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Sonia Sharma

We visited Lilidorei at Alnwick Garden to see if it lives up to the hype - here's what we thought

It's being billed as the world’s largest play structure - a magical village full of fun for kids.

But is Lilidorei - which has been 12 years in the making at Alnwick Garden in Northumberland - actually worth the wait? Is it as great as it looks?

We took our nine-year-old daughter for a visit to test it out. And there was one big problem - she didn't want to leave.

Read More: Inside the world's largest play structure which has officially opened in Northumberland

We went to Lilidorei during the May half-term break, with a combined ticket to see the new play village as well as Alnwick Garden, making it a full day out. For two adults and a child it cost us £63 altogether for both sites, though tickets are also available for Lilidorei only.

Their website has full cost details and it asks you to choose a date and book a time slot for Lilidorei. We went for a morning session, running from 9am to 11.45am.

Lilidorei at the Alnwick Garden (Sonia Sharma)

The slot of nearly three hours provides ample time for children to explore the play structure and tour the adjoining magical village, which is home to nine clans including elves, hobgoblins, trolls and fairies. Though, I'm sure the young ones will argue otherwise.

Our daughter loved it so much she didn't want to leave and complained the session wasn't long enough. The sight of the Elfwin Drin play structure amazed us all - it looked stunning.

As soon as she saw it, our little one was off - finding her way through the network of wooden walkways, wobbly bridges and spiral staircases, with her mum and dad lagging behind. She climbed to the very top, went down every slide and had a go at all the climbing contraptions, loving all the passageways along the way.

There are some circular cages, which the kids can climb into, as well as slides for every age group. Our daughter tried the biggest one and then came running up to me and said: "Mummy that was scary....... I'm going again," before disappearing into a tower.

Adults can go onto the play structure, which is useful for parents who want to keep an eye on their children. It's easy enough for grown-ups to get around, though you might find it a bit of a squeeze in some places if you are tall or are carrying bulky bags. Some of the staircases are narrow and may feel tight.

Lilidorei at The Alnwick Garden in Northumberland which is home to Elfwin Drin - The World’s Largest Play Structure. (Craig Connor/ChronicleLive)

We found that our daughter was comfortable enough going around the structure on her own and we left her to get on with it after a short while, keeping a watchful eye from the ground. The other half ventured up now and then on the pretext of checking on her, though I suspect the big kid in him just wanted to have a go.

The only thing they remarked on was a long queue to get onto the biggest slide. At the beginning of the session, there wasn't much of a wait, however midway onwards, the wait was between five and 10 minutes.

The bairn took a short break from the play structure so we could go round the village, looking at all the wonderfully built clan houses. You can look through the windows and ring some of the doorbells, with all kinds of sound effects around.

There was also a storytelling session, though our daughter didn't want to go and swiftly went back to play. In front of the structure, there is a grass patch where you can sit and have a picnic or some snacks. Drinks and muffins are available from The Magic Muffin and you can get hot food and beverages at The Groggery on site.

All in all, our experience was great. As I said earlier, our daughter wanted to stay for longer and her face dropped when we said "10 minutes left". A member of staff then announced we must all leave before the trolls come. That was our cue.

The promise of an ice cream at Alnwick Garden and a little present from the Lilidorei gift shop brought back the smile on her face.

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