Life as a SEN mum

It feels like a review on the Legoland Discovery Centre is well overdue. This wasn’t the first time I’ve taken the kids, we went just before lockdown (literally the weekend before we were locked down in March 2020). But in order to do a proper review it felt only right I did a recent review, and until a few weeks ago we hadn’t visited again.

Cost

If you’re looking for a budget day out, no it’s not the cheapest of places. Although there are ways of avoiding paying full entry price. First of all, if you’ve got any selection boxes lying around from Christmas, they do still. come with vouchers for entry to Merlin attractions. Similarly keep an eye out in shops, I haven’t noticed any myself yet, but as we approach spring and summer there are often offers on some liquid soaps. As the ticket prices are often then same for kids and adults, you are still making a saving. For those of you with toddlers, check the website for their special toddler sessions, these are usually on weekdays during term time, and give discounted entry for a toddler and their accompanying adult. There are also different options when booking. You can book a timed slot or an anytime ticket, any time tickets aren’t always available so just double check this. Booking your timed entry is the cheaper option, but at least you have the flexibility with anytime, so with this one it really is a case of what suits you. As with all Merlin Attractions you can also book multi attraction tickets. Check the terms, but usually the additional attractions can be visited at a later date. This option can save a considerable amount of money compared to booking separately. There is also the option of free Carers tickets where entitlement allows. I’m actually shocked how many people don’t know about this, and I think it’s down to how many theme parks run their policy on accessibility. You are still able to access free carers tickets, but Merlin Attractions sometimes request contacting them in advance or having a Nimbus Card to be able to help with accessibility requirements where needed. Check with each attraction though as we’ve had no problems at some places getting the free accessibility wristband to avoid queues with their DLA letters but without a Nimbus Card. These are also inline with the requirements for Merlin Pass holders that require assistance, but I’ll do a separate post on that at a later date.

What are the discovery centres?

When people hear Legoland, they automatically think of the theme parks, whilst there are some elements that overlap, the discovery centres focused on exactly that…discovery. When my mum asked me about it, and how she’d noticed that you can’t just buy adult tickets, you have to accompany a child I said it’s sort of like a big lego themed play centre. Which in part it is, but really it’s so much more. But, yes, it is aimed at kids, and is geared up mostly to primary age children. Although they do offer some adult only evenings.

What can I expect on the day?

Once through admissions you’ll have the opportunity to have a family photo taken, before you hop into a lift to take you to the main attraction. The first thing you come to is the first of 2 rides. Kingdom Quest could cause a few arguments if you’re a particularly competitive family, but it’s a really nice family ride. The queue can be big, however, it does drop at times, so if you know when each time slot starts you can try to time it in between the rush of people coming through. The theming is everything you expect from Lego, while you’re queueing there are several boards giving you the back story of your quest and the aim. Each board is reflected on the ride, you’ll stop at several points to complete tasks by aiming at targets, the person with the highest score is the winner. You’re going to make sure you’re super focused and on the ball as those targets will appear straight away, and those first few are what can really make or break your score. You’ll also have your photo taken at two points, I spotted the flash on one, but without warning it really does make for some comical pictures, so of course I had to buy them. I can’t remember the exact price but using my Merlin Pass discount I got both photos for about £7.50.

After the ride you’ll enter through into Mini Land, don’t worry if you don’t ride Kingdom Quest first, you can still access everything else by simply turning left out of the lift and heading through the double doors. I’m sure I’m not the only one who when they think of Mini Land, pictures the giant one at Windsor, this is essentially a smaller version of that, obviously due to space constraints and in order to protect the Lego, everything is protected behind screens, although there is a tunnel kids can crawl through to find themselves in the middle of Spaghetti Junction. Due to the location the main focus is Birmingham, I was pleasantly surprised to see that for the festive season they’d even added a little Lego version of the Christmas Market. You’ll find that throughout the year they will add little seasonal touches, or hidden figures depending on any ongoing events (the first time we went it coincided with the cinema release of Trolls World Tour, so lots of Trolls themed setups hidden throughout the Birmingham landmarks). Whilst the main focus is Birmingham, you can also see Stratford-upon-Avon in Lego form, as well as Warwick Castle, complete with dungeons.

You’ll also find two soft play areas; Duplo themed for the younger kids and Lego City themed for the bigger kids. Alongside these, there’s several areas for building lego, you can test some of your creations on a race track, help Merlin cast a spell as you pedal your way round the potion room on the Merlin’s Apprentice ride. Head to the cinema for a 4D lego adventure, or check out the new VR ride. You’ll also find a small cafe and plenty of tables if you need a rest.

As you exit the attraction you exit through the Lego shop. This is open to the public, so you can also enter directly into the shop. But who could possibly finish a trip to any Lego attraction without a little something.

If you’ve taken part in any of the trails you can also claim your prize in the shop.

Is it worth it?

Personally yes, it brings the joy of Lego without the cost and the travel to Legoland. That being said, I think we are probably at the end of our visits. Whilst James loves lego, he’s too big now for the soft play and in reality this is a big part of it. That being said we do hope to visit Manchester at some point soon as I’ve heard it’s far better. Birmingham is good, but it is reasonably small and it probably isn’t somewhere we’d visit on a regular basis. That being said if you’re in the area and have a Merlin pass it’s definitely worth paying a visit given that you’re not paying entry and can stay for as long as you like.