Theme Parking: Almost Forty Inches

• During our recent trip to Legoland California, we were once again confronted with the minimum height requirement for several rides. I dutifully walked my daughter over to a sign post and asked her to stand under the height marker. Although her hair brushed the bar, she was still able to stand comfortably under the 40" mark. I looked at my wife and shook my head. We were almost there.


• No matter which park you go to, forty inches seems to be the threshold for the good rides. I don't know for certain why that number was chosen. Someone must have decided that, once some has reached that height, a person is less likely to flop out of a vehicle.


• We've been going to Disneyland for a couple of years now, each time with a tiny person in tow. As such, there are several rides that I have not been able to ride since our pre-child visit in 2005. Here is the list of rides that require that the rider be forty inches tall to ride (at least, the good ones):


• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Radiator Springs Racers
• Soarin' Over California
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Star Tours - The Adventures Continue


• That is several of the best rides in the parks that I haven't ridden in ten years. But did you notice Radiatior Springs Racers on there? That's right. It's the hottest ride in DCA and I don't even know what that ride is. Evidently there's a dark ride portion? I have no idea what to expect!


• For as long as I've held that little girl, I've wished that she wouldn't grow up quite so fast. But in this one instance, if she really wants to ride on the "Big Girl" rides, I'd be willing to let her grow up a little more.

Theme Parking: A Trip To Legoland California

• I can no longer recall how, but I came into possession of a Legoland California park map sometime in the last fifteen years. The old map is worn and creased, a souvenir from my unremembered benefactor's day at the park. I looked at it from time to time over the years and tried to imagine what the park would actually look like. But for as curious as I was, it was never that high on my list of vacation destinations.


• At least, until I had a daughter.

The entrance to Legoland California.

• My wife and I decided that we had waited long enough and it was time for a family vacation. Since we already held annual passes for the San Diego Zoo, it seemed prudent to plan a vacation around that area. My wife also loves the ocean, so that narrowed the options. And then, we remembered that Legoland is in that vicinity and our choice was settled. After a day in the zoo, we set out early Wednesday morning to explore this new-to-us theme park.


• I had been warned long ago that Legoland is a park that pitches its attractions much younger than Disneyland. Still, I was still shocked at the number of rides that our daughter was too short to ride. Making a right hand turn from the entrance took us into what seems to be the newest section of the park. Several of the attractions we ran across required her to be at least forty inches tall.

The smartest thing in the world.

• Of course, a little exploration led us to rides more her size: a cute little airplane ride, a swinging pirate ship, a Dumbo-like flying plane ride. In the Adventure zone, we found Legoland's version of a light-gun dark ride, Lost Kingdom Adventure. Castle Hill held the Royal Joust, a kiddie ride on a Lego horse. Our daughter enjoyed working out her energy in the Duplo play area. Our favorite area was probably Explorer Island, with the Safari Trek, Coastersaurus, and Fairy Trail Brook. Our daughter enjoyed the boat ride so much that she insisted that we ride it again the next day.


• The best thing that stood out to me were the play areas built into a couple of the ride queues to entertain waiting children. It was nice to let our daughter play and build Lego while we waited for the line to move. If there was one idea I would import into the Disney parks, it would be that.

Trains are magic, no matter how large or small.

• On Thursday we visited the water park and aquarium, much to our girl's delight. Legoland was interesting. Not a place I intend to visit often, but I can see us returning in a few years' time to maybe revisit some of what we missed the first time.