It’s review time here at The Lego Car Blog, but unusually we’re not reviewing a LEGO set, because we – and a few Elven stow-aways – took an exciting trip to the Legoland Windsor Resort!
First opening in 1996, Legoland Windsor is located just outside Windsor in the south east of England and is now the UK’s post popular theme park, with a huge 2.4 million people visiting per year. That’s even more than the original Legoland park in LEGO’s native Billund.
Comprising of several hotels, miniature golf, and the park itself across 150 acres, there is a lot going on, and we’re focussing on the park today.
Arrival by car is relatively easy, with the magic beginning at the roundabout just outside the entrance, which features a few life-size brick-built deer recreating those that inhabit the surrounding royal forest, and making it much more interesting than the faded road signs, garden centre sponsorship, and ‘We Clear Your Junk’ posters that usually adorn the UK’s junctions.
The magic ends in the carpark however, which features nothing LEGO-y whatsoever, unless you count painted concrete blocks. A missed opportunity.
Fear not though, because it restarts a short walk up the hill to the entrance, which not only includes some impressively large models, but a view across the whole park beneath it, Windsor Castle (the real one), and – on a clear day – the skyscrapers of London beyond.
This view is afforded by the park stretching across a plain below the entrance, which is accessed by either the Hill Train or a switchback walk. The train runs regularly and has lots of space for wheelchairs and buggies, and has been pulling itself up and down the hill for nearly thirty years.
Which brings us to a notable deficiency of the Legoland Windsor park… its age. Well, not its age per-say, but its upkeep.
Back in the early ’00s The LEGO Company was in deep financial trouble, and thus it sold its theme parks to Merlin Entertainments to raise capital, who have since (in Legoland Windsor’s case) done a tremendous job increasing visitor numbers. But a terrible one painting a decorating.
The Hill Train (the first thing most visitors will ride) is faded and rotting, and where it deposits you (the iconic Miniland brick-built world) is little better. There are new models here (as it has evolved alongside the cities it recreates), including a fantastic space shuttle that blasts off every so often, but most models have stood since 1996. Which means today they are looking very tired indeed. One advantage of the passage of time however is the landscaping, which was exceptional at the park’s creation and has matured wonderfully in the three decades since.
Anyway, on to the rides… Continue reading
