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?

Aww we had a great time at Lego land!

Though we did go at the very start of the summer holidays and had 2 days there. Longest queue was about 20 minutes. Both days we got there for right on opening time and headed straight for the most popular rides and didn't wait at all.

Thanks Gruffalo
Good info there. Mine are 6 and 8 and am sure will like the driving one best esp 8 yr old DS so will prob go straight to that. And sounds like DD may be more easily pleased!
Can anyone tell me overall what are the top rides to go for so we know where to head for first?

Legoland was the worst theme park I have been too. Complete rip off. We went on a non-pupil day in the rain in October. Ended up buying Q-bots as we had driven from Devon and wanted to get in some rudes(40 minute waits for some rides). I felt ripped off and didn't enjoy it.

I loved Disney Paris. Paultons with Peppa Pig World was fun. We did Efteling and Duinrell in the Netherlands in August and didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for anything.

legoland Windsor- never again.

And just seen it is going to be bloody freezing on Monday so that gives me hope again it won't be too crowded? Mind you at 10 degrees I don't suppose we will be making much use of the water park bit

Paying to spend a day queuing and being ripped off just totally puts me off theme parks. We’ve done Disney, it was ok but not the magical experience I expected.

I think we will do Disneyland Paris at some stage esp as we drive to France on holiday most summers. However everyone I know says the US Disneyland is far better. But to go all the way to America, with all the expense, for a theme park just doesn't sit right with me - there are so many other things in the world I want to see rather than do that!

You are not in traffic, you are traffic.

Bloody hell is a day at a theme park really "literally the worst day of [someone's] life" ??

I just hate theme parks. No I wont take the kids to Legoland or PP World. Yes, a bit mean, but I absolutely hate the places, they make me incredibly anxious. Its a huge amount of money for very little fun, and a lot of queueing in big crowds, plus the risk of the kids getting lost (youngest is 3 so still at that age when its possible). I don't see the point of paying out more than our weekly food budget for something I would hate even if the kids would like it. Although I doubt they would handle the queueing anyway. So Ive just recently decided I wont take them. My Mum actually refused to ever take me to a theme park and I thought she was SO BORING. Oh well.

Yes, Disney isn't magical. Theme parks aren't really magical at all. Well I have never found one if there is such a thing.

The two DSs have been to Phantasialand in Germany on school trips and raved about that.

YANBU it’s the seventh circle of hell. It’s preditatory system of overpricing, the apartheid system of constant queuing I cannot understand how any sane person tolerates it.

Greenwood Forest Park in north Wales. Its an eco theme park and its fantastic. They have a roller coaster that's powered by the force of the people queuing for it and a hill totally covered in nylon bristles that you can sledge down all year round. Costs about £50 for a family ticket and we all loved it.

I came to Windsor from Ireland specifically for LEGO land.
Now I’m a huge LEGO freak anyone who knows me will tell you that, but my god I felt robbed by the whole experience. The rides were tame as fuck and we don’t even have theme parks in Ireland (apart from Tayto park)
What really, really got on my nerves though was my little girl did the Driving school and got her “licence” - a blank card. To get her pic and name put on cost 12 pounds!!!!!
Needless to say I didn’t bother and she’s forgotten all about it.
It pissed rain the second day so they gave us free tickets to come back - yea like we will come back from Ireland!! They’d have been better off giving us free ponchos and turning on the big dryers for the day.

My worst experience was Legoland .... On Wednesday! Ridiculously busy, 60 minute waits for EVERYTHING, kiosks sold out of water, popcorn, candy floss and some types of ice cream by about 2pm. Hot dog with stale buns were £5! Everything was so expensive - kiosk staff were so uninterested and slow too!

Now we can queue, we've been to Disney so are no strangers to a good long queue but waiting 70 mins for the dragon is taking the Micky (no pun intended)! We queued for 50 mins for the train and staff took ages to load the train, stop the pedestrian traffic and get going - it was like watching paint dry - no sense of urgency or efficiency, it makes you realise how slick other theme parks are and how Legoland fails dismally.

