Legoland Discovery Center: Chicago, Illinios

My "summer bucket list" for 2013 included a visit to Legoland Discovery Center - Chicago.  Well, actually Schaumburg, IL but close enough.  Don't confuse this with the Lego store that is actually located in Chicago.  My son is a Lego maniac right now and my daughter likes to build with them too.  So, planning a visit for this summer was perfect!  

Here's our experience:

You can make so many things with Legos!

I highly recommend purchasing your tickets online before your visit!  At that time you select what hour of the day you want to start your visit (you can stay all day once you are in).  We picked 10:00 am (when they opened) and received "VIP" treatment over the people who didn't pre-purchased tickets.  The rates are cheaper when you buy them online and in advance.  However, some times you can find coupons that give a free kids admission per a full priced adult admission purchase.  The coupons I have seen can not be used online and I do not know how that rate compares to the online promotions.  

We purchased a family package (it was a deal going on at the time that I do not see online at the time of writing this post - included 4 tickets for a great price), a family hot dog meal package, and two activity packs.  

Activity packs:  these were $4 each.  They included a lego lanyard, coupons (the two we used saved us enough to cover what we paid for the activity packs), games, and a "scavenger hunt" type of game that ended with the kids getting a button in the store before we left.

Activity Pack

The coupons that were in our activity packs.
We did purchase a photo that they took of my family when we arrived.  With our $3 off coupon, we paid $12 for it.  They also took a picture while we were on a ride but the machine was broken for that.  For an extra $1 we were given a code to access our picture online for a digital copy.  The code was located on our receipt.  

Notice the circle in the bottom left corner?  This is part of the "scavenger hunt".
After your visit each station you will find a stamping station.
Stamp all of the stations (that are part of the hunt) and you will get a free button at the store.

Example of a stamping station.

Front and back picture of a "button" that you get after completing the scavenger hunt.
They do have a variety of themes to pick from.

More legos!

There is a "Lego Factory" that you visit.  Basically, you go into a room that has a small set-up of how things work.  They don't actually make the legos there but it is very entertaining and educational.  It was good enough to make my 6 year old think that they maybe do make some legos there ;-)

You get a sample lego on the way out.

Another station is a classroom.  Each session takes 40 minutes to complete.  You have to sign up for the sessions so you don't have to wait in line.  Just visit the staff person standing out side of the door to get signed up.  This is located on the second floor just to the left of the photo booth.

The kids built something from Star Wars.
You can either build and leave the item there or you can purchase it for $5.

They do a great job at entertaining and teaching even the littlest kids how to build!
The staff member builds at the desk and "students" can see everything she is doing on the TV monitor.

You can sign up for a free magazine subscription and kids club (one free subscription per household).
Not going to Legoland but interested in getting the magazines?
Call 866-534-6258 and give operator code "LD11".  That should give you the two free years membership!

These are the two magazines we got for free at Legoland.
I had never heard of them but my kids love the ones we were given!
We found these on the same display as the Lego Club sign-up.

There are 4D movies to watch!!! We figured out that there were 2 different movies that rotate through the day.  Check out the sign at the theater (2nd floor) to see what is playing next.  we saw both movies and really enjoyed it!

There are two rides in the building.  One is on 1st floor.  You ride in a car (holds 4 people) and shoot lasers and bad guys while you travel through the ride.  The second (pictured below) is a 2-person ride that moves you up and down in the air as you pedal.  It is not great when you are wear flip-flops - I thought it was more of a workout ;-)

There is a large section of the 2nd floor devoted to playing, building, and testing!

The 2nd floor also offers a cafeteria.  We purchased our family hot dog meal online.  It sounded like a great deal at the time (discounted price for purchasing in advance) but now I wish we would have just ordered when we got there.  The activity pack had a food discount package that would have helped us save.  They have a few food options and even some salads!  They also offer kids meals that include a mini figure!

Hot dogs are usually the safest way to go for my picky eaters.  But, these had poppy seed covered buns and the buns were stuck to the hot dog (my kids do not like buns).  So, they ate their chips and drank their beverages....

Hot dog & bun

The store was nice but we had visited the Logo store in Woodfield Mall the night before.  I actually preferred their options and pricing over the store in Legoland.  Don't forget to sign up for the Lego VIP program for great rewards and promotions.  We signed up the night before our visit while at the Lego store in Woodfield Mall.

We did buy these at Legoland.  They had a ton of options!
They were $5 each or 3 for $12.  I figured they would be cute additions to my kiddos backpacks.

They offer a variety of fun experiences.  Here is one that I thought may be interesting for older kids.

We stayed at the Comfort Suites in Schaumburg.  I found a great Groupon deal which peaked my interest.  The suites were nice and within 1 mile of every place we planned to visit.  They offered a good free breakfast (even had a mini waffle maker which we love)!  There were only two "negative" things about our stay:  the hot and cold water in our shower were hooked up backwards (was fine once we figured this out) and there was no open seating left when we headed down for breakfast.  All of these were minor so they can easily be worked around if you experience them.  Our room was great and clean!  Those are two important details for us.  My kids even made 2 friends during breakfast that joined us at Legoland for some fun memories.

We stopped at Woodfield Mall to eat dinner.

We did a little shopping in Woodfield Mall.

We ate lunch at Woodfield Mall.

AND - they have an IKEA!!!!!
This was my first visit to an Ikea but I had heard a lot about it.
I made sure the car was empty so we would have room to bring home our purchases!
LOVE this place!!!