roonee A couple of weeks ago, I took my twin toddlers to Legoland Windsor, somewhere I have fond memories of from my own childhood. I often travel alone with my twins, but on this occasion I had the very welcome helping hands of my husband – despite this, I went round the resort with solo mumming very much in mind, contemplating how I would (or wouldn’t) be able to manage various aspects of the park if I had been alone with the twins.
I think it’s worth noting at this point, that my twins are nearly three and both have many ASD traits, the most significant being that they have little to know understanding of the spoken word. This means that where other parents may be able to give meaningful instruction to their nearly three year olds, I can’t. This means that it’s essential to be able to restrain the twins in their buggy for their own safety at times, as they don’t understand me when I tell them about potential dangers.
The Planning
I spent hours researching and planning ahead of our trip to make sure we would get the most out of our day. I downloaded the Legoland app, which was very helpful as it let me know which rides the twins would meet the height restrictions for. I could then map out a route to take throughout the day and I managed to get a good feel for what our day would look like long before we even arrived!
To make things easier, I opted to book us into the Legoland Castle Hotel which is on site. This gave us access to easy(ish) parking and some nice perks including a Lego themed room and some small treats for the twins. This wasn’t a cheap option, but on this occasion I felt that it was worth it.
Accessibility
On arrival, I was initially very impressed with the general accessibility across the site at Legoland Windsor. I was able to manoeuvre my double buggy around without too much hassle, and accessible footpaths and routes were very clearly marked. The baby changing toilets were big enough for me to get the buggy in, and I noticed that single toilet cubicles had little baby chairs where you can safely sit your baby for a few minutes while you go to the loo – a nice touch.
While the whole site is quite hilly and set in a valley, the Hill Train is a very handy service that takes visitors from the bottom of the park to the top, and there is a whole car that’s fully accessible for wheelchair users and buggies.
A single mum with two children at Legoland Windsor
There were times throughout our day at Legoland when I thought about how difficult it would have been to manage if I didn’t have my husband with me. When queueing for rides, buggies need to be left somewhere safe before the queue starts. We struggled with queues a little throughout our day – my daughter in particular was easily distressed at having to stay still and being out of the buggy but not having freedom. Having to restrain my daughter and keep hold of my son was definitely a two person job, and thankfully the queues weren’t long when we visited as our trip was on a Tuesday during term time. Had the queues been any longer, and had I been by myself, I simply would not have been able to manage.
Overall experience
Our overall experience of spending a day and a night in Legoland was great, and I’m glad we splashed out for the night in the Legoland Castle hotel – it was a lot of fun. Having experienced the day together with my husband, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t recommend this to solo parents with more than one young child!
