The Complete 2024 Guide to Legoland Windsor with Small Kids
In this complete guide to Legoland Windsor we cover how to get around the park, what the best legoland rides are for each height restriction, and where to stay if you’re planning an overnight trip.
If you’re a parent navigating the world of theme parks with little ones in tow, you’ve landed in the right place. We’ve packed this guide to Legoland Windsor full of tips for visiting with small kids, where to eat and news on what’s new for 2024 so that you can make the most out of your visit.
Nestled in the heart of the English countryside you’ll find Legoland Windsor a stones throw from Windsor Castle, St George’s Chapel and Eton College. With excellent transport links getting to Legoland Windsor is easy as it sits around an hour west of London or only 15 minutes from Heathrow Airport
Since opening in 1996 Legoland Windsor has undergone many transformations since it was built with over 2.4 million visitors in 2022. This is more than two other popular theme parks in the UK – Alton Towers and Thorpe Park. An interesting fact about Legoland is that the Miniland section of the park, which is filled with miniature lego built cities around the world, contains an incredible 42 million bricks!
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What’s in this guide?
If there is a section of this post that you’re particularly interested in you can skip straight there by clicking on that section in the contents below. If not, then continue reading to learn all about visiting Legoland Windsor.
- Legoland Windsor map
- What are the opening times at Legoland
- Where is Legoland Windsor and how to get there?
- How much are Legoland Windsor tickets?
- Can you buy Legoland passes?
- How long do you need at Legoland?
- Eating at Legoland: snacks and restaurants
- A list of Legoland Windsor rides?
- What other attractions are at Legoland?
- What is Legoland Reserve and Ride?
- What is the best age for Legoland UK?
- Top tips for visiting Legoland Windsor with small kids
- Staying at a Legoland Windsor Resort Hotel
- What hotels are near Legoland Windsor
- What’s new for 2024?
- FAQs about Legoland in Windsor
- Summary: Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor map
The Legoland map is split into 11 themed areas or lands. You can find it more about those areas below,
The Beginning: this is where you enter the theme park. You can grab a coffee, shop in The Lego Store or visit guest services.
Bricktopia: work on your Lego building skills, catch a 4d movie, or take in a birds eye view of Miniland on the skyrider.
Duplo Valley: geared towards the younger members of your family in this area you’ll find the smaller rides like Fairy Tale Brook or Duplo Express. This is also where the small show area is, as well as the splash park and one of the many play areas.
Lego City: this part of the park is full of interactive rides where kids can become a firefighter, learner driver, or part of the coast guard. This is also the area where you can rock out in a monster house party or enjoy the tranquillity of the ocean in the Deep Sea Adventure ride.
Lego Mythica: this is the alternate universe where Lego creatures come to life and is also one of the areas best for older children and adults with Hydra’s Challenge or Flight of the Sky Lion. That’s not to say there’s nothing in this area for younger children though. They can enjoy the magical forest walkthrough experience and the creature creation play area where you can build your own Lego mythical creation.
Heartlake City: this is in the centre of Legoland and the area to head to for food, shopping, or to watch one of the main shows. If you need to speak to guest services or need medical attention while down in the park this is where to head to.
Kingdom of the Pharaohs: travel to an ancient land in search of hidden treasures. Great for younger kids as there’s a carousel and small ferris wheel for them to enjoy. You’ll also find the Laser Raiders ride where you can pretend to be Indiana Jones for a day.
Pirate Shores: enjoy a swashbuckling adventure on bigger rides like Jolly Rocker or Pirate Falls. There is also a large play area and a gold wash station where you can search for gold and win a medal.
Knights Kingdom: castles and dragons, need I say more?! This is a great area if you have older and younger children as there are two dragon rides with different levels of thrill seeking.
Lego Ninjago World: complete the ultimate test to become a ninja in training on the Ninjago ride. There’s also a small swinging boat ride that’s more suited to small kids than the Jolly Rocker.
Miniland: an impressive large scale Lego model of cities around the world. It has to be seen to be believed and is a must visit when you’re in Legoland.
What are the opening times at Legoland?
Legoland is open daily between 10am and 6pm during the summer months, during the rest of the year Legoland is open between 10am and 5pm. From early November until mid February the park is only partly open for special events and some rides closed for the winter.
Where is Legoland Windsor and how to get there.
Legoland Windsor is located around 26 miles to the west of London just off the M4 motorway at the Junction 6, A355 exit. If arriving by train the closest train station to Legoland is Windsor & Eton, from here it’s just a 10 minute taxi journey to Legoland.
