ELTIPS AV R T
Think more big beard and a healthy appetite for hearty feasts.
Well, imagine my delight when an invite to the new Legoland Castle Hotel for me, my wife and daughters dropped on the hearth.
It promised the works – turrets, banquets, wizards, tall tales and merry diversions aplenty. And it didn’t disappoint.
The Castle in Windsor is on the river, next to the original hotel, with an impressive drawbridge, portcullis and lion-bearing standards.
We had a Knight’s Room, you can also have Wizard’s, which was com comfortable enough for the grown-upsn-ups and madly exciting for Gwen, seven,even, Catrin, six, and Mari, four today.ay.
There were bunk beds, wall murals, an exciting treasure huntnt and a copy of The Golden n Dragon Door, a book written by Joseph Parkes, aged ten, of Wiltshire, who won the resort’srt’s Bedtime Story competition.
It is really good, and I shoulduld know. I had to read it seven times.es.
But when we arrived the parkark was open and time was wasting.g.
As a thorough journalist I took extensive notes about each of the he 32 rides we went on over our two-dayo-day stay. So here, in no particular order, are the girls’ top five. 1. Atlantis Submarine Voyage: Yellow submersibles take you past real sharks, rays and other beings of the deep. Like being an Octonaut.
It’s gobsmackingly good and seems to have shorter queues than the other big-ticket rides. 2. Ninjago World: All new, hi-tech ride that sees you in 3D specs careening about a hostile Ninja world, karate-chopping baddies and competing for the top score. Gwen won. 3. The Dragon. I’ve always been a coward – as was Henry VIII, I’m pretty sure – so have never been on a rollercoaster. Shamed by Mari’s boldness, and her need of an accompanying adult, I folded my huge frame into the carriage. Newsflash: rollercoasters are brilliant. It was just fierce enough.
Twinkly
4. PirateP Falls Treasure Quest. The riderid takes you up a steep slope then smashessm you down very fast, very far RENT a Q-Bot intoint the water. for £22pp to reserve 5. DuploD Valley Splash Safari. Take rides at specific times. If a swimmingsw costume – yes, even at you’re not getting one, arrive thisth time of year – and kids will first thing and start at the far end of haveh the time of their lives in the park. Hotel guests get in half an fountains, shoots and under a hour early too. massive tipping bucket. It’s the TO save splashing out on trunks from UK’s biggest water play structure. the shop, bring swimming costumes and My lot would’ve stayed all day. towels to make the most of the Duplo Other sites visited included: Valley Splash Safari. BoatingB Lake, Heartlake City DISABLED visitors should Show,Sh Mia’s Riding Adventure, register beforehand for a Ride AeroAe Nomad, Destiny’s Bounty and Access Pass. For more, see and…and Other than the endless fun, legoland.co.uk. what strikes you is that Legoland has the right staff for the right role. From the twinkly car park greeter to the figures who wave you off, they exude knowledge and friendliness.
As a Henry VIII media guest, we got easy access to all the rides. Proper people can reserve rides with a device called a Q-Bot, which costs between £20 and £80 per person.
We met a family we knew there who paid to get in and had no Q-Bot, and we queued with them for most things on the second day, a Saturday, and the waits were never too long.
We swam in the other hotel’s pool and feasted at the Tournament Tavern – pricey but good. I had a 12oz rump steak, obviously, which would have set me back £ 20.95. There are more modestly priced mains and a decent kids’ menu.
The kids played Lego wherever there were pots of it – which was all over the hotel – and slept well. If you can count cries of “can we go into the park yet?” at 6am as sleeping well, which I suppose you can.
They dreamed of turrets and splashes and sharks for days. And I dream of medieval feasts still. FACTFILE Rooms at Legoland Castle Hotel at the Legoland Windsor Resort from £ 572- a- night B& B for two adults and two kids, including twoday park tickets, early access to some rides, drinks cups, swim bags, Lego bricks and exclusive badges. See legoland.co.uk/castle.