A few weeks ago, I went to Legoland with my little girl who is three and a half (and that half is very important, I’ll have you know!). I’ve always been curious about the park, with Ferndale so close by and quite a few of our residents there being grandparents.
It’s an absolutely fantastic place for children. I heartily recommend getting there bright and early, because we arrived for opening time and therefore didn’t queue for the first three rides at all.
Our favourites were:
- Atlantis. This was amazing. It’s an aquarium, but instead of the usual setup where you wander around large tanks, we were ushered onto a 16-seater submarine (there are several, on an underwater track) which moved through a gigantic tank, full of marine life. We saw many sharks – some as large as 5′ – and rays and other exotic fish. Ruby especially liked it, because she finds the crowds and people pressing around the tanks in a conventional aquarium, a bit scary sometimes, and so she was very relaxed having her own little seat and her own little window and no pushing and jostling. We went round twice, because she enjoyed it so much.
- The Duplo Train. A lovely small-scale ride, this little train goes twice around a figure of eight track, passing comical Lego tableaux of birds. Our little girl sat in the front train part by herself and we sat in a little carriage just behind and she was thrilled to be ‘the driver’!
- Miniland. These are the famous model cities. Many countries are represented (Ruby liked London and also Holland – windmills – best.), and all the models have moving vehicles and trains. We spent about three-quarters of an hour pottering round admiring the huge number of sets and the impressive detail.
There was so much to do, that we didn’t even cover half the park and will definitely go back. For little ones, the new Duplo paddling area is amazing – slides and splash areas and all sorts of exciting waterplay stuff – and of course no queues for that one! Overall, I felt it was better than a couple of other theme parks that I’ve been to, because as well as the large, very fast rides there were lots of gentle ones for toddlers and preschoolers. Often there are only two or three rides that are suitable, whereas at Legoland there’s more than a dozen that a very small person would enjoy.
Pics L-R: Loving the Aero Nomad ride, which is big wheel with hot air balloon ‘cars’ to sit in; Miniland; Brickville in Duplo Land; Atlantis. (images 2-4 from Legoland materials)
The cost of the tickets does mean that it’s got to be a special treat, but they are excellent value, considering the incredible amount of rides and activities available. I haven’t even mentioned the acrobatic pirate water show, and the other events that they run during the course of the day!
Unfortunately the food for sale in the park isn’t fabulous. Baguettes from the sandwich stands are the best thing to get, or take a picnic – there’s a lovely lake and loads of picnic tables for you to use…
Top tip: Do keep an eye out, because there are lots of offers such as ‘second day free’ and let’s face it, if you have the grandkids for the weekend, and they spend Saturday and Sunday at Legoland, they will definitely sleep well!
