Legoland is one of Britain's most popular theme parks and attracts approximately one point seven million visitors every year. This year it's also had thousands of unwanted visitors. Wasps have invaded the site, ruining the day out for many families. Legoland say they're doing everything they can to control the problem. But is their best good enough? Watchdog sent Rosie Millard and her family to find out.
(Do you have something to say about this story? Tell us what you think by emailing us here. Don't forget to include 'Wasps' in the subject line. Watchdog will publish a selection of viewers' comments underneath each story, both throughout and after the programme is on air. Please remember to include your name as you would like to see it published).
It seems there is no getting away from wasps at the moment. Last year was an exceptionally cold winter and followed by this year's warm summer, it's provided ideal breeding conditions and a population explosion. According to experts, there could be more than 195 million wasps flying around the UK right now.
And that's no surprise to anyone who visited Legoland in the last few weeks. Many have complained about being scared witless by swarms of aggressive stinging insects. Legoland says it's aware of its wasp problem. So, shouldn't it tell people who are thinking of paying a visit, often from hundreds of miles away? Apparently not. Its website ignores it completely... preferring enticements rather than warnings. It's not until you reach the park gates that the first warning signs appear. These signs also assure customers Legoland is doing everything it can to deal with the problem. But we wanted to find out if it really was.
Rosie arranged to meet up with pest control expert Clive Boase before going into the park and in the short time he'd been waiting for her, he'd spotted two wasp nests. He told us they were easy nests to spot and should have been dealt with. Clive estimated that there were probably 40-60 wasps a minute going in and out of one of the nests meaning there could be easily be 3-5,000 wasps in it.
Rosie and her four children entered the park, total cost £154. The kids were soon pestering her for food so they headed for the popcorn area where a Watchdog researcher had filmed just a few days earlier. During this earlier visit, wasps were clearly visible inside the plastic containers. During Rosie's visit, they were not only flying around the dispensers, they were finding their way into the family's snacks. And these problems weren't just happening on the day of Rosie's visit. Watchdog had seen people trying to swat away wasps on a previous and subsequent visit to the park.
Merlin Entertainments, which runs Legoland, has also attracted complaints about wasps at sister parks like Chessington, Thorpe Park and Alton Towers. But, when we visited them steps appeared to have been taken to eradicate the wasps. At Alton Towers, wasp traps were visible all over the park and contained lots of dead wasps. But at Legoland there were fewer traps than there should have been, particularly to protect the food outlets. And that made for an uncomfortable lunch for Rosie and the kids. As the day went on, we found that Rosie's wasn't the only family whose enjoyment was being ruined. One lady told us: "It's been a nightmare actually. And there are still masses of them and I've seen loads of people complaining and moaning as they're walking around".
And it wasn't just the customers who thought Legoland should have been doing more. Later in the day, Rosie caught up with pest control expert Clive and he'd found another nest near the park's Enchanted Forest, just yards from a packed ride and he'd only been looking for approximately 12 minutes. He said there are 3-5,000 wasps in a typical nest and as this was a busy one the number was likely to be at the top end of that range. When we returned over a week later, all three nests Clive had found were still there, and the insects themselves were still buzzing around. No one expects a park like Legoland to be wasp free at this time of year. But we found wasps in the food, in the drinks and even in the guests' hair. Surely Legoland can do better than this?
Response from Merlin Entertainments Group:
LEGOLAND Windsor takes any issue which affects the enjoyment, or health and safety of our visitors very seriously; and we would like to apologise to anyone who over recent weeks has had a family day out at the Park disrupted by wasps.
We would also like to assure guests that we are taking a very pro-active approach to the situation. However we accept that we clearly fell short of our usual high standards during late July/August when we were dealing with unusually high levels of wasps. This is a unique situation, and one we have not encountered in the 15 years the Park has been operating. Realistically, while we cannot hope to completely eradicate wasps, particularly given our location surrounded by wooded Windsor Great Park, we are committed to improving the situation considerably, and as quickly as possible. This includes increasing our efforts to find and eradicate nests; a very intensive cleaning programme; and more recently the closure of some of our food carts which seem to have become particular 'hotspots.' We have also added tips for guests both on our website and around the Park, including highlighting the medical support services available should someone be unfortunate enough to be stung. We continue to review the situation on a daily basis.
Watchdog viewers' responses
Dear Watchdog,
The wasp invasion is not unique to just this year. I visited Legoland last year and wasps were every where. I got stung and was worried as I am allergic to insect bites. I asked many Legoland staff who did not do any thing. Two looked in their first aid kits which did not have anything in. Luckily I was not allergic to the sting. (This was the first time I had been stung by a wasp). The first aid kits were empty and I had to walk for ages until staff could locate one. A member of the public had some cream which I put on. The staff couldn't't care less and did not want to know. I wasn't flapping around, it crawled under my arm and when I moved it stung. The wasps were every where around food stalls and bins and play areas. The staff knew their was a problem but strugged shoulders and said they were not first aiders.
Mrs Louise Payne
I visited Legoland in the Summer and my family and I experienced the terrible wasp situation. It really did ruin our day!!
