Over Father’s Day weekend, I planned a surprise road trip for Hubby, the kiddo, and me. Our first stop was in Cumberland, Ohio to visit The Wilds. After spending the night in Cambridge, we drove to our our second stop on the trip – Legoland Discovery Center in Columbus.
My house is full of Duplos, and it’s only a matter of time before Legos take over my basement. My oldest nephew was obsessed with Legos, and could whip out the most complicated Star Wars Legos in a few hours when he was just five years old. My secret hope is that my kiddo will fall in love with Harry Potter so that we collect and build the Harry Potter Lego sets!
My Hubby loves to play blocks with the kiddo, and he’s just a big kid at heart, so Legoland Discovery Center seemed like a perfect place to spend Father’s Day! They also were running a promotion for free entry for fathers and grandfathers with a paid child so it was an economical option too! They also offer discounts for online, advanced purchases, and Legoland often runs promotions through Groupon so it’s worth looking into a discount before planning a trip!
The Legoland Discovery Center offers timed entry for crowd control, so we entered at our designated time, took pictures in front of the green screen, and went into a holding area where we got a video “tour” of a Lego factory, and got to practice making Legos. After the video, we were free to move into the actual Discovery Center and play!
Kingdom Quest is the first attraction in the Discovery Center, and is one of two rides. Kingdom Quest takes riders on a quest to save the princess, using lasers to hit targets and earn points (like Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters at Disney). Each car can seat five passengers, and it’s fun for the whole family! My kiddo liked the ride, but didn’t really understand shooting the lasers. Hubby and I had fun competing though. He won. Sigh.
After Kingdom Quest, we moved into Miniland to see all of the mini Lego displays, many of which were motorized and had buttons to make them move. The lighting also transitioned from day to night so the city “views” changed as well. The kiddo knew exactly what to do, and had fun pushing all the buttons to make the Legos light up and move! Hubby and I were impressed by the detail of the city structures.
After Miniland, head downstairs to the play zones, where visitors can play, play, play! There were areas to play with different kinds of Legos, and a Duplos area specifically for kids under age 5 with some large foam blocks for the younger kids. Kiddo immediately headed for that area and took over a wall to build his structures. Thankfully, it wasn’t crowded and we were able to play and build for a while.
Hubby especially enjoyed building Lego Racers and testing them on the track! Hubby and the kiddo play with Hot Wheels all the time at our house, so building their own cars and testing them on the different tracks was heaven. After a few crashes, their car won the race!
Hard at work building their racer 
Testing out the race car! 
In between playing with Legos, we went on the other ride, Merlin’s Apprentice. Kids have to be at least three feet tall to ride (with an adult) because riders have to pedal to make the cart go up and down! The faster you pedal, the higher you go – and the kiddo wanted to go high! The kiddo kept asking to go on again and again!
If the Legos and the rides aren’t enough, and your kiddo needs to burn off energy like mine, there’s a Construction Site Play Area. Socks are required, so make sure you have them! The kiddo loved climbing and sliding all by himself! For kids that aren’t big enough for that play area, there is a slide in the Duplo Village too!
We had so much fun at Legoland Discovery Center! The kiddo has been asking to go back since we left, so we may be making a trip again before we know it! Afterall, Columbus is less than two hours away! Legoland is great family entertainment for any Lego-loving kids (and their Lego-loving grown ups), and it’s easy to spend hours and hours playing. There are 11 Legoland Discovery Centers across the US (and one in Toronto), so find one that is close and visit with your family this weekend!
