Aaron's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘premier inn’

During the weekend before Christmas, Kelly and I surprised the boys by taking them straight from school to Drayton Manor Park for their Magical Christmas Experience.  Obviously, we went to a hotel first for the night!! But the following day, we got up nice and early and made sure we arrived at the park for opening time, which was 930am.  The hotel we stayed at was only 15 minutes away, which was great, and we had a nice big room and they even had some activities for the boys to do when we got there.  Once of them was to write a letter to Father Christmas and to then post it in a special box in reception before bed to see if he would write back to them.  They all did this and when they woke up in the morning, there were 3 letters by the hotel room door.  They were all pleased with this, especially Aaron and Coby, as Father Christmas had written back to them all!! The Premier Inn must have had a special agreement with Father Christmas over that weekend, especially as it was so close to Christmas!

The day at Drayton Manor Park didn’t start off too well as Ben pushed Coby out of the car which meant the car door smacked against the car next to us, with them in it.  The guy came out and wasn’t very pleased and made sure we knew that, but it was an accident.  He didn’t want to take any money from us so we left it at that – great start!

Anyway, we walked on in and went straight to Thomas Land.  Most of the rides didn’t start until 10:30 am, but some had obviously been through their daily checks and were already going, so we went on a few.  We then went to the 4D cinema which was showing Ice Age before heading back to Thomas Land for a show with the Fat Controller.  We then went on more rides, mostly in Thomas Land, but some in other areas of the park.  Thomas Land had been decorated for Christmas nicely and there were trees dotted around and they had put snow on the roofs of the little houses there as well.  The trains were also decorated with Christmas lights and tinsel, so it was all very nice. We all went on various other rides before walking up to the other area of the park to see what other rides were open.  We had a go at a train shooting gallery ride, which was completely different to anything we had been on before, which we all thought was great, and another pirate ship ride.  By this time it was time for food so we managed to get a table in the burger bar and had some burgers and chips for dinner.  We then walked up around the zoo to have a quick look and listened to a Reindeer talk and got close to a Tiger which was right next to the fence.  It was getting quite cold at this point so we wandered back down towards the main area of the park and got some nice warm donuts, which were delicious! We then went on a few more rides before it was time to queue up to meet Father Christmas.  We got to the queue before our time but we ended up having to wait a good 40 minutes to eventually see him, which was a bit rubbish really! The boys were playing up at this point as well as they were bored just standing around, which was a shame. When we eventually got to see him, he had a chat with each of the boys individually and asked if they had been good and were enjoying the day, and also asked what they mainly wanted for Christmas.  Coby looked in awe of him, Aaron looked worried when he was being talked to and Ben just took it all in his stride but didn’t get too close! haha. The boys then had a photo with him and he gave them each a gift, which turned out to be a nice star shaped Magical Christmas at Drayton money box, a cool looking Elf and a voucher for entry into the park with a paying adult in 2020.  At least Ben didn’t get a magic set this year!!  Once we had seen Father Christmas, we rushed back to the main area of the park for a Christmas parade that had already started. Typically the parade time was the same time that we were in visiting Father Christmas, which we only found out about a week earlier via an email! Anyway, we saw that and it wasn’t too special anyway but at the end of it came the Fireworks display over the lake. This was really good and we got good positions to watch it.  It lasted quite a long time really but there weren’t any really big bangs due to the animals on the park but it was still very good.  And that was that….it was time to go again.  We did nip in to the sweet shop to get some sweets for the boys on the way out and had a final walk around the areas that we could get to before heading out and back to the car.

Overall, we had a lovely day but it definitely wasn’t as good as Paultons last year.  It seemed more organised there and more magical, with less people so we could just walk straight on to the rides in most cases, instead of having to queue a bit here, and they also did a Roast Turkey in their restaurant.  Meeting Father Christmas was also better there as they had a long Christmassy walk to go and see him, with animatronics and other magical stuff, and we didn’t have to queue up for 40 minutes!  Saying that, it was nice at Drayton and the boys actually said they preferred it here – possibly due to Thomas Land!  We had a nice, magical day out and had some fun before our long journey home in the car.

This year we did another kind of road trip to various places in the country, and we all had a wonderful time!

We started off by going to Wookey Hole but the weather was wet and miserable unfortunately.  The caves were great though, and the boys enjoyed being underground, especially as they each had a glow stick! Aaron was a bit frightened as we first went in though but he soon forgot about it. After the tour of the caves had ended, we looked around the rest of the venue and watched a SciFi Circus, wondered through the land of the dinosaurs, had a look at some old machinery from the mill that Wookey Hole used to be and wondered through an old Penny Arcade.  There were also paper making sessions, which looked interesting, and a 4D cinema which we didn’t go in. The boys went in an indoor soft play area and loved it in there. On the way out, we stopped in the Wookey Hole Ice Cream parlour and had some ice cream, which was delicious, before heading off back to the car and driving to the Premier Inn near Kidderminster, where we were going to stay the next couple of nights.

