Legoland Windsor Resort
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Entrance to Legoland Windsor | |
| Slogan | Play your part |
|---|---|
| Location | Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK |
| Coordinates | 51°27′49″N 0°39′04″W / 51.46351°N 0.65114°WCoordinates: 51°27′49″N 0°39′04″W / 51.46351°N 0.65114°W |
| Owner | Merlin Entertainments |
| General Manager | Sue Kemp |
| Opened | March 1996 |
| Operating season | March to November |
| Area | 150 acres (0.61 km2) |
| Rides | |
| Total | 55 |
| Roller coasters | 2 |
| Water rides | 6 |
| Website | www.legoland.co.uk |
Legoland Windsor Resort, also known as Legoland Windsor, is a child-oriented theme park and resort in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego toy system. The park opened in 1996 on the former Windsor Safari Park site as the second Legoland after Legoland Billund in Denmark. In common with the other Legolands across the world, the park's attractions consist of a mixture of Lego-themed rides, models, and building workshops. The park was acquired by Merlin Entertainments in 2005, which now operates the park, with the Lego Group retaining part ownership (30%).[1][2] The facilities are mainly targeted at children between three and twelve.
In 2012, the park had 2.0 million visitors, making it the second most visited theme park in the United Kingdom after Alton Towers, and the 10th most visited in Europe.[3]
History
From 1969 to 1992, the site of today´s Legoland Windsor belonged to Windsor Safari Park, which had been founded by the Billy Smart's Circus.
The Lego Group began research for the development of a second Legoland park after Legoland Billund in 1987, with over 1000 sites considered.[1] In January 1992, Windsor Safari Park went into receivership and the 150-acre (0.61 km2) site was chosen.[1] Throughout 1992 and 1993, planning, design, site preparation and the design and construction of models began,[1] and new homes were secured for all the safari animals.[4] 1994 saw the installation of services, foundations and infrastructures,[1] and in 1995, one year prior to opening, Big Ben was installed in Miniland. By this time, buildings and attractions were becoming established[1] and in September, advance bookings were opened for entrance tickets.[5] Final installations were completed by the beginning of 1996 and at this point, the Legoland Windsor staff-base was recruited.[4] Legoland Windsor opened in March 1996. During its first season, the park attracted over 1.4 million guests.[4]
In April 2005, Lego decided to sell the Legoland parks, due to rising losses across the company.[6][7] On 13 July 2005, Legoland was acquired by the Blackstone Group and control of the parks passed to Merlin Entertainments.[1][2]
Areas
The park is split into 11 themed lands, incorporating various attractions, restaurants and shops: The Beginning, Imagination Centre, Duplo Valley, Miniland, Traffic, Adventure Land, LEGO City, Pirate Shores (New for 2014), Knight´s Kingdom, Land of the Vikings and Kingdom of the pharaohs.
The Beginning
The Beginning is the entrance to the park and is accessible before park opening. Also in the area is the Hill Train, a funicular, 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge[8] railway down a curved slope. It is the only attraction retained from Windsor Safari Park, being revamped when the park opened with stained glass windows made from translucent Lego bricks by local school children.[4] It travels 300 metres between The Beginning and Traffic and with a height difference between the top and bottom stations of approximately 27 metres.[9] The Creation Centre closed and was converted into three new areas. The first area is a Lego Star Wars model display. The second area is the Lego Star Wars shop and the third area is the Last Chance Marketplace, where you can buy discontinued Lego products
Imagination Centre
The Imagination Centre is just above Miniland. It features educational attractions Build & Test Workshops, Lego Mindstorms NXT-based Lego Mindstorms Workshop and Robolab Workshop.
Miniland
Miniland is a miniature park in Lego form, depicting towns and cities from around the world, using nearly 40 million Lego bricks in models often at 1:20 scale. The area features a number of animated models, interacting with each other. Motor vehicles use cables under the paths emitting radio wave signals to steer and allow charging when required and overnight. The train system runs on tracks, slowing for stations using slow down bars and also charging, and the boats use rubber loops under the water driven by motors, with sensors to detect the boats for operating bridges and locks. The system, with lights and sounds, is run by 14 computers using 300 kilometres of underground cabling.[4]
Duplo Valley
Duplo Valley, previously Explore Land, Duplo Gardens and "Duplo Land", is aimed at younger children.
