LEGOLAND California is an enjoyment country park that is located in Carlsbad. LEGOLAND California concentrated on LEGO blocks. The park was opened on 20th March 1999, and it is the third LEGOLAND park to be opened. LEGOLAND Billund was officially opened in the year 1968; ever since then, it has been the largest tourist attraction site in Denmark. The story of LEGOLAND Billund commenced with toy bricks which were invented by Christiansen Ole Kirk who was a carpenter from Billund (Bakir et al., 420). Christiansen in 1934 began the production of toys referred to as Lego. During this time, Lego was not in the form of interlocking plastic bricks; they were made out of wood. The blocks were built in high quality and standard; this was what Christiansen believed was the missing element in most of the toys produced then. This commitment to the production of high-quality toys was reflected in the name Lego, which means play well. Later on, in 1947 Christiansen began experimenting on the plastic blocks. The interlocking system was introduced two years later in 1949. It took nine more years before a patent for Lego was obtained in 1958, in the same year Christiansen died of a heart attack. This paper shall discuss the history of LEGOLAND California and how it is successful.
LEGOLAND California park was officially opened on 20th March 1999. These parks were sold in the year 2004, and later on, the park’s supervisory interest was sold in 2005. The corporation now controlling LEGOPARKS is Merlin Entertainments (JACOBY, N.p.). Merlin Entertainments is a brand of the Blackstone Group of New York which is an advisory and investment firm. LEGOLAND California is successful, and this is because the park is spat into nine distinct sections and including Dino Island, The Beginning, Fun Town, Miniland USA, Explore Village, Land of Adventure, Pirates Shore, and lastly the Imagination Zone.
The Beginning
This was the main point of entry into the park; this was the only entry point for guests until the year 2008. This was so until the new hotels which were under construction in the back were open, and they created a new entry point in Castle Hill. The Beginning is a service and shopping region within the park (Mercurio, N.p.). The main features of this place are that it is a marketplace that comprises Wheelchair rental, a restaurant, a small store, and guest services. Similarly, there is also a Big shop that contains LEGOLAND toy sets and souvenirs. Since LEGOLAND is sponsored by Volvo company, all Volvo drivers receive a discount on parking charges.
Dino Island
Here there is a mini steel roller coaster that is called “Coastasaurus cure”, and it also slopes around giant LEGO dinosaurs. Another aspect that makes this region interesting to many is that; visitors are able to dig for simulated dinosaur bones in the “ Dig Those Dinos”, and they are able to earn rewards. Raptor splash, which was an initial attraction, was removed so that it may give way to the construction of a carnival-style game.
Explorer Village
This includes the Waterworks attraction which has quite some collaborative water activities. It is beside Musical foundation, and here guests hop up and down to water blow and make the music play. Correspondingly, a water slide referred to as the Fairy Tale Brook allows the guests to ride boats down a river, which is lined with lively LEGO models that are based on fairy tales. On the other hand, Play town is also a region that has LEGO buildings, activities, and slides. There is also a showplace, Restaurant, playground, and a ride known as Safari Trek. Safari Trek allows riders to see life-sized LEGO models of various animals.
Fun Town
In Fun Town, there are two driving schools. Volvo Driving School for children above six years and Volvo Junior Driving School for children under five years. Here children are taught how to drive LEGO electronic cars (Pickering, N.p.). Volvo Driving School with a gas station and traffic lights is a little bit more advanced than that of young children. Also, there is a Skipper School where children together with their parents can drive LEGO boats. Guests also take tours around the LEGO factory, and they learn how LEGO bricks are manufactured. In the Fun town police and fire academy, different folks battle each other in a contest. The main objective of the race is to extinguish a small fire, stop a robbery then drive back in the fire truck or police car. Another attractive feature is the Kid Power Towers, where two people go up a rotating tower, and they are able to relish the dawdling relaxing ride. Visitors can go up and down as many times as they want before the ride ends. In case the guests decide to board the Sky Cruiser, a pair of people pedal around the track, and they are able to see the whole park entirely. The Flight Squadron uses LEGO planes to raise the visitors up in the air. In the same way, those that go to the Sky Patrol are carried into the air through the use of a LEGO helicopter. They are moved in a sequence of ups and down as they get a scenic view of Fun town. For those food lovers, there are also restaurants like; burger shack, Fun Town Hot Dogs, and a well-set-up restaurant (O’BRIEN, N.p.).
