Legoland California Information

LEGOLAND California is off I-5 exit Cannon Road E. at Legoland Dr. The 50 rides--including three roller coasters--and activities in this 128-acre gallery of structures made from multicolored plastic LEGOs are geared to the pre-teen crowd. The "animals" in Safari Trek are made of LEGOs, as are the animated replicas seen along the banks from the Coast Cruise boat. In Miniland, nearly 20 million of the tiny plastic bricks have been used to re-create 1-to-20 ratio scale animated replicas of well-known American landmarks.

Other park attractions include Knights' Tournament, where track-free robotic arms give unexpected twists and turns; Fun Town Fire Academy, with a race to hose down a burning building; Dig Those Dinos, a place for visitors to dig for fossils; and Volvo Driving School, with simulators that put children in the driver's seat.

The ultimate monument to the world's most famous plastic building blocks, LEGOLAND is the third such theme park, following branches in Denmark and Britain that have proven enormously successful. Located 40 minutes north of downtown San Diego, the Carlsbad park offers a full day of entertainment for families. In addition to 5,000 LEGO models, the park is beautifully landscaped with 1,360 bonsai trees and other plants from around the world, and features more than 50 rides, shows, and attractions.

Attractions include hands-on interactive displays; a life-size menagerie of tigers, giraffes, and other animals; and scale models of international landmarks (the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House, and so on), all constructed of LEGO bricks. "MiniLand" is a 1:20 scale representation of American achievement, from a New England pilgrim village to Mount Rushmore and a new replica of Washington, D.C. There's a DUPLO building area to keep smaller children occupied, and a high-tech ride where older kids can compete in LEGO TECHNIC car races. To give the park a little more appeal for older kids, there are three relatively gentle but fun roller coasters. Dino Island features the Coastersaurus, a roller coaster that climbs and dives through a menagerie of life-size LEGO brick dinos.