It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Especially over at Hatton Country world where we were invited down to review there Enchanted Christmas Experience.
From the moment we stepped foot into the kingdom, we were transported to a winter wonderland that felt like something straight out of a fairy-tale. The attention to detail, with pretty twinkling fairy lights, festive decorations and Elves wondering around welcoming the children in full character. I wished we could experience this after dark, it would feel even more magical.
On arrival we were given a passport and map showing us everything they had on offer, from Reindeer food making, to a 3D glowing forest there were lots of exciting things dotted around the kingdom in which the children could collect stamps from along the way.
Everything is free roam on the day apart from your group visit with santa that time you choose when booking your tickets, and Mr Hollys Creation Station Show which runs shows throughout the day. This makes it very easy to be able to pick and choose what you want to do, plan food and drinks breaks when needed.
The park’s main features and themes include:
The Gingerbread factory – Meet Mrs Claus who guides you into the “Factory” where you each get to ice and decorate a gingerbread man. This was a great self-lead activity and a chance to sit down, the kids could either eat it there or take it away. Handy sinks close by for the messy pups like my two.
Wishing tree – Make a wish and hang it on the special Christmas tree.
Reindeer Food Making – Create your own reindeer food to sprinkle out on Christmas eve.
3D glowing forest – A little walk around where you wear special glasses that change the lights to look like a 3D image, make sure to each get a different pair as the theme on the glasses is the 3D image you will see on the lights as you go round. If you each get a different theme you can mix and match.
Mr Hollys Creation Station Show – A funny entertaining family festive magic and puppet show.
North Pole Postal Station – Deliver your letter to Santa
Secret Toy Shop – Choose a toy as a gift from Santa and his Elves.
Lastly of course the MAIN event seeing Santa, this was a lovely group experience where you go and see the big man himself. He talks to the children, and they have a chance to have their photo taken.
There are loads more things to do a see, with some little fairground rides for the children, a big Helter Skelter style slide, trampolines, mini bowling, play parks and lots of animals.
There’s a lovely farm walk you can do, tractor safari, hold guinea pigs in the guinea pig village & reptiles in scales and tales.
Let’s not forget the festive food and drink options there were lots of lovely independents scattered around Hatton selling Pizzas, Burgers, Hot Chocs even marshmallows to toast on the fire. We were kindly gifted all our food and drinks in Hatton’s onsite Restaurant Snortys which is also where the soft play is located.
We tried a selection of their food to be able to give you our thoughts, E had the 8oz cheeseburger and chips he said it was 10/10. L had the chicken cheese burger and chips; the chicken was so delish. Luke opted for something on their festive menu, the Turkey stuffing and cranberry burger which he thoroughly enjoyed and I had a Jacket potato with cheese and beans but got major food envy over L’s Chicken burger. Luke had a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows and they boys had 2 milkshakes each and the total came to £40.00 which for a family of 4 all adult meals I think is very reasonable.
What impressed us was the seamless organization of the event baring in mind we came on opening day despite the large number of visitors, the day flowed smoothly, and the staff’s effirt to ensuring everyone had a magical time was lovely to see. The genuine warmth and kindness of the staff added an extra layer of magic to the day.
Hatton Adventure World’s Enchanted Christmas Kingdom exceeded our expectations and provided an exciting experience which left us with all the festive feels. We highly recommend it to anyone looking to create lasting memories and experience the festive fun
I would recommend if you’re planning on visiting Hatton this festive season, please book in advance online to avoid missing out. With their new features to their experience, I know it’s going to be a sell out!
A few key things to note, lots of the activities are indoors but I would recommend wrapping up warm as it got a little chilly at times and we were blessed with great sunny weather mid-November.
Wear wellies or shoes you wouldn’t mind getting muddy as the paths were muddy as to be expected when on a farm.
Accessibility wise, we saw loads of prams being pushed around at ease, but there is a few hills to take into consideration. I would say the place isn’t manual wheel chair friendly unless you have a career to push or an electric with the mud being slippery.
There were lots of toilets around and places to wash hands after activities, but as always I advise you bring hand gel!
There were plenty of benches for you to enjoy your own picnics.
Be sure to check out the independent shops that are at Hatton, there’s lots of cute boutiques, a Christmas shop and Market stalls to explore.
If you’re visiting Hatton please let me know your thoughts and I would love to know what other festive things you have planned this year?
Saff xo
Huge thank you to the Team at Hatton Country world for gifting us the tickets to experience there Enchanted Christmas Kingdom along with the Food and Drink in Snorty’s Restaurant. This was a gifted experience in exchange for content.
Our 6th Wedding Anniversary, it’s crazy how fast the time has gone we try to mark it each year with a memory or a trip away. This year we decided to explore Suffolk a new place neither of us have been before and we took the boys along with us.
We stayed in a lovely cottage with a hot tub onsite at Cliff House Holiday Park, we chose the site as it has easy excess down to a stunning beach.
Now arriving at the cottage, we did have some issues, you know I’m always transparent and honest with everything we do, so I don’t want to say it was all perfect.
