We've been to adult night at LEGOLAND Discovery Centre before and I've even written about it, so being invited along to review is something I was more than happy to agree to. Adult Fan Of LEGO nights take place every month, and it's only £12 for adults 18+ to play as much as you want for 2 hours without little people in the way.


This month LEGOLAND Discovery Centre are hosting 2 AFOL nights and hopefully it'll do really well because we had a brilliant time last night. Right from the start we were excited - a new brick in the 'Factory Tour' to compliment this season's 4D movie and theme of LEGO City Police and Emergency Services - Report For Duty.


The specific theme for this month's AFOL Night was Terrific Telly and there were several special games to play plus the Big Build Competition and loads of prizes to win.

I'm a bit late with my Reviews Revisited posts for April - naively I assumed my operation and recovery would go swimmingly and I didn't get them written in advance - there's a lesson there...

Here is a look back at items we've reviewed during April since the blog started in 2013. The cream of the crop, the things I've loved and the items that simply turned out to be so much better than I ever imagined. I'm not including the turkeys because who needs reminding about something that wasn't as good as expected or broke 3 weeks later...


Back in 2013 I reviewed one of my own personal dream toys. I was given a hefty discount in return for a review, but I'd have done one anyway because the Wonderworld Eco-House is still one of my favourite toys ever.


It's had many, many hours of play and aside from a couple of repairs to the water butt and windmill, it's pristine. One for my Grandchildren.

Brick Or Treat is an annual event at the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre at October half term leading to Halloween. Running until November 4th this year, we were given free entry and it was such a good visit that it would be rude not to tell you about it.


Brick Or Treat this year includes a pumpkin patch where you can add your own creation, a ‘Scarevenger’ hunt, spooky stop motion animation, Halloween character meet and greet, scarily themed mini land and until they run out, limited edition pop-badges and factory bricks!

Not only that but each paying adult can take one child who is dressed in Halloween costume with them for free!

What better for a Sunday morning than a swift game of 'Where's The Ninja'? We were guests of Warner Bros at LEGOLAND Discovery Centre last Thursday evening for a special event to promote the release of The LEGO Ninjago Movie on DVD and Digital Download, and my partner saw his opportunity to have a bit of a photobomb chuckle.

There's a Ninja in every photo - some are more obvious than others and some are hilariously photoshopped in because we just weren't as organised as we gave ourselves credit for. The Ninja is blue and made from DUPLO. We'll start easy...


This is really not hard, but as with all good 'spot the character' puzzles, the answers are upside down at the bottom of the page. If you are using a desktop PC, I'd suggest turning your head rather than the screen... no cheating now!

You may have recently seen the LEGO MASTERS TV show on Channel 4 recently. Last weekend we were invited to the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Manchester to take part in our very own version. A LEGO Ultimate Imagination Build Off Challenge, to find out if we adults still have any creativity left...


We've been to the Discovery Centre many times, but this is only our second visit since they had a massive refit, rebuilding the entire soft play climbing area to create the Ninjago City Adventure. My boys were delighted to be back and it was almost a struggle to stop them playing in order to take part in the challenge.

If you don't know what an AFOL is then possibly last night wasn't for you, but the Adult Fans Of LEGO evening at the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Manchester was the latest date of choice for my partner and I. (Click on any images to enlarge them.)


LEGOLAND Discovery Centre usually operates a strict 'accompanied by a child' policy. Whilst this makes complete sense, it does exclude many grown up fans who don't have children to take with them. The monthly AFOL Night solves this problem - and it is strictly for age 16+ only, so it's much quieter and I didn't have to chase my youngest round all night...bliss...

This Easter LEGO fans visiting Manchester have a treat as the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre at the Trafford Centre has had a £1m revamp. The entire centre has had a shake around and the soft play climbing frame 'Fire Academy' has been completely removed, making room for the huge LEGO Ninjago City Adventure.


