Earlier this year, the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort launched a bedtime story writing competition following research revealing that more than half of parents (55%) ban tech before bedtime in favour of traditional bedtime stories, with a ‘tech black out’ sweeping the nation at 4.41pm.

And the winner was ten year old Joseph Parkes from Wiltshire, who beat hundreds of entries in the nationwide competition to have his bedtime story published as a real-life book and placed in every room of the new LEGOLAND® Castle Hotel, opening on 1 July 2017.

‘The Golden Dragon Door’ was crowned the winning story by judges including TV/Radio presenter and mum, Jenni Falconer. It features author, Joseph, as the protagonist on a mission to help a magical injured dragon with the aid of castle wizard, ‘Guthar’. Jenni, the competition’s celebrity guest judge said, “I am thrilled to announce Joseph as the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel Bedtime Story competition winner. His story was packed with imagination and humour – it’s exactly the kind of story I would read to my daughter before bed.”

A once in a lifetime opportunity, not only does Joseph get to have thousands of LEGOLAND Castle Hotel guests read his book, the tale also will be turned into an audio book, recorded by Joseph himself. Joseph and his family were also invited to enjoy an exclusive sneak peek of the first completed bedrooms at the magical new hotel alongside Jenni.

On hearing he had been crowned winner of the national competition, Joseph said: “I was so excited when I found out my story had won the competition. I jumped around the house and couldn’t get to sleep that night! I can’t believe my story is being made into a real life book for everyone to read at the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel! I hope the children who read it like the friendly dragon and wizard character as much as I do. I loved getting a sneak peek of the new bedrooms; my favourite part was the glowing potion bottles in the Wizard’s room and the stained glass window in the Knight’s room.”

The LEGOLAND® Castle Hotel’s lead creative and bedtime story judge, Lily-Ann Bedder, comments: “The bedtime stories read by parents up and down the country every night help spark the imagination and creativity of children, and that’s exactly what we want to achieve with our hotel’s magical Castle theme. We’re thrilled to unveil Joseph’s fantastic story which families will soon be able to read before bedtime at the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel.”

With separate sleeping areas for the adults and children, the Knight and Wizard themed rooms are brimming with LEGO surprises including a LEGO treasure hunt, magical LEGO models and lots of LEGO bricks to build with. The Knight themed rooms are complete with celebratory bunting, shields and even a stained glass window above the bed. The Wizard themed rooms are brought to life with glowing potion bottles, spells and LEGO creatures galore. Joseph’s bedtime story will take pride of place in each of the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel bedrooms when it opens at the LEGOLAND Windsor Resort from 1 July.

FACTFILE

•         The new premium LEGOLAND Castle Hotel themed family hotel will open at the LEGOLAND Windsor Resort on 1 July 2017
•         Featuring 61 knights and wizards themed rooms
•         Booking is open, with prices from £572 for a family room (2 adults /2 children) including breakfast, park tickets for two days and early access to select rides in the park. Plus special exclusive benefits including drinks vessels, swim bags, factory bricks and exclusive pop badges
•         For bookings and more information visit: www.legoland.co.uk/castle.