legoland windsor is overpriced, overcrowded and dirty

[crumpledinside]

And overrun by wasps.

I'd seen maybe 4 or 5 wasps all summer until our trip to legoland today. Then had wasps on me and the kids all day with dd getting stung. The toilets were rank, the entry fee was massive, the markup on everything was huge and it was so seethingly full of people you couldn't go on tbe rides after midday and could hardly move in the play areas. The lego models looked weathered and tatty, and seemed to be an afterthought on many attractions.

That's £££ I won't be spending again.

[AndHarry]

We took 2yo DS last year and it was awful. This year we've stuck with Peppa Pig World, Thomas Land at Drayton Manor and Gulliver's Land. So much better for small children and the most we had to queue was 10 minutes for a train ride. Perfect.

[justasecond]

The kids love it but I think its hell on earth during the holidays. I have annual passes as it is local but I would be seriously pissed off if I paid full price or thereabouts for tickets only to spend the day queuing whilst being attacked by wasps from all angles. I think they really need to do something about limiting the number to people they allow in at peak times otherwise it is just unfair. Also the wasp infestation issue is no joke I was stung there last week.

[RandomMess]

We went to the seaside today and my food obsessed 11 year old was so busy enjoying crabbing that we didn't have picnic lunch until 2.30ish

Funny how sometimes the cheapest things are the best loved (we borrowed the gear so cost is £1 for the bait for 4 dc!)

[bishboschone]

We survived , it wasn't too bad .. Queues were long but we went on the smaller rides and my dd preferred the mini land and spent much of our time there and also making models . I'm glad I'm
Home though.

[alemci]

I think people get fed up when they queue and then other people leave 1 family member to stand there then a whole group of people appear and push in front of you. fair enough if a dc needs the loo etc but it is guaranteed to rile people

this happened in florida while I was queing with young son. whole group of teenagers.

[cocoplops]

Definitely. The attractions are good but the joy of them is completely sucked out by the hours of queuing and knowing how much you've paid for the privilege!

[fluffyraggies]

@

MrsCakesPremonition - Did anyone else read about the parental fight that broke out in Legoland last week? Mad eyed parents wielding metal bars in the queue for the rocking pirate ship.

I recon just about every time i've ever taken DCs to a commercial, 'fun' establishment for a day out we have all come away with disapointments of some description. I vow not to be sucked in again and my resolve tends to last a year or so before i go and do it again and then waste hours of my life cursing the amount of money i spent when i knew it was going to be shitty

The best and truly untainted memories we have of family days out are of days spent on the beach with a picnic, or walking out through the woods somewhere with a sarnie in the car when it rains. Even roaming around a historical site and soaking up a bit of history without a bit of 'child friendly' stuff in site. These are the days my (now teens) DCs re-tell when we're reminiscing together.

(I know not everyone has a car - don't fame me - you get the gist of what i'm saying :) )

[BalloonSlayer]

Well whatever you think of Legoland's cleanliness and smartness it's like Disneyland compared to Chessington.

We went there in the week. You could smell the toilets from outside them at 10am. There was practically no water coming out of the taps - a sign said that they are "experiencing low water pressure" and to use the hand sanitiser instead.

I'd forgotten how much the Bubbleworks stinks - you would turn on your heel and walk out of a swimming pool that smelled like that. The "exhibits" for want of a better word you float past were all filthy. Everything needed a good scrub. The irony - when it is sponsored by Imperial Leather and has a theme of bathing and soap - was stupendous.

Another ride we went on had a wooden cover to the central part which clearly hadn't been painted for about 5 years, the paint was flaking off and the wood splitting.

These parks shut for 5 months in the winter! ONE PERSON with a few pots of paint and ONE PERSON with some bleach and a scrubbing brush, working 9-5, 5 days a week over 5 months could probably have dealt with a lot of this sort of thing, enough to make a noticeable difference, never mind what a team or even a company could have achieved, but it's clear they don't put the tiniest amount of effort into it.

Chessington also charge £2 to park and it's not even a proper car park, it's a field. The roads aren't even tarmaced.

[Backtobedlam]

Anyonebutlulu-we were led to believe we would have that room layout from the website and had paid extra for a themed room. Unfortunately we got given a room that is nothing like the ones on the website, which apparently it states somewhere that not all rooms have the seperate kids bit, or their own TV (which we'd told them about). The room was so awful my DH rang immediately and asked to change rooms, they refused! We also asked for money back as the experience was nothing like what we paid for/what was advertised, all they offered was a discount if we booked to go again. No chance...it was a total waste of money.

