Legoland Windsor + Chessington Worlds of Adventure: My Smashing ACE UK Tour Trip Report - Part VIII

We have an adventure-packed day ahead of us!

Who's excited??? :}

Not one, but TWO exciting Merlin parks make up today's agenda (and, incidentally, only two coasters between them). 

My first Legoland! It's Legoland Windsor! 

The Legoland chain of parks are, of course, famous for their numerous sculptures made out of millions of Lego bricks. 

Lots of tongue-in-cheek humor is afoot. 

WIENER!

The entrance of Legoland Windsor is the highest point in the park. From here there are great views of Windsor Castle. :}

Everyone knows that Lego and Star Wars go hand in hand. The Lego Star Wars experience has that fan base covered!

The park was still waking up as we were escorted to our ERT.

If any of you reading aren't a fan of spiders, I apologize in advance.

Eek!

ERT this morning is in Knight's Kingdom!

First up!

It's a good day to be a credit whore. 

Especially when the coaster is this HAPPY DRAGON THAT IS SO CUTE.

Sadly the park's larger family coaster, Dragon, was closed. The result was all of us filing our way through the Dragon's Apprentice coaster, slowly but surely.

Fortunately there were Legos to play with in line. :}

Both of Legoland Windsor's coasters are built by WGH Transportation, who also built Rhombus's Rocket and Jellikin's Coaster at Fantasy Island, and Spook Express at Joyland. Their sixth and final coaster is Green Dragon at GreenWood Forest Park in Wales. :}

The best part of the Dragon's Apprentice was taking pictures of all these credit whores! ;}

As far as kiddie coasters go, the atmosphere is top-notch. 

It's Joe! :D

Here's some of the larger Dragon coaster. On the right you'll see the tail of the stalled-out train. 

This castle serves as the entry area for the Dragon coaster.

Inside are some very clever Lego artifacts.

Some are quite elegant. 

Sadly the Legoland guards standing in the threshold of Dragon's queue would not be moved on our visit. 

With the park's only operating credit out of the way, the rest of ERT was spent admiring the various Lego wonders in the surrounding area. 

It's Shrek and Fiona!

Nearby Pirate Shores is anchored (hehe, get it? Anchored??) by an INCREDIBLE log flume, which is open for ERT! 

"Pirate Falls Treasure Quest" is primarily a scenic boat ride, but features a climactic drop at the end!

The flume is an immersive feast for the eyes that tells the story of Lego pirates on the hunt for gold bricks! 

I get that not everyone is into water rides, but this flume was so exquisite and detailed that I'd hate to think of any Lego fan missing out! 

Pirate mice accompany pirates of the human variety. 

Pirates have to do laundry just like everyone else!

Eep! This is not ideal!

Here comes some wetness! Brace yourselves!

(got me right in the ear!)

GIVE US THE CHEESE OR WALK THE PLANK!

YIPPEE KI YAY FUTHERMOCKER!

…did he just curse on Thrillography? Can he do that?

The treasure! It's ours!

Uh-oh. More riffraff. I knew it wouldn't be that easy!

Oh snap! Stuff is getting real!

(disenfranchised squeaking)

Well now we've done it. I don't know where the treasure went, but I don't think we're going in the right direction. 

Here's a little foreshadowing of where we'll be in a couple of days. ;}

You see comrade, with the hiding behind the sandbags, enemy see only sandbags, yes?! Is genius, no?

After ascending the lift, the boat passes through the brig of a haunted ship before flying down the drop!

The ride culminates with being attacked by the various creatures and their water features.

We didn't get our treasure, but the experience alone was worth the journey!

Yo ho, yo ho a Lego's life for me!

Legoland isn't just about building cool things out of Legos. Satire is very important to the craft. :}

We popped back over to the castle for the plaque ceremony before checking out the rest of Legoland Windsor's massive expanse!

Next we wandered into the Kingdom of the Pharaohs. It's Egyptian n' stuff.

Inside King Tut's tomb is Laser Raiders, a shooting dark ride! The line was almost an hour, however, so we passed.

*GASP* OMG IT'S HEARTLAKE CITY!!!

YOU GUYS THERE'S A MALL LET'S GOOOOOO!!!! :D

Inside Heartlake City Mall is this amazing Lego Friends setup!

There's so much to do in beautiful Lego Heartlake City! 

Tablets surrounding the display let guests take a closer look at Heartlake City's goings-on. 

Everyone is captivated by the hi-life adventures of Lego Friends!

It's also colorful as all get out, which I greatly appreciate.

I want to live here. Can this be arranged?

