Legoland

Visiting Legoland with toddlers

One thing I often judge a day out with kids by is the toilets. I know that is a strange one but when my daughter first used the toilets she did a little sigh and said “I just love Legoland”. Here is why….

They have built in kid’s seats! Lots of kid height sinks too.

My husband also said there are plenty of kid sized urinals in the men’s toilets. He objected to me running in there with my camera!

Touches like this shows they have little ones in mind and those added bonuses are going to make your day easier.

Like all Merlin Theme Parks, you can rent prams but they are the hard ones with very little storage. I would recommend bring a pushchair, even for old toddlers, as the park is huge and really hilly.

The Beginning of the park is really high up to the rest of the park so you either have the option to descend on what feels like Mount Everest or get the Hill Train.

I remember when I was heavily pregnant, I took my 2-year-old to Legoland with no other adult and the Hill Train was not running. I seriously considered just painting myself yellow and becoming one of the Lego structures rather than attempt the hill back up. It is a slog.

I will always recommend the Hill Train if possible. There is a carriage for prams, that your children can stay in and you sit with them, or you can leave the prams there and go sit in another carriage.

If you do attempt the mountain, there are heaps of Lego structures to keep the kids entertained along the way and even a few slides!

Rides for toddlers at Legoland

Legoland consists of different lands: The Beginning, Bricktopia, DUPLO Valley, LEGO City, Miniland, Knight’s Kingdom, Pirate Shores, LEGO NINJAGO World, Kingdom of the Pharaohs,
Heartlake City and LEGO MYTHICA.

Bricktopia

Halfway down Hilimanjaro,  is one of my son’s favourite attraction LEGO Ferrari Build & Race Experience which is also a nice little break from the climb.

You essentially build a Lego car (Duplo is also available) and race it down lots of different tracks. My husband also loved this!

Minifigure Speedway has a 1.05m height requirement and a speedy rollercoaster suitable for older toddlers.

DUPLO Valley

DUPLO Valley is the most toddler friendly section of the park. It also has a really cool play area DUPLO Playtown that my kids can spend hours in and is perfect for some free play.

The only downfall is it is quite open to the sun but ALAS Lego have even thought of this and have free sun cream dispensers at the entrance of the play area. Very handy if you forget yours!

In this area, there is also the splash parks: Drench Towers and Splash Safari. We have never actually been. There isn’t really a way to tell if it is going to be open or not the day you go. I can assume it is probably always open in Summer Holidays – but this is a time we try to avoid. Taking swim suits, swim nappies and getting toddlers changed just feels a pain and there is plenty for them to do without this. One catch is an adult also must be wearing swimwear which I just feel a little uncomfortable doing as a post-partum whale. However, it does actually look really good so am sure it would be lots of fun!

DUPLO Dino Coaster has a 0.9m height requirement so suitable for older toddlers. It is a short rollercoaster ride that both my 2-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter really enjoy.

DUPLO Airport also has a 0.9 height requirement but often has a long queue. It is a DUPLO helicopter that toddlers can control up or down.

Fairy Tale Brook is one of my favourite rides at Legoland. I am just a sucker for a boat ride!

You take a gentle boat ride through well know fairy tales (or as my kids know them – Disney films) constructed of Lego.

With no height requirement, it is accessible to all and even has little fairy tale themed activities to keep restless toddlers occupied in the queue.

For more advice on queueing with toddlers check out my tips here.

DUPLO Express has no height requirement so is a perfect little train ride for babies and toddlers in a DUPLO style train.

LEGO City

LEGO City also has plenty of toddler-friendly attractions and hosts my favourite ride at Legoland: LEGO City Deep Sea Adventure

LEGO City Deep Sea Adventure is located towards the back of the park, by the Legoland hotels. We all absolutely love this ride!

You enter a ‘submarine’ that is actually in water with real fish and underwater Lego sculptures.

At the end of the ride there is also a mini aquarium. I am unsure if you could go in the ride exit and just go in the aquarium but I don’t see why you would want to as this ride is awesome and suitable for all ages! We know how much babies love a fish!

L-Drivers and LEGO City Driving School

If you don’t have a LEGO driving liscence did you even grow up in the 90s?

L-Drivers is the toddler alternative to LEGO City Driving School which has a height requirement of 1.1 meters.

Watching toddlers try and navigate sit on cars is absolutely hilarious and I think Legoland should turn this into some sort of gameshow!

Near this area there is also Coastguard. This is a really nice boat ride for all ages.

At first you may fear your little one toppling over the side, but I have done this with my 2-year-old 7 months pregnant and felt super safe inside the boat. You actually drive the boat around and there are some Lego structures and surprises along the way.

Haunted House Monster Party: I don’t really like this ride and wouldn’t recommend to young children. The Monster concept can be a little scary and the ride itself is a bit sickly for me.

It is like ‘Hex’ in Alton Towers. You are sat in rows facing the Monsters party table and the rows move, kind of like a pirate ship but the ceiling also moves so it feels like you are going completely upside down. My 2 and 4-year-old were fine on it but I wouldn’t recommend it to small children.

Balloon School: Though a simple ride, my toddlers love it. It is a hot air balloon carriage that they control up or down. With no height requirement it is suitable for all.

lEGO Mythica

With Flight of the Sky Lion, Fire & Ice Freefall and Hydra’s Challenge having a 1m height requirement, this area is more for older children than younger toddlers.

