Here are the admission rules for Toronto’s LEGOLAND:
Please note: Children 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult supervisor 18 years of age or older. Adults (18+) will not be admitted without a child, with the exception of Adult Only Nights.
So when you are 17 and 364 days old, you need an adult with you, because you are still a baby.
But the day you turn 18, you need a kid with you, because otherwise you are a pervert.
Nice.
35 Comments
Surely there is a sweet minute in there where all is well…
Makes perfect sense… everyone who wants to go to Legoland must bring along another person… they get to charge double admission.
Am I allowed to not go at all?
Or is that illegal too?
I think we all know that they’d only enforce the 18+ rule against men who arrive without a woman chaperone, though…
My question about this is the same as each time our school district comes up with a new “safety” policy. . . What has been happening that prompted this policy? Has there been a problem with predators sneaking onto campus (or Legoland) and hurting kids? If so, why haven’t parents been informed that up until now, the school/Legoland has been unsafe? Assuming that in the future there will more policies limiting access, is school/Legoland unsafe right now and why aren’t they telling us?
Oh, wait. Nothing has happened. It’s just a new policy because creating new policies, especially with the word “safety” in them, is the way people get/keep administrative jobs. I understand that this is the way it works in a public school district, but I’m confused about why a for-profit company does this.
Coincidentally, I just purchased a LEGO set that came with a “buy one get one free” voucher for Legoland Discovery Center, and I’ve been considering whether or not I want to bother trying to go (the nearest one to me is 4 hours away). It’s close to Six Flags Over Texas, so I’d probably do a weekend trip to the park and include several hours at LDC in the plans.
But since I am a 45 year old man, and I don’t want to deal with the disappointment/embarrassment of being turned away due to not having a kid with me, I probably won’t bother. I mean, I WILL have my adult female chaperon with me, but for all I know they might turn us BOTH away because we won’t have a kid with us. They do have an “Adults Only” night, but it’s two hours on a Monday night, which is the exact opposite of convenient for me, and at $21 is a little pricey for the amount of time you get.
It’s kind of depressing, knowing I spend $1,500+ per year on their products, yet I’m only welcome at their parks and Discovery Centers for a couple of hours a month unless I have a child with me. It’s almost enough to make one want to stop buying the products, but unfortunately, I’m addicted. LOL
Thanks, Lenore, for putting into words what I thought but couldn’t phrase 🙂
Coasterfreak – seriously? It seems you are addicted, but at least to something good (I wish I could say the same about myself). I guess you’re a special case of a freak that’s not a pervert, but they won’t make a special case for you… 🙂
(and I’m saying “freak” with love, I hope you’re not insulted…)
Seriously, legoland? Omg how stupid. Youre gonna lose profit over this.
One problem many people have-is this:
-If they need a repairman to come to their suite-who is going to let them in.
At a time when there are many single(or divorced)adults-and when many wives work outside the home-this is a problem.
Many apratments do NOT have resident managers.
B.C Telephone Company has a rule that a repairman cannot enter the premises unless there is someone over the age of 17.
Wouldn’t 12 be old enough?
In many ways, I had more freedom-at the age of 10-than may boys do at 17.
Many 17 year olds get chauffeured to school-and have adults organize their activities
LOL….you summed it up pretty well Lenore! The age restriction laws in America and a few other western nations like Canada just never made sense to me. If you’re 17 years, 364 days, 23 hours, and 59 minutes old you are a fragile child in need of adult supervision and all the comforts that a child is entitled to get. BUT just 1 more minute when you attain that magical age of 18, you are now a mature and strong adult who can stand on your own!
The truth of the matter is, a 15-year-old kid can be responsible and strong and should be given more responsibility in order to prepare him for adulthood. The other truth is, an 18- or 19-year-old may still need lots of support from older people as that can still be a pretty young age to fend for yourself.
But it seems as if we Americans are so hung up on that thick line kids cross when they reach the 18th anniversary of their birth and don’t seem to realize that maturity level can vary from individual to individual. It’s very similar to the weather near the Alabama / Florida state line. The weather is not all-of-a-sudden going to go frigid when you cross over into Alabama nor is it all-of-a-sudden going to turn tropical when you cross over into Florida!
Miriam–
I support Coasterfreak!
I lived a few years in Japan, and they don’t have such a strict deliniation between “for kids” and “for adults.” (Sometimes this is really bad; see all the almost-basically-pedophilic porn over there). Sometimes, though, it’s really good! It was not uncommon to ask a person what his hobbies were, and to hear “building models or Legos” as the answer! Which, to me, seemed more interesting and fun than “tv” and “golf” which are the only socially acceptable answers for men in the West.
We love Legos because they encourage “kids” of all ages to play and create. My sensory-sensitive son has always enjoyed the LEGOLAND parks because they are more low-key and less overwhelming than other theme parks. However, LEGOLAND is ALL about strictly enforced rules. Sort of like if we only could build with Legos following the directions in the box. If you’ve seen the Lego movie, the LEGOLAND parks are run like President Business is in charge. The no-adults-without-kids rules are strictly enforced. I am not surprised than children under 18 must be supervised, even though people were surprised when Disney raised the minimum age to 14.