The hot tub hadn’t been cleaned… and you may remember from our last wedding anniversary trip click here to readthat I caught a severe throat infection from the chemicals they had used. I know I’m crazy for even booking somewhere else with a hot tub so when we arrived of course it was the first thing I checked and it was dirty… I headed over to the front desk to ask if it had been cleaned and they confirmed it had been missed of their list that morning. You guys know me, germs are one of my biggest fears and with everything with Hot tubs in the past I freaked out.
They came and sorted it straight away but the hot tub was never the right temp, was kicking out brown froth and just wasn’t ok so we didn’t really get to use it which was frustrating. But if it had of all been cleaned, I’m sure it would have been lovely.
The cottage was comfortable again a few issues but nothing that would spoil a holiday, I would recommend if booking bringing your own little hoover and some cleaning products 🙂 that sort of vibe.
The stairs to the cottage were very steep and curve round, I wouldn’t recommend for small children or anyone who struggles to climb stairs, I felt worried about the children coming down them and there 8 and 10. The cottage itself has 3 bedrooms sleeping 5 people. The toilet and shower are downstairs.
Master bedroom with double bed
Twin Bedroom with 2 single beds
Single bedroom with single bed ( I was tempted to send the husband here so I could star fish the bed! )
The site also had places for people to camp, mobile homes along with some static homes which would be lovely to rent out.
There were a few shower blocks on site that we could see along with toilets all close to the camp sites. If camping is your thing, I think it would be really lovely.
It’s a dog friendly site, and lots of people had their pets with them. There were also some wild rabbits hopping about which was super cute to see, we even had one run into our back garden.
They had a fantastic play area for the children, with plenty for them to do. The site had a bar and restaurant with pool tables.
I took a photo of the menu so you can see the sort of prices. I couldn’t see a child’s menu so not sure if that’s something they catered for.
On site there is a tiny shop with the bare essentials like milk and bread. The main exciting thing about the site was the access down to the beach, steep steps lead you down to a beautiful coast line. We were there in the last weekend of April and it was HOT we got so lucky with the weather;
It felt like a private beach with it being pretty empty at parts of the day which felt so lovely. I have posted a TikTok and Reel of our time check them out hereandhere
We noticed near buy there were a couple of lovely looking woodland walks which sadly we didn’t get time to go on, that would have been a plan if the weather had been to chilly for the beach but we were blessed with sunshine both days, to the point where the husband got a cracking tan!
Few things to note if you’re wanting to have a holiday at Cliff House Holiday Park… we did not see a shop or service station for well over half of the journey (we travelled from Coventry in the West Midlands) so pack everything you need for the weekend plus the kitchen sink… I took breakfast lunch and dinner for every day, drinks and lots of snacks which overall made the whole trip a lot cheaper but obviously meant we needed to pack more. The site itself is disability friendly from what we could see, but the beach defiantly is not, unless locally there is another access point you can drive too which is more disability friendly, but again with how low down the beach is to the cliff, I’m not sure how steep a ramp would be.
The actual beach is a mix of the sand and stones, so the kids found it very painful to walk on it, recommend bringing crocs or sliders. We tried the water shoes but they got full of sand and stones. It as very windy down on the beach and we were pretty cold when sat still, so even though its hot and you burn the sea breeze defiantly got us, so I would recommend packing a scarf or blanket, shawl type thing to drape over you. The waves when we went were lovely and calm, which made us relax a lot more for the children splashing around. It was too cold to fully submerge yourself into the sea.
If you decide to stay in one of the Cottages, they say they provide you with basics like tea coffee etc but they don’t, we would recommend bringing spare towels which we did, all your tea coffee, salt pepper, toilet paper etc and if you plan on cooking then your oil. They do however have a dishwasher which was super handy. If your needing some help on what to pack See my list hereof essential things we always take on holiday with us! The cottage says it comes with a BBQ but it doesn’t, it comes with slabs to put a BBQ on, we luckily brought a portable one from £1 with us.
It was so lovely to get away the four of us and spend some quality time together, I’m excited for our next little mini holiday weekends away in June. You guys seem to love when I share our trips away so of course I will document and tell you all about them on here.
Have you got any summer trips planned? I would love to know,
Hello my darlings, you know we love our staycation weekends away in the UK, I’ve shared on stories some of the things we take away with us and have always been asked where you to can find them, so I thought I would do a post of all the holiday essentials we take every time we go away!
We have two children so some of these are great for kids but would also be perfect for your couple or solo traverlers as well.
I hope it gives you some inspiration and if you are going away, have the most amazing time be sure to let me know where you go, we always love to hear people’s recommendations.
Tripod
Ok here me out, a folding tripod is not just for us content creators, I think everyone should own one. Honestly document those memories, set it up a little way away from yourself and film you on your own, as a couple or family making these memories, capturing the moment.
Now as we know I am a creative so I have soooo many and have purchased a ridiculous number of tripods. I think I’ve finally come across the holy grail of easy to use, compact to take out but sturdy tripods. Where has it been all my life?