How to get to Legoland Windsor from London
If you’re coming from central London the easiest way to get to Legoland is by train. Head to either the Paddington or Waterloo station for a train to the Windsor & Eton Station. The journey will only take around 30 minutes but there is no direct service so you’ll need to change at Slough.
How much are Legoland Windsor tickets?
Tickets for Legoland range from £39 to £45, with no difference in cost between a child and adult ticket. You can find the most up to date costs for Legoland tickets on their website.
Can you buy a pass for Legoland?
You can buy an annual pass to Legoland that gives you free access to the park plus other discounts like a saving on retail, food and beverages. The passes start at £59 for a parent and toddler, £99 for the silver, or £139 for gold.
You can also buy a Merlin Pass which not only entitles you free entry into all 15 of the Merlin attractions, but gives you more than 60 additional perks like discounts on retail, food and hotels. To learn more about these passes take a look at our post on the pass where we answer the question – is a Merlin Annual Pass is worth it in 2024.
What other Merlin attractions are available with a Merlin Annual Pass?
If you buy one of the Merlin Annual passes you’ll also get access to the following Merlin attractions,
- Alton Towers Resort
- Chessington World of Adventures Resort
- The London Eye
- Thorpe Park Resorts
- SEALIFE
- Warwick Castle
- The Blackpool Tower
- Madame Tussauds
- Shrek’s Adventure London
- Legoland Discovery Centre
- The Dungeon
- The Bear Grylls Adventure
- Peter Rabbit: Explore and Play
- Cadbury World
How long do you need at Legoland Windsor?
Two days is the ideal amount of time to explore Legoland, especially if it’s a one off visit and you’re unlikely to be visiting again. With queue times, shows and needing to stop to eat you’re not going to be able to see absolutely everything in one day. Any more than 3 days is going to be too long, by this point you’ll have seen all the shows, played in all the parks and started repeating yourself on the rides.
Eating at Legoland and Windsor: restaurants and snacks
Restaurants at Legoland
- City Walk Pizza and Pasta located in Heartlake City
- Pirate’s Burger Kitchen located in Pirate Shores
- Farmer Joe’s Kitchen Company located in Duplo Valley
- The Hungry Troll located in Lego Mythica
Grab & Go Snacks and Treats at Legoland
- Ben & Jerry’s located in Bricktopia
- Legoland Coffee Co. located all around the park
- Wizard’s Frozen Wonders located in Knights Kingdom
- Ice Cream Parlour located in Heartlake City
- Sweet Shop located in The Beginning
- Heartlake Cafe located in Heartlake City
What rides are at Legoland Windsor
Legoland has 30 rides with another one due to open in 2024, and they all range in height restriction and excitement levels. We have a separate post that pulls together a complete list of all Legoland Windsor rides split by height restrictions, so for this post we’ve listed what we (and our kids) consider to be the best rides in each height restriction bracket.
Best rides with no height restrictions
- Lego City Deep Sea Adventure: jump on a submarine that travels into an underwater world where you can watch the (real) fish, sharks and even stingrays swim around you.
- Coastguard HQ: control your own mini boat and sail it around a lake, under a bridge and back through to the entrance/exit of the ride. As you can imagine, with children in control there are many collisions and it’s easy to get wedged in the thinner parts with another boat – luckily they don’t go fast enough to do any damage!
- Legoland Ninjago: Work on your ninja skills as you use your hands to chop your way to victory and win family bragging rights until your next visit.
Best rides over 0.9m
- Haunted House Monster Party: sitting in long bench seats you continue the party while the room moves around you making it seem as though you’re going upside down – in reality you’re barely swinging backwards and forwards!
- Duplo Dino Coaster: a fun little intro for someone’s first taste of roller coasters, the dinosaur goes through a couple of dips and around a fast bend.
- Scarab Bouncer: a small drop tower that bounces up and down after the initial drop. It’s a favourite for our kids, mainly because anyone over the 0.9 height restriction can ride on their own.
- Dragons Apprentice: this is another great intro rollercoaster for younger knights who are too small for the main dragon ride. Still with twists and turns you’ll travel through the forest and under the cave while the dragon breathes his fiery steam.
Best rides over 1m
- Flight of the Sky Lion: sit in cinema style seats when the floor drops away and you start your adventure on the UKs first ever flying theatre ride. Word of warning – if you get motion sickness you’ll want to give this one a miss!
- Pirate Falls: prepare to get absolutely soaked on this ride as you travel around trying to dodge the pesky pirates before a final big drop ending in a splash.
- The Dragon: although it doesn’t compare to the big rides at Alton Towers or Thorpe Park the dragon ride is the fastest ride and main roller coaster at Legoland. Fly through the treetops on the back of the green dragon and come face to face with the red dragon who lives in the castle.
