Legoland California
Legoland California is a theme park located in
Carlsbad, California, focused on Lego bricks. It opened on March 20,
1999. It is the third Legoland park to open, and the first Legoland
outside of Europe. The park is split into nine major sections which are:
The Beginning, Dino Island, Duplo, Village Green, Fun Town, Castle Hill,
Miniland USA, Pirate Shores, Imagination Zone, and Land of Adventure.
The theme park features a water park and is the only Legoland to feature
a water park. The water park was built during 2009 and opened in 2010.
Park History
The park opened on March 20, 1999. The Legoland parks
were put up for sale in 2004, then a controlling interest sold in 2005.
The new controlling company is Merlin Entertainments, a brand of the
Blackstone Group of New York, an investment and advisory firm. The
company is the operator of the Sea Life Centres. On Aug. 11, 2008, the
Sea Life aquarium opened on the grounds of Legoland California, the
first in North America.
Areas
Dino Island
In Dino Island, a mini steel roller coaster called the
"Coastersaurus" curves and dips around giant models of Lego dinosaurs.
Visitors can dig for imitation dinosaur bones in the "Dig Those Dinos"
attraction.
Duplo
Duplo includes the "Water Works" attraction, which has
dozens of interactive water activities and is directly beside "Musical
Fountain" where visitors hop up and down to make music play and water
blow. A water ride called "Fairy Tale Brook" lets visitors ride a boat
down a river lined with Lego models based on fairy tales. Playtown is a
play area complete with Lego buildings, slides, and activities. There is
a playground, pizza parlor, and a ride called "Safari Trek" which allows
the rider to see many life sized Lego models of animals. There are two
attractions on the top of a hill. First is the "Kid Power Towers", in
which a pair of people pull themselves to the top of a rotating tower to
enjoy the slow ride down. Guests can go up and down as many or as few
times as per their whim before the ride ends. When visitors board
another attraction- the "Sky Cruiser"- two people pedal in tandem around
a track to see a large portion of the park. If riders cease pedaling,
the vehicle slows down to a crawl.
Fun Town
Fun Town features two "driving schools" where children
can learn to drive electric Lego cars on a closed course. There are two
courses; one is a simple circuit - 3 to 5 year olds can enjoy there. The
other one can allow from 6 to 13 year old children, features working
traffic lights. Visitors can also take a tour of a Lego factory to learn
how Lego bricks are made. At the "Fire Academy", families battle other
families in a race down a street to douse a small "fire" and drive back
in the fire truck- all using hand pumps. Guests who board "Flight
Squadron" are raised into the air by Lego airplanes and those who visit
"Sky Patrol" will experience the same feeling as "Flight Squadron" with
the exception of being in a Lego helicopter, as they are moved up and
down to see the extensive view of Legoland. It is also the location of
Legoland Water Park which opened on May 28, 2010.
Castle Hill
Castle Hill is a medieval castle-themed area. Its main
attraction is the "Dragon", a roller coaster that slowly tours a castle,
until a lego wizard casts a spell to open the doors to the outside, at
which point the coaster speeds up and the ride functions as a regular
coaster. Another ride is the "Knights' Tournament", in which guests ride
around on a very large robotic arm, selecting levels from one to five -
one and two do not go upside down, and five rarely has guests right
side-up. The "Hideaways" is designed for younger children, and is a
large multi-level wooden play structure with slides, rope ladders, and
bridges. Small horses at the "Royal Joust" take guests ages 4–12 through
a mock medieval joust. Recently added was a miniature golf course that
replaced the popular "rock band" or "singing rock garden". The rock's
original recording can still be heard on holes 12-18 on the course.
Llamas are featured on the hill.
Imagination Zone
In the Imagination Zone, visitors can ride a Wild
Mouse-style roller coaster called the "Technic Coaster-Test
Track"(formally Project X), choose from three different "4-D" movies
called "Bob the Builder", "Spellbreaker", and "Clutch Powers" (a racing
movie). Kids can also race Lego cars that they build themselves in Build
'n Test, play the "Maniac Challenge" in which guests play LEGO PC games,
and program robots in "Mindstorms". Guests can also ride on "Bionicle
Blaster", which is a version of the teacup ride, or the "Aquazone Wave
Racers", the first ever duel water carousel. In that you get use a
steering wheel to control a rudder that makes you either come in closer
to the center or fly out through the waves, all the while being squirted
with water by the bystanders.
Pirate Shores
Pirate Shores has 6 rides and attractions. "Splash
Battle" is a ride where guests enter their very own pirate ships to do
battle with other guests on the ride and on land also while trying to
avoid on-ride blasts of water. "Soak 'N Sail" is an interactive
two-story water playground. Children and adults play with water pouring
down all around them, for example, there are two buckets filled with 500
gallons of water that pour water on unsuspecting people. "Treasure
Falls"; the mini-log flume, is a great training ride for little riders
that aren't quite ready for the bigger log rides at other parks.
"Swabbie's Deck" is the little kids water area, for little kids from
infant all the way up to 7 or 8 to get their feet wet, before attempting
Soak and Sail. "Captain Cranky's Challenge" is the newest ride for
Pirate Shores that opened on May 24, 2007. Pirate Shores also has a
"Skipper School" where parents and kids can pilot Lego boats.
Expanded seating and locker facilities for Pirate
Shores were added on Summer 2007.
Land of Adventure
This is the newest section of the theme park (opened
in May 2008), which is designed to replicate the 1920s in Egypt.
"Pharaoh's Revenge" involves guests firing foam balls at targets and at
each other. On "Beetle Bounce" guests bounce nearly 15 feet (4.6 m) to
nearly touch the enormous beetles above. "Cargo Ace", lets guests board
one of eight planes to fly six feet into the air. "Lost Kingdom
Adventure" is Legoland California's most recent attraction. Guests board
and ride a roadster to recover stolen treasure by blasting targets with
laser guns along their journey. Another recently opened attraction is
"Dune Raiders", which is a slide.
Legoland Water Park
This is a water park area in Legoland California.
Construction began in September 2009. It opened on May 28, 2010. It is
located next to the buildings in Fun Town. It is the only Legoland which
features a waterpark. It is not possible to buy a separate admission
ticket solely for the water park. One must purchase a park hopper
ticket, which is for the amusement park and the water park together.
A legoland hotel will open summer 2013.
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