It’s a need! You spend all the money on the holidays and come home with little to no video memories of you ALL in it and remember you can take screen grabs of the videos and have photos! Normally someone else is behind the camera. This Tripod comes with a remote switch so you can set it up and control it from a distance. Of course, this tripod isn’t just for holidays it’s for Christmas too ha! Think setting it up Christmas morning and filming you all around the tree, priceless memories you while cherish for years to come.
Now if you’re a child or adult, heading to the beach or hot tub, these are honestly amazing. We have used hooded poncho towels for years now, especially for the children. If you have ever been to a beach with a child before you may know how tricky it is sometimes to get them off the beach while carrying everyone’s shoes, clothes, towels, beach bits etc. So, we just throw these towels on over the boys put the hoods up to keep them warm… we don’t have them moaning about being cold, or the towel falling down dragging along the floor, I feel like you know the vibes.
The material of the ones linked isn’t a proper towel material, I would describe the material as a soft microfibre style… but helps you to dry off. It doesn’t absorb all the water making them heavy or hard to dry which is perfect for when your away especially in the UK as we haven’t always got the sun to help dry them off in the evening. They dry super quickly on their own meaning there ready to use again the next day.
(They fit myself at a size 20 they fit my husband who is tall and they fit both the boys who are 8 and 10 they just look like little Jedi’s until they grow a little taller)
If you know our past experience, then you will know these are now an absolute must for me! We have had a couple of traumatic encounters with hot tubs. I don’t know why I still book places with them, but now I carry a tub of these test strips with me. So we can test the water every time making sure all the levels are right and no yucky germs.
These style travel bags are super handy, they hold everything in from your toothbrushes, tooth paste, have a zip compartment for sanitary products and then ample space to put in shower gels, razor, shampoos etc and the best thing about it, being waterproof with a hook to just hang in the bathroom or behind the bathroom door, makes the whole packing & un packing process easier for us.
All four of us have beach shoes now and I will explain why, firstly I got them for the boys for water parks, like the one in Lego land. There perfect for them to wear around in the day and splash about without worrying about bringing a spare pair of socks and shoes. We have invested in some sturdy ones that the boys wore around Lego land twice two days in a row and didn’t complain once that their feet were sore. Even on water rides they were brilliant no soggy socks.
We love them for little country walks with streams, beaches with stones like Brighton beach, and a lot of beaches have horrid weever fish, if you don’t know what they are a quick google will explain how vile a sting is from them. So, they help to protect your feet in the sea from sharp things too!
An absolute must, especially if you are traveling with children. You never know when your sat nav could fail and you need to use your phone, we always carry a power pack on us. There’s a couple we have for different reasons.
Power pack 1 – we have a couple of these there perfect to plug into your phone, the Nintendo switches or tablets and have about a full charge on them. These are light and easy to through in backpacks. No charging wire is needed.
Power pack 2 – Is the big one! Its slim and a little heavy but has a very good battery life, it can charge multiple things at multiple times, it’s got every sort of port you can think of so you can plug your charging wire into it to charge any device. It’s a must for a backup. Especially if you’re staying somewhere far away that you want to be safe for battery life or to a place that is limited on plug sockets like a hotel.
Talking of plug sockets, we always bring one of these where ever we go,
Plug number 1 – Its perfect to take with us to be able to charge things using a usb wire but also has the option for a plug as well, its small and light.
Plug number 2 – this is perfect for the hotel stays, or even if you’re camping and have access to electricity or in a mobile home. It’s an extension with multiple places to charge you usb cables and plugs with a good length to be able to stretch it to where it needs to.
Children and their technology on car journeys just arnt the one! We always make sure they have the airphones as well as a ear phone splitter so they can both listen to there own thing or share a screen. These have come super in handy when we have shared hotels together and can’t have own space. In the mornings it means they can entertain themselves while we get a little more zZzzZZz
I do this every trip, the husband thinks it’s to much but I think it’s a necessity and the fact I pack It means we don’t need it, if I didn’t pack it best believe we would need it. It helps me know we have every base covered. Some may say its un necessary I would say organised ha!
I have linked any bits you can get online, click on the name to shop.
Then of course your, Calpol, pain killers, cold and flu tablets, ibuprofen, anti-sickness bands, Piriton etc
Speaker
Our Bluetooth speaker comes absolutely everywhere with us, it has amazing battery life great sound quality and is super durable. Always handy to have to either take to beach, use by the hot tub etc
Very recently we brought the boys their 1st Kindles and it’s been so amazing to see them read more. They read with the kindle so so much more than they did with their books. We got them the style where it’s JUST books nothing else so no distraction. What I love about the kindle is there perfect to take away as the battery life is LONG you can adjust the light settings so they can be read in the dark or on the beach when the sun is glaring down. Perfect way to relax and unwind and for the children to also disconnect from the real world.
Never thought I would be raving about a bag! These are blumming amazing and we have two of them, they fit absolutely everything in, we could fit all 4 of our clothes and some for a weekend away. Highly recommend for holidays in the UK where your packing bits in your car.
Sun tan lotion is a must we all know this, but I absolutely love the clip-on versions we make ourselves at home. It makes things a lot easier when you’re out for the day, to clip it onto your bag for easy reaching. Leave the chunky bottles at home. You can buy clip on bottles that are ready to be filled with your suntan lotion, if you need labels making give me a shout and we can do some for you. They’re also great for kids school bag.