- Jolly Rocker: jump on the pirate ship as it swings backwards and forwards leaving you looking straight down into the pit below the ship. One to avoid if you have a fear of heights!
Best rides over 1.1m
- Lego City Driving School: this is like a mini city with zebra crossings, traffic lights and crossroad junctions. At the end everyone gets a paper driving licence that the kids love, you can even pay extra to get their picture added to it.
Best rides over 1.2m
- Mia’s Riding Adventure: You’ll sit on the back of a horse that not only rolls backwards and forwards along a half pipe track but spins at the same time – all while you’re clutching onto one of the horses that face outwards.
What other attractions are at Legoland?
Aside from the actual rides there are other attractions at Legoland like play parks, shows and Lego building fun.
Play areas at Legoland UK
- Duplo Playtown
- Splash Safari
- Drench Towers
- Pirate Play Area
- Lego Games Zone
- Pirate Goldwash
Shows at Legoland UK
- Lego Studios 4d
- Duplo Valley Theatre
- Return to Skeleton Bay Show
Lego Building activities at Legoland UK
- Ferrari Build and Race Experience
- Rebuild the World
- Model Making Workshop
- The Brick
- Creature Creation
Walk through attractions at Legoland UK
- Miniland
- The Magical Forest
What is Reserve and Ride at Legoland Windsor?
Reserve and Ride at Legoland is a way for you to virtually queue for some of the busier rides leaving you time to enjoy other attractions, have some lunch or do a bit of shopping.
There are various levels of Reserve and Ride that range between £25 and £85. The level you choose will impact how long you have to wait between reserving and being able to ride. Visit the legoland website to get current costs, a list of included rides and details on how to book your reserve and ride pass.
What is the best age for Legoland?
Officially Legoland welcomes visitors of any age and targets children between the ages of 2 to 12. In my opinion, the best age for Legoland is between 2 or 3 (depending on how tall your toddler is) to around 10. For any toddler over 0.9m there are tons of ride options, in fact they can go on pretty much all of the rides in the park. There are still plenty of rides for a 10 year old, or even an adult to enjoy but thrill seekers may get a bit bored.
Top tips for visiting Legoland Windsor with small kids
- Hire a pushchair or bring your own as there is a lot of walking and standing involved in a trip to Legoland. If you’re not bringing your own pushchair then arrive early as there is a limited number available to hire.
- Take snacks and even a full picnic with you as all food at Legoland is expensive and, if I’m being honest, not worth the money. Also bring a picnic blanket as there aren’t many picnic tables but there are a few grass spots for picnicking
- There are lockers you can rent at the start of the park if you don’t want to carry your stuff around all day, especially if you’ve bought a picnic.
- Don’t trust the queue times! Quite often it’ll say 15 minutes but it’s actually 30 or even 40 minutes. This is because everyone flocks there when they see the low queue time. If you can’t see how far the queue is from the front then judge it by the number of people entering the queue instead
- If you buy something at the bottom of the park, ask for it to be sent to the top. You won’t need to carry it around with you and you’ll be able to collect it when you leave
- Once you’ve entered the park walk down the left hand side to the rides as there are slides for the kids next to the stairs
- Do yourself a favour and get the hill lift back to the top. No matter how active you are, no one wants to drag a young, tired child back up that hill!
- Download the free Legoland app for a park map, queue times and information on any special events – we find it invaluable.
- Visit the Lego shop in the middle of the day. It gets very busy towards the end of the day and if the hill train is running it’s really quick and easy to get up and back down the hill again.
- For the pirate show in Heartlake City, sit on the front row near the big red buttons as they’ll pick a lucky child from the audience to help with the show. Sitting near one of the buttons gives you a better chance of getting picked.
Staying at a Legoland Windsor Resort hotel
There are three hotels you can choose to stay in during your visit to Legoland. These are located at the back of the park with entrances next to the lake. You drive past the Legoland Resort hotel entrance and car park on your way in so if you’re staying in the hotel make sure you park there.
- The Woodland Village is Legoland’s new low-range accommodation option and will be open from May 2024. There aren’t as many perks as with the other two options but you do still get a free gift, free breakfast and evening entertainment
- The Legoland Resort Hotel is the mid-range option in addition to a Lego inspired sleepover in a themed room you’ll also get a Lego gift, free breakfast, access to the swimming pool and splash pool, and evening entertainment.
- The Legoland Castle Hotel is the top end of hotels at Legoland. You’ll get everything you do with the Legoland Resort Hotel plus extra perks like a PS4, free wifi, and a Nespresso coffee machine in every room.
