-Brenda Hillegas
For six years, I took the bus to and from the Plymouth Meeting Mall every day. The pre-school I worked at was just another ten minute walk from there. I’ve seen plenty of stores come and go, spent countless hours at the mall killing time and spending money on another item of clothing I just didn’t need. And Chick-fil-A. I ate a lot of Chick-fil-A.
Now that I’m working for a well established magazine here in Philadelphia, I get invited to a lot of great events I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. Just last week, I was asked to come check out the newest Plymouth Meeting Mall anchor, the LEGOLAND Discovery Center.
Oh man, I was so thrilled. Not only for myself, but because I knew so many kiddos in the Plymouth Meeting area who were absolutely going to love this place. When I was working as a teacher, I can’t tell you how many times a parent would pick up their kid and mention that they were off to the mall to grab dinner or run errands. I knew this was the perfect place for something like LEGOLAND. With the recent closing of Macy’s and the family friendly Uncle Julio’s (RIP you sweet, delicious Mexican restaurant), LEGOLAND will hopefully bring out more visitors.
If you’ve been to the mall in recent years, you may remember a two-level food court area on the Boscov’s side. There wasn’t much left before LEGOLAND came along, which now covers 33,000 sq. ft. where the court used to be. This is a top-notch indoor LEGO® play experience. You don’t have to even visit to realize that. Families can create together, build together, play together. Inside, you’ll find:
–LEGO Ninjago Training Camp: Train through interactive and build challenge activities to improve your flexibility, agility, ingenuity and LEGO brick building skills to help protect NINJAGO from its marauding enemies.
-Imagination Express: An interactive LEGO ride that takes visitors on an adventure that starts at Brick Station and goes from a soapy bath all the way to outer space.
LEGO 4D Cinema: Guests will be on the edge of their seats as an incredible action adventure unfolds in 3D before their very eyes. The film comes to life in the fourth dimension as flurries of wind, rain, lightening and even snow burst into the auditorium!
MINILAND: Check out some iconic Philadelphia landmarks made entirely from LEGO bricks.
LEGO Creative Workshop: Throughout the day, guests can learn from our master builder through creative workshops. Each workshop lasts approximately 25 minutes and teaches a new LEGO building skill.
Pirate Adventure Island: Go on a swashbuckling quest in our soft play area aboard a LEGO-themed pirate ship. Adventure through whimsical scenarios as you climb the rigging, walk the plank and capture the flag! Activate air cannons to fight off enemy ships and amaze your matey, or escape down the slide to make it ashore to the island’s castle.
LEGO Friends: Help Olivia, Emma, Stephanie, Mia and Andrea build some of their favorite things to add to Heartlake City.
LEGO Racers – Build & Test: Let your imagination take over as you build your vehicle and take it to the ramps. Test your car and see how you can make it go faster! Once you have built the ultimate race car, time its speed on our test track. With times recorded to the hundredth of a second, it might be a close competition between you and your friends!
DUPLO® Park: Little builders can let their imaginations loose in our DUPLO® Park. Build a colorful DUPLO flower for the farmer’s garden, climb up a small hill and slide down the other side, or play on our special, big, soft bricks.
Earthquake Tables: Visitors can build their own LEGO skyscrapers and see if it can survive the shaking earthquake stimulating tables.
LEGOLAND also has a Build Challenge Circle where your children can listen to a story, use their imagination to build a LEGO creation, or meet with Bertie, the LEGO mascot. Do you or your children collect LEGO minifigures? Guests who bring their minifigures when they visit can trade with any of the LEGO team members (if you want to, that is). And of course, there’s a birthday party room and I imagine the requests are filling up fast! Bring extra cash so you can grab a drink or snacks at the LEGO Café, or pick up some of the latest LEGO products and exclusive items at the LEGO shop.
I wish I could give a more in-depth look at the newest addition to our area, but the morning of the LEGOLAND preview, I was forced to cancel my plans and stay home as a plumber scoped out my basement and fixed a leaky pipe (duct tape was working just fine, in my opinion). I was bummed to see so many friends and colleagues share there photos of the preview day on social media. The young man in this post’s feature image is my friend Jordan, who was one of my little toddler students oh so long ago at the preschool. Not only was I unable to fulfill a professional assignment for this blog (hey, this is a pretty good substitute, right?), I missed out on hanging with some pals I haven’t seen in a while! And Bertie, you handsome mascot, I hope we can meet and build together soon!
LEGOLAND officially opens this week, on April 6th. It’s just a short drive from Center City (you can take the 27 bus, like I did for many years, from Broad St. and Christian St. straight to the mall- shoot me an email, I’m happy to help you navigate). It’s also the perfect place for kids to blow off some steam, run out of energy, and certainly beat the summer heat. Single tickets and packages are available here. And if you’re texting all your friends trying to find a kid you can borrow so you can check out the place yourself, no need! Adults can visit in the evenings, without kids, during LEGOLAND’s adult nights which will begin in July and take place the third Thursday of every month. You’ll see me at the first one, for sure!
Thanks again to the LEGOLAND Plymouth Meeting team for the invite, and for sending over the images below to share with my readers!
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