We’ve never taken a two-year-old to LEGOLAND, and I don’t recommend it because they’re not allowed on typical kiddie rides that would have no height or age minimum at other parks. Our last experience at LEGOLAND included the following: (1) An employee yelling at my children (and me, oops) for running on a very open wooden play structure. She explained that we might run into a post and knock ourselves out. Her sole job was to stop kids from running. At Universal Studios, we ran through caves with slippery floors in a rainstorm without killing ourselves or being yelled at. (2) An employee physically grabbing my child to prevent her from going down a ramp from the second level of large ball play area because the ramp was for going up. Going down required you to crawl through a small space, exit the entire structure, and reenter. (3) Two larger adults being forced to squeeze into a tiny boat together because there was a “no riding alone” rule, even though the few people who were in line said they should be allowed to ride alone. (4) My family and another family with small children being told they could not enter the last show of the day because they arrived “too late” (the show had not yet started and the theater was nearly empty).
If I was 17 and my mom had to watch me go shopping I be pretty frustrated. After all by 17 most kids have a license to drive if not a learner’s permit. If you can handle a car you certainly handle shopping considering a car is a bigger responsibility!
Ugh, that’s so dumb. You can do so much more with Lego than little kids do with it, like building life-size statues or engineering actually working machines – of course there’s gonna be many adult fans, too, and of course they too would like to see what else can be done with Lego.
In this country it’s sort of tradition that supermarkets regularly give out free toys or stickers or some other small, collectible things meant for kids with every x euros in groceries. All my life it was boring stuff, but a couple of years ago they were plastic squares and triangles that you could connect together and build houses and spaceships with… but also several mathematical figures like icosahedrons, which is why I liked them (much to the surprise of my family…).
“It’s kind of depressing, knowing I spend $1,500+ per year on their products, yet I’m only welcome at their parks and Discovery Centers for a couple of hours a month unless I have a child with me.”
It is only the Discovery Centers. The amusement parks have no child accompaniment requirements (or at least didn’t when I was last there a few years ago). They also have no rides that adults would enjoy.
17 yrs 364 days child that must be supervised
18 yrs predator
Kids are so precocious today
“”tv” and “golf” which are the only socially acceptable answers for men in the West.”
Surely tinkering in the shed/garage should be on that list?
The USA and, I assume, Canada, has never been safer. Except for motor vehicles and guns, kids are not under threat.
Avoid all places where paranoia runs rampant.
Boycott Legoland and others of that ilk.
and if you are a teen parent? Guess you’re not allowed to take your kid to Legoland
But if you have a child with you, wouldn’t that mean you were a pervert too? I mean, your date to Legoland is underaged…..
There are plenty of adults who like Legos, too. Being a pervert is NOT the only reason why an adult would want to go to Legoland.
My 13 and 15 year-olds would die if they needed me to escort them to a store to make a purchase. Both have jobs and their own money which they won’t be spending at Lego stores. I think this type of policy does alienate older kids, who would happily spend and shop without parents.
What about employees? Do they have to be 18 and over or have their mom shadow them at the register?
And the older man working the register, childless…is he banned too?
Such nonsense over an overpriced (yet cool) toy that kills my vacuum cleaner.
What happens if you were born at lunchtime. You are 17, you enter with an adult, conforming to the rules. At midday you turn 18, now you are two adults roaming the premises.
BL – you are allowed to not go at all, as long as you do it with another person.
Threw my lego stuff out when this company’s attitude towards it’s customers started coming to light about a year ago. Not a lot but not in my home anymore.
Well, 18 is a magic number.
I think the word is “quirky” for an adult who enjoys Lego as Coasterfreak does.
“I think the word is “quirky” for an adult who enjoys Lego as Coasterfreak does.”
Actually, it’s “AFOL”.
I’ve been to this place. It’s a small indoor Lego attraction. My kids had outgrown the rides by the time they were 8 and it’s basically an indoor Lego playground, nothing like the massive one in California or elsewhere. But welcome to Canada, the country where everything is regulated beyone belief! (My daugher just turned 10 and has been an excellent swimmer for years, but only now is she allowed to swim at public pools out of arms reach from me–So the kids are used to having me tell them things like “if you stay away from the staff, because you know they will want to know where i am, you can play on your own like i know you are capable of)
While I think this is a CRAZY rule, it is probably to help keep at bay all of us AFOL’s (Adult Fans Of Lego) from over-running the place and getting in the way of all the kids;-)
We have a LEGOLAND Discovery Center nearby but have never been, specifically because of these rules. My whole family would very much enjoy seeing the professionally made Lego models on display, but the way I read the rules when it opened, “children” were listed as 10 and under, so I thought my teen wasn’t welcome at all – too young for adult night, but too old to get us adults in during normal hours.
@Nicole R.–I’d call LEGOLAND and ask about your teenager. I mean, there are tons of Lego sets designed for teenagers, and I don’t think the park would turn away a paying customer, let alone a whole family of paying customers.
@Drkashik i was at legoland in Berlin 2 years ago and they turned away a young couple (man and a woman) because they didn’t have a child with them.
Crazy rule!
I just took my 9 year old to Legoland CA and I saw no evidence of such a rule at the west coast park.
Nothing on their website about it either…
chris
So suppose a single, 17-year-old mother enters with her 1.5-year-old. Does this mommy need a mommy to supervise her?