I have to say however, that I wrote to Legoland to ask what they were doing about it, and they did send me a very lengthy reply, detailing the actions the are taking, and also offered my whole family of 6 free tickets to a park of our choice.
I am currently awaiting these tickets, and they have explained that they are valid until October BUT they will extend this if it is not possible to visit before then and I contact them explaining.
A pretty bad day, but we made the best of it and I found their Customer Services response and speed excellent.
Michelle - Waterlooville
Hello,
Having just watched your report on the wasp problem at Legoland, and the pathetic management excuses!! We visited Legoland last summer, a family group including grandparents with 2 sons and their children ages in range from 4 to 8 at that time. The wasps were incredible in any area that involved food or drink ie the picnic areas and the drink outlets. Which had certainly NOT been cleaned for some time!! We noticed that the cups offered for sale at the entrance and 'free' top ups throughout the park were a particular problem!! ie sweet drinks and wasps = a problem!! Every picnic area we found was surrounded with millions of wasps. My grandson, Daniel, 8 at the time was particularly distressed, leaping around in a dreadful panic. I really feared for him as his little heart was pounding and almost leaping out of his chest!! His twin cousins, girls also 8, were also in a terrified state. All in all, a 'dreadful day' that we were all glad to see the back of! To hear that this problem has not been addressed and the excuses from management beggars belief considering the high cost of this so called family entertainment.
Hope something is done about this problem.
Liz Bunce
Just watching your item on wasps at Legoland. By brother & his family came down from Leeds last year for a visit & there were wasp traps around then, so they've obviously known about this problem for a long time!
Shaun Pears (Surrey)
Hello watchdog
I have been to legoland the past weekend and would like to say i was made full aware when booking online about the wasp problem with tips and help. Wasps were still around but i didnt feel it spoilt our trip.
I am very keen to book again
Kelly
Hi, i would just like to say this is not just a problem that has been in legoland just this year. Myself and my family went 3 years and 2 years ago and it was bad then and many people complained, so this has been going on for a while and the company has known about it, we vowed as this was not sorted out 2 years ago that we would never go back.
Its not just a food stands its also in the queues as the bins are there and you cant get out of the queue so your stuck with them.
Im so glad that watchdog has done a piece on this so hopefully we will be able to go back soon when the problem is sorted.
Well done guys.
Anonymous Watchdog viewer
I went to lego land last month and the food areas were disgusting. a wasp got into the hood of my 6 month old baby's buggy. i'm terrified of wasps and they spoilt a good day, imagine being in a long queue for a ride with wasps attacking you....where can you go?
Becki Perkins from Stoke on trent
Wasps create an unfriendly buzz at Legoland
(Do you have something to say about this story? Tell us what you think by emailing us here. Don't forget to include 'Wasps' in the subject line. Watchdog will publish a selection of viewers' comments underneath each story, both throughout and after the programme is on air. Please remember to include your name as you would like to see it published).
It seems there is no getting away from wasps at the moment. Last year was an exceptionally cold winter and followed by this year's warm summer, it's provided ideal breeding conditions and a population explosion. According to experts, there could be more than 195 million wasps flying around the UK right now.
And that's no surprise to anyone who visited Legoland in the last few weeks. Many have complained about being scared witless by swarms of aggressive stinging insects. Legoland says it's aware of its wasp problem. So, shouldn't it tell people who are thinking of paying a visit, often from hundreds of miles away? Apparently not. Its website ignores it completely... preferring enticements rather than warnings. It's not until you reach the park gates that the first warning signs appear. These signs also assure customers Legoland is doing everything it can to deal with the problem. But we wanted to find out if it really was.
Rosie arranged to meet up with pest control expert Clive Boase before going into the park and in the short time he'd been waiting for her, he'd spotted two wasp nests. He told us they were easy nests to spot and should have been dealt with. Clive estimated that there were probably 40-60 wasps a minute going in and out of one of the nests meaning there could be easily be 3-5,000 wasps in it.
Rosie and her four children entered the park, total cost £154. The kids were soon pestering her for food so they headed for the popcorn area where a Watchdog researcher had filmed just a few days earlier. During this earlier visit, wasps were clearly visible inside the plastic containers. During Rosie's visit, they were not only flying around the dispensers, they were finding their way into the family's snacks. And these problems weren't just happening on the day of Rosie's visit. Watchdog had seen people trying to swat away wasps on a previous and subsequent visit to the park.
Merlin Entertainments, which runs Legoland, has also attracted complaints about wasps at sister parks like Chessington, Thorpe Park and Alton Towers. But, when we visited them steps appeared to have been taken to eradicate the wasps. At Alton Towers, wasp traps were visible all over the park and contained lots of dead wasps. But at Legoland there were fewer traps than there should have been, particularly to protect the food outlets. And that made for an uncomfortable lunch for Rosie and the kids. As the day went on, we found that Rosie's wasn't the only family whose enjoyment was being ruined. One lady told us: "It's been a nightmare actually. And there are still masses of them and I've seen loads of people complaining and moaning as they're walking around".
