LEGO Discovery Center Dec 28

On December 28th, a couple days before my daughter's family headed back home to Oklahoma from their Christmas visit, we went on a family outing to the LEGOLAND  Discovery Center Bay Area at the Great Mall in Milpitas, CA. Seven of us, in two cars, drove the ~25 miles south west of our home in Livermore. Once arriving in the mall parking lot, spotting its location was not difficult. The entrance was obvious from the bright yellow exterior and Millie the Giraffe standing tall nearby.

My husband and I had taken our special needs adult son Alex there this past July but were not allowed to buy tickets and enter. The center's security and safety policy is that there must be a child as part of the group. They were very firm with that rule, but were also very nice in giving us a brief tour of what was within. We knew we wanted to come back and took the opportunity this Christmas for Alex's 10-yr-old niece Autumn and 7-yr-old nephew Isaiah to act as his hosts for entry. The following picture is from July when just my husband and I were there with Alex.

A far cry from July, the entry theme in December had a trio of snowmen, as a photo opportunity. My granddaughter Autumn, daughter Robin, and grandson Isaiah peeked through.

There was a DUPLO® wall for young builders to construct outward. Alex used some cantilevered "beams" on which to balance his vehicles. He also stored a canoe from a nearby LEGO® area on green, red, and purple DUPLOs.

Per Wikipedia, "... a Lego minifigure, commonly referred to as a minifig, is a small plastic articulated figurine produced by Danish toy manufacturer The Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978 and have been a success, with over 4 billion produced worldwide as of 2020." Scattered throughout the LEGO Discovery Center were a few "maxifigs(?)". Alex found a figure of his favorite animal, a bunny.

Alex also joined Isaiah and Autumn at the building tables for the standard size LEGOs.

Alex was pleased to show off his creations to Jeremy and enlist his help on future component selections.

Admittedly, a closeup of his building shows his creations to be more free form than those of Autumn and Isaiah, but all enjoyed the process, especially having spectators to cheer them on.

 

In the center of the Discovery Center was an entire MINILAND® exhibit that phased between daytime and nighttime lighting. Per the LEGOLAND Discovery Center website, "Spot the ghosts at the Winchester Mystery House, take in the views of the Golden Gate Bridge, or score a touchdown at the local football stadium - there is so much to discover in the Bay Area MINILAND! Our mischievous mini-figures can be found hiding throughout MINILAND - will you be able to spot them all?" Autumn loves a challenge and she was determined to find every last one of them.

With admission there was the option of purchasing an activity pack that was loaded with items to find, places to explore, and challenges to do. Autumn's goal was to complete the entire pack and earn all the badges possible. She is proudly wearing them at the end of the stay.  In one of the activities Autumn and her brother took a class in creativity, learning how to independently make a penguin; parents were not allowed in the class.

Isaiah's approach was to run joyfully from one section to another, taking in whatever he fancied at the moment, in addition to building, of course. One area was to test your reactions, another was a maze. Robin, Jeremy, Autumn, and Isaiah took a train ride and watched /experienced a 4D LEGO movie, one of four movie options. They wore 3D glasses and the 4th dimension was wind/snow/drizzle. Isaiah enjoyed his meet and greet with Gingy, the LEGOLAND Gingerbread figure who makes a special appearance around the Christmas holidays.

Alex enjoyed taking apart the LEGO bricks and putting them away. A true native born California boy at heart, he especially loved the seismic area with the DUPLOS. He rotated the dials to up the intensity and then dutifully went around to each station to return the bricks to their individual bins.

Alex also enjoyed the train ride twice with Frank and me and a movie, different from Autumn's and Isaiah's choice, gleefully squealing "Wet!" when sprinkled with water and clapping emphatically when bombarded by bubbles. The afternoon was a fun one for all. When we again find some kiddos we can borrow, we plan to take Alex to LEGO Discovery Center again.