Even when I was a child I never quite "got" Lego. Maybe it was a girl thing, we had Barbie and Tiny Tears, boys had Scalextric and Lego. Why oh why then twenty something years later was I excited to be in the Legoland Discovery Centre? This is the latest addition in the "home bit" of the gargantuan Trafford Centre and I dropped into this make believe world of tiny coloured bricks to check out their party packages. Kids can be so competitive, parties at home with pass the parcel don't quite cut it any more.
This new arrival opened in March 2010 and was inspired by its originator, the theme park , Legoland Windsor. Claire the assistant reliably informed me that there are over 2 million Lego bricks (who counted?) in the interactive centre. It is divided into different sections: Miniland which is a miniature recreation of famous landmarks in Northern cities, The Princess Palace of pink turrets, the Model Builder's Workshop in which children are given lessons in Lego techniques by a "master"- very Obi Wan Kenobi. There is also a 4D cinema, a soft play area and a Duplo village for the toddlers. Maybe times have changed as this artificial world was over-run with girls and everyone seemed to be having fun. Still not quite my scene but I guess they did not have me in mind when they made it. Nice cafe though so perhaps they did.