Monday, 20 May 2013

New Duplo Valley now open at Legoland Windsor

I am in my kids good books at the moment, I think I must have at least another couple of days of good behaviour that I can get out of them as a thank you for the superb day they had at Legoland Windsor yesterday. We were lucky enough to go along to the press opening of the new Duplo Valley Splash and Play land and boy did we have an amazing day.

We have been to Legoland before and I wrote a comprehensive review from our trip last October but I can honestly say this was our best trip ever this time.There is so much to do and see at Legoland nowadays that you cannot get it all done in a day and this is not a bad thing. This time we went on new rides that we had never been on before, my personal favourite was Atlantis and I did not expect that at all. I'm never too impressed with aquariums and seeing the fish and sharks but the view from the submarines is stunning and the water so clear that you can capture some really excellent photos, but anyway Atlantis was last years big ride and this visit we were there for the Duplo Valley Splash and Play area.


It was quite funny really as I told my 9 year old son JJ why we were going to Legoland and I asked where his swim shorts were. 'Nah Mum, I won't be going on it, Duplo is for babies' is what he told me the night before we set off. Luckily I knew better and packed them anyway. Take a look at these pictures of Drench Towers and see what you think -


and here is JJ telling you what he thinks (sorry he is a bit quiet in comparison to the fun happening in the background!) -


Apparently after playing on it for a good hour, it is not for babies any more  it is for big kids like him!  But let me assure you it is for all kids - old and young! Parents can join their children (as long as they are in swimwear) and as long as the little ones are 0.9m or over they can use the smaller slides. But fear not if your little ones are smaller still they can use the Splash Safari area which is a  perfect haven of larger than life Duplo animals and water squirting fun.

We loved this area and think it will be a massive hit. I saw there was a good size adult seating area at the top of Drench Towers and it looked like there would be a refreshments outlet there in the summer. My one tip to Legoland would be to label the toilets better as people were confused as to which were changing rooms and which toilets and I think to be honest there needs to be more of them. I did see there was a big buggy park area, which was good. I imagine this area will become heaving in the summer with people wanting to cool down in the water.

Fairy Tale Brook Ride
We all enjoyed a nice serene boat ride on the new Fairy Tale Brook and I can honestly say some of the Lego creations on there are breathtaking, Miss E had with her my old camera and this was such a joy to her to capture all the Lego characters and animals across the park.


Brickville Play Area
As the splash area has been built, the old Duplo park has gone and a new Brickville play area has come in its place.  It is superb, my little girls are nearly 6 and still loved it but JJ at age 9 really was too old now. The area is full of spongy AstroTurf which miss E thought was beautiful. We first visited this area about 10.30am and it was as quiet as can be and a real delight and by 3pm it was super busy. Luckily my kids are older and I'm able to let them out of my sight, this might have been harder if I had younger kids. There is only one entrance into the park which I like though.


What you have seen here is just a glimpse of what is in the Duplo Valley area, there is also the new Raft River Racers ride which we did not get to try out, the Duplo Valley Airport which all my kids loved, Duplo train which the girls liked to be able to ride alone and the Duplo puppet theatre which was a perfect end to our super busy day.


Take a look at my full Legoland review for more information about the park as a whole and the Legoland Windsor website too. You can follow Legoland Windsor on Twitter or Facebook to stay up to date as well.

I asked the family what their best part of the day was and here is a montage of the best bits for them -


Visiting Legoland Windsor
If you want to take a trip to Legoland either book online more than 7 days in advance to secure the best prices from Legoland or look out for a deal. Personally we always visit having exchanged our Tesco vouchers into deals but if you google something like 'Legoland Windsor deal' you get a wealth of offers that you can investigate.

Disclosure: Thank you to the press office at Legoland Windsor for our fabulous day out, including entrance, VIP bands, Lego loot and goodie bag. I am very happy to provide my honest opinion of the new Duplo Valley area and I can confirm that I have not been instructed what to write.



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