Friday, June 21, 2013

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

106 comments:

  1. Seriously, this looked like such a fun place to visit with the kids. And thank you for sharing that there is one in Westchester, NY (Yonkers), which is about 30-35 minutes from us. May need to look into this as a day trip this summer for the kids. So thank you Rosey again!! :)

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    1. That's fun that you have one so close to you! Ours was a good four hours away. :) It was worth the trip though.

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    1. He was pretty great. They had so many neat things there. Even the dividers that hold the line separators were filled with Legos. :)

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  3. Lego Land Discovery Centre in Toronto just recently opened and I've been dying to go. It looks like so much fun.

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  4. Wow that is impressive, never knew it was like that. Congrats on beating them all with the laser too.

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    1. My super competitive bunch acted like they could care less about scores when mom won. -_- I'm surrounded by brats. :)

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  5. This looks like such an awesome place to take the kiddos. I wish there were a place like this close to us.

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  6. wow, I know where I need to get my boys whenever we go to america!
    I have a question, how do you watermark your pictures? ((I do not have photoshop))

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    1. I have a program (Pearl Mountain) but you can do it on regular paint too. At the top of your paint page there is a big letter 'A.' If you hover your mouse you'll see it says 'text.' Click that to place a box where you want text. Be sure to click 'save as' though (not just 'save') and rename it when you're done, so your original is untouched.

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  7. My boys would love this. They are huge Lego fans :)

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    1. I am too if they're not under my feet (those suckers hurt). ;)

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  8. I want to go. I would love to see this for real. How fun.

    Have a terrific day and weekend. ☺

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    1. I have so many questions, lol. My biggest one is what they use to keep them together. There's a lot of people in and out everyday, and I'm sure people touch the displays.

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  9. Those lego sculptures are freakin' awesome! Looks like so much fun!

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    1. They had a Taj Mahal in there that was awesome. The Chicago scene was great too and much larger than just the one pic I have up.

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  10. what a nice surprise for your son! id rather surprise them than tell them where we are going before. they tend to get more fun from it!

    Delightful Ideas

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    1. Agreed, they do enjoy it more if it's a surprise!

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  11. Woah, that spider is awesome! That place looks so neat. I think I'd have a great time there!

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    1. Legos do bring out the kid in you if you sit down and start fiddling with them. :)

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  12. What a great way to spend an afternoon!!
    http://www.howtosurvivelifeinthesuburbs.com/2013/06/how-not-to-shop-for-a-bikini.html

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    1. It was different which made it even nicer. :)

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  13. My so would love to visit Lego Land. Might have to make a day trip when we go to Disney in October.

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    1. Disney is so nice in October because it's not to hot! :)

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  14. Its amazing what people build with legos.

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  15. These are even more amazing than the Lego creations we'd come home to after hiring our gifted baby sitters.

    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com

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    1. Babysitters who Lego (instead of texting)? That's a dream come true!

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  16. Ummmmm.....AWESOME. My boys would LOVE that. They have a big lego store at Disney and that is always our first stop the day we arrive. It kills them having to wait a whole year to get back.

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    1. Downtown Disney has a lot of cool ones on display, we like to walk around and see those when we're visiting Disney. :)

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  17. I love that! I cannot believe how talented some people are with legos. Love looking at all of their creations. That really looks so fun :)

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    1. What a fun job to have if you like to create. :) They had a work shop there too w/the creators teaching the kids tips and things. We didn't go in but I thought that was a neat concept.

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  18. SO NEAT!! I've been wanting to take my son there the last couple years since he's really been into Legos, but it hasn't happened yet...hopefully one day! :-)

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    1. We kept saying we were going to go and never did. I'm glad we did this year. 5 was the perfect age for my little one. He literally liked everything that was there. :) They have a Duplo section too, for the little ones (at the stations). I thought that was considerate/smart/fun. :)

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  19. How awesome is that!?! LOVE that Batman, looks like such a fun day, thanks for sharing!

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  20. The Lego creations are really awesome Rosey! The persons who put them together are really talented.

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    1. I agree. No way I could even begin to do the work they did. It's amazing, really. :)

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  21. The things that people build out of legos are incredible! Such talent.

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  22. It's amazing what they can build out of Legos! I haven't been to Legoland, but was really impressed with the Lego creations they had in downtown Disney!

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  23. Our son isn't nearly old enough to enjoy it yet, but my husband sure would love to go.

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  24. that would be so much fun!!! i want to go so bad :) i love the lego displays...

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    1. They had funny ones too, like the upside down mean walking the walls w/hardhats on. :)

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  25. So I was like - I love to be a kid again for one day - lego land is such a fun and adorable place to be especially for some bonding time with your kids!

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    1. It is a nice way to just interact with the kids, you're right.

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  26. That looks so cool, but I'll tell you Dad's yawning shot sure is catchy. I can't stop yawning now. lol ... Sure looks like the little guy was having big time fun! I saw a lego Santa once, and it was oh, so cool! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Dad's a hoot. He falls asleep at movies and when he's getting his haircut. Always. And I think that's funny. But a short Lego movie??? I was surprised. And laughed at him. ;)

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  27. wow great pic's, amazing creations!

