So today we headed off early and much to Esther and William’s amusement we had breakfast in the car.

We were on the road and heading for Legoland Windsor for the opening of Duplo Valley’s Splash Safari.

We have not been to Legoland before as adults or children so really had no idea what to expect, apart from possibly some things made out of Lego.

When we arrived we were really well looked after at Guest Services who gave us our tickets and car park ticket.

A day at Legoland Windsor costs over £30 per adult and only a little less per child over 3 so I was quite surprised to learn that you also have to pay for parking.

The PR Team had really looked after us as guests providing the tickets, a special wrist band which meant that we did not have to queue for rides, £30 of Lego Loot to enable us to buy food and drinks and a goody bag for each of the children.

I was really impressed with this kindness and with the friendliness of all the staff that we met at the park.

As we entered the park just after 10am it was starting to get really busy. We decided to head straight for Duplo Valley. To get down to the valley we walked past lots of fabulous Lego models of people, dinosaurs, buildings and animals, including the most beautiful giraffes.

We also walked past the Sky Rider and William was very disappointed to learn that he was too short to go on the train track in the sky. We realised then that we were going to spend much of our day telling Esther and William that they were too small to go on stuff.

But we were sure that they would be able to do everything that they wanted to do in Duplo Valley and so we continued heading that way.

To get down into valley there is a long winding path or some steps with slides for the children. Esther and William were a little unsure of the slides to begin with and so I showed them how. Now I think we would all like there to be slides on all steps and staircases. What a wonderful way to get around!

Once at Duplo Valley we headed for the helicopters. Apparently everyone is big enough to be a pilot at the Duplo Valley Airport, except sadly not everyone is. Esther and William at almost 3 years old are sadly only the size of most one year olds. Because of their prematurity they are very small for their age. They are both just under 90cms tall and so they were not allowed to go on the helicopter ride, even with a parent holding them tight. Even though they have the language to understand that they must sit still and be sensible to stay safe. They were not able to go and co-pilot a helicopter with their parents.

I understand that there has to be rules for health and safety, I really do, but I wish that in some special cases exceptions could be made.

The one thing William was desperate to do was drive the Duplo train. It is exactly the same as his train at home, his Duplo number train, and he was desperate to be the driver. And there was a seat right at the front of the train where a little boy, or a little girl, could sit and pretend to drive the train. We had checked the website the night before, no height restriction, perfect. Our little boy would be able to drive the Duplo Train. We went to get on the train and put William in that all important very front seat and were told, ‘Sorry, he is too small.’ And so once again we had to explain to our children that they could not do what they wanted to do because they were too small. And in this instance, William really would have been fine, he would have sat so sensibly and we would have been right behind him and able to grab him if needs be. But there would have been no need as the ride was so sedate and did not go anywhere the perfect opportunity for a young toddler to do something really special. As Mummy I just felt so disappointed for my vertically challenged toddlers.

We rode the train as passengers and then headed over to The Fairy Tale Brook to ride on the green boats through a land of fairy tales.

This was a gentle boat ride with lovely Lego scenes from lots of traditional tales. Esther and William really liked it.

The boats that they liked best however were the ones that they could drive themselves!

Boats with steering wheels were always going to be a hit with my children.

William was actually pretty good at steering the boat and it was lovely going around the water alongside Daddy and Esther. We used our Q-Bot for this ride as the wait time was 45 minutes. It was one of the only times that we used it as we felt a bit self conscious going to the front of all the other people. I am sure though if it had been a busy time in peak season we would have been very grateful to make our way to the front of the queues which must be so long in the height of summer.

After the boat driving we headed for the Atlantis Submarine Voyage. This had been recommended to us by a friend and we were not disappointed. As we sank below the water we came face to face with sting rays and sharks and it was really rather awesome. We all liked this ride a lot.

The best part for Esther and William though was being able to crawl inside the fish tanks on the way out. They found that hilarious.

From the submarine we went to the Orient Express train affectionately known to us as The Big Green Engine. We settled into our carriage to enjoy the ride around the park and were totally unprepared to get squirted with water! Poor Esther cried but she made a quick recovery and we all soon dried. This ride stayed with them I think as they were acting it out during the car journey home talking about squirters and getting wet then dry. This train was one of the highlights of our day.

After this train we went for lunch. We decided to get fajitas and wedges from the Mexican Cantina. We had our Lego Loot to spend on food and drink in the park so I took this to the kiosk and David took the children to find somewhere to sit. I queued for quite a while for the food and they were struggling to fulfill drinks orders as they had run out of Sprite. I ordered my food and handed over my Lego Loot only to be told that they do not accept it and I had to pay in cash. Of course, I did not have any cash and David had gone away with the children so I had to leave our food to go off and find them and some money. It was all a bit of a palarva to be honest but the food was actually really nice.

After lunch we went to the Laser Raiders to be adventure heroes. This was Daddy’s favourite ride of the day!

Next we moved on to the Hill Train. We sat at the back on the way up the hill so that on the way back down we would be at the front and Esther and William would be able to pretend that they were driving the train. Esther and William loved the Hill Train and would have stayed on it for much of the day if we let them. They just love driving!

After the Hill Train we headed back to Duplo Valley to explore Brick Ville and the main area that we had come to see, the brand new Splash Safari.

On our way though we stopped of for a hot air balloon ride that William and I loved. We were pulling the rope to make our balloon fly higher!

Once back in Duplo Valley Esther and William were keen to explore Brick Ville they especially liked the pink castle. It was so busy in this play area that David and I did not really want to stay too long but the toddlers really enjoyed it. There were lots of children there and I was worried for Esther and William. One older boy tried to push William down a slide which I was not very happy about. When we go to play areas usually we pick the quiet times and Brick Ville in a quite time would be absolutely amazing. There is climbing, sliding, scrambling, crawling, driving. So much fun to be had in a Duplo built dream town. But for us today it was just too busy.

What was not so busy was the Splash Safari I think because the weather was not amazing today and so many people may have found the water a little chilly. Esther and William loved the idea of the water play area but did not get very far into it. They were happy to splash and play around the outside and just watch the animals squirt and spray. They still managed to get pretty wet though. The Splash Safari is a wonderful idea for little ones and I am certain that the play area is going to be hugely popular particularly in the summer.

Once we were all dry and dressed it was time to think about heading for home but first we went trainspotting in Miniland. Miniland was impressive with European landmarks all made from Lego. Esther and William loved spotting and following the trains.

And so this was our day at Legoland Windsor. We had a really busy day and we know that we missed some fabulous things such as The Enchanted Wood.

I would definitely like to go back again.

I would love to take William back to drive his Duplo Train. I would love to see the water play areas in action on a hot summers day. I would like to come back and experience Brick Ville at a quieter time. And I think for the BEST experience we would take Esther and William back when they were 5 or even 6 years old to get the best from this paradise for Duplo and Lego fans.

A fabulous family day for fans of all things Lego.

When we got home William went straight to his Duplo land train and Esther set up a Duplo Zoo, so the day definitely had a positive impact on them.

Thank you Legoland and Duplo Valley!

We were given free entrance to the park, free parking, £30 Lego Loot and two goody bags in return for writing an honest review of our day and particularly Duplo Valley.