Legoland California plans to build water park

I'm a little surprised that Legoland has not expanded in North America. If the park were anywhere east of the Mississippi I would certainly make the trek for it because my kids wouldn't stop bugging me until I did.

I've always wondered the same thing. I think Orlando would just eat it up.

My only problem with this is that the admission price for Legoland is pretty steep...right up there with Disneyland. So charging extra seems a bit much. With the prices as they are now, we are going to continue on as Disneyland Passholders even though Disneyland is a good 60-70 miles further down the road and even though my son is a certified lego maniac. We'll still probably go once next year, but most likely will not be shelling out extra money for the water park.

Will the slides be built out of legos?

Yeah, the gate is pretty steep, but with attendence actually increasing by a whopping 27% in 2008 (when all others were steady or decreased) it's obvious that Legoland is doing something right. More importantly, people are paying the gate. There is no need to add in-park value to the gate price if people are already "happily" paying it.

Sure, it would be nice if the waterpark were just added to the park without a separate gate, but it doesn't make any sence for them as a business to do it.

Not only was attendance up dramatically, but people were paying more to go into their new aquarium as well. It almost defies logic, but it sure did work for them.

Lego was looking to expand into the Central Florida market - there was a news item about two months ago...I remember laughing about them even *discussing* re-purposing Cypress for a new park (assuming a dry-rides park based on what was reported at the time). IIRC, there was also discussion of Lego in/around KC area, no?

Merlin/Tussaud's is an up-and-coming entity in the amusements industry, and follows a similar path to that espoused by HFEC here (diversification of offerings, e.g. - Stone Mtn. vs. Tussaud's wax museums). Both build incrementally on past successes and understand the value of the "non-rides areas" (e.g., Alton Towers' castle vs. Marvel Cave). Profit and customer service going hand-in-hand...

Well, I don't know if this has anything to do with anything or not. But....

Have you seen how much Legos cost these days? Usually the cheapest Start Wars lego set I can get my son is around $20 or $30. Then, if you want to get some of the nicer sets they can easily set you back $50-$80. And, if you really want to have some fun you can get one of the large sets for several hundred dollars.

One day's admission for my little guy and the rest of the family might seem like a pretty good deal in comparison.

I've been looking at that Millennium Falcon model since it was released (think it I was 12 or 13, so about 7 or 8 years ago), wishing I could convince my mom to drop the money on it. I've always been a LEGO nut, but I'm just interested in the more "collectible" stuff like major Star Wars pieces these days. I have the Space Shuttle Discovery set on display on my book shelf, along with the Apollo model and Lunar Landing vehicle set. On the Star Wars side I have Vader, R2-D2 (need to rebuild him, I did something wrong), Jango Fet, and a droid along with the Imperial Shuttle and a B-Wing Fighter.

As for the park, I've always wanted to get there to check out those huge models in real life. Sounds like the park is doing well despite the high admission, so more power to 'em, I guess.

I wonder how many legos it would take to built a wet playground like CP's? 10 million might be a good start.

The downside is they legos can be hard on the feet. If you've stepped on one by accident you know what I mean. :)

As far back as I can remember, Lego has always been fairly expensive. The trick is to augment the specialized models with large sets of standard blocks. Also, a decent sized kit a year adds up into a considerable collection rather quickly.

As for the extra gate, I suppose if the price were right, it would do good. They were offering the aquarium for $10 with purchase of a regular Legoland ticket. But given the temperment of our 3 year old at the time, we just didn't have time. If the price of a small waterpark were similar, we might check it out. But I'd probably rather spend a whole day at a waterpark. And if I do that, I'd rather go to Soak City. Also, Legoland already has a decent sized water play area that is included with regular admission.

In regards to expansion of the regular gate, they've been doing that pretty regularly, and I think that has a lot to do with the increase in attendance...that and really good marketing.

Now if only they'd build a large monorail. :)

Anybody hear anything about the resort they were planning?

rollergator said:
Merlin/Tussaud's is an up-and-coming entity in the amusements industry...

You don't know how true that really is.

janfrederick said:
The trick is to augment the specialized models with large sets of standard blocks.

Is it even possible to find sets of standard blocks in department stores anymore?

Funny, I was just thinking that the other day. My son is HUGE on Lego right now and we're always looking at what's out there and everything seems to be something specific - no boxes/tubs of general use multicolored blocks anymore.

When I was a kid it was almost the exact opposite - I had a bin full of random, plain blocks and only a couple of actual sets.

My son has much of my old randomness (after it filtered through two other siblings of mine) and I don't think he's ever bought or owned anything Lego that wasn't a specific set meant to build a specific thing.

department stores

Department stores? Quaint.

http://shop.lego.com/ByCategory/Leaf.aspx?cn=227&d=304

You can find plain legos at walmart, toysrus, etc... It's much eaier to find them online though.

Brian - my kid digs instant gratification. Buying online holds no appeal to my 7 year old boy.

He's also the kind of kid that has to go and look and grab and see the boxes - the sizes, the shapes and colors of the packaging. Compare and contrast. Consider all things placed before him.

Online is too impersonal and distant for something as hands-on and important as the purchase of Lego bricks. Reading cold hard stats online just isn't going to get the job done. :)

EDIT - after looking around the Lego site though, 650 multicolor blocks for $30 seems like a must have. :)

You should be an Amazon Prime member.

In my travels, I did find a dedicated Lego store in a mall in Ontario, California. I have no clue if it's still there.

They're also in Downtown Disney and Mall of America, among other places.