If you're a kid--in actual years or just at heart--chances are you've spent many hours building things with blocks of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, better known the world over as Lego. Since the Danish toy manufacturer of the same name started making them in 1949, some 203 billion Lego pieces have been produced and approximately 300 million children (and adults) in 140 countries have played with them. With numbers like these, it was only a matter of time before a theme park celebrating the Lego experience came along. Welcome to Legoland California.
Dubbed "a country just for kids," Legoland California, located in the San Diego suburb of Carlsbad, opened in March 1999. It's the first Lego park in the United States and one of only four in the world. (The others can be found in Denmark, England, and Germany.) "The entire park is dedicated to the child," says Legoland president Bill Haviluk, Jr., referring to the targeted audience of three- to 12-year olds (accompanied, of course, by their parents). A place where the stated purpose is to encourage "creativity, fun, development, play, and learning," it's not intended to be another Six Flags or even Disneyland. Rides here are more interactive than hair-raising, from the pedal-powered Sky Cycle to the self-propelled Kid Power Tower. Squat tables, piled high with Lego blocks, offer kids the opportunity to build their own projects. Restaurants and kiosks scattered around the park emphasize healthy and fresh foods. Even the landscape design is intentional: Grassy lawns, tree-shaded walkways, and a tranquil center lake create a relaxing atmosphere for families moving between the park's six themed areas.
Those areas host Legoland's 40 unique attractions. Fun Town features a driving school where kids can steer electric cars and earn their "driver's license" by learning the rules of the road. Village Green, devoted to younger children, offers a safari trek with over 90 life-sized Lego animals scattered amidst a natural landscape. Castle Hill is home to the Dragon, a "pink-knuckle" roller-coaster ride, which provides a leisurely tour past Lego-brick versions of Merlin the wizard, a fire-breathing dragon, and lots of bats before it speeds up and provides passengers with one of the biggest adrenaline rushes in the park. The Imagination Zone hosts educational classes, including a workshop where kids build robots from cutting-edge Lego bricks and then learn how to control them by computer.
The Imagination Zone is where you'll find the Lego Technic Test Track and Diner, the largest expansion since the opening of Legoland California. Created for families with children ages six to 12, it features a wild roller coaster track along which the principles of acceleration and braking are tested--all of this while riders maneuver through twists, turns, and giant dips at 26mph. When relaxing in the accompanying Test Track Diner, visitors can enjoy a full-service meal as they learn about driving techniques and watch the Test Track's never-ending thrills.
But it's Miniland that's the literal and symbolic heart of Legoland California. A staggeringly intricate collection of scale models, Miniland recreates some of America's most famous cities and attractions--Washington, D.C. to midtown Manhattan, the Golden Gate Bridge to a New England harbor--complete with authentic environmental sounds, recorded on location, piped over hidden speakers. The attention to detail leaves adults gaping just as much as kids: Over 20 million of the 30 million Lego bricks used to build the park were used for Miniland, a construction process that took more than 3½ years. Among the models are animated Legos, many of which can be activated by buttons placed at kid-sized posts. Magnet-powered cars and buses ride along roads, boats sail along the water, and trains roll along model railroad tracks--all operated by 12 computers and 300,000 yards of cable.
Have all of these things captured the imagination of a population with plenty of entertainment options? Judging by the zealous crowds of parents and kids who continue to show up, the answer is a resounding yes. The Glennon family is one of the many who have made the trip. In their case, they came all the way from Salt Lake City with their wide-eyed young son Christian. "Even at his age, he's totally into Legos," Ashley Glennon reported. San Diegan Charles Fitch went with his wife and two children because they "enjoy looking at the way they make the models." Steve Boutté of Lafayette, Louisiana went there to see Miniland; he and his son marveled at the authentic scale model of New Orleans, complete with both a jazz funeral and a Mardi Gras parade. Asked about the timeless appeal of Lego, Boutté noted that "it's ever-changing, and only limited by your imagination and how many pieces you have." There's certainly no limit to how many pieces you can buy. Lest anyone think the folks at Lego are missing out on a great opportunity to sell their highly-acclaimed product to an audience of the faithful, Legoland California has four different shops selling the full line of Lego toys in addition to various gifts, apparel, and park souvenirs.
As Southern California's first new theme park in a quarter-century, Legoland drew in over 1.5 million visitors during its first year of operation. To accommodate the crowds, there are plenty of parking spaces among the 128-acre site. (Each lot is signified by--you guessed it--a giant letter built from Lego bricks.) Even though the actual park area currently checks in at a modest 35 acres, there's plenty of room for future expansions like the new Lego Technic Test Track. "Newness is important," spokeswoman Christine Kerr says. "You want to give people a reason to come back." Based on the returns, getting people to come back hasn't been a problem.•
