Legoland Windsor Resort

The Beginning is the entrance area to the park.[10] It is composed of a plaza area containing entrance turnstiles, ticket sales, guest services and toilets and stretches to contain a small part of the resort at the bottom of the funicular railway. It is notable for having a view of the area surrounding the resort including the nearby town of Windsor, Heathrow Airport & parts of London.

The main resort shop, The BIG Shop, can be found here which sells a number of Lego products as well as souvenirs. It holds the dubious distinction of being the largest Lego store in the UK. Also in the area is the Photo Shop which is where guests can collect photos taken on rides with cameras operated by Picsolve, a company contracted by a number of Merlin Entertainments resorts.[11]

There are a number of food and beverage outlets here with the main site down cafe is the Hill Top Cafe.[12] It is complemented by a smaller coffee outlet in the entrance plaza and the Sweet Stop which sells sweets and other treats.[10]

The only ride located in The Beginning is the Hill Train, a funicular, 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge railway down a curved slope.[13] The main purpose of the Hill Train is to transport guests from The Beginning to the lower parts of the resort leading to an area between LEGO City & LEGO NINJAGO World, which is still considered to be part of The Beginning. It is the only ride or attraction to be retained from Windsor Safari Park, being refurbished when the park opened with stained glass windows made from translucent Lego bricks by local school children.[5] It travels 300 metres between two stations, with a height difference between the top and bottom stations of approximately 27 metres.[14]

Creation Centre, 2007.

Previously located in The Beginning was the Creation Centre which opened in 2000.[15] This building has housed a number of attractions since it has opened. The first main attraction it contained was LEGO Racers which opened with the Creation Centre.[15] Here, guests could create their own virtual LEGO racer through an innovative system and went through a process which culminated in them being able to race their character against other guests.[16] The original LEGO Racers attraction suffered from reliability issues and closed at the end of 2004.[16] However, it was revived in 2009 by members of the original team and was able to reopen under the new name of Rocket Racers.[16] However, reliability issues remained and it saw its final guests over the weekend of the 8–9 October 2011.[16] The attraction space was repurposed for Star Wars Miniland which was based on the Star Wars franchise depicting a number of scenes in LEGO and opened in 2012. Unlike LEGO Racers & Rocket Racers it was classed as a walkthrough attraction with no queue. Instead, guests walked round much like the main Miniland land. In 2016, a large model of the Death Star was installed as the centrepiece of the attraction. However, the attraction closed on December 31, 2019 echoing other Legoland Resorts which all closed their Star Wars Miniland if they had them, rumoured due to a licensing deal between Lucasfilm and Merlin Entertainments ending.[17] Currently the space is empty and Legoland Windsor have announced no plans for its future.

The Creation Centre is also home to Legoland Windsor's model makers who display busts of famous figures as well as a view of their studio in a space on the second floor of the centre.[18] On the ground floor of the centre is Apocalypseburg which is part of the The Lego Movie 2 set used and shares space with a Movie Store.[19] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Creation Centre is currently closed.

The Imagination Centre is an area themed around education through LEGO. The centre piece being the LEGO Education Centre which is where a dedicated Education team offers National Curriculum workshops. The Education team has been recognised nationally by the School Travel Awards as the 'Best Venue for STEM Learning (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths)' in 2019.[20]

The only Ride in this land is Sky Rider, which is an elevated track ride opened in March 1996 and refurbished between the 2001 and 2002 seasons.[21] The attraction of this ride is the views that can be seen of Miniland as it cruises over Imagination and also allows views of the surrounding area.

Two attractions complete Imagination, LEGO Studios 4D & LEGO Reef. LEGO Studios 4D was previously known as the Imagination Theatre and now shows a number of Lego-themed films throughout the day.[22] In the 2020 season, these were: LEGO City 4D - Officer in Pursuit; LEGO Ninjago - Master of the 4th Dimension & LEGO Movie 4D A New Adventure.[23] The LEGO Reef is an interactive experience opened in 2018 which allows guests to create a digital LEGO fish which will then swim in front of them on a screen.[24]

Miniland is a miniature park in Lego form, depicting towns and cities from around the world, using nearly 40 million Lego bricks, in models.[25] 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.[5]

The land is divided into different areas as they are depicted, these include: London, the Rest of England, Scotland, Wales and Europe (composed of the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Denmark & France). In 2018, Miniland saw an expansion called 'Explore the World' which added more LEGO models of global sites including the Sydney Opera House, Forbidden Palace & Saint Basil's Cathedral.[26] Also added in 2018 was Miniland USA, another expansion with detailed LEGO models and scenes depicting famous American sites.[27]

DUPLO Valley is a land aimed at smaller children, with the majority of Rides being 'family rides'. Since the resort's opening the land has rotated through a number of different names including Explore Land, Duplo Gardens and Duplo Land.

At the beginning of the 2020 season, DUPLO Valley was reopened following a refurbishment and the construction of a new ride, the DUPLO Dino Coaster.[28] The DUPLO Dino Coaster, originally planned to be called the DUPLO Dream Coaster became the resort's third rollercoaster (after The Dragon & Dragon's Apprentice).[29] Aimed to be a 'My First Coaster' it saw a soft opening before the park's temporary closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[28][29] It was designed by Mack Rides but manufactured by ART Engineeing GmbH. Alongside the opening of the new ride was the re-theming of three rides and attractions: DUPLO Express (previously Duplo Train), DUPLO Airport (previously Duplo Valley Airport and before that, Chopper Squadron and Whirly Birds) and DUPLO Playtown (previously Brickville but it has gone by this name before.[28][30][31][32] Also located in DUPLO Valley is Fairy Tale Brook, a boat ride which takes guests round a course which contains LEGO models of fairy tale characters.[33]

