On Friday 12th and Saturday 13th June 2015 Legoland Windsor Resort opened its doors to local residents for a public consultation on the future of the theme park. In the next few years the park plans to remove the Dino Safari attraction to be replaced with a Hotel Expansion. Dino Safari looks to be removed at the end of the 2015 season with plans for the Hotel Expansion to be released September 2015 as seen on the Resort Future Timetable.
The Hotel Expansion will be castle themed and will have three floors adding 61 more rooms to the resorts line up. The new rooms will be premium family bedrooms, in the hotel at the moment there is a mix up between Premium and Standard bedrooms. The proposed hotel extension would be the same height as the existing Hotel and would be complete with a seating and play area overlooking the lake.
According to the facts and figures board up during the event. “At peak times we have a 95% occupancy rate” If the hotel expansion was to go ahead it would help ease the traffic on the roads with more visitors staying on site. The path between the two hotels will be exposed to the elements to the sides but will have a roof on top. However the plans shown during the public consultation where drafts and could change dramatically over the next few months. The Hotel expansion will open early 2017 if plans are successful.
In 2014 the Resort applied for planning permission to build a brand new attraction called “The Haunted House” Planning permission was refused in 2014 and the Resort appealed against the councils decision. Since the appeal stated the park has amended the drawings and reduced the height of the entrance tower by 1m. The ride experience and drop towers have remained the same, the only thing that has changed is the height of the entrance tower theming. The Haunted House ride is located at the centre of the park near Coast Guard HQ and Driving School.
The Resort has recently acquired new land towards the front of the park. St Leonards Farm is located behind the grass car parks. Previously the grass car parks have been used to hold events such as amazing machines. On the boards up during the event the park has said “We will also review the existing farm buildings complex to see how use can be made of this area for additional storage and workshops.” “LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort has only recently completed the purchase of this land, therefore, we are at a very early stage in considering our options. As our long term proposals develop, we will keep the local community informed through further public consultation events.” Could this mean that the park will start to expand more towards the car parks over the next couple of years and move the maintenance buildings?
With Legoland Windsor Resort being a big part of the local community from helping with local sports clubs to giving 10,000 free tickets to Windsor School Children in 2014 and 2015. The park generates a lot of traffic on the local roads at peak times in the day. With the Haunted House being denied due to traffic concerns the park have continued to invest in signage trails.
“In 2013 LEGOLAND Windsor established a multi-agency working group with highway representatives from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Bracknell Forest Council, Surrey County Council and Highways England. A series of traffic trials took place in 2014 to examine whether signing alternative routes to and from the Resort would reduce the impact
on the already busy routes, particularly, Imperial Road and Winkfield Road. The results of the trials show that traffic was successfully redistributed as 18% of vehicles (over 1,000) arriving at the Resort came from the south and via the alternative signed routes.”
