Exciting Legoland Rides and Activities for Older Kids (Ages 8+)

Is Legoland for older kids, too? YES!!!

Not only do the interests of different children vary widely, but the physical size of children varies greatly. Thus, one child may be able to go on a ride with a "42 inch minimum height" a year or two earlier than another.

Legoland has been working hard to please tween visitors in the last several years---and they've made some good progress!











Just a few years ago, there was an article in the Orange County Register, a popular Southern California daily newspaper, about the financial woes that Legoland was having. Legoland was even thinking about selling off the park at that time! The biggest problem they were facing is that their customers---meaning the kids---were completely outgrowing the park by the age of 10. While the Legoland folks knew they'd probably NEVER appeal to teens, they did want to extend the age range of kids who'd want to attend the park.







Giving older kids something to do makes especially good sense in California---where there's so much competition in the theme park arena. So, Legoland went to work fixing this problem. A new thrill ride was added in the Knight's Kingdom area of the park...the Knight's Tournament, which you'll read about in the next section of this page. Then an all-ages water play area was added. In the Mindstorms building, an older-kids robotics lab was expanded. (You can see the Mindstorms lab building in the photo to your left...with its interesting figure of Einstein's head made entirely out of Legos!)

After reading this page, I think you'll agree that these days, there are, indeed, many things that older kids can do at Legoland Park!

Legoland Rides for ages 8+ ----- " Knight's Kingdom" Area

The scenario for the ride---which is in the medieval-themed Knight's Kingdom section of the park---is that you, the rider, are part of a fight between Knights-of-old, and a Knight is waving you around in his fist, brandishing you like you were a sword or a mace ball!

What the ride actually resembles more is a bunch of robotic arms sticking up into the air, waving riders in frenzied claws that might drop them at any second. The tilting of the ride cars can turn the passengers upside-down and get them truly frightened---which is EXACTLY what the park's older-kid customers want!



Still, to please their big base of younger customers, parents may choose a milder version of the ride for their families---which WON'T strike terror into the hearts of younger riders. (However, many of the park's younger visitors will be excluded from riding, anyhow, by this ride's 40" minimum height requirement.)

Unfortunately, this ride must break down easily. (?) In my 2 trips to Legoland since the ride was installed, it was "out of operation" both times!






The other Legoland ride in the Knight's Kingdom themed area that draws older kids "like flies" is The Dragon roller coaster. This ride has a 40" height minimum, just as does the Knight's Tournament ride. The waiting queue snakes through an imagination-stirring "medieval" castle...and OF COURSE you'll see a made-of-Legos dragon inside of it---complete with some steamy special effects that make the dragon appear to be exhaling smoke.

Once aboard the coaster itself, you'll wind along a fun track through a tree-and-greenery filled garden, reaching speeds up to 26 MPH. You'll pass more whimsical made-of-Legos creatures spaced throughout the garden---if you're not whizzing along too fast to look at them!

Legoland Rides for ages 8+ --- "Imagination Zone" Area

LEGO TECHNIC TEST TRACK: The "Lego Technic Test Track" thrill ride is the Imagination Zone's centerpiece...and it's the tallest roller coaster in the theme park! Your tween may not wish to venture any further until he or she has ridden it!

The scenario for the "Lego Technic Test Track" is this: Lego makes a line of moderately difficult-to-assemble vehicles (called the Lego Technic line) that's geared towards the more-skillful abilities of older children. So, supposedly your ride car on this coaster has just been built from one of these kits, and you're headed to test it out on this daunting track!

The minimum height for riders is 42"---the ride does go high up into the air and make some thrilling plunges, so this is certainly a sensible requirement. The ride cars are individual units (rather than a coaster train) and will seat a party of 4.


AQUAZONE WAVE RACER: Another ride that's a tween magnet is the ride you see in the photo to your right---The Aquazone Wave Racers. As you already surely know, tweens think it's great fun to get wet...and that's just how you're gonna get when you ride the Aquazone Wave Racers!

