703 bus back from Legoland to W&ER.
The bus ride was efficient and quick and I hadn't memorised the route well enough to know where we were going, so I had to resort to Maps which was successful enough, and ended up being the last bit of success I had in the trip.
My train from W&ER was in twenty minutes which, shortly after I arrived, was delayed. I can work with that, easy. However, almost immediately after, said delay became a cancel. It's never a good thing when it escalates that much that quickly, but I thought I could hold it out a little longer. I decided to wait 50 minutes for the next train and see where things go from there. I wouldn't stand there for 50 minutes so I decided to wander around the general area.
I decided to look at the other station which is nearby, which is Windsor & Eton Central. I have no idea how to get to this station but let's see how things go from here. Walking next to a river, I see lights. I originally brushed these lights off as the building for an arcade that you see on coastal towns (looking at you, Southend) but upon closer inspection these lights belonged to a Dodgems. Off to the right of the Dodgems were more lights. I think I've just stumbled across a funfair! I walk closer to it, find a roller coaster, and my life lights up again.
Windsor on Ice, they call it. I head in and inspect their Wacky Worm, turns out you need a wristband to get on. The only other rides here are a Sizzler and a Miami Trip and said Dodgems so I don't think I'll be getting much use out of a wristband doubled on the fact that I have a train soon. Turns out if you don't want a wristband, you have to buy a token. You hear the ticket worker say "every ride is one token" sounds like a barga-- "each token is a fiver". I pay my five pounds and get a token for Crazy Caterpillar. Notice how I didn't put a number in front of that. I head for the back seat and it's a gloriously untrimmed Wacky Worm. Love it love it love it. Glides straight through the station and pulls better laterals than Wicker Man's flat turn. Three circuits in the cycle, I get off and I'm gone.
Coming back to W&ER, I take a slightly alternate route to try and find W&EC which ended in failure and took me down some dodgy looking alleyways and tunnels, so now I'm back at Riverside. Not only has my original train been cancelled, but the one after has been cancelled as well, and shortly after I heard a conversation that EVERY train to and from W&ER has been cancelled. People seemed shockingly calm about it - no shouting and screaming, just either silent acceptance or normal-voiced concern making. This is what I like to see.
I eventually found W&EC which was in the middle of a shopping centre. Me not being able to find the thing was entirely justifiable as I never saw even a singular sign for this station. "Oh, there's the station." The train I need departs in three minutes and I don't have a ticket for it. Please, just give me a break. After some speedrun-level ticket booking (paying extra as I have no time to process my railcard) I jump on just in time, and I'm finally able to sit down as I head towards London Paddington with a change at Slough. Oh, you thought the faff ended here. At Slough, my change to Paddington was already at the station and was coincidentally at the furthest possible platform from where I was. I do my best to race up the stairs to try and get it, before being stuck by two people taking up the entire staircase in absolutely no rush to do anything. Accepting my fate, I've missed my train. This slow couple really annoyed me, but fate has made its decision.
No big loss though. Luckily for me another train to Paddington was arriving at a different platform in 15 minutes, and I got on there and finally realised I'm out of this mess. After doing some research with showmen I realised I'd ridden Crazy Caterpillar in the past, but oh well it was still a decently good worm and I now have photos of it for reference in the future.
From Paddington it was a cakewalk because for me the Underground is fun and easy to navigate, so I got where I needed to, headed home, and fell asleep two hours after stepping foot in there.