The LEGOLAND 2013 Thread Top tips and recommendations

[NoRoomForMeInMyBed]

To update from last years great threadlink to the 2012 thread

The park reopens today!!! I cant go until in a few weeks time , so if you have been, please update with this years new attractions and fun!! (Overexcited mummy here....)

Ooooh, thank you so much Noroomforme. Sounds great! DH says he would love to go for father's day and I've got some Tesco vouchers that expire today so will get some more LL passes. Still tempted to go Monday, although DD was up coughing all night and has asked if she can stay at home today. (We were going to go to Odd's Farm which she loves.) Hope she's not sickly on Mon or LL might just finish her off!

We are planning to head off to LL the end of the month. DD1 has 2 inset days on the fri and monday so thought we would visit on one of those days.

Been useful reading all the tips. Thanks everyone.

DD2 is 3. She's tiny though and her little legs get tired quickly. Is it worth taking the buggy for her? Is there alot of walking? She never really uses the buggy at home and can prob manage a couple of miles.

Told the girls about going there and they are both really excited!

oh and is it Under 3's that are free?

Bet it is now DD2 turned 3 last week! Typical!

Pigley, if DD is tiny and in buggy she could always pretend not to be 3 yet...nobody will check or question it. I did not write that oh no

Yes to lots of walking, and yes yes yes bring buggy. You need lots of stuff so use buggy to carry picknick, swim gear, towels and dry clothes...:)

DD was far too sickly to go to LL on her INSET day so we went today instead and had a fabulous time. Thank you to you all for your marvellous tips. We arrived by 9am and parked in Car park C. Had alook round shops, starwars miniland (which DD4 and DS2 found a bit scary) before heading down to Atlantis when the gates opened. We only had a few "must dos" but got loads done and mostly ignored rides with queues of 30 mins or more. Atlantisis was fab and afterwards the children could hold sea creatures which was great. Then we did Dino Safari (5 min wait), L-driving (15 min wait), Balloon School (for which the queue moved very, very slowly much slower than the 20 mins stated, easily 40) watched pirate show while eating lunch, Orient Express green train (5-10 mins), swinging chairs (straight on), carosel (Straight on), pirate playground, safari splashdown (DD doesn't have wetsuit but if she had it would have made a big difference as she got cold quite quickly), brickville playground, fairytale brook (straight on), helicopters (5 mins), blue train (Straight on), skyrider (15/20mins), then they built lego in the discovery bit before we headed to the hill top restaurant and just chilled out and had something to eat and bought a few bits in the Big Shop. We left at 7.40pm. The only thing I would think about doing differently would be food. We took a picnic and some drinks and snacks but topped up with a couple of coffees and icecreams which cost a bomb and bought food at the hilltop restaurant at the end which was expensive and lame. Would try and bring more food and maybe leave "tea" in a locker so we didn't carry it round all day. Also, DS is 2 (and 98cm) but 3 in 6 weeks so we lied to get him on L-drivers (well, actually his 4 year old sister lied for us!) but he didn't steer very well and was erratic with the accelerator which meant he was a bit of a maniac driver, more like he was on the dodgems! Amusing but he probably was too young even though he loved it.

Glad you had a good time Monkeychicken thank you for the update! This is a brilliant thread, wish there was a simolar one for chessington and thorpe as we are going next week with visiting family. Anyone been and can give some tips?

We took DS on Monday and Tuesday. We went for the deal for a hotel near Heathrow and two days at LL for price of one.

The weather was great and the park was wonderfully quiet, especially on Tuesday. Mostly very short or no queues. We walked straight on the Laser thingy which is very popular, some people even went back to the beginning and got straight on again.

Bit disappointed that some of the rides were closed, one due to staff member taking ill which obviously couldn't be helped but two closed while we were queuing due to faults and another was just closed all day with no explanation. And our submarine was faulty with no working screens or commentary as well.

Also frustrated at the terrible service in the food places. DH went to get lunch and was gone for half an hour. He said he was second in the queue when he went in but the staff were so unbelievably slow and inefficient it took half an hour to produce two portions of fried chicken and chips. Same happened at another place when he went to get DS an ice cream. If you're planning to get some lunch or a snack to eat whilst watching the pirate show or puppet show allow plenty of time!

