TR: Legoland 6/23

[Lord Turbine]

I went to LEGOLAND on Friday - it was much better when I was 8... but it was still a fun park.

 

Knight's Tournament, their new Kuka Robocoaster, is worth the price of admission, just because it feels like a bitchslap rather than a ride. Level 5, this thing throws you around all over the place, grabs your crotch and hangs you upside down by it, gets you wet courtesy of FREE water cannons (they're EVERYWHERE in this park, damn it! Even on the peaceful boat ride!), puts you upside down at least 8 times, then lets you off - what a ride. And at Legoland to boot. It was great - Legoland's first E-Ticket, IMO. AND it was a walk-on, making it better.

 

Right next to that resides the dark-ride/junior coaster hybrid Dragon Coaster which looks and feels like riding inside a LEGO creation - well-made ride.

 

Living in the same area are these strange creatures known as Apple Fries. Fried apples dipped in cinnamon sugar with whipped cream - STAY AWAY. They're much too sour and you can't eat more than 5 - ugh. Other than that, the food was average - not bad, but could be better and more varied. Better than Six Flags, safer than Knott's (Hell, let's face facts, what's not?).

 

Also good was the Imagination Zone area. Project X is a Hell of a Wild Mouse. Very smooth, good use of the coaster type, especially on the turns - good G-Forces, although, it could be a bit longer. Great ride though, and the cars looked GREAT. Then there was Aquazone - I wish people actually used the water cannons (THEY'RE FREE! USE THEM!), but a ride that feels totally unsafe but due to the laws of physics is really safe is okay with me! You're standing up, no support, you can open and close the ride car without any trouble (foam door, no lock, pool underneath is shallow with a cement bottom filled with rotating metal bars... oriented at kids - YEAH!), and there are some G-forces acting on you if you tweak the ride to go out all the way - and it's awesome. Never been on a whip, but now I know why people like them. Bionicle Blasters is, well, let's face it, a well-themed tilt-a-whirl that needs to go much faster, but fun because of the theming. Needs to go faster though. Skipped the 4-D experience because I've done that type of thing too many times and the shows seemed boring.

 

Headed off to their new (opened on Wednesday) Pirate Shores zone - needs work, but has its strengths. One of the rides (the mini-log flume, Treasure Falls, looked good really) was still being built, and the other one, Splash Battle, was mediocre at best. The ads advertise it as being a wet ride where you battle with others - the fountains are weak, you don't get wet, the cars are too far away from each other to battle, there are no water cannons, and the outside fountains are broken. If there were more water under the ride so you couldn't see the track, the volcano in the middle actually soaked you like it is supposed to (they couldn't get anything but the mist to work), and the fountains actually hit the other cars so it could be an enjoyable battling wet ride romp which is needed in the hot environment, it'd be a great ride. One thing though: GREAT theming. However, the other two additions in Pirate Shores, the kiddy water area and the giant splash zone, made the entire area look like a waterpark. I went into the Soak n' Sail, the pirate-themed splash zone with a giant bucket, fully clothed because I didn't have a bathing suit and needed to cool off badly, as it was hot and Splash Battle didn't get me wet at all. This thing is great. It's very refreshing, well-themed, and very popular - the kiddy area didn't look bad, either.

 

After that, we headed to Fun Town, went on the acclaimed Fire Engine ride - fun for all. And it was hillarious to laugh at other families after we won. That and trying to go faster than the slow-moving ride op. Not an E Ticket, but a D Ticket. We walked through the always amazing Miniland, marveled at how the mini-Floridians were as fat as their real-life counterparts, then went on Kid Power Towers for the heck of it, then left.

 

All in all, it needs more - I hear tell they're building a new expansion aimed at teenagers with 2 new coasters, a new water ride and a new dark ride, and if that's true it'll really complete the park and make it something really worth returning to for someone my age, but for what it is now - it's a great park, but for those 10 and up, it's missing something. It's fun and all, but not worth coming back really soon. However, I'll line up for an extreme coaster in the likes of, say, a version of the Dragon Coaster with loops - THAT'D be fun, and THAT'D make the park worthwhile. However, all that said, I LOVED Knight's Tournament, and if they do more rides that are at that level, the park will be a destination worth buying an annual pass for, guaranteed.

 

4/5

 

Oh, and in the back of the park, I saw part of Spellbinder's station. I couldn't help but think, "When I walked in here, did I see a sign in the front of the park that said dead LEGO storage?"