What hotels are near Legoland Windsor?
Staying at the Legoland hotel is a great experience but at between £300 to £650 PER NIGHT it’s an expensive one! If you want to stay near the park but without the expense of staying on-site then there are plenty of hotel options and places to stay that are located nearby. Below are our top picks.
Budget Option
Holiday Inn Express London Heathrow T5
Distance to Legoland: 7.3 miles (12 minutes)
Being a chain hotel it’s not surprising that this is a budget option. Holiday Inns are known for being comfortable and clean with excellent customer service so worth the cost. Not only is this one of the cheaper hotels on our list but it also includes breakfast!
Book Holiday Inn Express London Heathrow T5
Mid Range Options
The Old Farmhouse
Distance to Legoland: 2.4 miles (7 minutes)
The Old Farmhouse is a period property in a peaceful setting, the perfect stay to truly recuperate after a busy day visiting Legoland. An added bonus to staying here is that breakfast is included in the cost of your stay.
Willow Court Farm Studio East and Petting Farm
Distance to Legoland: 2.8 miles (8 minutes)
Willow Court Farm has an exceptional rating on booking.com and it’s easy to see why! From the cute play house style bunk beds to the onsite petting farm and welcoming hosts, this is a great option for families visiting Legoland and really fair costs.
Book the Willow Court Farm Studio East and Petting Farm
Luxury Options
Fairmont Windsor Park
Distance to Legoland: 5.2 miles (14 minutes)
Surrounded by 40 acres of land, the Fairmont Windsor Park is luxury at its best. This hotel is incredibly family friendly with a great selection of family activities including children’s spa treatments, an off road track experience and a large outdoor play area.
Book the Fairmont Windsor Park
What’s new at Legoland for 2024?
There are some exciting changes coming to Legoland in 2024. Firstly, the new Woodland Lodge accommodation will be opening in May 2024 which will provide a much needed cheaper hotel option at Legoland. There’s also a new adventure golf course that has already opened and looks like great fun! There is a cost to play adventure golf (although it’s not expensive), the current 2024 prices are just £10 per person. The most exciting news by far though in the opening of a new ride – Minifigure Speedway. This will be a duelling roller coaster with separate cars on two tracks that race each other both forwards and backwards.
FAQs about LEGOLAND Windsor
Is one day enough for Legoland Windsor
One day is not enough to experience everything that Legoland has to offer. However, if you come with a plan and aren’t too concerned about which rides you go on then it can definitely be done and you’ll still have a great day.
Is Legoland parking expensive?
The cost to park in the standard car park at Legoland is £10, if you buy in advance this is reduced to £8. Priority parking is also available at a cost of £16 or £13 if you buy in advance.
Is it worth paying for priority parking?
No, it’s not worth paying for priority parking at Legoland as the priority car park is less than a minute closer to the entrance than the normal car park. I’d just try to arrive early so you can get a space at the top of the car park.
When is the best time to go to Legoland?
The best time to go to Legoland is when they have a special event like Brick Week in February or Brick or Treat at Halloween. During these events there are extras like giveaways, activities or extra entertainment. It is also busy though, if you’re looking for a quiet time avoid July and August as it’s the school holidays in the UK so will be busy.
Is Legoland suitable for a 2 year old?
Yes, Legoland is suitable for a 2 year old. There’s plenty of parks, shows and rides to keep them entertained, however if they’re over 0.9m you’ll find there’s far more rides for them to enjoy so if its a one off visit I would wait until they meet that height restriction.
Can I rent a pushchair
You can rent a pushchair on arrival, however they are limited so make sure you arrive early. If you can bring your own I’d advise that to be on the safe side.
Can adults go to Legoland without a child?
Yes you can, Legoland Windsor is welcoming to people of all ages so you don’t need a child to visit as an adult.
Are any of the Legoland Windsor rides scary?
The only spooky ride in the Haunted House Monster Party. It’s not so scary on the ride but the pre-ride part can be scary for young children. Legoland is aimed at children though so I wouldn’t let this stop you trying it out.
In terms of big scary roller coasters there’s nothing like Smiler or Nemesis at Alton Towers but there are a few that are more suited to thrill seekers like Mia’s Riding School, Jolly Rocker and The Dragon.
Summary: guide to Legoland Windsor
We love visiting Legoland and have done for many years as it’s a great family theme park. When we visit there are three things we always do every time we visit. Firstly, is Lego Deep Sea Adventure, Miniland and Flight of the Sky Lion – make sure you include these when planning your trip.
Ultimately, it’s about having the best day with your friends or family and hopefully this complete guide to Legoland Windsor has given you plenty of information to plan a great visit to the park.
