Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Legoland California

It is hard to give Legoland a review when we went to Disneyland the next day.  Disneyland has such detail in everything and most everything is well maintained.

I found the hours to be very restrictive.  They opened at 10am when we went and closed at 5.  It takes a little bit to get a feel for the park when it is your first time.  Once you do then you only have a small amount of time to get a goodly number of things in.

We went to Legoland on a Monday in early to mid May.  It wasn't too crowded, but they also had rides where half the seating for the rides was shut down.  Perhaps that was because it was a slower time of year for them, but it did significantly impact wait times on some of the more popular rides.

One thing I just found that is interesting that Disneyland doesn't appear to offer is a Google Street View through the park http://california.legoland.com/explore/google_street_view/.

After reviewing things after the fact I am seeing several things on their web site that we did not go see that could've been interesting.  I did not realize you could take a tour of the Lego factory.

The rides at Legoland that I went on were all very tight for me to get my legs into.  I'm just over 6 feet tall.  I don't think that is an uncommon height.  It made for a couple of potential safety issues.  As the rides spun you around my knees were banging into things which could've caused injury.  Also, as I entered and exited the rides there was potential for me to fall as it was difficult to keep my body stable.  Just to be clear, the resolution is not to make maximum height restrictions on the rides, since there are many people that will be over six feet tall or have long legs that will come to the park with their kids.  Restricting who can ride would decrease the value of their experience.  Disney's rides were tighter than they should've been, but Legoland was worse.

Land of Adventure
Beetle Bounce
My nine and up kids seemed to enjoy this ride.  It had a bench that seated six or eight people.  It had a bar that came down and secured you.  Then the bench would ride up and down much like an elevator, except that it didn't go all the way to the top before bringing you part way back down.  It would go up and down at varying speeds and bounce you.  My nine year old boy liked it, even though he would hunch over the security pad and wrap his arms around it as if he was terrified.  He went back on it several times.  I think the
wait time was ten minutes at most for this ride.  They could've trimmed that significantly, by having the entire ride operating.  There was only one pole giving people rides.  There was at least one other pole there and it was not in use.

Cargo Ace
This was my seven year old daughter's favorite ride.  It is several little planes that fly in an oval low to the ground.  On the long side of the oval it is just a flat ride.  As you curve at the end of the oval it tilts you up in the air slightly, banks, and increases in speed.  Then quickly slows back down on the straight away.  I don't like spinning, jerky, get your tummy rides and this was nice for me, other than my knees banging into the metal front of the cockpit.

Dune Raiders
This was basically just a stick your feet in a bag and ride down a big slide.  As big slides go, it wasn't that big. Again the bag was difficult for me to fit in, but it was a nice simple ride.


Fun Town
Skipper School
This ride was drained and not functioning when we were there.  Not sure what the issue was.  Maybe it was under maintenance, which I saw no one working on it, or perhaps it was a cost cutting measure during the off season.  Seems like they would want off seasoners to have a good experience too, so they can keep people coming to the park all year.  This was not our experience.

Sky Patrol
This was a slow ride that had a little helicopter that was pushed up in the air by a pole under it.  It went up and then turned a little.  I could tell if the kids had control over the turning and/or the height they went up, but it appeared that it was possible that they did.

Volvo Driving Schools
This was was a confusing attraction.  They had two courses.  One for kids 3-5 years old and one for older kids.  Our kids were interested and they got in line and then we started seeing signs that seemed to indicate that you had to get them a license to participate.  The license appeared to be five dollars and then something extra that we didn't understand, so we gave up.  Not really a great advertisement for Volvo.

It looked like when we got into the park there was VIP parking for anyone driving a Volvo. It was weird and I don't understand the connection to Volvo and Lego.  Maybe Volvo purchased them at some point.

Pirate Shores
Captain Cranky's Challenge
This ride is a small pirate ship.  It starts out swinging the bow and the stern back and forth.  It then turns you sideways and slides on that same track.  I was expecting big swings which I don't like, so I was very apprehensive.  Once I realized that it wasn't going to be as bad I liked the ride, but by that time it was over.

Splash Battle
This ride was pretty lame.  The cannon they give you to shoot the other players on the ride can rarely reach them.  You ride the little boat around a predefined track.

