CARLSBAD: Legoland's new water park makes splash

Theme park opens $12 million attraction


Seven-year-old Katie approached the flaming red, Twin Chasers tube slide with some trepidation Friday at the opening of the new Legoland Water Park in Carlsbad.

But moments later, she emerged from the 130-foot slide with a huge smile. 

"I'm going to do it again," she declared proudly.

She and her two brothers were among some 50 foster children from the Promises 2 Kids' Camp Connect program who were selected as the new park's first guests.

The group from Camp Connect, which offers special outings for siblings separated by the foster care system, had the park to themselves for about an hour before the general public was allowed in.

Legoland California's water park is special not only because it's the world's first Lego-themed water park, but also because it has many features that cater to the littlest kids, said Legoland General Manager Peter Ronchetti.

Legoland, which takes its theme from the plastic building blocks, is mainly geared toward 2- to 12-year-olds. That's not typically the core market for water parks, which usually seek to impress thrill-seeking teenagers, Ronchetti said.

Within the new park, toddlers have their own water play area with three small slides and a "kid creek" ---- a miniature version of an inner tube ride.

Park officials said that the $12 million Legoland Water Park is the biggest addition to their 128-acre Legoland California complex since 1999, when the amusement park opened in central Carlsbad off Palomar Airport Road.

Teenagers in the Promises 2 Kids group pronounced the Twin Chasers ride as the best attraction in the 5.5-acre water park. It's great, 17-year-old Lerontae said, "because you don't know where you're going" until you come out at the end.

The other big water slides are half-pipes, so people can see the sky and the surrounding landscape as they careen through the tubes.

While older kids immediately gravitated toward the slides, the younger ones started putting toes into the water splash ponds.

Legoland officials clustered around the Joker Soaker, a clock towerlike structure that regularly dumps water into a shallow pool. They exchanged smiles when little kids shrieked with delight.

"My whole team is watching here to see how the people react," Ronchetti said. "It's really interesting to see the children in particular, seeing what they run to."

Not everything was ready to go Friday as the water park headed into the busy Memorial Day weekend. A giant waterfall attached to the park's signature 45-foot-tall tower wasn't operational because a few parts haven't arrived yet, Legoland spokeswoman Beth Downing Chee said.

"It'll be done in the new few days," she promised.

Also delayed were the "build-a-raft" tubes that allow kids to customize their inner tubes before floating down a giant river that wraps around the water slides. Until those arrive, kids will use regular tubes, Chee said.

None of the kids appeared to mind the omissions on Friday morning. Their biggest problem was that they couldn't stop running from place to place within the new park.

Lifeguards could be heard repeatedly giving friendly warnings to "please, walk."


