What is LEGOLAND Windsor UK like now it has reopened for the first time in 2021 with covid 19 measures in place? We will check out what is new, whats different, whats open, what’s not, the construction underway for the new rides coming in 2021. We will check out the restored Miniland, changes to LEGO retail at the park, and also give some hints and tips to get the most value out of your day. We will cover this in the video and give our thoughts and first hand experience as a family.
Further information on the Holiday Homes / Airbnb / Short Term Lets can be found at http://www.macatsim.com/
Both flats, Broadstairs and Margate are about 75-90 minutes east of London UK. Margate has a LEGO themed Holiday Lets / Airbnb Short Term Stay awith a LEGO Wall. Broadstairs has an iconic red London bus bunk bed (at time of recording).
Time codes to the Video:
0:00 Introduction
0:48 Overview
1:38 What’s Open / What’s Not / What’s Closed
2:52 New and Different
5:17 Mythica
6:15 Miniland Restoration & Refresh & New
7:22 LEGO Retail
9:06 Hints & Tips
10:28 Is It Worth it?
12:19 Summing Up
Transcript from the Show
G’day Everyone, Matt Elder of Family Bricks here. What is LEGOLAND Windsor UK like now it has reopened for the first time in 2021 with covid 19 measures in place? We will check out what is new, what’s different, what’s open, what’s not, the construction underway for the new rides coming later in 2021. We will check out the restored Miniland, changes to LEGO retail at the park, and also give some hints and tips to get the most value out of your day. We will cover this in the video and give our thoughts and firsthand experience as a family.
This video is bought to you bay Macatsim Holiday Homes in Margate and Broadstairs. Great for a week’s holiday or a weekend escape, being just over an hour east of London, UK. Treat yourself to amazing sunsets, a LEGO wall or great food. Visit www.macatsim.com and mention this Youtube video, we’ll will look after you.
OVERVIEW
We went to LEGOLAND UK on Monday April 12th, 2021, which was the first time it had been opened since easing of lockdown measures. Check the timecode below to jump to your section of interest as we will cover what is and isn’t open, what’s new and different, the new Mythica 2021 rides currently under construction, the restored Miniland and new features, changes to the LEGO stores in the park and hints and tips.
This was a crazy drive to LEGOLAND Windsor as it was actually snowing. Snow in London is rare enough, let alone in April. Certainly, made the M25 a scary proposition but we got there in double in the normal time.
Entrance to the park is the same as last years post covid measures, trying to be socially distanced in the queue (although car parking was however you wanted). The usual security bag check followed by some temperature guns. We got here at about 945am for a 10am opening and was pretty much straight through.
What’s Open / What’s Not / What’s Closed
All the indoor rides are basically closed so things like the Haunted House are obviously indoor and closed. And even the submarines, they don’t even let you up there, its barricaded off. So you can also see to the hotels are closed and probably won’t be opening til May sometime.
The outdoor rides are open so ones like the boats and cars. Ok, so the LEGO Ninjago ride is closed, the Ninjago shop is open, and come further around Destiny’s Bounty ride is open at the moment. So this is new and will be interesting to see what it opens up to be.
Laser Raiders and the Game Zone is closed, but most of the others like Aerial Nomads and the Thunder Blazer is open.
Pirate Shores is pretty busy with the playground of course being open and also to your rocking ship there, and the pirate falls as well (Screaming!!).
Knight’s Kingdom has a few things open, like Merlins Challenge, Dragons Apprentice and The Dragon. Spinning Spider is open and operational.
Viking River Splash is operational.
New and Different
Now for a quick overview on what is new and different.
As you come in they have completely rejigged this area hear with this new minifigure sculpture there. And they have chopped this up and changed it. There use to be a little coffee shop here. A nice little character build that the kids can also sit in.
A tree made out of lots of little bits of Technic at the top, as you come down more bricks, and inside here little miniature displays, that is in the top and the sides.
And all through out the park you’ve got this little spots to stand on when in queues to maintain your 2m social distance.
The old sort of build center is now the Rebuild the World Planet, which is not open at the moment. But they have finally got rid of the awning which use to have the Star Wars Millenium Falcon there.
This has been refreshed, it use to be the Banjo Player.
