 days, day 1 do everything that doesn’t involve a queue and day 2 get a queue bot so you can jump the queues!

[thegreenlight]

Went to Gulliver's land in Milton Keynes this weekend - £13 each, hardly any ques and brilliant staff. SOOOOO much better than Lego land!

[wellthatsjustgreat]

Yes, been too Legoland twice now and it was hell on earth both times.
Paultons park/Peppa Pig World is really well done IMO and well worth a visit.

[EB123]

What a shame, we had a great time when we went and my boys still talk about it 2 years later. I think a lot depends on when you go, we went on a Tuesday in term time in June, it was a lovely day, barely any queues and we all enjoyed it. It is expensive though,we had heavily discounted tickets and took a picnic along with us but we did splurge in the shop.

[Migraleve]

YANBU Legoland is a shithole.

[Dinosaursdontgrowontrees]

We went to peppa pig world today with my almost 5yr old with asd and my 1year old. I must say we had the best day. The staff at ppw were so accommodating and gave my daughter a wristband so we didn't have to queue for the rides. (She finds queues differcult) She had a fabulous day and so did the rest of us. I would def go again.

[SkaterGrrrrl]

I loathe Legoland.

SIL has a Merlin pass and takes nephews nearly every weekend. Don't know why she loves it so much.

[turquoise88]

Another vote for Paultons Park/Peppa Pig World here.

We came back recently at it was fantastic. Yes, some queueing, but the staff were fantastic and the food on site wasn’t too pricey either. If you can afford to, would also recommend an early play pass where the children get to meet Peppa and George beforehand and use the soft play and rides before the park opens to everyone else.