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A mother watches her sons' imaginations thrive at this different kind of theme park where all things can be built and built upon, tucked in with other fun attractions in Carlsbad, California.

Ever since my eldest son first began to play with the primary-colored blocks made by Lego and began to amass a many thousand-brick collection, I've been dreaming of taking him to a Legoland amusement park.  Unfortunately the only ones in existence were in the company's hometown of Billund, Denmark, and in Windsor, England -- neither place in our upcoming travel plans.  [Ed.Note: Now there is Legoland Deutschland in South Germany as well!] 

But as word spread that the first Lego theme park would open on U.S. soil, in Carlsbad, CA, a half-hour north of San Diego, we made our plane reservations.  And it was all that we hoped for and more.  When we told people where we were going, some looked skeptical.  After all, the idea of most theme parks these days is thrills and chills, high-speed rides, laser light shows and a roster of cartoon characters that already parade across our TVs, T-shirts and lunchboxes.  They wanted to know, "What is there at Legoland?  Piles of Legos lying around?"  Well there actually are lots of Legos lying around in certain areas of the park waiting to be transformed by the creativity of visiting kids, but Legoland is a lot more than that.

More Than Piles of Lego

It's a whole new theme park experience geared to the youngest set often neglected by the traditional big amusement parks; one that allows families to interact, create and even power the rides themselves. (Legoland is aimed at kids age 2 to 12; though I'd recommend it primarily for the under ten crowd.)

And while the trend in parks is to keep adding bigger, faster, scarier and higher-tech rides to attract crowds, Legoland prides itself on its laid-back image. The Coastersaurus is the fastest ride, with top speeds of 21 mph . (Compared to coasters that go up to 100 mph at other U.S. parks, this may seem too tame for kids over age 7.) Another favorite coaster is the Dragon, with top speeds of 15 mph. This more scenic than terrifying trip through a castle and away from a fire-breathing dragon demonstrates why the rides here are billed merely as "pink-knuckle" in theme park parlance.

Instead of screams of fear you'll hear peals of laughter. And forget about sitting back and letting your kids just have fun; here parents get in the act and do most of the activities with their children, from pedaling around the Sky Cruiser, an elevated monorail, to pulling yourselves up on ropes 30 feet in the air and then taking a free fall down on the Kid Power Tower. (I was scared on the latter; my 4-year-old wasn't!)