Legoland
is a great place for kids and kid thinking adults. My
four year old and us parents had a great time and will
likely return. The best time to visit Legoland is probably
in mid-September when school is in session (if your kids
are not in school yet). When we visited on two days in
September, there were very few people in the park. In
fact at times we finished a ride and there was nobody
in line and we told the operator we would like to go again!
Try that in the summer!!! If it is warm I would suggest
that you bring clothes that you wouldn't mind getting
wet or a swimsuit and prepare to change, since there are
a lot of water rides and water interactive areas. Also,
take note of your child's height before planning a trip
so you don't waste your time waiting on rides that you
cannot enter.
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Entrance
- The Beginning
As you enter Legoland you will notice the thing
that everyone should know, almost everything is
made out of legos. As you enter, note the location
of the services (first aid, guest services, lost
parents, stroller rental, etc.). This is a good
time to have a talk with your kids regarding what
to do if they get lost and where to meet. To the
right as you enter is "The Big Shop"
which is the largest shop at Legoland with apparel
and lego kits. Obviously there are shops all over
the place, but this one has the largest selection.
Dino
Island
Moving from the left of the entrance you will
enter Dino Island. There is a mild roller coaster
(height requirement 36 inches), a place to pretend
to dig for dinosaur bones in a sandbox, and a
water play area. This is a great area for little
ones, who will enjoy digging for bones and waterplay.
Shovels and pails are available for a small rental
fee, so you don't have to bring them in.
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Explore
Village
Here you will find a collection of rides without
a real clear theme. The Safari Trek (height requirement
34 inches), and Fairy Tale Brook (no height requirement)
are great for the little kids. The highlight of
this area is the Water Works and Duplo Playtown.
Prepare to sit for a while to allow the kids to
play in the fountains and jump around the musical
fountain (you jump near sensors and instruments
play and shoot water). This is a great place for
the parents to rest and allow the kids to run
off some energy! The Duplo Playtown has the typical
play structures with slides and pretend stores,
etc. There is also a small train (no height requirement)
that runs on a small track in the Duplo Playtown.
The theater had a pretty funny show with a ventriloquist
show which was on a few times a day. Also, the
restaurant had a pretty good fruit pizza snack.
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Fun
Town
Fun Town is a mix of little kid and bigger kids rides.
The Power Towers is one of those dropping rides, the
only catch being that you have to pull yourself up (height
requirement 40 inches). For the little kids there is
the Sky Cruiser (height requirement 36 inches) which
is basically a car that goes pretty slow on rails, but
has a nice view, the Sky Patrol stationary helicopter
ride, Flight Squadron airplane ride, and Skipper School
boat ride (all have a height requirement of 34 inches).
The highlight for my daughter was the Volvo Driving
School. As opposed to other car rides that are on rails,
this one actually allows kids as young as three years
old to actually drive their cars on a track! There is
more entertainment options in this area that include
a show that is pretty funny, a factory tour featuring
lego making machines (slowed so you can actually see
how it is working), and the Fun Town Fire Academy (height
requirement 34 inches). The Fun Town Fire Academy is
a competition, where your team will compete against
other teams to put out a pretend fire. This involves
pump up and down to propel the truck as well as pump
the water as well as someone to aim the hoses, so be
prepared for some physical activity.
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Pirate
Shores
Pirate Shores is all about water with the Treasure
Falls and Splash Battle water rides (height requirement
36 inches). My daughter and I had a lot of fun
at the Splash Battle ride using the water cannons
on the sidewalk to get other riders wet (yes I
know it is a little mean but it was fun). There
are water play areas here for the little ones
(Swabbies Deck) and bigger kids, Soak and Sail
(height requirement 36 inches). This was our only
bad experience at Legoland. The operators of the
Soak and Sail slides would not allow water shoes,
so my daughter removed hers and then in exiting
the ride, slipped on the wet concrete and fell
backwards. This area should either allow water
shoes or have a softer surface!
Knights
Kingdom
Knights Kingdom has a variety of rides. The Dragon
Coaster (height requirement 40 inches) is a medium
thrill coaster that may be a little too much for
milder kids, and the Knights Tournament (height
requirement 40 inches) which turns you around
and upside down, are likely to satisfy the older
kids. The Royal Joust (height requirement 36 inches)
is there for the little kids. The highlight for
us was the Hideaways, which is basically a giant
play structure with rope bridges, things to climb,
etc. This thing is huge with a large number of
entrances and exits so keep an eye out. We had
one of us stationed at the front entrance (although
there are many exits from the play structure there
is only one exit from the area) and one of us
went inside with my daughter.
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Miniland
USA
This is what many people think of when they think
of Legoland. There are several cities and world
attractions that are cast in legos. Being from
the bay area, we obviously found the San Francisco
city lego representation very interesting. They
are pretty detailed and in the San Francisco models
even had the seals at Peir 39! There is a boat
ride (no height requirement) that takes you on
a cruise around the models of cities and famous
places such as the Taj Mahal, Mount Rushmore,
and the Sydney Opera House.
Imagination
Zone
This is more an area for the bigger kids. The
Aquazone Wave Racers (height requirement 40 inches)
is a wave runner that goes in circles, the Bionicle
Blaster (height requirement 42 inches) is basically
a ride to spins in circles (similar to a more
rough version of the Disneyland teacup ride),
and the Lego Technic test track (heigh requirement
42 inches) is a small roller coaster. The roller
coaster is a bit deceptive as it has small cars
(4 people only) which gives it big changes in
accelleration which is pretty cool. There are
a number of theatres and play areas, but they
were all closed when we were there.
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