Legoland!

When I was correspondent for CBS, I was assigned a story about a place in Enfield, Connecticut where they design all those cool "people" for Legoland. In typical CBS screwed-up style, the link combines two, different stories I did at CBS and put them into one story. Uh... wrong. 

Actually, that's kind of fitting because the story itself was a bit of a mess. First off, I had a brand, new producer working with me named Alison. She later became one of the strongest producers I know, but like all of us, she had to learn the ropes. She didn't research how long the drive would be, figuring anything in Connecticut is an hour or so away. Big mistake. This turned out to be a 3-hour drive so we were running very late. She'd planned a "walk-and-talk" through the facility. Unfortunately, the woman we were to interview was crippled and walked with braces and two canes. We were off to a bad start.

Believe it or not, things only got worse.

One of the designers walked out of his office with his brand new creation, Kobe Bryant's head. "I JUST finished it. I haven't even glued it together," glowed the designer, obviously quite proud of what he'd done. And why not? It looked exactly like Kobe Bryant. I mean, it was a dead ringer.

Our freelance photographer picked up his camera to get a shot of it and somehow hit the thing and it went flying into the air. It seemed to be moving in slow motion, end over end, and I swear I could hear "Chariots of Fire" playing in the background as we all tried to grab it to no avail. The head crashed to the floor and Legos flew every which way. The designer said, "It's okay. I can do it again," as he fought back tears. I was mortified.

Ever since, I've had a hankering to see all those designs at Legoland. I finally got my chance today!

When we told friends we were going to Legoland, everybody had something to say, none of it too positive. "You're crazy!" "It'll be a madhouse!" "All the rides won't be open yet." 

That's because Legoland Malaysia's grand opening was last weekend. Truth is, we wanted to go for the grand opening, but the bus service from Singapore wasn't all that operational just yet. So we waited and gave it a whirl weekend two. 

Verdict? Wonderful!

Amazingly, the place wasn't crowed at all. The longest we waited for a ride was 15 minutes, though we skipped the one long line for one of the boat rides. Maisie drove a car, rode a plane, a boat and so much more. By the way, I am now officially terrified of Maisie getting a driver's licences. She is a terrible driver! 

Maisie's absolute favorite part of the day was riding these "jousting ponies," goofy Lego-like horses that went around on a track. Our horse-loving girl rode three times in a row because nobody else was waiting! 

Maisie's absolute favorite part of the day was riding these "jousting ponies," goofy Lego-like horses that went around on a track. Our horse-loving girl rode three times in a row because nobody else was waiting! 

Daddy did most of the rides with Maisie (bummer for me), but Maisie and I did a thing where were were supposed to pump our rescue truck from one end to another, get out, put out a fire, get back in and pump back, all the while racing against other families. We came in dead last. I'm pretty sure ours was broken. Heh heh.

Tom and I each separately did The Dragon, the big roller coaster (short, but fun), because there was absolutely no line at all. 

Hudson was too little for most rides, but luckily he napped while Maisie did some stuff. There were a few rides that he could do, too, and he loved it as much as she did. There were several really great playgrounds including one fashioned like a big boat and one like an old fort that they both absolutely adored. I think Hudson's favorite part of the day was the giant room where you get to build your own Lego car and then race it down a ramp against other little kids' cars. He wailed when it was time to leave - until he was the next fun thing to do. He also got to play in a fountain while Maisie did the boat/water ride. 

We rode in a car that went in a "cave" slowly making it's way through display with all these glow-in-the dark Lego creatures. We all got laser guns and were supposed to use the lasers to hit the green lights. That made it fun for the adults. The eye candy was supposed to be enough for kids, however, Maisie was pretty scared even though it was the mildest thing I've ever seen. She later told me, "It was dark and slimy." She did say that she wants to try it again and try not to be too scared next time. Yea for her!

I was a little bummed because I was hoping to do this big boat splash ride, but both kids were too little and the line was incredibly long. That's because it was really hot there. All the great shaded areas and air-conditioned rooms just doesn't take that away. Amusement parks are exhausting no matter what. Add in the heat and I feel like I played football against the NY Giants.

The major difference between this Legoland and another? The heat is bad. Some of the toilets are the kinds where you squat and wash yourself with a hose (though they had Western toilets, too). Miniland was only Asian buildings like Angkor Wat.

I really loved Miniland which is a "town" of a bunch of Asian architectural wonders made out of Legos. I actually saw some things I didn't know existed and would like to see in person if we move here for good! I still find it absolutely amazing that people can make all this stuff out of little tiny toy bricks. Unfortunately, the only shot I got was from a distance, taken from the train. Wah! Tom, however, got a few shots with his phone. I've tried to upload some of the images and, hopefully, they'll work on this site.

Of course, the kids came home with the obligatory Lego toys: Maisie got one of the new "Friends" toys designed just for little girls. Hudson was psyched to get a firetruck.

Getting there was a bit of a pain. We took a bus service which was actually incredibly organized. While Legoland is only 20 minutes into Malaysia from the Singapore border, you still have to go through the border which means two different stops - one through the customs in Singapore and one through the customs in Malaysia. At each, you have to get off the bus, go inside, get in a long line, get your passport stamped, reboard the bus. An hour drive because two hours.

Sadly, I took my little camera and it broke half way through the park. That'll teach me to travel light! The only picture we got of the family is the one above - where Tom is cranking Hudson's head around and Maisie is giving her best, weird smile. Tom nabbed a few pix on his camera so that helped some. 

Even so, I think our first foray into the world of amusement parks was a great success.  (UPDATE: The next day I was sick as a dog. Tom thinks it was food poisoning from Legoland! Oh no!)

And in case you're wondering, the answer is no - I never saw Kobe Bryant.