Ever since I first heard about Legoland in Denmark when I was a kid I wanted to go. After all, what toy is cooler than Legos?
Well, a trip to Denmark was pretty much out of the question. And as I grew older the desire waned somewhat, but I always loved Legos.
Then in 1999 the Lego company opened a Legoland in Carlsbad California. Annette and I had no immediate plans to go, but as our family grew, Dinohunter had inherited most of my Legos and everyone loved to play with them. As each year passed we talked more and more seriously about going. Finally, last year we decided to save up to go in 2008. Our original intent was to go during the summer, but Dinohunter’s trip to Palestine along with trips to Florida and Missouri made that complicated. The trip was delayed to the Fall, but October looked promising, since the kids would be out of school on Thursday the 16th and Friday the 17th. I was able to arrange to have those days off and it looked like everything would work out.
Finally the 16th arrived. I had arrived at 1:00AM the night /morning before coming back from work in Atlanta. Our plan was to catch the 8:50AM flight to Los Angeles. It was a good plan. Unfortunately, it seemed that everyone else had the same plan, and since we only fly free if there’s an empty seat, after arriving at the airport it quickly became apparent that air travel was not going to happen. On to Plan B—drive.
The problem with driving is A) our Dodge Caravan only seats seven and, well, we are a family of seven plus one, and B) a twelve-hour drive is a sure-fire way to make sure we become a family of seven, or six even. Originally the Caravan had a built-in VCR, but a couple of years ago it stopped working. If we were going to drive we would need entertainment. We stopped by Wal-Mart and picked up an inexpensive DVD player. Once back home I soon realized that I would need to adapt the player to 12 volt current, but had no adapter. Naturally my Dad saved the day. He had one and so we met up with him and jerry-rigged our new entertainment system. Now we dared make the drive.
The kids were very well behaved. Between DVDs and Nintendo DSs they kept busy. We stopped for dinner in St. George and walked around the temple. Another highlight was driving down the Las Vegas Strip after dark. The kids were blown away with Treasure Island, New York New York, the Venetian, Luxor, and all the rest. Finally at about 2:30 in the morning we pulled into our hotel’s parking lot and checked in.
The next morning we were up by 8:30 and arrived at the park just after it opened at 10:00AM. The park is mostly geared to younger children but has a couple of rides for the older kids. But for those who love Legos, it’s all fun. The only one who was left out at all was Jack-Jack, since he was too short for several of the rides. One that everyone enjoyed is called the Knight’s Tournament. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Essentially it’s a mechanical arm that turns you upside down and throws you from side to side. It was very intense. I rode with Red Pepper and she asked why I was laughing the whole time. It was fun. Even Mr. Tickle got to ride it with his Mom, since each arm can be programmed to one of five different settings, five being the most intense. Mr. Tickle got a one, but he got to go. And once again, Jack-Jack got to watch.
Well, a trip to Denmark was pretty much out of the question. And as I grew older the desire waned somewhat, but I always loved Legos.
Then in 1999 the Lego company opened a Legoland in Carlsbad California. Annette and I had no immediate plans to go, but as our family grew, Dinohunter had inherited most of my Legos and everyone loved to play with them. As each year passed we talked more and more seriously about going. Finally, last year we decided to save up to go in 2008. Our original intent was to go during the summer, but Dinohunter’s trip to Palestine along with trips to Florida and Missouri made that complicated. The trip was delayed to the Fall, but October looked promising, since the kids would be out of school on Thursday the 16th and Friday the 17th. I was able to arrange to have those days off and it looked like everything would work out.
Finally the 16th arrived. I had arrived at 1:00AM the night /morning before coming back from work in Atlanta. Our plan was to catch the 8:50AM flight to Los Angeles. It was a good plan. Unfortunately, it seemed that everyone else had the same plan, and since we only fly free if there’s an empty seat, after arriving at the airport it quickly became apparent that air travel was not going to happen. On to Plan B—drive.
