August 11, 2013, admin, Days Out, Family, Holidays, Play, , 0
Review of Legoland Discovery Centre, Manchester
On the second day of our holiday we visited the Legoland Discovery Centre in the Trafford Centre, Manchester. We had originally planned to go later on in the month, however, discovered that actually where we were staying was not far away so decided to change the date!
It is somewhere the male A’s have been eyeing up for quite some time so we set out full of excitement for the day ahead.
When we arrived there was a bit of a queue forming and thankfully we were able to use the pre-booked queue so didn’t have to wait too long to get in. The queues do build up quickly as you are let into the centre in small groups only for the first part of the attraction (see below). I do think this is good in some ways as it means not everyone is rushing in at once, however, this does delay getting into the centre somewhat and I can imagine if you are queuing for a long time with children it could become rather frustrating. I really feel there should be more to see and do whilst waiting.
Anyway, onto the centre itself:
Lego Factory Tour
This is the first attraction you are taken to (& which causes the delays!). A small group of visitors are taken into the Lego ‘factory’ where you are introduced to Professor Brick-A-Brack. The Professor explains how the bricks are ‘made’ and gets the children involved in helping to get the machines to work. At the end all of the children are given a special Lego brick as a souvenir to take away with them. Little Mr A really got involved with the whole making of the bricks and loved the interactiveness of the attraction. We thought it was a really nice start to the day.
Kingdom Quest Laser Ride
The next attraction you are led to is the Kingdom Quest Laser Ride. For this ride you sit in a car that goes around a track and you are each given a laser gun to shoot at the targets. 5 people can get into a car at a time and all of your individual scores are totalled so that you can see who wins. I didn’t do very well as I was having to wrestle in the back seat to get Little Miss A to sit still, however, the boys did very well and had great fun! A picture of you is taken as you go around which you can choose to purchase after the ride.
We thought there were some good deals on the photo items you could buy. Little Mr A had had his picture taken with the Lego Buzz Lightyear before entering the Lego Factory and we were able to purchase that photo together with a keyring and a magnet of us all on the Kingdom Quest ride for a very reasonable price.
Miniland
The next attraction is Miniland – a selection of Lego buildings, airships, trains etc all with lights and movements. Little Mr A soon got bored in this part of the centre as there was nothing really for him to interact with, however, I do think older children would love looking at all of the Lego buildings as they really are quite impressive!
Once you have been through Miniland the centre then opens up into the main part with lots of different attractions all in one place. It was incredibly busy the day we went and it was very noisy and a bit hectic and it took us a while to find our way around.
The first attraction we decided to do was:
Model Builder
This is a little room off to the side of the main centre set out with lots of tables and chairs. At various times throughout the day a staff member runs a building session. The children are all provided with the Lego bricks they need to make the set model. On the day we went it was a Sandcastle. Little Mr A really enjoyed sitting down and making the model with a little assistance from Big Mr A. The only thing I would say about this activity though is that it is not made very clear you have to pay for the model. At £3 I did think this was a little expensive given the cost to go into the centre, however, Little Mr A insisted on buying it with his holiday money. I think it should be made clearer that you actually have to pay for the model at the end, and how much it will be as I’m sure most children would be disappointed if their parents turned around and said no they couldn’t have it!
Lego 4D Cinema
This was probably the highlight of the day for all of us! Around every 15-20 minutes there is a showing of the Legends of Chima in 4D. This was Little Mr A’s first 3D cinema experience, let alone 4D so we were not too sure what he would make of it. As it happened he loved it and didn’t stop talking about it for the rest of the day! He really enjoyed having things pop out at him from the screen and loved the ‘wind’ and of course the water sprays! Little Miss A tolerated it for a while, however, since she was not getting the full experience I think she did wonder what was going on and did get a little agitated towards the end.
Lego City Forest Pursuit
This attraction was also another favourite for Little Mr A. It is a little go cart type ride where children can ride little Lego cars around a forest track. I wasn’t sure if Little Mr A would be able to drive the car, however, he seemed to find it relatively easy and only got stuck once! There are plenty of staff members on hand to help out any children that do get stuck too.
Lego Racers: Build and Test
This was an incredibly busy attraction which both Big Mr A and Little Mr A would have spent hours at if they could have! This attraction consists of lots of boxes of lego from which to build your own car and then test them out and race them over different tracks. Little Mr A had lots of fun making his car which promptly broke every time he raced it! Still, he had fun!
Merlin’s Apprentice Ride
This was a theme park type ride with little cars to sit in which go around. To make the cars go up you have to pedal. Big Mr A and Little Mr A both had great fun on this ride.
Lego Fire Academy and Lego Construction Site
This is the soft play area in the middle of the centre. It is a large area with lots of things to do. I was however slightly disappointed that there was nowhere for Little Miss A to play. Everything was too big for her and too busy.
Duplo Village
This was the only area that Little Miss A had any type of interaction, however, it didn’t keep her interested for long. It is a little area with some large foam Duplo type bricks and also some tables with some real Duplo for younger children.
There was also a Lego Friends section that we did not get around to doing as Little Mr A insists ‘it’s for girls’! We also didn’t visit the cafe as it was very busy and, looking at the food on offer, we felt it was quite expensive.
Overall we had a fun few hours at Legoland Discovery Centre, there was lots for Little Mr A to enjoy, the toilets and baby change facilities were good and the staff were very friendly. On the downside, I do think it is quite expensive for just one visit (although the season passes are much better value if you live locally) also, there is hardly anything for very young children to do and Little Miss A got bored very quickly. I think for children aged 4 and above it is a fantastic place to spend a few hours, especially if they love Lego like Little Mr A (& Big Mr A!).
