This is what a theme park built for children looks like: Kids are driving slow one-seater toy cars while their parents watch from the sidelines. They are steering boats, turning water cannons on each other, playing with Lego toys while their parents hold their place in line for a ride. The roller coasters are not too high, not too fast. There are no teens necking in dark corners.
The park is Legoland California, near San Diego. Its sister park was set to open this weekend in Winter Haven, Fla., about 40 miles from Orlando. It will be the only major park in Central Florida designed for ages 2-12.
Legoland avoids heart-in-your-throat roller coasters or rides with complicated story lines and expensive cutting-edge visuals.
What it does have is statuary and cityscapes built of Lego parts and rides that look like they were.
It has attractions that demand a little more participation by the kids -- hoist yourself up a tower with a rope on a pulley; steer a boat that is not on tracks; shoot a stream of water at a fake fire; clamber up a chute made of rope mesh.
It has "pink-knuckle" rides, small coasters just fast enough to give a youngster a thrill but not so scary that the small knuckles gripping a safety bar turn white.
And it has plenty of opportunities to play with -- and buy -- Lego toys.
"The whole proposition is about bringing the Lego toy to life and creating an interactive world," said Peter Ronchetti, general manager of Legoland California. The park's target age of 2 to 12 "is an age where children use their active imaginations. That is the environment we create for them."
