Legoland Discovery Centre - Manchester

I have been going to the Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester since the day it opened. That's right, I don't know how - but I even managed to get tickets to the opening event in 2010! I have seen it go from quite small in its infancy to quite a large attraction in the present day.

Since then we have been regular visitors every school holidays and all the special events throughout the year, so it only seemed fitting that my first review had to be of the Legoland Discovery Centre.

From entering Barton Square at the Trafford Centre you only have to walk in a short distance to see the bright yellow signs and the captivating and bright window displays.

front entrance

You are drawn to enter as soon as you see it, the colours and theming start right at the front door and continue all the way through the entire attraction. Even down to the Lego Chef that stands at the side of the cafe.

The queues at the attraction can invariably look terrifying... they sometimes snake right outside the door.. This only shows how popular the centre is and I highly recommend getting here as early as possible, although the queues go down very quickly even when busy. It can get quite busy inside and the quietest times are before 11.30am in the school holidays, after school and obviously when the kids are in school ie. term time.

The first part of the attraction is the lift up to the first floor in to Professor Brick's factory tour. This never fails to entertain and even though we must have seen it fifty times and my children know the whole routine of 'lego brick making' we still have to go through it.

The next step on your Lego adventure is the Kingdom Quest ride…. the queues again are scary looking but the interspersed Lego boards on the wall and the very efficient chatty staff make the queue go down very quickly, my longest wait has been 10 minutes. This ride is fab, a shooting the target type ride which entertains the children....and very competitive adults alike……

Miniland is your next stop, this is where you see the true potential of Lego - the Beatles,  Blackpool Tower, and Alton Towers are just a few of the constructions which turn from daylight to dark and back again. The fireworks on the wall are a nice touch! 

The attraction then opens up to form a Cafe area in the middle which serves sandwiches/paninis, cakes, drinks etc. with a seating area and then around the outside of this area includes the Master Model Builders workshop ( a classroom type setting in which you are shown how to build a model), a Lego 4d cinema, Lego Friends attraction, Fire Academy (a large play area split as half for big kids and half for little kids), Lego racers (car ramps and building), Merlins apprentice (a ride that involves cycling to go higher - great fun), Duplo village for little ones, Forest Pursuit (a driving game) and lots more.. 

Star Wars Miniland

They are also guest starring a special Star Wars miniland which is available from 1st February 2013 to 2nd June 2013, this is a definite must see and very impressive!

Of course the centre ends with a huge gift shop down stairs, this is a Lego paradise ending with a Lego paradise, there will be things that you and your little ones will want to spend a fortune on…. But don’t worry there are also plenty of pocket money toys to pacify them as well..

If like me you want to know the nitty gritty from a parents point of view I will tell you that the toilets are immaculate and always have been every time I go, the basins are easily accessible for my 4 year old, as are the hand dryers… making it much easier for Mummy to actually wash her own hands!

The café is immaculate - with fruit and no deep fried greasy chips in sight!

All in all this is a fabulous day out. I would say a morning or an afternoon is a perfect amount of time but if like me you get carried away with trying to make the biggest and best car in the Lego racers area then you could quite happily stay for the day.  The nice touches like the huge spongy Lego bricks in the Fire Academy play area make it a hit for my boys and the healthy sandwich boxes make it a hit for me. 

I must just mention the staff before I draw to a close... excellent staff, knowledgeable, extremely friendly and all of them really look like they are enjoying their time working there. I was most shocked when buying two different Legends of Chima swords today in the shop that the young lady behind the counter actually could tell my two boys which characters they would be after receiving them.

I don't know whether it's the fact that Lego Managers have the staff move around different attractions within the Centre before they get bored or whether they really enjoy their job but as for efficiency professionalism and consistency they rate very high.

My only criticism would be that it would be nice for more seating areas for parents, but having looked around I'm not sure where this would go and it helps parents to actually interact with their children and not just plonk themselves down with a drink.

I will draw to a close by saying I hear people all the time say "oh it's not like Windsor", and I agree, but then it does not profess to be like Windsor……. Legoland Discovery Centre is a brand of its own and an experience of its own and if you love Lego as much as we do then you will definitely have found heaven here!

http://www.legolanddiscoverycentre.co.uk/manchester/