My Top 5 Tips for Making the Most of Legoland Windsor

We’ve been wanting to go to Legoland for sometime as our daughter is at the perfect age for it, she’s 5.  We went on the weekend and had an amazing time.  Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the day.

1) Don’t be a ‘Nobby No-Mate’

Legoland For Families

I’m always moaning that places don’t give breaks to families of three.   However, on this occasion I had 4 tickets and managed to persuade a mum at school to allow me to ‘borrow’ her son for the day, still a bit in shock that someone would leave their most prized possession in my care.  It was perfect, he had a fabulous time and my daughter had someone to share the excitement with.

2) Do it Backwards

Miniland at Legoland Windsor

When you first walk into the park, everyone naturally migrates to the right, working their way down the hill, starting with the Land of Vikings.  However, if you head left when entering the park and work your way down the hill towards MiniLand, where 40 million pieces of Lego have been used to recreate well known places, such as London,  you’ll miss the masses.

Plus, this means that you do Land of the Vikings, where you’re bound to get wet, at the end of the day and not the beginning, so you don’t have to walk around with a soggy bum all day!  Unless you’ve been clever enough to bring a rain poncho!

3) Jump the Queues

Legoland for Kids

If you’re feeling a bit flush, you can rent Q-Bots for the day.  It allows you to book in a time slot for your chosen ride so you don’t need to stand in the queues, prices start from £15.

We were very lucky when we went.  Firstly, it was fairly quiet, in terms of theme parks, so the queues really weren’t that bad.  We were also lucky enough to have special VIP tickets which allowed us to access the Q-Bot entrances, we felt a bit guilty at first doing this, but got over it fairly quickly as it meant we got to go on a lot more rides.

4) Catch a show

eatingatlegolandwindsor

This was pure chance and I can’t take credit for it.  Just before 12, the little ones started getting hungry so we headed to Lego City for a bit of lunch.  People were starting to gather but we had no idea what was going on.  We chose to eat at the Burger Ranch, which had typical Theme Park food, but had tables that overlooked the Lagoon and the Lighthouse and unbeknownst to us we practically had front row seats to the Pirate Show!

5) Bring your Swimming Kit

Splash Park at Legoland Windsor

Originally we were invited to celebrate the opening of Duplo Valley Splash and Play, the new water park.  We did bring swimming kit for the kids but we honestly didn’t think they would go in as the weather hasn’t been very good.  However, the sun popped out and they were determined.

It’s an amazing splash park, contained so you don’t have to worry about them escaping with a very comfortable viewing area for the parents.  The best bit was the giant bucket tipping and absolutely flooding the place.

Thanks to the Team at Legoland Windsor for an amazing day.  Something we’ve wanted to do for a long time.

 

Things to do at Thorpe Park if you’re 5

‘Mummy, you know that place we went to on the weekend, I call it the best place ever!’ M age 5

Thorpe Park was originally marketed for 16- 24 year olds, so when I first invited myself along, I was a bit worried that there would not be enough for my 5 year old to do.  I had a quick look on the site and there were a few rides for kids starting from 900mm through to 1.1m.

The first thing I had to work out was how tall she was.  Luckily, she takes after her mum and dad, she’s not freakishly tall but a bit taller than your average 5 year old.  Once I got her to stand still, I worked out that she was 116 cm.  Result!  Plus, we also got her to wear her Heely’s without the wheels which gave her another 3-4 centimetres.

These are all the rides that she was able to go on.  We may have been able to sneak her onto a few of the 1.2m rides but didn’t want to jeopardize her safety.

Thorpe Park for Younger Children

Rides for 5 year olds at Thorpe Park

900mm

  • Zodiac – spinning sensation, say good-bye to your lunch
  • Depth Charge – 4 lane super slide
  • Flying Fish – Bonus, the kids could go on without parental supervision!
  • Rumba Rapids – Yes, my bum got very wet!
  • Rocky Express – I can’t believe they went on it 5 times in a row!  I would’ve been sick.
  • Mr. Monkey’s Banana Ride – My daughter’s favourite as it gave her butterflies in her tummy.

1m

  • Logger’s Leap – a classic log flume with two drops
  • X – an indoor rollercoaster with a light and sound show

1.1 m

  • Storm Surge – swirling water ride

As you can see there was more than enough to entertain us for the day and we managed to avoid the Tea Cups.  If you count the Carousel she was able to go on at least 10 rides.

Disclosure:  our tickets were complimentary.

 

 

 

 

My Friday Five: Local Parks (Herts)

With Half-Term looming, remind me to get loads of wine in, I thought I’d share some of our favourite parks to visit.  For the most part they’re free; however there is a chance you’ll be fleeced when you get there.

