LEGOLAND Discovery Center Annual Pass? - Boston or other

[atmail35]

They are opening a Discovery Center in Boston. I'm trying to decide if it is worth buying an annual pass ($63) for me. My daughter is 9, is she too old for the DC? She has been to LEGOLAND CA.

I figured if we went 3x a year and spent some $ in the store (10% off), it might be worth it. If we go as a family of 3, I can use the b1g1 free child admission for kid/husband.

Does anyone have the annual pass at another center? Do you like it?

Thanks!

[melsig]

Well, I have the annual pass, but I kind of got it by accident. The DC center near me was running a special after Christmas last year - if you bought $400 worth of merchandise, they would give you a family pass for free. They just happened to have the MF Zombie set (9465) still in stock - probably one of the last places you could still buy it at retail - as well as PotC QAR. Add in a couple of the new sets my son wanted and it was kind of a no-brainer. Having said that, we did use it 3-4 times, and once you have it, renewing the pass is cheaper (I can't remember what we paid, but I calculated we would more than break even by going twice, so it seemed worth it.) You get a punch card of a freebie per visit - like a free drink or you get to keep your Academy build (or whatever they're actually called) - for up to I think 10 visits. The kids' meals at the concessions stands come with a minifig.

My son is 8 now and he still likes the free build area, the movie theater (although we have seen Clutch Powers 4D a gazillion times now) and the Academy builds that you have to sign up to do. The last time we were there, my son built a mini-space shuttle (if you want to keep what you build, though, they charge you $4). He refuses to take the factory tour with me anymore (I'm the one who likes the seasonal bricks they give out during the tour, but he could care less, sigh). He goes on the two rides they have, but only once per visit. Oh, and they often have a challenge booth within the free build area, where you design something, then show whoever's supervising and the person will give the child a small prize. For example, my son built a robot one visit and received a little Friends hedgehog as a prize.

I don't know if that's helpful???

[melsig]

Oh, they also have special events like Star Wars weekends, where Darth Vader etc. will show up, and they have special activities, but we have never managed to make one of those...

[atmail35]

Thanks so much melsig!

The kids' meals at the concessions stands come with a minifig.

What? That is awesome! The kids meals at LEGOLAND CA don't come with a minifig!

The last time we were there, my son built a mini-space shuttle (if you want to keep what you build, though, they charge you $4).

Sounds like a good deal.

He refuses to take the factory tour with me anymore (I'm the one who likes the seasonal bricks they give out during the tour, but he could care less, sigh).

What? Free bricks?

For example, my son built a robot one visit and received a little Friends hedgehog as a prize.

More free stuff? Awesome.

I think I might get the one pass, since we are a family of 3, the family pass doesn't make sense $wise.

How long do you typically stay? I'm afraid it will be super busy once it opens. It's not too far from us, but not a great drive.

[melsig]

What? That is awesome! The kids meals at LEGOLAND CA don't come with a minifig![/quote]

Well, they're the plain ones with a plain red body and blue legs. Still, he's still happy to add them to his box of figs!

Sounds like a good deal.

The Academy builds are pretty small, just a little bigger than the monthly builds at the LEGO store. Still, I guess they'd be on par with a poly...

What? Free bricks?

"DUPLO bricks are for babies!"

I think I might get the one pass, since we are a family of 3, the family pass doesn't make sense $wise.

How long do you typically stay? I'm afraid it will be super busy once it opens. It's not too far from us, but not a great drive.

I can understand that - I was going to do the same, originally, until they had that Family pass offer.

Chicago is usually pretty busy, even though it's not new. Best to go right around when they open. Usually, we stay until 1-2pm. By then the crowds are often heavy enough that even my son isn't all that interested in staying. That's plenty of time to explore. It's not a great drive for us either, but there's other stuff in the area, so we try to do other things too when we head out there. I expect we'll go a total of 3-4 times this year.

Basically the DC is like a super-limited version of LEGOLAND (I've only been to the one in Florida) - a couple rides, a LEGO Miniland of the home city, a walkthrough LEGO jungle and they opened a Mini-Star Wars Miniland at ours in the past year (I think it's been a year?), plus the theater, Factory, build areas and the Academy sessions. Definitely not bad for a LEGO-mad child of the right age!