If your condiment monsters like us then this one is for you. A lot of holidays we go on we either cook for ourselves or we will maybe order in a chippy for example, 9/10 the place we are staying doesn’t have sauces and, I mean there a must! So we have mini virions we take with us!
So, you’re thinking of booking a trip to LEGOLAND Windsor or you already have a date in the diary? I have so much to tell you, so grab yourself a cuppa, this is going to be a long post.
We have not long come back from a LEGOLAND Holiday and have been asked by many of you online to document our experience. I’ve had questions about what we booked, along with our thoughts on the park, rides, hotel, and things we wished we knew before going with any tips we would recommend. We experienced LEGOLAND on a Thursday and Friday in 24-degree heat the first day and downpour rain the second day so I feel we have lots to share with you.
I hope this helps if you’re planning a visit, I am always up for a natter if there’s anything else you want to know or for me to elaborate on feel free to message me on any of my social media platforms.
Part 1 – General info, taking the children out of school, prices, accessibility, what wish we knew before coming and more.
Part 2 – Ride and attraction reviews, what’s is good for what ages, what we would recommend queuing for and what we would skip with distance ideas and the routes we would take – COMING JULY
Part 3 – Offsite Hotel Review – COMING SOON
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Let’s get stuck in, we aren’t going abroad this year and myself and husband wanted to plan little weekend 2-night style stays throughout the year instead of one big holiday, something for us to look forward to and short bursts of fun for the boys.
We had a look online and LEGOLAND stood out to us as a place to go, if your new and don’t know us, we have two boys, E who is 9 and L who is 7 we thought this age would be perfect. They’re not overly into Lego as in building or making but they love the films, games, and TV programmes.
Taking the children out of school
E has additional needs and this would be our first experience at a “Theme park” with him, he struggles with ques along with many other aspects down to his ASD so we decided to book for a weekday and take the boys out of school, something we haven’t done with both being in full-time education. E goes to a special education school who are amazing and said yes, they fully understand the troubles we would have going on a busy weekend or holiday. L’s mainstream school we don’t know them on a personal level like Es, we asked for a leave of absence form from reception and wrote a very brief reason to why we wanted to take them and were honest in the fact it was for LEGOLAND, I know my child wouldn’t keep it quiet if his life depended on it.
The school were good, couldn’t authorise the time out as it wasn’t under “exceptional circumstances” but did say that we wouldn’t get fined if he was to return as usual on Monday and to “have fun” So with that out the way we looked forward to our trip. We booked for Thursday 19th and Friday 20th June in hopes we could miss the weekend rush.
Booking our holiday
We booked directly through the LEGOLAND website, we decided to stay at a nearby hotel Copthorne Slough Windsor (review on the hotel coming soon) we would have loved to have stayed in the main LEGOLAND resort, but it was crazy money and we couldn’t decide on who’s kidney to sell so we opted for the cheaper hotel.
Altogether
2 nights stay in a Family room, Thursday Night, Friday Night with breakfast both mornings
Tickets for the 4 of us Thursday and Friday (must be used consecutively)
With two days of parking in the park (cheaper to book online than pay on the day)
Total – £443
Extras we had to pay for, petrol to travel of course. The hotel has onsite parking which is charged at a discounted rate of £7 a day costing £14 for the two nights. They also charge £10 a family to use the swimming pool and leisure facilities per day where some hotels have that included in the price its worth checking directly with the hotel and looking on the own company website.
Don’t forget to use cashback sites like Top Cash Back to get money back from your holiday.
When booking a hotel be sure to look at the distance from the park, if they have onsite parking, is breakfast included along with how much the extra facility’s are if your wanting to use.
While booking the holiday we had an option of booking a few extras in LEGOLAND, one of them being a Digipass, which we should have done, it’s £14 for the day and you get all the photos from the rides that take photos (around 7 and the roaming photography.) If you pay for it on the day like us, it costs £20 so you would save £5. You can also upgrade for £10 on the day to use it for a second day meaning if you were to do both it would be £25 for all your ride photos for you to download for both days.
Travelling to the park
We travelled from Coventry and it was an easy straightforward trip, taking us around an hour and a half. Close to LEGOLAND around 10 minutes away we came across lots of little pubs, an Aldi and Tesco, we stopped for toilet breaks here so we didn’t have to worry about going when we got to the park after our journey. We stopped to grab meal deal lunches to take into the park it saved us a fortune, along with time. The pubs would be perfect on the way out for dinner.
(If you are planning to eat in the park, make sure to check what time the places open and close some are only open at certain times.)
Before you go download the app, it’s amazing as it shows you where you are in real-time, what rides you are close to, what the wait time for the ride is, and all the details and restrictions. If a ride is closed or not. All the show times it’s great and we used it constantly throughout the day.
What we wore and took in our day bag
I would really recommend you take a day bag that has plenty of pockets and zips, a walking bag like this oneherethat’s durable and easy to throw about but narrow that it would fit by your legs on rides. I also wore a thin waterproof that has zip pockets for phones so it was handy for photos and the app but would be secure on rides.