I actually went the same day as you op and i didn't find it too bad really. But saying that, i didn't have to drive for hours to get there. It took us 40 mins to get there and most of the rides had a 30-60 minute queue. We have passes for legoland do i never stress about getting on loads of rides. Dd got on about 8 rides, then we watched the fireworks. They were brilliant!

A good tip is to take hotdogs in a flask and just being buns and ketchup for the fireworks. The queues for food were ridiculous. Take plenty of food.

I can recommend Legoland Germany for anyone who happens to be passing through Bavaria. Very clean!

Gosh now it's being compared to "hell" and "apartheid."

It's a theme park. A theme park. That you buy tickets to.

Not eternal and infinite torment in a realm unknown to space and time . Or a brutal segregation regime based on skin colour.

Theme parks with kids are an endurance test.

I went with my sister, her son and her friend nearly 20 years ago. It was OK but v busy and cost an arm and a leg even then. My nephew, who was about 3 at the time, was a bit underwhelmed by it and certainly wasn't impressed by the long queues for each ride. He also kept needing a week but there didn't seem to be any toilets anywhere. We live in Yorkshire and set off at 6am, got there at 11am and didn't get home until 3am the following morning. Never again.
My 6 y old is happy enough just going to the Lego shop in Leeds lol

YANBU OP I don't know where people find the cash to go to Legoland - or the time. I certainly don't have the time or money to ever consider going there again.

I've been to Legoland Windsor twice and Billund once. Each time with ASD children. After the first trip to legoland Windsor I swore never, ever again, even if they paid me. Yet a few years on I've been again and had a really lovely day.

Like you OP we had a very delayed journey first time, so rather than arriving very early and having breakfast in Windsor we went straight to the park, we were held just past the entrance gates with a noise/ smells/ bustle overload. We were at meltdown point on arrival and the cattle pen situation tipped us over. At that stage meltdowns took hours to unwind so whilst we tried to keep going for DS2's sake one of us was just on control and management duty of DS1 and DD shut down in her buggy.

We did write to Legoland, and left reviews, saying the things that had made our day particularly challenging. I'm really pleased that various things have now a few year on changed - no doubt many others fed back on similar experiences.

Our second Legoland trip was to Billund, Denmark. It was mid August after most schools were back so the park was very quiet. We all had a lovely time. DS1 even enjoyed a few rides like the little lego boats.

Roll on a couple of years and we have Merlin passes so DD has been asking to go again, but doesnt remember the first time. We booked a travel lodge and i took DS2, DD and a friend with two DC of the same age. My frinds eldest has various SN and DD my youngest does so we split into two groups of adult, SN child and child of same age. Staying in a local travel lodge ment we had no traffic issues. The on mobile phone ride booking times that you can access if you have an additional needs child worked well as we did virtual queuing for the rides we did go on. Great for friends DD who is very lively when agitated/ stressed. We were slightly more familiar with the layout which always helps with avoiding some of the crowds.

Life with an ASD child throws up many challenges. We tend to find that most firsts are experienced through gritted teeth and stress. Each repetition gets a little easier. Season tickets/ passes suit us well because we can dip in and out. Having a bad day just try to write it off and return another time.

Merlin are pretty good at trying to find ways forwards working with guests with additional needs. They offer free carers entrance tickets and each park/ venue has its own ride access system. Most have emails you can contact in advance to find out arrangements.

I hope it doesn't put you off trying new things and the more experiences you all have the easier each new thing becomes.

We went to Parc Asterix in France and the kids loved it. But I guess we have never been to a really popular one. Part of the problem is I get quite bad motion sickness so the thought of rollercoasters, even if aimed at primary school kids, is beyond awful to me! Old fashioned waltzers are the worst, or anything that spins. I usually go for the quieter stuff and DH has to step up for the rest
But there seems to be quite a bit at Legoland that won't be too bad for me.....

I went to legoland when i was 6. Best day ever!

The council should put a stop to it. Close Legoland - for the good of the nation. So many hours of people's lives lost to this abomination! I am welling up just thinking of those that have tickets to go tomorrow.