Legoland Windsor may be our happiest place on earth

We went to Legoland in Windsor last Saturday and Sofia absolutely loved every minute of it. A good friend of mine (we used to work together), who lives in London, gamely came along with us. He even rented a kid for the day, his godson, so he had an excuse to come. Hahaha.

At Legoland Windsor with Sofia, my mom, my giant friend Kweku and Brian

Our day started really with a jet lagged Sofia waking us up at 630am for breakfast. Since we had loads of time to spare, we thought it was a good idea to walk to Waterloo Station. It was a nice walk but in hindsight, we should just have conserved our energy.

It was a nice day for a walk. We crossed Blackfriars bridge.
That prominent building at the back is our office here.

Me and Fi on Blackfriars Bridge with 100VE in the background.

Kweku MISSED the 1028 train so we had to wait for him at the Windsor and Eton Riverside Station

Using the gorillapod.

Kweku brought his godson Brian who's also 4. Sofia was very happy to have a playmate!
You need to take the shuttle bus from the Train Station to Legoland.

The kids could not wait to go in!

Legoland is quite organized.
You label your kids with your phone number, so you can get them back if you lose them.

They loved everything they saw, like this F1 Lego Car.

Then it started to rain, good thing Uncle Kweku had a big umbrella!

We jumped into the train to keep dry.
Brian was reading the warning signs and said the first one means Boys and Girls cannot sit together.
Hahaha.It actually means no standing.

Here's a rundown of the activities we did. Keep in mind, we had 2 four year old kids.

We started at the Traffic Section.

FIRE ACADEMY

We ended up in MiniLand so we decided to do the Fire Academy First.

You get to help the firemen save the day.

It's a race between four teams

To go to the building on fire, put it out, then head back.

The kids excited to go and Kweku listening to the briefing.

Sofia took care of the wheel.

Uncle Kweku provided the power.

The kids helped put out the fire.

We were the team that came in last. Hahaha. My contribution are the great pictures.

L-DRIVERS

Driving School for kids aged 3-5.

The kids need to sit through a driving tutorial. Here they're practicing how to steer.

The kids line up so they can choose their cars.

Sofia was a really good driver!

Go Fifi Go!

Whoa! Four car collission!!!

and as soon as Sofia's untangled, off she goes again!

After the ride, they ask the kids to raise their hand if they think they're a good driver.
Then after, to raise to hands, if they think they drive better than their parents.
Sofia did... Bilib sa sarili much!

Sofia and Brian with the Legoland Driver's License that kids get after the ride.

It's energy efficient too. Hahaha.
Which is a good thing since this ride is so popular the kids just go again and again.

Second time in line. All the kids were announcing they wanted to go for a blue car.

Fif was quick enough to get a blue car this time.

Shot with color accent blue on my Canon S95.

Sofia collecting her second Legoland driver's licence.

BALLOON ACADEMY

Fly your own hot air balloon.

It goes up quite high.

Looks like it's about to rain again.

The kids were excited to ride kids while waiting in line.

I opted to stay on ground and took their picture.

Photo op after the ride.

The kids were only willing to stop for lunch when it started raining again.
We just got a Family Bucket of Fried Chicken Take-away and we found a spot to picnic at the Duplo Theater.

Sofia sat on the Lego Storyteller's lap.

Once upon a time...

Toilet Break before the play resumes.

DUPLO Land

The kids started with the Duplo Train. The managed to secure the front seat.

My daughter loves playgrounds!
Duplo Playtown can keep younger kids entertained for hours.

Sofia has no fear climbing up...

There's always Uncle Kweku to the rescue if Fif has trouble going down.

On a dancing teacup.

Fif looking for cool rides.

Running after Brian.

The kids wanted to ride the Chopper Squadron.

This lame ride was quite difficult for me with my fear of heights!
Our chopper barely left the ground. Hahaha.

There is also a Waterworks area.
It was very cold but I guess some kids are just crazy.

Fairy Tale Brook

This boat ride took us through all the popular Fairy Tales including some I didn't even know.

The kids abandoned Uncle Kweku so he didn't get to go on the ride because he didn't want to ride the boat alone.

There were signs that warned you of tales to come.

Strong cross winds warning...

iSpy the Three Little Pigs

Strong Cross Winds = Huffing and Puffing till the wolf blows the house down

The wolf even has his cookbook ready.

Approaching the sleeping castle.

The Prince Charming is about to wake up sleeping beauty.

