Legoland VIP Visit 18/04

[BooMT]

Hiii guys! I've recently returned home from taking Rocket to Legoland for his 6th birthday; we had a really great, perhaps a little alternative, visit as he's becoming less tolerant of rides as he gets older so we have to find other ways to enjoy the park. I thought although not as exciting or on topic as Thorpe/Towers right now, it may provide a different spin to the usual ride oriented trip reports (although I did manage to get on Minifigure Speedway!) I'll split into a couple of posts as I'm the World's worst over communicator

We booked the VIP Hotel Birthday Experience at the Castle Hotel (£150 per room or £120 with Plattypass) which included a pre-visit concierge service to handle on-site bookings (meals, swimming etc) & help with any special requests. Rocket can struggle to walk long distances so we booked a Scooter Bug that the concierge arranged to have waiting for us at the main hotel entrance on arrival; this was soooo helpful as usually, you'll need to go to top of park to collect. I'm a non-driver & either use public transport or get dropped off at the park so have no car to store luggage. Main hotel reception are able to take bags and deliver them to your room in either hotel in this instance - this meant we could head in to the park for an hour before 1pm check-in, yay! (£40 upcharge for early check-in)

It was such a beautiful sunny day during our visit, great to see the park set against vibrant skies rather than the cloudy drizzle or downpour we've had during our last few visits Despite the weather, it was quiet with a nice, relaxed atmosphere. Previously, Rocket would make a beeline for Flight of the Sky Lion, which is one of his very few 'acceptable rides', however, we had an evac at Halloween and were stuck 'flying' in the dark for some time due to someone entering the ride area during operation. The whole thing unfortunately stayed with Rocket so another ride bites the dust! Paired with the temporary closure of Deep Sea Adventure (his favourite!) we needed to find new ways to enjoy Legoland.



With this in mind, we headed to the Enchanted Forest walk through to help transition from 'normal' to 'max sensory input' and still get a helping of the cute and quirky Mythica characters. It's always so empty but such a great little corner of the park with fun interactives, effects & lego models, you can easily burn time here if you need a break from the hustle & bustle. Rocket particularly recommends the Crystal Crab volcano! Once we had spent so much time admiring it that I'd almost drowned in the mist effects, we took a stroll (in Rockets case, a scoot) around Mythica itself to 'say hello' to the rest of the characters, soak riders with the water cannon buttons on Hydra's Challenge and build some characters in the Creature Creation hub. Also... does the Hungry Troll ever open?



Heartlake City lake was drained and undergoing works so we stopped to literally watch paint dry on our pass through to Kingdom of the Pharaohs where we bought him an £8000 golden plated Rollover Hotdog and drink from Beetle Bites (I paid £9.60 with discount). We stopped to wave the Legoland Express off on its next journey before making our way back to the Hotel to check in. En route, I noticed next to Mini Burger kitchen, a Bubble Tea cabin had popped up so naturally, I just had to grab one for the walk! With no discounts a regular Tea was £6.50 & stood up well against the Bubble Tea I get from the shop in town Tasty!

VIP BIRTHDAY PACKAGE



We checked in and went straight to our room on the second floor of the Castle Hotel, a Premium Knight room with Park View. We had the BEST open view across the lake towards Mythica/Heartlake which looked gorgeous in the sunshine - currently there is a resident family of baby ducks providing maximum cuteness!



Rocket was blown away with the room theme & birthday extras; We've stayed in various themed rooms across the Merlin Estate & so far this and the Lego Wizard alternative are the boys favourites. They're sooo much fun & filled with lots of little details that provide additional dimension and magic to the trip. The birthday package included: Golden balloons, a birthday banner, huge cake, lego gifts and exclusive merch as well as having some sweet touches like a message on the mirror & card from Legoland... all of which made him feel so special & looked great walking into the room! We also had a variety of 6 branded bottled drinks added to the usual coffee offering which were perfect to take around park & for the journey home. Personally I felt like the package was well worth it, even more so with the discount.

 

[BooMT]

Returning to the park, we took some time to duck watch outside the Castle, using the boards around the lake as Wildlife prompts before making our way to Coastguard HQ. The main queue was around 20mins & RAP was walk on with ops running like clockwork. Another family seemed to think it was bumper boats and kept ramming us and others into the sides, at one point, completely spinning our boat around (This was far more exciting than Duplo Airport which was the only other ride Rocket agreed to go on...). We followed our high octane rides with a long visit to the Brick in Miniland; quiet, calm and therapeutic... before I was a bad mum and left Rocket with other various children waiting with a staff member so I could ride Minifigure Speedway A creds a cred!



