Following on from my recent post about Flamingo Land, I thought it would be fun to tackle one of the UKs bigger parks this time around, Legoland Windsor!
My first ever visit was only last year and I remember being underwhelmed with the overall experience. A subsequent second visit for Brick or Treat vastly improved this and I now rank it much higher!
Anyway, the park in its current state is good. It has some well themed areas, some excellent attractions and a good layout but I think there are a lot of improvements that could be made.
Firstly I think there is a distinct lack of representation for the Technic brand, as well as no mention whatsoever of anything to do with The Lego Movie or Bionicle. The first thing I would do is invest in a new area themed to the Technic line of products which would include a new, more thrilling rollercoaster than the park currently has.
This new ride wouldn’t be anything too intense but something like Dragons Fury, Rattlesnake, Cobra or Storm Chaser would fit in just nicely so long as the trains were Lego themed with plenty of brickwork models scattered about. If it were me, I’d be looking to Mack, Gerstlauer or Vekoma to install something, whether it be spinner from Mack, Bobsled from Gerstlauer or a suspended thrill coaster from Vekoma.
Other rides in the new area could certainly include a Zamperla Nebulaz or even a Powersplash from Mack. Things that would stand out on their own as additions to the park but also fit well into the Technic theme. This area would be focused on the more thrillseeking guests but still be tame enough for the family market that Legoland dominates.
Other changes would include doing something to Coastguard HQ as we found the ride to be very underwhelming. The boats are very slow even as a family ride, and when you’re out on the water, there isn’t all that much to see. There are some excellent models dotted about and the elephant that squirts water is one of the more memorable ones but other than that, I don’t recall all that much!
The submarine ride and Fire HQ are good, the latter especially as it not only offers a family based, team experience but also does a great job of educating the younger ones about the risks and causes of house fires. Big props here!
As for the submarine ride, it’s a great take on the Sealife attraction that most of the Merlin parks have but I feel the windows are too far down and I ended up sitting on the floor to get as much as I could from the attraction and even then, vision was limited! Bigger windows in the subs and potentially make the submarines themselves deeper to accommodate larger windows or have them steadily drop into the tank to allow them to go deeper into the attraction. Otherwise it’s a great and unique attraction here in the UK.
My next biggest gripe with the park is the Sky Rider. That is so under utilised it’s unreal. Why doesn’t it go over and around miniland?! That seems like the perfect use for it, but instead it travels around what is arguably the most vacant part of the park with nothing much to see at all.
Add to the track, have it ride around all of miniland and maybe have an audio track play that gives small facts and figures about miniland’s areas and structures.
Finally the Viking Splash ride needs a bit of work. When both Tracy and Myself got off it we both said the same thing. It’s a proper rapids ride, that really throws water about and bounces you around which is great but the whole area lacks enough theming!
The trough is basic concrete and uncoloured and there are a good few Lego models around the attraction but it needs more. It needs a cave or some special effects to bring it into its own and it could also do with building into the hill side a little better as it feels like a bit if an eyesore with how it sticks out and looms over Ninjago World. The ride is good but the execution and theming could be vastly improved!
Other than that, Mythica is excellent. So is Pirate Shores and Knights Kingdom – though I think Knights Kingdom could do with a new ride or two. Miniland is massive but fantastic to walk around and so are the little areas designed to allow guests to just build with Lego.
I’d love to see an area designed purely for the older Lego builders such as Tracy and I who are avid Lego collectors but don’t feel as well catered for. I know it’s a family themed park but I would be nice to see a little more for the older folk!
Merchandising is good as you would expect from Lego and they even have a set based on the actual park. It could do with having a few more of the actual attractions in it but it’s still a great thing to own. T-shirts and the usual merchandise are good though could be improved with ride specific designs like Alton Towers and Pleasure Beach do, but this is a minor thing.
I’d also like to see a pick a brick wall added to the shop, with facilities in place to allow you to collect missing parts from your existing Lego sets, as well as building your own custom set by picking out all the individual parts too!
To conclude, Legoland probably doesn’t need quite as much doing to it as what Flamingo land does, but it could still use a few changes here and there and new additions to the already great line-up!
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