Traipsing Around Toronto with a Toddler: LEGOLAND Discovery Centre

When our son was about five years old, we decided to drive to Toronto one long weekend to basically traipse around, do fun things, and be kids again.

On the list were the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Vaughn Mills, the Toronto Zoo, and Ripley’s Aquarium. This trip was going to be all about our son and the things he was crazy about (at that age) – LEGO, animals, and aquariums. We did not plan anything else, as for sure, the three fun places alone would tire us.

LEGOLAND Discovery Centre

LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is an indoor family entertainment centre located in Vaughan Mills, a huge mall in Vaughan, Ontario, just north of Toronto.

Sure, it’s not a full-blown amusement park and resort like the ones in California or Florida, but it’s the closest we have in the area. With its 10 Lego build and play zones, two Lego-themed rides, a soft play area, a 4D cinema, and a gift shop, it’s enough to entertain a young child for one afternoon. It also features a MiniLand, that contains 500,000 of the more than three million LEGO bricks said to be under their roof.

My son inherited his love of LEGO from his dad, who played with these toys and built structures and vehicles with them when he was a kid. My husband has kept his old LEGO sets and when my son was still a baby, he started purchasing new sets “for our son when he is old enough.”

I used to tease him a lot every time he’d go to a LEGO store or bring home a new LEGO set. “For your son…or you?” I’d ask him. And he’d reply with, “For both of us…and we will share it with you, of course.”

My husband introduced our son to jigsaw puzzles (his other hobby and collection) when he was two, and our little boy has since exhibited a strong aptitude for it. By the age of four, he was already assembling 400-piece puzzles intended for children eight years old and above, and in less than two hours, he’d complete it without our help or supervision.

His sharp memory, hand-eye coordination, patience, concentration, shape-recognition skills, and ability to match pieces in such a short time extended to his structure-building later when my husband added LEGO into the picture. We’d leave him alone with the LEGO sets and he’d build them by following the paper instructions, again, without our help.

Then, he started building and designing things “from his head” – cars and trucks with special features, police stations and grocery stores down to the minutest details (such as a coffee and donut area for the cops, and a variety of tiny vegetables and fruits for the grocery store), or an entire city, all from his imagination.

So, when we told him that we were taking him to this “giant” LEGO playground, he was super thrilled. My husband said that this would be the first stop in our mini excursion. Once again, I teased him, “Is it our son who’s very excited, or you?” Sometimes, I do feel like having two kids – a forty+ year-old one, and a five-year old one.

As soon as we got our tickets, my two boys delved into the LEGO experience right away. We were given a multi-sheet pass that you can wear around your neck and were told that if we would download the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre app, we could enhance our experience in the centre – keep track of Mini-Figure trades, take part in the Scavenger Hunt, get tips on LEGO building, and be up-to-date with special events.

The first section we checked out was the LEGO Factory, an interactive corner where kids can learn how LEGO bricks are created in so many different shapes and colours. It’s not a real factory, of course. It’s the kiddie version with machine representations that enable young minds to understand how a piece of plastic is transformed into the assorted pieces they use to build whatever fuels their imagination. This is perfect for little kids. They can pretend to be LEGO factory workers and go through all the steps.

Next, we went for some action on the Kingdom Quest ride, which is basically a small train with cars designed to look like chariots equipped with “ray guns.” The objective of the game is to rescue the Princess captured by the bad guys. The train stops at various points where the screens display a plethora of villains – beastly trolls, sneaky skeletons, pirates, and all sorts of monsters. The “rescuers” are supposed to zap as many bad guys as possible and collect enough points to save the Princess at the end of the ride. Our son had a blast!

We passed through the MiniLand section whose displays are exclusive to the Toronto location. Half a million LEGO bricks were used to recreate miniature replicas of Toronto landmarks and city scenes. Many pieces have moving parts and some dioramas are interactive, making spectators feel like giants manipulating the scenes. They have also incorporated lighting effects to mimic daylight and nighttime, changing the scenes from different versions of a bustling metropolis to quieter neighbourhoods at night with the familiar glow of the major landmarks. Toronto residents and visitors alike can admire the tiny LEGO models of the CN Tower, Union Station, the ACC, Rogers Centre, The Waterfront, Casa Loma, City Hall, and Bay Street. There were two additional displays as well – the Niagara Falls and the Maid of the Mist tour boat.

The displays are quite impressive with the number of details included in the installations. I heard that this section is maintained by a 26-year-old “LEGO Master” who was hired specifically to build these sets and update them. Imagine having that kind of job! It would be a dream job for several people I know. As I watched my husband and son tinker with the buttons on the “hockey game” scene, I once again felt like a mother to two children – one real child and one kid-at-heart.

After the boys got tired of trying out all the interactive features, we headed to the Earthquake Tables where visitors are challenged to build a tall tower with as many LEGO bricks as possible that can withstand the shaking. We held a mini competition among us to see who could build the strongest tower. My husband won this round.

