Legoland isn’t bucket list material, but it’s a parent’s best friend
CARLSBAD — Does Legoland California really mean it when they say that Surfer’s Cove, the newest addition to the theme park’s Water Park area, opening on June 30, is for kids?
C’mon, get real. Who’s going to drive the kids to the park and pay for an overnight stay at the television series-inspired Ninjago Hotel? That’s going to be you. Who’s going to put on a bathing suit and challenge your 8-year-old twins to a contest on Riptide Racers water slide? That’s you, too, holding back just a little bit, so the kids can win.
Chances are you’ll be the one who buys lunch at Beach Street Tacos, then retreats to a chaise in the shade to beat the heat. The one who’s oblivious to what some people might call chaos: kindergarten kids splashing in the Joker Soaker pool, moms pushing toddlers in strollers, 3-year-olds playing in the Splash Zoo and an endless chorus of happy shrieks as dozens of parents and grandparents suspend the notion of grown-up rules and — like everyone visiting Legoland does — relax and let their kids be kids.
Legoland California is probably not on your bucket list. It certainly wasn’t on mine. But after my own overnight in the Ninjago Hotel — among dozens of fantasy sculptures built out of hundreds of thousands of Lego blocks and dozens of excited, chattering kids and parents — I’ve been enlightened.
Legoland is, actually, a parent’s best friend.
What other public entertainment venue can you name that promotes itself to adults but is geared up for kids? A place where mom and dad don’t have to say, “don’t run,” or “sit still,” or “stop yelling; it’s bothering those people,” because “those people” are parents, too?
In the Ninjago Hotel, kids rushed into the elevators, ran down the corridors. They chose their own food at the child-height buffet and went back for seconds.
In fact, the atmosphere felt so open and tolerant that it encouraged camaraderie. In lines, on rides and in the hotel, couples said hello, exchanged names and asked each other’s children’s ages. Dads talked about building swing sets and buying bicycles and moms compared neighborhoods, pre-schools and piano lessons. Families who discovered they lived near each other made plans to meet again.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that Lego blocks began with the same mind-set. In 1934, Ole Christiansen, a Danish carpenter, began to make wooden toys and blocks, which he sold under the name Lego, a word derived from “leg godt,” (meaning play well). By 1949, he was experimenting with plastic blocks, and in 1958 he opened a factory making the plastic blocks still sold today.
To the moms and dads that I met at the Ninjago Hotel, Legoland evokes fond memories of Lego kits tucked under long-ago Christmas trees and weekend afternoons building battleships and mini-doll houses. Those favorite childhood toys stick with you.
Since there’s so many ways to enjoy Legoland California’s Water Park, you’ll probably want to spend an entire day. In that case, consider buying a Water Park ticket.
Start with Surfers’ Cove, then sample the rest of the Water Park attractions, some of which permit or require parent participation.
Kids can build a raft and float down a short river. Or play on or under the Joker Soaker platform, where they can shoot water cannons (very small ones) at each other or hang out under the inevitable Big Splash, erupting at intervals.