This is a continuation from Part I posted yesterday...

We left off with my family and I purchasing a $16 picture from our time on the Lego ride at Legoland...

Where to next?

Once we were finished with the ride and had purchased our picture, we headed into what is known as MINILAND, which is a small subdivision of Legoland. Miniland is very neat. If you are not familiar, it is where they create different communities and towns using legos. 

For example, they had a western town, a rock climbing camp, a police station, an entire city, viking ships, a castle, as well as several other exhibits. 

It is neat because they have buttons you can press next to the exhibit that make certain parts of the exhibit either light up, make noise, or move. 

They also incorporate real water and landscapes to add to the authenticity of the mini-land. The result is pretty amazing!

The main event!

After we finished observing all the wonders of Miniland we made our way into the next room, which was a giant wide open room and really the heart of Legoland. 

It had about 8-10 different activities/exhibits that children (or adults) could do. There was another ride in this room that was similar to a jet ride that you can go on at a local fair. The only difference is that it is made to look like giant legos. The line was pretty long, but the ride itself wasn't bad considering it was more for younger kids. 

Next to that ride there is a small play place that is set up for children 6 years and under. It looks like one of the castles right out of a lego box but instead of being made of hard plastic, it is all made out of hard foam, much easier on the knees and hands when little kids fall. This place was crawling (pun intended) with toddlers and small children. 

All about the room there are random bins of legos placed here and there for you to build with or play with just as you would at home. Each bin tended to have many little kids playing all around them and in some cases, little kids made their way into the lego bin itself. It literally was an ocean of legos to them. I won't comment on exactly who's daughter crawled out into the middle of the lego bin... (mine did), but lets just say it hopefully was a common thing. :)

Next to the children's play place was a section devoted entirely to princesses and other girl-themed legos. This area was for girls and their moms (or dads) to create neat little toys together. The colors were different shades of pinks and it really looked like a little girl's dream. My daughter wasn't quite old enough to get in but she definitely was trying to.  

Next to that section was a giant jungle gym. The other one was small in comparison and geared towards younger kids, but this one was massive and more on the scale of what you might find at Discovery Zone or maybe even Disney Land. If you are not familiar with either just picture a giant McDonald's play place geared more for kids 6-12 years old, multiply it by 10x, and you have an idea of what I am talking about. It was massive and kids could easily spend half the day here. 

Race Car Section?

After we let our stepson play in play place for a bit we went to the next section. It was a race car section where they had all kinds of wheels and axles set out for you to build with. The idea was for you to build a car and then send it down the race track they had set up. It was really neat because they had one track that was timed and set up to race others and then they had another track that was more for just playing and testing out your car. I had never seen something like that before but it was a great idea and one of the more popular sections of Legoland. 

After we spent some time at the race car section we stopped at the food court. That's right, in the middle of all of it they had a giant food court area, complete with many tables and benches. Things parents need. You could order several different kinds of find and enjoy it there or take it with you while you participated in the activities. 

After we got a beverage or two we headed on over to the "master builder" section. This was an instructional room that held a class every 30 minutes in order to help teach kids some secrets of how to become "master builders". This class was neat because it didn't cost anything extra and it really was educational for the kids. I am not sure most of the kids were old enough to take much of what they were saying, but it would be ideal for kids in the 6-12 age range. 

4D Movie Theater!

After the class we headed on over to the Legoland movie theater. This was one of the more impressive things in the theme park. It was a giant 4D experience. They provided you with 3D glasses and informed you that it would be slightly interactive. Sure enough, water shot out on and wind blew on you while you watched the film. 

On average they show a film about every 2 hours, so you are likely to be there for one if you go to the park. I even read a flyer that said they are showing the new Lego Batman Movie there on weekend nights. Unfortunately we didn't get to see that one, but we saw a pretty cool film never the less.  

At this point it was getting close to closing time so we packed our stuff up and headed out the door. 

Conclusion

Overall, the $22 price tag was not that much. That price let you play in all of the sections and participate on all of the exhibits without having to pay anything extra. It was also good for the entire day, so the early in the day you go, the more you get for your money.

At first I was worried it might be one of those things were you pay an upfront fee to get in the park and then other additional fees for certain exhibits and rides. Legoland was not like that at all, which was refreshing. The price you pay upfront covers you for anything and everything you might want to do inside the park. 

I will post some of our family pictures from the adventure in another post. Thanks for stopping by and hope you make the trip out to Legoland at some point. With all the new one's being built it is likely there is one not far from you. It's a great place to take the kids and, surprisingly, is actually worth the price of admission!

Live well my friends!

Image Sources:

http://www.spectra-electrical.com/

http://phoenix.about.com/od/famtheme/ss/LEGOLAND-Discovery-Center-Tempe.htm

http://phoenix.about.com/od/famtheme/ss/LEGOLAND-Discovery-Center-Tempe.htm

http://www.azcentral.com/picture-gallery/news/local/tempe/2016/04/14/sneak-peek-inside-the-legoland-discovery-center-at-arizona-mills/83052488/

http://www.thingstodoinphoenixwithkids.com/legoland-discovery-center-in-tempe-arizona/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g31377-d9783635-i185109532-LEGOLAND_Discovery_Center_Arizona-Tempe_Arizona.html

Follow: @jrcornel