23 April 2015 - Lego Land, Deutschland - an excellent day!

Although we knew we would have a big day out going to Legoland from Bermatingen and although we also knew we were going to be driving to Limoges, France tomorrow for our next part of our trip, we decided our tiredness would be greatly outweighed by the thrill of it all and it was!!  My face was aching from smiling so much by the end of the day, so that probably sums it up!

Legoland!!!!

We were prepared for our early start with picnic packed the night before and it was great to wake Luke and tell him that we were going to Legoland.  He didn't know but the big kids did. Luke jumped out of bed with no hesitation and was bouncing with excitement.  The only glitch in my getting ready was my favourite Kathmandu trousers (only 4 months old mind you) ripping in the crotch which rendered them unwearable.  Most disappointing!

Where do we go first?

A family day...shame about the jaundice!

It is a long drive from Bermatingen to Legoland which is near Ulm, especially when the GPS doesn't know about the roadworks that we do know about!  Karl did a great day of driving and working out the many turns and roundabouts in the journey and we were all glad when we got there.  The crowd was minimal and for the whole day we really never waited longer than 5 minutes for a ride.  Amazing really!  We could see the car park had the capacity to accommodate acres more of cars. 

Instant friendship!

Karl had bought our tickets online a couple of days ago which means we got a discount.  It would have been even cheaper had we bought the tickets a week ago but we didn't know that and we probably wouldn't have risked the weather!  Today was fine but much cooler than we had anticipated in the morning.

Lego Chima

Pizza anyone?!

Karl spending time with the down and out!

I had to look twice to see the seagulls were also Lego!

Luke couldn't help skipping with delight and the rest of us were amazed and amused at all the Lego figures dotted about the place.  We walked through the turnstiles to the tune of "Everything is AWESOME', and so it was! From jungle animals to little old men on park benches, it was all done so well.  I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to those scary rides like roller coasters but even Luke, our cautious one, really loved EVERYTHING so I bravely went on the rides with the kids. Karl is as bold as the kids and said no to nothing!!

Venice

Bridge of sighs!

Aside from the rides, the very clever and lovely mini cities build to scale 1:20 were worth spending time to look at. The detail was thorough and there were moving boats and other vehicles with some buttons to push as well.

Airport, complete with appropriate noise

I was surprised at myself going on the various rides including the flying Chima bird and some roller coasters.  The kids  and Karl were proud of me and I am glad I did.  But, please understand that I am NOT normally a thrill seeker!

Ah so!

Chima bird ride - Can't believe I went on this!!

Smoking dragon at the Chima ride

Futuristic Bionicle ride

I was not about to be turned upside down in the Bionicle futuristic ride but the others all enjoyed it. Tim and Annika pushed their experience to the dizzy limits and Karl and Luke also had a go!

Bionicle capsule

Shark fodder!

Gentle boat ride to the sound of seagulls squawking.

Having a ball.

Dear old granny

Cuddle with Emmet!!

Tecnik car roller coaster - a bit like the Mad Mouse

4 D Clutch Power  Movie complete with spraying water!

Oompah band with great German music!

Atlantis and entrance to the aquarium which had sharks, stingrays and other non Lego sea creatures

Off to Atlantis!

Safari

Hugs with a shark?!

Soccer with a giraffe!

The Police Station was a bit of a hoot for all but Annika who mistook one of the mirrors in the mirror  maze as a corridor and crashed into it!  Easy to do (crash into the mirror that is!) and heaps of fun!

Police Station and jail

Mirror Maze - excellent fun

Off to Ancient Egypt

Climbing palm trees!

A friendly camel who didn't spit!

Family photo under Tut's loin cloth

Medieval zone

Heading for the scary Dragon Roller Coaster

Books of Kells?!

Sleeping on duty!

Lego junior driving school

Train ride around the park!

The Star Wars display had Tim and Luke in raptures and they talked excitedly about the characters and sets and wondered where the next Star Wars movie, due out at the end of this year, will be placed!

One of many Star Wars sets

Tim battling Darth Vader

Tim and Luke versus Darth Maul

Yoda and Luke

Karl was pretty tired of driving especially around the jungle!

Monkey

Gorilla lurching towards us!

Very realistic python

Appealing dog!

We spent our full day there including a trip to the Lego Verkauf where you can make your own Mini figure  (6 for 10 Euros) and there are trays and trays full of heads, torsos, hair and features.  The kids made two each and loved doing it.  I think we probably could have spent ALL day there alone.  Lego was also available in vats of colours 100gm for 9 Euros.  So tempting!!

Lego Factory

Building Mini figures - An all day activity!

Everything was done well, was clean and exciting.  I am so glad that we all went and enjoyed our day - 157 Euro - advanced purchase, was a good spend.  We are not going to Euro Disney or other theme parks and to enjoy such a day with no queues to speak of and see everything we wanted to, was a success in everyone's opinion.

Jumping for joy!

We were home in Bermatingen as the sun was setting just after 8PM.  We still had all our packing to do and also cleaning after staying here for a month. It was a good choice of accommodation and environment and we happened to have mostly fantastic weather , too!