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Legoland Windsor is a child-oriented theme park and Resort in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego toy system. The park opened in 1996 on the former Windsor Safari Park as the second Legoland after Legoland Billund in Denmark. The park is located within close distance of Windsor Castle and about 8 mi west of London Heathrow Airport. In common with the other Legolands across the world, the park's attractions consist of a mixture of Lego-themed rides, models and building workshops. The park was acquired by Merlin Entertainments in 2005, who now operate the park, with the Lego Group retaining part ownership (30%). The facilities are mainly targeted at children between three and twelve.

In 2011, the park had 1.9 million visitors, making it the joint second most visited theme park in the United Kingdom with Thorpe Park and after Alton Towers, and the joint 10th most visited in Europe, again alongside Thorpe Park.

History
From 1969 to 1992, the site of today´s Legoland Windsor belonged to Windsor Safari Park, which had been founded by the Billy Smart´s Circus.

The Lego Group began research for the development of a second Legoland park after Legoland Billund in 1987, with over 1000 sites considered. In January 1992, Windsor Safari Park went into receivership and the 150 acre site was chosen. Throughout 1992 and 1993, planning, design, site preparation and the design and construction of models began, and new homes were secured for all the safari animals. 1994 saw the installation of services, foundations and infrastructures, and in 1995, one year prior to opening, Big Ben was installed in Miniland. By this time, buildings and attractions were becoming established and in September, advance bookings were opened for entrance tickets. Final installations were completed by the beginning of 1996 and at this point, the Legoland Windsor staff-base was recruited. The grand opening of Legoland Windsor occurred in March 1996. During its first season, the park attracted over 1.4 million guests.

In April 2005, Lego made the decision to sell the Legoland parks, due to rising losses across the whole company. On July 13, 2005, Legoland was acquired by the Blackstone Group and control of the parks passed to Merlin Entertainments.

Openings

 * 1998: Castleland with Dragon (March 14), Lego Mindstorms Workshop (May 1)
 * 1999: Dragon's Apprentice (Season Start), The Balloon School (April), X-Treme Challenge (August), Christmas Season (November 20 to January 3)
 * 2000: Wave Surfer (April), Creation Centre and Rocket Racers (December), new picnic area (Season End)

Refurbishments and Changes

 * 1999: Imagination Theatre refurbished with a truss lighting grid, lighting booth and blackout drapes for the Christmas production of Peter Pan (Season End)

Closings

 * 2000: Christmas Season (November 18 to January 7), Bum Shaker (Season End)


 * March 14: Castleland with park's first rollercoaster, Dragon, opens.
 * May 1: Lego Mindstorms Workshop opened.


 * Start of Season: Dragon's Apprentice opened.
 * April: Water flume ride The Balloon School opened.
 * August: X-Treme Challenge opened.
 * November 20 to January 3: First opening for Christmas season.
 * During Season:The Imagination Theatre refurbished with a truss lighting grid, lighting booth and blackout drapes for the Christmas production of Peter Pan at the end of the season.


 * April: Wave Surfer opens after delay with one of two turntables operational for first week.
 * November 18 to January 7: Last opening for Christmas season.
 * December: Creation Centre and Rocket Racers open, having started construction in January.
 * End of Season: Bum Shaker replaced with picnic area.


 * End of Season: The Technic Garages replaced with food outlet, Muscle Maker replaced with remote controlled model lorry attraction Truck Stop and Sky Rider refurbished with new restraints, non-stop loading and direction change.


 * During Season: I-Spy Express renamed The Adventurer's Express and rethemed around jungle animals.
 * End of Season: The Imagination Theatre converted to a 4D cinema with two projectors, control equipment, theatrical mahcines such as wind, snow and fog, and 36 ft projection screen.


 * Start of Season:: The Mindstorms Workshop moved from Knights’ Kingdom to Imagination Centre to replace the Dacta Workshops, Robolabs opened and Lego Racers 4D was added to Imagination Theatre.
 * June 10:Queen Elizabeth II visited as part of British Tourism Day.


 * Start of Season: The Jungle Coaster and Wave Surfer opened as part of Adventure Land, with the lake renamed Adventure Land Lake. The Big Restaurant refurbished.
 * End of Season: Rocket Racers closed after technical problems, low popularity and queuing problems and the Celtic maze of The Amazing Mazes was replaced with a path.


