Legoland Windsor - under 5's, is it worth it?

[ugloo]

Sorry to post here but more parent traffic!

Is Legoland Windsor worth it for under 5's? Thinking of an annual pass, basically an annual pass right now will cost us £34 extra than a one day pass!

If not are there any other suggestions for theme parks in witin 2 hours of London that are fun for under 5's!

Thanks

I would say, no. We took DS for his 5th birthday in the summer. DD was 15 months at the time.

I felt that 5 was the right age to to - most of the rides were suitable for him. There were some suitable for DD but not too many and one of us spent long periods of time sitting around waiting while the other went on rides with DS.

How about Chessington....we went last summer when DD was just over 2, and she loved it.

Took my 3 year old in October and he absolutely loved it. He wasn't tall enough to get on some of the rides but he wasn't that bothered.

There's a fab digger bit and loads of train type things for them to go on

Hello

We went twice this summer with friends. We had 3 x 5 year olds, 1 x 3 year old and 1 x 2 year old.

There are some things which are suitable for all - boat rides, carousel type rides but quite a lot that the smaller two couldn't go on. The driving schools (which seem to be everyones favourite) are for 2 different age groups - one is for 3-5 year olds but my 2 year old was definitely capable of driving the car and there is no height restriction - they just have to tell the staff member how old they are (hence a lot of "how old are you? no not 2, you're 3" questions in the queue!) The 5 year olds went on the one for 6 year olds and up as the younger one is way too simple for them.

In summer the queues are huge! It's expensive and exhausting but the kids really do love it.

What age are your two ugloo ?

We took DS when he was 2.5 and he loved it. He couldn't do all of the rides but there was more than enough for him to do and we all really enjoyed it as Legoland is well thought out.

We went last September with ds1 (3.6) and ds2 (2.4). ds1 loved, loved, loved it - was a total thrill-seeker and didn't even mind the log flume ride gettting stuck for 20 mins.

But ds2 didn't really get anything out of it, partly because he couldn't get on a lot of the rides and partly because he just had a cob on that day .

I'm def planning to go back this year as I'm hoping ds2 will enjoy it more.

Also, if you do go - take your own food. The cafes are expensive and rubbish.

We went with dc (1, 3 and 5) - 5 yr old loved it. 3 yr old liked it (but got angry that he couldn't go on quite a lot of the rides) and it was rubbish for 1 year old. It was also rubbish for families of 5 - lots of rides with 2 riders so I spent a long time hanging around with 2 dc while dh and 1 dc went on something.

Queues were horrendous - we went October half term and had to queue for no less than an hour for EVERY ride. We live very close to Alton Towers (so sorry don't know what your local parks are like) - and found that much much better. Lego land was full of dc (obviously) all trying to get on the same rides. Alton Towers (even when busy) - has quieter kiddie rides.

However - everyone else I have ever spoken to has loved Legoland so maybe it was just the day we went (not helped by losing a 3 yr old for 20 minutes!)

thanks for all the feedback.

the park doesn't open until april and by then they will be 4.11yrs and 2.5yrs..

difficult one based on ages and your experiences, would be a shame if 2.5yr old couldn't do very much...sweetcake been there! last year at thomasland!

to go once it will cost us £102 or get a year pass for £136! however green cake mixes offering free kids voucher on box (thanks to going)and maybe i'll have enough tesco clubcard vouchers to get one visit in?!

right, i'll have a google on chessington!

We had the merlin passes last year, it covers all the merlin attractions, Lego,chessington, Thorpe park, London eye, sea life centres plus others.
My dd's are 11,10 and 3. They all loved legoland, lots of rides for the little ones and the shows are good too.
Definitely worth the money.

molly i've just seen that on the chessington site, merlin premium pass is £338 for the family! definately worth thinking about thanks!

We got our merlin pass with tesco vouchers - took some saving but has been well used!

i thought legoland was really good for a 2 year old actually. although possibly if you have slightly older ones with you too that want to queue for rides makes it a bit more difficult, when we took 2 year old (+baby but he didnt do much, just relaxed in buggy..) we just skipped all the rides and did everything else, which i thought there was quite a bit of stuff to keep them occupied without having to queue, like the miniland my ds absolutely loved because the little moving trains in the models and stuff really captivated him, and the playground areas etc, the little mountain train, lego building and playing area and other stuff we didnt go to like the water area is apparently really good?
the height restrictions are not too bad on some of the rides, i think mine would have been fine even though he was only just 2 but dont think he would have coped well with queues was the reason for giving them a miss, rather than height

legoland is perfect for ages 2 onwards and mostly for the children 90cm and above as they get to go on many of the rides and at 1 metre as many 3-5s often are there is even more choice - we have been going for years - children 6, 4 and they LOVE it... excellent value with the pass and even better if you save with Tesco

We took DD several times in the 18 months before she started school. We had a great time, DD is tall and was able to do most of the activities for younger children, and being able to go during term time meant that there were no queues and the visit was a joy.