If we are only here on a day trip, we don’t bother trekking to this land.

There is, however The Magical Forest which is a nice walkthrough experience, especially if you are staying at the Legoland hotel as you can exit the park this way.

Heartlake City

We often use this central area to stop for a bite to eat around the Heartlake Harbour area.

We have never actually seen a show here and even wonder if they have stopped doing them.

Here you can catch the LEGO Express that takes you on a train journey around the park.

Kingdom of the Pharoahs

Laser Raiders is a fun shooting ride with zero height requirement. It is less scary and dark than other shooting rides we have taken our toddlers on so they enjoyed it much more.

Aero Nomad is a small ferris wheel type ride with no height requirement where you are lifted in a hot air balloon.

Desert chase is a typical horse carousel with no height requirement.

Thunder Blazer is a swinging singel swing ride with a 0.9m height requirement.

Scarab Bouncers again has a 0.9m height requirement and is a small drop ride.

LEGO NINJAGO WORLD

Apart from Destiny’s Bounty, a swinging shipwith a 0.9m height requirement, LEGO Ninjago the Ride is the main ride in LEGO NINJAGO WORLD.

It is that good, I do believe it deserves its own land.

With no height requirement, the whole family can enjoy this innovative 4D interactive ride.

You sit in a long carriage and use ninja hand movements to combat the enemies on the 4D screen. There are 3D glasses but if your little one won’t wear them I think they will still enjoy it.

We all love this ride and you get a proper bicep work out from it.

Pirates Shore Shore is an area we tend to miss if we are just on a day visit.

We also rarely venture to Knights Kingdom.

We went and attempted the pirate themed playground. It looked great…

…It wasn’t. Well not for toddlers anyway.

There were really high bits that were totally accessible for my 2-year-old but if he fell it probably would have taken him 3 minutes to get to the ground and I am sure it would be in slow motion.

There are plenty of attractions in DUPLO Valley and LEGO city to keep your children occupied all day that I wouldn’t hike to this part of the park.

What I remember from Legoland as a kid (after getting my driving license) was the model village with all different countries and landmarks made from Lego. Miniland is still there and worth a walk round but my toddlers were not particularly interested. Maybe because the spoiled monsters have seen most of them in real life!

Another tip if you are visiting for your little one's birthday, is that if you go to Guest Services or the Hotel Reception and say it is your Birthday you get a free Birthday badge and they can put your child's name on the birthday board!

Staying at Legoland with Toddlers

There are plenty of options to chose from for your Legoland overnight stay. There’s the classic Legoland Resort Hotel and the Legoland Castle Hotel within short walking distance of the park and each other. You can use the facilities and restaurants in both.

They also have the Woodland Village and after staying at similar accomodation at Alton Towers, I would definitely stay here next time with toddlers.

We have only ever stayed at the Legoland Resort Hotel but ventured over to the Castle Hotel and both were really well themed with some good play areas for toddlers.

Most of the facilities are based at the Legoland Hotel, with swimming, a play room and Lego themed family restaurant.

The pirate themed swimming pool was fantastic for toddlers, with shallow water, fountains and small slide.

Annoyingly, you do have to book slots for the swimming pool but you can always try and walk up and they will let you in if there is space.

When we visited, the Legoland playroom was an additional charge but it now looks like it is included for all hotel guests. Which is good because it looked fantastic.

There are also a couple of outdoor play areas. One just outside the Legoland Hotel back entrance and also at the Castle Hotel. Both have equipment for toddlers to play on, perfect for some free play away from the parks or to let off some steam before bed time.

Rooms at Legoland Resort

All the standard rooms are pirate themed which our toddlers loved.

The premium rooms are adventure themed which looked cool but didn’t see many extras compared to the pirate rooms.

There are also sell your kidney priced rooms: Ninjago and Lego Friends themed.

The standard rooms even had a box of Lego for the children to play with and for us to stand on!

There were also “simple” clues to solve for a code to get a prize. Considering I class myself as an escape room expert, I couldn’t solve the clues aimed at children and enter the right code. I am sure it must have been faulty!

The rooms at the Castle Hotel are, you guessed it, castle themed. There are also premium wizard themed rooms.

The Woodland lodges look similar to the Alton Towers lodges we have stayed in which I really rated for toddlers. They have small play areas close to the accommodation, and I would certainly chose these over hotel rooms every trip with toddlers.

Eating at Legoland Resort

The dinner at BRICKS Family Restaurant is a pricey buffet so we just bought our own food as we couldn’t imagine it being fantastic and the reviews agreed.

A buffet breakfast is included in the stay and my children enjoyed the Lego theming at the BRICKS Family Restaurant.

The restaurant at the Castle Hotel looked nicer with an A La Carte Menu and kid’s meals. It was much smaller and well themed.

There is also a cool Lego Themed Pub type restaurant at the Lego Woodland village that we really want to try.

You can eat dinner at any of the restaurants wherever you are staying at Legoland but just be sure to book.

Entertainment at Legoland Resort

There are also other Lego character meets schedule around the hotel from afternoon time.

We really enjoyed our stay at Legoland Windsor Resort and think the woodland lodges are best for toddlers.

For any other advice about your upcoming Lego trip with toddlers feel free to contact me.