Family trip to U.K. Easter 2018 - Legoland ?

aquarius10

We're thinking of sailing to the uk next Easter (April 2018) and visiting Legoland near Windsor for a day or 2 with our 2 children. They will be 6 and 5.

Had never researched this before so it appears to be a good 6 hour drive from ferry ports to Windsor ... which would mean an entire day sailing and driving there ?

Are there any family parks sites to visit in Wales or on the way to legoland besides Draytonmanor near Birmingham to break the drive and spread the trip over 5-6 days.

Any advice appreciated

manshay

aquarius10 wrote: »

We're thinking of sailing to the uk next Easter (April 2018) and visiting Legoland near Windsor for a day or 2 with our 2 children. They will be 6 and 5.

Had never researched this before so it appears to be a good 6 hour drive from ferry ports to Windsor ... which would mean an entire day sailing and driving there ?

Are there any family parks sites to visit in Wales or on the way to legoland besides Draytonmanor near Birmingham to break the drive and spread the trip over 5-6 days.

Any advice appreciated

If travelling via South Wales I would recommend the following:
(my wife is from Carmarthen, we travel to meet family at least 4 times year)

Hanger 5, an indoor trampoline park is near Haverfordwest
Manor House Wildlife park near Tenby, as seen on TV
Folly Farm near Tenby (we go there 3-4 times each year, suitable from 1-14 years) has a safari park and a working farm, plenty of play grounds. 5/6 year olds won't want to leave! Started as a petting farm offers so much more than that now.
Oakwood theme park might be a bit grown up for them yet!
Bluelagoon swimming complex on the Bluestone Resort is fantastic, bluestone is very nice if pricy.
Llansteffan beach is a little hidden gem on the River Towy/Carmarthen bay, great play ground and nice fish and chips for mum and dad, and coffee! You can stretch the legs walking on the beach or up to the castle
Paxton's tower has great views over the Towy valley to stretch the legs
Further along the M4, Porthcawl is worth a stop for ice cream.
McArthur glen Designer outlet near Bridgend(actually it's a motorway junction, so you won't go far off your route) is worth a stop for some retail therapy and chain restaurant food if that's your thing.

St Fagans Welsh national museum of history near Cardiff is amazing(well I enjoyed it as an adult), it's also free. They have moved old building there from all around wales, it's very hands on history. My kids also enjoyed it!

You pay a toll entering wales from England via the severn bridges but not leaving Wales towards London, its one way for some reason!


If you can afford it stay in one of the Legoland hotels on the park, early access to the park in the morning is a bonus, also tired legs can have a rest for a while. I can't image what the kids felt when we pulled up outside the hotel, I was blown away, I felt it was more magical than Disneyland Paris. (though be prepared to feel very poor, we pulled up behind a blinged Range Rover with monogrammed leather luggage, the empty luggage was worth more than our car)
Eating lego brick shaped chips is also an experience!

Book the ferry with Stena, they offer a much nicer on board experience than Irish Ferries.
(if you pay your staff properly they offer customer service and smile-who would have thought it?)

We always try to spend the extra and have stena plus; their lounge-it shortens the journey. That said the 5/6 year olds may prefer to sit in the soft play area and see the magic show. Stena usually have an offer in January offering serious savings- their premium product for less than a standard fare. You may also notice both ferry companies charge almost exactly the same, if one has an offer the other follows suit. Duopoly what duopoly?

ballsymchugh

on a completely different side note, sign up to moneysavingexpert.com, they regularly have deals about 2for1 or some kind of reduction in price for these parks

like this

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/legoland-windsor

aquarius10

manshay wrote: »

If travelling via South Wales I would recommend the following:
(my wife is from Carmarthen, we travel to meet family at least 4 times year)

Hanger 5, an indoor trampoline park is near Haverfordwest
Manor House Wildlife park near Tenby, as seen on TV
Folly Farm near Tenby (we go there 3-4 times each year, suitable from 1-14 years) has a safari park and a working farm, plenty of play grounds. 5/6 year olds won't want to leave! Started as a petting farm offers so much more than that now.
Oakwood theme park might be a bit grown up for them yet!
Bluelagoon swimming complex on the Bluestone Resort is fantastic, bluestone is very nice if pricy.
Llansteffan beach is a little hidden gem on the River Towy/Carmarthen bay, great play ground and nice fish and chips for mum and dad, and coffee! You can stretch the legs walking on the beach or up to the castle
Paxton's tower has great views over the Towy valley to stretch the legs
Further along the M4, Porthcawl is worth a stop for ice cream.
McArthur glen Designer outlet near Bridgend(actually it's a motorway junction, so you won't go far off your route) is worth a stop for some retail therapy and chain restaurant food if that's your thing.