 * Start of Season: The Fire Academy in Traffic, and Dino Dipper and Dino Safari in Adventure Land open.
 * The Adventurer’s Express renamed The Orient Express.


 * Start of Season: Digger Challenge opened and Spellbreaker 4D was introduced in Imagination Theatre.
 * End of Season: The Amazing Mazes closed with the nautical maze demolished and the Tudor maze renamed Loki’s Labyrinth.


 * Start of Season: Whirly Birds renamed Chopper Squadron and Mindstorms Workshop switched from using Lego Mindstorms to the NXT system.
 * July: Mole-in-One Golf opened.
 * August 18: Vikings' River Splash opens with reduced 6 people per raft and incomplete theming, after severe delays from the original April launch, with Loki's Labyrinth opening after.


 * Start of Season': Q-Bot introduced, Cinderella joins Duplo Theatre, Revenge of Aztec Queen replaces The Sapphire Scorpion, Longboat Invader opens after being delayed from 2007 and with Vikings' River Splash finished, Land of the Vikings and Mole-in-One Golf readvertised as new.
 * Xbox Gaming Zone replaces Magic Theatre, The Big Restaurant refurbished and renamed City Walk with Pasta Patch's menu, which was renamed as fish and chips restaurant Captain Barnacle's Boatshed, Cinnabon Bakery replaced with Harbourside Coffee Co. Express and Bricks 'n' Bits renamed Cuddles Corner, selling clothing.


 * Rocket Racers reopened.
 * Kingdom of the Pharaohs opened with existing, rethemed carousel, chairswings and ferris wheel, Laser Raiders in current tent for queuing and new buildings for the ride, and Scarab Bouncers.
 * A new spider was placed on top of the spinning spider ride, with the previous one residing on the hill between Spinning Spider and Longboat Invader.
 * Crossed Ribs and Knights Table restaurants changed to table service and a new family and female toilet block was opened in Lego City, replacing the previous Explorer's Institute attraction.


 * The Jungle Coaster was removed to be relocated to Legoland Florida, with the space left for the development of a hotel.
 * The Lego City Harbour show was replaced with new Pirates of Skeleton Bay show and Lego City A Clutch Powers 4D Adventure was added to the 3 previous shows in The Imagination Theatre.
 * The Wild Woods was rethemed as Pirates Landing, with new Huss boat Jolly Rocker and existing attractions Rat Trap rethemed with additional equipment as Pirates Training Camp and Pirate Falls enhanced with water cannons and a new audio track and renamed 'Pirate Falls Dynamite Drench'.


 * A submarine-based Sealife attraction, Atlantis Submarine Voyage by Sealife, opened on 20 May, using the site of the Dino Dipper, which was relocated to Knight's Kingdom and rethemed Knights' Quest.
 * Rocket Racers closed on 10 October to make way for a new attraction for 2012.


 * Lego Star Wars Miniland Experience, featuring scenes from all the movies, replaced Rocket Racers on 16 March.
 * Legoland Windsor Resort Hotel, a 150-room themed hotel, opened on 16 March.
 * Wave Surfer rethemed as S.Q.U.I.D. Surfer and Pit Stop Café became The Original Sandwich Co. at the start of the season.


 * Legoland Windsor will rename and extend Duplo Land as Duplo Valley for 2013, including adding new attractions Brickville, Duplo Splash Safari and Duplo Drench Towers, and enlarging the existing Duplo Puppet Theatre.

Areas
The park is split into 11 themed lands, incorporating various attractions, restaurants and shops: The Beginning, Imagination Centre, Duplo Land, Miniland, Traffic, Adventureland, Lego City, Pirate Landing, Knight´s Kingdom, Land of the Vikings, Kingdom of the pharaohs.

On-ride Photography is available for Driving School, L-Drivers, Pirate Falls, The Dragon, The Dragon's Apprentice, Fairy Tale Brook, Laser Raiders and Viking's River Splash, and from May 2008, there have been roaming photographers, with prints purchased from a hut in The Beginning.

