Mad House

Racing on the Minifigure Speedway

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Legoland Windsor

I haven‘t been to Legoland Windsor in ages. During the time since my last visit, quite a few attractions opened within the park – most of them unique to this Legoland park.

Lego Ninjago World

Lego Ninjago The Ride

Lego Ninjago The Ride is the first interactive themed ride where passengers use only their hands to aim. The ride system uses a series of sensors to detect the movements of the hands. Depending on the height of the hands and the angle to the sensor, the hand movement is interpreted and a coloured dot appears on the screen so that you know where you are currently aiming. The whole process is not very intuitive and so confused hand-waving is actually a good way to score a lot of points. You can refine your movements on the many screens you pass. All in all, Lego Ninjago The Ride is a very solid and fun attraction.

Lego Mythica

Since the second Lego movie was unfortunately a flop, the Merlin Entertainments Group decided to create the Lego Mythica brand for Legoland Windsor instead of a themed area based on the film. The Lego Mythica themed area includes the Flying Theater Flight of the Sky Lion, the two very fun family freefall towers Fire & Ice Freefall, and the redesigned Jet Ski attraction Hyda’s Challenge.

Flight of the Sky Lion

In true Lego style, the Flight of the Sky Lion takes you on a colourful adventure through the different realms of Lego Mythica. There is a lot going on during the wild ride, especially as every creature wants to start a fight with you. The ride itself looks good, has some accelerating movements and tells an easy-to-digest story – but that’s about it. If the queue is short, a ride on Flight of the Sky Lion is an easy recommendation.

Lego City

Lego City: Deep Sea Adventure

The Lego City: Deep Sea Adventure dark ride combines two of Merlin Entertainment’s core brands: Lego and Sealife. The ride through the aquarium is therefore quite impressive and a cool way to watch the goings-on in the large water basin around you.

Haunted House Monster Party

While Legoland Billund surprised everyone by creating a scare attraction with a cluster of small drop towers, Legoland Windsor took a more family-friendly approach by inviting everyone to the Monster Party. Here, guests enter a large room that turns upside down. Of course, this is only an optical illusion, as the ride itself only tilts back and forth by about 30°.

The Haunted House Monster Party is a nice addition to Legoland Windsor and a unique Mad House with a very cool vibe. Hopefully we will see this attraction at other Legoland locations in the future.

Duplo Valley

Duplo Dino Coaster

The Duplo Dino Coaster is the smallest roller coaster at Legoland. It has an oval layout with gentle drops and turns. The ride itself is fun and a great way to start your rollercoaster career as a toddler.

Bricktopia

Minifigure Speedway

High above Duplo Valley is the large family roller coaster Minifigure Speedway. The ride features two dueling tracks, each offering a forward and backward ride. Both tracks consist of a series of tight-radius turns with a gentle hill in between. Although the ride itself is very family friendly, the new Zierer coaster still packs a punch, especially during the backwards ride.

The Minifigure Speedway is a great addition to Legoland Windsor and a very special first for roller coaster manufacturer Zierer. It would be great to see similar rides at other Legoland locations around the world.

Pictures Legoland Windsor

Conclusion Legoland Windsor

It is good to see that Merlin Entertainments is still investing in some of its parks. Although the presentation of the rides could be a little better – the Legoland Speedway and the Haunted House Monster Party in particular look a little uninspired and drab – the additions over the last 10 years add a lot to the line-up of this popular theme park. It will be interesting to see what the future holds, especially as a large plot of land, once occupied by the Vikings River Splash rapids ride, is set to become available soon.

 

What is your opinion about the novelties of the past 10 years at Legoland Windsor?  Just write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

 

     

Click here to go to the Legoland Windsor overview page.

Legoland Windsor

Walibi Belgium

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Theme Park:Walibi Belgium (since 2005)
Six Flags Belgium (2001 - 2004)
Walibi Wavre (1982 - 2000)
Walibi (1975 - 1981)
Address:Boulevard de l'Europe 100
1300 Wavre
https://www.walibi.com/belgium/be-en
Operated by:Compagnie des Alpes

Loop Garou • Vekoma Wooden CoasterWalibi Belgium located in Wavre nearby the capital Brussels is the biggest theme park in Belgium. The park was founded in 1975 by the Belgian Businessman Eddy Meeùs and is currently being operated by the french group Compagnie des Alpes. The park features state of the art roller coasters and water rides, like the prototype of the Mack Rides Power Splash.

