When are you going? How old are your kids?
We have passes and go frequently with an almost-7yo girl. What I've seen lately is that the mornings / early afternoons are busy - 45 minutes for Project X, 30+ for the Lost Adventure (ride in cars and shoot things) ride. Lots of school groups / camps were there as seen by their matching t-shirts. They'll start to thin out around 2-3 in the afternoon. We went last Sunday at 6 (park closes at 8) and rode 11 things (some multiples) before closing.
If you want to do the whole park, it will take you the whole day. There's places where you wait in line, 3-4 shows, and places where the kids stop to play, both at playgrounds and at
lego play-spots. Saturday nights this summer they're doing fireworks, though I haven't seen them yet.
Wet rides are Wave Racers (though you can control how dry you stay and DD keeps it so we get slightly wet on the back of out shirts), Splash Battle (I always get wet, and the seats in the boats are wet, and both other boats and non-riders can shoot water cannons at you), a short, unthrilling log ride (Treasure Falls). There's also a few good wet areas - including a whole pirate ship (Soak Falls). If you're going to play in it, plan for it. There's lockers in the area if you don't want to tote towels/swimsuits all day. When she chooses, I'll take DD's swim things (and a book for me) and let her go play.
My top 3: Turn right when you get in unless you're staying all day - our favorite rides are Project X, Lost Adventure, Dragon, and Knight's Tournament. If you're going to be there all day, leave those for the end. Last weekend after 6 Project X and Lost Adventure were 15 minute waits, the other two were walk-ons. Must Do the Driving School - it's hysterical to see the excited 6yos and the bored/cool 12yos driving around. Last time my DD schooled some poor boy for going around her to go through a red light. Also tucked away in the back is the the Hideaways, a big wooden playground with multiple levels, nets, slides. And a 4th - the Lego Factory Tour. The automation's cool to see.
You do have the Sky Cruiser pedal cars and Kid Power Towers. Sky Cruiser always has a loooong wait. We've only done it once. We'd rather ride rides. Last Thursday we waited longer for Sky Cruiser than for Project X...and Project X we had to wait while they loaded and timed 2 new cars.
We've never spent any time in the Imagination Zone - many times they're closed when we go for school groups. Lego Mindstorms always fills up (reserve same day, for 3rd grade and above). We've also never seen any shows - we never seem to be in the right place at the right time.
Slow down and look in the bushes, etc. when you're there. There's butterflies, bears, ducks, and more hiding there. Buffalos hiding in shrubs. Giant giraffes with baseball hats. All sorts of cool stuff. Thomas, Darth, Bob the Builder, Bionicles, and more are all available for photo-ops.
Word of warning - there are NO girl lego sets in the ENTIRE PARK. If you're lucky there will be something in the by-the-pound section. Otherwise, nada. I keep asking, and keep getting told the last time they got sets was in February and they sold out right away. So if you have a girl, and want legos, buy them at DTD. Otherwise it's a few pink t-shirts, fairy costumes, ice cube trays, and prince / princess / unicorn stuffed animals.
Kind of disjointed, but if there's any other questions you have I'll be happy to help. I believe DD's going to petition to go tomorrow...again...but it's summer, we're 10 minutes away, and we're about to go on vacay so she's about to go into Fairy Tale Brook withdrawl.
Deb