But that's quibbling I suppose. DS is 4 so old enough to go on almost all the rides, he loved the splash park, the little driving licence thingy and the pirate show especially. Being there for two days, we were able to get round the whole park without too much effort and really make the most of our two days. Would love to go back but can't see us ever going in school holidays.

Just adding my thanks to those above for all the hints and tips. We've just spent two days at Legoland, taking advantage of an Inset day for the boys (age 10 and 6). We booked a two day/one night stopover at the Holiday Inn in Maidenhead, so we could make the most of our time there.

On Sunday, it was pretty busy with some fairly lengthy queues building up on popular rides. We'd bought Qbots (basic ones) for the day, which were fantastic - I would book the next ride as soon as we'd been checked in on the current one, so our queuing times were minimal. The longest queue was for the Dragon's Apprentice, so we timed that one for just after lunch, and used the hour's wait to picnic and play on the slides nearby. All in all, we managed to get on 14 of the 20 Qbot rides in one day (and could probably have managed more if we'd tried harder!).

We ended the day with the water rides, getting progressively wetter. The boys loved the pirate log flume, and the Viking river rides best, but particularly enjoyed firing the water cannons at other riders . Near the end of the day, we were able to come off the ride and head straight back into the queue line with only a couple of minutes' wait. We had a change of clothes available for the boys, which was pretty vital as they were cold and dripping by the end.

The hotel was about 20 minutes' drive, although we took a longer route to avoid the traffic. The restaurant food was nice enough, and perfect for DS6 who is very difficult to feed. Our family room consisted of two fold away beds in a large double room - a bit squashed, but fine for a night.

Today (Monday) was much quieter and we were able to get directly on the Laser Raiders ride which our boys enjoyed. In fact, we came out and as there was no queue, ducked through the barrier and went on for a second ride. We went on the Boating School, which had the longest queue of our visit, at 30 minutes (no Qbot today). We took the boys to the Duplo Drench Towers - the boys loved this, but the water was freezing so they only lasted 10 minutes or so before they got too cold and gave up. We got some food (BBQ opposite Driving School - £5.45 for a sausage or steak baguette - nice enough), and then finished off with a few things we'd missed (Star Wars miniland - DS10 loved this!) and a revisit to the Viking river ride for a final soaking! We left the park mid afternoon, so as to avoid rush hour traffic.

Just to reiterate some of the points others have made above, we found the refillable drinks bottles were excellent (we reused it on day 2 - not sure that's strictly allowed though!). The pirate show was very good - DS10 got very involved in that one! Car Park C is the place to be - we made our way there both days. Qbots are excellent on busy days - even the basic one makes a huge difference. Having two days meant we could relax and enjoy the time - no great pressure to do it all on the first day.

All in all, we had a great time

Hi, great thread. I just got back from Legoland and although I didn't enjoy it, my kids loved it. Even though we went on an inset day and a Monday, it was heaving.

The bits you don't have to queue for were great i.e miniland, the adventure playgrounds, the incredible Star Wars exhibition and the wet play area.

However, there has got to be something very wrong with a system that makes you queue for an hour for a ride that lasts two minutes. The dinosaur safari was a fleeting 2 minute whizz round some Lego dinos, and although Atlantis was great, that was also less than 3 minutes long.

There's got to be something they can do about the overcrowding, surely. More rides? An additional branch? I don't expect it ever to be empty, but the sheer numbers made even walking down a pathway stressy.

I know it's only part of the problem but I get so frustrated at places like Legoland, that are aimed at younger children, when I see adults on their own on rides for one or two people. If a car on a ride is for two people only, either DH or I sits out. If every adult had to be accompanied by a child on those types of rides, the queues would move a little more quickly.

When DH and DS were queuing for Dino Safari (a real little kiddies' ride) last week, I watched as two cars went past with just adults in, followed by one with a little girl and one of her parents. Then two cars went past with a woman on her own in one car, and her child and the father in the car behind, both parents filming each other's car FGS. It's crazy that out of five cars, only two children were riding.

At Peppa Pig World DH and DS queued for 45 minutes to go on the George dinosaur ride, if 2 out of every 5 dinosaurs hadn't had a parent or grandparent riding on them on their own the queue would have been much shorter.

Don't people feel bad taking up places when there are little kids in the queue behind them having to wait and behave themselves when bored rigid for so long?

It would be different if it were Alton Towers or somewhere where the rides appeal to adults as much as children, but do adults really get a kick out of going on preschoolers' rides?

