Legoland – A Wonderful Treat for Kids
If you happen to be in California for the holidays and are wondering where to take your kids for an enjoyable outing, why not try Legoland, the theme park dedicated for small kids. Situated in Carlsbad, California, the theme park is the only one of its kind in the US apart from the original park which is located in Denmark and other comparatively smaller ones located in Germany and England.
About Legoland: The Legoland theme park is based on the world famous toy building block company LEGO. The word itself translates to “play well” in Danish and “I assemble” in Latin. Renowned worldwide for its impressive parks and interactive games, Legolands around the world are hot favorites for families and the one in California is no less.
The park opened in 1999 and has functioned perfectly till date, adding newer attractions each year to draw larger crowds. The park entirely focuses on trademark Lego bricks and is split into 9 different sections with many interesting games and activities.
Location: The Legoland theme park in California is located about a half hour drive from San Diego and is also situated close to Anaheim/Disneyland (one hour drive in the southern direction).
Attractions in the park: The entire park is built for kids between 2-12 years of age and the 128 acre area has been suitably divided into nine zones featuring their own attractions and rides. These include The Beginning, Dino Island, Explore Village, Fun Town, Knight’s Kingdom, Miniland USA, Pirates Shores, Imagination Zone and the Land of Adventures.
At the Dino Island, kids get to ride a mini roller coaster called the “Coastasaurus” which slopes, turns and moves around giant dinosaurs are made out of Lego bricks. Another attraction called “Dig Those Dinos” enable kids to act like real life archaeologists and dig out man made dinosaur bones (of course they are fake).
At the Explore Village Zone, kids get to play a musical fountain which sprays water and plays music when guests hop up and down. Apart from this, there is the Water Works attraction which is a water activity zone and the Fairy Tale Brooks water ride which courses through a mini river, with many creatures from fairy tale stories lining the banks.
In Playtown, kids can enjoy playing on the Lego buildings and slides in the playground in addition to having pizzas in a parlor, and enjoying the Safari Trek ride that takes them on an excursion to visit many life sized animals built out of Lego bricks.
At Fun Town, kids aged 2 to 13 years can have the fun of their lives, driving Lego model cars on two race courses. The Skipper School allows parents and kids to ride Lego boats and navigate them. The Fire Academy practices fire drills where families run down the street to douse a fire and then ride back on their own fire engines.
The rides at the top of the hill include the Kid Power Towers, the Sky Cruiser which are propelled by the visitors themselves and the Flight Squadron and Sky Patrol rides which are operated by machines. The rides offer wonderful views of the entire park and the surrounding areas.
Visit the world of castles and knights in the Knight’s Kingdom, whose main attraction, the Dragon roller coaster ride takes you on a tour of the complete castle and then starts picking up speed after it moves outside. The Knight’s tournament is another ride that has guests riding a robotic arm that functions according to the level selected (there are 5 levels with the 5th level being the hardest).
The indoor playground of Hideaways suits the younger crowd and has several slides, ladders, and bridges. The Royal Joust ride takes kids on a make believe jousting tournament ride and the newly added miniature golf course is a winner with the small children.
You never need to travel around the US to see its cities and landmarks anymore. Just visit the Miniland USA zone in Legoland and you can see a total of 7 areas of the country assembled there with almost 40 million Lego bricks. An astounding feature, the areas include New York City, Washington D.C., San Francisco, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Among the models that are displayed, the Empire State Building, the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower stand out and can be viewed via the Coast Cruise Ride. The Garden Restaurant situated at the top of the hill allows guests to enjoy refreshments as they watch down over the Model Shop, where builders and designers work on new and existing Lego models.
The Imagination Zone is filled with creative activities and games for the kids which include the Technic Coaster Test Track, which is a mouse style roller coaster; the Build n Test Zone which enables kids to build life size cars from Lego bricks and then test them; the Maniac Challenge Game zone where kids play Lego games on PCs; the Mindstorms Zone where kids get to build life like robots; and the movie zone where kids get to choose from over 4 different 3-dimensional movies.
The Pirate Shores Zone is entirely dedicated to wannabe pirates and has several like minded attractions and games. These include the Splash Battle water ride on a real pirate ship; the Soak n Sail playground for kids; the Treasure Falls training ride for smaller kids; the Swabbie’s Deck which is water area for toddlers and the Captain Cranky’s Challenge ride.
The Land of Adventure Zone takes you through various adventurous destinations around the world. Replicating the olden days of Egypt, the zone has numerous attractions like Beetle Bounce which lets guests jump high in the air to touch suspended beetles; the Cargo Ace airplane ride that lets guests ride in an aero plane 6 feet in the air; and the Pharaoh’s Revenge which lets families battle it out with foam balls.
The newly added attractions to this zone are the Dune Raiders ride and the Lost Kingdom Adventure ride.
In addition to having a smashing time at these zones, kids also get to enjoy live music performances, stunt and theater shows. The theme park gears up for every kind of holiday and families visit the park in hordes during the Halloween season for its interactive trick or treat programs.
The most recently added attraction to the park is the Sea Life Aquarium which has incorporated the Lost City of Atlantis as its theme and features Lego models of submarines and acrylic tunnels that take you through spectacular underwater scenery. The park is located right next to Legoland and you may want to keep aside a good three hours to completely explore the park.
Visit Legoland today and give your kids the best possible treat they could ever get. Let them free in the world of LEGO and watch them learn as they play.