I swear by these Carabinier clips here I use them when ever we do family day trips it makes things so much easier to carry you can clip caps to them, lunchbox’s, all sorts.
Loads of snacks, these were perfect, especially for the kids to eat when queuing for rides, it was a great way to distract them and there are bins in most ques to get rid of rubbish. Zip lock bags for crisps and snacks meant we could easily stop and start if we got on a ride.
We also packed lots of bottles of water which I regrated. All around the park they have drinks stations like the ones you get at Five guys, the ones with all flavors of fizzy drinks. They sell cups for £15 and you get unlimited refills for the day, for the second day if you bring back your cup you can pay £6 to reset it. These machines also have free water which you can use with any bottle, so if we were to go again (which we are shhh don’t tell the children we are booked to go in July) then we would take the one bottle for water and use the machines to fill up. There’s lots of stations scattered all over the park so your never to far from a top up. I think the cups are only worth it if more then two of you will be drinking fizzy drinks. The boys don’t have them so to get our moneys worth me and Luke would have to have alot of pop. The cup is a cute souvenir still.
Suntan lotion is of course a must even when its cloudy! I have one that we can clip onto our bag, but a little hack for you. Buy a clip-on hand sanitiser bottle you can get them on amazon here then fill it with your suntan lotion. Easily clips onto your bag so when you’re walking about or queueing you don’t need to rummage you have it to hand the same with sanitiser they did have lots of hand stations when you got off rides which were great and i did see a couple of suntan lotion stations which is amazing I’ve never seen that anywhere before.
I would recommend taking a battery pack like this one herewe have 3 of these and love them! In the park you use your phone a lot throughout the day not just taking photos but on the app, parts of the park have interaction spots where you scan QR codes, so an additional battery is needed. I forgot mine on day two and felt bad not letting the kids run about interacting with everything!
I wore sports leggings and a long top the first day when it was scorching hot. On the day it chucked it down I wore a dress with cycling shorts underneath, I felt so comfortable in the cycling shorts and dress combo which surprised me. On some of the rides, you get wet so I dried off quickly. There were mums in maxi dresses and sandals I defiantly would not recommend. I can imagine getting in and out of some of the rides would have been a challenge. You want to wear something that covers your bum, you don’t mind straddling things with it and are fine if it blows up from the wind on rides if that makes sense will go into more detail in my ride post. See my ride review coming soon. Some of the rides make you take your shoes off too if they aren’t fitted well and loose.
Shoes I 100% recommend sketchers all day! They are the comfiest lightest trainers ever these are the ones I have here, I’ve got them in all black and grey with pink. No laces to worry about, your feet don’t get too hot in them, no blisters, true to size, there just the best. On day two my feet only started to hurt right towards the end considering the amount of walking we did.
The boys we got them to wear their beach shoes, these have been a godsend for every trip and adventure we have been on. They’re super cheap as well we get them from here and the boys say there comfy, which means their feet can get wet and we don’t have to worry about them. They also dry super quick, have a good grip on the bottom and are perfect for water parks, streams, rides that get you wet and of course the beach. I would defiantly recommend getting some of them. The day it chucked it down they were fine. On the first path in the park there’s a little water stream that runs down the hill. The boys were straight in it no worries about soggy trainers and socks.
Navigating around the park
Parking when we got to LEGOLAND was easy, we parked in carpark B which was a short walk to the entrance. They check your bags on arrival and then you head over to where they check your tickets. I had pre-printed ours off which helped massively there was no faffing about with phones and the internet.
LEGOLAND does have its own WIFI so you can easily hook up to that.
On arrival, you can pick up maps, but you can also use the app which we used as mentioned above it’s the best way to get around. We kept a few maps for the children’s memory boxes. We also used them back at the hotel to plan the next day, the kids loved looking at them in the car.
As soon as you enter there are toilets to your left which had huge queues. If you’re like me and panic about where toilets are the next ones are a 5-minute walk, you go down the hill until you see the Lego giraffes and the LEGO REEF attraction. These are great and they also have lockers outside, so if there’s anything you have brought like wet clothes for the water park then this is a great place to keep before or after so not to have to carry it around its also not too far from the water park section.
The park is massive, I wish I had my watch on that day to track all our steps. When we go back, we will do all the walking at the start and walk right to the back of the park. This way i think you will be ahead of the crowds and the walk back at the end isn’t as long and tiring. It’s also a good way to fermiluise yourself with the park and places of interest to you. There are lots of little play bits along the way for children to help keep them going.
Our favourite toilets which seem to be central were right next to the big lake where they perform shows. These were ace, no ques and their individual toilet rooms with two toilets and sink dryer etc so perfect if you have little ones. Also, the ones who don’t need the toilet had a show to watch while waiting.