The one potential great thing about this ride is that the cannon is positioned that when you turn one of the corners the water will reach the walkway outside the ride.  Not even people in line for the ride, but just people trying to find their way around the park.  I had a really good shot at an unsuspecting mom with a stroller and a couple of kids, but I did not take it because I felt bad and I had no child riding with me to blame it on.

Treasure Falls
This ride was good for those that walk a baby coaster experience, because they can't stomach regular coasters.  People like me.  You around in this water trough and drop and splash a couple of times.  I was apprehensive about the drops at first, but they weren't bad.  A little jolting, which I don't like, but not bad.

The bad thing is that the seat is terrible uncomfortable.  As I recall it was a fairly thin piece of wood or metal barely big enough to sit on.

Castle Hills
Hideaways
This was one of our favorites.  It is a huge multilevel play structure.  Things to walk, climb, and swing on.  one might call it a jungle gym.

There was a single file entrance/exit and an attendant that wouldn't allow children to leave without a grown up.

There was a lot of seating, but it was most on knee high curbs keeping in shrubbery.  There was one three person bench, but was taken up by a young couple making out.

Knights Tournament
This was one of my twelve and fifteen year old kids' favorites.  It was a robot arm that articulated into varying different configuration to twist and turn the two seater at the end of the arm.  It was an interesting concept.

They had four arms, but only two of them were being used.  I think my kids waited as much as a half hour to get on it.

The ride had four or five levels.  Level one did not turn you upside down.  The higher levels turned you upside sound and twisted and turned you about at increasing amounts depending on what level you chose to experience when you got on the ride.

Royal Joust
This ride consisted of a slow moving Lego horse on a track that wound through a courtyard.  There were voices that played as you went through the course.  It was nice for my youngest, but boring for the nine and twelve year old.

The Dragon
The waiting line sent you into a castle.  I didn't go on the ride, but I think there was stuff to look at while you waited in there.

The ride was a very basic roller coaster.  It had a little speed with relatively mild twists, turns, leans, and hill.

Wild Woods Golf
This was a miniature golf course.  We skipped it, since it appeared to cost extra.

Granny's Apple Fries
There was an interesting food concept that I saw people walking around with.  They appeared to be a small French fry looking box with thin sliced fried apples in it with a plop of whipped cream or frosting on the side for dipping them in.  I would've like to try them, but the portion was small and pricey.

Imagination Zone
Aquazone Wave Racer
This was a nice little ride, but very basic.  You ride in this little jet ski sized thing.  It was nice because you stand.  It made it easy to get in and out of and also to ride as you didn't have to pack yourself into it.  It stood two people, maybe three if they are small.  The back person had a comfy mess thing to lean on.  It was very nice.

It gave you the opportunity to get a little wet.  While you road spectators could press buttons and make little explosions in the water.  It didn't get you a ton wet, but it gave the spectators some fun to try.

The ride was a attached to a circular thing that spun you around.  It wasn't very exciting, but if you wanted more excitement you could turn your steering while out and swing the vehicle away from the dock and get a little centrifugal force thrill and your feet get a little wet too when you do that.

Bionicle Blaster
These were little spinning pods much like the tea cups at Disneyland.  These pods were shaped with Bionicle parts.  It was a decent ride and I think all of my kids liked it.

Lego Technic Coaster
The concept they were pretending here is that you were testing an experimental vehicle.  You road in this dune buggy sort of thing on a roller coaster track.  It had big hills, speed, twists, turns, and the whole bit.  They even take your picture at the big part and try to sell it to you.

I was standing and trying to take pictures, but really had no good vantage point.  Afterward I saw the pictures they had taken on the screen.  I didn't need a profession photo.  A picture of these screen would've been good enough for me, but as I was trying to take it the girl behind the counter was yelling to me to not take pictures of the pictures.  For some reason I let her sway me and I really regret it.  Do they really have a right to tell me I can't?

I contrast this with the Disneyland experience.  Disney is called the happiest place on Earth.  One of the reasons for that is how they deal with situations such as this.  At least one of the Disney's rides let me email the pictures they took of me on the ride if I wanted, to myself for free.  Also, at Disneyland where there were places where they had professional photographers that would sell you the pictures they took with their camera, they encouraged you to take your own pictures too and the Disney staff would take them for you.  I don't think the pro photographer was volunteering to use our camera to get a shot, but the employee running us through the place did.  If you want a pro shot, it was there, but you weren't forced as the only way to record your experience.

