AD - Press Trip | I had such a great weekend at @p AD - Press Trip | I had such a great weekend at @pottersresortsfivelakes with @slwilson84. It was an action packed three nights with a full activity and entertainment programme, great food, lovely drinks and beautiful surroundings. 

The staff go above and beyond to make everyone feel at home and they ensure that everyone has the best time possible. I don’t think I stopped smiling all weekend.

The best thing about Potters holidays is that everything is included in the price you pay. Four meals a day, all your drinks - including wine, Prosecco, most spirits and soft drinks - great accommodation and so many activities. 

I’ll write a full review soon but for now here’s a little Reel of our weekend
I always have a lot of questions about accommodati I always have a lot of questions about accommodation when we stay anywhere as a family so I thought I’d share this little tour of our room at @windjammerlanding which was a pretty perfect place to stay.

It’s the ‘Ocean View Two Bedroom’ which was like a little house, with an upstairs and downstairs, built into the hillside. Both rooms had outdoor space and their own shower rooms. Such a great option for a family.
A little photo dump from our holiday in St Lucia. A little photo dump from our holiday in St Lucia. We’ve been back a few days now but still miss the heat, the food, the pool, the constant sounds of wildlife and the lovely people. It was such a great holiday and I’m sure we’ll be back one day.
And just like that, Athena is 12! What a joy it is And just like that, Athena is 12! What a joy it is watching her grow and what a wonderful young woman she is becoming. We could not be more proud. Love you Pickle, have a great birthday.
We’ve just got back from two glorious weeks in S We’ve just got back from two glorious weeks in St Lucia staying at @windjammerlanding and it was just the holiday we needed. Two weeks of sunshine and relaxation in what must be one of the most beautiful islands in the world. 

We can’t wait to go back again in the future. Here’s just a little snippet of our trip.
AD - Press Tickets | We had such a nice day at @na AD - Press Tickets | We had such a nice day at @national_motor_museum despite the rain! The children loved the Little Beaulieu play area and we loved exploring the National Motor Museum and Top Gear exhibit before having a ride on the monorail! We went on an old open topped bus, explored the Beaulieu Manor House and loved the gardens. 
Beaulieu is always a great day out - whatever the weather. This summer they have a whole ‘Summer of Fun’ planned, with activities most days - parades, bird shows and hundreds of sculptures within the grounds too. If you’re looking for a day out this summer definitely think about heading to Beaulieu.
AD - Press Tickets | Tonight we took the kids to t AD - Press Tickets | Tonight we took the kids to their first concert - but it was so much more than just a concert! @abbavoyage is incredible. With CGI ABBA and a live band, it’s like being at an ABBA concert 40 years ago but with modern lighting, effects and sound. ABBA look and sound real, it’s a mind blowing experience.
The set includes all the songs you know and love as well as a few less familiar ones.
You can’t take photos during the show which actually made a refreshing change. A whole arena focused purely on the show and soaking up the moment. It’s definitely something the four of us will always remember.
Now, I’m off to sing Dancing Queen all the way home.
AD - Press Trip | We had such a great day at @phdo AD - Press Trip | We had such a great day at @phdockyard today. They have a fantastic Ultimate Explorer ticket that lets you visit all the attractions as many times as you like for 12 months - and after a day at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard we can see that you need more than one day to really do everything!

We explored HMS Warrior, HMS Victory and the Mary Rose Exhibition - which is incredible! We also saw where ships are built and restored and spent time in Action Stations where the kids climbed and did an assault course.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is such a fun, educational day out with something for all ages - we can’t wait to go on their harbour tours next time we visit!
AD | WIN!! Would you love to win a holiday? To cel AD | WIN!! Would you love to win a holiday? To celebrate #100YearOfARoads National Highways have launched their #ARoadsToSummer competition! It's all about celebrating summer holiday moments, time together, fun in the sun, days out and more.

So why not be in it to win it? To enter, all you have to do is send @nationalhways a DM on here with a photo or video of your favourite holiday moments. You can also comment on their Facebook or Twitter #ARoadsToSummer posts with your holiday photos. I've shared a few of our favourite photos to give you some inspiration.

The best six entries will each win a £500 @nationaltrust holidays voucher! SO what are you waiting for? Dig out your favourite holiday photos or take some new ones to share!

The #ARoadsToSummer competition runs from 24 July to 10 September 2023. Winners will be announced in September 2023.

Good luck!
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Days Out, Days Out and Attractions/Events, London, Reviews · May 1, 2019

The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience London

Disclosure: We were invited on this day out for the purpose of this post however all opinions are my own.

Last week I was invited to Press Week at the newly launched Crystal Maze LIVE experience in London’s West End. The Crystal Maze LIVE has been around for a few years now but this is the first time it’s been seen in such a prominent part of London. Occupying the old Ripley’s building in the Trocadero, it turned out to be the perfect venue for such a unique experience.

The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience London

I took a fantastic team of fellow bloggers with me to the Crystal Maze Live experience and when we arrived we were shown to lockers where we could leave all our things. We were all a little apprehensive at this – going anywhere without your phone as a blogger is unheard of but we followed the instructions, put all our belongings in the lockers and were shown to the start of the Crystal Maze.

Before our session got underway we went to the toilet, signed waivers and were given a few little pieces of information about the maze before heading into our first zone of the maze and meeting Bertie our pretty amazing Maze Master.

Bertie is a chimney sweep from Liverpool and, like all the Maze Masters at the Crystal Maze, she was in perfect character throughout the whole experience – complete with a loo brush to sweep chimneys with. She was a highlight of our experience, so friendly, so full of personality and just a really fantastic host. We met other hosts before and after our visit too and all were fun and friendly people, each with their own character theme. I feel the need to mention Captain Mack here and his authentic Irish accent. He definitely stayed true to his character throughout!