DUPLO Valley is home to the resort's waterpark which consists of three separate rides and attractions: Raft Racers, Drench Towers and Splash Safari. Raft Racers (previously Extreme Team Challenge) begins outside of DUPLO Valley on a pathway starting in Imagination which bypasses Miniland and is a fast water chute ride consisting of two slides guests ride down in rafts.[34] Raft Racers ends in DUPLO Valley next to Drench Towers. Drench Towers is a water splash area with multiple slides which was placed on land previously occupied by Mole-in-One Mini Golf.[35] Splash Safari is a smaller splash area for toddlers which consists of water features made of DUPLO models and is located below Drench Towers.[36]

Also in DUPLO Valley is the DUPLO Valley Theatre which is a puppet theatre which shows classic fairy tales.[37] It is located adjacent to Fairy Tale Brook. One of the resort's family restaurants, Farmer's Joe Chicken Company, is found opposite the theatre.[38]

Lego City, formerly known as Traffic, is themed around transport. Balloon School: a simulated hot air balloon ride. Coastguard HQ: a boat school ride for children Fire Academy: L-Drivers: drive school for 3–5 children City Driving School: drive school here children can drive their own car. In 2019, a Vekoma 'mad-house' attraction called Haunted House Monster Party was added to the area and in 2020, Atlantis Submarine Voyage by Sealife, which features "submarine" vehicles used to travel through the tank, was rethemed to become Deep Sea Adventure. Part of the refurbishment involved a change of land from Adventure Land to Lego City.

Heartlake City (formerly Lego City until redecoration in 2015), based on the LEGO Friends produce range, includes two rides: The LEGOLAND Express, a railway ride round Kingdom of the Pharaohs, and a Disk'O coaster called Mia's Riding Adventure. Also in the area is the "Return to Skeleton Bay" pirate stunt show, and "LEGO Friends to the Rescue", a live music concert around the harbour performed by the LEGO Friends.

Land of the Vikings is situated behind the Hill Train; this was opened in 2007, and is based on the plunderings of Nordic Vikings. This land is home to two attractions, Vikings’ River Splash: An attraction manufactured by ABC Rides and features Lego models, water sprays and cannons along its course. The other attraction is Spinning Spider located at the bottom of the area, this ride is a spinning teacups style ride where guests ride in log-style gondolas as an animatronic LEGO spider gnashes its jaws and breathes smoke on a web above.

Lego brick animals

The Kingdom of the Pharaohs contains "Laser Raiders", an interactive dark ride through an Egyptian tomb where visitors shoot targets to gain points. Also in this area is Scarab Bouncers, Aero Nomad, Desert Chase and Thunder Blazer. The latter three rides are fairground based attractions such as a carousel and a Ferris wheel ride.

Pirate Shores features a log flume, Pirate Falls, a play area and a pirate ship ride named the Jolly Rocker. From 1996 to 2010, this area was known as Wild Woods.

Knights' Kingdom

Knights' Kingdom (originally Castleland and NEXO Knights' Kingdom) features The Dragon roller coaster,[5] which starts inside the castle themed station, passing Lego tableaux, before travelling outside reaching a speed of around 30 mph (48 km/h).

Mythica: World of Mythical Creatures is situated around a lake at the bottom of the park. Formerly known as Adventure Land, Mythica will open with 3 new attractions.

Attendance has steadily risen since 2005. Legoland Windsor regularly draws more attendees than the original Legoland Billund Resort in Denmark; in 2011, it became the tenth-most popular theme park in Europe, a position it has held every year since.[45]

The Legoland Hotel opened its doors in March 2012. The hotel is located at the back of the park, in the Adventure land section, on the old site of the Jungle Coaster. Guests enter the hotel on the ground floor but enter the park on the 2nd floor. The hotel is home to the Bricks Restaurant ( a buffet) and the Skyline Bar,[53] both on the 2nd floor. The resort featured 6 different types of themed rooms, they were Pirate, Kingdom, Adventure, Premium Pirate, Premium Kingdom and Premium Adventure.[54] Over the year's these room themes have changed, the hotel no longer offers Premium Kingdom rooms but now offers Ninjago and Lego friends rooms.[54] Guests staying at both Hotels get access to the pirate-themed indoor pool and fitness facility (located at the Legoland Hotel) as well as a treasure hunt in each room and access to select attraction before the general public in the park.[52] The second floor is not only home to the restaurants previously mentioned, but a loft where LEGO video games can be played on PlayStation 4 consoles. The ground floor features a Lego store and bins of bricks that can be built with. There is a castle themed baggage check area by the double doors.

The Legoland Castle Hotel opened its doors on 1 July 2017. The hotel was opened by competition winner James Waine who designed a model that was built by professional model makers and put outside the hotel.[55] The hotel offers two different themes of rooms, Wizard and Knights.[56] The hotel is only accessible from the park, guests must check-in at the Legoland Hotel and travel through the hotel and the park to reach the Castle Hotel. The Castle Hotel is located next to the Legoland Hotel. The hotel is home to the Tournament Tavern[53] restaurant, which offers table service meals. Guests staying at both Hotels get access to the pirate-themed indoor pool and fitness facility (located at the Legoland Hotel) as well as a treasure hunt in each room and access to select attraction before the general public in the park.[52]

In Legoland Windsor's ten-year plan, the park have expressed interest in building a holiday village that would consist of 450 Lodges that would be built in two phases. These lodges would range from barrel-style glamping to large family lodges. The majority of phase one (120 out of 150) would consist of Lodges that could sleep up to a family of five.[57] The new Holiday Village is planned to be located near the front of the park.