The Disneyland photo experience kept me relaxed and unpressed.  The Legoland experience not only tensed me, but made me angry.  Anger is a very much oppositional emotion to happiness and contentment.

Miniland
Miniland USA
This was a large area where there are miniature Lego creations of various parts of the United States.  It was very interesting.  My wife and son took a picture in front of Times Square.  When I looked at the photo of them for a second it looked like they were standing in the actually Times Square.  Then I noticed the slug bug made out of Legos behind them.

Miniland Star Wars
This was a nice little area where there were Lego replicas of scenes and places from the Star Wars movies and TV shows.

Monday, May 16, 2011

California

I passed through California on the way to Oregon when I was in my twenties traveling with my father-in-law and my wife's cousin to do some camping and such.  I didn't notice the things I noticed on the trip I took this time, probably because I was young and someone else was driving.

This week I went to Disneyland with my wife and four kids.

I was had trepidations of buying gas in California, due to all the environmental controls they have.  I figured gas would be a lot more expensive.  I was right.  We got gas in Nevada at $3.89.  A couple of hours later we saw a gas station in California and it was $4.33.

Shortly after we crossed the California border there was an agriculture check point where they asked if I had animals or produce.  I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing it was for export and import taxes.  It is like going to another country when you go to California.  It is also ridiculous at all the taxes.  In addition to the taxes on gas there was 17% tax on our hotel room.  A 17% tax on anything is insane.

I worked for an oil company a couple of years ago, which purchased an oil refinery in California.  It took years to get it in compliance with all of the California regulations.

I also coded software to bring that refinery onto our software system.  There were so many complications in dealing with labor.

It has felt somewhat this way, but more so when I went there, that California seems like a different country.

Alpine Inn, Anahiem, CA

We went to Alpine Inn to stay while visiting Legoland, Disneyland, and Huntington Beach last week.

I had made reservations a month or so before.  They seemed to have the best price in the area for those places to stay that were in walking distance of the Disneyland gate.  Several others said they were closer to the park, but were in fact misleading people, since they were not within walking distance of the gate.  Their property just happened to be the closest to Disneyland's property, but there was no way to get into Disneyland on that side of the park.

It was interesting that the one that I almost made a reservation with that touted being closet to Disneyland that was only close due to property lines and not location to the gate also had the most reviews dealing with being dirty.  Are their misleading marketing tactics and their lack of keeping their place clean and repaired symptoms of the same problem of lack of ethics?  Are they more looking to trick people to coming there, rather than provide a good experience to their customers to inspire them to come back.

I called to confirm the reservation a couple of weeks ago, since I am a little paranoid and I have seen the Seinfeld episode where Jerry makes a reservation, but the company he made the reservation with was unable to hold the reservation and when he got there he had no car or hotel or flight or whatever he had reserved.  Alpine Inn still had it. I was going to call as we were getting close to Anaheim while we were drive, but I got lazy.  Thankfully everything was in place when we got there.  I was also grateful that they didn't try anything tricky like change the rates on us.

Alpine Inn is smack up against the back of California Adventure.  We could see the tops of a couple of rides like the Mickey Fun Wheel ferris wheel sort of thing and California Screamin.  The noise was not bad from the park.  Occasionally you would hear mild screams in the distance from people coming over the top of one of the rides and rolling down the other side, but it was not intrusive.  The park closes around 8 or 9, so that stopped before it became a problem for sleeping anyway.  Daylight savings time and the neighbors returning from the park were way more intrusive on sleeping.  Sleeping was pretty much the top priority after driving all day and taking the kids swimming.

The drive was about 10 hours or so from Ogden, Utah.  It took us more like 12 since we stopped to see the LDS temples in Saint George, Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada.

The driveway was easy to get into pulling in right off of Katalla Avenue, but there were several problems with the parking lot and driving in general.

People pull in off of Katalla quickly to get out of traffic and they are right where one of the stairways to get upstairs is.  If they stop under the canopy to check in at the office, things are fine, but I did not see anyone stop and park in front of the door.  Also those stairs are kitty corner to the entrance to the swimming pool, so kids are likely to run across from the pool to the stairs and not look and possibly have an issue with cars coming in.