I took you on a tour of LEGOLAND Discovery Centre last year, and a lot of the attractions remain the same. The visit will appear just as before until you've walked through Miniland, then you'd believe you were in a different place...

LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Manchester has transformed into the world of Ninjago to celebrate the brand new LEGO Ninjago adventure Day of the Departed Ninjas. We went down first thing on Saturday morning to be among the first people to take a look for ourselves...and to meet the 6 foot tall Kai minifigure obviously....


All the children can take a ninja headband on entry - which they were all delighted about. During the Ninjago event children arriving at LEGOLAND dressed as a Ninja can have a free poster (while they still have stock). The trip starts with the Factory Tour, this time with added Ninja skills!

There are literally about a million things you and your children can get up to in Manchester and the rest of the North West UK this Summer! Most public parks, libraries and museums will have events and activities for families, and lots of it is incredibly cheap or even free. Take a look at the #70things list from The Arts Council for some great inspiration.

Here are a few of the things going on within Manchester or no more than 1 hour's drive away. I've tried to keep the cost below £10 per person at maximum...

Today we were up bright and early to go to the Trafford Centre to LEGOLAND Discovery Centre and be among the first people to see the brand new LEGO NEXO Knights 4D movie, The Book Of Creativity, which launched this weekend.


It was a great opportunity for me to complete the photos for my post showing what's inside LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, and if you haven't been before, then it should give you a good idea of what you will find when you arrive.

If you haven't yet visited LEGOLAND Discovery Centre at The Trafford Centre, Manchester then you may wonder what it's all about and how all that gubbins fits inside the building. Last time we visited we were allowed early access before the general public arrived, so I took advantage of the lack of crowds to take some photos and I can show you the inside of the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre....


You start your visit by going up in a lift. Once upstairs there is a waiting area with screens before you are allowed in to the LEGO Factory Tour in limited numbers to prevent crowding. Here you find out how LEGO is made in a very simplistic and child-friendly way

Last weekend we were treated to early morning access to the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Manchester for the launch of The LEGO Movie 4D: A New Adventure. The film is an exclusive 12 minute movie which can only be seen on screens in official LEGOLAND attractions.


It's been a heck of a while since we went to a preview of a new 4D LEGO short film, in fact it was March 2013 to see the LEGO Chima 4D Movie. We loved The LEGO Movie, so we were looking forward to seeing Emmet and Wyldstyle again! I hadn't realised just how much until went inside and they were there - apparently it made my partner's day...

Last weekend we were treated to an exclusive early morning visit to Sealife at the Trafford Centre in Manchester to have a look at their new visitors, the Octopi! Annoyingly they like to lie in and are more active later in the day, so weren't really in the mood for photos. Sealife are well aware of how temperamental they can be, and the Octopus area is somewhat wittily called Octopus Hideout.


We've been to Sealife several times as we've been Ambassadors for the last year and had an annual pass. It's always really handy to promise the young lads a trip to Sealife 'just after we've done this shopping...' Incentive always helps little legs from getting too tired. It's also calming after a visit to the more hectic LEGOLAND Discovery Centre next door.

We had an awesome time on Saturday visiting both Sealife and LEGOLAND Discovery Centre at intu Trafford Centre in Manchester. This year the staff really have made a huge effort to ensure your experience this Halloween is special.


It is the staff who make these attractions so great for us. Every single time we've been, the staff have been absolutely lovely. Helpful and kind, attentive to the children and generally appreciating the fact you've probably spent your budget on entry fees and driven a while to get there.

We're really lucky in that we get to work with some amazing companies, and try out lots of exciting new things, sometimes before they're even in the shops. Sometimes I work with a company once, and other times I have an ongoing relationship. Today I can tell you about two new Ambassadorships for the coming 12 months.


Today I'm delighted to announce that we will be spending the next year as Ambassadors for LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Manchester and it's neighbour at Barton Square in the Trafford Centre, SeaLife, Manchester.