Via CTV News
An article on the CTV News website from Canada brought about a little known and rather stupid (in my opinion) rule of the LEGOLAND Discovery centers — “Adults must be accompanied by a child to visit the attraction.” (straight from the website).
And sure, its on the website, but John St-Onge didn’t even think about checking there before he and his adult daughter took the 3 hour drive to get to the Toronto attraction. And who would? I certainly didn’t when I was recently in Chicago for BrickWorld. I only found out when I was there that they would turn you away at the door.
I was almost curious to go and see if they really would turn me away, even though I have a Merlin Pass — which lets you into all the LEGOLAND parks and discovery centers in the US. No one mentioned this rule when they were upselling me the pass at LEGOLAND California, and of course they don’t turn non-accompanied adults away at the theme parks, they’d loose too much money. I did end up making it there, but I went with a friend and her kids, so there wasn’t an issue — for me.
Apparently to compensate for this, they have an “Adult’s Only” night once a month, but that too is rather stupid and weird in my opinion. I suppose I can see reasons for not allowing lone adults into a kid’s attraction, but still, its not like there are lots of dark corners in the tiny two story building that takes less than an hour to go through. And as far as I can tell, its only the Discovery Centers, they don’t have this rule at the SeaLife Center that is next door to LEGOLAND California. I guess its okay for adults to want to see fish, but heaven forbid they want to actually look at the LEGO models.
There is an alternative to going to the Discovery Centers — LEGO Conventions (which have many more interesting models anyways in my opinion). And I have it on good authority that Mr. St-Onge has been invited to BrickFete, Canada’s only LEGO Convention happening this weekend in Toronto. As it is an AFOL (Adult Fans of LEGO) event, all LEGO loving adults are welcome. 😉
I still haven’t made it up there yet, partially because I already go to five conventions a year, and partially because its too near to the San Diego Comic Con, which is happening next week. But from all that I’ve heard its a great show!
I feel sorry for Mr. St-Onge that he didn’t know ahead of time, so I’m posting it here — if you want to go to a LEGOLAND Discovery Center take a kid, or they won’t let you in. Not cool Merlin Entertainments, not cool at all.
Tags: Brickfete, BrickWorld, Canada, Chicago, LEGO, LEGO bricks, LEGOLAND, LEGOLAND California, LEGOLAND Discovery Center, Merlin Entertainments, Merlin Pass, Model Building Secrets, Sealife Center, Toronto
Modelbuildingsecrets's Weblog 
July 9, 2013 at 4:15 pm |
I was turned away at the Atlanta Discovery center in 2012. At the time, I couldn’t find anything on the web site indicating the rule, either.
July 9, 2013 at 5:07 pm |
I saw this earlier today on Gawker and was stunned. I have a Merlin pass, too. I’ve used it a few times to treat myself to a “no kids to keep track of” day at the park.
Will you have a table at SDCC?
July 10, 2013 at 2:20 am |
No I don’t have a booth at SDCC, but I will be there all of the days. I do visit the LEGO booth off and on during the show. If you would like to meet up, message me through my Facebook page and maybe we can.
July 10, 2013 at 2:24 am |
I knew about this rule before heading to the Discovery Center in Dallas after leaving Brick Fiesta a couple days ago. I only wanted to go to the store anyway. I gotta say, the store was poorly lit and stock seemed much less dense than any of the regular LBR stores I’ve been to. Also, the PaB wall was in disarray, with a number of bins empty and several having mixed pieces, including some really small pieces down where kids could get at them.
July 10, 2013 at 10:52 pm |
Reblogged this on Frog's Pad and commented:
Whilst I can see how the Lego group might think this is a good idea, it is of course not.
When I was planning Scout camps we would often go and visit the attractions ahead of time – partly to make sure we got our ‘pence per thrill’ from the venue (no one wants to hear “this sucks” after spending months organising) but also so that we had seen whatever it was before the Scouts blew through the whole thing in minutes as they headed for the shop at the end.
As yet Ive not been to a Discovery Centre – I have been to Legoland Windsor a couple of times – and whilst many of the rides didn’t appeal the models did… and in a location such as a theme park it becomes (in my opinion) art – and that transcends age barriers.
But of course there is a small twist in this story… it isn’t Lego, it’s the theme park company Merlin Entertainments, who can work out their own rules. Hey ho.
July 15, 2013 at 10:34 pm |
Yep. I “get” the rule, since there are adults-only nights. However, in Kansas City, we were turned away by a sad, rude, reeeaaallly smug lady who played it this way: She asks my fiancee and I, “Where are you going?”. We say, “Legoland!”. And she gleefully replies, “No you’re not!” etc… It ended with me scolding her in front of a crowd with (more or less), “Hey, we get it. You don’t need to talk down to us. I’m in my 30s and I like Lego.” Honestly, I felt bad for her. She never got out of that teenage camp counselor authority trip phase.