The parking lot is small and cramped.  I don't think there was one parking space for each room.  The parking spaces were also close together.  It was difficult to navigate around the parking lot, which is necessary, since one side is enter only and the other side is exit only in a horseshoe.

Another problem we had with driving in this location was that if I wanted to go left I had to go right and then u-turn.  I'm not sure at this point if this is a California problem or just some of the places we visited here.  I think I saw this in every city we visited Anaheim, Carlsbad, and Huntington Beach.

The swimming pool was decent.  It was outdoor, but it was heated somewhat.  It was in the upper 60s in the evening and it was still comfortable to swim in.  It was much less comfortable when you got out.  The jets that let in the heated water were very warm and felt good on the back after driving so much.

The water depth of the pool went from three feet to nine feet.  The deep end seemed to slope in from the sides and many times I would jump in it felt more like seven and a half or eight feet.  It was a small rectangular pool and was great for just me and my four kids.  At one point we had another family that was there that had five kids in with us and it was good, but that was because we had made friends with them when we first got there and we had very similar ways of behaving and similar values.  Had there been more people in it or people we did not have a relationship with, it would've gotten crowded quickly.  Nonetheless, people come to go to Disney, I suppose, and not to swim in the motel pool.

The entrance of the Alpine Inn is done up like a chalet, but as soon as you drive into the parking lot it is just one typical motel horseshoe.

We had a two bedroom queen room.  It was just big enough to get around with 2 beds, a TV, a night stand, a little desk, a sick, a mini fridge, and a microwave.  The bathroom was very small, but livable.

The room was clean.  We had two adults and four kids in the room.  Most places I called would not allow this.  Alpine said on the phone it was fine.  No one gave us hassle when we got here, but there were signs about, saying that the room could only have four people in it.  Not sure what the fire issue is with having two people sleeping on the floor or three people in each bed.  To me it seemed more like a scam to get people to rent bigger rooms.  I'm not sure that the scam was the motels, but maybe the governments to get people to spend more money.

There was a threatening sign about not smoking posted outside our room door.  I did not see one next to anyone else's door.  On the one hand it was weird to be singled out.  On the other hand it was kind of nice to know that we could be proud that the sign was entirely irrelevant to us.  There were people below us that would come out and smoke and when we would be on the balcony we would have to deal with the stench of smoke.  Maybe I should've moved the sign to their door.  :-)

After we made a few bags of microwave popcorn and changed the settings here and there to help it, we found that the microwave was incapable of completely popping a bag of popcorn.  We tried popping it longer on high and all it did was burn it.  We tried turning the power down and it burned it with even less getting popped.

The microwave did heat other foods sufficiently.

There was a decent sized mini fridge in the room.  We could fit most everything we brought in our cooler in it without much trouble.

There were two trash cans in the room.  One under the vanity outside the bathroom and a slightly smaller one in the bathroom.  It is true that we had six people in a room they set up for four people, but a third trash can located on the other side of the room would've been a nice convenience.  When you are sitting at the little desk or if someone is using the vanity it would be an added convenience without much extra expense to the motel.

There was a Subway restaurant, a 7 11, and a convenience market sort of thing on the way to the main gate, about five minutes walking distance from the inn.  There were also several other restaurants in the area.

As I review things now, as I write this, I see on their web site that they offer a complimentary breakfast.  They don't use the word continental, but they do use the word breakfast.

There was indeed a something that could be called a breakfast of sorts.  It consisted of tiny cups for orange juice, cocoa, coffee, and sugary plastic wrapped pastries.  The orange juice was in a big tub dispenser with a spout, which worked well, but the cups should've been bigger.  The pastries were hardly sufficient for anyone starting an entire day of walking and playing in a theme park.  They were pretty much empty calories that did not stick with us very long once we got going and were heavy and not satisfying.  The cocoa was in packets and they had a coffee jug filled with hot water to use to mix the cocoa yourself in the tiny cups.

As I had researched hotels and inns in the area it appeared to be one of the most inexpensive in the area that  didn't have rotten reviews about being filthy.  It was only about ten minutes from the Disneyland east gate and 15 or so from the ticket stations inside the gate.  If they are going to offer appliances in the room I would prefer that they work, but it would not preclude me from coming here again.  It is hard to argue with getting the best price around and accommodating the six members of my family without making us take a bigger room than we needed.