Accessibility
A few weeks leading up to the trip I reached out to LEGOLAND and asked them what they do for people with additional needs to help and they said they give out access passes which gets you to the front of the queue. We had to apply and they granted the pass to use on one of our days (my fault I didn’t send all the information over in time)
Basically how it works is you use an app and select what ride you want to go on. You join the separate access que which takes you very close to the front of the ride if not straight to the front. The special que is more accessible as well in regards to how far you have to walk etc. They will then ask to scan the QR code it gives you on your phone. If it says the wait time is 10 minutes, then your app will start to count down from 10 minutes. Once that 10minutes is up you can use the app again, so your queueing but virtually if that makes sense. It stops people from going round and round again.
Highly recommend doing it, the first day we didn’t have the pass and queued 35mins for the Duplo Coaster the second day we waited not even 5mins and the que time was at least 50mins.
The access pass is for the person with needs, and they can have their family members with them. I’m not 100% sure on the number of people who can be with them but for us as a family of 4 it meant we could all stay together.
Did you know you can get an access card if you have a disability? No, I didn’t either.
It’s basically a card which you can use to identify to places like LEGOLAND you have an additional need of whatever sort to get this access passes easier without having to show your DLA forms. I’ve applied for one, I may do a separate blog post on this so keep an eye out! Here’s the link
I believe tickets wise you can get a free carers ticket, it’s something we should have investigated but getting the holiday in the bundle it wasn’t clear. Looking back now I should have enquired and found this out we could have saved some money.
Accessibility around the park, the paths are flat but it’s downhill at the start and of course uphill at the end, lots of parents with prams looked exhausted towards the end we were all knacked and that was us just walking not needing to push or carry little ones.
They have wheelchairs and mobility scooters for hire with a charge they also have pushchairs and buggy hire too which would be super handy if the boys were little, you could use for part of the day if needed instead of lugging one around all day.
Leaving Legoland
On a weekday the park shuts promptly at 4 pm it was like someone cut the power! We said to the children lets do rides and then get in a play park once everywhere had shut, well they were kicking kids out of the playparks at 4 pm too, the only thing left open of course was the LEGO shop by the exit they keep that open for an extra hour.
The queues for the LEGO shops were insane, my husband described it as being like a scene from an American Christmas film and he was spot on, people were shopping like there was no tomorrow. Ques for the till went down fast but just waiting to get into the store took a good while.
The end of the park is when I would recommend looking around Miniland as there were no staff rushing people you have to walk past it anyway to get out.
Ques leaving the car park. Horrendous. I expected it to be bad but this was another level, no organisation.
We waited for over an hour, our car had hardly moved, and fights looked like they would break out it wasn’t great so I would definitely keep snacks and something to entertain the children just for the exit alone.
We would recommend going as far left in the car park as you can basically the last queue so it looks like you will be stuck for ages but you will get there first. Being sandwiched in the middle we just didn’t move. Then the roads leaving the park naturally with everyone leaving the traffic was chocker so bear that in mind. I feel so sorry for the residents having standstill traffic every day. Must be even worse on a weekend.
What we recommend/wish we had known
Do we recommend two days? Yes 100% bearing in mind we went school term time, and had a fast pass ticket for the second day there were rides we didn’t get a chance to go on, and we didn’t see any shows or 4D cinema stuff either.
Day two was so much better in the sense we knew where to go, and had our bearings. I’m looking forward to going back in July as we will know the place and what we want to do, however, we still managed to miss a chunk we didn’t even realise was there, it’s the fire station area, it’s sandwiched between other areas and easily missed, we only noticed it the second day when we followed the crowd to get out the place.
Search the website high and low, there website I personally feel is shocking. It’s not clear what’s open and closed. We went towards the end of may thinking the water park areas would be on depending on the weather, obviously, if it rained, we wouldn’t expect but the weather leading up to when we went and on the first day had been so warm but sadly it wasn’t open. They did however have it running, which was so strange, the kids were gutted they could see all the cool water areas and how they poured and sprayed water but couldn’t use it. On the map, it says it opens at the very end of may start of June.
In hindsight, I would google the question I want to know the answer for like, “what rides are open at Legoland” The Vikings ride had closed for maintenance and that wasn’t clear on the site.
When looking to buy tickets see how much a year membership is, it may work out better for you if you are not 100% on doing two days in a row with overnight stays you may find out it works better for your family to get a pass and then you can visit other attractions too.
Wow ok, that’s a lot of information I have thrown at you, but I really do hope it helps, again message me if you think I’ve missed anything and I’m more than happy to chat over it more. Keep an eye out for the next posts coming and I may do a little updated version after we visit in July.
We are going in the Summer holidays so wish us luck!
If you go or have been would love to hear all about it, how was your experience is there anything you recommend? Share with others in the comments bellow to help, thanks
* Old content, original post was uploaded to saffronbaker.com July 2019 to know why click here *
Hello my loves, have you caught up on Pt1 of our holiday experience?
Old Lanwarnick Cottages is situated in Looe, Liskeard in Cornwall.
Old Lanwarnick is 34 acres of pure beautiful Cornish countryside with 6 award-winning, dog-friendly luxury cottages of all sizes catering for family’s big or small.
The perfect place to escape the stress of life but only 10 minutes away from two cute towns and beaches that are a must-see.
