Last week we were invited to LegoLand Discovery Centre in Manchester for their new summer special, Merlin’s School of Magic, which is running until 1st September 2019. For those that don’t already know, Legoland Discovery Center in Manchester is ideally situated at the Trafford centre which means you don’t need to tackle the busy city centre and the parking is free. It is also within working distance of The Sea Life Centre, loads of shops, a cinema and plenty of food outlets so even if you don’t spend the whole day in LegoLand you can certainly turn it into a full day out for the whole family.
For those of you that are familiar with LegoLand Discovery Centre in Manchester but are interested in what Merlin’s School of Magic adds to an already pretty full on attraction let me tell you
- There are live magic shows
- One to one magic demonstrations from the roaming master magic maker
- New LEGO® Builds – including a life-sized enchanted carriage
- Build your own lego wand.
- Create a LEGO mythical creature.
- Learn your very own LEGO® tricks to continue the magic at home.
- Graduate with flying colours and take home your own certificate of wizardry.
For us the best bit about Merlin’s School of Magic was indeed the magic itself. Whilst my eldest and I were sat watching the tiddler play in the play area a magician came over and asked if he could show my son some tricks. At 9 years old I was worried that he might think the tricks were lame or be able to see how they were done but honestly this magician was brilliant. He completely wowed the two of us and neither of us could figure out how he had done any of, it literally must have been magic! This one to one magic show was enough to get my boy hooked so of course we then had to watch the live show, which both boys absolutely loved and they sat there completely spellbound for the whole performance.
For those of you that are new to LegoLand Discovery Centre in Manchester and are wondering what else there is there or what you will find if you go after 1st September then this for you
- A demonstration in the brick factory
- Three rides (height restrictions apply)
- Lots of Lego areas for free building
- Lego car build area with ramps to test out your vehicles
- A climbing wall
- An indoor play area
- A ninja activity area
- 4D cinema
For us we have a few favourites, one of them is the 4D cinema as it is appropriate for the whole family. You get to wear those funny glasses and watch a lego film with the extra thrill of things seemingly flying out of the screen making you jump, dodge and laugh as well as odd sprays of water, foam and confetti. This time I was glad to see that the film had changed from our visit last summer so it felt like a new experience, I’m not sure how often the film changes but it is currently different to last years.
Another favourite for us is the climbing wall as both boys love this and manage to get quite competitive about who can get to the top the quickest etc and as for the 6 year old well he loves pretty much everything and is now the perfect age and height to get the most out of his visit.
Overall we love LegoLand Discovery Centre in Manchester and think the addition of Merlin’s Magic school is brilliant for the summer. I think that the perfect age to get the most out of all the activities is between 5-7 however there are still things for those older and younger to enjoy and like I said my 9 year old still had a great day even if he did feel a bit big for the rides and play area.
Top Tips
1.It is very hot inside so wear layers.
2. There is a cafe however you can take your own food and drink and extra drinks are something I would recommend.
3. If you go in the holidays it is busy so I would recommend going really early or mid afternoon.
4. Due to the popularity of the attraction you may be told you can only stay for a certain time period (I think it is 4 hours) as apposed to the whole day like you can when it is quieter. The tickets still cost the same price so be mindful of this.
5. You can get discounted tickets online as well as saver tickets if you plan to visit The Sea Life Centre too so book online and in advance.
(We were gifted our tickets in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own).