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.

[missingmumxox]

moomin twas me fobbly note we both went on a teacher training day not the middle of the holidays.
for the record I lived near Alton Towers as a teenager to the point people would come into the pub I worked in for directions, I expect to queue but never like at legoland is is truly shit , i really thought it would redeem itself with models as one of My ds is a lego addict, but no the models are uninspiring as well, we thought it would be a lego world..but it really isn't it fails on all levels, don't waste your money on it

[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.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/two-men-arrested-after-mass-2159547

I wonder if they used vouchers?

[MrsCakesPremonition]

Oh - and what's wrong with paddling in the sea at Southend? Much more fun than Legoland.

[LadyHarrietdeSpook]

Can I just ask: Who on earth wants to spend a fortune to go to an adventure park in the rain? Suggestion from pposter as to how to avoid queues...I mean whatever works for you I guess! Sounds grim to me.

We've just done a US holiday park (not Disney). Also very pricey, with extremely long queues (in the scorching heat, not rain...) I can't imagine committing to a yearly pass to these places but in the case of the California parks if you are a resident locally you do get a discount. Not sure if this applies to the area near Lego.

[Wishihadabs]

YABU.We've been a total of 3 times dcs aged 9&6 love it !

Agree with lots of others wtf did you expect, 3/4 through the summer holidays ? Also why did you pay the ticket price ? There are loads of ways of getting in for less (tescos, Kellogg vouchers even just booking the day before). The door price is for tourists and those who can't be bothered to get organised and TBH I have limited (for that read no) sympathy, they need to make a profit ffs. As to the food, don't buy it ! There's loads of space for a picnic again just be organised. I bet the OP arrived at 11:30 and left at 4:30-5pm as well. Just use your brains people.

[crumpledinside]

Thanks for assuming I'm a dolt wishihadabs: we arrived at 9 and queued inside the park when the gates opened. And £120 was the cost for six people with 2-for-1. And it was still overpriced and generally abysmal.

[Backtobedlam]

We generally enjoy theme parks and have the dreaded Merlin passes. However, last year we booked in to the Legoland hotel (not during summer holidays) and it was absolutely awful. Worse than that though the 'don't care' attitude of staff, that goes all the way up to hotel management. This has put us right off visiting any part of Legoland, as you feel like they are totally ripping you for as much money as they can, and really do not care what the the experience is like.

I much prefer Alton Towers, Warwick Castle (as long as you realise it's for entertainment rather than historic information) and any of the other Merlin attractions.

[daisychain01]

The best view of Lego-hell land is in the rear view mirror IMO. But it sounds as though some people went and enjoyed, and therefore their memory of the place was positive, so worth the mortgage money.

[MrsDoomsPatterson]

Awful place. It's dirty, my mother was stung by a wasp. When I'm queuing for 40 mins for some tin pot ride I don't want to look at filthy Lego pieces that haven't had a wash since they opened. Urgh. Grubby, yucky place. This was 7 years ago, it still sounds the same.

[ChocsAwayInMyGob]

Wishihadabs- I went in term time, had a special offer, got there early and still thought it was overcrowded and shit!

[ChocsAwayInMyGob]

I also found picnic spots few and far between, especially for the number of visitors.

[BalloonSlayer]

Where we went on holiday last year there was a steam railway and DH found out it was on the Tesco vouchers scheme. So, DH being organised, he used Tesco vouchers to get £20 worth of vouchers for use on the railway.

When we went for our trip, DH went to buy the tickets using the vouchers, and got very sour treatment from the man at the ticket booth (remember that these places are largely staffed by volunteers and run on donations and ticket sales). I can't remember how the conversation went but the man told DH that the railway wouldn't get anything like £20 for the £20 voucher DH had used.

Of course, the railway didn't have to join the Tesco scheme, and had presumably worked out that it was worth doing it.

But I can see how in the case of somewhere like Legoland you get a situation like this:

• it's very expensive so lots of people use Tesco vouchers.
  
• the park therefore gets on average, say, £20 per visitor, instead of £30 per visitor before they joined the voucher scheme
  
• this means that the park must either put up the non-discounted entry price, or make money elsewhere (food, car park) or cut down on expenditure (cleaning, staff training, wasp deterrents)
  
• because if people are canny with their vouchers they can get to go using only vouchers (no extra cash outlay) then more people visit. This means that the park is overcrowded
  
• they reject the idea of introducing new and efficient ways of loading/unloading rides as someone else upthread suggested, because that would cost money. Instead they introduce Q-bots because they make money. And people are happy to pay for the Q-bots because they feel they got in for "free" using their vouchers.

[Titsalinabumsquash]

I'm back to add my thoughts.

We went on bank holiday weekend, Sat and Sun using the buy one day get another free deal.

It rained on the Sat, the crowds were fine, nothing to worry about.
Sun it was hot and it was much busier, we were thankful for Qbots with everything having 60min + wait.

We did all the rides over the 2 days, the variety is really good I think and my children really enjoyed it.
The staff are pleasant and helpful and we found it to be very clean and the Lego models were great, not faded or dated at all.

The wasps were fine, they do gather at food stands so some wasp traps there rather than in the walk ways would have been better but it really wasn't a problem, we ignored them and they buzzed around without harming anyone.

The food is expensive yes but no more so than any other attraction or theme park.

The hill is a bit of a hassle when you're dealing with knackered joints like me but its no biggie.

It was over all a really nice 2 days, even with all the people.

[SmiteYouWithThunderbolts]

We had a weekend at Legoland with PIL and the kids (PILs' wedding present to us). We went at the beginning of June so it wasn't too busy and comfortable wasp-free. I would not go in August, partly because the queues are bound to be hell on earth, but it's wasp season and I am ludicrously scared of them (we're talking full on squealing, flapping and running away) so it ruins any day out.

That said, we just had an amazing day out this weekend at Monkey World in Dorset. They're well set up for busy crowds, not too expensive (£35 for 2 adults and 3 children, under 3s go free) and it's an educational day out for the kids to learn about animal rescue. The "Great Ape" play area is also AMAZING for the kids and me too.

[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.

[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.

[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! !

[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.

[girliefriend]

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

[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

[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!

[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.

[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

[SoleSource]

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

[plusonemore]

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