SAN DIEGO — Southern California's most southerly theme parks — SeaWorld and Legoland — are often overlooked in favor of the more publicized amusement parks near Los Angeles. However, both San Diego area parks opened new attractions this year, and they seemed less crowded than their northern counterparts when my family and I were there in June.
SeaWorld San Diego has renamed itself an "adventure park," and it lives up to that billing with the addition of another wild entertainment feature.
Journey to Atlantis, SeaWorld's version of Disney's Splash Mountain, opened Memorial Day weekend. It takes park visitors to new heights, plus a 60-foot watery plunge, during a six-minute journey through a lost city.
Legoland, meanwhile, celebrates its fifth year with five new attractions. Besides the trio of new features in Dino Island, there's the Fun Town Fire Academy and the first new feature in its Miniland USA — two new replicas of Florida attractions, a Daytona International Speedway and the John F. Kennedy Space Center.
Here are highlights:
SeaWorld San Diego: It used to be you could do SeaWorld in a day. That's no longer the case. There's just too much to do. In addition to the mainstays like the Shamu killer whale adventure show, the Skytower Ride, Penguin Encounter, Shark Encounter and all the other traditional sea creature features, there's tons more to see.
While Journey to (Lost City of) Atlantis lacks the extensive theming a Disneyland ride would have, it is different enough from other SeaWorld attractions to stand on its own.
Located on the park's southeast side, it makes a good first ride. Even though the Greek-style fishing boats carry only eight people, the line moves surprisingly fast. Single or double riders are allowed to move ahead to hook up with groups of three or more.
An unusual elevator lifts riders to the top. The huge splash riders make after their free fall is an attraction of its own and is a magnet for kids who want to get drenched. You can purchase photographs of your plunge for under $10. Riders must be at least 42 inches tall.
P.S. Don't miss the underwater view of a 130,000-gallon dolphin tank, located at the edge of the ride.
Visitors seem to like it. "Response to this new ride has been extremely positive," Dave Koontz, director of public relations for SeaWorld San Diego, said.
Despite the park's other entertainment features — R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse 4-D, the Cirque de la Mer show and Shipwreck Rapids — he said the park is staying true to its mission of sea creature discovery and education. Atlantis is the response to surveys that parkgoers wanted more entertainment to go along with the educational things, he said.
The Haunted Lighthouse show is usually offered seven times daily and relies on 3-D glasses for amazing special effects. It stars Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson. However, this ghostly tale may be too intense for younger children.
The Cirque de la Mer show is filled with daring acrobatics, diving, fireworks and jet-ski action along the shoreline of Mission Bay.
Despite a trend at most amusement parks to shy away from playgrounds, SeaWorld has retained its Shamu's Happy Harbor, an extensive area loaded with apparatus that will delight elementary-age children.
"We staff the (play) area very well," Koontz said.
Summer is the most crowded season, but "the park can handle large crowds," he said. So many large shows going on . . . can diffuse crowds.
SeaWorld cooperates with amusement parks in the Los Angeles area, and visitors can benefit from multiple discounts if they visit more than one park.
SeaWorld has six restaurants and more than a dozen other attractions.
One downside we found on our visit is that the ticket windows moved unusually slow. Impatient guests may want to purchase tickets in advance online or by mail to avoid an extra 20-minute wait.
Another tip — even in summer, those who enter the Wild Arctic exhibit may need a jacket. Also, the Shipwreck rafts lack protective pouches for valuables, so protecting electronic devices is a concern.
Admission to SeaWorld is $49.75 for adults and $39.75 for children ages 3 through 9. Children 2 and under are free. Parking is $7. A combination ticket to go on the Sky Tower and Sky Ride costs $5 a person extra.
Combination passes for SeaWorld can be purchased for Universal Studios as well as San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park.
Extended summer hours are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
For more SeaWorld information, call 1-800-380-3203, or go online to: www.seaworld.com.
Legoland: This 128-acre theme park in Carlsbad is just five minutes from the Pacific Ocean, and while it is dedicated to families with children ages 2-12, it can excite older guests, too.
I went into Legoland with a chip on my shoulder. I thought I was too old for this park, that it was a teeny-bopper haven. Once I warmed up to its amazingly lifelike structures built entirely of Lego blocks and to some of its interactive attractions, I knew this was a place I would be happy to visit again.
While it is true that only one ride — the Lego Technic Test Track — gave me even a mild thrill in the sense of a regular amusement park ride, other features more than made up for it.
Families will delight in the competitive Fun Town Fire Academy. Teams of up to four parents and kids man four different fire trucks and race to put out a mock fire. You have to pump, railroad-car style, to get the truck to move, and then you have to pump again and aim a real water hose to put out a house fire. First team back to the starting line wins.
"The whole family works together," Stacy Slingerland, Legoland spokeswoman, said. "It's a ride for everyone."
Another gem of interactive action is the Kid Power Towers. Two riders per platform get to pull a rope and hoist themselves up to the tower top in another speed race. Kids love it.
The Bionicle Blaster is a fairly tame ride, until you add the fact that spectators can man one of four water blasters for free and soak riders at will — if they take their vehicle too far out in the lake.
Dino Island has a 20-mph Coastersaurus coaster that circles around animated dinosaurs made of Lego bricks, a sand pit to dig for dinosaur relics and a seasonal Raptor Splash feature.
The youngest of kids will love Duplo Playtown, a collection of tiny size houses, slides and the like that's ready for their exploration. Even older children will not easily leave the Hideaways, a wooden fantasy land of slides, tubes and adventure where parents can sit down and take a rest.
"These areas are very fun," Slingerland said. "And well-supervised."
Miniland's incredible models are a main reason why visitors need two days in the park. They are held together with special glue. The park has a staff of six master builders who maintain some 5,000 models and continually plan new ones.
You'll find replicas of portions of Washington, D.C., San Francisco, New York City. The new Florida replicas opened in mid-June, the first model additions since the park opened in 1999.
New York City's Grand Central Station took 2,678 hours and four model builders to construct, while the Hollywood Bowl model took two builders 18 months to create. The U.S. Capitol model is composed of 380,792 Lego bricks that would stand six miles high if they were stacked together.
Another Lego-constructed feature you may need to look for is a Volvo car. You'll have to touch it to believe it's not real.
Slingerland said Legoland is seeking public input on new things it should build in its Miniland.
Ride lines seem to get shorter later in the day, and Legoland has 13 restaurant and eateries, as well as 12 shops to purchase gifts and Legos in.
With more than 50 rides and shows, there is no way to do all of Legoland in a day. Especially because even its extended summer hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in July and August. Fortunately, two-day ticket prices are only $8 more than single-day prices. Off-season hours are usually 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Legoland is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the winter.
A one-day adult ticket costs $43.95 and is $36.96 for children, ages 3-12 and seniors, age 60 and up. Two-day ticket prices are $51.95 and $44.95 respectively. Parking is $7.
For more information, call 1-760-918-5346, or go online to: www.legolandca.com.
Various ticket discounts for SeaWorld and Legoland are available in travel brochures. A free California Fun Card, available through the California Tourism Department, will take $4 off both a SeaWorld and LegoLand admission per person.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com