We were thrown right into the Crystal Maze experience. The maze is split into four different zones which fans of the Crystal Maze show will be instantly familiar with – Aztec, Futuristic, Medieval and Industrial and we started off in the Medieval zone, ready to see how many crystals we could find.

The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience London

The Crystal Maze consists of 32 different challenges and Bertie threw us right in – asking if we wanted a mental, skill, physical or mystery challenge. Rosie kicked off the challenges with a mental one – finding clues to who the owner of the room was. This followed with Emily playing tunes on bells and Katy placing playing cards in the right order around a table. Then I found myself with a helmet and kneepads on, jousting my way through a physical challenge.

Our Crystal Maze experience took us to the Futuristic Zone where Mel worked her way around the Laser Assault Course, Emma cracked an emoji based challenge and Amie gave operated on an alien. We ended with Becky doing the Hive Mind challenge – placing coloured hexagonal blocks in the right order in a hive frame – and we realised at this point that the challenges were getting harder as we got deeper into the Crystal Maze.

The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience London

Each of the Crystal Maze rooms was so much fun and a real challenge. They felt just like they were from the TV show – with windows or screens for the rest of the team to watch through and the risk of getting locked in during each challenge. Everything was in keeping with each zone and even getting from one zone to the next was an adventure – with tunnels to crawl through, ladders to climb and even a slide. Although there were more normal routes to take for anyone with disabilities or fears of confined spaces etc.

The whole Crystal Maze experience is completely immersive. For the hour and a half that we were in the maze we really were in the maze. The Crystal Maze music followed us through the challenges, we were full of excitement and anticipation and we were all cheering on the other members of our team. I have never felt so absorbed in an experience before and it’s something that I could have happily enjoyed for hours after it finished.

The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience London

We reached the Industrial Zone and Katy cracked on with a pipe puzzle challenge before I did a traffic light challenge. Amie had to climb through a soft play structure to get power packs and Rosie had to turn all the lights in the world off before the time ran out. Some of the challenges really needed the team to help with them and in others the rest of the team really couldn’t help at all. But, throughout it all we were such a team and I loved every minute of it.

The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience London

The final zone, the Aztec zone, brought with it so much sand and a photo opportunity for the team. In this zone Emily had to navigate a rolling log with buckets of sand, Emma had to make the stars align, Becky had to make a bamboo structure balance with the right amount of sand poured in each corner and we finished with Mel balancing scales with sand. By the end of the maze we had found twelve crystals and had a whole minute inside the Crystal Dome to come.

The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience London

When we finally arrived at the Crystal Dome we were given Crystal Maze jackets to wear, had another photo opportunity and then got to say those iconic words ‘Will you start the fans please?’ before grabbing as many golden tickets as we could before our time was up.

The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience London

We walked away with 220 tickets on the scorecard and feeling like we had experienced such a fantastic evening. I honestly cannot remember the last time I’d had that much fun in 90 minutes. It was amazing, exhilarating and such a great team activity.

I used to love Crystal Maze as a child. It was on TV until I was eleven and it was a huge part of my week. I was interested to see how the Crystal Maze would translate into a real life experience and, honestly, as a bit of a fan of the show I was incredibly excited but also a little bit nervous. What if the Crystal Maze LIVE experience didn’t live up to expectations?

But, the only things that the Crystal Maze experience was missing from the show was water and Richard O’Brien. Well, who wants to get soaked in the middle of a day out in London anyway? And Bertie was the best host we could have asked for – and definitely better than Richard would have been!

The Crystal Maze LIVE experience finishes back in the locker room, being given a map of the zones so you can check off the challenges that you’ve completed so you can do different ones next time, and the opportunity to buy photos and merchandise whilst looking at the Crystal Maze leaderboards. There’s also a bar where you can relax afterwards, talking about your best moments from your time in the maze.

The Crystal Maze experience is a phone free activity. But, you are so absorbed in the experience that you don’t need your phone and it’s actually amazing to switch off for an hour or so – have a little bit of time out from modern life and just get sucked completely into each challenge and the incredible atmosphere that only the Crystal Maze LIVE experience can bring.

I’m sad that the Crystal Maze Experience is over. It was everything I hoped it would be and more – I felt like I’d been transported straight into the world I knew so well from my childhood and it couldn’t have been better. I would love to experience the Crystal Maze again and I think that it would be a fantastic team building or stag and hen activity or something to do on a night out with friends. The Crystal Maze LIVE experience is now open to everyone over the age of 13 so it would be a fantastic event to bring your teenage children to as well. I can’t wait to do it again – and maybe even do it with LP and Little Man when they’re older!

The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience London

In: Days Out, Days Out and Attractions/Events, London, Reviews

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Comments

  1. Mel says

    May 1, 2019 at 10:00 am

    It was such a brilliant night! I have been going on and on about it with my friends, who are all really jealous i got to experience it! Thanks for having me as part of your team, you lovely lady!!

    Reply
  2. Katy Stevens says

    May 1, 2019 at 10:06 am

    I really had the best time with you! Thanks so much for inviting me!

    Reply
  3. Ami throughamiseyes says

    May 1, 2019 at 11:54 am

    Thank you so much for inviting me! It was such a great evening out and I want to do it again!!

    Reply
  4. Tracey Williams says

    May 7, 2019 at 1:04 pm

    Oh this looks so much fun Donna, and like you the Crystal Maze was part of my teenage years growing up. My two would absolutely love it, and if we go to London during the summer holidays I am definitely going to book this for us x

    Reply

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Hi everyone! I'm Donna. Mummy. Blogger. Social Media Manager. Traveller. Lover of stars, rainbows and gin. Firm believer that tea and cake can fix most things.

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