Traffic
Traffic is themed around transport. it Transferred to Lego City in 2015
Heartlake City
Heartlake City, previously My Town and "Lego City", is new for 2015 and includes two rides set to open in May 2015, Heartlake Express, (formerly Orient Expedition) a railway ride round Land of the Pharaohs, and a Disk'O coaster. Also in the area is the Pirates of Skeleton Bay, a stunt show.
Land of the Vikings
Land of the Vikings is situated behind the Hill Train, it was opened in 2007 and is based on the plunderings of Nordik Vikings.
Kingdom of the Pharaohs
The Kingdom of the Pharaohs contains "Laser Raiders", an interactive dark ride through an Egyptian tomb where visitors shoot targets to gain points.
Pirate Shores
Pirate Shores features a log flume, a play area and a pirate ship ride named the Jolly Rocker.
Knights' Kingdom
Knights' Kingdom features The Dragon roller coaster,[4] which starts inside the castle-shaped building, passing Lego tableaux, before travelling outside reaching a speed of around 30 mph (48 km/h).
Adventure Land
Adventure Land is situated around a lake at the bottom of the park. The main attraction is Atlantis Submarine Voyage by Sealife, which features "submarine" vehicles used to travel through the tank.
Park operation
Legoland Windsor typically opens from March to November, with closures on some days.
Q-Bot
For the 2008 season, the Q-Bot queueing system was introduced.[10] For a per-person fee, guests are provided with a small pager-like device to "reserve" places in queues virtually, allowing guests to use their queuing time elsewhere in the park. The initial contract between Q-Bot developers Lo-Q was for 1 year from 8 April 2008.[10] This contract was extended for 2009 before a new 3-year contract was signed on 26 March 2010. Three tiers of the device are available at different prices which reduce the queue time by different proportions. Most rides can be selected with Q Bot, with the exception of those which boast large or thin alleyways.
Incidents
- In 2006, a fire broke out in a storage barn onsite during the end of season fireworks on 28 October, with no injuries.[11]
- In 2008, after noise complaints, Jungle Coaster plastic housing was placed over the cars, leading to reduced capacity to two adults per car, due to weight restrictions. However, at the end of the 2009 season, the ride was removed [12] and the site used for hotel construction.
- In May 2009, a young 9-year-old girl got her hand trapped in Pirate falls- The Log Flume. The police, ambulance and fire brigade were all called. The ride remained closed the next day as health and safety checks were done and the ride has since been edited to change the design.
- In September 2010, the park's high quantity of wasps during the season was featured on Watchdog, with general manager Sue Kemp appearing with host Anne Robinson and confirming new signage, actions and details on the website.[13][14]
- In February 2014, the park cancelled a private event organised by Islamic cleric Haitham al-Haddad due to safety reasons following a backlash and threats by nationalist groups.[15]
Awards
Since opening in 1996, the park has won a number of awards:
- Voted UK's Number One Family Attraction by Group Leisure Magazine, 1999.[16]
See also
- Windsor Safari Park - The original attraction where Legoland Windsor is situated.
- Legoland
- Legoland Discovery Centre
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "The History of the Legoland Parks" (PDF). Windsor: Legoland. 2006.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Troubled Lego Sells Theme Parks". News (BBC). 13 July 2005. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ↑ The Global Attractions Attendance Report (PDF), Themed Entertainment Association, 2012, retrieved 2013-06-16
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Souvenir Guidebook, Windsor: Legoland, 1997.
- ↑ Where the Fun is Building (BROCHURE), Windsor: Legoland, 1995.
- ↑ "Lego to Sell Parks as Losses Rise". News (BBC). 6 April 2005. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ↑ "Ailing Lego nears Theme-park Sale". News (BBC). 1 June 2005. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ↑ Lego Hill Train Stats, UK: Hows.
- ↑ Google Earth
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Legoland Windsor selects Lo-Q to reduce physical waiting time". Blooloop.com. 2008-02-17. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
- ↑ "Fire at Legoland during Fireworks". News (BBC). 28 October 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ↑ "Legoland Parks". Screamscape. 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- ↑ "Wasps create an unfriendly buzz at Legoland". BBC. September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ↑ "Buzz Off Watchdog! Legoland's Wasp Problem Makes it to TV". Completely Legoland Windsor. September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ↑ "Berkshire", News (England, UK: BBC).
- ↑ Legoland Windsor Park Brochure, 2000
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Legoland Windsor. |
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Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Windsor and Eton. |
- Legoland Windsor
- Legoland Windsor Park Map (Flash Animation)
- Legoland Windsor Guide, UK: Theme Parks.
- Legoland parks, Scream scape
- September Newsletter (PDF), UK: Legoland.
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