The problem with driving is A) our Dodge Caravan only seats seven and, well, we are a family of seven plus one, and B) a twelve-hour drive is a sure-fire way to make sure we become a family of seven, or six even. Originally the Caravan had a built-in VCR, but a couple of years ago it stopped working. If we were going to drive we would need entertainment. We stopped by Wal-Mart and picked up an inexpensive DVD player. Once back home I soon realized that I would need to adapt the player to 12 volt current, but had no adapter. Naturally my Dad saved the day. He had one and so we met up with him and jerry-rigged our new entertainment system. Now we dared make the drive.
The kids were very well behaved. Between DVDs and Nintendo DSs they kept busy. We stopped for dinner in St. George and walked around the temple. Another highlight was driving down the Las Vegas Strip after dark. The kids were blown away with Treasure Island, New York New York, the Venetian, Luxor, and all the rest. Finally at about 2:30 in the morning we pulled into our hotel’s parking lot and checked in.
The next morning we were up by 8:30 and arrived at the park just after it opened at 10:00AM. The park is mostly geared to younger children but has a couple of rides for the older kids. But for those who love Legos, it’s all fun. The only one who was left out at all was Jack-Jack, since he was too short for several of the rides. One that everyone enjoyed is called the Knight’s Tournament. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Essentially it’s a mechanical arm that turns you upside down and throws you from side to side. It was very intense. I rode with Red Pepper and she asked why I was laughing the whole time. It was fun. Even Mr. Tickle got to ride it with his Mom, since each arm can be programmed to one of five different settings, five being the most intense. Mr. Tickle got a one, but he got to go. And once again, Jack-Jack got to watch.
For me the highlight was Miniland USA, where different parts of the country are modeled in Legos. My favorite was San Francisco, but there was also New York City, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and several other places. The detail was amazing.
The visit concluded with a stop in the Lego Store, where everyone bought something. Annette and I bought the obligatory Christmas tree ornament and refrigerator magnet. Other things purchased included key-chains made with mini-Lego figures, salt and pepper shakers and cake molds, as well as an actual set or two.
After leaving the park we made a beeline for the beach, only a half-mile away. Everyone took their shoes off and discovered that the Pacific Ocean is quite a bit colder than the Gulf of Mexico. Still we had fun as the sun set over the water. Then we stopped for dinner at In-N-Out Burger, a Southern California institution. The shakes were great!
Everyone slept well that night, as you can imagine. The next morning we took our time getting up and checking out. We stopped to visit old friends, the Rowleys, for lunch as we passed through Redlands. Finally we arrived home at 2:30AM and put everyone to bed.
And at 4:00AM I got back up to catch a plane to go back to work. It was a whirlwind, but it was fun!
The visit concluded with a stop in the Lego Store, where everyone bought something. Annette and I bought the obligatory Christmas tree ornament and refrigerator magnet. Other things purchased included key-chains made with mini-Lego figures, salt and pepper shakers and cake molds, as well as an actual set or two.
After leaving the park we made a beeline for the beach, only a half-mile away. Everyone took their shoes off and discovered that the Pacific Ocean is quite a bit colder than the Gulf of Mexico. Still we had fun as the sun set over the water. Then we stopped for dinner at In-N-Out Burger, a Southern California institution. The shakes were great!
Everyone slept well that night, as you can imagine. The next morning we took our time getting up and checking out. We stopped to visit old friends, the Rowleys, for lunch as we passed through Redlands. Finally we arrived home at 2:30AM and put everyone to bed.
And at 4:00AM I got back up to catch a plane to go back to work. It was a whirlwind, but it was fun!
3 comments:
Holy hannah...quite the adventure! Sounds like you guys made the best of it and had a great time though.
That sounds like so much fun! I have always wanted to go to LegoLand - we were obsessed with Legos as kids and there wasn't a Christmas that didn't include a couple of huge bucket-o-Legos as presents. Totally cool!
I really enjoyed myself. Legoland was great! Time spent together- laid back, watching movies in the car and just playing- was so nice. One of my favorite vacations ever!
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