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LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Manchester

Having grown up creating entire worlds out of LEGO, a visit to one of the UK’s top visitor attractions, the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, sounds even more exciting for the parents than it does for the kids. Aside from a whole lot of LEGO (2 million pieces, apparently!), there are attractions, rides, a 4D cinema, and some activity areas that will really put your children’s LEGO building skills to the test. We especially like the look of the LEGO Racers Build & Test zone, MINILAND, and the hands on workshops with the Master Model Builder. Being completely wrapped up in Princessy pink things, my daughter is also dreaming of the Princess Palace area with its own special collection of pink building blocks and elegant arches for making her own fairytale castle.

For younger children, there is a soft play area featuring enormous soft LEGO bricks, and the DUPLO Village. There are also family toilets (large enough to get everyone in there, plus the buggy!), baby changing facilities, a safe place to leave your buggy, and the whole place is fully pushchair and wheelchair accessible.

Have you been to LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Manchester? We’d love to read your review!

Click for discount tickets to LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Manchester

How to Get There

By Bus:
ML1: The Trafford Centre Metrolink Shuttle Bus.
Manchester City Centre Express Bus Service X50.
Bus service 250 from Piccadilly Train station and 100 and 110 from Victoria Train station.

By Train:
There are regular main line trains to Manchester Piccadilly station with connecting Metrolink trams to Stretford, where customers can catch our Metrolink Shuttle Bus direct to The Trafford Centre.

Parking:

If you are travelling by car, parking is FREE at the Trafford Centre. Children are the responsibility of their parents and guardians at all times, and must not be left unsupervised.

Written by Janis P.

One Comment

  1. We arrived at LDC on Wednesday afternoon and, as the kids had all gone back to school, there were no queues at all and we walked straight in. Alex was really excited and we followed the signs to ‘The Factory Tour’. We waited with baited breath as the timer counted down and the doors began to open.
    We were greeted by ‘Mrs Brick-a-Brack’ who promised to show us how real Lego bricks are made and she asked if Alex could help. He was more than happy to oblige and stepped up for the challenge. This involved Alex jumping on the spot, turning a wheel and pulling a lever in order to ‘make’ us all a special Lego brick to take away. It would be clear to older children that this wasn’t a ‘real’ experience.
    Alex was keen to proceed to the next attraction… The Kingdom Quest ride This is a great ride for the kids but as we had a baby we were unable to go on as a family. You cannot go on the ride with a child on your knee. Anyway, you climb aboard your chariot on a quest to defeat skeletons and trolls using your on board laser gun and your mission is to rescue the princess. We were a little worried that Alex might be frightened as the ride is quite dark but he absolutely loved it and ended up going on it 3 times!!! MINILAND Miniland was fab – it’s a miniature, moving, Lego version of the North West and uses nearly 1.5 million Lego bricks. There are buttons scattered around that you push to make things move. Fascinating! I don’t think I could have the patience to build such masterpieces with tiny pieces of Lego!
    Next up was the 4D experience in the Lego Studios but not before Alex had a swim in what I’m calling ‘the Lego pool’. LEGO Studios This was my favourite! My first 3D film, well I suppose it’s 4D but I won’t tell you why – you’ll have to find out for yourself. There are 2 films to watch – Bob the Builder and Kingdom Quest. We watched Bob the Builder and we all loved it despite looking ridiculous in our 3D glasses! DUPLO Village Daddy’s favourite! It is just a corner of the centre filled with ‘big bricks’. My boys spent ages here building a house…Alex did help – honest!
    There are other areas too – Lego Racers: Build and Test – where you can build your own racing car and race it on a series of downhill slopes and the Model Builders Workshop – where you can learn all of the secrets of Lego building from the masters but, at 3 and a half years old, Alex was a bit too young to appreciate them. There is also the Princess Palace – a small area with lots of pink Lego for the girls to build with.
    Finally, Alex’s favourite… LEGO City: Fire Academy This is an amazing soft play area that reaches up to the ceiling and has a helter-skelter slide. Alex loved it – I was terrified watching! We also had coffees and cakes in LEGO Cafe and, as usual for an attraction like this, we found the prices to be slightly inflated.

    The only thing that I was dissapointed in at LDC was the baby changing facility. When I took Ellissia in there to change her nappy, both bins were overflowing with dirty nappies and it stank – even though the sign on the wall clearly stated that it had just been checked. Not only that there had been a flood from the sink and when I put my changing bag on the floor it got soaked and it’s ruined.

    On the way out we visited the LEGO shop and I was desperate to buy half the store. They had Lego head egg cups and Lego head salt and pepper pots but what I really wanted was some Lego brick and Lego man ice cube trays!

    So what’s the verdict? We had a really fun afternoon at Legoland Discovery Centre and we think it isworth a visit but you need to be aware this is only a small place. If you go there expecting Legoland Windsor you will be dissapointed. It is not a full day out but a great afternoon adventure. (If you go after 4pm on a weekday you can get discounted tickets and it’s open ’til 7pm) We all had great fun and we would recommend it to other young families. It will be nice to go again in a few years when Ellissia can appreciate it too – I don’t suppose she’ll remember much at 17 days old!

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