St Fagans Welsh national museum of history near Cardiff is amazing(well I enjoyed it as an adult), it's also free. They have moved old building there from all around wales, it's very hands on history. My kids also enjoyed it!

You pay a toll entering wales from England via the severn bridges but not leaving Wales towards London, its one way for some reason!


If you can afford it stay in one of the Legoland hotels on the park, early access to the park in the morning is a bonus, also tired legs can have a rest for a while. I can't image what the kids felt when we pulled up outside the hotel, I was blown away, I felt it was more magical than Disneyland Paris. (though be prepared to feel very poor, we pulled up behind a blinged Range Rover with monogrammed leather luggage, the empty luggage was worth more than our car)
Eating lego brick shaped chips is also an experience!

Book the ferry with Stena, they offer a much nicer on board experience than Irish Ferries.
(if you pay your staff properly they offer customer service and smile-who would have thought it?)

We always try to spend the extra and have stena plus; their lounge-it shortens the journey. That said the 5/6 year olds may prefer to sit in the soft play area and see the magic show. Stena usually have an offer in January offering serious savings- their premium product for less than a standard fare. You may also notice both ferry companies charge almost exactly the same, if one has an offer the other follows suit. Duopoly what duopoly?

Wow !! You should write a family guide to fun in Wales - thank you so much. All the information will keep me busy for days.

We were going to book Stena anyway as we have reward points from the trips to France this year and also Tesco points to use up.

Thanks again for all the information

Cape Clear

manshay wrote: »

If travelling via South Wales I would recommend the following:
(my wife is from Carmarthen, we travel to meet family at least 4 times year)

Hanger 5, an indoor trampoline park is near Haverfordwest
Manor House Wildlife park near Tenby, as seen on TV
Folly Farm near Tenby (we go there 3-4 times each year, suitable from 1-14 years) has a safari park and a working farm, plenty of play grounds. 5/6 year olds won't want to leave! Started as a petting farm offers so much more than that now.
Oakwood theme park might be a bit grown up for them yet!
Bluelagoon swimming complex on the Bluestone Resort is fantastic, bluestone is very nice if pricy.
Llansteffan beach is a little hidden gem on the River Towy/Carmarthen bay, great play ground and nice fish and chips for mum and dad, and coffee! You can stretch the legs walking on the beach or up to the castle
Paxton's tower has great views over the Towy valley to stretch the legs
Further along the M4, Porthcawl is worth a stop for ice cream.
McArthur glen Designer outlet near Bridgend(actually it's a motorway junction, so you won't go far off your route) is worth a stop for some retail therapy and chain restaurant food if that's your thing.

St Fagans Welsh national museum of history near Cardiff is amazing(well I enjoyed it as an adult), it's also free. They have moved old building there from all around wales, it's very hands on history. My kids also enjoyed it!

You pay a toll entering wales from England via the severn bridges but not leaving Wales towards London, its one way for some reason!


If you can afford it stay in one of the Legoland hotels on the park, early access to the park in the morning is a bonus, also tired legs can have a rest for a while. I can't image what the kids felt when we pulled up outside the hotel, I was blown away, I felt it was more magical than Disneyland Paris. (though be prepared to feel very poor, we pulled up behind a blinged Range Rover with monogrammed leather luggage, the empty luggage was worth more than our car)
Eating lego brick shaped chips is also an experience!

Book the ferry with Stena, they offer a much nicer on board experience than Irish Ferries.
(if you pay your staff properly they offer customer service and smile-who would have thought it?)

We always try to spend the extra and have stena plus; their lounge-it shortens the journey. That said the 5/6 year olds may prefer to sit in the soft play area and see the magic show. Stena usually have an offer in January offering serious savings- their premium product for less than a standard fare. You may also notice both ferry companies charge almost exactly the same, if one has an offer the other follows suit. Duopoly what duopoly?

Great post also planning a trip to Tenby for Easter 2018