By the fire academy you’ve got this new water fountain sprouting coming out of the fire hydrant made out of LEGO bricks, which is new.
Outside the 4D cinema you have some new giraffes.
A new train conductor on the station.
A new bright, pink and purple colour scheme on the panda there, sitting in amongst the bamboo.
If you can’t have a unicorn, the next best thing is a rainbow coloured zebra.
Seeing LEGOLAND with a little bit of snow. Even LEGO Mount Rushmore has a bit of snow on it.
And some other little subtle changes like the cars, you use to go in and they would have them in a room showing them a movie on how to run and drive it. Where as now they just let them go straight through.
As obviously they don’t want them, parents and people crowding in a confirmed space.
And everyone over the age of 11 wearing a face mask.
And in the Duplo Valley playground they have closed down the LEGO shops and looks like it is going to be a coffee shop at some stage.
Heartlake café area all been given a fresh coat of paint. Looking nice and spiffy.
So down in Heartlake city in terms of the shows they are trying to get you to leave gaps between groups which has been marked out.
You can sort of see marked all the way around so you can do the whole socially distancing thing. But unfortunately at the moment there are no shows running.
Sweet shop has been revamped.
There were a few people using the ride and reserve, but not too many.
A lot of your take away food type places are open but your restaurants are not.
And the pizza pasta place has become fully takeaway, all the tables and chairs have been taken out. And there is seating outside for the Pizza and Pasta you pick up.
Mythica
In terms of the on going construction, you’ve got the area down by the squid surfers. The restaurant is obviously being redone , its still boarded off there.
So you can see a few of the new drop towers that are coming in there, another new arch into the general sort of area.
So you can see just through there is says “Creature Encounters” and in the back they have been building.
Originally in the planning permission it was outlined to be a LEGO Movie Cinema. I think they are going to change that to something else now as the LEGO second movie didn’t do too well. So its going to be a massive theatre of some description. That should be coming very soon.
So the new area just off Heartlake looks like it is going to be about Mythica theming, which they were doing contents and things for over the winter period. So the new Mythica area, looks like you’ve got a children’s playground here with the slide coming down there, the restaurant is now the new Hungry Troll and some of the new LEGO models look pretty cool.
Looks like one of the new drop rides are going to be called “Fire and Ice”.
Miniland Restoration & Refresh & New
LEGO Miniland, lets check out what new things have been added and revamped and refreshed.
NASA has been refreshed with some new little men down there and a couple of boosters and a space shuttle, and so on.
A few more rockets like the real John F. Kennedy Space Centre
Getting a lot of restoration work being carried out. So, in and around the docks that has all been restored there, and some of the ships in brighter, whiter colours. Even in the back here some of the cruise line ships like the Bella one over there.
The Dragstrip one the building has been refreshed. Obviously, the drag strip itself is not here but that was looking pretty tired and did need some work.
The European section has had a lot of restoration. A lot of these buildings were really showing signs of wear and everything like that and sun discolouration. Where as now, bright and crisp, particularly a lot of the reds and whites
New upgraded Waterloo station in the London Section.
A couple of lost sheep have appeared.
Big Ben clock face looks like it has been given a bit of a refresh as well, all nice and crisp and sparkly.
LEGO Retail
Just off the main entrance where they use to have the little shop, that is now gone and looks like they have been consolidating a number of shops through out the park.
So, where you use to also have the café there, that’s been removed and they have completely refurbished this, which use to be “Big Shop”. So now that is all completely LEGO retail.
The interior retail space has been completely redone and given a nice, fresh coat of paint, completely changed the layout and organization.
Interesting to see the build models on top and not behind glass. Obviously behind glass there is a bit more of an ability to deal with theft.
Of course all your Star Wars stuff is altogether and looks interesting with the black and white boxes.
Coming around to the check outs, so hopefully more organized and in a more consistent sort of away.
Check outs, new models in there, going around, Technic section and all away across and through the back.
Interesting new little layout for the Build your Own little minifigures and then going across to Mosaic Maker. Use to be only in the main flag ship Leicester Square store in London.
Then you’ve got this Pick & Build sort of section which is kinda like a Pick a Brick but slightly different.