The Beginning
The Beginning is the entrance to the park and is accessible before park opening. The area contains the ticket booths and gates, height chart, guest service, Annual Pass and Q-Bot facilities, as well as toilet and cash machines. LEGO Star Wars Miniland Experience and the model makers in the Model Maker's Workshop is found in the former Creation Centre, which previously housed virtual car build and drive ride Rocket Racers, the LEGO Crown Jewels, various LEGO celebrity busts and pictures, a LEGO Virgin Boeing 747 cockpit and a motorbike. The building was originally sponsored by Boeing. From this, Windsor Castle is visible at a distance

Also in the area is The Hill Train, a funicular railway down a curved slope. It is the only attraction retained from Windsor Safari Park, being revamped when the parked open with stained glass windows made from translucent Lego bricks by local school children. It travels 300 metres between The Beginning and Traffic and with a height difference between the top and bottom stations of approximately 27 metres.

Food establishments include Beginning Bites, Pit Stop Diner and Sweet Shop, with shops being flagship The Big Shop, which includes Pick-a-Brick, Kids Wear and a Stars Wars and Last Chance marketplace".

Imagination Centre
The Imagination Centre is just above Miniland. It features educational attractions Build & Test Workshops, Lego Mindstorms NXT-based Lego Mindstorms Workshop and Robolab Workshop, all of which are open to schools during term time. Rides include wire climbing Space Tower and aerial powered car track Sky Rider, both original rides opened in 1996. Finally, the Imagination Theatre is a small cinema showing 4D films, currently showing LEGO Racers 4D (2003),Spellbreaker 4D (2006), Lego City A Clutch Powers 4D Adventure (2010), and LEGO Star Wars Padwan Menace 2D (2012). Bob the Builder 4-D: Bob and the Rollercoaster (2009) is no longer shown.

Food is available at Papa Moles.

Miniland
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 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.

London includes the Gherkin, the Millennium Bridge, a rotating London Eye, Canary Wharf, St Paul's Cathedral, Horseguards Parade with the Queen, Tower Bridge and a train system modelled on the Docklands Light Railway and the London Underground. England includes Brighton Pier, the Angel of the North, Smiths Arms Wiltshire (the smallest pub in Britain) and Stonehenge, with Scotland including Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, Eilean Donan, Jedburgh Abbey, Blair Atholl and Loch Ness and Wales featuring a rugby pitch and a typical Welsh village street while the National Anthem is played. Other countries featured include Sweden, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

During 2001, an audio tour was introduced, but removed at the end of the season. In 2009, Lego versions of the Top Gear presenters Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and The Stig were introduced near the racetrack in Miniland, standing around a Caterham model. Since 2009, The Doctor from Doctor Who, along with his relevant current assistant, K9, the Tardis and enemies including Davros and the Daleks, have been added. Others featured include Yoda, Andy and Lou characters from Little Britain, Boris Johnson, Gordon Brown and H.M. The Queen.

Duplo Land
Duplo Land, previously Explore Land and Duplo Gardens, is aimed at younger children, with attractions including boat-based fairy tale ride Fairy Tale Brook, controllable mock helicopters Chopper Squadron, Duplo Playground play area, children's water play area Waterworks, short narrow-gauge railway Duplo Train, a play area called Duplo Playtown and regular puppet shows in the Duplo Theatre, previously 'Willow Stage'.

Other attractions include two nine-hole minigolf courses operate as Mole-in-One Golf for an additional charge and two 100m water slides for Extreme Team Challenge originally named X-treme Challenge. The shop in this area is Cuddles Corner, which sells stuffed toys and clothing, and food is available from Duplo Family Restaurant and Fried Chicken Co.

Traffic
Traffic is themed around transport. Driving School is for children 6 to 13 years old and sponsored by Fiat, and L-Drivers is for children aged 3 to 5 years old, both of which are where children can drive a Lego car around a track complete with traffic lights and road signs to gain a mock license. Boating School lets guests of all ages take control of boats around a course of waterways, Balloon School lets visitors take a 40 ft ride into the sky in a mock hot air balloon and Fire Academy lets groups of 2-4 board a 'fire engine' vehicle, which they must power to a mock-up of a burning building to pump water cannons before returning to the start. Food is available in Sub Station.