The swimming pool is more of a splash zone, kids did have fun but its very cold and hardly any changing rooms, which means big ques...not fun with little ones in tow. Its not a patch on the pool on Alton Towers. which all in is a much better experience. Kids did enjoy the Lego play area, but there are loads of places that do similar, they'd have been more entertained in a nice hotel with a new lego set.

[PuzzleRocks]

Inexplicably though, our 6 year old and 4 year old had a great day. I'm comforted that we won the tickets, otherwise I would have felt robbed.

(wonders if entering competitions is on the creepy scale)

[PuzzleRocks]

I quite agree with all the negatives, we went last week and I struggled to find any redeeming qualities. Inex

[bishboschone]

Omg .. I'm going today at dd request ( her day out without noisy ds) .... We have tussauds passes so I'm not paying as such .. Don't want to go ..argh!!! Will report back later !!

[AnyoneButLulu]

Also I thought the layout with the bathroom in between the parents' double bed area and the children's bunkbed area was really clever. Not exactly two rooms, but seperate enough to give you some privacy once they've gone to sleep.

[AnyoneButLulu]

We loved the hotel but we are all Lego obsessives so a hotel full of Lego is pretty much our dream come true. The little indoor splash zone/swimming pool is great fun for the DCs in the evening, and it's great being able to walk straight out to the rides after breakfast - you can go on Atlantis and Dino Safari between 9:30 and 10 when they open the gates, and then you're already inside the park and can be first in the queue for another couple of roller coasters (Dragon and Pirate Falls perhaps).

[plusonemore]

backtobedlam- oh shame! I thought it looked lovely! especially as I think theres a pool?

[SoleSource]

I save vouchers for the local brothel. I suppose she'll be calling me creepy next. Fecking cheek!

[alemci]

haven't been to lego land for years but, after being to usa theme parks the organization of rides seemed poor. I would never pay full price for anything nowdays if I can help it.

creepy tesco vouchers. I suppose they are in the sense that they know all about you etc

enjoyed Busch gardens in Tampa with eat all you like for extra 7 dollars, bargain

[Backtobedlam]

plusonemore-I really would not recommend the hotel at any time of year, it is basically a (slightly) prettier travel lodge. We stayed in a themed room and it was a big disappointment for the kids, such a let down after building it up to them. There are some lovely hotels in and around Windsor, and some also do deals with Legoland tickets included, personally I think you'd have a better time doing that.

[Icantstopeatinglol]

We've just came back on Monday as we went Saturday and Sunday (bank hol weekend yikes!). It was actually ok, quieter on Saturday as it rained but it was fine as we were prepared. Kids loved it, we got on all the rides we wanted to! Sunday however was much busier so glad we got on everything on the Saturday so we did the quieter things on the Sunday. I did think they let far too many people in to make it enjoyable for everyone, we thought it was ridiculous at times as there was just a sea of people at one point. If we had just gone the Sunday I'd have been very disappointed.
Enjoyed it though but think we were lucky.
....oh the dc loved the duplo water park!

[Chippednailvarnish]

Just been made redundant and we are using vouchers to go next week on an Inset Day (fingers crossed it's going to be quieter than August).

So I'm obviously creepy

[girliefriend]

Plus think having to pay for parking is seriously taking the piss

[girliefriend]

I went with my dd (7yo) in the Easter Hols this year and we had a lovely time, the weather was cold and a bit wet so we pretty much had the place to ourselves

It is totally and ridiculously overpriced but likely to be something I only do once with dd so we put our waterproofs on and enjoyed it esp loved the submarine ride.

Sounds hideous in August though.

[plusonemore]

thinking of going in October for a weekend staying in one of the themed rooms for ds2 s birthday. will it be busy? you get two days for price of one when you stay in the hotel but is this the best deal? sorry to gatecrash but this thread has been so useful! !

[Rollerskaterabbit]

We went a few weeks ago and there was exposed wiring in the queue at one of the rides. My child any several others handled them. Legoland did not fix until hours later and literally could not have given a toss that children had handled them. Will never set foot in there again.

[AnyoneButLulu]

We've been many times over the years, most recently this Easter and we love it, because we are all Lego addicts and we plan the day with military precision (we don't do q-Bots and I refuse to queue for more than 30 minutes for anything, we hit the thrill rides hard at the beginning of the day and so non-queue stuff and baby rides for the rest).

However I agree that a) a lot of the models are looking faded and need a wash b) the system of having a super-expensive mugs' price and then a huge range of discount options is really really annoying.