Category: reviews

LEGOLAND Discovery Centre – A Dream Come True! #LDCToronto #review

LEGO – every child’s favourite toy! As children, my siblings and I were always building with LEGO creating farms, houses and our own imaginary worlds. Both of my boys are now fascinated by LEGO (can you blame them?!) and we were thrilled beyond words at the chance of visiting LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Toronto.

LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Toronto is located conveniently in Vaughn Mills shopping mall and the whole centre is situated under one roof. LEGOLAND is perfect for children aged one to ten.

The Discovery Centre includes:

  • an indoor experience with over three million LEGO bricks
  • two rides, 4D cinema, workshops, racing tracks, play centres and so much more!
  • cafe
  • school field trips and birthday parties

Upon entering the LEGO factory (through pretty neat sliding doors I have to add!) you exit into the Kingdom Quest ride. The ride cart sits four people easily and slowly makes it’s way through the Kingdom. The carts had their own little “guns” to shoot at the enemies which was a lot of fun – our youngest racked up the highest score much to his brother’s surprise!

MINILAND was up next and nothing could have prepared us for this part! The entire area was made up of LEGO blocks and represented the Toronto downtown core. It was breathtaking. It included the CN Tower, Rogers Centre and the waterfront. The parts were moving and the attention to detail was incredible – the boats were even gliding across the water!

My personal favourite part of MINILAND? That would have had to be the exhibit of Niagara Falls – the water was flowing off the falls and mist was going over the boat. LEGOLAND Discovery Centre really went the extra mile to recreate the beauty of Niagara Falls.

Walking into the centre of LEGOLAND is that dream come true moment for children and adults alike. LEGO play centres are everywhere for children to build their own creations (they almost looked like little pits full of LEGO!).

They even had several ramps to race their car creations down! Our boys loved the ramps and were convinced that we had to put our own version of these ramps in our basement. We spent quite a bit of time developing the perfect cars out of a variety of LEGO pieces and testing out the speed on the ramps.

LEGOLAND Discovery Centre put a lot of attention into every detail – LEGO figures were everywhere and my Star Wars obsessed eldest had to have a shot of his favourite character of the movie. Can you imagine how much patience someone had to have to make this??!

Merlin even received a big hug from our little guy!

It was almost hard to believe that they even managed to fit a ride like Merlin’s Apprentice under the same roof as the rest of the activities – my husband and eldest son soared above us and they were able to take in the whole Discovery Centre from above.

LEGOLAND Discovery Centre was full of excitement, creative fun and energy. It pulled our children away from their typical routine and focused on family based play. We had such a fun time and were very impressed with the amount of LEGO available to the children, variety of activities and free play areas. LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Toronto is truly a place to unwind, play and have fun with the whole family. We can not wait to go back!

Make sure to follow LEGOLAND Discovery Centre on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with important information.

Disclosure: I received complimentary tickets in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada: Exploring The Wonders of the Sea

The ocean holds many wonders for children and adults alike. The magical and graceful movements of the animals of the sea captures the heart and imagination of so many of us. My children love fish, fishing and most importantly sharks (Shark Week is huge in our house!). For them being able to visit Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto was a dream come true.

Both of my boys were a bundle of nerves as we set off to Toronto not really knowing what to expect from the Aquarium as this would have been their very first visit to any kind of aquarium. Stepping inside the building alone transports you to a different place. There is so much to see both above you and below you! My eldest son (also my little budding photographer was excited to be able to capture each  moment!).

Stepping into the aquarium after the ticket booth you are greeted by a beautiful globe of the world above. Below is a bright and colourful discovery area for children to touch and explore. Hanging from the ceilings are large skeletons and a large unique water tank with circling fish. There is so much to see just in that first area alone!

The senses really come alive throughout the aquarium. Children are encouraged to touch, see and listen. The lights are dimmed to really make the aquarium come alive – you literally feel like you are under the sea and exploring the ocean and the animals that call it home. The flow of the aquarium allows you to casually tour through the exhibits in a natural way while allowing you to explore at your own pace.

Some of the most exciting parts of the aquarium were the areas you were able to touch fossils, feel what a jellyfish would feel like and even touch a horseshoe crab! All four of us were scared at first to put our hand in the water but being able to touch the crab is definitely an experience we wont soon forget. We loved how each exhibit had so much educational value and encouraged our children to participate in the exhibit through touch and sight.

Our son was able to capture this fantastic picture of a Giant Pacific Octopus. This guy managed to terrify our two year old whom thought it was going to touch him through the glass.

Our eldest son’s favourite part of the aquarium? The Dangerous Lagoon.

And just like the name suggests all of our boy’s favourite ocean animals were there: sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, stingrays and so much more. A moving walk way allowed us to be able to really take in the whole experience around us as the animals swam beside us and above us. Our son was able to capture this fantastic photograph of the stingray as it lay above us.

 

And the man of the hour that amazed and terrified us all. Check out those teeth!

Here are some of my personal favourites photographs that I snapped during our tour through Rainbow Reef and Planet Jellies. This was my favourite part of the whole aquarium. The colours were so vibrant – I just wanted to reach out and touch the glass (which our kids did repetitively!).

