Thanks to some correspondence with people involved in the new LEGOLAND, here are a bunch of details that are not yet on their website.
"Soft" opening will be on July 25th, for press only in the morning and general public in the afternoon. The Grand Opening, with ribbon cutting, will be on July 31st. They will be open at 10 am each day.
Tickets cost $15 children, $19 adults, $17 seniors.
Year Passes for weekdays are $38 children, $48 adults.
Year Passes for all days are $53 children, $67 adults.
(I am considering the weekday year pass. I do not want to think about how insane this place is going to be on weekends!)
The literature says "Children 2-12 and their families". Well, I don't meet that criteria, so I asked, "are adults without children allowed to attend and participate? I am 29 years old, with no kids, and many of my friends (also with no children) are big LEGO fans. Which of the exhibits and attractions would we be allowed to work with, and which ones are off limits?" The response is, "Our attraction is focusing to give children from age 2 to 12 a great experience, but we will not deny any person access to our center because of age or no children." So, that's good.
The list of attractions does have a few things that I wouldn't be excited about. (Despite being in love with LEGO, I am not still eight years old.) Here are the things I am excited about:
(from the press release)
# Miniland – Wander through a LEGO-style Chicago skyline, built to scale
# Hall of Fame – Get up close & personal with LEGO versions of top superheroes
# Build & Test – Have fun with mountains of LEGOs, speed ramp & earthquake table
# Model Workshop - Work with a LEGO Master to build a masterpiece
I've never been to a LEGOLAND before, and as I understand it this is going to be less like an amusement park, and more like a museum. Cameras are allowed, so I will be geeking out on many different levels when I finally get to spend some time there.
Oh, and it turns out that Nigel, our cat, will try to eat the LEGOs that I have spread out on the floor. Not the smartest of his species, is he?
Our cat, Lucy, seems to share Nigel's interest in LEGOs.
ReplyDeleteWhile she doesn't eat them, she discovered that they make wonderful batting accessories. She started off with Stormtrooper helmets and then moved on to any smallish piece.
It got to the point where she'd sneak up on Alex while he was building something on the table, jump up and swipe something before anyone could stop her, and tear down the stairs and hide behind the dryer because she knew we couldn't get to her.
Once she decided the coast was clear, she'd wiggle out backward, drop her treasure on the ground, and swat it around until it got lost under the washer/dryer or shelves.
I'm not sure why, but we've finally broken her of the habit. Mostly. =)