They've got an Xbox Kinect set up in the boutique to help with styling options. :}

Back outside, there's a live telecast in progress!

"And now over to John Gerard with local weather."

"I'm here at the First Annual Heartlake City Bake-Off! It's a beautiful day today; partly cloudy with overcast skies by nightfall. Tomorrow will be cloudy with a chance of minifigs.

YOU GUYS LOOK AT THIS DISK'O IT HAS PONIES ON IT THIS IS SO AWESOME!

Let's go for a train ride! What a great way to see Legoland. :}

Next door is Lego City, which we'll be strolling through later.

Lego Boat Hire!

The more we saw of Legoland Windsor, the more impressed we were. The park is just massive!

Do not feed the Lego animals. 

The landscaping here is just beautiful, such is the English way. :}

This is the best wildlife attraction I've ever ridden. 

Lego City is all about transportation. In addition to the boats, they have this cool balloon ride,

And the famous firetruck relay ride!

Like I said, I've never been to a Legoland before, but I've seen many pictures of this ride!

Photo op!

Alright guys…….the moment you've all been waiting for…….LEGO MINILAND!

Miniland is THE REASON to go to Legoland. I had high expectations for Windsor's Miniland and they were totally shattered!

There were things I expected, like impossibly detailed little villages full of activity. 

But certainly wasn't expecting a MASSIVE PORTRAIT OF MY HEART AND SOUL PRINCESS TAYLOR SWIFT!

You should've heard me when I saw this. I screamed so loud.

Actually, it's possible that you did hear me, wherever you were.

Okay, back to the buildings.

I'm not particularly familiar with the other Minilands, but I assume that their home continents are the most significantly reflected. Legoland Windsor's Miniland is decidedly European. :}

Hey! What's that over there?

IT'S A GIANT BLACKBIRD! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

Miniland is always growing. That means there's always a Lego hardhat area somewhere in Miniland. :}

Oh look. It's London. :}

Hey look! It's a part of London that I actually walked around in! 

It's so easy to get wrapped up in the scenes that it's often easy to forget that they're made out of Legos. 

This is so great! I'm seeing more London in Windsor than I did in London. ;}

Yes Lego London has a functioning Underground.

I find the Lego London Eye particularly remarkable. It seems to defy gravity – just like the real thing!

There's of course more to Lego Great Britain than just Lego London! 

There are going be pictures of places depicted in Legos that I don't do the names of (or even what they're supposed to be, in some cases).

All you culturally genteel people reading this will have to fill in the blanks for yourselves. x}

I don't know the story of the giant guy with train tracks piercing his ribcage, but I'm sure it's a good one. 

Miniland isn't just about the landscapes and monuments. Depictions of industry are present as well! (and c'mon, who wouldn't want to build a nuclear reactor out of Legos?)

Here's some more European stuff over here!

Look at that! It's a GIANT PIGEON! And Paris. 

Hey! This kind of looks like Skegness!

Amusement piers for the win! Complete with a working Fabbri Kamikaze!

Here's a giant performing maintenance on the Lego drag strip. 

More funfair rides! This place is so great!

The giant mountain is not made of Legos, but all the Lego stuff on it sure looks nice. :}

I think we're in Lego Switzerland now.

Look at this charming little town! We must be somewhere in central Europe of the little rooftops are any indication. 

This is probably some famous port city or something. 

This must be Lego Holland!

Lego Spain? Lego Spain. 

The little trees are also extremely important to Miniland. It takes an army of landscapers to make sure every plant is just the right size!

Even in miniature Lego form, the architectural elements of centuries-old buildings are still impressive. 

Amazing. 

Everyone's enjoying Sunday Brunch!

All that's missing are some teeny tiny Lego tulips. :}

If I were a minifig, this is probably where I would like to live. :}

Although a Mediterranean villa sounds nice too. :}

Wind power is important to keeping Miniland in working order!

Oh hey! It's America!

America is right next to France. lol

Here's a little more foreshadowing for ya. lol

Lego NASA performs regularly scheduled space shuttle launches. 

Blastoff!

Miniland is just so amazing. :}

This giraffe agrees!

Here's how Lego bricks are mined, if anyone was curious. :}

RAWR I'M A GIANT LEGO FOSSIL.

I am living for this little girl right now. WERK!

Since Legoland is so hilly, a colorful trolly is used to transport guests!

We're now back up at the park entrance. Here you can see just how close we are to Windsor Castle!

Next let's take a look at the amazing, massive Lego Store!

*______________*

The Lego Store is also a bit like a Lego Museum. 

