On July 2nd LEGOLAND California opened their most ambitious attractions to date. LEGO City: Deep Sea Adventure is a submarine ride through an aquarium filled with both LEGO models and living sea creatures. This experience draws on LEGOLAND’s Sea Life aquarium expertise and the talents of their master model builders to create an immersive ride experience. A touch screen treasure hunt game adds to the fun. This ride is the largest investment LEGOLAND’s parent company, Merlin Entertainment, has made in a LEGOLAND park to date and is sure to be entertaining guests for years to come. We were among the first guests through the queue and I have some thoughts I’d like to share.
The exterior of the new show building is designed to look like a sub base with a control tower and a LEGO helicopter on the roof. A waterfall featuring a sub crashing into the building is, kind of weird actually. I can’t tell exactly what’s supposed to be happening there. Is the sub crashing into the building? If the subs are in the building, how does that work? Like a lot of LEGOLAND theming, the story doesn’t make a lot of sense. But it’s colorful and fun, and that’s really a LEGO hallmark.
The exterior queue features several aquarium type infographics about various sea creatures and ways to help conserve them. Before entering the show building a green screen photo opp will have a $30 print waiting for you at the ride exit.
A timer counts down on the doors into the pre-show Mission Briefing room. A short video explains the touch screen treasure hunting game. It’s not super complicated. When you see a LEGO model of a pearl out your window, press the pearl icon on the screen. And so on with swords, crowns, gems, and treasures. The mission briefing opens into a short inside queue and the loading area.
I was not expecting the subs to load so quickly. I anticipated a stationary load and boarding process which would take a bit of time. What I got was an omnimover type deal where you kind of have to rush to get aboard. Once you are in the sub, you quickly find a seat while the ride is going.
And you better hurry to find a seat because this ride is short. LEGOLAND’s fact sheet gives a ride duration of only four minutes. And they’re not kidding. It’s almost not enough time to do anything. Watching for fish, watching for treasure, hitting the touch screen, reading about sea life on the screen, admiring the LEGO models. There’s a lot going on all at once. And then it’s over. I really think this one will require multiple rides to really appreciate everything that’s happening.
All the elements work well. The sea life is fun to see, especially as you are moving through it. The large LEGO model set pieces are nifty and create a great shipwreck scene. The touchscreen game and sea life info add a fun and educational element. But it goes by really quick. And I’m not sure how they fix that. Slow it down a bit perhaps, but that would lower capacity.
The ride exits to photo purchase and a gift shop. The gift shop has a fun smart projector screen game where you create a fish and it appears on the screen. You can watch it swim and give it some food.
This new ride, even with the drawbacks, really adds to the experience of LEGOLAND California. When the park opened in 1999 it was hard to justify as a full day park. This past weekend I spent the day there with cousins from out of town and we went all day, from 9-5, and still hadn’t hit a couple rides, the aquarium, or the water park. While the experiences aren’t as big as those at Disney or Universal parks, LEGOLAND has enough of them to get a really full day (or two, there are hotels after all) out of an admission. And at only $279 for a max level annual (includes admission to LEGOLAND parks in North America, Sea Life aquariums, LEGOLAND water parks, LEGO Discovery Centers, Madame Tussaud’s, discounts, 1 guest ticket, admission to the hard ticket Halloween parties) pass, it’s a great deal.
Are you a LEGOLAND fan? Planning to visit the new Deep Sea Adventure?
You must be logged in to post a comment.