LEGO City
LEGO City, previously My Town, is a mock-up of a small Lego town. The town includes LEGO City Harbour, where live stunt shows are performed at intervals throughout the day, currently showing Pirates Of Skeleton Bay. The city also includes Orient Expedition, which is a train ride around Lego City, Traffic and Adventure Land, with Lego safari animals along the track, Digger Challenge, sponsored by JCB, which offers guests the chance to operate a mock hydraulic digger, and also console gaming area Xbox Gaming Zone.

The shop in this area is Brick Brothers Souvenir Co, which sells a range of Lego souvenirs, and food is available from City Walk, Harbourside Cafe and Ice Factory

Land of the Vikings
Land of the Vikings is situated behind the Hill Train, it was opened in 2007. The main attraction is the Viking's River Splash, a river rapids ride with nine-seat rafts, interactive water features, the 'Troll Wash', where buckets of water are emptied from the top of a four metre high bridge across the water channel and two Lego dragons, blue representing ice and red representing fire. Longboat Invader is a swinging, spinning 'Rocking Tug' boat ride. Finally, there is Loki's Labyrinth, a Viking themed hedge maze and Spinning Spider, a spinning teacups style ride with a spider theme previously part of Wild Woods.

Kingdom of the Pharaohs
The Kingdom of the Pharaohs contains "Laser Raiders", an interactive dark ride through an Egyptian tomb where visitors shoot targets to gain points, with characters based on the Johnny Thunder series (which previously featured in the stunt show). The ride is similar to Lost Kingdom Adventure in Legoland California and is located in the former circus tent, which was re-themed to a desert façade with a 6m high pharaoh made of 200,000 Lego bricks. There is also Scarab Bouncers, a Jumping Star ride that has two drop towers of around 15 ft, similar to Beetle Bounce at Legoland California. From the former Brickadilly's Fairground, three rides were re-themed as part of the land, with The Ferris Wheel renamed Aero Nomad, wave swinger Chair-O-Plane renamed Thunder Blazer and the Carousel renamed Desert Chase.

The shop in this area is The Bazaar in the tent, which sells souvenirs and Lego products with an Egyptian theme, as well as 3D crystal.

Pirates Landing
Pirates Landing features a log flume Pirate Falls Dynamite Drench ride appropriately Pirate-themed with Lego brick models and includes an on-ride photography opportunity.Pirates Training Camp is a three-storey labyrinth of walkways, scramble nets and chutes, with interactive elements and clues to follow with a mystery to solve. The final attraction is Jolly Rocker, a giant pirate ship that swings 18 meters high, relocated from Heide Park. Visitors can also do Panning For Gold for an extra charge, with gold exchanged for a medal, and the area also includes restaurants, Crossed Ribs BBQ and Pirates BBQ.

Knights' Kingdom
Knights' Kingdom features The Dragon roller coaster, which starts inside the castle-shaped building, passing Lego tableaux, before travelling outside reaching a speed of around 30 mi/h. As a complement to The Dragon, The Dragon's Apprentice is a smaller rollercoaster for younger children.Enchanted Forest is a walk-through nature trail surrounded with many naturalistic Lego Creations. 'Knight's Quest is an 'Old Train' ride, featuring a loop of cars travelling at high speeds over bumps (it was relocated to the area from Adventure Land and renamed from 'Dino Dipper).

The shop in this area is Turret Shop, which sells a large range of Lego products with medieval themes, and food is available from Knights Delight and Knights Table Rotisserie.

Adventure Land
Adventure Land is situated around a lake at the bottom of the park. The main attraction is Atlantis Submarine Voyage by Sealife, which features "submarine" vehicles used to travel through the 1 million litre tank to view marine exhibits and a Lego recreation of the lost city of Atlantis, which is guarded by live sharks, as well as touch pools and other interactive areas located after the main ride element of the 1,230m2 indoor attraction. The area also includes Wave Surfer, where riders swing round on a gondola suspended over water to avoid water jets activated by spectators and Dino Safari,which is a car ride featuring Lego model dinosaurs. For an extra charge, visitors can go on the seven metre Climbing Wall.

Atlantis Sub Store is a shop in the area, with Burger Ranch and Mexican Cantina offering food.

Hotel
Legoland Windsor Resort Hotel was opened on 16 March 2012. The hotel was built on the site of former ride Jungle Coaster, a MACK Wild Mouse style rollercoaster, themed to Lego Technic over 400 metres of track to a height of 16 metres at a top speed of 60 km/h (37 mph). After issues with noise, the ride was relocated to Legoland Florida. The 150-room hotel is LEGO themed and includes a restaurant, bar, pool, children's play area and conference facilities.

