Drusillas Park

@drusillaspark what a great day out!

Daddy and I have a week off work this week.  We moved house this year so no holidays to speak of so we decided that this week we would go out and about, have an adult only day and have a Zoo and Farm day.  Today was Zoo day.

Neither of us had ever been to Drusillas before even though it is only about a 30 minute drive away.  I guess not having children you tend not to go to farms and zoos unless you're going to 'borrow' a nephew or niece.

We didn't know what to expect and to be honest it couldn't be worse then paying a fortune at Legoland for very little - plus its a Zoo surely there will be animals!

We had a fantastic day!  The weather was nice and dry, the ticket prices were reasonable and they did indeed have animals.

This was Max's first visit to a zoo and he loved it, he's not walking yet so we carried him round and let him stand up against fences where we could and he proper giggled at the farm animals, pointed at various monkeys and got up close and personal with the lemurs.

Both daddy and I were taken away with how lovely Drusillas is.  It may well be that we went on a school day, a Monday and a quiet September day and therefore it was not very busy at all but that is fine with me.  We strolled round taking our time looking at each of the animals explaining them all to Maxwell.  At the end of the animal enclosures is a fanastic kids playing area with various jungle gym equipment, slides, round rope swing things and climbing equipment.

Toilets everywhere - and no queues ladies!! Changing tables IN THE MENS toilets!  and various places to eat.

Daddy had a burger and chips and said it was one of the best he had - now that's saying something as he's not that easy to please and I had a tuna jacket potato which all came out for me to do myself.  I had two butters which pleased me as I hate it when you get a big potato and only one butter - it just doesn't go far enough and my tuna was in its own little pot.  Max tried out all the mushroom seats before sitting him down in a highchair by the wooden bench.

After lunch we went round the maze and watched Thomas the Tank Engine train go off round the Zoo before having a look at the paddling pool and gift shops. Nothing was in your face, overpriced or screaming at you.  It was just a plesant family day out, with Max being so little it was perfect for him.  Can't wait to take him back when he's bigger so he can appreciate the playground.. oh and the animals.

Our Visit to #Legoland Windsor

The Sun newspaper had a very good offer on recently to collect tokens in exchange for 2 tickets to Legoland Windsor.   My sister had told me that Legoland was one of the most expensive attractions around so I decided to collect the tokens to enable us to afford to go.

Legoland Windor
Price (on the day) Adult £44.40, Child £35.40.  So by getting tokens for The Sun we saved ourselves £88.80.  The only drawback with these tokens is you can not specify which date you want only a block and even then you're not guaranteed your first choice.

As it happens we got 3rd September, last Monday before the kids go back to school so we took our nephew with us along with Maxwell who although way too small to go on any rides, very much appreciated all the bright colours.

Windsor for us was an hour and half drive so not too far and by the time we got there the sun was well and truly shining.

I would definitely recommend taking a pack lunch.  There is plenty of grass areas to sit down and eat and it saves a small fortunate as the 'restaurant' fast/food places are not, in my opinion very appetising.

The rides like most theme parks have the usual '75 mins' signs up when queuing and the usual fast track (known as Q-Bot) is available added to the expense if you don't want to wait over an hour and half!  Daddy and nephew queued up for over half an hour whilst Max and I sat on the grass having lunch, only to be turned away as the ride was shut down for an hour for maintenance.  Now fair enough this can not be helped, but what I dont agree with is the fact people queued (some for over an hour) to be turned away!  I think these people should have been given fast track tickets for when the ride re opened - how unfair is that to be waiting in a queue for over an hour just to be turned away with nothing to show for it!!

I also would have liked to see a lot more... I don't know.. .LEGO!  After all this is Legoland!  There is a whole building dedicated to Star Wars which is great but there are a million and one other films they could play on here - one being as Kieran recommended- Harry Potter!  There is also one area dedicated to the different countries land marks in lego.. and that's it, the rest is rides. If I wanted a theme park I would have gone to Thorpe Park.

As I mentioned above it is wise to take a packed lunch.  We took food for the boys but daddy and I didnt have anything packed so we ate in one of the 'restaurants' only for daddy to get a bit of chicken bone in his meal.

On the whole I guess I was a little disappointed.  I had imaged it would be a big site with lego buildings everywhere where you can walk up and down and get up close to, but for a relatively cheap day out it was good fun.  The sun was shining, the boys enjoyed themselves with being spoilt rotten and we did get to see some pretty amazing sculptures.