For tea that night, we went into the Beefeater which was right next door to the hotel, but it wasn’t very nice at all and extremely expensive!  We left there feeling quite annoyed as the food wasn’t great and there wasn’t much of it and it cost so much. Oh well!

The next day we went back there again for breakfast, which we had already booked, which was OK, though you couldn’t eat as much bacon and egg etc as you liked.  Instead, you had to order it so it wasn’t much of an all you can eat. The boys were fine though as they were scoffing cereal, crumpets, buns etc and also had some beans and egg on toast! They ate loads!

We then went to visit the West Midland Safari Park, which was absolutely brilliant! We all thought the place was amazing! The drive around the safari was nothing we had done before, so we didn’t know what to expect, but it was amazing being so close to the animals and being able to open the car window to some and stroke them. It was crazy how close the lions were as well, as they were just ambling along near the car and lazing around.  There were some amazing animals such as the Lions and Tigers, but also white Tigers and white Lions that we had never seen before.  There was also a baby Rhino which was cute and some dodgy camels that wouldn’t get out of the road! It took roughly 3 hours to get around the safari and then park up to go into the park itself.  As we had 2 days in the park, on our first day, we ignored all the rides and had a look at the rest of the animals and enclosures, such as a walk through a bat cave (where the bats were flying around our heads!), the Hippo feed, a Sea Lion show and we also walked through the new Land of the Dinosaurs with really good models that moved and made various dinosaur noises. We had a lovely first day there and didn’t leave until late as the place didn’t close until 9pm! We had had food there so we went back to our hotel for the night, after a detour to the shop to get some chocolate, as we had to pack our bags up again as this would be our last night in the Premier Inn.

The next morning, we went across and had our breakfast again and then loaded everything into the car. We then set off for our second day at the safari park and enjoyed the safari as much, if not more, than we did on the 1st day! After we had parked up, we spent the rest of the day going on all the rides. We did also go through the bat cave again, as that was great fun! All the rides were excellent and we all went on a varied amount with the boys loving them all! We again had tea there and didn’t leave until about 8:30pm as we were enjoying the place so much, we didn’t really want to leave! But we did, and drove all the way to a Travel Lodge at Barry in Wales.

It took longer than expected to get there as the M4 was closed, so we had NO idea where we were going! By this time it was gone 10pm and the boys were all asleep, and we ended up being diverted through Newport before eventually getting to Cardiff and on to Barry.  It was a crazy drive as it was pitch black, raining and a bit foggy!

The following day, we went in the Toby Carvery for breakfast (which was right next door) and stuffed ourselves with lovely bacon and eggs! The boys ate loads again (mostly beans!) but were quite tired so were being a bit naughty, especially Coby who just wouldn’t sit still. Once finished, we drove to Barry Island and spent the day walking along the beach front and along the cliffs, and in the amusements and fairground. It was a really hot day so we first went into a cafe and had a nice milkshake!  The boys (and me and Kelly) loved the arcades and we won a few toys on the 2p machines, and we also all went on a few rides in the fair.  Towards tea time, the shops were closing up so we decided to walk back to the car (we were all tired out really) and drove down the road from where we were parked to Asda and got some bits and pieces for tea. We then went back to the same car park and had a picnic in the car, before going for a quick walk along the estuary. We then drove to another beach side car park just along from Barry and parked up overlooking the sea.  It was lovely there and reminded Kelly and I of Carlyon Bay when we first started going out, before they tore it all up for development! After this, we then went back to the hotel and packed again, before getting some good nights sleep.

