Review – Christmas Bricktacular at LEGOLAND Windsor Resort

As Christmas is fast approaching, it’s getting to the time where you should be thinking about taking the kids to see Santa. There are a myriad of choices available, it’s hard to know where to go. The press often have stories of ‘Winter Blunderlands’ – with smoking elves, drunk Santas or muddy fields with mangy reindeer. We were invited to the Christmas Bricktacular at LEGOLAND Windsor Resort to see how it should be done.

Cost and Availability

The Christmas Bricktacular runs on the 3rd & 4th, 10th & 11th and 17th – 24th December 2016. Our visit took place on the second day, 4th December. It’s a flat cost of £35 per person. You need to book online to secure a time slot with Santa.

Your ticket price includes access to a selection of rides and attractions, a trip to Santa with a LEGO gift for the children, and the grown-ups get a hot beverage (inc. Mulled Wine!) and cookie.

On the day

On entering the park you make your way to the ‘Brickmas Express’ to begin your journey down to the Christmas Bricktacular. They have done a stellar job with making the park feel festive, the pathways are lined with hundreds of lit Christmas trees – dowsed in ‘snow’. It looks wonderful, and certainly helped me get into the festive mood.

Whilst not all the rides are open, there are a good selection of family favourites to choose from. I think those that are closed are largely for operational reasons – the water rides would freeze!

This is one of the best times to enjoy LEGOLAND Windsor Resort, the queue times were very low. We walked onto pretty much everything! The fact everything was so quiet meant we could ENJOY the park, take lots of photos, and have a nice time. There was no need to placate bored, grumpy children in the queue-lines, or charge around to fit every attraction in.

We grabbed lunch at 12pm in the Pizza and Pasta place – there were only a few other families in there at that time. I’d recommend an early lunch – it was getting busier as we’d left, but the staff were coping well!

The following Rides and Attractions are available during the Christmas Bricktacular –

• Desert Chase
• Thunder Blazer
• Heartlake City Express
• Hill Train (Bricksmas Express)
• Driving School
• Spinning Spider
• L-Drivers
• Dragon’s Apprentice
• Balloon School
• Knights Quest
• Mia’s Riding Adventure
• Laser Raider
• Scarab Bouncers
• Jolly Rocker
• Miniland (London and Scotland)
• Starwars Miniland
• Olivia’s House

Families can also visit Mrs Christmas’ LEGO toy shop where children can build a LEGO snowflake to take home. As well as the Elves Workshop and LEGO Big Build, where you can build LEGO tree decorations, or help build a large festive character. The kids took part in the ‘Big Build’ and really enjoyed building some large blocks to make up a massive snowman.

Meeting the big-man!

As our timeslot approached we made our way over to the Nexo Knights Kingdom where Santa is located. You need to arrive 5 minutes before the slot. You then make your way through a Christmas tree lined queueline. Our wait time was around 10 minutes before we made it to the front of the queue where the ‘Head-Elf’ met us. We were then allocated an elf to take us to see Santa.

As we twisted around the Christmas forest the elf chatted to the children and led the way. We arrived at a little log cabin and went inside. Santa ‘magically’ knew the children’s name and had a lovely chat with him.

Sometimes when you visit Santa, it can feel a little like a conveyor belt – get the kids in, ask what they want, quick photo – out. This wasn’t the case here, Santa took the time and really listened to the children. It was also nice that he didn’t just assume Miss A and I were ‘Mum and Dad’ – quite often now, it isn’t. He asked the children who the ‘Big people’ were. I also liked how he explained to them that they might not get EVERYTHING on their lists, but him and the ‘big people’ would do their best.

One of the best!

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of Santas – the one at the Christmas Bricktacular was the BEST I’ve visited. He was perfect. The kids posed for a quick picture, and were given a little sack each with a LEGO set in each. We said goodbye to Santa and made our way out of the ‘forest’, led by our elf, to see the picture. I think it might have been nice to have a free copy of it, rather be charged £10. However, it was a nice picture, so we swallowed the cost.

Overall

At a flat cost of £35 per person, the cost can ramp up with a larger family. However – with your trip to Santa including a £10(ish) LEGO set, plus you can make a LEGO Tree Decoration and LEGO Snowflake to take home. Combined with the fact you get to enjoy a decent selection of rides for the entire day, it’s a good way to experience LEGOLAND.

The theming around the Christmas Bricktacular is top notch, and the festive additions to Miniland will raise a smile.

If you’ve not visited LEGOLAND Windsor before, it really is a great time to experience it. They have really made an excellent effort to sprinkle some Christmas magic across the resort. The Santa experience was wonderful and the children were utterly enchanted by it all.

It might not be the cheapest way to see Santa, however, it’s a cheap way to visit LEGOLAND Windsor. Wrap up warm, enjoy the ‘free’ mulled wine, snuggle with the kids and have a lovely day at the Christmas Bricktacular.

Disclaimer

We were given 4 free tickets to visit LEGOLAND Windsor Resort’s Christmas Bricktacular to review it as part of their Blogger Ambassador Scheme. All opinions are my own.