Fantastic fun and not far, far away

Combine two children’s favourites – Star Wars and Lego and you have a sure-fire way to make sure children are on their best behaviour for the weeks leading up to a trip to the Legoland resort in Windsor! Because the newest attraction is one of the most impressive and biggest models ever created for the resort – a 500,000 brick Lego® Star Wars™ recreation of The Empire’s ultimate super weapon, The Death Star.

It is the centrepiece of an epic new finale at the hugely popular LEGO® Star Wars™ Miniland Model Display.

The massive new 2.4 metre wide, 3 metre high Death Star is the focal point for a thrilling, engaging scene depicting the Rebel Alliance attack on the moon sized space station in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In total the ambitious scene comprises 651,086 individual LEGO bricks and took a team of 15 Model Makers three months to build.

To fully enjoy the fantastic resort it’s best to stay in Legoland’s own 150- room hotel on site. We visited with our two boys (Louis and Will, aged 11 and 7) and to say that they were blown away would be an understatement.

You know exactly what you’re getting into as soon as you pull up outside the brightly coloured façade, complete with smoke-billowing dragon. Inside, forget any pre-conceptions about top hotels, this is unashamedly for the kids and the kid inside all of us. Reception has at its centre a giant tub of Lego which children are free to dive into and start creating and behind the front counter is a wall made up of 6,000 of the toy giant’s Mini-Figures. Awesome, as the boys said.

The hotel’s floors are divided up into four themes, Friends, Kingdom, Adventure and Pirate and we were in the latter.

On entering the room, a special code can be found hidden in the carpets and room features that will open a safe containing a free Lego gift for each of the kids!

There’s a big double bed for mum and dad, a good-sized bathroom for all with stylish fittings and the youngsters get an alcove all to themselves with bunk bed for the bigger boys and a truckle bed for the smallest. Plus a telly in each sleeping area. Result? Happy all round, as kids can get away from boring parents while they put their feet up after an exhausting day with another to come! That’s right, because included in the price of your stay is entry to the theme park for not one, but two days, giving you time to get round just about every one of the theme park’s rides and shows. And if the weather forces you inside, then visit the brand new 4D film experience starring the Lego® Nexo Knights™ in an immersive 4D animated adventure .

Back at the hotel and after a quick breather it was downstairs to the water play area – a great way to spend an hour getting rid of more energy! After all that it’s time for dinner and even in the restaurant the fun continues. High quality, child friendly and tasty food is on offer and the kids can help themselves to their own buffet with simple, fun food – including a Wok Bar, Rotisserie, and every child’s dream – an Ice Cream machine they can help themselves to. But the food’s great for adults as well, with well-prepared food, better than a lot of regular hotels can manage, plus it’s all you can eat. Well, one has to try!

On selected evenings, little ones can bop away with Pink Brick, Ollie the Dinosaur and friends as they entertain the crowd with their interactive disco shows, just to expend those last dregs of energy before bedtime and dreams full of, well, I think you guess… And the boys’ final verdict? “10/10. Everything is awesome!”