In the toy world, the 54-year-old Lego brick is, well, a blockbuster.
In the world of themed attractions, the Danish brand is aiming, appropriately enough, for the small end of the scale. Atlanta's Legoland Discovery Center, which covers 35,000 square feet and opened March 17 in Phipps Plaza mall, is one of seven similar attractions around the world now open or launching this year.
The basic blueprint for each is the same: Offer a little something for everyone.
So I put together a group of folks to run Legoland through its paces: three young Lego fans, Owen Hall, 8, and Jackson Hall, 5, of Marietta, and my daughter Madeleine, 6. Also in our group were Owen and Jackson's parents, Will and Andrea Hall, and my colleague Tom Kelley, who is an expert on amusement parks.
We played, rode rides, built cars, towers and cupcakes, saw a movie and played some more. OK, we had a pretty good time. Here's our experience:
The rides
In keeping with the overall size of Legoland Discovery Center, the rides are smaller in scale than what you might expect to find at your average theme park.
Kingdom Quest: This interactive attraction takes you on an adventure to rescue a princess and save some dragon eggs. Along the way, you shoot at targets both static (spiders on the walls) and animated (Lego-style skeletons and trolls) and rack up points for bragging rights on who is the best shot in your four-person chariot.
The story line is simple, but a little hard to follow because you're concentrating on shooting targets. And some of the monsters and mystical elements might be too scary for preschoolers.
Merlin's Apprentice: This ride is a kind of carousel where riders pair off in seats that look like magic bikes. Push the pedals and your foot power will give you a lift, sending you soaring.
Be sure to have a staffer adjust your child's seat so he can reach the pedals. The 8-year-old in our party didn't enjoy this ride because he couldn't participate.
The verdict: Between the two rides, our kids seemed to prefer Kingdom Quest, but none of them asked to ride it a second time. But Merlin's Apprentice does have its appeal. One of my colleagues ended up riding it four times with his kids on their trip to Legoland.
Miniland
Thirty metro Atlanta landmarks get the Lego treatment in Miniland, which is undoubtedly the highlight of the Legoland attraction for adults. How can you not geek out a little when you see Turner Field full of little Lego people, or a miniature Georgia Aquarium nestled beside the Fox Theatre and the gold dome of the Capitol?
A few of the models are interactive and some of the cars roam the streets. Stick around long enough and you'll see the light shift from day to night and back again.
Master model builder Joshua Bohn says he plans to add about 700 more figures to Miniland and will do seasonal displays for holidays like Easter and Christmas.
The verdict: The kids liked Miniland, but not nearly as much as the adults.
The cinema
The attraction has three movies in constant rotation: "Clutch Powers 4-D Adventure," "Spellbreaker 4-D" and "Racers 4-D Movie." The 3-D glasses you get at the door will make the movie appear to jump out from the screen, but the special effects inside the theater put the "four" in 4-D. Expect to experience wind, water and even snow.
We saw "Clutch Powers," the favorite film of the staff at Legoland and the only one of the three films that features dialogue. The 10-minute film is an action adventure full of fun, gimmicky 3- and 4-D effects and a family-friendly lesson about teamwork.
"Spellbreaker" features the same kinds of mystical characters that appear in the Kingdom Quest attraction, so beware to those with preschoolers.
A new film starts about every 20 minutes and the TV screens in front of the theater give you a sneak peek of which one is on deck.
The verdict: The kids in our party said this was the highlight of their trip to Legoland. If "Clutch Powers" had been on repeat, we would have turned around and gone right back into the theater.
Lego Friends
An oasis of pink and purple in Legoland, the Lego Friends area offers kids a chance to make birthday cupcakes (of the plastic kind) and sing karaoke.
Lego karaoke? Well the Lego Friend character Andrea is a burgeoning singer, so it's not that much of a stretch. And it turns out that lots of little girls (and a few boys and adults) like to perform their favorite pop songs in public.
The karaoke stage features two microphones and a touch screen mounted in a lectern that faces the performers. The screen does double duty as song menu and lyric prompt. It's a self-service operation. But if you do need assistance, a Lego staffer is always around to help.
The verdict: This area didn't interest the boys in our party at all, but my daughter finally got the nerve to sing once she heard the karaoke system play a song she knew.
Master builder academy
Legoland's classroom aims to teach fans building techniques. Two adults and two children in our party took the class being offered that day, a 15-minute session on interlocking bricks. It's about as basic as Lego gets.
More interesting projects are on the way, according to master builder Bohn.
The verdict: We're looking forward to those more interesting projects.
Food
Lunch at Legoland's cafe is priced for non-consumption. I had planned on getting a meal there with my daughter until I saw that pizza was $4.50 a slice. The kids meal, which included a pre-packaged peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a side or two and a juice in a cute Lego box, was a whopping $15. You can buy that box alone in the adjacent Lego store for $8.
We ended up getting snacks: One a la carte PB&J ($1.70), a bag of chips ($1.50) and two Dasani waters ($2 each). But infrequent visitors to Phipps beware: The upscale mall does not have a typical food court. The only place to get lunch near Legoland right now is Moe's Southwest Grill (an adjacent Johnny Rockets isn't open yet).
The verdict: Next time, we'll plan our trip around lunch.
General impressions
For a relatively small space, Legoland packs in a lot of cool activities -- I don't even have room to go into detail about the earthquake tables, where you test your ability to build a structurally sound tower; the Racers area where you assemble and test cars; or the indoor playground where kids can climb, slide and play with oversize, soft Lego bricks. The playground was the only place our kids visited multiple times.
The layout of the attraction and staggered entrance times help the staff manage the flow of people. It was busy at midday on a Saturday, but not overly crowded. And even though both Kingdom Quest and Merlin's Apprentice are low-capacity rides, the wait times we experienced didn't exceed 10 minutes on either.
The only big downside is the main floor of Legoland -- being indoors and full of hard surfaces, kids and karaoke -- is very noisy. That alone might encourage you to pick an off-peak time to visit.
Lego has found the right formula for its Discovery Centers and the company executes it with the same precision as its plastic bricks. The Atlanta attraction is worth a visit -- and worth several if you plan on visiting the Buckhead area with any frequency.
Legoland Discovery Center Atlanta
Grade: B+
10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Last entrance is two hours prior to closing.
$19 (adults); $15 (children 3-12); free (children 2 and under). Annual passes are $60 per person or $200 for a family of four. Adults must be accompanied by a child. Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com. All tickets have a specific entry time.
Phipps Plaza (third level), 3500 Peachtree Road, Atlanta. 404-848-9252, www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/atlanta
Bottom line: Another top-tier attraction for Atlanta.
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