Looking for a theme park adventure for your elementary-aged children this summer? You might assume that Disney is your best choice. And that might be, but don't overlook the Legoland theme parks.
Our Theme Park of the Week this week is Legoland's original theme park in the United States, Legoland California. Opened in 1999 in the seaside community of Carlsbad, Legoland California offers a variety of hands-on and interactive attractions, as well as play areas and traditional rides.
Last year, the park opened The Lego Movie World, a new land based on the popular Warner Bros. films. Here's our walking tour of that land, which features the flying theater ride Emmet's Flying Adventure.
Next month, Legoland California will open a new interactive build experience in its Imagination Zone, Lego Ferrari Build and Race. Visitors can build their own Ferrari from Legos, the digitally scan it to tweak design elements and then test it against other Ferraris in a digital race.
Other top attractions at the park include The Dragon dark ride and roller coaster, a Ninjago interactive dark rides, and the Lego City Deep Sea Adventure - a submarine ride through a real underwater habit.
But the heart of any Legoland theme park remains Miniland. The Carlsbad park's collection of Lego models includes famous landmarks from around Southern California, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington DC, and New York City. And New Orleans, where things sometime can get real in the fake world of Lego minifigs.
That's just one example of the many details hidden to engage the grown-ups within this otherwise kid-focused theme park. As I wrote about Legoland 18 years ago, "Legoland built a theme park the way Jay Ward and William Steig tackled fairy tales - with skepticism and cheeky humor that ultimately help craft a work of intelligence and warmth."
No, Legoland parks are not for everyone. But for their target audience, Legoland is a treasure.
If you're interested in visiting and looking for deals on tickets, please visit our authorized partner's Legoland California tickets page for discounted tickets and links to package deals with on-site and other area hotels. Or call +1-800-680-1272 for special, unpublished rates.
Not visiting California this time? Our partner also has discounted tickets for Legoland Florida and Legoland New York.
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I'll even go so far as to say that the Legoland parks are even better for kids than Disney's. I've only been to the one in Winter Haven, but if Carlsbad is anything like that one, there are plenty of attractions for the little ones with minimal lines that will keep stress to a minimum.