Legoland
Wednesday 17 April 2013
Legoland, not just for kids. It's true, the young at heart can go mad here and other "grown ups" just look upon you with envy and maybe a little bit of jealously. OK, so the occasional one might back away, but they’re the one who has lost their inner child (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it).
Legoland Windsor was built on an old site for the Windsor Safari Park, yet experiencing the weather that day, I can only imaging they all went home to the warmer climate. We hope.
It’s a place of fun for kids of all ages. My friend and I arrived into Windsor on the train. We found a taxi and made our way to Legoland. Quite possibly confusing the taxi driver as there were no kids in his car at the time we were travelling there, with great excitement. Sometimes, our inner child runs wild and scares many people. Poor grown ups.
After the main entrance hall, the best way down to the main attraction is via the red cable car or Hill Train, with its colourful yellow interior. A gentle ride down the hill to where the fun continues.
As you can see, not only were we excited to be there but the anticipation was overwhelming, way too much fun being had. Luckily for everyone else, we were the only passengers in this carriage. It could've been ugly, with all that laughter.
The view from the top of the hill in the cable car gives you a quick overview of where to explore.
First stop was the Star Wars exhibition.
The Stars Wars exhibition was a spectular to witness with life sized figures of our favourite Star Wars characeters completly made out of ... you guessed it. Lego, of course. We are drawn through the interior of the Millennium Falcon and then on to some external scenes where battles ensue in space.
Keeping in mind the common theme of Legoland and others like it around the world, the attractions and fun do consist of a mixture of Lego-themed rides, models and building workshops, with the idea that we all enjoy ourselves to the silliest extent. Which I tend to agree. If you can't let the inner, out, then you'll only be bored.
A scary moment happened when we saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex breaking loose from its enclosure with two men attempting to keep it under control with specially deisgned reigns.
By far the largest carnivore in its environment, Tyrannosaurus rex was most likely an apex predator. Some experts, however, have suggested the dinosaur was primarily a scavenger. The question of whether Tyrannosaurus was an apex predator or a pure scavenger is one of the longest ongoing debates in paleontology.
We did notice next to the enclosure where two baby prams (one black and one purple) at the feet of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. We couldn't see the babies, but the Rex did have a hungry glint in his eye.
The Rex was a menacing spectacle with its large and powerful hind limbs, unusually powerful body and two clawed digits, enough to eat you with.
We didn't stick around for too long to discover the outcome of the ongoing argument.
Miniland is a miniature park in Lego form, depicting towns and cities from around the world, using nearly 40 million Lego bricks in models often at 1:20 scale.
The miniature park is an open space that displays miniature buildings and models. It clearly has more elobrate attractions than the typical entertainment parks and boasts much an attraction to the young, lovers of Lego and those who love to enjoy themselves in a shared environment of enjoyment for everyone.
It contains models of cities and towns, containing a number of different sets of models. The models are somewhat awe-inspiring down to the finest details and scale, giving the viewer the strange sensation of having gown 20 times taller, being able to see over the tops of buidlings and villages.
Their intention of being developed as recreational and a tourist attraction definately attacts the crowds purely by their ingenuity, unintentional beauty and genuis - a wow factor.
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.
Yes, there are adventourous thrill rides to capture your imagination for the briefest moment, yet nothing captures your imagination in the fine art of standing still in front of these, many, lego miniature structures.
Legoland - not for the boring.
Don't have the hump at Legoland.