Summer fun with Merlin Attractions in Manchester Review
Reviewed by David Savage
As What’s Good To Do are a Merlin Annual Pass Ambassador for 2016 yesterday we visited the children’s favourite Merlin attractions in Manchester, SEA LIFE and LEGOLAND Discovery Centre.
SEA LIFE Manchester and LEGOLAND Discovery Centre are situated in Barton Square in the intu Trafford Centre so very easily to get to.
The boys wanted to go to SEA LIFE first to see “the fishes” as they say. We got there just after the 10am opening so wasn’t a long queue to get in. The very friendly staff checked our passes, asked if we needed a map and a trail book for the Finding Dory event (runs until 11 September 2016). Once ready we went inside where the boys had their picture taken (you can purchase a souvenir picture on exit with a variety of different backdrops) and waited for the Turtle Beach talk to begin.
The Turtle Beach talk is a short talk in a darkened room where the guide talks you through the life of a sea turtle, how the temperature of the sand makes determines the sex of the turtles, conservation of sea turtles and SEA LIFE Manchester’s own giant sea turtle, Ernie. The boys love this as not only is the guide talking but using video and projections on to the sand of the room, including a large green sea turtle. All very interesting.
After the talk we were free to explore the centre at our leisure. If you want more talks about different species throughout the day as well as feeding times. We saw a variety of fish, sea horses, jellyfish, turtles, sharks, rays and of course Ernie the giant sea turtle in the Ocean Tunnel (a glass tunnel that you walk through and can see the sharks, fish and Ernie swimming above your head). We even found the octopus that is usually hiding and takes some finding (this time it was stuck to the glass so no hunting involved).
Halfway through the centre is a small rest area where you can grab a drink while the children play in the soft play area – this features a ball pit and slide, all padded and safe. Both boys love this and disappear for ages and can sometimes be hard work to get them back!
Once we had finished we exited into the shop and bought our souvenir picture. A great morning of fun.
Now we had a bit of time to spare so we decided to pay a quick visit to LEGOLAND Discovery Centre.
LEGOLAND Discovery Centre was a bit busier that when we arrived at SEA LIFE but it was a Saturday morning in the school summer holidays and a nice day weather wise. That said we didn’t have a long wait and were soon in. We decided to give the LEGO Factory Tour a miss this time around (a brief talk and interactive show on how LEGO bricks are made).
The boys come here fairly regularly so had two things on their mind; the Kingdom Quest Laser Ride where you ride around shooting LEGO baddies with your laser gun, and the LEGO Construction Site which is another soft play area filled with large soft LEGO bricks, a slide and tunnel. So after their laser ride off they ran to the soft play to climb, crawl, swing and slide all their excess off.
When tired out they took things a bit easier playing on the LEGO Earthquake Tables – where you can build LEGO towers (the bigger the better), set the earthquake vibration strength and see if your creation comes tumbling down in the following shaking earthquake or stands up to it (I think both boys love seeing the towers fall).
This was followed by a visit to the LEGO DUPLO Farm which is a “farmer’s house” where you can climb in to the attic and come down the slide. This is a smaller slide than the construction site and perfect for younger children.
We now had to leave so didn’t get to try any of the attractions (although some the boys are still too small for). But that is one of the advantages of a Merlin Annual Pass, we can come back as many times as we want for 12 months!
Entry to LEGOLAND Discovery Centre costs from £9.95 per person if booked online in advance (on the door price £17.95). Entry to SEA LIFE Manchester costs from £11.95 per person if booked online in advance (on the door price £16.95). If you want to visit both attractions on the same day take advantage of the Combi Ticket form £17.50 per person if booked online in advance (£23 to £26 on the day price).
If you want to visit other Merlin attractions why not take advantage of a Merlin Annual Pass. These cost from £99 to £209 per person depending whether individual pass of family pass and whether you want a Standard or Premium pass. These give you access to all of Merlin’s 32 UK attractions for 12 months. For more information, visit www.merlinannualpass.co.uk.
We had a great time at SEA LIFE and LEGOLAND Discovery Centre. The staff in both attractions are always friendly and helpful and do everything they can to make the day a worthwhile, fun and exciting visit.
Rating: 5/5
For more information or to book tickets for SEA LIFE or LEGOLAND Discovery Centre visit www.visitsealife.com and www.legolanddiscoverycentre.co.uk. For more details or to purchase a Merlin Annual Pass visit www.merlinannualpass.co.uk.
Barton Square, intu Trafford Centre, Manchester, M17 8AS