I could have stayed all day by the jelly fish exhibit watching both the exhibit light up and the jellies changing colours. It was truly breathtaking.

 

The gorgeous moon jellies! What a task to try and capture these beauties!

The Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto is an experience that will stay with us for a lifetime. There is so much to see and learn. We are already planning our return visit!

What would you be excited to visit at Ripley’s Aquarium? Have you visited the aquarium before?

Disclosure: I received a complimentary ticket to visit the aquarium. All opinions expressed are my own. Images are both my sons and my own.

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Racing Action with AnkiDRIVE #review #giveaway

I love race cars and everything racing! We love auto shows, race tracks and playing racing video games with our children. We love the fast pace, quick decisions and excitement of choosing cars and winning.

AnkiDrive
When I was given the opportunity to test out Anki DRIVE how could I resist? This looked like one of the most exciting video games ever brought to life. Anki DRIVE uses artificial intelligence to deliver a racing video game in the real world with you in control. Pretty amazing, right? I had too literally take it away from my children in order to set it up they were so excited.
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Anki Drive comes with a starter kit starting at $199 – which may seem expensive at first but once you open the kit and begin to use the cars you can fully appreciate the technology behind the system and appreciate the price.

Each kit includes:

  • the racing track (roughly 8.5 feet by 3.5 feet)
  • three car charger
  • two cars with charging pods
  • start up information.

The Anki Drive app is free to download at the Apple app store and the game is compatible with any of the following: iPhone 4s or newer, iPod touch 5th generation, iPad3 or newer or iPad mini. Anki Drive is suitable for all ages capable of using an iOS device (our two year old had no problem!). You can also purchase additional race cars for additional cost.

ankiDRIVE
Set up is incredibly easy – I was actually expecting it to take long but was pleasantly surprised.

Physically you have to just unroll the mat in a clear and flat area, ensuring the cars are fully charged before you can begin to play.  The game will work best on a smooth and flat floor but we also played on the carpet in our children’s toy room and had no problem as well.

The app took less then two minutes to download – which was perfect for my impatient family members who could not wait to start playing. This also surprised me because apps can sometimes take quite a bit of time to download.

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The technology in Anki DRIVE is jaw dropping – literally. The moment you set them down on the race track they sense the track’s every curve and line. The cars speed around the track, gliding through every curve and avoiding each other. It is incredible watching the cars race each other. Our boys were screaming in excitement. Using blue tooth the cars report back to the app on the IOS device. You control the speed, turns, maneuvers – all through the app. The app also has a great starting guide that walks you through on how to control the car so you don’t have to worry about not understanding how to play.

As if this was not cool enough – the cars battle. Yup you heard that right – they sense each other and can battle their racing opponent. This has been a fantastic game for our whole family to play and has provided hours of entertainment for all of our family and friends that have come over to visit.

Anki DRIVE and PTPA are now giving you the chance to win your own starter kit – the perfect gift for any car enthusiast in your house!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada.

Don’t forget to follow Anki on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date on important news and information!

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Oddsoks for Storypanda #Review

“Where did the Oddsoks go?…”

How many times have we put our socks in the washing machine to only have one come back out? It is almost a weekly occurrence in our home!

But where do the Oddsoks go?

The Oddsoks app for Storypanda is the story of Jimi who loves his fabulous socks! But one day half of his socks are gone leaving him with one sock from each pair. He receives a letter from the Oddsoks explaining the whereabouts of his socks. The Oddsoks are creatures that power the washing machine and love odd socks. They love odd socks so much they have taken them on an adventure.

Our family fell in love with the adorable Oddsoks and their adventures with the socks. The boys loved to be able to re-create the story using their own ideas which also provides hours of extra fun. The Oddsoks app also has some pretty awesome sound effects as well to go along with the story which our boys fell in love with and copied themselves.

Want to meet Jimi and the Oddsoks yourself? You can purchase a copy of the Oddsoks on Apple for $2.99 CDN here.


Disclosure: I received a copy of this app to provide feedback. Regardless the opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.

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The Muppets Most Wanted #subwayandamovie #review

This past weekend we were thrilled to attend an advance screening of the Muppets Most Wanted in Toronto. I grew up watching the Muppets so was super excited at the chance to attend and see all my favourite characters especially Miss Piggy.

We were treated to a special “green” carpet walkway which the boys thought was pretty awesome. We felt famous standing in front of the Subway sign! And of course they had to fool around in front of it too!

While we waited for the show to begin Subway Canada treated us to trivia questions about the Muppets and Subway Canada. We had so much fun guessing the answers and tweeting out our answers. The bonus? Our answer for the meaning of BMT – biggest, meatiest and tastiest won! We also had a photo opp with a very special monkey. Subway Canada went above and beyond to make this advance screening a fantastic time for kids and adults alike!

The Muppets Most Wanted was a hilarious movie that had all four of us laughing from start to finish. The music was fantastic and my youngest who has never seen a Muppet show prior to this fell in love with Animal. It was the perfect family movie and I can not wait to purchase a copy for our own collection when it eventually comes to Blu Ray.

If you  have not yet seen the trailer for The Muppets Most Wanted, take a peek here and let me know what you think! Are you planning on seeing Muppets Most Wanted in theatres starting March 21st?

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