A rainy day - Lego Discovery Manchester

As I mentioned in my previous post, A rainy day- Sealife Manchester, we had heard some pretty bad reviews about the Manchester Lego Discovery Centre.  However, before going I had done my research into what to expect and, as Lego fans, we decided that no matter what we would probably have a great time.

The Lego Discovery Centre is just a few steps away from the Sea Life centre, so we decided to go straight away.  When we got there at around 1.30 pm there was no queue.

We scanned in and asked if we would like an activity pack costing £4. For this you got a Lego Lanyard, 2 pop badges and an activity book.  Titch was less interested in the book, which actually we thought was pretty good, and just wanted it for the lanyard and the pops.

As with the Sea life, at the start of the Lego tour, there is a photo opportunity. Once again we declined and the staff we extremely pleasant and we passed through.  Often people feel compelled to have their photo taken, but if you do not ant yours and you are not intending on buying them the best policy is to be polite and decline.
Once through we you then go onto a short 5 minute factory tour. One thing to remember here is that it is aimed at kids, so yes it is a bit cheesy, but the kids do a get a lego piece at the end.

Once your factory tour is over you are inside the main centre where you will find Miniland. Now although Miniland is not that big we were impressed by the sculptures that we had not seen before such as Blackpool Tower and, of course, for us thrill seekers a boring Oblivion.  Titch even did the voice over.

We then enter into the Lego centre were there was lots to do including, building with Lego, of course, a 4D cinema, stop motion movies, climbing wall, soft play, rides, a cafe and a workshop.

As we were aiming to leave around 4 pm to go and eat we decided not to do everything today.  Titch , and the Husband,  choose to make a movie, watch the 4D show, build with Lego and complete the climbing wall.

We all had 2 hours of fun, making models, testing our cars on the ramps, creating a space movie.
Titch even got to meet a character just before we left.
There was so much that we could have done that we could have stayed at least another 2 hours, but then again WE LOVE LEGO.


If you and your children love Lego as much a we do then it is definitely worth it, if your child is not particularly interested in making models then it probably is not the place for you.

We will definitely be going again on another rainy day - which I am sure we will get plenty of.

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A rainy day - Sea Life Centre Manchester

With the weather predictions of rain for most of the country today, we decided that we would get out our Merlin Passes and head for something indoors. We had already been to the Sealife Centre in Blackpool and really enjoyed it so we thought we would try the Sealife in Manchester, and because we all love Lego in our house we would partner it up with a visit to the Lego Discovery Centre next door.

Before going the Husband and I had read and heard some not great reviews about both places, but we are pretty open minded and normally end up liking places others don't so thought we may as well give them a try.  Maybe if we had to pay out right to go to them we would have been put off by these reviews and not gone.  However, we are glad that we did.

We arrived at the Sealife Centre around 12 pm and queued up in the queue for annual pass holders and pre booked tickets.  The queue was not too long and we were in about 5 minutes later.  A queue then formed for photographs that most Merlin attractions do at the beginning and during the tour.  As we did not want a photograph taken, we politely said no and the staff had no problems with this.
After a wait of around 4 minutes we were ushered into a room called Turtle Bay where there was a short talk on Sea turtles.

After the talk we then entered into the main viewing areas. The initial part was crowed and queues to look into tanks formed, but as we began to walk further around these queues dispersed, and, although it was quite busy, it did not feel overcrowded or cramped.
There was an array of tanks offering information on different  under water creatures, and at times there were dive stations where children could answer questions and collect stamps - which at the end would result in a prize of a pop badge.

After viewing some of the large tanks and spending a considerable amount of time watching the Stingrays, we came across a small lego area where you could make a model sea creature or , like we did, create a small tile to complete a mosaic that Sealife Manchester are currently making.  There re also some large lego pieces in different tanks as currently there is a competition to find them all and at the end you receive a Lego Minifigure Diver - the Husband was very keen to do this and claimed the Minifigure for himself.

Unlike Blackpool Sealife centre, Manchester also provide a small indoor play area.  Titch enjoyed a 10 minute play in here to burn of a bit of energy.
There were also interactive games showing the skeleton of different sea life creatures that we had not experienced before.



Titch also enjoyed touching a star fish and fire shrimps. However, he was disappointed that there was no pop badge for this like there was in Blackpool.

In total we spent around 1.5 hours inside the Sea life Centre. Because we are Merlin Pass holders I can not say whether I felt like it was value for money. However, what I would say is that it is worth booking in advance online and if you are also interested in going to Lego Discovery too then I would purchase the Combi ticket.

If you and your children enjoy looking at Sea life and spend time reading the information, talking to staff, taking part in the challenges and listening to the talks you could easily spent a couple of hours here, and it is definitely worth the visit.

Sudbury Hall and Museum of Childhood

Sudbury is the home to a historic country home and museum of childhood set in beautiful surroundings.  Sudbury was the first place that we visited a year ago when we first become members of the National Trust and being only 30 minutes away is an ideal location for a quick visit.  This time we were meeting friends there who also have two young children.

The car park to the grounds and hall is just across the road and it free to National Trust members.  When entering the grounds there is a small Chapel in front and then to the right you can see the House. Behind the house is the court yard where you will find the restaurant, shop, Childhood museum, reception (for booking the house tours) and the toilets.

Beyond that behind arched shrubs you will find the gardens and a small wooden park - this was where we headed first, and as per usual our child found a tree to climb.

The park is wooden and has climbing equipment, a trim trail,  rope swings, wooden houses and dens and a climbing frame.  The kids spent a good half an hour playing here before we all felt hungry and decided to have a picnic on the grounds just below the house.

After lunch we decided to take the children out of the sun and went to explore the childhood museum.  Inside they is plenty to see and do.  The children enjoyed playing with the old toys, looking at old dolls, and they even were able to climb through a replica chimney to show how small you had to be to do the job.

We then continued our tour around to the house where the children were given a hunt to complete. they were given a small booklet with photographs that they had to spot around the house. This is one of the many things that I love about the National Trust, there is always something on for the children to take part in.

The house inside was beautiful with ornate ceilings and furniture.  I wouldn't say it was the most exquisite house we have seen but it was beautiful in it's own right.

We all would recommend Sudbury if you are a National trust member with children as there is so much to do and see.