Wanted to start this thread as a general thing because I'll be heading to Disney in the winter and I've been to a lot of theme parks this year and just want to compare them a bit.
The wife is starting a new job next week, so with the gap we decided to take the little guy to the new(ish) Legoland in Goshen, NY, with an overnight stay at the attached hotel. Everything was awes - uh, everything was pretty good. Obviously being a Lego theme park there was a ton of statues and whatnot built from Lego, and much of the park featured oversized models of sets and pieces, specifically the ride vehicles. But I was also kind of surprised how much of it was paint or vinyl over regular architecture, the type of things I'd expect to see as fiberglass coverings at Disney, for example. I guess it makes sense from a costing standpoint, and if Lego ever decided they didn't like money and they wanted to get out of the theme park business, they could retheme it much easier to keep it open.
Honestly, the park's biggest failing is in overall topography - there's a 5 story difference between the upper section and the lower section, and while they've filled it in with Miniland, there's no real direct way to get from the lands below back up to the top. So, at the end of the day, wife and I are swapping the 4 year old who wants to be carried a half mile up the ramps. Not ideal. Also, a bunch of food stuff was closed as it's technically off-season, so I had a migraine by the end of the day. That being said, kiddo had fun, and it felt a bit like Story Land or Santa's Village in that the rides and attractions were clearly geared towards his age range - though Santa's Village specifically felt like a better time.
Also found it interesting that Miniland's small Boston was the Freedom Trail stuff - Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, etc. The Old Corner Bookstore with Chipotle signage was not something I was expecting to see.
The wife is starting a new job next week, so with the gap we decided to take the little guy to the new(ish) Legoland in Goshen, NY, with an overnight stay at the attached hotel. Everything was awes - uh, everything was pretty good. Obviously being a Lego theme park there was a ton of statues and whatnot built from Lego, and much of the park featured oversized models of sets and pieces, specifically the ride vehicles. But I was also kind of surprised how much of it was paint or vinyl over regular architecture, the type of things I'd expect to see as fiberglass coverings at Disney, for example. I guess it makes sense from a costing standpoint, and if Lego ever decided they didn't like money and they wanted to get out of the theme park business, they could retheme it much easier to keep it open.
Honestly, the park's biggest failing is in overall topography - there's a 5 story difference between the upper section and the lower section, and while they've filled it in with Miniland, there's no real direct way to get from the lands below back up to the top. So, at the end of the day, wife and I are swapping the 4 year old who wants to be carried a half mile up the ramps. Not ideal. Also, a bunch of food stuff was closed as it's technically off-season, so I had a migraine by the end of the day. That being said, kiddo had fun, and it felt a bit like Story Land or Santa's Village in that the rides and attractions were clearly geared towards his age range - though Santa's Village specifically felt like a better time.
Also found it interesting that Miniland's small Boston was the Freedom Trail stuff - Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, etc. The Old Corner Bookstore with Chipotle signage was not something I was expecting to see.