The fact that your little "air boat" will send up a splash as it zips across the pond is only a PART of the deluge you may receive. There are also "geysers" of water that pop up unexpectedly every now and then, sending an extra spray your way. And, even worse, squirt cannons (when they're in operation on the warmer days) can be aimed at you by the spectators along the sidelines!

Still, if it's a warm day, "go for it!" This ia a unique ride that you're not going to find at other California theme parks. The minimum height for the Aquazone Wave Racers is 40 inches.


*BIONICLES BLASTERS RIDE: Another Legoland ride with a 42-inch minimum height requirement is the Bionicles Blasters. You'll get into a round ride car that spins around and around in a circle, reminiscent of the Mad Tea Party ride at Disneyland Park. The ride area is decorated with giant-sized Bionicles characters...with whom you might want to snap a picture!

*Both Bionicles kits and Lego Technic building kits are available in the stores at Legoland Park! Since the rides at San Diego's Legoland are themed after these lines of Lego toys, you may want to learn a little bit about these toys.

With the Bionicles construction kits, your child can make a number of interesting-looking aliens with odd-sounding names and strange shapes. Then, there's the "Lego Technic" line of Lego kits, which are truly exciting. Your child can build interesting vehicles such as fork lifts, motorcycles, dump trucks, cranes and excavators---that all have real working parts, like pneumatically-operated booms that raise and lower, and/or steering mechanisms. Plus, all of the vehicles can be re-built into at least one other (different) vehicle. The Lego Technic kits are impressive. This Lego line of toys can be a perfect fit for kids who love to construct things.

Lego Mindstorms Robot Lab!

You won't be able to "come and go as you please" at the Lego Mindstorms lab. Guests are admitted to the Mindstorm Robot Lab in "sessions"...and your tween or teen will need to be listed on the session's roster to be admitted. So, first thing when you enter the Legoland Park in the morning, you'll want to head to the Mindstorms attraction to schedule a session time for this popular attraction.

When it's your child's turn to enter the lab, he or she will get to build a computerized robot---that will really follow commands!



Of course, this attraction is themed after still ANOTHER Lego product...also called Mindstorms. For curious youngsters, "Mindstorms" is an inventive, mind-stimulating product. Actually, if you are raising a bright child who's always baffling you as to what you're going to do next to provide him with the mental stimulation he/she needs, getting a Lego Mindstorms robot may be just what you're hunting.

The current Lego Mindstorms robot...called Mindstorms NXT...is actually more REAL robot and less "toy" than you can possibly imagine. Visually, it LOOKS like a real robot. And, it ACTS like you'd expect a robot to act. The Mindstorms NXT robot responds to both lights and sounds, and has touch sensors, as well. It's the perfect parent-child project...although parents need to "hang loose" and prepare to be shown-up by bright children! (Being raised in this age of computers, kids sometimes have a knack for things that parents can't quite "get!") With a Mindstorms NXT robot kit in-hand, your child won't just be a kid putting Lego parts together. He/she will feel...and be...a budding scientist!

With an older at-home Mindstorms version, your child got to build a minimum of 3 different computerized robots that actually move and function on their own (to the pre-programming that your child sets!) Note: The kit didn't come with enough parts to build all 3 robots at once; your child had to tear the first one apart to build the second one, etc.

One robot in the Mindstorms home kit was a Candy Sorter. The second was a Robotic Arm. The third was called an "Artbot," which actually drew pictures (geometric designs)! It accomplished this by using its tires to drive in a pre-determined path, carrying a drawing pen along with it as it rolls!

The older Lego Mindstorms basic kit cost $199...though, considering the complex parts that you got with the kit, it did seem like a good value. Though I don't believe this older Mindstorms robot kit is currently being offered by the Lego company itself, it can sometimes be found on sites like EBay.

Note: If your child already has been working at home with a Mindstorms kit, you'll be pleasantly surprised to know that at the Legoland Park's lab, projects will get even more involved and intense. Your son or daughter can build robots at Legoland that do even more complicated things from their at-home cousins. (However, it is NOT necessary to have prior at-home experience with Mindstorm Kits in order to have a successful session in the theme park's lab. Each session begins with an instructional period. Next, kids start building their robots...but with the instructor making rounds to help the students continually.) Does this sound like a great learning activity? Well, indeed it is! Note: Legoland warns winter visitors that the Mindstorms lab may be closed for several hours at a time if a school group visits!

