Let's get the bullet points out of the way first;
Legoland was expensive
Legoland was hot
Legoland was not as big as I initially thought
Away from school holiday, it was easy to get around
Legoland would be bigger in the next few years with the adjoining development
Did I mention that Legoland was hot?
How expensive? Without the discount - child enter free with a full-price paying adult - it could easily cost us around RM120 per head. We got further discount with MyKad, and still I paid more than I thought I should. Or at least what I thought as return.
The park was divided into 7 smaller areas, themed around some popular Lego games. There were a mediaeval area, the Lego City area - these two areas looked the most developed. Others were pretty basic - the Technic are only got a single attraction thus far.
Right in the middle of the park was the Miniland, where replicas of world's famous landmarks were built from Lego bricks. Very interesting. Some of them had moving parts which by the press of a button, visitors could interact with them.
There were roller-coasters of course, but with the kids on tow, we only took the basic rides. Idlan tried the usual boat ride and the famous City Car Driving School to ear his driving licence. As the place was quiet on the day - as school had just opened - getting everywhere was easy. The only enemy was the searing heat.
There were plenty of stalls and restaurant to stop for food and drinks. The problem was, some of the items were ridiculously expensive. We had a RM10 food discount voucher when we bought the ticket, but that could hardly cover the dessert. The service at the restaurant was quick as most of the food were pre-prepared and bought as a complete meal. Seating area was unfortunately limited. I could see this as being a big issue on busy days.
The layout of the park was pretty easy to understand and the park map supplied at the entrance was helpful. The park could do with more shaded rest area and some misted fans. The heat was was intense and my back was sunburnt within half an hour.
Outside the park, there was a hotel and a water park being built. Those as well as a new shopping mall which was only half opened when as of yesterday. Parking was outside this mall, and to get to the entrance - only a single entrance opened - you had to walk about half a km from your parked car. There was no rail or regular bus service from JB City from what I've read. However, there were taxis seen at the mall, charging passengers through their nose for the services.
When the park opened, I was hoping to see some Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbeans feature as Lego had toys made for the franchise. But there were not much here. Maybe in future iterations. The other disappointment was the lack of exclusive Lego items on sale. Most of the toys sold here could be bought in KL. As for the T-shirts and other memorabilia, again nothing fought my eyes. The boys bought some toys for their cousins and for themselves at the exit, but again, nothing special here.
Would we come again? Maybe I would in a group. It seemed that the rides were not very interesting form my children, but that might change if they were there with their friends and cousins. The main put off would be the entrance fee, the hot sun and the crowd if they were to come during school holidays. Personally, in would like to find out a bit more about the coming attractions. As it was, it would take me a lot of persuasion before returning.
