We spent a really fun two days at Legoland. I did quite a bit of online research and asking of friends before we made plans to go there. After some good advice on Facebook and reading about height requirements for rides, we decided that, given the ages of our children, THIS was the year for our family to go. All of them are into Legos right now, and at 10, Adah is still young enough to enjoy all that this park has to offer. (There aren't any really huge roller coasters or thrill rides. The park is definitely geared to the under-12 set.) Furthermore, as a fairly tall 3-year-old, Holly would be able to go on most of the rides. We wouldn't have to do much sitting out with any kids who were too little.
We also had the advantage of having previously deprived our kids of any major theme parks. They've been to our local Happy Hollow Park & Zoo which has about 8 rides and then they've gone on just a couple of rides at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. So, Legoland was set to thrill them....and it did. There were lots of fun rides and fast roller coasters (just not big tall ones) and everything looked like it was made out of Legos.
When we arrived on Tuesday morning we headed straight for Driving School in Fun Town. Holly & Gunnar drove on the track for the 5 & under kids.
Gunnar zipped around like a pro.
Holly needed a little more help. (I think the worker here is pushing her away from the center.) You can see Gunnar about to lap her.
Posing with the Lego Volvo:
They both earned their drivers licenses!
Adah & Maggie got to drive on the course for older kids. There were about thirty cars to drive around a network of two-lane roads complete with stop signs and Lego figure pedestrians. Adah & Maggie both did quite well. In this photo, Maggie appears to be driving on the wrong side of the street. This was actually where they started, so she had just inherited a car that was on the wrong side; she quickly corrected it.
Next we rode in helicopters, where we could control the up-down and the rotation from left to right.
Damon & Gunnar are in the yellow helicopter behind Adah & Maggie.
We left Fun Town for Pirate Shores, where Gunnar was swallowed by a Lego shark.
After a leisurely ride in some real boats and then a swinging, twisting ride on Captain Cranky's Pirate Ship, we headed over to Treasure Falls. We should have been warned off of what seemed like a simple log flume ride when they gave us bins for putting all our bags, hats, cameras, and SHOES before getting in. We really should have been warned off when we stepped in the ride and found our feet in three inches of water! We had seen people who were all wet, but assumed they'd been in the fountain- and squirt-gun-filled playground. This ride went around a bend, up a hill, curved around again, and then down one hill. That was it. But that one downhill created the biggest splash I could have imagined. The water cascaded down on us. Just when I thought the splash was over, the water just kept coming! and coming! We were soaked. Completely.
Gunnar tried to make the best of it and got into spraying others with water.
As long as they were all wet, Damon and the three big kids rode on Splash Battle where they could spray other ships and passers-by.
Holly was seriously unhappy being dripping wet. It was overcast and not too hot, so she was shivering. I was not too happy about it myself. We went to the restroom to try and dry off a bit with the hand dryers. They hardly made a dent. But, while we were in there we ran into our next-door neighbors from Milpitas!! They were also there vacationing with their 4-year-old triplets. Too funny.
When the Splash Battle was complete we got in a $5 "family dryer" which was a booth with blowers and heat lamps. Damon scoffed and didn't join us. It didn't make much of a difference, but at least it felt warm while we were in there. We all dried off eventually....it was probably at least an hour later.
After Pirate Shores it was on to Castle Hill where Maggie and Gunnar rode on a rather unexciting horsey ride that had a rather long line. Maggie was unimpressed.
Gunnar had a little more fun. He's smiling and waving. I enjoyed waiting by the black knight there who was cracking all kinds of corny jokes.
Holly was too young to go since I suppose they figured that 3-year-olds would suffer from separation anxiety while on the far side of the course. Adah was either too tall or had the foresight to see that the ride wouldn't be much fun. So, while I waited in line with Gunnar and Maggie, Damon took Adah and Holly on the Dragon roller coaster. We thought it was funny that Holly was too young to go on the benign Royal Joust, but tall enough (with adult companion) to ride the speeding, twisting, turning roller coaster. We all rode it when we met up again and as we walked out of the ride, Holly declared, "That was totally wicked!"
Another favorite ride (no photo) was the Knight's Tournament. It was basically a ride where two people sat in seats at the end of a robotic arm. Then you selected your intensity level and got twisted, turned, and spun based on the level. Holly & Gunnar were only eligible for Level 1 and had to ride with adults, so Damon and I had pretty tame rides with them. Maggie could only do Level 2, so she and Adah did that together. The next day I talked Adah into doing Level FIVE with me. She was pretty nervous, but later declared it awesome. She liked hanging upside-down above a moat.
The Kid Power Towers were also lots of fun and do to short lines we rode on them a couple of times both days we were there. By tugging on the center rope you could pull yourself up and then release it for a free-fall. Fast pullers could count on about 4 climbs and falls per ride.
On the morning of our second day we went to the Sky Coaster as our second stop, having heard that it got quite crowded. We heard right. We waited for over an hour! Fortunately, Legoland has made some provisions for waiting at the most popular rides. As the adults snake around in line, the kids can go into a gated area in the center and play with Legos. They had great fun playing and it made the wait go much faster (for them).
Once we finally got on the ride, we were all pretty disappointed. There was no speed to it and the pedals were not actually operational. I figure that this ride would have been much more exciting if we'd done it on our first morning at Legoland. It's on a hill at the center of the park and as you ride you can see parts of most of the rest of the park, giving you a great taste of the other things to see and do. However, since we did it on our second day, we'd already seen everything, and it just ended up being a long wait for a slow ride.
On our second afternoon at Legoland we went to the water park for a couple of hours. I don't have any photos of that part. It was lots of fun to take the kids on some real water slides. There were just a few of those and then some fun splashing pools and a lazy river where you could use floating Lego blocks to customize your inner tube. Again, this water park was geared to littler people. Nothing was too deep and none of the water slides were too big or scary. Also, they provided life jackets. Even though none of the water was very deep, it put us at ease to have Holly wearing one.
Damon had to make a visit to the first aid tent in the water park. His
sunburn from our day on the beach was REALLY hurting and he needed medical attention. He said it was itching
When we left the water park we hit some more of our favorite rides from the day before, including the Bioncle Blaster, which is pretty much like the teacup ride at Disneyland.
Holly was too little for that, so Damon and I took turns taking her on a really tall slide while the other one rode with the bigger kids.
I lucked out with Adah, Maggie, and Gunnar because after our first ride there was no one in line and we got to go again without even getting off! And, the ride operator was so funny. He kept asking us if we wanted to go faster. Eventually he said, "Too bad! That's as fast as it goes!" All of the employees were always so cheerful and helpful. I was really impressed and think they must do a good job with their training. I think that's important at a place that really targets young families; the teenagers and young adults were great with little kids.
There were a lot more rides that we rode and of which I have no photos, but if you've read this far, then well done. You probably don't want to see anymore anyway! I'll just finish with our favorites.
Gunnar: Dragon roller coaster
Holly: "Not the splashy one. I like the nother rides. I like driving the cars."
Damon: Technic Coaster
Jillaire: Dragon & Technic Coaster & Bioncle Blaster--I like the fast ones (and I can't decide).
Maggie: Bioncle Blaster & Knight's Tournament & Dragon & Technic Coaster (She can't decide either.)