The next day was our final day of our road trip holiday this year and the weather was awful!  We first went to Asda at Barry for a nice big cooked breakfast and got a few things whilst we were there, before heading off to Cardiff Bay and the Mermaid Quay car park. It was a shame that the weather was so bad as our first impression of Cardiff Bay was wet and dreary! We went in to the Millennium Centre and had a quick look around, mainly to get out of the rain, before spotting the bus stop to catch the sight seeing tour of Cardiff bus. We had already booked this previous to our holiday so when it arrived, we jumped on.  But due to the weather, we were unable to sit on the open top deck and had to sit in the stuffy lower level, which wasn’t very nice at all. As the bus drove around, we couldn’t really see anything as the windows were steamed up so the boys started to get a bit naughty. Eventually, we got off at Cardiff Castle, which we had already got tickets for, and went in.  The weather was still bad to begin with, but gradually cleared up and became hot and sunnier as we made our way around the location. The boys seemed to find most of it fascinating, however, when we were in the bomb tunnels and the noises of the bombs from the war were playing (in the dark as well!), they all got a bit scared! Coby was in his push chair and Kelly had to hold his hand as we made our way along them. I think they were all glad when we got outside again! Towards the end of the visit, a birds of prey show started and Ben and Coby ended up lying on the wet grass (along with many other people) and had a big owl fly over the top of them. They thought it was brill! After we had had a good look around and bought something in the shop, we left the castle and finally went on our open top bus tour of Cardiff. We did it twice as we wanted to do the full circle and then carry on again until we could get off at Cardiff Bay. We then had tea in a Wetherspoons there (where Coby spilt his drink over everything!) and then had some dessert in a nearby American Diner that sold proper Sundaes, before making our way back to the car and driving home.

We all had a great holiday and visited some really excellent places. I think the firm favourite was the drive through the safari at the West Midlands Safari Park, as we hadn’t experienced anything like that before. The weather was mostly pretty good, apart from Wookey Hole and most of our day in Cardiff, and we had some good food! Roll on next year when we are going to Scotland for a week! 😉

During the last weekend in August, Uncle Darren took us all away on holiday to Legoland in Windsor, along with Aunty Marina, Grandma and Grandpa Tony. He paid for us to stay in a hotel on the Friday night and then for entry to Legoland itself on the Saturday.  We had a great time as none of us had ever been to Legoland before!

The trip up in the car wasn’t great though, as we were stuck in traffic for hours and it eventually took us about 7 hours to do a 3 1/2 hour trip! Once we got to the hotel (Premier Inn), we unpacked and went down to meet everyone else for a meal in the Brewers Fayre pub/restaurant next door. The food and place wasn’t brilliant but it was nice enough for us. We got an early night and then packed everything again in the morning before heading off to the pub/restaurant again for breakfast. We scoffed quite a bit and Ben and Aaron helped themselves to plenty as well! We then checked out and drove off to Legoland.

We got there in pretty good time expecting it to be busy but not heaving, but there were stacks of cars piling in! So we queued up a bit to get in and eventually parked up in the car park. By this time, the boys were beside themselves with excitement as along the side of the road on the way in, there were little Lego figures spelling out ‘LEGOLAND’. We then made our way into the park and met up with everyone else. Our first port of call was the shop as it was right beside the entrance. It was amazing in there and I could have spent loads of money just on myself, let alone on Ben and Aaron. There was also a clothes shop but unfortunately, they didn’t have anything in the right size for Coby. Anyway, we bought a few things in there and then went on to the Lego Star Wars exhibition. It was great in there although it was packed out with some ignorant people pushing past us! In the end, we were glad to get out!

We then carried on through the park, going on several rides using the QBot that Uncle Darren had purchased (this let us book a ride at the earliest time available instead of queuing up). Ben’s favourite ride was the Pirate River where we all got soaking (especially Uncle Darren who didn’t have a hood on his coat!), whilst Aaron’s was a spider waltz type thing (hard to explain). We stopped off for a picnic at lunch time as there wasn’t really anywhere decent enough for Kelly to feed Coby, until we found a little picnic area which was quite secluded. At this point we had left everyone else as they were having a hot meal.

After we had finished we met up with them again and walked around further and went on some more rides – one we had to queue up for nearly an hour as there was no QBot system on it! But it was a good ride. 😉 Dotted around the place were lots of statues made out of Lego which were really good. There was also a pirate show, but we didn’t have time for that unfortunately.

Towards the end of the day, Grandma and Grandpa Tony left us all as they had to drive to a caravan site for the night before a certain time, so we said our goodbyes to them. We had about an hour or so left so we continued to wander around, with the boys going on a car ride each, and then met up with Uncle Darren and Aunty Marina in the Lego City which was home to massive Lego models of famous places. It was an amazing sight, but we were unable to walk around it as we ran out of time as the park was closing. In fact, we had completely missed at least one big section of the park due to not having enough time!  So we walked back up to the entrance again and had another quick look in the shop, where we got the boys a ‘I Love Legoland’ T-Shirt each, before going back to the car and starting our journey home, absolutely shattered.

We all had a great day and the boys loved it!  We would definitely come back again but probably spend two days in the park instead so we had enough time to take everything in and view all areas of the park.

Thanks to Uncle Darren for our trip to Legoland! 😉

Here are some pics.