[vynsane]

Just to clarify - the LDCs are usually pretty small, at least when compared to the parks. Most people don't realize that and expect a sprawling indoor amusement park or something.

The Schaumberg (Chicago) LDC was the first one we ever went to and I wasn't sure what to expect. My daughter had a great time, but I was surprised that it wasn't bigger. Still, I would say it was worth the price of admission. We went sort of late in the day on a weekday (since we were on vacation) so it was not very crowded at all. I think we had missed whatever building activity they had planned for the day. The miniland can hold the attention of an older child, but I'd say younger kids won't get much out of it.

[atmail35]

melsig, thanks for the additional info.

vynsane, good to know. The admission price seems reasonable compared to other area museums, aquariums etc., but it does sound bigger than that it might actually be (sort of like LEGO sets look bigger on the box then when you build them). LOL.

The Boston annual pass includes: LEGOLAND® Discovery Center Boston Annual Pass Preview Weekend. You will receive an invitation closer to opening.

However, if I'm the only passholder, I'm not sure we could go (plus it is really close to opening so it may have passed).

[atmail35]

Looks like they sold out of the discounted ($63 vs $70) annual passes. I think I will wait and see if they offer a deal.

melsig, did you know about the free AP deal before you went and were you able to use the pass for that visit?

The Boston one will be busy so I may let it die down before we attempt to go. Although I saw a spot on Chronicle and it looks like fun. We met the Master Builder, Ian at the Braintree May Mini Model Build.

I'm thinking that any deals on the AP might not happen for a bit since it is so new and it seems like it is already at capacity for the month of May.

[atmail35]

I'd love to hear some reviews!

I hear that the wait can be long even tough you buy a ticket for a 30 minute entrance window. Also sounds like coupons are not being accepted (from Facebook).

[melsig]

melsig, did you know about the free AP deal before you went and were you able to use the pass for that visit?

Sorry, I didn't see your question until now! No, it was a deal of opportunity for us - they had big signs outside advertising it. You can enter the store without entering the DC, so I was able to make my purchases and get the passes before entering.

[atmail35]

melsig, did you know about the free AP deal before you went and were you able to use the pass for that visit?

Sorry, I didn't see your question until now! No, it was a deal of opportunity for us - they had big signs outside advertising it. You can enter the store without entering the DC, so I was able to make my purchases and get the passes before entering.

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it!

[cdoobiest]

FYI, I bought the annual pass and went member preview day the day before. Complete chaos. Staff really didn't have it together.

I would advise waiting. I heard waits are still very long. Didn't receive any freebies except Duplo brick at the beginning. No mention of Academy classes while they were there. PM if you want more info.

[Red237]

Hi there.

We went to the Boston one with our 6 year old (who can build MOCs and even expert sets solo) and were dissapointed. As a previous person mentioned, the staff was unorganized and un-aware of the simplest things like granting us access earlier because of our prepaid time slot. We waited in line with everyone anyway. You are trapped in lame, multi-roomed holding areas forced to watch videos with bad audio until you get in. The place was very small. It was more suited to the very young children's crowd. Our meal did NOT come with a mini, but a small optional storage box for $10 extra. There is a very accurate review posted on Yelp I would recommend you read. I did, but did not heed the warnings and really had to see for myself...i was still so excited to go.

Miniland was small, but pretty cool and if you are familiar with Boston, pretty entertaining - but honestly this is an overpriced mall playground with climbing structures. The rides were very lame, and the movies silly. Granted, we have already been to many flagship LEGO stores, Brickfest, Brickfair and Legoland California and Hotel. We are obsessed and love the LEGO experience. If this was to be someone's first LEGOland type experience, than perhaps it would have been more entertaining?

Oh and - The store was picked over, had nothing truly unique and the PAB wall expensive and inferior to Burlington or Natick's. Buzzkill! I hope it improves, pls someone let us know :) my advice would be to use one of the many free child tickets and just pay for one admission to investigate. You can use it to upgrade to an annual if you are compelled. Good luck!

[lordoflego]

With the annual pass you get 10% off at the retail store but....I was just at my local discovery center and I purchased super star destroyer (last one they had) and the girl behind the counter had to check if I get 10% off on that set.i got the discount ($40) but was told that starting July 1st some sets won't qualify for that discount. That kind of sucks as I got the annual pass mostly because of the discount at the retail store.