Bionicles Lab; PC Games; Lego Race Track; 4D Movie

1.) BIONICLES FUN! One hands-on area is the "Bioncical Evolution" lab, where kids can construct their own Bionicles characters.

2.) BUILD LEGO CARS! Another lab is the "Build And Test" center where kids can construct a simple race car, then test its performance on a small track.

3.) LEGO VIDEO GAMES! Is your tween a video game lover? Legoland has a PC lab...where every PC is loaded with Lego Video Games! At this computer center---called the "Maniac Challence"---kids can come enjoy such games as Bionicles, Drome Racers, Islands 2, Racers @, Lego Friends, Lego Chess or Soccer Mania.

4.) EXCITING 4D MOVIE! Last, but certainly not least, the Imagination Zone has a "4D" movie called "Lego Racers 4D." (This attraction has no minimum height, so it's open to all ages. However, it's particularly interesting to the "tween" age group.) As with any 3D movie, various elements within the movie itself will seem to "pop out" at you as you view the show. And the 4D part? That refers to special effects within the theater itself. In the case of Lego Racers 4D, these special effects include fog, smoke, wind and mist which will arise in the theater at the same time they appear in the movie itself. The Lego Racers 4D movie is held in the Lego Show Place Theater, and seats a nice-sized crowd of 400 guests at each performance.

Legoland Rides for ages 8+ -- "Fun Town" Area

This ride does require some minimum basic physical strength, and has a minimum height requirement of 40", so there are indeed some good reasons why this ride is for older kids only.

Other rides in Fun Town that might be of interest to older kids are: The Volvo Driving School, which accepts riders ages 6 through 13 only; and the Sky Cruiser...a pedal-it-yourself ride on a sky-high track. I'll be discussing the Sky Cruiser (and the Volvo Driving School, too) in the next section. The Sky Cruiser accepts riders with only a 36" minimum height. Frankly, however, the ride takes quite a bit of stamina to pedal down its long track, and if you ride with a younger child, YOU'LL be doing all that pedaling---by yourself!

Lego Bionicles Discounts on Ebay

In the Ebay Widget below, you can see current auctions of Lego Bionicles toys. When one auction ends, another new auction moves in to fill its place. In other words, by the next time you reach this page, you'll have a whole new assortment of Bionicles to look through! (Or, if you're looking for a different product, simply type what you're hunting into the search box at the top of the widget.)

Explore other Legoland topics:   General info: Legoland Discount Ticket Info ::   Discount Hotels near Legoland ::   Suites/Condos near Legoland ::   Legoland Hours ::   Legoland Attractions: Legoland Park overview ::   Legoland rides for ages 8+ ::   Legoland attractions for ages 5--8 ::   Legoland activities for Preschoolers ::   Legoland's Miniland Cities ::   Lego Miniland Cities, part 2 ::   Legoland Cruise ::   Legoland's Sea Life Aquarium::   Holidays: Legoland Halloween Fun ::   Legoland Christmas ::

Discover a different SoCal theme park: Disneyland Park :: Disney's California Adventure Park :: Knott's Berry Farm Park :: SeaWorld San Diego :: Six Flags Magic Mountain :: Universal Studios Hollywood

Plan a different family activity:   SoCal Attractions Overview ::   Beaches ::   Camping ::   Christmas Fun ::   Contests ::   Family Fun Centers ::   Halloween Fun ::   Hollywood fun ::   Parks ::   Restaurants ::   Road Trips ::   San Diego Fun ::   Shopping ::   Outlet Shopping ::   Theaters ::   Theme Parks ::   Water Parks ::   Zoos ::

Begin a new search:

	Enter your search termsSubmit search form
	Web www.family-vacation-getaways-at-los-angeles-theme-parks.com