I have to say I have been to Legoland on a number of occasions now to give the place a fair review based on numerous visits, but so far I have to say I am a very disappointed person. I think that Legoland is extremely overpriced (considering we are 2 parents and 1 child) but still have to pay £32 per adult entrance even though there is no chance in hell that we both get to use them all. As a family of 3 with entrance, food and drink throughout the day (we deliberately did not take a picnic this time) and the necessary memento (a driving licence, a photo from a ride) you are looking at a combined spend of £120 for the day.

RIDES: Let’s look at the rides. For a 5 year old (that’s my son Will) he loves the cars at the driving school. On the last day we went, which was a school day in July the park was pretty much packed – almost as bad as the full blown summer holidays. We made our way to the driving school, and proceeded to queue for just under 40 minutes. In a childs life, that’s an eternity. To make it worse, these is no form of entertainment during this queing which makes it even more laborious. If you have ever visited the states then you’ll know that when queing for rides out there (as well as being much quicker) they provide “in queue entertainment” whether that is TV screens or even characters interacting with the crowd.

Other rides where the queue was between 30 to 40 minutes included the JCB diggers (again for all of 3 minutes of ride), the log flume (at least they have Lego/Duplo to play with as an admission you WILL have to wait a while), the Dragon Coaster and the Water Ski Sled. The only rides where the wait was less than 10 minutes was the Ferris Wheel and the riverboats through fairytale land (which is pretty awful anyway).

FOOD AND DRINK: Wherever you go in Legoland, there are an abundance of places to grab food and drink, some better than others but the one we chose for a bit of variety was the Pasta Patch. Food was £5.69 for a 7” pizza for adults (2 toppings only) and £3.59 for a child’s portion (which was an adult pizza chopped in half). Drinks were around the £2 mark. I nearly bought a bottle of Magners but at £5 a bottle (YES, £5!) I chose a coke instead and saved myself £3. Total bill just shy of £17 for 3 meals (of average quality) and 2 drinks.

But it doesn’t stop there. You should also note that some things in Legoland cost extra such as the Pirate Goldwash and the remote controlled boats as examples.

Finally, I must point out that on receipt of the map for the park we were greeted with the big printed words in the middle “NEW FOR 2007!” which was highlighting a new area themed around the Vikings. The pamphlet proudly stated “OPENING SUMMER 2007!”. Sadly, I think this may be a misprint, as when passing the area we found that the site was still pretty much a construction site with more bum cleavages on view from burly builders that Nordic men with pointy beards.

Legoland is being used as a cash cow. Once you’re in you will pay through the nose for everything and on busy days expect to be frustrated by the queue lengths and lack of queue entertainment. (The queues are a particular frustration for the young who get bored very quickly). Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure on not so busy days you’ll get round everything, probably twice. Where this park fails is trying to cram as many people into a not so big space. It’s certainly not the size of Thorpe Park or Alton Towers but then again the audience it panders too is different. I guess I have been spoilt having done the majority of Florida parks, but the Americans know how to do things so much better. I only wish the people who run these UK parks take a leaf from our US cousins and at least try and give people real value for money rather than fleece them at every opportunity!