The New shiny LEGOLAND 2017 hints tips and reviews thread! Come on in!

[HRHQueenMe]

LINK TO 2016 THREAD

Welcome to another season of LEGOLAND madness!
Please ask any Legoland related questions, there are loads of seasoned Legolanders here who know the place inside out. There have been loads of really great tips last year so please keep them coming!!!!
Please remember none of us work for Legoland, we are all mums dads childminders and locals who are sharing what we know!
Please keep it friendly. If you had a good bad or plain ugly experience share it too!

Stop off at local supermarket on the way in?
Read this today and found it useful cardiffmummysays.com/family-travel/uk-family-travel/18-top-tips-visiting-legoland-windsor/

We went to Legoland yesterday and had a great day.
The weather was good so the kids were able to play in the splash park. Make sure you have £2 for the body dryers.
I don't think it was massively busy yesterday,many queues were fairly short,the big popular rides still had long queues,The Dragon/log flume/laser raiders.
The Qbot mobile was brilliant and we didn't queue for anything,I felt really bad 'pushing in'
We took a picnic,we did buy ice creams and water,it was v expensive. I wish they had water fountains.

We went to legoland yesterday and we had a brilliant day. If you can afford Q-bots i would definately recommend them. We got on pretty much every ride and then went back round and did some others again. They are especially useful if you have ypunger kids who dont queue very well.

Definately watch the shows. The pirate show is really good and we watched it twice as the kids enjoyed it so much. The lego friends show is fun as well.

Getting there early is best. We were on lazer raiders as soon as the park opened as that get busy very quickly. Head to the back abd work your way forward.

I also reccomend the lost child wrist bands. Just put your contact number on the band and people can get hold of you easily should you and child be seperated. Also if its you or your childs birthday let them know. They give you a big happy birthday badge, put the names on the info board and the staff are good and noticing and saying happy birthday.

Lastly definately bring your own food if you can. The food around the park smells so good but the prices aren't so much.

Re the supermarket for the second day, we found it slowed us down quite a bit. By the time we had had the hotel breakfast and packed the car for home, stopping to get fresh supplies left us in a very long tailback when we wanted to be at Legoland. We were staying in the Holiday Inn in Slough, by the way.

That scenario would need quite an early start, and efficient packing and shepherding out, to be effective.

Hi all
Just wondering if anyone can advise which would be the best time to go around October half term
We would be able to go the Friday and Saturday starting half term or the following Sunday and Monday. As due to inset days we have the Friday before and Monday after off.
Also which is the best hotel with parking attached?

Right, off tomorrow and travelling from warmish north west. Any last minute tips? Trainers or ugly but practical sandals? Will kids need a towel for water bit?

Couple of questions please
Going next Friday, so during termtime, how busy will it be?
Also any suggestions for somewhere to eat outside the park on the route back to the M4?
Thanks

Right, just got back (after 4 hour drive), so bang up to date. If staying over (like we did), pasties and interesting bread sticks are the way forward for day 2. Leave the healthy stuff at home. We discovered the joy of q bot on day 2 but it's naughty that you have to pay extra for the lazer/ninja. We didn't do add ons. Laser is a bit shit, but ds loved it.

Couldn't fault the place, although people queue jumping when the gates open in the morning is naughty. Dh donned his imaginary yellow jacket and reminded those hiding in the star wars bit that they needed to queue lie the rest of us.

DS's school is closed for the General Election on Thursday (it's a polling bag station) so we're taking advantage of a term time weekday & heading to LegoLand.
This thread has been fab, thanks for all the great tips!

Annual pass holder here. Just got back from a visit today, our first visit since the new Ninjago ride opened last week. Well I must say its having a massive impact on the queues for other rides, I think everyone in the park must have been in the one queue! Bearing in mind today is the last Sunday of half term, Atlantis never had a more than 10 minute wait, and at 1.30pm we could just walk straight on to the Viking Rapids. 1 minute wait for the Dragon, Squid surfers, Mia's Riding adventure etc. The only other long queues at around 45 mins were Laser raiders and Coastguard HQ (of course). A friend of mine had a very similar experience a few days ago. Don't know when the novelty will wear off though!
As far as the Ninjago ride is concerned, it was excellent, but very hard work on the arms and shoulders! It is basically a more hi-tech laser raiders type ride, using motion sensing, you wear 3D glasses, and 'shoot' using hand movements. Good fun! Definitely make your way there first. They are now allowing you down into miniland from around 9.45am, (hill train entrance, the barrier is still up at StarWars entrance till 10) and hold you there until 10am when you can take the short walk to the Ninjago area. We were very early this morning and were in the first group of riders. When we came off the ride the queue was already showing a 50 minute wait, and stayed above that for the rest of the day.

