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by Bethany Kandel

Ever since my eldest son first began to play with the primary-colored blocks made by Lego and began to amass a many thousand-brick collection, I've been dreaming of taking him to a Legoland amusement park.  Unfortunately the only ones in existence were in the company's hometown of Billund, Denmark, and in Windsor, England -- neither place in our upcoming travel plans.  [Ed.Note: Now there is Legoland Deutschland in South Germany as well!] 

But as word spread that the first Lego theme park would open on U.S. soil, in Carlsbad, CA, a half-hour north of San Diego, we made our plane reservations.  And it was all that we hoped for and more.

When we told people where we were going, some looked skeptical.  After all, the idea of most theme parks these days is thrills and chills, high-speed rides, laser light shows and a roster of cartoon characters that already parade across our TVs, T-shirts and lunchboxes.  They wanted to know, "What is there at Legoland?  Piles of Legos lying around?"  Well there actually are lots of Legos lying around in certain areas of the park waiting to be transformed by the creativity of visiting kids, but Legoland is a lot more than that.

More Than Piles of Lego

It's a whole new theme park experience geared to the youngest set often neglected by the traditional big amusement parks; one that allows families to interact, create and even power the rides themselves. (Legoland is aimed at kids age 2 to 12; though I'd recommend it primarily for the under ten crowd.)

And while the trend in parks is to keep adding bigger, faster, scarier and higher-tech rides to attract crowds, Legoland prides itself on its laid-back image. The Coastersaurus is the fastest ride, with top speeds of 21 mph . (Compared to coasters that go up to 100 mph at other U.S. parks, this may seem too tame for kids over age 7.) Another favorite coaster is the Dragon, with top speeds of 15 mph. This more scenic than terrifying trip through a castle and away from a fire-breathing dragon demonstrates why the rides here are billed merely as "pink-knuckle" in theme park parlance.

Instead of screams of fear you'll hear peals of laughter. And forget about sitting back and letting your kids just have fun; here parents get in the act and do most of the activities with their children, from pedaling around the Sky Cruiser, an elevated monorail, to pulling yourselves up on ropes 30 feet in the air and then taking a free fall down on the Kid Power Tower. (I was scared on the latter; my 4-year-old wasn't!)

A Preschool Playground

There are lots of rides that even preschoolers can do themselves, including Junior Driving School where pint-sized dragsters aged three to five can steer electric Lego vehicles on a track and receive their first licenses. Older children really drive on a grid of streets complete with traffic lights and stop signs after learning the rules of road.

The youngest visitors will love the Village Green where Duplo (the larger sized bricks for tiny fingers) reigns. There, even babies can play in interactive fountains perfect for hot summer days, or spend hours in Playtown, a 13,000-square-foot Duplo playscape where they can climb, swing and crawl through a maze, farm, garage and toddler-size train.

There's also Fairy Tale Brook where children can ride boats past their favorite characters -- all made out of Legos, of course. The designers added a touch of whimsy here as they did throughout the park: look for Prince Charming on his white horse talking into his cell phone and Little Red Riding Hood with blow dryer in hand.

Two Days Worth of Fun

Although you can do this park in one day, it's worth coming back for a second to hit whatever you missed and to just look around at all the Lego creations. The family of ducks floating in a pond may look real, but they're actually made of Legos as are the life-size water-spraying elephant, a construction worker exiting a manhole, and an alien waiting on line to make a phone call. The Lego dog relieving himself on a fire hydrant really does when the sprinklers are turned on!

But Miniland is the real highlight of the park. There, toys, art, architecture and creativity meld and you can truly appreciate the ingenuity -- and painstaking work -- of the Lego designers. It took 100 of them three years and twenty million Lego bricks to create seven detailed areas of the United States in 1/20th Lilliputian scale. (The Empire State Building is still taller than mom and dad.)

Complete with sound effects and moving parts, you'll see an animated Lego Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, cheering crowds greeting the president's motorcade in Washington DC, windsurfers and bungee jumpers in Southern California, a working New England harbor, and window washers scaling a New York City skyscraper. My kids loved searching for amusing details, like the alligator in a Manhattan sewer and (their favorite) the commuter sitting on a toilet reading the newspaper in a cutaway of Grand Central Terminal.

It was nice to see kids jaded by video games and action-packed cartoons proclaiming everything "awesome." After years of building their own creations out of Legos, my kids were amazed at what the professionals could create with a handful of the same stuff they've got at home.

A Park That Inspires Creativity

By day's end, they were hankering to build something of their own with the mountains of Legos provided in the Imagination Zone. My 9-year-old designed a ball-shooting robot programmed by new LEGO computer software and special chip-imbedded bricks, while his 4-year-old brother built a battery-powered windmill and racecar he got to race on a timed track.

Refreshingly, for a theme park, there are no movie or TV tie-ins; no glitter, and no junk food. (We had to look hard to find ice cream.) Restaurant menus abound with made-from-scratch gourmet food including breads, salads and pastas. You can even buy bananas, apples and oranges instead of cotton candy.

Yet, despite its pitch as a kinder, gentler theme park, you'll be reminded that it's really a gigantic advertising and marketing tool for the toy products when you hit the gift shop and expensive Lego sets abound. But at least you can rationalize it; compared with most souvenirs that get dusty sitting forgotten on kids' shelves, a Lego set is a purchase that will offer hours of future activity.

All I know is that besides having a blast, being surrounded by 30 million Legos set the imaginations of my own two Lego maniacs afire.  The minute my sons walked in the door at home they delved into their own stash of the colorful plastic stuff and began building an intricate mini version of Legoland on our dining room table.  Now that's more than you can usually expect from a weekend at a theme park.

 

Legoland California Location/Hours: Legoland California is near Carlsbad, CA, 30 minutes north of San Diego off Interstate-5. The park is open daily June-August, and every day except Tuesdays and Wednesdays in March-May and September-December. For more information, contact 760/918-5346 or check out www.legoland.com. Other sites nearby:  Disneyland is about 1 hour north in Anaheim; Sea World and the San Diego Zoo are approximately 30 minutes south. Note: Park designers keep their young audience in mind everywhere, with lower cafeteria counters, kid-high drinking fountains and even family bathrooms.  The Baby Care Center offers nursing mothers a place to take a break with rocking chairs, changing tables and complimentary diapers. B.K.

 

Bethany Kandel is a Manhattan writer and mother of two Lego Maniacs.  She is the author of "The Expert Parent" (Pocket Books).

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