Kansas City’s Legoland brings out the kids in us

IMG_3778aYou never outgrow playing with legos.

And Legoland knows that.

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Legoland sets aside the third Monday evening of each month just for adults to visit the discovery center and “play” with legos.

Adults are not allowed in the Discovery Center without children during regular business hours. I think that’s a great safety policy.

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Lisa and I took a trip to the Kansas City Legoland recently and participated in the adults-only night.

It basically is a night of grown people playing with legos. But, you know, it was a great time.

We went basically because Lisa has been interested in going for a while – since the center opened at KC’s Crown Center Mall in 2012. We may have gone for Lisa, but both of us had fun.

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Since it was October, the center had a Halloween theme. There were jack-o-lanterns, bats, grave markers and other Halloween-themed decorations made from legos.

Not only did we walk around and check out the Lego designs, we got to play games.

We played a game called “Kingdom Quest.” It’s an amusement ride where you go through sections and use a laser gun to shoot bricks in walls and move on to the next area. It provides a 3-D experience – you shoot trolls and other targets with the laser guns.

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Afterward, we visited the seasonal decoration room. This room has a super-large pumpkin, made from legos. People were able to pose for pictures inside the pumpkin.

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Also, in the room was a cemetery. There were headstones made from legos with humorous names, such as General K Oss, Pearl E Gate and Willy B Back.

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The cemetery had Lego-made pumpkins, corn stalks, bats and even a Frankenstein monster head scattered about.

There were a few small tubs of orange Lego blocks in the room. People could play with the legos and maybe make some pumpkins. I tried. I failed. Instead, I made an orange walking bridge. Ha. Ha.

Moving along in the Discovery Center, we checked out other designs and looked at some of the children’s rides. Obviously, they were closed since they were not designed for adults. But, it was cool to see them. They gave us ideas on whether we thought our nieces and nephews would like them. We’re hoping to have them come with us for a weekend in Kansas City and visit Legoland. IMG_3740

Looking at the models on display was impressive. There is a display featuring characters from the “Wizard of Oz.”

Other models included a spaceship, a robot and a covered wagon.

Possibly the most amazing display of all was the section on the Kansas City area – featuring the skyline, sports attractions, as well as the World War I Liberty Tower.

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The skyline was poignant. Looking on from the Liberty Tower, you can see the tower, Union Station, Western Auto building (now an apartment building), Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Sprint Center and H&R Block building.

The model of the Country Club Plaza area was interesting. It included a model of the Nelson-Atkins art museum.

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The sports attractions include Kauffman Stadium (home of the KC Royals), Arrowhead Stadium (Chiefs), Kansas Speedway, and the Sporting KC soccer stadium.

Since Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz” was from Kansas, there is a Lego model of the Wizard’s story.

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The farm house sits silently, prior to the tornado that sent her and Toto the dog to Munchkinville.

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There is the scene where the house crashes in Oz, killing the wicked witch.

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Also included is the Emerald Palace, home of the Wizard.

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At the end of the display is the Wicked Witch’s castle.

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I didn’t notice right away, the floor in front of the display has a yellow-brick road on it.

The truly amazing thing is that all these models were made from legos.

The in-house artist, AKA the master designer, is from Omaha. Jeremiah Boehr has been with Legoland since the center opened in Kansas City.

Jeremiah (center) posed with Lisa and me
Jeremiah (center) posed with Lisa and me

He is the artist behind the models we viewed during the visit.

Jeremiah is a 2000 graduate of Millard West High School. He went to college at Truman State in Missouri.

The Omaha native has done an outstanding job in creating the artwork at Legoland.

Continuing on with our visit, we checked out one of the four movies offered at the cinema.

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We watched the 4D movie, “Spellbreaker.” The movie is 3D. The 4th D consisted of a slight breeze (fan) being blown on to the audience and snow (soap flakes). It was fun. The people in the theater laughed and joked throughout the movie. It added to the “adult” experience of the visit.

It seemed like a few of the others visiting have been there before on adult night. One guy seemed to know the routine of the movie, so our guess was that he was a regular. There were also people on dates.

We took part in a class on creating our own Lego model secret library door. We had the opportunity to buy the model for $5. Lisa bought hers. IMG_3875

At the end of the night, there was a raffle drawing for prizes created by Jeremiah. We each walked away with a small Lego model. Lisa had a Frankenstein windmill and monster. I took a small castle with a zombie outside of it.

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We had a great time! We think it’d be great to see Legoland’s Christmas decorations.

If you are interested in visiting Legoland, I strongly encourage it.

It’s open 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Sunday – Thursday. The hours are 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Admission is $19 per person age 13 and older. It’s $15 for kids 3-12. Children younger than 3 are free.

You can purchase tickets online for a few dollars less. I recommend this, as it will also reduce time possibly standing in the entrance line. You can skip the ticket counter if you buy tickets online.

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Legoland also offers birthday parties for kids. There are two programs available. For more information on birthday parties, please contact the discovery center staff.

For more information on the KC Legoland Discovery Center, please visit their website at:

www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/kansascity

So, if you are planning a trip to the Kansas City area, I strongly recommend a visit to Legoland. If you don’t have kids, rent one. Only kidding. The adult-only nights are worth the trip to the Fountain City.

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