What does Bart say? | Theme Parks • Fairs • Attractions

If you ever find yourself relatively close to a theme park where you had an absolutely stellar experience a few years ago, and that very same park happens to be celebrating its monumental 30th anniversary… well, as a dedicated LEGO fan, you really don’t have to think twice. At that point, there are simply no excuses left: this park absolutely had to be visited. I even went out of my way to tweak my travel itinerary specifically to make room for this detour. I am, of course, talking about LEGOLAND Windsor—though if you’ve read the title of this post, that probably won’t come as a surprise to you!

The memories I hold from my very first visit were incredibly positive, but a 30-year milestone always brings its own unique, magical atmosphere and a certain level of expectation. Because of that, I was genuinely curious to see exactly how the park was handling this festive year. I couldn’t wait to discover what kind of special anniversary entertainment and decorations would be scattered around the park, and to find out if the overall vibe was still just as fantastic as I remembered. So, with my trusty LEGO passport safely tucked into my pocket and full of healthy anticipation, I eagerly set off for my second visit to LEGOLAND Windsor.

Are you traveling to LEGOLAND Windsor by public transport? Then make sure to pay close attention when your bus approaches, because the park actually has two different stops. The first stop is strictly meant for staff members; it’s only at the second stop that you will find yourself right in front of the main entrance. Don’t let the names of the bus stops confuse you! If you do accidentally hop off too early at the staff stop, you’ll be facing a 10 to 15-minute walk to get to the gates. To make matters worse, this particular stretch is quite a steep uphill climb—and you’ll definitely want to save that precious energy for inside the park instead!

A birthday party ruined by rain:
The gates of the park open at 10:00 AM, and before I traveled to LEGOLAND, I had already checked the schedule extensively. A special opening ceremony was set to take place for their 30th anniversary, where you could get your picture taken with none other than Cake Guy after the ceremony! As a true lover of ‘figures’, a photo with this LEGO minifigure simply cannot be missing from the collection, and that was definitely what I was most excited about beforehand. But unfortunately, upon arriving at the entrance, it was the British weather that threw a spanner in the works, because due to the pouring rain, the entire opening ceremony was cancelled. And spoiler alert… I didn’t see Cake Guy anywhere else in the park for the rest of the day. In the app, the times for the shows and meet-and-greets were neatly displayed, but at none of these moments was Cake Guy (or any other LEGO minifigure) present at the indicated meet-and-greet location.

I don’t want to be instantly very negative about LEGOLAND Windsor, but at that moment, I was genuinely truly disappointed. After all, when you travel to a LEGOLAND park, you come specifically for these kinds of unique meet-and-greets alongside the big attractions, and when those all get cancelled due to the bad weather (which the park itself obviously can’t do anything about), then as a visitor you are simply disappointed. In my opinion, there is plenty of space in the park to build a decent covered meet-and-greet location where it can go ahead (rain or shine, except for high temperatures). Since things haven’t been going very well financially for the Merlin group in recent years, the bad weather is perhaps also a good reason to use to easily cancel the meet-and-greets, because this quickly saves you at least 2 to 3 staff members. But it is precisely the LEGO minifigure meet-and-greets that make sure you don’t easily forget a visit to LEGOLAND.

When you celebrate an anniversary as a park, you expect a lot from it—at least, I do. It is heavily advertised beforehand that the park is celebrating its 30th birthday, but in the park itself, there is ultimately little of that to be found. Except for the (cancelled) opening ceremony and a large LEGO cake at the beginning, I barely noticed anything of it. Now, a park on this scale really doesn’t need to hang up balloons or banners everywhere, but a bit more attention to this 30th anniversary would have been nice. If you hadn’t told me beforehand about this anniversary and I had booked a normal day at LEGOLAND, I would have believed it just as well. Perhaps this feeling also comes purely down to the lack of shows and meet-and-greets. It is just a huge shame, because the only party that was actually celebrated during my visit now took place among the monsters in The Monster House Party.

Hunting for a credit in typical British weather:
I’m Dutch so I can handle a bit of rain, so rain or shine: those attractions had to be done. To begin with The Dragon’s Apprentice. Now, don’t start laughing right away, because as a 31-year-old, joining the queue of a children’s roller coaster all by yourself is a bit awkward. The operator even asked with a wink if I was sure I wanted to get in here and hadn’t mistaken it for its big brother, The Dragon, which I could see looming in the background. But no, I absolutely had to take a ride on The Dragon’s Apprentice for the highly sought-after credit. On the way to the magical milestone of 300 credits, every roller coaster you can grab is one more, and during my previous visit, The Dragon’s Apprentice was unfortunately closed for maintenance. Luckily, I was able to tick off the Duplo Dino Coaster back then, because that one turned out to be under maintenance during this visit. A blessing in disguise, because to be completely honest: I don’t see myself returning to LEGOLAND Windsor anytime soon.