MS had no queue for the majority of the day so I was able to just walk on. There seems to be an over abundance of staff working the ride but this only made a positive impact on ops. I rode on 'Team Allstars' (the orange side) & was surprised at the punchiness of the Coaster, especially during the reverse run. It's a refreshing addition that diversifies the lineup however... the area feels really, really unfinished & almost a little out of place... but at the same time, a good use of space? I don't know, I can't criticise the ride experience for the type of coaster it is, there's just something 'off' about the whole thing? Roxie does look brilliant, the trains are very cute & it seems to draw spectator attention, Rocket included, he enjoyed watching them race around the track, trying to guess the winner & was cheering when Team Allstars won with me on back row! Hopefully, with time, Minifigure Speedway will bed in with further theming & landscape growth.



After a walk up the hill, splashing in the water features along the way, the Lego Store beckoned and we spent some time (and more money ) building some custom minifigs, (A ninja merman hairdresser, an 'old croissant baker' and a fairy policman fuelled by 'magic' coffee, if you were wondering ), aeroplane watching from the plaza viewpoint & looking at all the models; there's a new Fortnite Loot Llama just opposite the Hill Train station to mark the recent(ish) collab between Lego & Fortnite - Rocket is a huge fan! Hill Train wasn't running earlier in the day but we managed to catch it back down on our way to early dinner at Tournament Tavern.



Despite the ongoing negativity surrounding the Aramark contract, Tournament Tavern has been consistent in its offering since eating here a year ago. The food is nicely presented, of a good quality and taste & some dishes even come with theatre (my Beetroot & Goats cheese starter came in a glass dome filled with 'dragon smoke'). There's a surprisingly good choice across the menus; I'm always happy when the Vegetarian/Pescetarian options aren't just tasteless beige mush The service was attentive, Rocket got a special birthday hat and with discount, I paid £55 for Rocket & I to have 3 courses, which I thought was good value. The breakfast was table service, with a large selection of options included in the Hotel stay, alongside paid upgrades & alternatives.



We left on the Friday morning but had a few hours to burn before our train during which, Rocket became extremely distressed due to increasing volumes of guests in the hotel common areas... as well as taking in our luggage, the staff at the main Hotel opened up the playroom (not due to open until 3pm) for him to use the sensory facilities and interactive fish building game; this was an absolute God send! Such an excellent facility & positive to see staff so responsive to something like this. We've previously used the in-park total sensory room but this was our first time in the hotel.



Overall, we had a really fun stay, the VIP package was worth the money, Minifigure Speedway is a fun, punchy (but unfinished) new addition to the park and there's still lots for families to do and see, even without the rides

 

[Skyscraper]

Excellent report @BooMT, glad you both had a good time!

 

[Matt N]

Great report @BooMT; I’m glad you both enjoyed the VIP package, and it’s interesting to hear about Legoland from the perspective of a group who didn’t do too many bigger rides!

If you don’t mind me asking, did they let you pick sides on Minifigure Speedway, or were the sides allocated? I only ask because I’m off to Legoland in June, and I’m trying to work out whether I’ll only need to ride Minifigure Speedway twice to get both credits or whether I’ll need to ride it numerous times until I get allocated a different side…

 

[BooMT]

Great report @BooMT; I’m glad you both enjoyed the VIP package, and it’s interesting to hear about Legoland from the perspective of a group who didn’t do too many bigger rides!

If you don’t mind me asking, did they let you pick sides on Minifigure Speedway, or were the sides allocated? I only ask because I’m off to Legoland in June, and I’m trying to work out whether I’ll only need to ride Minifigure Speedway twice to get both credits or whether I’ll need to ride it numerous times until I get allocated a different side…

Even with a completely empty queue-line, I was allocated a side, however, I'm sure during quieter times, they would accommodate picking a side if you were happy to wait a little longer? I can see that during peak times, this could become harder to manage if everyone wanted a specific side however!

 

[NuttySquirrel]

I think officially you don't get to choose but if you ask nicely and don't mind waiting for the next train they'll most likely oblige. Possibly more so after queue close as well - a few of us were able to get backwards facing seats at the end of the day on Mandrill Mayhem yesterday at Chessington just by requesting them.

 

[Bowser]

Despite the ongoing negativity surrounding the Aramark contract, Tournament Tavern has been consistent in its offering since eating here a year ago. The food is nicely presented, of a good quality and taste & some dishes even come with theatre (my Beetroot & Goats cheese starter came in a glass dome filled with 'dragon smoke'). There's a surprisingly good choice across the menus; I'm always happy when the Vegetarian/Pescetarian options aren't just tasteless beige mush

I am gobsmacked, this is not theme park food!

Is it only open to hotel guests?

 

[BooMT]

I am gobsmacked, this is not theme park food!

Is it only open to hotel guests?

Unfortunately:

Tournament Tavern is open to all Resort Hotel guests for dinner, but is exclusively available for Castle Hotel guests for breakfast. Reservations are essential to avoid disappointment.