Legoland Discovery Center - Chicago

Just outside of Chicago (in Schaumburg) is the Legoland Discovery Center.  We have lightly discussed going there for the last couple of years, and this time actually made the trip.  Our youngest had no clue where we were going and was pretty excited when we pulled up and it dawned on him that the big giraffe meant tons of Lego fun was in his immediate future.

Batman welcomes visitors at the front door. The whole time we were there I couldn't help but wonder just how long it took to create the items on display. Definitely a lot of time and effort went into everything they had out to see.

The tickets are reasonably priced at $21 a person (2 and under free), or $15 a person if you pre-purchase online. If you go after 3pm and have pre-paid online it's $12 per person (over age 2). Once you're in, you can stay as long as your little heart desires. Our son would have stayed forever, but we nixed that because we had other things to do. ;) We did spend a good few hours in there though, and it was a lot of fun.

The jungle tour, complete with Indiana Jones was a big hit with both of the kids.

I thought everything was great, but some of the Lego creations really struck me as being amazing, like Mr. Friendly above (the little Legoman coming up for the sneak attack behind him is being a little too brave, m'thinks).

The first floor also had a drive-through ride (Kingdom Quest) that let you competitively shoot a laser gun at things from beginning to end. Not to brag here, but I smoked everyone in the family on this ride...twice. hehehe

Upstairs there were tons of hands-on activities for the kiddos to do. There was a ride that went up and down if you pedaled it, while swinging around in a big circle. You can see the first time my two went on, the oldest was scared her brother was too small. She held his hand the whole time. Towards the end of the visit, he was riding with his hands in the air. ;)

There were stations everywhere for Lego building.  All four of us spent a good amount of time building, though my teen wasn't overly thrilled w/photos at that point, and kept turning her head. She made a great Jamaican colored castle (an idea spawned by seeing a cab driver on the freeway with a Jamaican hat). I wish she'd have acquiesced to a picture, but she didn't, so you only have my word that it was the ultimate in cool. :)

There were opportunities aplenty to burn energy too, most notably in the padded pit.

The 4-D cinema was a hit, and I think my daughter liked it more than anyone (though my son loved it). We went twice (two different movies). The movies were interactive with wind blowing on you, water sprinkling you, and things like that happening while you watched. Dad got tired waaaaaaay before any of the rest of us did and actually fell asleep during the second movie. These things happen when you get up there in the years (hehe). ;)

What a couple of scaredy cats. ;)

There are other things to do, like the learning workshop that teaches you tips and tricks to building (taught by the team who made the creations you've just seen). We didn't have time to attend, but it sounded interesting. There's a big gift shop on the way out if you're interested in taking Legos home.

We went to the Legoland Discovery Center in Chicago, but there are others: Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Kansas City, and Westchester. There is also one in Canada (Toronto), two in Germany (Berlin and Oberhausen), one in the United Kingdom (Manchester), and one in Japan (Tokyo).

The website and social media links are below if you want to check them out for yourself.

Website: http://www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/chicago/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ldcchicago
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LDCChicago