Brick or Treat – Halloween at LEGOLAND
Fire burn and cauldron bubble, it’s nearly Halloween… thank goodness! I start missing my kids when they head back to school and I’m back to work, so the moment they are off for a few days I like to have a jam packed schedule organised, making sure that everyone is kept entertained.
For half-term holidays I always limit myself to something close to home, especially since there is so much on at Halloween for children. In Glasgow alone I could pencil in nearly a full week of activities never mind just a half-term weekend. You can choose from inflatable world at the Wacky World Halloween Tour or a magician show in the Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre.
Something else in Glasgow that really cast a spell on me and my kids in the past has been the Halloween Fright Night Party in the Science Centre on the River Clyde. It is known as Scotland’s biggest family Halloween Party with fancy dress, amazing prizes for the kids and plenty of tricks AND treats. So if you’re staying in or going to Glasgow this year definitely book into the event!
Although I love the local activities for my kids, we decided to do something different last year and go away for a full action-packed weekend to LEGOLAND ‘Brick or Treat’. When I was young I was a LEGO-fanatic and my kids have been surrounded by it (and my house cluttered with it) for a few years now so I knew this would be a hit with them. What else could you want? LEGOLAND and Halloween – the perfect combination! So I packed my little monsters up with their fancy dress costumes, armfulls of Lego toys and we headed to LEGOLAND Windsor Resort.
We spent the whole of half-term last year in Windsor, staying at the hotel even when the park wasn’t open but that meant we had a bit of time to enjoy the surrounding location. Travelling to Windsor was just a flight from Edinburgh to London and then we booked car hire for the quick drive to LEGOLAND. When we arrived at the hotel there was free car parking for customers staying in the Resort Hotel, which we were relieved about as we had heard about the crazy resort parking!
It was a jam-packed weekend of fun with the kids from start to finish. They were so happy and tired out in the evenings – which suited me well because we all got some really good nights sleep. From all of the different rides to the attractions and live shows we were busy all day, every day of our trip.
Included in the package that we booked was an overnight stay at one of the Resort Hotels, entry to LEGOLAND resort (with a free day entry) and then a lovely breakfast to suit us all in the morning. Fussiness was catered for in all the eateries in the resort so don’t worry about what the little ones will eat over the weekend.
We had an option of either the LEGOLAND Resort Hotel or a nearby partner hotel but I knew the kids faces would just light up if they stayed in the resort hotel with Lego everywhere. I decided on the Kingdom Room, flags and shields on the walls so that my little prince and princess were kept happy. Next time we’ll hopefully get to stay in a premium themed room in the resort hotel, they were all booked out and the LEGOLAND Castle hotel wasn’t open yet!
Moving onto food, a very important time of the day for me, the Bricks Restaurant in the centre of the hotel was Buffet style so you could choose from a wide selection of food, which meant the kids were always kept happy. It is recommended to book well in advance for this restaurant which was a necessity on this busy weekend. The kids loved the food, not only that, they also loved the Lego figurines and pieces everywhere throughout the restaurant.
If you have older children or would rather something a bit nicer than the kid-focused restaurant there is the skyline bar, which we enjoyed in the evening when the entertainment was on.
During the day we enjoyed all of the rides we could fit in during our half-term break but there were a lot of queues especially due to the popularity of this weekend, but we prepared ourselves for that with snacks and distraction methods… as well as afternoon naps to make sure there were no cranky children or adults. The Halloween themed activities and attractions were amazing around the park, there was so much to look at for both us and the children.
The kids especially loved the Pumpkin Patch where you can build your own Lego pumpkin, they were very cute! I even got to build one too, and the baby Pumpkin Patch allowed the even smaller children to make pumpkins with the Lego DUPLO. It was all really well thought out and planned. On top of this they also helped build a giant LEGO model of a Skeleton and created their own LEGO monsters – all of this of course done in their fancy dress for the whole weekend.
In the evening there were spectacular (or should I say spook-tacular) fireworks to enjoy after our evening meal. I love how fireworks make it really feel like Autumn with us all bundled up watching as they light up our faces.
By the end of this activity packed weekend we were ready for bed before starting back to school and work again, we got home and snuggled up on the sofa to watch… the LEGO movie!
This was our first time experiencing a family resort holiday for half-term but it won’t be our last. We usually take the family away on a big holiday in the summer, somewhere abroad, but they loved this just as much (if not more). That’s not to say my other half and I will ditch that summer holiday in the sun, we both need that! It just means throughout the year instead of hotel stays close to home and things the kids find a little less intriguing, we can treat them to a holiday they will really love.
Since last year we have seen great deals on so many half-term family Halloween breaks but Chessingtons Howl ‘o’ ween is on the cards for this year and we cannot wait… roll on Halloween!
I’m a hardworking mother in retail, organising family focused travelling when I can. There is nothing more special than the memories made on a family holiday. I am determined to get on a long haul one day but for now UK and Europe family breaks are in the budget!