Castle Hill
It is a castle-themed region that was originally known as Knights Kingdom. The chief attractions of this region are the dragon roller coaster, which tours the castle slowly. After that, Lego wizards cast spells, and the gates to the outdoor open then the roller coaster hastes out, it serves just like a normal roller coaster. Another form of a ride is the Knights tournament, visitors ride in a huge robotic arm, and they select different levels between one to five (Johns et al., 10). Likewise, the Hideaways are specially designed and suited for younger children; it is a large wooden structure with ropes, ladders, bridges, and slides. Tiny horses carry the guests through a mock medieval journey. LEGOLAND also decided to introduce a new attractive feature known as the Wild Woods Golf, which replaced the Singing Rock Garden.
Miniland USA
It comprises a miniature of seven regions in the United States that are built together using forty million LEGO bricks; this structure took approximately three years to finish. Some of these major cities can be easily seen from different areas within the park (Bakir, N.p.). When one is on the coast cruise ride, they are able to see some of these mini models which have a hidden view. Miniland is also the location where the Model shop is, the main design, and the building office for LEGOLAND California. Huge viewing windows on the front side give the visitors a chance to see the builders as they do their work.
Pirates Shore
It has five rides and attractions. The first one is the Splash Battle, where visitors enter their pirate ship, and battle with other visitors, as they try to avoid the blasts of water. Second, we have the Soak and Sail, where parents and children play with water pouring on them. Third, there is the Treasure Falls; it is for young children who are not able to ride bigger logs. Fourth we have the Swabbie’s Deck; it is the little kid’s water region (Bakir et al., 420). These kids are able to wet their feet, before attempting to soak and sail. Finally, we have the Captain Cranky’s Challenge which is a brand new ride that replaced Zamperla Rockin.
Imagination Zone
Visitors can ride a Wild Mouse-style roller coaster known as Technic Coaster- Test Track. Kids pick between three distinct games, and they can also race LEGO cars which they construct on their own in the Build and Test. Kids can also play some LEGO PC games and robots in “Mind storms.”
Land of Adventure
It is the newest section of the park, which was designed as a replica of 1920s Egypt. The guest fire foam balls at each other in the Pharaoh’s Revenge. Also, in the Beetle Bounce visitors jump 15 feet high to touch larges beetles that are high above. In the Cargo Ace, visitors board one of the eight airplanes and they are able to fly six feet in the air (Rubin, N.p.). The most recent form of attraction in LEGOLAND California is the Lost Kingdom Adventure, where visitor ride a roadster to cover the treasure that was stolen by blasting targets through the use of laser guns.
In conclusion, LEGOLAND California is one of the greatest attraction sites in California. The main reason for its success is because the management planned the park well and it included various games which accommodate people of all ages. It is for sure that the people who visit LEGOLAND California enjoy themselves completely.
Works Cited
Pickering, David, ed. The ultimate LEGO book. Dk Pub, 1999.
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Johns, Nick, and Szilvia Gyimóthy. “Postmodern family tourism at Legoland.” Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism 3.1 (2003): 3-23.
JACOBY, EDMOND. “Legoland California says visitors, revenues up sharply in 2004.” The Union-‐Tribune (2005).
O’BRIEN, T. “ALL FOOD COOKED & SERVED UP FRONT AT CARLSBAD’S LEGOLAND CALIFORNIA.” AMUSEMENT BUSINESS 112.28 (2000): 25.
Rubin, J. “Learning to Lego (Europe contributes to the US theme mix with a new California park, Legoland-California).” ENTERTAINMENT DESIGN 33.8 (1999): 42-+.
Mercurio, Michael Robert. Categorizing fun: Identifying hierarchy in California amusement parks. Diss. California State University, Long Beach, 2011.
Bakir, Ali, and Suzanne G. Baxter. ““Touristic Fun”: Motivational Factors for Visiting Legoland Windsor Theme Park.” Journ
