If you read my recent Legoland Windsor review, you'll know that as a family we had a fantastic day out. There were plenty of rides Arthur could go on with us and we really enjoyed some of the exhibitions too. What really made our family trip to Legoland a whole lot better was the fact we had a Q-BOT Ultimate. For those wondering what exactly a Q-BOT is, it's basically a queue jumping device that can be used on a lot of rides at Legoland, so you don't have to queue up.
As a full disclaimer, we DID NOT pay for our Q-BOT. Prior to our trip, we were kindly asked on Twitter if we would like our family trip to Legoland upgraded in some way, by the lovely team at Tesco Mobile, who were running a competition called #LittleLifeUpgrade. In the spirit of honesty, I told Tesco Mobile we had already been given complimentary tickets to the park in exchange for a blog review and after acknowledging this, they asked if there was any other way they could make our trip a little bit more special. Of course, as a parent to a wonderful but rather impatient toddler, I knew what would really help us get the most out of the park would be queue jumping tickets and that is exactly what Tesco Mobile booked for us - the Q-BOT Ultimate. I was over the moon!
Legoland offer three different levels of their Q-BOT queue jumping devices, each varying in price:
Q-BOT Regular (£25 per person): Allows you to reserve your ride time, so there's no need to stand in line. The device lets you know when it's time to go, so you can do other things while you're waiting.
Q-BOT Express (£40 per person): Book your chosen ride on your device and cut your waiting time in half. As with the Q-BOT regular you can do other things while you're waiting. There's no need to queue!
Q-BOT Ultimate (£90 per person): With the Q-BOT Ultimate you get near-instant access to your chosen ride. It doesn't matter if you're not located by the ride at the time, just head over when you're ready and you'll get on virtually as soon as you get there.
If your child is under 3, you will not need to pay for them to be on a Q-BOT device. Children under three can accompany adults on the Q-BOT, providing they meet the height and age restrictions for the chosen ride.
We visited LEGOLAND on a Saturday and the queue times for some of the rides were an hour or more, which is absolutely crazy! If we didn't have the Q-BOT Ultimate, we wouldn't have been able to go on half as many rides or see as much of the park as we did. Hats off to the parents that queued for that long. You are good people, let me tell you!
We discussed on the way home, whether if we decided to visit Legoland again in the future, we'd purchase Q-BOT tickets and we came to the conclusion that whilst expensive, it really did make our trip 10x better and yes, we would purchase queue jumps of some form next time. Having said this, we would be unlikely to purchase the Ultimate, as at £90 per person, it's a luxury that we (and I assume many other families) probably couldn't justify, on top of ticket prices. I suppose you have to weigh up whether it's worth paying more to have a better experience. In this case, I'd say it is.
As a full disclaimer, we DID NOT pay for our Q-BOT. Prior to our trip, we were kindly asked on Twitter if we would like our family trip to Legoland upgraded in some way, by the lovely team at Tesco Mobile, who were running a competition called #LittleLifeUpgrade. In the spirit of honesty, I told Tesco Mobile we had already been given complimentary tickets to the park in exchange for a blog review and after acknowledging this, they asked if there was any other way they could make our trip a little bit more special. Of course, as a parent to a wonderful but rather impatient toddler, I knew what would really help us get the most out of the park would be queue jumping tickets and that is exactly what Tesco Mobile booked for us - the Q-BOT Ultimate. I was over the moon!
Legoland offer three different levels of their Q-BOT queue jumping devices, each varying in price:
Q-BOT Regular (£25 per person): Allows you to reserve your ride time, so there's no need to stand in line. The device lets you know when it's time to go, so you can do other things while you're waiting.
Q-BOT Express (£40 per person): Book your chosen ride on your device and cut your waiting time in half. As with the Q-BOT regular you can do other things while you're waiting. There's no need to queue!
Q-BOT Ultimate (£90 per person): With the Q-BOT Ultimate you get near-instant access to your chosen ride. It doesn't matter if you're not located by the ride at the time, just head over when you're ready and you'll get on virtually as soon as you get there.
