Since I can remember there has been one thing that has been in my life; Lego.
From a very young age I always had Lego. Bricks and bricks and bricks. The little indestructible, plastic toy that I was able to use to unleash my creativity on the world.
Lego is one of my fondest childhood memories, the sound of rustling through the box to find the perfect piece, the challenge of making your creation come to life with limited resources.
Lego was, and still is, the best.
Well, we now live a thirty minute train ride away from the home of Lego, or rather the Land of Lego - Legoland.
Now before I get to the part where I tell you about waking up early and boarding the train, I have to explain the discount.
A Lady at Laura's school told her about the coupons that you get on certain cereal boxes. Two-for-One at Legoland, and various other assorted tourist traps. Well, the thought of Two-for-One was good enough for me to endure disgusting sugary cereal for a few week's worth of breakfasts.
And it all payed off...
We boarded the Great Western Rail train from Paddington and made the short journey to Slough (affectionately know to some as Slop) in record time. At the other end the busses were not regular (this being England on a Sunday) so we waited... But were luckily saved by the open top, old school Routemaster with 'Legoland' in the destination window.
As we grew ever closer the anticipation rose, until finally we saw the great oversized Lego sign indicating we had arrived at our destination.
Finally though the gates and park map in hand we decided to take a slow clockwise approach to the park. This meant that first stop was the miniature Lego city.
Being in the UK the vast majority was dedicated to the landmarks of the Isles. London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben. Everything made from Lego, and everything super impressive.
There were fun little easter eggs sprinkled throughout, like The Simpsons watching the 'Changing of the Guard', and a few Minions hanging out in a small village set.
The rest of the day was dedicated to rides. Now Legoland's demographic, as you can imagine, is a bit younger than we are. This meant that quite a few rides were catering to an audience a good 10 years our junior. But that was fine, as the rides we could go on were awesome! Tame, nothing too exciting, but just good fun.
By the time we got to about 12 O'Clock (on the map, not the time), having started at 6, we had reached the 'Girly Lego'. We traipsed over to the Horsey Ride. But this wasn't just any old Horsey Ride. This was a half pipe shaped, spinning disk, that was actually the most fun ride in the park.
That is, until we reached Viking Land. The Vikings of course being historically inaccurate horn wearing Vikings. I blame Vivaldi youtube.com/watch?v=gTLbLeow2nQ.
Viking Land housed the second most exciting ride in the park; The Viking River Raft. Boarding a circular inflatable boat and careering down rapids was just the start. A section of 'the river' ran right past a number of children-manned water guns. Needless to say, we got soaked.
By the time we'd done that, wandered around taking in the Lego themed sights, it was time to head to The Knights Castle and the last ride of the day. This was the dragon rollercoaster, tame as to be expected, but a laugh non-the-less. The Castle itself was more impressive, although I do feel that it could have been made of 'Lego', setting visitors to the scale of a Mini-figure.
Our last stop before the park closed was to head back up to the main gates to the Star Wars section and the shop!
The Star Wars rooms ver super impressive. Model Builders had recreated scenes from the Prequel through Original Trilogy's. These were bigger than 'Lego Scale' as the characters were made from Lego bricks themselves, and about three times bigger than a Mini-figure. The scenes were amazingly crafted, and super creative, finally accumulating with a huge Death Star and a life sized Darth Vader.
Something that I have wanted to do since first going to a Lego Store in Houston, TX, was to make a Mini-figure of myself. If there was anywhere where we'd be able to build custom Lars and Laura Lego figures it was going to be Legoland. And sure enough, right in the centre of the store was the 'build yourself' table.
We spent longer than most grown adults would meticulously searching for the perfect legs, torsos, heads, hair, and accessories. Finally though we had built ourselves, or as close we could get with what we had. I resisted the urge to give myself a sword, and pirate hat, and jet-pack, and opted to sensible realism. Our very own Mini-figures now sit pride of place with the other ornaments, and travel trinkets.
Legoland was amazing, now we have to head to Denmark, and the Original...
Labels: UK 2016