It is incredibly frustrating when its busy, I cant stand it, but if you can at all go mid week in term time you can have fantastic days there. A midweek morning in late september you will be on your own and not queue for a thing. I know its not always possible but if you take some midweek leave and go then it will be completly different.

But that's what annoyed me! I went on a Monday during term time when the DCs had an inset day. I thought surely most people will be at work or at school? But no it was heaving to the point of serious discomfort.

There were five coachloads of school trips and about twenty thousand toddlers in pushchairs.

I really disagree with the principal of QBots i.e if you give us even more money you don't have to queue, but to be honest, I can't see another way of going on more than 3 rides in 6 hours.

It should also be made clear that it's really only for say, under 10s. There were lots of bored teenagers and a lot of the rides were for very young children. They should also make the rides longer than 2 minutes!

I left in a right grump, annoyed with the whole world. I just think if you're paying and travelling and making an effort, they should at least ensure it's semi pleasant, not like some torturous ordeal.

Having said that, my kids loved it (although they didn't like the crowds either).

We are due to visit this fri and sat, just checked the website and notice there is an event on, mini figures. We are traveling from Scotland, Im now a bit concerned that I hav missed something, are the local schools off and will this event affect the busyness of the park!

We went yesterday, it was heaving and about 10 coaches of school kids too. Its Mr golds brickfest (whatever....) on all week so I guess thats why. also all of Europe is now on summerholidays so lots of tourists too...

We went yesterday and didnt think it was too bad queue wise apart from the Laser Riders where we spent nearly an hour in a queue. Everything else was less than 15 mins wait so pleased we didn't bother with a QBot.

Thks, booked so we are going regardless, just wondered if I had missed something!

Mr Gold's Brickfest was on when we were there, but it was barely noticeable, just a few tents.

I think the worst queue are driving school and boating school.

Best bits: just walking around- adventure playgrounds, great views, miniland, oh and panning for gold was great!

Dragon's Lair wasn't working, Laser thingy wasn't working and the mono rail was closed when we went. I just get the impression that Legoland inc want your money and don't really care if you like it or not once you've paid.

A question about QBots, Kellogg's 2 adults for the price of 1 tickets, and paying on the day...

We are going on a weekend day in July. We are two adults (me and DH), 5 yo Ds1 and 1 yo Ds2.

Either me or DH will eb taking DS1 on the rides that he can go on. I can't see DS2 being old enough for any rides really. So can we get away with buying two QBots (one for DS1 and one for whichever adult will be going on with him)?

And do you think the queues will be horrendous on the gate on the day (we are planning on arriving early), and if so, can we use our kelloggs 2 for 1 voucher to buy online tickets and QBots in advance?

I am so looking forward to going!

The qbots are independent of entry ticket price as far as I can gather from the website. You cannot use the Kellogg's vouchers to pay in advance as online tickets are less than full price. The Kellogg's promo is on full price tickets. You have to have the same number of qbots as the number of people going on the ride so I think you will be okay with 2 but I would call and ask or ask on the day when you are there. Qbots are limited as well, I believe. Your DS1 will be able to go on all the rides...if he is tall for his age, he might get on driving school too (we fibbed to get them on as we knew they were capable of the driving).

Thanks glitter - sounds promising!

We have legoland Florida tickets for next summer so if the park is similar, we will have to work backwards from what they missed this time.

Happy you can take a 1 y old on quite a few of the rides, the little blue train in Duploland rarely has a queue more than 2-3 minutes, Fairy tale brook is quiet in the afternoon and rarely has queues, there are quite a few so a qbot for 2 id great for hubby and DS1, and inbetween rides you can all go on a few easy ones as a family.

RIDES YOU CAN DO WITH A 1 year old:

ATLANTIS
BLUE TRAIN
GREEN TRAIN
LAZER RIDERS
BALLOON SCHOOL
BOATING SCHOOL (worst queues...)

also there is the puppetshows, pirate show, 3D cinema etc and the legobuilding room, star wars, miniland....you will be busy and DS2 will have lots of fun!:)

forgot FAIRYTALE BROOK,
AND THE SPLASH VALLEY!!!!

Wow. I had no idea. What a treat for DS2, as he is usually carted round to everything that DS1 likes. He has never been on anything just for him before!

the worst day for crowding I have ever been was an inset day...bumped into a friend who lives near Legoland and is a regular and she confirmed it was super-busy.
Teach me to think I was being clever