Last time we were in the UK I was completely devastated to find out that Legoland Windsor doesn't open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for certain parts of the year. So as well as the Harry Potter studios, Legoland was at the top of the priority list to do this time.
So off I trundled today.
And what a glorious day it was!! Mostly sunny with the odd cloud or two, thickening a little in the afternoon. Totally made up for last time.
Firstly let me tell you that getting to and from Legoland by public transport is a major pain in the butt. I had to take three trains and a bus each way. Not only that but Windsor and Eton Central station is completely un user friendly and information on how to get to Legoland is nonexistent once you're there. But I don't have a car so I had no choice.
OK so I started by getting a tube train to Paddington. No problems there, just one train from Earl's Court.
Now I'd read somewhere online that you could get a "combined" ticket to cover the train, bus and entry to the park. Well the dude I talked to wasn't too sure about that, but he did sell me a train ticket, as well as a ticket for the bus and park entry. £46.90 all up for return trips. OK so far so good. Checked at an information desk to make sure I was setting up to do the right thing. The idea is I'd go from Paddington to Slough on the express train, then hop on a train from Slough to Windsor and Eton Central, and then I'd have to go hunting for the bus stop. The ladies told me to go out of the station, turn right and head down the road a bit. OK, this should work.
So got on the express. Had to hunt through the train to find a seat that wasn't reserved. It left at 8:21am. Been on the go for half an hour now.
The trip to Slough is actually very quick - only about twenty minutes or so. At Slough you change to what seems to be a shuttle train that just goes between Slough and W&E Central. It was there on the other platform so just walked across and hopped on. Easy.
When I arrived at W&E Central, things started to go downhill. They're doing station works, and there's all these shops and arcades around the station, so it's really not clear which is the actual exit of the station. I found an opening that faced the castle so hoped that was it. But there's no signage *anywhere* for Legoland. It's like noone ever tries to do the same thing as I was trying to do.
So I got out to the castle and turned right, but really had no clue at all if I was going the right way. I eventually came across a bus stop and found some tiny print on one of the timetables on the bus stop something that mentioned buses from Legoland. From. Ok, so I thought I'd go cross the road and see what the other side said. OK so there was an A4 sized sheet about the Legoland shuttle. You can take a 191 or a 200. First departure: a 191 at 9:38. It was 9:10. OK so sat down to wait.
Finally, a sign for the Legoland Shuttle
Clearly the lack of signage is not just me imagining it. Several other confused tourists came and asked me if this was where to catch the Legoland buses. I said "hope so!!"
The bus was a little late, but did come, and my ticket worked. Yayy!
Arrived at Legoland around 10:05. But then I had to find someone that would convert my train/park entry ticket into a park entry ticket the machines would understand. The regular gate people couldn't do it so had to go to guest services. Luckily the lady there knew all about it but said they don't get many of them.
So at 10:15ish I finally enter the park!!! Only took two and half hours.
Legoland Windsor entrance
The place is pretty huge. And the map is more of a guide than an accurate map. So it was crowded but the crowd was very spread out. So the queues were generally pretty good. The exceptions were the little train that goes around - it spent as much time in the station as it did going around, and the Laser Raiders. This took 45 minutes to get through the queue, and it wasn't even that good! You sit in these little carts and fire lasers at lights that pop up for points. Except I was by myself in a carriage so had noone to compete with. That's 45 minutes I could have spent doing other things :(
Legoland Castle
Lego dragon near Legoland Castle
I went to the roller coaster first up and got straight on it. And a couple of other rides too. Late morning I passed by Miniland and it was *shining* in the sun, so went up and got my big camera out of the locker (£1 each use) to photograph it. I went on the pirate ship twice (it was *fun* !) and the roller coaster twice. They have a Star Wars miniland experience, which is a scene each from all six movies. Didn't buy anything (except a hotdog for lunch) cause it was crazy expensive and I can get stuff cheaper on the Lego website.
Blair Athol Castle and highland games in the Scottish section of Miniland
Piccadilly Circus at Miniland
Nelson's Column and London buildings in Miniland
Yellow Lego biplane sculpture
London buildings in Miniland
The Tower of London in Miniland
Tower Bridge in Legoland Miniland
St Paul's Cathedral in the British section of Miniland
Palace of Westminster in the British section of Miniland
The Royal Albert Bridge from Cornwall at Miniland
Brighton Pier in Miniland
Space Shuttle in Miniland
ABBA concert in Miniland
Leuven Town Hall in Miniland
Lego elephants in Legoland
Lego giraffe in Legoland
Lego zebra in Legoland
Lionfish in Lego City Deep Sea Adventure
Lego conductor at Legoland
Lego lions from the Legoland train
Lego worker in a manhole in Legoland
Lego Pharaoh statue outside Laser Raiders
View of Windsor Castle from the Legoland Hill Train
Lego Buzz Lightyear near the entrance of Legoland
Naboo (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace) palace
Tatooine (Star Wars: Episode I - A New Hope) Millennium Falcon
Endor (Star Wars: Episode III - Return of the Jedi) shield generator
Lego Darth Vader
Lego ducks and a chicken thief??
Lego dragon at the Viking's River Splash ride
Maze at Legoland
Lego Walk Like an Egyptian art mosaic in Laser Raiders
Lego medieval characters near Legoland Castle
Edinburgh Castle in Miniland
Wembley Stadium in Miniland
Buckingham Palace and Victoria Monument at Miniland
Horse Guards Parade arena in Miniland
The Queen at the Horse Guards Parade
Moulin Rouge in the French section of Miniland
Sacré-CÅ“ur in the French section of Miniland
Mont St Michel in Miniland
Angel of the North in Miniland
Victoria Monument at Miniland
Big Ben clock face in Miniland
Mount Rushmore at Legoland
Six pm and it was time to leave.
Went back to the bus stop and caught a 200 at 18:10. Very heavy traffic coming out of the park and through the streets, and the bus was full of very tired kids and a couple of screaming babies. It was a *very* long bus ride :( The 200 bus stops at "Theatre Royal" first, which is where everyone else got off. But I wanted to go back to where I started so I wouldn't get lost. Turns out the "central" stop is just one stop along, and the Theatre Royal stop is in between the two railway stations. W&E Central goes to Slough then Paddington, and W&E Riverside goes to Waterloo.
Windsor Castle and Queen Victoria statue
I *just* missed the 18:47 train, so got a juice and then got the 19:07 train to Slough. Fortunately the express was running a few minutes late, so up and over to go catch that, and didn't have to wait nearly half an hour for the next one. Back to Paddington, back on the tube, and arrived back in Earl's Court at 20:00.
After all that travel and walking you'll have to forgive me for just getting a cheeseburger from the Scottish Restaurant at Earl's Court on the way home.
Last night just after midnight, I get this phone call, presumably from reception, asking something about my 9:00 wakeup call. ?!?!?!?!? Certainly hope that doesn't happen again tonight. I was in a deep sleep, so was completely disoriented. I thought I was still in Egypt. Took me a minute to realise where I was.
Three days in London before Harry Potter. Will come up with a plan of attack when I wake up at stoopid o'clock tomorrow morning.
Distance covered on the GPS: 101.8 km
Steps walked: 21445
Photos on the Canon: 417
Photos on the Sony: 113
Videos: 0 (?)
GBP Spent: 65.29