Fun Fact #1: The park is named after the surrounding cities Wavre, Limal and Bierges. The mascot is therefore a wallaby.

Fun Fact #2: The park was operated by the American theme park group Six Flags between 2001 and 2004. In order to promote the park in Europe, Six Flags Belgium was one of the parks featured in the game Roller Coaster Tycoon 2.

Fun Fact #3: The roller coaster Sirocco became world famous after a train got stuck in an upside down position. When the ride was being enclosed during its transformation to Turbine (now Pskyé Underground) a platform for evacuation was installed in the middle of the loop.

 
 
 

Highlights of the Theme Park

 



 

Calamity Mine

The original Vekoma Mine Train

 


 

Cobra

It doesn’t get any smoother than this

 


 

Flashback

The time travel log flume

 


 

Kondaa

One of Europe’s finest roller coasters

 


 

Loup Garou

Wooden roller coaster made by Vekoma

 


 

Palais du Génie

An evil djinn turns the house upside down

 

 



 

Popcorn Revenge

A very entertainment visit to the Cinemas

 


 

Psyké Underground

Europe’s only Shuttle Loop

 


 

Pulsar

The first Power Splash

 



 

Radja River

The water tunnel at the end is amazing

 


 

Tiki Waka

The bobsled coaster high up in the sky

 


 

Vampire

A very good SLC

 


Walibi Belgium

Off to Jumanji

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My last visit to Gardaland was a few years ago. At that time, the Kung Fu Panda Academy themed area was still under construction. Apart from numerous smaller changes, the opening of the Legoland Water Park, which was built in the middle of Gardaland for whatever reason, and the Peppa Pig World toddler area right at the entrance to the amusement park, the Jumanji the Adventure dark ride is the most important innovation of the past few years. 

Kung Fu Panda Academy

In the small themed area Kung Fu Panda Academy, everything revolves around the popular Dreamworks IP about the dragon warrior Po. As the area is very limited, apart from some gastronomy and a redesigned tea cup carousel, you will only find the small spinning coaster Kung Fu Panda Master, which takes up most of the space.

Kung Fu Panda Master

The Kung Fu Panda Master is a power mouse from the Italian manufacturer Fabbri. The small roller coaster offers several tight curves that put the car into a rather leisurely spin. In between, this is loosened up a little by smaller drops. But all in all, that’s about it. The ultra-compact installation fits perfectly into the available space, but not at all into the amusement park. Apart from the design of the gondolas, which looks more like a fun fair than an amusement park, the ride lacks capacity. Those who like to queue for up to two hours at an attraction, while the crowds at the large attractions in the park are rather small, are welcome to take a ride. The rest either queue up right at the opening of the ride or forego a ride.

Jumanji The Adventure

The Jumanji The Adventure dark ride replaces Ramses: Il risveglio. The large façade of the ride still reminds us in parts of the old Pinfari classic, but inside everything is new. The ride is based on the new Jumanji trilogy and thus not on the book and the associated board game. After a short pre-show, it becomes clear: we have to save Jumanji by putting the heart of Jumanji in its rightful place. 

Accompanied by Nigel Billingsley, we set off on a dangerous mission. After we have taken a seat in the 6-person jeep, the journey begins. A mandrill immediately steals the jewel from us, so we follow the animal. Nigel, however, loses his first life in the action. On our chase we come across a hippo and a snake, whereupon we almost have a crash. Shortly afterwards we meet Nigel again. At the gorge with the hanging bridges the mandrill awakens a stone giant and loses the jewel. Of course we jump right after it, secure the jewel and lose our first life. Our path then leads us through a stone cave where we meet the stone giant once more. But we lose our second life in a huge spider’s web. Finally arriving at the temple we manage to give the jewel to Nigel. Despite the attack of the stone giant, he manages to put it in its rightful place, whereupon the spell is broken and our journey ends.

Jumanji The Adventure is an extremely solid dark ride. The large sets and the skilful integration of the media content speak for themselves. The ride is extremely dynamic and has a few successful surprises. However, the clearly visible ceiling of the hall is slightly annoying, as is the seemingly reduced capacity at the moment, which always results in long waiting times. 

Pictures Gardaland

What do you think about Jumanji the Adventure and Kung Fu Panda Master? Just write it here under the review in the comment field or visit our social media channels:

          

Gardaland