This time, LEGO City Deep Sea Adventure was luckily open as well; an attraction I had been very curious about since my previous visit. Now, I don’t want to immediately go down the negative route again, but unfortunately, this also disappointed a little bit. Perhaps I had simply expected too much of it beforehand. The concept is unique—you step into a submarine and dive right into a real aquarium—and that is something I hadn’t seen before. However, the execution left much to be desired. The glass windows of the submarine were heavily scratched, which made it difficult to properly see the live sharks and rays swimming past the LEGO structures. On top of that, the interactive screens inside the sub felt more like a distraction from the actual marine life than an added value. Luckily, I was able to walk right in; if I had been forced to stand in a long queue for this, the letdown probably would have been bigger.

An attraction that made up for a whole lot, on the other hand, was Flight of the Sky Lion. This is a flying theater, and in my eyes, it features a highly successful show paired with a perfectly fitting storyline. The experience begins well before you even board; the beautifully themed indoor queue and atmospheric pre-show do a fantastic job of building anticipation and introducing you to the lore of LEGO Mythica. But the real magic happens inside the main theater. The synchronization between the fluid movements of the ride vehicle and the crisp visuals on screen is spot on. You find yourself diving down steep canyons and dodging colossal, mythical beasts right alongside the Sky Lion itself.

What truly elevates this ride to a world-class level, though, is the flawless integration of 4D special effects. The sudden gusts of wind as you pick up speed, the realistic scent of the fantasy environments, and the subtle mist of water spraying on your face when you fly close to a waterfall really bring the entire journey to life. It engages all your senses, making it an incredibly thrilling yet smooth experience. This is truly a standout, highly successful attraction, and it’s exactly the kind of top-tier ride concept that we will hopefully see appearing in multiple other theme parks in the near future.

What works exceptionally well for LEGOLAND as a brand, but feels mostly repetitive to me, is their tendency to literally copy and paste attractions and themed areas across their properties. You see the exact same themed zones pop up in almost every LEGOLAND park worldwide. A prime example of this is Minifigure Speedway, which originally opened at LEGOLAND Windsor in 2024. This year, in 2026, Minifigure Speedway is the big new addition over at LEGOLAND Billund. Sure, it sports a different color scheme, but the track layout is identical and the racing theme has been completely recycled.

That being said, the saving grace of this particular roller coaster is the fact that you are actually racing against each other, complete with a fun little pre-show that makes the wait a bit more bearable. And let’s be real: for the hardcore credit hunters out there, a dueling coaster like this is a very welcome +2 for the count!

Price quality ratio. The final verdict:
After multiple re-rides, a walk through Miniland, and an extensive lunch, I decided to call it a day after a few hours. LEGOLAND Windsor is a park where extremes meet: when it is busy, it is really too busy, but when it is quiet, the atmosphere is also truly too quiet. And in both cases, that is not a positive thing for this park. The LEGOLAND parks—and that doesn’t just apply to Windsor, but also to Germany, for instance—really have to rely on their smaller events throughout the year in my opinion. It is precisely these extra events that provide the unique experience that makes a LEGO experience and a theme park visit truly unique.

Still, despite the rain, I had a very fun day. I had nice chats with several members of the staff; you could tell from everything that most of them genuinely enjoyed their work despite the bad weather. It certainly isn’t down to them, but as I mentioned before, I don’t see myself returning to LEGOLAND Windsor anytime soon. The park really misses an absolute top attraction of which you say: yes, that is the reason I am coming back to the park. Even if it is just for a few hours.

I find the price-quality ratio of LEGOLAND Windsor to be right on the edge. Because I was able to do a lot of attractions and had an extensive lunch, I think it was worth it. Had it been busier, meaning I could do a lot fewer attractions and there were no shows, then I would have truly said it isn’t worth the effort. As a true LEGO enthusiast or for families with young children, I definitely recommend going to LEGOLAND Windsor. If you are visiting as a group of friends, you don’t really have much to look for here; in that case, a park like Thorpe Park is a lot more fun.