Sorry that should have said 10 minute wait for the Dragon etc

Hi all
Off to Legoland tomorrow and had a couple of last minute questions

Qbot
Should I book now - I guess I'll still have to queue for my device
Can you book in advance on qbot mobile or should I just wait till the day and book qbot mobile? I'm all about avoiding queues!

Lunch and lockers
Can I carry a rucksack with my lunch in around the park. Safe to leave on buggy when we are on rides?
Or is it best to use lockers? Not sure how far I'd have to walk to pick up our bags when we need lunch?

Any other tips gratefully received!

Thanks

Hey Angea 09

I booked our Q-bots the day before along with our parking pass. We arrived around half 9 and there was no queue to pick up our Q-bot. It was pretty quick and easy.

We took lunch with us and left it on the buggy. It was pretty safe and nothing was taken.

Ive added my tips for a good day just a bit further up the page. Have a lovely time x

I'm planning to take my children for my son's birthday in September - looking at inset day at the very beginning of September. Can anyone advise on the cheapest way to get tickets for 1 adult and 2 or possibly 3 children? We'll be driving up for the day from London.

Thanks so much for the tips Jess! You're earlier post really useful too

Sanity just to warn you, some of the busiest days I have ever been to Legoland have been inset days at the beginning of September. As far as I can tell most schools have a couple of inset days then, and people assume it will be quiet and all visit on the same day!

Hi - I'm planning on going early next month.
Do they do a deal where you can buy (much cheaper) entry into the park the following day (I saw at Alton Towers last time that it said something along the lines of come back tmw for £10)?

Also shocked at the £60 entry - on the website it said gate price was £45! I have Cadbury vouchers (bogof I think) and need 3 tickets - what's the best way of doing it?

Tia

Curtains - you can get free entry on day 2 if you book a legoland holiday package and book as well hotel through the website. We have done this. You can't use other vouchers/deals with it though

Think gate price varies depending on whether you book in advance or just turn up on the day or if it's a weekday/weekend or school holiday. Again don't think you can always use vouchers etc if you book in advance

Ah, we already have accommodation sorted . I'd hoped they might want to entice us back for another day (especially as it would be a Monday)....

The very cheapest way is normally Tesco reward vouchers sanity if you've got them or can do a deal with a relative.
secure.tesco.com/clubcard/boost/legoland-windsor-resort-1-day-ticket/UK-004594.prd

I'm a pass holder too, we went yesterday and it was very quiet. What someone else said about the new rides may have helped.

I did notice armed police at the end of the day for the first time by the gates. Sign of the times.

Thanks for the thread, will keep an eye out for any extra tips :-)

Just got back from a great weekend at Legoland thanks to all the tips on here. Never been before to compare but a staff member said the rides were quiet compared to usual so I think the new Ninjago ride may have helped. This morning when the gates were opened people were running in that direction!

We stayed at a hotel in Bracknell which had apartment rooms (master bedroom, lounge with fold out beds for kids and a kitchenette). The fridge in the kitchen was great as we stocked up on picnic stuff from local Tesco on the way so we could have picnics both days and save some money.
We also used tesco clubcard vouchers to eat out on the first night (we went to a Chef and Brewer pub but a couple of pizza expresses in the area as well) which saved a lot of money and I then felt I could spend the savings on a qbot. Fab tip from someone - plan your day so you can book your next ride as soon as you get on a ride so some of the waiting time is taken up by actually being on the ride. We started at the back of the park (Atlantis) and then worked our way down. It was hard for the kids to see all the rides and have to walk past them but I think it helped cut down the walking they had to do throughout the day
Ate our lunch whilst watching the pirate show as advised here - thanks!

We tried to do most of the rides on the first day when we had the qbot and found that the second day we were okay without it. We made a plan and headed straight to coastguard hq as the gates opened and so hardly queued for that one. Then did things you didn't need to queue for like the water park (definitely bring a towel) and other play parks and less popular rides in duplo village as we had a 2 year old with us.

Thanks again all

Can anyone help with where best to stay if you are carless? We've bought annual passes with clubcard vouchers already. So just a hotel hopefully with a convenient shuttlebus?

Hello, just sorting out tesco vouchers (the ones were you spend voucher plus about £13 per ticket) and panicing about whether the days I'm picking are off peak or not (if I make a mistake we will be turned away at the gate!) It's in July but before the local schools break up.
If they are the cheapest tickets on the website (£30) they must be off peak surely? I can't see anyway to email legoland to double check.