Legoland Discovery Centre Christmas Car Building with Carcraft

When Carcraft said they wanted Bloggers to go to the Legoland Discovery Centre and build cars it was almost too good to be true. It meant I had a genuine excuse for going and playing with Lego with the little boys while my partner took his daughter clothes and Christmas present shopping. Unbelievably on this occasion we all thought we had the better end of the bargain!

 

When we got inside it was lovely to see they'd made a real effort and it was beautifully decorated. There were two gorgeous trees - which gave me a fantastic Google+ Twinkle Autoawsome!

They've revamped a lot since we last went, when it was looking a bit well-used. One of the first things was a green screen photo as you go in, which places you in a hot air balloon. You'll have to excuse the lack of photo's as I'm still on crutches, and wrangling 2 small boys was all I could manage at this point!

The lovely trees and decorations continued throughout, even a small tree and garlands in the film room while we waited for the Factory Tour. Now, I've seen the Factory Tour a few times and it's not so exciting for me, but the boys still love it, however I was in for a treat. Clearly whoever was meant to be doing the tour wasn't available and the poor man who had been sent to replace them wasn't really sure of his lines. He referred to most things as "erm, erm, a blue box" or "ahhhhhh, a red box". How he stayed in character throughout and managed to stop himself from actually laughing was a miracle. He gave it his best effort and was brilliant with the children.

After the Factory Tour was the Ride, then a wee stop - these are the best toilet doors ever!

 

Then on to Miniland. When I saw the Manchester Christmas Market had appeared I was suitably delighted. It was fantastic and looks just like the real thing with the Gluhwein and Frankfurter vendors.

 They even have the giant inflatable Santa on the front of Manchester Town Hall....

Into the main room and it was lovely to see all of the Lego pits and the Lego itself had been replaced. This was really well-used last time we went and looking fairly sorry for itself - not any more - it's brand spanking new and gorgeous.

At the side of the room was a giant Advent Calendar - I really want one.

 

Over to the point of our visit - making cars and racing them down ramps.

Boy no. 4 is only 3, so he went for your basic blue model, boy no.3 is 5 and his cars were a bit more advanced. I'm over 21 and my car had an engine, lights, 3 passengers and an umbrella. 

After a few turns on the low test ramp we took them over to go on one of the big ones....with varying degrees of success...and a few false starts. 

And a few crashes....

My umbrella fell off! 

We said 'goodbye' to our creations and left the car building area, bypassed the little drivable cars as my youngest isn't allowed until he's 4 and through to the back of the room. It was lovely to see that the Lego Friends area has also been revamped so that it is 'inside' a Lego house now. It's really effective and my youngest was straight in there for the Karaoke.

He did get a bit embarrassed when he realised I was watching him though!

While he was singing his heart out to such classics as 'head, shoulders, knees and toes' boy no.5 was building skyscrapers and then knocking them down with earthquakes. 

 

Next to the Lego Friends House is a Buzz Lightyear who is a perfect photo opportunity. Be warned though - he's really the wrong height for little ones and I saw no end of small children scrape the top of their heads on his spacesuit - including my own small boy.

On the way out there is a display that regularly changes depending on what is being promoted - this visit it was Lego Chima, with some immense models that are just fabulous!

Legoland Discovery Centre currently (10/12/13) costs £16.50 per person if you pay on the door, which is the expensive way to do it, but it's only £12 if you buy online in advance. An annual pass is only £25 and includes a free ticket to Legoland Windsor, so if you plan to return it's well worth getting. You can also visit with Clubcard Vouchers and Merlin Passes and other special deals are available.

Our day out was organised by Carcraft - thank you very much!