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  28. That's a cool place for kids this summer. My kids were asking us to go Legoland which is closer to us, like 30-40 minutes away from us here in CA.

    Jheylo http://www.beautyisintheeyeoftheb.com/?p=4810

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    1. Lego's are much bigger than ever I knew. Really. It's amazing how much they're loved. I can see why, but it's still amazing.

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  29. Replies
    1. Even the older ones would like it I think. There's a place to build Lego race cars and run them down the ramp track. We totally did that too. :)

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  30. my son would fall over and lose his mind. wish we lived closer to chicago!

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    1. They have tons of locations (at the bottom of the post). Maybe there's one closer to you. :)

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  31. I love your pictures! My son is a Lego fanatic... He would absolutely got nuts here! Amazing! :)

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    1. There was a huge gift shop w/every kind of Lego thing you can imagine. I thought that was cool too. :)

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  32. Replies
    1. Mine are 14 and 5 and they both got a kick out of it. :)

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  33. It's fun, even our teen enjoyed it (I was worried she'd be too old for it).

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  34. Those Lego creations are AMAZING! My grandsons would love to see everything!

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    1. I bet they would, Janet. :) I loved them and I'm grown. :)

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  35. Hot damn, you did it! I hope the one near us is just as cool. Our daughters will flip. They dragged out all the Mega Blocks today - mixed with Legos, natch - so I'd love to see the damage that they could do. :)

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    1. My son told me yesterday that he's going to ask for Legoland for Christmas. Not to visit it, he wants to have the whole place. -_-

      Santa's not that rich. ;)

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  36. They have lego creations in NYC in FAO Schwartz. So cool what they can do with legos

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    1. We've been right by FAO Scwartz and not walked in (still kicking myself for that too). :)

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  37. My daughter and I are going to Legoland Malaysia in October :). I think I'm more excited than she is.

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    1. This place was SUCH a hit with my little one!! I bet you'll both have a great time!

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  38. My son would love to visit Legoland, it looks like you had a wonderful time as well :)

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    1. We did, I hope you get to go soon. It's really fun for the kids. :)

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  39. We are going to the one in Kansas City next month! We're pretty excited. It's around a 3 hour drive from my parents' house. I think we are going to spend one night in Kansas City, so we can spend as long as we want there, and visit an aquarium while we are there as well.

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    1. I know you're going to have an awesome time! I'm glad you're going, Carla!

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  40. I want to go to a leogland so bad! Love the pics, sounds like a fun time!

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  41. so much fun!! your son looks like he had a blast! this makes me excited for when piper is older! :)
    xoxox

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    1. That place was fun, we had a great time building and racing cars on the ramps too. :)

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  42. This looks like a great place for us to take our grandson. We live about 3 hours away but I think it would be worth it.

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    1. We live a little further than that and it was worth it. :)

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  43. Wow!! that is such a great place!! We went to LegoLand in Orlando and it was such a beautiful site to see all you can make with Legos.

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    1. I've seen the Lego creations at Downtown Disney, but never LegoLand there, I'd love to go. :)

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  44. Ah! I didn't realize there was a Lego area in Chicago. A nice stop over for road trips to Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

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  45. My little nephew is so crazy for anything Lego's! He would so love this place and probly want to stay the night here. Looks like a great adventure for him!

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  46. thank you for sharing these great photos with us.my children would love to go to this.im hoping in the near future we get to go.

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  47. I didn't even know this was near the Chicago area. I am going to visit this museum of Lego's.

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  48. this place sounds amazing ty for sharing.

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  49. So cool! Gigantic Lego spiders, all kinds of interactive things, and a 4-D cinema? This would be an absolutely dream come true for so many kids (and kids at heart) that I know! It looks like you had fun. Thank you for sharing your experience, and your (very colorful) photos as well!

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  50. I would love to visit this Legoland Disovery Center if I ever get up to see family in the area. Maybe take my Great grand nephew, he'll be 4 next year, just about the right age.

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  51. We want to visit Chicago this coming year and Legoland Discovery Center is a must see for the kids!

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  52. Its so hard to wrap my mind around LEGO's and how much they have grown in the last 20= years. I can remember them as a pain to step on. No matter how hard you looked there was always one left. The things they build just mind blowing

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  53. My niece and nephew would love this.

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  54. It is so hard to believe how popular lego's are. I can remember they were fun when I was a kid but nothing like they are today

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  55. That looks like such a fun place to take kids to.
    slehan at juno dot com

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  56. This looks like the kids had fun. A couple years my niece wants to take her son to a legoland. He is a big fan

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  57. We have been here before and enjoyed it with the children!

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  58. I visited Chicago about 20 years ago when my sister lived nearby. I would enjoy visiting Legoland for sure.

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  59. I sure wish this was closer to us because my children would love it!

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  60. LegoLand is on our traveling plans for next Summer!
    kdraebellamy(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  61. My nephews would flip to see this! It does look fun.

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  62. I'm over 50 and I think I'd enjoy this place. I know my nephews would.

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  63. Its hard to believe that they can make so much from the simple lego block.The block parents hate to step on. I think this would be a fun place to visit

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