We were very kindly gifted our stay at Old Lanwarnick and we were given the “Blackberry Barn” for 4 nights and 5 days.
Travelling down was super easy from Coventry, we were given directions to follow but we also used our sat nav and it got us there with no problems at all!
The long windy country roads down to Old Lanwarnick make you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, you feel your away from the hustle and bustle of busy life. We pulled from the long drive and saw the most beautiful views.
Our Cottage was right at the front of them all, we had a private patio terrace to dine on with table, umbrella and gas bbq. Our car sat right outside making it convenient to load and unload.
Our Patio and terrace overlooked the Gardens of Old Lanwarnick. Rose bushes lined the garden and the smell! I have never smelt roses so strong. We could see the Victorian Gardens and the wildflowers.
Looking into the distance you could see the start of the woodland walk at Old Lanwarnick, and the rolling Cornish hills into the distance.
In front is the gorgeous Victoria garden, with its craftsmen built Victorian Glasshouse. The paths winded around with little benches you could sit at and take in the view. Bridges to walk over and explore around the fruit trees, vegetable garden, pond and array of different flowers.
To the right of us, you could see the chicken hut where they had rescued and adopted some chickens.
Next door to our cottage was the hot tube room and gym.
Walking through the cottage door, we were blown away by how elegant it was. With modern features and stunning décor, we felt like we were in a show home. We loved the high ceilings, exposed beams and stonework.
The kitten is very us! We loved the solid granite worktops, it’s had everything we could need! Dishwasher, washing machine, with all the products to use them. The cleaning products were all echo-friendly which is such an amazing touch. There were utensils, plenty of pots, pans and things to cook your meals with which was so handy! I always pack above and beyond but I really shouldn’t have for this trip.
There were milk and butter in the fridge for us on arrival and a selection of tea coffee and sugars. A loaf of freshly made bread and a freshly baked cake all brought from local shops. We had everything we needed.
The living room area was perfect, with super comfy sofas and a lovely fire that we didn’t need to use as the weather was so lush but I can imagine in the colder months would be so cosy. We love a good fire. My favourite part of the living room was the large window with comfy seat in front of it, I would love to sit there and just look out at the most beautiful view and take in the surroundings. The 42 inch LCD TV had an Amazon Fire Stick so we could chill out in the evening and watch a film and a Blu ray DVD player.
The Cottage has super-fast WIFI! Some of the best we have used, the boys had no problems at all on their tablets streaming of YouTube and playing games. Considering I needed to upload a lot of stories on Instagram I didn’t have any issues.
The lighting downstairs was ace! If you have been following our house renovations then you will know we think lighting is so important, good lighting can help your mood, and help you relax anyway the cottage had the best lighting.
A games cupboard, full of fun family games was a lovely touch. I wish we had time to get them out as they looked so fun and perfect for a rainy day! I love how Old Lanwarnick have thought of everything.
In the middle of the cottage were these epic grey polished concrete stairs! I need these in my life, they are beautiful! They had spotlights going up them!
To the left, as you reach the top of the stairs was the twin bedroom, this was the children’s room. The room was perfect for them both. They had super comfy single beds with a wardrobe between them. They had little windows that when blinds were open let in the perfect amount of light. The boys felt very relaxed in their rooms and considering they hadn’t stayed in one like this before they did amazing! Liam loved the artwork on the walls.
The bathroom was in the middle of the two bedrooms, straight at the top of the stairs. It was so luxuries even the boys said wow as we turned on the mood lighting and they enjoyed the Whirlpool bath. It reminded Ethan of the hot tub and relaxed them after an exciting day.
The separate shower was lush just what we needed!
Our bedroom, the main master bedroom with a king-size bed….. the comfiest bed I think I have ever slept in! I have even taken a note down of the bedding they use as I need it for our new bed! No better thing then after a long-jam-packed day than to climb into a comfy bed!
We had a large double wardrobe with glass mirrored doors, I would sit and get ready in these mirrors. The décor again just stunning and we loved the light fittings.
When you stay at one of the Old Lanwarnicks cottages you get to use all the facilities on site.
There top of the range, Hot Springs Hot Tub has the most beautiful view, the barn has a large opening that allows you to look out across the Cornish countryside, while we were there sparrows had made a nest in the hot tub barn and as the boys relaxed in the tub the birds swooped and glided in and out of the barn. Ethan loved it; it was so peaceful. You book out the Hot tub privately so you can have it to yourself.
Little onsite gym with everything you need for a workout, running machine, cross trainer, rowing machine, weights the lot!
There is an on-site spa that we didn’t get time to use sadly but the treatments looked and sounded amazing! What better way to relax?
Old Lanwarnick has so much land, a lot they haven’t even had a chance to uncover yet. They have opened some of it up for a Woodland walk. We did the walks 3 times each time discovering new things along the way. The boys absolutely loved it. It goes in a circle both ends leading down to Jeremey’s Landing a beautifully decked area with tables and benches next to the stream. The boys loved paddling in the stream, we took their nets and rubber ducks to float along and catch. It was very peaceful the only sounds we could hear were the birds and the odd sheep bah.