If your child is under 3, you will not need to pay for them to be on a Q-BOT device. Children under three can accompany adults on the Q-BOT, providing they meet the height and age restrictions for the chosen ride.
Is a Q-BOT worth the money?
As someone who didn't have to pay £180 for 2 adults to queue jump at Legoland, it's a hard question to answer. What I can say is that it really made our Legoland visit an extremely positive experience and I'm not convinced we'd have had as much fun if we'd had to queue, especially with an impatient toddler!We visited LEGOLAND on a Saturday and the queue times for some of the rides were an hour or more, which is absolutely crazy! If we didn't have the Q-BOT Ultimate, we wouldn't have been able to go on half as many rides or see as much of the park as we did. Hats off to the parents that queued for that long. You are good people, let me tell you!
We discussed on the way home, whether if we decided to visit Legoland again in the future, we'd purchase Q-BOT tickets and we came to the conclusion that whilst expensive, it really did make our trip 10x better and yes, we would purchase queue jumps of some form next time. Having said this, we would be unlikely to purchase the Ultimate, as at £90 per person, it's a luxury that we (and I assume many other families) probably couldn't justify, on top of ticket prices. I suppose you have to weigh up whether it's worth paying more to have a better experience. In this case, I'd say it is.
Can Q-Bots be used on all the rides at Legoland?
On the Legoland website it says that the Q-BOT can be used on over 20 attractions including:- The Dragon Dragons Apprentice
- Knights Quest
- Pirate Falls
- Spinning Spider
- Viking River Splash
- Thunder Blazer
- Aero Nomad
- Desert Chase
- Mia's Riding Adventure
- L-Drivers
- Atlantis
- Coastguard H.Q.
- Driving School
- Fire Academy
- Balloon School
- Fairy Tale Brook
- Duplo Valley Airport
- Raft Racers
- Sky Rider
- Jolly Rocker
- Laser Raiders
- LEGO® NINJAGO® the Ride
Obviously you do have to keep in mind that some of these rides have age and height restrictions, so you may not be able to take young toddlers on all of them. I have highlighted in bold the rides we took Arthur (over 0.9m in height but under 1m) on using the Q-BOT.
How does the Q-BOT actually work?
There are two options for the Q-BOT. You are either given a device that looks a bit like a Tamagotchi or you can go for Q-BOT Mobile (which I assume involves downloading an app but I'm not 100% sure). We chose to use the Q-BOT device and had to leave card details, as a £50 refundable deposit is required per rental. They load you onto the device and then you can simply select the ride you want and it'll tell you when it's your time to go on. Once you get to the Q-BOT entrance of the ride, the operator will hold their Q-BOT against your device to confirm entry and allow you to book your next ride (as only one ride can be booked at a time.)
You can purchase Q-BOT tickets online before you go to Legoland and pick them up from the Q-BOT Office, which is located by the entrance. This is also where you return your Q-BOT at the end of the day so you don't get charged the £50 deposit.
Q-BOTs could be deemed unfair...
It's worth mentioning that not everyone is a fan of the Q-BOT - namely the people who haven't bought one and are having to Queue for hours with their children for rides that are only a couple of minutes long. LEGOLAND Windsor tickets for the whole family can be expensive (though it is worth looking out for free passes and deals) and to then have to pay extra for a Q-BOT, may not be an option for everyone. I can see that it's somewhat unfair and therefore completely understand why people would be disgruntled by those who have paid to jump the queue.
But I'm so glad we had one!
But I'm so glad we had one!
Having said all this...and I'm going to sound so selfish here (for that I'm sorry) I didn't feel guilty on the day because I know we would have struggled with Arthur had we not jumped the queues! And really, I'm pretty sure most toddler parents would say the same. We were VERY VERY lucky to be offered the Little Life Upgrade from Tesco Mobile and so grateful to them for giving us a huge treat, we wouldn't have been able to afford ourselves. Thanks Tesco Mobile!
Have you purchased a Q-BOT at Legoland and do you think it made your visit better? Would you consider buying a Q-BOT if you're visiting Legoland soon? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section!
Megan x
Disclaimer: We were kindly offered Q-BOT tickets as part of Tesco Mobile's #LittleLifeUpgrade Competition.
