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Hi All,
Wow - we recently returned from our most excellent California vacation, and
the cold and snow of Western New York is a bit of a shock once again.
My wife and two boys, 8 and 5, reserved a day of our vacation to hit
LEGOLAND, of course, and we had a blast.
I came armed with free kids passes from Millenium Throwbot sets, and stopped
by the park the day before to see if I could purchase tomorrow's park
tickets and validate the kids passes as well - no dice, the computers
scanned them in as only valid the same day the adult pass was purchased.
So, I pass that along to everyone for what it's worth. Very helpfull and
assistive service desk people there.
I made a point to save a bunch of new dollar coins to pay for the parking
fee just to freak out the MC tending the gate that day, and it did. Yippee
for me. But, the MC (Model Citizen) enjoyed the prank after a short study
of the new coins, smiled, and in we went right at 10:00 am. The weather
forecast was calling for a crappy day, but I've got a degree in Meteorology,
so I put it to good use for a change, and we enjoyed spectacular weather
that day.
Of course, we went on the Safari Trek ride just inside the left side of the
park, as most people probably do, but the short walk there was filled with
oohs and aaahs. Lots of neat themes of LEGO statues and such, and just a
fun place with all the sights and sounds. Hardly anybody there, but just
enough to keep us company. No lines on any rides that day - woohoo!
I pushed the kids towards driving school, and the oldest went on the big
one, and the youngest went on the little one. Our 8 year old wanted to go
on the little one just because it had minimal sets of rules, and he wanted
to freestyle. Ah, the responsibilities of mature age such as his.
The Water Works area was very well done, and it was a lot of fun. Thanks,
LEGO for letting me play there.
Next came Sky Patrol (the oversized DUPLO helicopter ride) and that was
fairly lame for my guys. Onward to the Kid Power Tower, and that was
excellent. You felt like you're in control and command of your stomach for
a change, and it was a good sign when I said "aww, it's over already?"
We buzzed through a few more rides, hit the Adverturers Club to search for
keys in the top end of the park, picked up some LEGOLAND shirts, and headed
for the Wolfpack themed playground equipment. Neato sound effects and a
great place to play with the kids on their turf. One of the best jungle gym
setups I've been on, and well attended with helpful MCs. We then ate next
door at the Castle themed eatery (sorry - name escapes me, and I'm not near
a copy of a park map). The prices were average to reasonable, and the kid's
meals were actually a very good value; with a color changing souvenir cup,
play bucket, etc. I didn't feel ripped off at all, and again, the lack of
lines was welcome and non-stressful.
Onward to the Royal Joust, where you ride LEGO type horses around a track in
a bouncing pattern and slip past LEGO guys and hear sound effects and such.
Not my speed, but our 5 year old was psyched. Next was the Spellbreaker,
which we all got a kick out of, and I thought the mechanics of were neato.
Lots of prox switches, servos, and well-machined parts that lift a hanging
car onto an overhead rail after a vertical quick lift about 3o feet in the
air. After you get set onto the track, you set off on a slick spiraling
thrust around and back again to the bottom of the ride. The halt was a bit
harsh, and the apparatus was awkward to exit from for a guy 6'1" 200lbs, but
I made it.
My older son and I went to the Dragon ride next and he thought it was too
short, but I think he just wanted a real roller coaster to make him sick.
This ride doesn't do that. There's some surprises in the tunnel leading to
the first hill, and that was the best part.
More rides, then we drifted into Miniland - I was unprepared, despite
hearing other tales of this feature, and seeing pictures on the web as well.
It still made me stop short and check reality. Nice, job, LEGO modellers.
My favorite was Washington, D.C., and I think the whole thing is very well
done. Did you know they have to spray all the sunlight-exposed models with
UV sunblock every few days to keep the ABS from deteriorating? I heard that
from a guy at work who got to stick around there after hours once last year.
Makes sense to me - can anybody confirm that? Anyway, the models are
certainly very well landscaped and maintained. They seem to treat this
place as their bread and butter - for good reason.
We drifted around Miniland way too long, but our sons were into it,
surprisingly. After that we headed to the Build-n-Test race area, and my 5
year old was tearing up the track, once I hinted to him that bigger wheels
with a larger wheelbase was the way to go. That was a lot of fun for the
whole family, and by this time, I wished I set aside two days for the park.
Next time...
I bought more stuff and ran it out to the car and back in to go on a slew
more rides. We probably hit nearly everything, but looking at the map later
on revealed a few missed attractions. No harm, as the park was closing, and
the weather was actually starting to catch up with the official forecast by
4:30 pm. The mad dash was made in the Big Shop, and I headed to the back
DUPLO checkout as others here suggested - thanks for the tip.
The only regret I had that day was that the Model Shop retail store was
closed that day - lack of attendance probably shuffled their resources a
bit, and they had to cut back. That's the price you pay on a slow day, but
I wanted some bulk bricks pretty badly. No harm, as I called the Post
Office in the park this week and they're on their way to me now.
Well, I tried to be brief - there's more details that I could describe, but
you get the point. I recommend the park to families with kids under 11 or
so, but adults will enjoy it just as well. They don't cater to Dark Agers.
I've got a few pics that I may put up on Geocities, so I'll work on that
later and re-post.
Thanks for the read,
Ed
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Trip report
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| (...) Great report, Ed! Can't wait to see your pictures. I've seen a lot of LL virtually but I hear it's still 100 times better in person (haven't been there yet). What is the Model Citizen? Is that the person-in-a-giant- minifig-suit that walks (...) (23 years ago, 16-Feb-01, to lugnet.legoland.california)
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