Star Wars stuff is a pretty big deal here.

In a way it kind of felt like being at Disney!

The viking-themed rapids ride we saw earlier is now giving some especially wet rides!

Passing over the train we rode earlier. Gotta love the roof. :}

x}

After double-checking on the Dragon coaster (and finding it still very closed), we continued around the park's general loop for a second time.

So much amazing wildlife calls Legoland home!

LOOK AT THIS FLOWER.

Look at it. :}

Ooooh! This looks fun!

This is amazing! I wonder what we're in for...

It's a submarine ride! 

Oh my gosh this is totally like the Submarine Voyage at Disneyland!

YOU GUYS THIS IS AMAZING!

This seemed like a much smaller operation on the outside, but clearly this is one of Legoland's marquee attractions. 

Lego sunken ruins. They exist.

The rays are very friendly. They try to apprehend the submarines. x}

We've got company! Puffer at 10 o'clock!

Whew! That was so fun. :}

After the ride is a nice additional aquarium exhibit. Great attraction!

Alright! It's just about time to head off to our next destination!

Taking the trolley back to the entrance! Thanks Legoland for an amazing morning/afternoon! I'm excited to visit other Legolands in the future!

Our next destination is only 20 miles away from Legoland. It's Chessington Worlds of Adventure!

*everyone runs to Transylvania*

You guys. There it is.

Nestled in Chessington's Transylvania is one of my single-most-sought-after coasters. And here it is!

¡¡¡¡ANLAKLSLFKHAKSLBNVKLHVWELBVNKJBNASKDHFKAHAKHAD!!!!

Enter: Vampire. The only remaining Arrow Suspended Coaster outside of North America. 

Chessington Worlds of Adventure unveiled Vampire in 1990 along with the brand new Transylvania area.

Vampire is woven beautifully into Transylvania. It interacts with the midway in a way that would not have been possible had it not all be constructed along with the ride.

Just as I had hoped, we would come to find that Vampire is truly one of Arrow Dynamic's greatest triumphs – and one that Chessington continues to cherish to this day.

As you can see, the trains are floorless. Chessington contracted Vekoma to give the ride new trains and a remodel for the 2002 season. 

As partial as I am to traditional suspended coaster trains, the added visibility that comes from these new trains is undeniable. 

Standing in line for Vampire was riveting. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra-esque soundtrack fills the air with gothic piano and electric guitar while guests kidnapped by Vampire scream overhead. 

My heart was racing just watching the ride. 

I can barely even right now. 

After wandering around in the woods for a while, we make our way inside the Vampire's lair. 

*_______*

Inside we find Dracula himself playing the pipe organ as everyone prepares for Vampire.

New favorite ride station. 

New favorite British ride. New favorite Arrow Suspended. New Top 5 Steel.

ALL OF THE ACCOLADES

Get here and ride this ride. This is one of the world's great terrain coasters. 

As you can see, the first lift hill is pretty modest, but that don't mean a thing!

INCOMING! 

Next order of business after my first Vampire ride was to take more pictures!

And you know what's awesome? Vampire isn't the only amazing ride in Transylvania!

Welcome to Bubbleworks! 

The boys and I are so excited for the world's only bubblebath-themed dark ride!

Bubbleworks is a sudsy adventure through a bubble bath factory. Every step of the process is chronicled. 

It was Disney-level wonderfulness. 

Anyone else love rubber duckies? :D

Alright, guys! It's bathtime! 

Bubbleworks bathtime is actually a technicolor water show that has to be seen to believe.

It is celebration of the electromagnetic spectrum of visible light :}

You might get a teeny bit wet (but it is bathtime, after all)!

This ride is like a presentation on color theory and I am living for it. 

One last look at the amazing splendor of bathtime. 

And the Bubbleworks ends with fireworks. Because Bubbleworks is amazing.

The euphoria continued with this delicious Twister sherbet bar. 

Between Vampire and Bubbleworks, Chessington's Transylvania immediately become my favorite themed area of any park.

To me, there is just nothing cooler than this right here.

However, there's more to the park than just Transylvania! 

Chessington Worlds of Adventure is a beautiful family park composed of over a dozen small areas. 

While the elation from Vampire was strong, ACE caught Chessington on a bad week.

 Rattlesnake, their traditional mouse, hadn't yet re-opened since the Smiler incident, and Dragon's Fury, their Maurer Söhne spinner, had been down for several days and would remain down for several more.

However, the new for 2014 Mack-built Scorpion Express is ready for action!