Apparently later in the year they are going to have your own customize minifig where you’ll be able to print on the torsos your own design and so that will be interesting.
And they are calling it the “Personalisation Studio”.
Probably the only retail store that has Vidiyo at full retail price of £18. And here you have a magnifying glass to try to see the value in Vidiyo.
Down near Heartlake there is a new way to do virtual shopping. Scan the code, use the password, enter in what you want to buy and collect later on.
Hints & Tips
Some quick hints and tips to get the most out of your day and not get blown away by the expense.
Given that the hotels are closed, it is worthwhile getting here a little bit early, so then you can go through and quickly do a couple of rides before any queues get out of control.
With the hotels being closed, there is no early access for others to get in, so if you are in first, you can be first, as the lines do get progressively longer during the day.
Also, if you are booking online more than 7 days in advance, you get further discounts and usually definitely if you book the day before. If you book on the day, online its usually full price, whereas if you do the day before online, it can be 50% cheaper and a more reasonable sort of price.
If you pay for the Pizza and Pasta online, there can be up to a £5 discount as opposed to paying at the til. If you pay your parking online, that can also be a pound or so off without having to queue and deal with the hassle of the parking ticket machines.
At the end of the day, the queue to get into the shop is crazy. So either do it during the day, or we just came up from the Ninjago shop down where the Ninjago ride is and there was nobody in there. So, if Ninjago is your jam, get it from down there and don’t queue up, up here.
While they do have the Reserve and Ride, the old Qbot, it didn’t feel too bad today. Other times we have been here and there will be lots of people being able to use them and jump the queue. Whereas today there was only a few times people were doing that.
So, the other side of that is if you do want to get onto the rides, its probably value for money in that the queues aren’t all that long.
Is It Worth it?
So is LEGOLAND in 2021 worth a visit? I think it is going to be one of those things that really depends. When we originally booked our tickets, we didn’t know that the indoor rides were all going to be closed.
So being nice English weather, I think if you get a really rainy day or like that, then standing out in the rain for the open air rides is going to be real issue and a bit tricky. On the flip side of that, it might actually mean that people don’t actually come.
We have quite a good day. Seeing we’ve been able to get onto quite a number of rides and the ride queue lengths have only been about 30 to 35 minutes at the worst of times. So it hasn’t felt bad like what it did last summer, and there are links around the video where you can see that.
The only thing I would qualify it with is you are still paying full price tickets which can be a bit of a sting in the tail.
However if you are after a lot of the indoor rides, Ninjago, Haunted House, those sorts of things then probably wait until May or late May when they open up.
Otherwise, they have done a few upgrades and refreshes over winter but nothing that I’d say to definitely come back and check out.
If anything, maybe towards the end of May when they open up the Mythica, that might be better value to come then and see things.
We let our Merlin Annual passes expire last session as they have dramatically increased the price structure of the Merlin Annual pass and really isn’t value for money anymore. Check out this review where we discuss this in depth (link around the video).
Numbers wise it hasn’t felt too bad, whether or not that is because this has been the first day, and this morning it was snowing and people didn’t want to end up coming along, or whether they haven’t quite figured out it is open yet and things like that.
So, if the numbers get worse, which they did last season, then it might not be as enjoyable.
Hopefully, the park numbers can stay down to what they were today. But unfortunately, I have a funny feeling they will go back up like what they did last time /year.
In terms of social distancing, most people seem to be following it with lots of masks with lots of people, so it is good that way.
Still there is some who won’t, while you have the 2-meter dots on the floor, there are sometimes people who don’t pay a huge amount of attention to that. So, it can be a little frustrating.
Over we had a good day and the kids really enjoyed themselves and we were able to get on lots of rides that we outdoors so enjoy a bit of the sunshine.
Summing Up
So that is it from us here at Family Bricks. If you want to check out a full walk through of the park in a couple of minutes, click the video here. Alternatively, if you want to see another video on How to Save Money at LEGOLAND, check out this video. Alternatively, here is a walk through of LEGOLAND Dubai.
That is it from us here at Family Bricks. Thanks very much for watching. Please like, share, and subscribe.
Until next time when we talk about all things LEGO and Lifestyle.