Hmmm... looks like there are lost kids.

It's Hansel and Gretel!

I have no idea who the troll is.

But I guess it's a tale that has to do with them.

Approaching a cave now.

It's filled with not so hidden treasures.

LSS time: I'm a genie in a bottle...

These may be the guys guarding the treasure.
The cave even has stalactites.

Grandma's here!

Looks like Red Riding Hood is visiting Grandma.

What big teeth you have... The better to eat you my dear!
Take note. Grandma wolf even has a TV with a big antenna so she can get a signal in the woods.

And they all lived Happily Ever After.

Coloring Coloraw El Kwento Kabao.

We just quickly went through the Kingdom of the Pharaohs.

It was raining in the desert!

The kids rode Desert Chase (also known as the good old Carousel).

LEGO CITY

This way to Lego City.

The kids spotted the Orient Expedition so that's what we went on next.

Taking the planning into their hands.

Who wants to sit beside the Giraffe?

Uncle Kweku weaseled out of this one again.

Not so fat controller says it's ok to Go now.

Sofifi's signature fake smile.

We had a view of the Boating Academy.
We refused to do it because the wait time was 45minutes.

We spotted Zebras...

and Giraffes! This totally reminded me of the Safari in South Africa.
But this was more fun!

There was even a monkey at the back of our train.

Do you want to have tea with Mona Lisa?

The Police are here.

Sofia with the Mayor.

Sofia driving a London Taxi.

I want to drive too.

Someone snorkeling in the fountain. 

Mr Green brick came out for pictures.

In color accent green.

A city is not complete without a Travel Shop

Careful, some work on going.

The kids also did the Digger Challenge.

You need to listen to the instructional video.

and put as much balls in the container as you can.

Oops, we were only able to do two scoops.

We went to Adventure Land next to ride the submarine.

Oh no! Fif has been eaten by a shark!!!

We found Atlantis!

It's a Submarine Voyage.

Inside the submarine.

You see Lego fish.

and real fish with Lego divers taking pictures.
They even had sting rays and sharks and just like in Maldives, I was too slow in taking the pics.

Lego god of Atlantis with more real fish. 

Lego goddess with more real fish.

The next generation of Atlantis gods.

It was nearing 6:00pm, closing time, so we had to literally run through the rest of the park.

Land of the Vikings

Kweku convinced the kids to go on the Spinning Spider because he needed to go on the scarier rides.

I think the kids were really dizzy after this ride.

We did NOT do this Vikings' River Splash.

Pirates Landing

Kweku and Brian went on the Jolly Rocker.

This ride made Brian cry :(
Kweku can be a bit of a bully. Hahaha. Kidding.

Sofia found the Pirate Training Camp so we waited for them there.

Punch punch punch.

The only castle in Windsor we saw up close was this one.

Photo Op with the castle in the background.

Sofia goes: Mom, don't be scared. I'll hold your hand. 

Boing!

Climbing up and down the ships.

We used to pan for gold at the Pirate's Gold Wash when we went with Jacob.

Knights Kingdom

We went to the castle only to take pictures.

Prince and Princess of Legoland.

Miniland

We only saw Miniland from afar, on the hill train when we arrived, and from the StarWars store.
This minature land has scenes from London and the US.

Star Wars

We ran out of time to go through the Star Wars exhibit but we made it to the store in time.

I ran uphill to check out the Lego Sale Store but there was nothing nice. 

The kids who I left with Kweku were able to get their picture taken with R2D2.

I had higher hopes for the BIG LEGO SHOP. This closes at 7:00pm so there's actually no need to rush if you want to shop after the park closes.

We have more 10series (collector's edition) lego sets at home than they had in store.
What a missed opportunity to sell.

There was a whole bay of Lego Friends, but it was OUT OF STOCK.
Again, we have almost all the sets that were first released at home.

They just had a mock-up of Olivia's House.

I forced myself to buy a few small things. Then we were good to go.

This is the only part of Windsor Castle that I always see.

It's the view you get from the train station.

This little girl bought a Girl Pirate Teddy.

Thanks so much for coming with us and bringing Brian, K!

repeated failed attempts to nap.

We took a bus back because we were too tired to walk.

No playmate = Asleep in two seconds

Sofia had so much fun in Legoland, I am now stressed that Euro Disney might not measure up. My little girl has always been into Lego more than into Disney Princesses. Hahaha. Just Saying.