If you are arachnophobic, you need to leave this post. Right now. Or close your eyes and scroll past the next few pictures. 

The rustic boomtown decor of Scorpion Express makes a very unique experience out of an otherwise garden variety Mack Blauer Enzian.

There's FIRE!

And an enormous animatronic scorpion that squirts you with its tail!

After all that excitement we should really calm down with some chocolate.

The park's Egyptian-inspired area is home to one of the world's first Huss Top Spins, Rameses Revenge!

Like Bubbleworks, you're libel to get damp.

Oooooh! This looks fun. :}

Outstanding.

In the tradition of Disney's Animal Kingdom and Six Flags Great Adventure, the new-for-2013 Zufari is an off-road wildlife adventure full of surprises! 

Zufari is smaller than the aforementioned safari rides, but it's still a very well-executed attraction.

Like Great Adventure, Chessington is home to a handful of skeptical rheas lollipop birds. 

Here are some giraffes elongated cheetah horses. 

Over here are some rhinos unicorn dinosaurs.

Better go into the dark and scary cave. Surely nothing bad will happen. 

Calamity ensued shortly after this picture was taken. 

The greater London area is home to, not one, but TWO Egyptian-themed shooting dark rides. We had to pass on the one at Legoland earlier, but now we get to ride one here!

There was a snake room. It was full of snakes. 

Per usual, I'm not very good at shooting dark rides, so I mostly just took pictures.

There were some really impressive traditional dark ride elements inside Tomb Blaster that elevated it from typical shoot-em-up dark ride status.

Ferris Wheel! I feel like we haven't ridden many of these this trip.

Puntacular.

Chessington's Mystic East is home to an elaborate Mack log flume, making the area second only to Transylvania in my heart

No signs of life at Dragon's Fury. 

Not a whole lot you can see of the park from Peeking Heights, but the views of Dragon Falls are satisfactory. :}

London. :}

If Sonic Spinball is any indication, Dragon's Fury is probably a great ride. Next time!

#originalsquad

Log time!

The beautiful giant Buddha statue with the log flume behind it just cracks me up for some reason.

It was a quest to find the entrance, but the journey gave us some great views of the ride.

Catfish…?

DRAGON FALLS POV MERRIMENT!

(as always, Thrillography would like to remind its readers to always obey park policies and to always practice safe snaps when filming on rides!)

Hiya boys!

Here we go!

Another one of Chessington's newer rides is Kobra, an impressively themed Disk'o Coaster.

Weeeeeeeee! :D

They certainly went the extra mile with this one!

:c

We were originally supposed to have ERT on Dragon's Fury, but it was diverted to Vampire. No complaints here. 

Next we rode the cute little monorail. :}

The Monorail was only ever built with one station. It's a very nice trip around the park. :}

GET OUT OF THE WAY BIRDS THIS IS NO PLACE FOR YOU!

The monorail cars are just precious. 

Here we have some animal habitats, the fanciest of which being one of Chessington's onsite hotels.

Entrance garden!

Down here on our right are some reindeer holiday branch ponies.

Here we have a particularly dexterous monkey thing furry human prototype.

Chessington is home to water animals as well as land animals. 

Look at this adorable sea lion water dog!

Hello Mr. Water Dog! :D

Here's a few monorail trains in their natural habitat. 

Well, that just about covers the tour of the park. 

Almost time for Vampire ERT! I need more pictures first. :}

Vampire photo shoot for the win! I'm so happy. :}

During the ride's high-speed finale, the cars swing beyond 90º upon flying out of a tunnel. Pretty sweet stuff. :D

I never want to leave this place. 

Not only is the coaster just *right there* overhead, but there's no nets or roofs obstructing the view! I feel like that wouldn't be possible if the ride was being built now.

*shooooooom!*

Nemesis was the clear favorite for most people on this tour, but I found Vampire to be just as impressive from a design standpoint. There was a LOT of groundwork necessary to make this ride what it is. 

Cresting the first hill!

I love love love when riders wave back to me when I'm photographing them. It makes me so happy. :}

^_______________^

Back inside Dracula's lair for my second ride! This time it was front seat, and man oh man what can I say!? It's one of the best rides I've ever had on a coaster! 

I got six rides on Vampire overall. I'm quite pleased with this. :}

We finished the day with a plaque ceremony in Transylvania! Thank you, Chessington, for having one of the world's greatest terrain coasters!

  

Basking in the afterglow of Vampire ERT, everyone headed back to the coaches for the short ride back to the hotel. 

Tomorrow is another two-park day that features 3x as many coasters as we rode today! Should be a swell time.

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