Yesterday we headed off to Windsor, in the rain, to try out the new Atlantis Submarine Voyage.
After the soggy dash across the car park (did I mention it was raining?) we queued with the other journalists, bloggers and celebrities asked to come and try it out (Alex from Cbeebies was very lovely to Pink-the-4yr-old, and yes I should have been less polite and just asked for a photograph with her), and then skidded our way down the hill (Did I mention it was still raining? Note to self: Next time a nice man in a LEGO uniform offers you a lift down the hill in a nice warm dry car, say “yes please”. Enough of the British Manners!) to the Atlantis Submarine Voyage.
Very-slightly-excited Pink as we headed ‘down’
We boarded a Lego-themed submarine as it cruised past (mild panic from slow-moving 4yr old who thought she’d miss it), before “diving” into the aquarium on a four minute journey to Atlantis. Of course, apart from the fish (over 50 different species including fabulous zebra and nurse sharks and the beautiful floating stingrays), it’s LEGO boy’s heaven.
“Look! It’s a Diver! Cool!”
The ride was… great. Fab, actually. The submarine’s were small – they hold up to 14 visitors – without being claustrophobic, and the experience of being underwater amongst the fish and sharks was brilliant for the children. The underwater LEGO displays were, naturally, excellent, and created much yelping and “Look! Did you see that?”.
A crashed Giant Squid. This too is ‘cool’. Apparently.
In fact, the only thing the children didn’t like was the fact that ride finished so soon – they could have ridden for three times as long and still been wanting more.
The Ray. Show Off.
As adults, we would have liked the windows to extend higher – we had to crouch low to appreciate the depths of the tank, and see the further-away sharks and rays – and also for there to be windows on the ends. The seating stretched round in U-shaped benches at either end of the sub, and those sitting on the tip of each U didn’t get a very good view due to the windows only being on the sides.
Shark and Ray spotting.
As you leave the ride, you walk through an Atlantis-themed area where you can get closer to some of the aquatic creatures – the boys loved stroking a crab, though Pink firmly told the assistant “No, thank you, crabs go snip snip snip”.
The general verdict was “Brilliant!”, and the rest of the park visit was punctuated by “can we go back and do the submarine again” requests.
And yes. it kept right on raining. All. Day. Long.
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