Plucky Pirates needed at LEGOLAND Windsor

Are you brave and courageous?

Are you ready to take on swash-buckling rides?

Do you look good in an eye-patch?

If you answered yes to all of the above, then LEGOLAND needs you.

LEGOLAND are busy working on making the resort better than ever with the new and improved Pirate Shores and we were lucky enough to be invited to see the progress so far.

We are huge fans of LEGOLAND and have been a few times over the years, but not having been for two years, there were lots of new things to see.  Pirate Shores has had a makeover and there are lots of new models all around including a new spider on top of the Spinning Spider ride, which the children noticed straight away.  Apparently, the new one is bigger and more scary looking as it moves as you are spinning around.

 

Every pirate needs to take a ride on the Jolly Rocker Pirate Ship.  The children loved this ride and insisted on trying it out several times.  Mummy couldn’t cope with it more than once though as she felt a little queasy afterwards.  I think I am better at swabbing the decks.

 

LEGOLAND are busy building a new play area in Pirate Shores which will be called ‘Castaway Camp’.  We did have peek through the fence and it looks like it will be awesome and we can’t wait to come back again and see it.

 

An old favourite of mine is the log flume and this too has had a makeover.  Pirate Falls Treasure Quest Log Flume lulls you into a false sense of security as you drift around looking at the fantastic new models on display.  You almost forget about the very big drop at the end and the complete soaking that you are going to get.  A brilliant, must-do ride that we all loved.

 

We were lucky enough to go in an hour before the public and Pirate Shores and the Knights’ Kingdom were open especially for us.  This was a great opportunity to take a good look around and try the rides and the children were very keen to get to Knights’ Kingdom to try out The Dragon roller coaster and the Dragon’s Apprentice which is the rollercoaster for younger riders.

One of the children’s favourite rides in the whole of LEGOLAND is Knights’ Quest which is a train that goes around a circular track.  Don’t be fooled by this harmless looking ride; it goes very quickly and all three children made full use of their queue free time on this ride, I can tell you.

 

Once our brave buccaneers had conquered the heady heights of Knights’ Kingdom and Pirate Shores, we set off to explore the rest of LEGOLAND.  Next on the ‘must do’ list was Adventure Land for the S.Q.U.I.D. Surfer; another favourite ride from our last visit. Another fast ride where you are pretty much destined to get wet with the spectators pressing buttons to make water explode next to you.

 

 

There was no time to lose, our intrepid explorers wanted to move on, so after a quick and tasty  pit-stop at the all you can eat buffet at the City Walk Pizza and Pasta, we headed into Traffic where we separated into Driving School and L-Drivers for a spot of driving practice.  A was particularly keen to earn her LEGO licence (there is an extra charge for this) to follow in family tradition. She took her test very seriously and then announced that she would be driving us all home when she had her ‘official’ licence.

 

 

 

Next stop was the Fire Academy which definitely bought out the competitive streak in Stressy Daddy who was determined that their fire engine was going to win the race. although judging by his aim with the water, I’m  glad he’s not giving up his day job.

 

 

The next stop was the Kingdom of the Pharoahs with the Aero Nomad which A loves as it is like a big wheel, only smaller and also the Desert Chase Carousel and Thunder Blazer chair-o-planes.  R and I left Daddy and the younger ones on these rides as we headed off to battle baddies in Laser Raider, where you spin around a track with a laser gun firing at targets to reveal a few unexpected surprises.  R was a little upset that I beat him at this and I was rather surprised, but this is another great ride and lots of fun.

One ride that I had been looking forward to was Atlantis as I had never been able to go before.  On Atlantis, you board a yellow submarine and go off on a voyage to discover the lost city and beneath your feet, you can see a vast array of fish and sharks as well as some pretty amazing LEGO models.  It was a real highlight for me and I would recommend it although the queues for this ride can get pretty long.

By mid afternoon, the weather was quite warm, so we made our way to DUPLO Valley.  This was another new attraction for us and the children were pretty excited by the prospect and then when they saw it, they were thrilled.  DUPLO Valley is a play area with a difference.  There are some great rides, amazing play areas but the bit we wanted to see were the water play areas. Split into two areas that are easily accessible to each other, Splash Safari and Drench Towers are fantastic.  Water features, slides and all things wet, the children absolutely loved this part of LEGOLAND.  If you are thinking about making the most of DUPLO Valley, you need to bring swimming trunks and costumes and lots of towels, there are driers but they do get busy.

Finally, dry and tired, we start to head home but not before a gentle stroll around Miniland which we always enjoy.   Here you can see the world in miniature and it is all created from LEGO.  We love spotting the places that we recognise and finding out about new ones.  I was veryimpressed by the new Parisian models, in particular the Eiffel Tower which looks very impressive.

 

 

We had a fabulous day at LEGOLAND Windsor.  It is one of our favourite places and always enjoy it.  We were lucky enough to have Fast Track access to all of the rides, which did of course make a huge difference to the day and I would definitely use the Q-Bot system when we go again. Which we most definitely will.

 

A huge thank you to LEGOLAND Windsor for inviting us for the day, we had an amazing day.  We were given free entry to the park, Fast Track access and refreshments for the purpose of this review.  All images and opinions are our own.