The walk had two different paths you could take, each had interesting things to look at, one lead to a massive clearing which we wish we found earlier, would have been lovely to take a picnic down there and listen to the wind chime that hung in the trees. The boys loved there adventurous and what was great is it was all next to the cottage we didn’t need to drive anywhere.
The pavilion on the hill, wow this sure is a hill! It’s a very steep walk up to the top but my gosh wasn’t it worth it! They have two horses up there too which were lovely to see. The views are incredible, you could take drinks and your dinner up and just take in the surroundings. The pavilion has lots of comfy chairs and tables to sit at, pull back the cover and relax taking in the fresh air.
The Chickens!! They had recently been adopted and had a lovely hutch to the far right of the wildflower garden, you could just about see them from the cottage. The boys loved to visit and feed them, we were brought fresh eggs round in the morning to enjoy for our breakfast, such a lovely touch.
Old Lanwarnick is dog-friendly, they have a large fenced-off dog exercise area which I think is just amazing and so thoughtful. It means dogs can run around on the grass, burn off steam and be off the lead in a safe secure area, right next door to that there is a dog wash area where you can clean them down also such a great and thoughtful idea.
At night time, I highly recommend sitting outside, it took a while to get dark being the start of summer, me and Luke had early nights most nights from our jam-packed day but Ethan woke at 2 am one night and I came down to get a drink, I ended up sitting outside for half an hour. It was nothing like I have ever seen before, the number of stars! I was blown away and wanted to wake Luke to show him. I wish I could have stayed out there all night. It was silent, and the stars were so bright.
We had the most relaxing stay; the cottage was beautiful and perfect for our little family of 4. I have had a nose at the other cottages on their website and they look equally beautiful! There was so much to look at and do around the cottage, we feel so lucky to have been able to take the boys and experience it all with the memory’s we have made.
You can join Old Landwick holiday club where they keep you up to date with deals and any special offers they have on!
We cannot wait to go back and visit again; the boys don’t stop talking about it!
Keep an eye out for my YouTube video that will be going up on my channel soon showing you a tour of the beautiful cottage and surroundings.
Also, the next blog post which will be PT3 What to do in and around the area!
* Old content, original post was uploaded to saffronbaker.com July 2019 to know why click here *
We were very kindly invited to stay at Old Lanwarnick In June 2019, if you follow me on Instagram then you would have seen some of the things we got up to when we were there.
This holiday experience will be broken into parts, as there is so much, I want to tell you guys, in one go would just be a jumbled mess.
Part 1 – Perfect family holiday build-up (What your reading now)
Part 2 – Old Lanwarnick Cottages where we stayed
Part 3 – Holiday Diary – Things to do locally around Old Lanwarnick Cottages
Be sure to check out the other posts!
Cornwall is one of our favourite places in the UK, we have done a few holidays as a family when the children were little but this was a massive thing for us, this was our first family holiday with the kids being older, more independent and we didn’t have prams, sterilisers, bottles, baby food all that stuff that comes with little ones!
*FYI prams and beaches don’t mix, packing is a nightmare when you have little room in your boot with the prams taking up all the space, having to look around at pram friendly places and battling prams against people in general*
So yeah both boys fully walking, talking and had an opinion on what they enjoyed and wanted to do! Felt like we had hit a Milestone!
The whole build-up to the holiday was so exciting, the last holiday we did was to Butlins for our “Honey Moon” 2 years ago, both boys in prams, we still needed travel cots and stair gates on rooms it was a challenging holiday, I felt like the boys didn’t get out of it as much as we had hoped and of course these things cost a lot of money, so when you come away feeling a little deflated it can be hard to get excited about booking your next trip. So, the following year we decided to miss out on a holiday and use the money to do up the garden for the boys instead. I have shown parts of our garden on Instagram but its kiddie heaven with slides, swings, monkey bars, trampoline the lot.
2019 we have focused on the house, again if you follow me on socials you know we started house renovating back in Feb 2019, we moved out and into my dad’s at the end of March when I became very ill and here we are now, writing this in July and we still haven’t finished, still haven’t moved back still working hard and ploughing away, so to say this holiday was needed is an understatement!
The boys have deserved this more than anyone, they have been so amazing through all of the renovations it’s a lot for them and we didn’t expect it to take as long as it has done with this many disruptions. We didn’t think we would be able to have a proper family holiday this year, with the time and money.
Telling them was one of the most exciting moments for us, they both fully understand now and seeing their little excited faces was just amazing. We jumped straight online to show them.
Old Lanwarnick have the best website, they show you photos of the accommodation and area along with an interactive tour. This was just what our boys needed. Ethan’s Autistic so being able to see where we are staying and familiarize himself with it was perfect. When he arrived, he knew what his room looked like, what the sofa, kitchen, tables the lot looked like and it made the build-up more exciting. Both boys would say they can’t wait to eat their dinner at the green table. Ethan couldn’t wait to get in the hot tub, Liam was excited about the big bath. They were excited to sleep in their rooms at the Holiday house. We must have looked online at least 20 times at the Cottage, taking it all in and talking about the holiday and what was to come.
They were now counting down the days until Monday the 24th of June!
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