Park operation
Legoland Windsor typically opens from March to November, with closures on some Tuesdays and Wednesdays in May, September and October. The park's opening time varies between 9.30am and 10am and closing time varies between 5pm and 8pm, with 9pm for special events. All times vary in accordance with the UK school and public holidays, with longer hours during the summer months and weekends.

Special events
Legoland Windsor runs a variety of special events throughout the year. A number now run annually, with several additional one-off events. Regular events are as follows:


 * After Dark, held at Easter, is a three-day late-night event, with a laser, pyrotechnics and water show over Lego City Harbour or lately, Adventure Land Lake, with access to a number of rides during the evenings. The shows are often themed, such as the 10th anniversary in 2006, Batman in 2007 and Star Wars in 2011.
 * Legoland Live! is a family-based concert in July, with singing, dancing and interactive attractions, featuring well-known stars and characters.
 * Amazing Machines is monster truck, motorbike and vehicle stunt show in September.
 * Fireworks occurs at the end of the season for several weekends, with fireworks over Adventure Land viewed from Lego City Harbour and Miniland, activities and rides open late. Due to the fall out zone, the access road is closed during the display. The event is usually themed around Lego related products, such as Rock Raiders, Lego Insectoids, Bionicle, Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones.

Q-Bot
For the 2008 season, the Q-Bot queueing system was introduced. For a per-person fee, guests are provided with a small pager-like device to "reserve" places in queues virtually, allowing guests to use their queuing time elsewhere in the park. The initial contract between Q-Bot developers Lo-Q was for 1 year from April 8, 2008. This contract was extended for 2009 before a new 3-year contract was signed on March 26, 2010. Three tiers of the device are available at different prices which reduce the queue time by different proportions. As of 2011, the following rides can be selected using a Q-Bot:

• Aero Nomad

• Balloon School

• Chopper Squadron

• Desert Chase

• Dino Safari

• Dragon's Apprentice

• Driving School

• Extreme Team Challenge

• Fairy Tale Brook

• Fire Academy

• Jolly Rocker

• Knight's Quest

• Laser Raiders

• Orient Expedition

• Pirate Falls Dynamite Drench

• Sky Rider

• Spinning Spider

• The Dragon

• Thunder Blazer

• Vikings' River Splash

Additionally, a number of other attractions and shows can be booked, with some attracting an additional fee. These include:
 * Atlantis Submarine Voyage
 * Boating School
 * Bob the Builder in 4D (Free of charge)
 * Clutch Powers 4D (Free of charge)
 * Lego Racers 4D (Free of charge)
 * Spellbreaker 4D (Free of charge)

Transport
By road, Legoland Windsor can be reached by M25, signed from the M3 at junction 3 and M4 at junction 4 and located on the B3022 (Winkfield Road). By coach, Green Line Coaches operate the 702 coach service from London's Victoria Coach Station and Golden Tours operate daily. A shuttle bus, service 200 and 191 from First Berkshire & The Thames Valley, runs from Windsor's town centre. Also, Windsor itself is served by rail at Windsor and Eton Riverside and Windsor and Eton Central, which are a short walk from the connecting shuttle service.

Incidents

 * In 2006, a fire broke out in a storage barn onsite during the end of season fireworks on October 28, with no injuries.
 * In 2008, after noise complaints were received, Jungle Coaster plastic housing was placed over the cars, leading to reduced capacity to two adults per car, due to weight restrictions. However, at the end of the 2009 season, the ride was removed and the site used for hotel construction.
 * In September 2010, the park's high quantity of wasps during the season was featured on Watchdog, with general manager Sue Kemp appearing with host Anne Robinson and confirming new signage, actions and details on the website.

Awards
Since opening in 1996, the park has won a number of awards:


 * Voted UK's Number One Family Attraction by Group Leisure Magazine, 1999.
 * Best UK Attraction for Children, issued by Yandell Publishing in 2002.
 * Best Family Visitor Attraction in the 2007 Tommy's Parent Friendly Awards.
 * Best UK theme Park, from the British Travel Awards.