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LEGOLAND is located in Carlsbad, CA. It is an amusement park based on LEGOs. LEGOs are little building blocks that can used to make different things. They come in all sorts of colors and have different shapes, like wheels and cubes. Some talented people are able to make LEGO models that look like real people or buildings due to the many ways the bricks can be arranged. LEGOs are now popular childrens' toys with an immense fan group.
 * BACKGROUND INFO: **

//__ **The Trip** __//
"Ahh!"

That might be one of the first sounds you hear at this park, along with the constant chatter of folks. The large gate boldly states the name of this amusement park for everyone to see, and in one of the letters, a larger-than-normal mini-figure waves to all of the visitors with a curved hand. The company logo floats over the name of this park so everyone knows that this park's the real deal, and below, the ticket booths stand on the side, painted in a vibrant green and blue to represent the many colors that blocks can be. If you haven't already guessed it, this park is LEGOLAND.

A seemingly average family arrived at the jam-packed parking lot on July 5, 2010. At this time, the parking lot's always stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey. The Blox family, especially their kids, have been looking forward to the trip for a long time. Of course, Sal and Joe, the 2 kids of the family, burst out of the door like missiles and pursued their target of the LEGOLAND entrance gate, while their parents were left in the dust. After listening to their children whine for what seemed like eternity, they were glad to breathe some fresh air. However, they had to hurry up, or Sal and Joe would start complaining. So, they briskly walked to the gate, presented their tickets, and entered the amazing amusement park.

As soon as they walked in, they were surrounded by two large buildings, the Big Shop and the Marketplace. Both were enormous shops with myriads of items for sale, but the family was uninterested in buying anything. They walked forward and in front of them was a vast lake, filled with colorful and whimsical models that seem to have come out of fables. However, as soon as they get onto the main path, Joe catches sight of the nearby Coastersaurus and runs to the entrance. The rollercoaster transports you billions of years into the past. You are surrounded by prehistoric ferns as the coaster twists and turns. The ride spirals around a colorful life-like brick dinosaur that is neck-deep in water. The best part about the ride is that you get to stay on for 2 laps so you can bask in the lifelike scenery of the Cretaceous Period.

When Joe runs off Sal tries to follow him, but then decides to ride on the Fairy Tale Brook. This ride is less about the action or intensity, but more about the views. As the title suggests, the ride is themed off of fairy tales. You get into a boat that looks like two large leaves put together and you ride on a gently flowing river. Relaxing music plays, and the calming sounds of the flute soothes your soul. The ride takes you through life-sized scenes of different stories that are recreated in LEGOs. The first scene shows Little Red Riding Hood searching for the route to Grandma's house. Later on, the boat passes under a regal arch, and you witness a prince trying to wake up Snow White after eating a poisoned apple. One area shows two boys stuffing their bellies with tasty sweets at a gingerbread house. These and many other displays come with sound effects that make the models seem like they are actually talking to one another.

Unfortunately, the parents were looking at a map of the park instead of watching their kids, so they were completely unaware that their children were running among. When Mr. and Mrs. Blox finally realized that Sal and Joe were not present, their bodies became paralyzed with fear. Their sweat glands were working overtime because they were overcome with anxiety. Their faces looked like a large bucket dropped hundreds of gallons of water on them. They quickly decided to split up and find either Sal or Joe. Mrs. Blox easily found Sal and caressed her hair as she made sure that Sal was okay. However, Mr. Blox had less luck. Joe was nowhere to be seen. He tried to dash along the pathway in search of him, but the crowds were thick like molasses and the talking cluttered his head with greatly unneeded noise. He kept a sharp eye as he continued his search. He caught a glimpse of him at Playtown, a "LEGO-ized" playground, but he disappeared like an apparition.

Further north, Mr. Blox got to the Volvo Junior Driving School. The attraction lets young kids from 3 to 6 years of age ride a miniature LEGO car along an enclosed loop. Mr. Blox wished that Joe was driving one of the cars, but that wasn't the case. He headed northward and entered the area called Funtown, where there are many stores. However, this worried him. Since Joe liked to explore unknown areas, like he was doing right now, he might wander into one of the stores and get lost. Therefore, Mr. Blox quickly came up with a plan to find him.

He called his wife to come to where he was. He told Mrs. Blox that he was going to go into each store and check if Joe was inside and that she should wait outside near the entrance and constantly look around, in case Joe leaves that store or is outside wandering around, so she could get him. It was a smart plan and it is impressive that under all the piles of stress he was in that he was able to formulate it.

He started at the ever-popular LEGO Club House, with its mountains of LEGOs waiting to be bought by some fanatic. Then he went inside the LEGO Factory Tour building. Even though he felt embarrassed to do so, he asked a nearby staff member if a young child ran in. Of course, he said no, so Mr. Blox continued searching. Amazingly, he found Joe walking out of the clothing store, Brick Brothers Trading Company, his nose being filled with the light scent of fresh cotton surf-wear. Mr. Blox ran up to Joe and hugged him as tightly as a grizzly bear would. His face looked like it would burst into tears due to the happiness of finding his son. Mrs. Blox sees Joe and kisses him on the cheek. Now that their 6-year-old children are okay, they continue their vacation in LEGOLAND. The family headed to Pirate Shores, a miniature water-park themed around the buccaneers themselves. They get onto the Splash Battle ride, which is no ordinary ride. Like most coasters it is on rails. It puts you in a pirate ship in water and you travel in a nautically-themed "sea," as you ride through a pirate skull and pass a large volcano. However, the ships have a water blaster on them, and the Blox family loved to blast "rival family boats" with a cool beam of water.

Then they went to Miniland USA, where Mr. Blox became awestruck after seeing the nearly-perfect replicas of iconic structures found worldwide like the White House & the Taj Mahal stand proudly for everyone to view. In fact, he swore that he "traveled around the world in 5 minutes" after seeing the amazing effort that was put in order to replicate minor details on the buildings.

For lunch, they ventured into the Ristorante Brickolini; a delicious and mouthwatering pizza that was full of the right amount of cheese and sauce and the heartwarming scent of the freshly-prepared Italian food seemed to pamper the group's empty stomaches.

Perhaps the scariest moment for Joe and Sal was when they were riding the Dragon. The rollercoaster puts its unlucky victims on the back of a ferocious dragon. The beast certainly tries to scare its riders by constantly spiraling around and dipping at high speeds. Each turn makes you feel that the ride is trying to make you fall out of your seat. The two kids were screaming in terror all the way through and when the ride was done, they had to tightly squeeze their mom in order to feel better.

Soon, the park announced that it was closing time. Joe and Sal were upset when they had to be carried away to the car. On the ride home, they started crying louder than an airplane taking off, but soon they accepted the fact that they had to leave the wonderful and heavenly amusement park of LEGOLAND.