The weather isn’t looking promising so you’ll need to wrap up!

As the Comedian, Billy Connolly once said

There’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing, so get yourself a sexy raincoat and live a little’.

In no particular order here are 5 of our favourite Local Parks:

Stockwood Discovery Centre in Luton, technically it’s not a park but it’s free to go in there is an amazing outdoor play area, grab a latte in the cafe and watch your kids play, the children’s menu is reasonable and they have seasonal exhibits, currently they have DinoMites, which my daughter really enjoyed but it costs extra.

Cassiobury Park in Watford, parking is a nightmare but they have a fantastic play area, something St Albans should aspire to, there is a Mini Steam Train, hot dog stand and make sure you make the effort to wander down to the canal and see the Locks.

Aldenham County ParkAldenham County Park – one of our all time favourites, it’s free to go in but you have to pay to get out of the car park, if I remember correctly it’s about a fiver and take change.  However, there is a great adventure playground, Winnie the Pooh’s 100 Akre Wood and a few Nature Walks.  Back in the day it was all free but sadly they’ve gone a bit commercial and now you can pay for the Rare Breeds Animal Farm, Pony Rides and Tree Climbing.

Ashridge Estate – Fancy getting the kids outside to blow off some steam?  Then this is for you.  We love it.  There is a cafe where you can get lunch, loads of trees to climb, kick a ball around the foot of the monument or they have organised activities during half-term (Halloween Madness and Skeleton and Skulls).

Knebworth Gardens and Dinsosaur Trail – sadly their Pumpkin Trail is sold out, but it’s a great day out, the Dinosaur Trail, with 72 life sized Dinosaurs, will keep them busy for hours and then you can drive around to the Fort and Playground, we love the slide that goes through the middle of the hill Note:  This one is not free!

As I’ve done most of these, I will be at a loose end myself, so all suggestions (cheap) welcome!

 

 

Experience the Magic: Eurodisney 2012

Sleeping Beauty's CastleWe’ve always wanted to take my daughter to Disneyland but we’re not currently in a position to do so. She is nearly 5 so is at the perfect age, old enough to remember it, but still young enough to experience the magic. So, when Auto Trader offered us a trip to Eurodisney outside of Paris we jumped at the chance.

The Journey

The journey was fairly easy. A Subaru Forester was delivered to us on the Thursday night. We drove to Folkestone to catch the Eurotunnel; the crossing was only 35 minutes, followed by a 3 hour drive on the other side. However, the motorways in France are so much better than here in the UK and so are the services.

I know very little about cars and am not a petrol head so can’t say a lot about the car except it was comfortable, easy to drive, much quieter than our own diesel Passat, excellent fuel mileage, loads of room in the boot and we even had enough room for ‘Yellow Bear’. According to my husband ‘it made the journey relaxing’. It had a rather odd locking system, but we eventually worked it out.

The park wasn’t brilliantly sign posted but I’d purchased France maps for my Sat Nav, which proved invaluable!

Accommodation

We stayed in the Hotel Cheyenne which is a Western Themed hotel, which is one of the Disney Hotels. The bonus of staying at one of the Disney Hotels, you get 2 hours in the park in the morning before everyone else. Bliss! Plus, each morning the Disney Characters come to the hotel to meet the kids and take photos, which allows you to avoid the huge queues to see them in the park.

Getting around Eurodisney is a breeze they lay on buses which run ever few minutes all day to run you to and from the Park and only take about 5 minutes. So you can always pop back to the hotel if you need a bit of a break, which we did!

The Park

Now for the Park, it was truly magical! There are rides for everyone. Yes, the queues are a long but to avoid some of the queues you can use the Fast Pass system which is free. Basically visit the ride, take a ticket then come back at your allotted time. Our daughter’s favourite rides were the Flying Elephants, Peter Pan’s Flight and It’s a Small World which we did several times. I still have that song in my head! One of our highlights was the Parade. Do make sure you see one while you’re there.

I have to admit, as slightly older parents it was absolutely knackering. I felt like I’d run a marathon but it was worth every minute. It wasn’t about us it was all about her. As you can see by the video, she had the time of her life and hopefully will remember it in years to come.

Disclosure: The entire trip was courtesy of Autotrader who have been uniting people with their dream cars for over 35 years. We can’t thank them enough for making our daughter’s dream come true.

Autotrader are currently running a fabulous competition where each week someone wins an ultimate driving experience.  Simple spin the wheel on the Dream Machine. #MyCarStory