Beside it was the LEGO NinjaGo section, which at the time of our visit, was just a booth where you could partake in various building activities “to complete Master Wu’s challenges and unleash your Ninja building powers.” Kids can learn how to build their own Spinjitzu flyers and test their vehicles on the Mountain of Madness. I stayed away while the boys did this. That zone was a little “dangerous” with all those little contraptions flying around and crashing (but hitting something before crashing). I heard that now, this section has evolved into something like an obstacle course called LEGO Ninjago City Adventure, where kids can put their “ninja” action skills to the test to save the city. 

What our son really enjoyed was the LEGO Racers: Build and Test. He was in his “Lightning McQueen phase” back then and was crazy about race cars. This section allows kids to build their own race car and test them on the racetracks. I had to remind him there were more attractions inside. Otherwise, he would have stayed there forever, building all sorts of race vehicles.

On one corner is the Duplo Village, but our son matter-of-factly told us that this one is “for the babies,” and that he’s a big boy now. But he took the time to help a little boy build a truck from the big bricks and checked if he could still climb up the barn and slide down. Then, he started stomping around the giant, soft bricks, until I asked him if he thought these, too, were for babies.

Behind the Duplo Village is a small room with glass walls set-up like a classroom. This is the LEGO Master Builder Academy, where workshops are held every hour and kids are taught tricks and given insider tips on LEGO building. My son was not interested to join a workshop that appeared to cater to little girls (some kind of princess activity), so we moved on to the next section, which was the LEGO Friends, a set-up of Olivia’s House where kids can play house and pretend to cook, bake, or just chill with friends. Our little boy was drawn to the kitchen and spent some time pretending to bake a cake. At that time, he told us he wanted to be a pastry chef. When he saw the LEGO girl figures, he insisted on having me stand beside them and having my picture taken by him.

It’s too bad we were there on a Friday. We learned that at certain times on Saturdays and Sundays, some LEGO characters appear for a meet-and-greet with the kids. But I also realized that our son, at that age, was never really into mascots or costumed characters. I recall how he would tell us they are not the real thing, but “just regular people in costumes.”

We spotted the 4D Cinema next. The billboard indicated that there are four rotating movies to see. The knight-themed adventure movie called NEXO Knights was about to begin in 10 minutes, so we lined up. When we were given our special glasses, my son looked at us with suspicion. He asked what they were for. When we explained what a 4D movie is, he asked, “You mean, I can be hit by sword for real? I don’t think I want to go.” 

I assured him that there was nothing to worry about. But there were more questions as we were led inside and guided to our seats. When the lights went off and the movie started, he relaxed during the introduction part but flinched when he saw the smoke effects and felt the water and foam on his face. The movie’s story revolves around the knights taking back “The Book of Creativity” stolen by their regular adversary, Jestro, and his gang of Lava Monsters. The scenes had super-fast cuts with lots of zooming shots that our son seemed to find a bit unpleasant. There was also a scene involving a rainstorm with matching lightning, thunder, and raindrop effects, which he didn’t like either. He squirmed on his seat and squeezed our hands tightly. My husband and I looked at each other and wondered whether we should make an early exit. When a close-up shot of the knights’ swords came on screen, the special glasses made it appear like the tips of the swords were pointing right at your nose. Our boy calmly declared, “I don’t think I like this. Could we please just go out?” And that was our cue.

Outside, we asked him if he got scared. With such composure, he said, “Not at all,” but he certainly did not enjoy the 3D and 4D effects and the dizzying shots. They were “too much,” he declared, like a good old movie reviewer.

We left it at that and brought him to another ride to forget about the movie. The ride is called Merlin’s Apprentice and it involves riding “enchanted carts” with pedals. The faster one pedals, the higher the cart soars as they go around in circles. This one, he enjoyed, and had asked to do a second time. He even happily posed beside the Merlin statue.

The last section we visited was the Special Exhibit Zone, which that time, featured Star Wars, in time for the release of the movie, Star Wars Episode IV, A New Hope. The intergalactic exhibit included scenes depicting the Rebel Alliance destroying the Galactic Empire’s powerful Death Star, the duel between Obi-wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, and the rise of the Millenium Falcon from the deserts of Tatooine. There was also a fantastic display of the bustling city of Mos Eisley. All these were in miniature, of course, and again, the effort exerted to showcase all the important details that Star Wars fans were sure to watch out for, is truly amazing.

All in all, it was a worthwhile visit. But I do think that this entertainment centre is most suitable for kids between the ages of three and seven. The attractions, in my opinion, appeal to toddlers and those a little older, but might be boring for older kids. And as the place is not very big, an average of three hours is enough to cover everything without tiring the little ones.

We are looking forward to the time we can take our son to California to experience the much-larger LEGOLAND Amusement Park.