Legoland Windsor – September 2013

Last Saturday, with a little magic from Merlin’s Magic Wand, we were able to take Ethan to Legoland Windsor. We have previously taken Ethan to legoland for his second birthday, yet to be blogged about!, so we knew it would be an enjoyable day out for all of us. 
 
This real difference with this trip was that Ethan now has a diagnosis so he was issued with a Rides Access Pass, and he is now over 0.9 meters in height so he could go on more rides. 
 
Legoland Windsor
 
We arrived bright and early at Legoland and as we already had our tickets made our way through the gates and headed straight for guest services to collect Ethan’s Ride Access Pass. We had to show Ethan’s diagnosis letter and was issued the pass right away. This pass entitled Ethan to access ten rides of our choice via the exit and therefore cut his waiting times, very handy for someone with autism. We all had our hands stamped to show that we were in his party. Ethan didn’t want his hand stamped so they were happy for me to have his stamp on my hand. 
 
As Grandma and Grandpa were also spending the day with us we had a look around the shops until they arrived. 
 
Legoland WindsorLegoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
 
Legoland Windsor
 
With all of our group present and correct we made our way to The Land of the Vikings and Ethan’s first ride – Longboat Invader. 
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
We checked Ethan’s height and he made it over the 0.9 meters mark, as the queue wasn’t that long Darren, Ethan and Grandpa joined the queue. I also knew that because the queue was positioned that you could see the ride Ethan would have something to look at which also helps.
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Apparently Ethan was laughing all the way through this ride, it’s not one that I could have handled! 
 
As Loki’s Labyrinth was close at hand we went in to take a look around. We don’t have a very good history in mazes so we didn’t stay in there for too long otherwise we may have never been able to get out!
Legoland Windsor
We decided that we would take Ethan to the Spinning Spider next, he loves to spin so we knew this would be a hit. On the way we passed Viking’s River Splash, we checked Ethan’s height but we knew he wouldn’t be tall enough, maybe next time.
Legoland Windsor
We decided to use Ethan’s pass for this ride so we didn’t have to wait long for our turn. Ethan did get distressed when we were waiting for the ride to start, he started to cry and lash out at me but as soon as the ride started he was all smiles again. Darren hadn’t seen Ethan do this before, and this isn’t something he did when we were at Walt Disney World. We know it’s a trait and it’s something we will just have to learn how to manage. On a positive note, because you have to see the positives, it is showing us that Ethan is aware of his surroundings and knows that he is expecting something to happen.  
After going for a spin we stopped for some lunch, we had an early start so we were all a little peckish. 
 
Tummy’s a little fuller we set off for Laser Raiders, this was where the pass came in really handy as the queue was over an hour long and we were able to walk right on the ride. I have no idea how Ethan would handle queueing for an hour in tunnels, to be honest I don’t think it would be fun for any toddler. 
 
Darren beat my score on this ride, something I’m not really happy about, but to my defence I was looking after Ethan. 
Legoland Windsor
Our next stop was Atlantis, it was Ethan’s favourite ride last time and we were able to ride it quite a few times as we visited on a weekday and it was very quiet in the park. This time we only went on it once. I think Ethan loves this ride because of the water and looking at the fish, he can also push some buttons on the ride.
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Legoland WindsorLegoland Windsor
Legoland WindsorLegoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
We walked past the hotel and made our way to the SQUID Surfer. Ethan was laughing at this ride before we had even decided to take him on it. I was worried about taking him on it as we have no way of explaining to him that he must stand still during the ride. Grandpa decided that he would take on the challenge and I’m so glad he did because Ethan loved it. 
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Sticking with our water theme Grandma and Grandpa took Ethan to the Boating School, Ethan had a little go at steering the boat. 
Legoland Windsor
It was time for another little break so we made our way to Duplo Valley. This area had really changed since our last visit. They had made a new water area for the kids to play in. We had picked this weekend to visit in the hope that it would still be warm enough for Ethan to play in the water as we knew he would love it. Unfortunately this was the week that the weather turned, there were children playing in the water but I think it was too cold so we steered him away from the area. 
 
The original area has now turned into a playground so we took Ethan in there for a run around before stopping for some snacks. 
 
Fairy Tale Brook was our next stop, the queue wasn’t that long so we didn’t need to use the pass on this ride. This ride had also changed from last year, they had added some new scenes and refreshed the old ones. 
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Ethan had been watching the Desert Chase carousel every time we walked past it so this was our next stop.  
We took Ethan on the Orient Expedition next, this is something we hadn’t been on before, and we weren’t expecting to get wet! Ethan found the way we reacted to getting wet very funny, he really enjoyed the little train ride. 
We had three ride passes left which we were saving for the Knight’s Kingdom. Our first stop was Knight’s Quest, another spinning ride always a hit with Ethan. 
The next ride, Dragon’s Apprentice, was one I had been waiting to take Ethan on. Ethan laughed all the way through it so we had to purchase the ride photo to capture the moment. 
We used our last pass to visit the Spinning Spider again, Darren made our car spin so much that it made us feel sick but Ethan loved it!
It was getting late in the day and we were all getting tired so we made our way back to the exit, stopping in the Star Wars display. Ethan found this too loud last year but he was quite happy walking around this year, there were even some new additions to look at. 
We had a great day at Logoland, we are really hoping that we will be able to go again next year when it is warmer, so that Ethan can enjoy the new water area in Duplo Valley. 
 
 
We do have to work on Ethan’s waiting skills as we did get tears before every ride started, but we were able to manage it quite well. 

15 thoughts on “Legoland Windsor – September 2013”

    1. Jane - Our Little Escapades

      We love it there and we still have so much to explore there, we are keeping everything crossed we can go next year.

  1. Wow what a fab family day out! The rides looks brilliant and you have some great photos from your day. It’s great to see Ethan smiling and laughing in so many of the photos, he obviously had a super time. Thanks for linking up and sharing your Lego adventures with Country Kids.

  2. It sounds like you all had a fab day, I took my family there last October time and we thoroughly enjoyed it, although the boys were too small for some rides they made up for it on the rides they could go on. It is good that the theme park could accommodate Ethans situation in such a brilliant way so you could all enjoy your visit to the up most.

    1. Jane - Our Little Escapades

      Last year we were able to fill up a day with the little rides and now Ethan is just that bit taller there was so much more we could have done. You easily need two days to explore everything. The pass was fantastic, so nice that people are aware of different needs.

  3. What a great day out! I’d love to take my two there at some point but it’s a bit of a trek.
    How fab that they were able to provide you with a pass to cut his waiting times – that clearly made a massive difference to Ethan being able to enjoy his day 🙂 x

    1. Jane - Our Little Escapades

      They have the hotel now that you can stay in, expensive, but a great little holiday. Well worth a visit before they get too old.

  4. So much fun! I’ve been wanting to take the kids there for ages but as they are not big on Lego I wasn’t sure if they would be interested. But seeing all these lovely pictures and reading about everything you did, I am more convinced than ever to take them there. So happy you had a lovely time 🙂 x

  5. Oh this has all changed so much since we last went. I think I shall ring them now as we are going on Saturday and we never needed a diagnosis before I’m a bit nervous. Glad you had such a great time – shame it wasn’t warmer.

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