Legoland – Theme Park for Small Children
Your child doesn’t even have to be a big Lego builder to enjoy the park, which is located off Interstate 5 in Carlsbad. Our 3-year-old daughter was able to enjoy all but a few rides. Let’s take a look at Legoland Theme Park, one section at a time.
DINO ISLAND
This is a good place to start, as it’s just to the left of the entrance. Coastersaurus is a simple roller coaster that goes around a dinosaur made of Legos. This will be a common theme, because everything is made of Legos in this place. When you get off, your child can Dig Those Dinos in an enormous sand pit. For a couple of bucks, she can use a shovel, bucket and brush to excavate huge plastic dinosaur bones in the sand. When your child turns in the equipment, she gets a souvenir dinosaur egg.
EXPLORE VILLAGE
Safari Trek allows kids to ride in automatic cars around a jungle full of wild Lego animals. Kids can play freely in Playtown, which is a simple playground; and Water Works, which features fountains coming out the ground. Do not miss the Comedy for Kids show, because you’ll find Kevin Johnson (from America’s Got Talent) with his bird puppets Clyde and Matilda. Johnson is amazing with his “Godzilla Theatre” bit, where his lips don’t match his words like a badly dubbed foreign movie.
FUN TOWN
Volvo Driving School is a huge mini-town where kids can drive go carts. There is also a Junior Driving School for little kids. If the kids behave and don’t crash deliberately, they each get a “driver’s license.” If you have older kids, you can try the Fire Academy. Families compete with each other to pump water at a pretend fire. It’s too much pumping and squirting for little kids, though. The highlight of Fun Town is The Big Test, a show about bumbling fire academy students. You will get wet!
MINILAND USA
Adults will enjoy this section, known as “the heart of Legoland.” Half of the park’s 40 million Legos are on display here, in models of seven different areas of the United States. The New York Skyline is superb, especially the Statue of Liberty. The Twin Towers were never built, because they were too tall for the scale the builders used. The Florida section features the Daytona Speedway and the space shuttle at Cape Kennedy. Washington, D.C. has scale models of the White House and Capitol building.
CRUISE BOAT
More eye-popping Lego structures are on display on the boat. Get your camera out, because you will want pictures of the Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower and a very impressive Mount Rushmore.
PIRATE SHORES
This is a new section of the park. If your child is getting tired halfway through the day, this will perk her back up. Swabbie’s Deck is a large splashy fountain area for babies and small kids. Bigger kids can splash and slide on the Soak & Sail pirate boat. Another fun attraction is a boat ride called Splash Battle. The boats are equipped with water cannons, so you can squirt people in other boats. You can also get into a “splash battle” with parkgoers outside the ride, who have water cannons of their own.
KNIGHTS KINGDOM
The Dragon is an indoor “ride through the dark” attraction – until you see the large Lego dragon. Then a door opens and the ride becomes an outdoor roller coaster. On Royal Joust, little kids can ride a Lego horse around a track, like a knight riding through the forest. The Hideaways is a large climb-and-slide area that will give parents a much-needed rest.
IMAGINATION ZONE
This is the one section that is geared more toward teenagers than little kids. The rides feature the more sophisticated Legos, like Lego Technic Test Track and the Bionicle Blaster. Big kids will also enjoy the waterski action of Aqua Zone Wave Racers.
LIFE-SIZE LEGOS
Sprinkled around the park are life-size characters made of Legos. You can take a picture with Harry Potter and Hagrid; Darth Vader; and Dora the Explorer, Boots and Diego.
My wife and I took our girl to Legoland Theme Park on two of the six days of our vacation. We weren’t bored for a second. Don’t forget your camera.