And it wasn't just the customers who thought Legoland should have been doing more. Later in the day, Rosie caught up with pest control expert Clive and he'd found another nest near the park's Enchanted Forest, just yards from a packed ride and he'd only been looking for approximately 12 minutes. He said there are 3-5,000 wasps in a typical nest and as this was a busy one the number was likely to be at the top end of that range. When we returned over a week later, all three nests Clive had found were still there, and the insects themselves were still buzzing around. No one expects a park like Legoland to be wasp free at this time of year. But we found wasps in the food, in the drinks and even in the guests' hair. Surely Legoland can do better than this?
Response from Merlin Entertainments Group:
LEGOLAND Windsor takes any issue which affects the enjoyment, or health and safety of our visitors very seriously; and we would like to apologise to anyone who over recent weeks has had a family day out at the Park disrupted by wasps.
We would also like to assure guests that we are taking a very pro-active approach to the situation. However we accept that we clearly fell short of our usual high standards during late July/August when we were dealing with unusually high levels of wasps. This is a unique situation, and one we have not encountered in the 15 years the Park has been operating. Realistically, while we cannot hope to completely eradicate wasps, particularly given our location surrounded by wooded Windsor Great Park, we are committed to improving the situation considerably, and as quickly as possible. This includes increasing our efforts to find and eradicate nests; a very intensive cleaning programme; and more recently the closure of some of our food carts which seem to have become particular 'hotspots.' We have also added tips for guests both on our website and around the Park, including highlighting the medical support services available should someone be unfortunate enough to be stung. We continue to review the situation on a daily basis.
Watchdog viewers' responses
Dear Watchdog,
The wasp invasion is not unique to just this year. I visited Legoland last year and wasps were every where. I got stung and was worried as I am allergic to insect bites. I asked many Legoland staff who did not do any thing. Two looked in their first aid kits which did not have anything in. Luckily I was not allergic to the sting. (This was the first time I had been stung by a wasp). The first aid kits were empty and I had to walk for ages until staff could locate one. A member of the public had some cream which I put on. The staff couldn't't care less and did not want to know. I wasn't flapping around, it crawled under my arm and when I moved it stung. The wasps were every where around food stalls and bins and play areas. The staff knew their was a problem but strugged shoulders and said they were not first aiders.
Mrs Louise Payne
I visited Legoland in the Summer and my family and I experienced the terrible wasp situation. It really did ruin our day!!
I have to say however, that I wrote to Legoland to ask what they were doing about it, and they did send me a very lengthy reply, detailing the actions the are taking, and also offered my whole family of 6 free tickets to a park of our choice.
I am currently awaiting these tickets, and they have explained that they are valid until October BUT they will extend this if it is not possible to visit before then and I contact them explaining.
A pretty bad day, but we made the best of it and I found their Customer Services response and speed excellent.
Michelle - Waterlooville
Hello,
Having just watched your report on the wasp problem at Legoland, and the pathetic management excuses!! We visited Legoland last summer, a family group including grandparents with 2 sons and their children ages in range from 4 to 8 at that time. The wasps were incredible in any area that involved food or drink ie the picnic areas and the drink outlets. Which had certainly NOT been cleaned for some time!! We noticed that the cups offered for sale at the entrance and 'free' top ups throughout the park were a particular problem!! ie sweet drinks and wasps = a problem!! Every picnic area we found was surrounded with millions of wasps. My grandson, Daniel, 8 at the time was particularly distressed, leaping around in a dreadful panic. I really feared for him as his little heart was pounding and almost leaping out of his chest!! His twin cousins, girls also 8, were also in a terrified state. All in all, a 'dreadful day' that we were all glad to see the back of! To hear that this problem has not been addressed and the excuses from management beggars belief considering the high cost of this so called family entertainment.
Hope something is done about this problem.
Liz Bunce
Just watching your item on wasps at Legoland. By brother & his family came down from Leeds last year for a visit & there were wasp traps around then, so they've obviously known about this problem for a long time!
Shaun Pears (Surrey)
Hello watchdog
I have been to legoland the past weekend and would like to say i was made full aware when booking online about the wasp problem with tips and help. Wasps were still around but i didnt feel it spoilt our trip.
I am very keen to book again
Kelly
Hi, i would just like to say this is not just a problem that has been in legoland just this year. Myself and my family went 3 years and 2 years ago and it was bad then and many people complained, so this has been going on for a while and the company has known about it, we vowed as this was not sorted out 2 years ago that we would never go back.
Its not just a food stands its also in the queues as the bins are there and you cant get out of the queue so your stuck with them.
Im so glad that watchdog has done a piece on this so hopefully we will be able to go back soon when the problem is sorted.
Well done guys.
Anonymous Watchdog viewer
I went to lego land last month and the food areas were disgusting. a wasp got into the hood of my 6 month old baby's buggy. i'm terrified of wasps and they spoilt a good day, imagine being in a long queue for a ride with wasps attacking you....where can you go?
Becki Perkins from Stoke on trent
Wasps create an unfriendly buzz at Legoland