Manchester, Legoland Discovery Centre

Thought this venue would be a great day out - as both my daughter and my partner (still re-living his youth) are obsessed with Lego.

Was dis-appointed when trying to book things over the internet (as you can say 15%), as the site was experiencing technical difficulties - however fantastic customer services as due to the problems we had experienced they kindly gave us one of the adult passes for free.

Pleasant, excited atmostphere as you stepped through the lego figure shaped hole, and straight away could have your photo taken with some lego figures.

The kids were delighted in the initial lego factory stage - as they all took part in 'making' their own small piece of lego :-)

My daughter loved the fairy princess section which consisted of small tables, where you could build your own fairy castle, and also have your face painted with a real live-in princess.

The 4D cinema was fantastic with real water, snow and heat effects...some of the smaller children got a bit distressed at this, but my daughter at 8 after an initial shock, really got into it.

The model workshop was also a big hit, where a member of staff guided you through making a lego animal - the only downside was that you could not take the model away with you afterwards, something which really upset my daughter as she was very proud of her creation, and put her off coming back for a 2nd go. Apparently if you get an annual pass, you get to keep your model - but i wouldn't consider it worth it.

The cafe was not very good - and the eating area was rather dirty due to it being a very busy day.

All in all it was a good day - and my daughter enjoyed visiing the shop afterwards, and buying some lego pick an mix.

I recommend an early arrival - as we got there at just before lunchtime and ended up waiting an hour in the queue.