First let me start the day with a rant.
Trains and Toddlers dont really mix but what makes it worse is when you book tickets for 2 adults and 2 toddlers you dont pay for the toddlers therefore you dont get a seat. That fair enough but booking our seat reservations in the quiet coach had to be the most idiotic thing the train company has done in a long time.
Just imagine 8:30am full of excitement of going to lollibop on a two hour train journey yes ofcourse my children will sit quietly on my knee and not make a sound. Yeah Right. So after the first person complained (you can imagine what I told him and I promise you it wasnt “I will move right away with two toddlers a pushchair and all our bags”) I decided to just decide to let the kids run riot. They are fairly well behaved so were just being kids running up and down, on and off the chairs and talking and singing and just generally being happy children. If they wanted to move us they could come and do it themselves. Well no-one came and the person who complained took my well given advice and we didnt see him again.
So after the fun train journey we finally arrived in London, quick jump in a taxi and we were at regents park. Here is where it gets a bit confusing.
If you do not come into regents park by a specific entrance there is no signs and regents park is huge. We finally found someone in a lollibop tshirt who pointed us on our way. so at 11:10 we stroll up to lollibop expecting huge queues as reported from Friday. We have all of one family in front of us and they passed through very quickly, well done lollibop organisers.
With so much to do it was difficult to know what to do next, we found the bubbles store, the reading tent (which we went back to a lot), the dancing tent (was great and very varied) and then decided to have some food. I took drinks with us which I would highly recommend as they are expensive. I found some watermelon on the jamaican stall near the meet and greet peppa pig stall that was £2 for a massive plate full so I shared that with my girls whilst my hubby had a corn on the cobb (£1.50) Most main meals came in at about £6 but we tend to snack rather than eat a huge amount and we have taken some crisps with us.
The stalls dotted around were amazing especially @supernatbbblack stall where we bought a red reindeer happy hopper (will post a picture when Alison is allowed it for her birthday) also really good was @dreamboxparties so many sparkly things and outfits to wear and something for every budget. The one thing I found that was missing was a stall selling blankets, it got a bit chilly and seen as the weather report was so nice we didnt bring one with us.
Entertainment wise we did not stop, the Zingzillas and Rasta mouse were amazing as was the dancing tent, especially cheerleading. We played in the 3ft and under section in the soft play bit and also WOW toys, great toys that felt really well made (added to xmas list for grandparents). My girls had a great time and we managed to avoid all of the queues as they were not really interested in the trampolines (we have one at home) or the spider mountain or the go karts so we were quite lucky really. No bounce castle that I could see although there was reports of one yesterday.
So to cap it all of I just wanted to say we had a brilliant day it was worth the trip and will definitely do it again next time. Also for those of you who might be interested we got some great freebies (listed below)
Lollibooks tent – Animals masks when they had a story read to them
WOW Toys – Toy pack with one figure and one animal each (received after playing inside for about 15 minutes)
Meet and Greet – Peppa pig and Princess Holly hats
Fruit Shoot My5 – Lunch box and fruitshoot(go inside roped area colour in a picture of a lunchbox and receive a free lunchbox with a drink inside).
All these freebies made the kids feel like they were spoilt and we didnt have to spend a penny, although we did 🙂
One last tip to any lolliboppers tomorrow, if you can say no to your children don’t buy a balloon it was heartbreaking to see all the children crying when they went flying into the air. My daughter asked for one so we looked up into the sky and could see two flying away, I asked her if she would want to lose one and she said no. She didnt ask again.
On that note I am off to bed but just thought I should post it up for all the people going tomorrow. Hope I helped.