Finally we made our way down south to Legoland Malaysia for a short stay. Based on a friend's recommendation, I booked a family room at Oak Valley Hotel, JB. The room is clean, basic and large enough for the 4 of us. Furnished with a King-size bed, super single bed, huge wardrobe, TV, desk and chair. An electrical jug is provided and complimentary mineral water (3 bottles).
Rates for the family room is RM115nett for members. Otherwise it's RM135nett. No surcharge for public holidays or peak periods. So I signed up as a member on the spot and paid RM50 cash annual membership fees. During check out, I paid RM440 for our 5D/4N stay there using my credit card. There's a launderette just beside the hotel. Within the vicinity, there is a vegetarian restaurant which opens for brekkie.
Simple, clean and basic bathroom with water heater and shower gel dispenser mounted on the wall. Will be staying here again the next time we visit Legoland i.e. when the water park opens in 2013.
In this blog post, I will share some tips which I've learnt from this trip:
Ample parking available at Legoland but it's unshaded. For early birds, try parking at the Mall of Medini carpark it's nearer to Legoland, plus there are a number of shady spots.
If you intend to redeem or to purchase your annual pass or to purchase day tickets, the ticketing counters open earlier so do arrive about 9am and start lining up. Once done, do take some photos at the Legoland arch or eat breakfast at Old Town White Coffee or KFC which are located within Mall of Medini.
Wear light clothing. Sunblock, caps and umbrellas are a must because it's super hot in Legoland! Strollers are available for rental - RM20 for a single one and RM30 for a double one which seats 2 persons.
Mascots will be around to meet and greet visitors just before the park gates open - you can get your photos taken with them once you enter but the mascots do make regular appearances in the park throughout the day so no worries if you didn't manage to snap a pic with them.
You can download the map of Legoland at their website so that you can plan your trip. Lego Technics Land is on the left side of the park. At the Lego Academy, Lego Mindstorms (Robotics) workshops start from 11am onwards for children aged 8 and above. Evan is not yet 8 but we managed to register him for both the workshops cos we were the first there and they didn't enquire his age. He really enjoyed the 45-minute workshops and has already decided that once he owns a robot, he's gonna program it do clean up his toys in his room.
So, if keen on the robotics workshops, get someone to head there first and register/book the slots. While waiting for the workshop to start, go for the roller coaster ride and power wave ride, also in Lego Technics or head straight to Adventure Land to beat the queues.
Scary looking ride at Dinosaur Land! But looks very fun! Popular rides like these are the ones that will have long queues.
Forgot to mention...at the Lego Academy, kids can play with Lego Duplo Education sets like these. Nice cooling air-cond environment inside. However, limited sets are available.
The Forbidden City in Beijing, China! Made entirely out of Lego bricks! Lots of monuments and architecture to photograph here in Miniland including our very own KL tower. Spend your evening here photographing all the details when the sun is not so blazing hot.
If you have younger kids and do not want to explore Lego Technics land first, then best to head off to Lego City..... lots of interesting stuff to do here.
Evan at senior driving school
Steer your own motorboat
Remote control boats - RM5 per token for about 2 minutes of play
Take a train ride around Legoland
Fire & Rescue department
There's a stall selling popcorn and ice cream
Lego City stage shows inside - but kinda boring.
So unless you have time, don't watch.
At Imagination Land, do not miss watching the 4D movies. Screening starts at 11am. Each show is about 20-25minutes. 3 different movies available. Expect long queues for this so to save time, take away food from cafes and eat while lining up. Talking about food, expect lots of french fries and fast food here in Legoland...... if theme park food is not your cup of tea, then head out of Legoland to the Mall of Medini for food e.g. KFC, Old Town White Coffee, Manhattan Fish Markets etc.
Otherwise, if no choice and hunger pangs strike in Legoland, do visit Knight's Feast for grilled food. The grilled chicken and sausages are worth the queue. The Cafe at The Beginning also serves healthy sandwiches made on the spot. Choose from a variety of breads e.g. foccacia, ciabatta etc and fillings e.g. cheese, turkey ham, tuna etc.
In Legoland, there's lots of free play area for kids. In Imagination land, there's a Duplo Play Town for the younger kids with slides, play houses and a train ride! For the older kids, there's the Shipyard (Lego City), Forestman's Hideout (Lego Kingdoms) and Pharoah's Revenge (Lego Adventureland).
Another great place for free play and Lego building is inside Build & Play where kids can build Duplo structures and test their stability with an earthquake simulator or build vehicles and have a race with other kids.
Legoland souveniers are super pricey but they do have really cool knights' costumes for both boys and girls. But don't buy Lego sets there cos all are at normal price. Buy online at BrickBastion.com where members (free membership) get 10% discount plus loyalty points plus free shipping for orders above RM250.
Next year, Legoland will be opening its water park and in 2014, the Legoland Hotel will open its doors. Will wait for the water park to open before making out 2nd visit there and drop by Hello Kitty town nearby at Puteri Harbour as well.
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