Tips for a long car journey to Legoland with young children

[Kel33]

We are traveling to Legoland Windsor this weekend. Google is saying it's going to be 4hours 45mins journey from our house to there. Any tips for how to make the journey more tolerable for our 1 year old and our 6 year old?
The 6 year old isn't a great traveller so if he reads etc he gets headaches so any ideas of activities for him would be great!
Thank you!

Audiobooks and songs
Car bingo, or buy an I Spy book so he spends lots of time looking up and out of the window. We use this series of books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/i-SPY-Car-Journey-Collins-Michelin-dp-0008386447/dp/0008386447/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
Teach him how to make Keyrings or bracelets from Scoobi strings or Loom bands
A car picnic, or just lots of snacks!

For your 6 year old, Yoto player to listen to audiobooks/music (plus headphones) for the 1 year old, a constant stream of different things to hold, singing and hopes and prayers to be honest. Can stop half way for a couple of hours? Or travel in the evening so they go to sleep?

If he’s got a good attention span, then Addict A Ball marble maze is a good toy for long journeys

Are you staying over?

If so, I'd try to time parts of the journey to coincide with sleep, early morning or late night.

This is great - thank you! I will definitely give audio books a go. The bracelet making sounds great.

Is going by train at all possible? I suspect that would be far more comfortable.

Is the train an option?

Can you afford to take all day? In which case can you stop after say 3 hours for an outing en route, enjoy that and then do the last couple of hours later?

Put them in the car at 4am still in pjs so they go back to sleep. Stop halfway to ‘get up’ and for breakfast, so you’ve only got a couple of hours on entertainment to provide.
Getting there early is preferable, we were there yesterday and by lunchtime it was heaving and all the ride queues were over an hour. We got there at 9.30, on first ride at 10.05!
DD was so tired she slept a lot of the journey home too

Should be fine, kids travel better than adults usually and often nap. I spy, alphabet animals or countries game, I went to the shops … then family friendly music choices for a singalong, but ultimately I often put on serious talk programming (before podcasts existed) and they would nod off.

Unfortunately not, it would be multiple changes from where we are, much more expensive and longer die to changes etc and then we would be stuck without a vehicle. We did look into it but it wasn't feasible

That's a great idea as both our boys are early risers anyway - usually from 4.45am they are up! We are staying the night before and then Legoland in the morning - it's good info about getting there early as I have heard it can get busy - where the queues very long may I ask?

We are giving ourselves all day - going to arrive and stay in a hotel before going to Legoland in the morning so hopefully that will help!

I remember Legoland from when it was Windsor Safari park.
I used to go past it regularly until I got fed up of queues around Bracknell, Ascot and Windsor.
Windsor Great Park is worth a quick look, good place to run off excess energy.

If you are early risers then that a definite advantage, our first ride was a 5 minute queue. download the app, the live queue times are pretty accurate, by 11.30ish no queue was under 60 minutes unfortunately. The newer rides seem to have covered/indoor queues but older ones are uncovered and it was pretty hot so take plenty of water. We pre booked parking (needed an electric car charging space). They were pretty relaxed about taking in food and drinks which was good.

This will be one of the busiest weekends of the year. Get there as early as possible - pre book parking. Race down to the far end of the park & work your way back. We went once in the summer & only managed 3 rides. The crowds will start to go after 4ish so prepare yourselves for a long day & the queues will be better later.

It’s been a few years since I’ve been to Legoland but I used to be a regular with my DC. The first 90 minutes of the park opening is the least busiest so head immediately to the rides you want to do. Save the mini LEGO village and the Star Wars LEGO themed area and the shops etc for later in the day when the park is really busy.

The food is terrible and expensive, take a picnic. My DC loved the pirate show so we would head there 20 minutes before the show to secure a spot and eat lunch. The puppet theatre is also great and a good rest spot for tired legs.

Study a map of the park and plan your day, Legoland gets so busy, by the middle of the day it’s like the 7th circle of hell. You need to roughly know what rides you want to do and where they are located and do them first thing.

The last hour before the park closes is also slightly quieter. So any rides you don’t manage in the first 90 minutes, plan for the last hour.

The 3D cinema (films are 10 minutes long) is also well worth going to, we would attend towards the end of the day on the way back up the hill to the car park.

Take swim stuff for the splash park. Just double check the website for opening times.

Download the Legoland Windsor app, this has a map of the park, times of shows, details of any closed rides and rough waiting times on the day.

Lastly, the car park used to open an hour before the park opened, I would advise getting there as soon as possible; the car park is vast and it can take several minutes to walk from the car park to the entrance.

Have a great time!

That's a very long drive! I cant do anything other than look straight ahead in the car, otherwise I'm sick. Audio books, singing and sweets.
Queues are long. Queues everywhere. Wasps. Expensive food. Queues...
Manage your eldest's expectations - the whole place isn't entirely made of Lego and the stuff is not enormous. DD was so excited to go then cried because she literally expected the whole place to be made of Lego.

We would travel after dinner so they fall asleep around their usual bedtime. Then check in to the hotel around 10/11pm and transfer. Still not the best nights sleep for you and DH but the journey is then more tolerable. Same again for when you leave to come home: after legoland stop for dinner and put in pjs. Leave for home around bedtime

find games for looking out of the window - look some up, print off spotting sheets - so animals, car types, features etc

I spy endlessly lol, but also stops - makes it longer but its healthier in terms of sitting in car seats and also for the driver to be fair - try and look up alternative services which may have better outside play areas etc

take a picnic and make that one of the stops

I agree with travelling later in the eve as the 1 yr old will likely just sleep, then when you arrive one stays in car till room stuff sorted and then just carry sleeping kids in

Oh and a colouring pack is good - print off some pictures, small pack of crayons or pencils and put in a document folder. Alternatively one of those water painters - so a paintbrush with a small amount of water in the barrel and the painting paper with paint dots

Unfortunately most of the things you recommend no longer exist! I don’t think the Star Wars exhibition is there, and they’ve cut all the old shows - no pirate show, no puppet show and they’ve now ripped down the 4D cinema too (to be replaced I believe but currently nothing there).

Agree re crap food and the start and end of the day being quietest though!

Lolling at the previous poster saying children travel better than adults 😂😂😂 I don’t love long journeys but I’ve never screamed non stop for 4 hours as my baby niece did on a journey recently…my kids are relatively good in the car but 2 hours is about their limit before they start to get seriously whingy.

The Curious Kids Podcast - there is one on Lego which would be a good starting point.