legoland – Mediocre Mum

Win 4 Tickets to Legoland Windsor Courtesy of Cuthberts Toys

Win 4 Tickets to Legoland Windsor

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Cuthberts Toys in St Albans and I have written about their excellent customer service on a couple of occasions. I’ve known Kirit, the owner, for a few years now and he’s just a genuinely nice guy with a great sense of humour.

(A recent tweet from @cuthberts_toys)

He runs a great local business, which was much needed in our city centre, selling all the top ranges of children’s toys including Lego, Playmobil, Orchard Toys and Micro-Scooters. He’s now taking this local business approach online.

To celebrate the launch of his new e-commerce site Cuthberts Toys is offering one of my readers a chance to win 4 tickets to Legoland Windsor.

To enter simply use the Rafflecopter form below. Full Terms and Conditions can be found at the bottom of the form but in short it’s open to UK residents aged 18+ and closes on Fri 28th Feb 2014.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This competition is listed on Loquax, Prize Finder and Competition Hunter.

Short Breaks for Families near St Albans, Herts

Bracknell Forest – Lookout Discovery Centre

In my quest to find things near St Albans, Herts to do with my daughter this summer we found ourselves at the Lookout Discovery Centre in Bracknell Forest, which just over an hour away. It has over 90 interactive science exhibits to explore with your kids. There is also a café, which is a bit average but a fabulous Adventure Playground right outside. It’s fairly reasonable at £6.95 for Adults and £4.75.

Parking was a bit of a challenge as it was a beautiful day in the park. However, you can claim the £2 for parking back at the Discovery centre if you take your parking stub in with you. I couldn’t be bothered walking back to the car to get it.

However, I had no idea that the Science Centre was in such a beautiful setting, 1000 hectares of woodland. If I went again on a nice day I’d just take a picnic and our bikes and explore the woodlands. There are approximately 55 miles of off-road cycle paths. For more information check out Cycling in Bracknell Forest.

Budget Places to Stay near Windsor

We stayed at the Millennium Copthorne Hotel Slough Windsor. For some reason I thought we were staying in Windsor and was a bit surprised to find ourselves in Slough just off the M4. However, the hotel was perfectly adequate and reasonably priced. We stayed in an Executive Suite (£145 a night), which was two adjoining rooms, with a double bed and sofa bed, it also included breakfast, access to the leisure centre (pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and gym) and free parking.

The staff were very friendly and helpful. However, the hotel, even though it is decorated nicely did seem a bit ‘tired’. The pool area could use some updating and was a bit grotty, but my daughter enjoyed a swim before dinner and I enjoyed the Jacuzzi. Do bear in mind that if you want to use the pool during busy times (e.g. school holidays) you will have to book a time slot.

The hotel staff recommended dining in the Bugis Street Oriental Brasserie in the hotel, which we did. I personally found it a bit overpriced and lacked a children’s menu so made choosing dinner for my daughter and I challenging. But she did have fun trying to eat with her chopsticks.

The hotel is conveniently located and just a stone’s throw from Windsor Castle, Legoland, Thorpe Park and Heathrow Airport so would make a good stopping place for a night or two.

Unfortunately, the hotel is not currently offering packages that include accommodation and entrance into the local attractions.

Disclosure: Our stay in the hotel was complimentary for review purposes.

My Top 5 Tips for Making the Most of Legoland Windsor

We’ve been wanting to go to Legoland for sometime as our daughter is at the perfect age for it, she’s 5. We went on the weekend and had an amazing time. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the day.

1) Don’t be a ‘Nobby No-Mate’

I’m always moaning that places don’t give breaks to families of three. However, on this occasion I had 4 tickets and managed to persuade a mum at school to allow me to ‘borrow’ her son for the day, still a bit in shock that someone would leave their most prized possession in my care. It was perfect, he had a fabulous time and my daughter had someone to share the excitement with.

2) Do it Backwards

When you first walk into the park, everyone naturally migrates to the right, working their way down the hill, starting with the Land of Vikings. However, if you head left when entering the park and work your way down the hill towards MiniLand, where 40 million pieces of Lego have been used to recreate well known places, such as London, you’ll miss the masses.

Plus, this means that you do Land of the Vikings, where you’re bound to get wet, at the end of the day and not the beginning, so you don’t have to walk around with a soggy bum all day! Unless you’ve been clever enough to bring a rain poncho!

3) Jump the Queues

If you’re feeling a bit flush, you can rent Q-Bots for the day. It allows you to book in a time slot for your chosen ride so you don’t need to stand in the queues, prices start from £15.

We were very lucky when we went. Firstly, it was fairly quiet, in terms of theme parks, so the queues really weren’t that bad. We were also lucky enough to have special VIP tickets which allowed us to access the Q-Bot entrances, we felt a bit guilty at first doing this, but got over it fairly quickly as it meant we got to go on a lot more rides.

4) Catch a show

This was pure chance and I can’t take credit for it. Just before 12, the little ones started getting hungry so we headed to Lego City for a bit of lunch. People were starting to gather but we had no idea what was going on. We chose to eat at the Burger Ranch, which had typical Theme Park food, but had tables that overlooked the Lagoon and the Lighthouse and unbeknownst to us we practically had front row seats to the Pirate Show!

5) Bring your Swimming Kit

Originally we were invited to celebrate the opening of Duplo Valley Splash and Play, the new water park. We did bring swimming kit for the kids but we honestly didn’t think they would go in as the weather hasn’t been very good. However, the sun popped out and they were determined.

It’s an amazing splash park, contained so you don’t have to worry about them escaping with a very comfortable viewing area for the parents. The best bit was the giant bucket tipping and absolutely flooding the place.

Thanks to the Team at Legoland Windsor for an amazing day. Something we’ve wanted to do for a long time.