Earlier this summer, my wife and I took our three-year-old son to the newly-opened LEGOLAND New York (see my reviews of the park and hotel). While at the park, we all had to (of course) visit the "Big Store" and see what LEGO-related goodies we could find. The store had a nice variety of LEGOLAND exclusive sets - so I allowed my son to pick one out for me (and he wisely chose the largest of the sets - LEGOLAND #40346).
This set comes with 1336 pieces spread out across 14 numbered bags (plus an extra bag full of roller coaster track). The set can be built by multiple people at once since the various components of the set are spread out over five different instruction manuals.
The set also comes with two sticker sheets - the one is full of stickers for use throughout the various builds while the other sticker sheet simply has stickers for the various LEGOLAND parks around the world. I like that you can customize your own set to represent your "home" park (or a park in a far off country if you want)!
The first instruction booklet is used to build the main entrance gate as well as a small ticket booth, a LEGO "store", and a bench. One of the highlights (and probably one of the most photographed parts of any LEGOLAND park is the entrance gate). The LEGO designers for this set did a great job of replicating the magic and whimsy of the gate - and my son loved that the gears on the gate could spin around (even if they didn't technically do anything).
The small tickets are printed pieces (always appreciated) while the LEGOLAND sign is a large sticker (and you can see that we applied the "New York" sticker for our personal LEGOLAND park).
Also in the first manual is a small LEGO "store". I say "store" because it's really nothing more than a tiny little stand selling a few assorted LEGO sets (plus a couple of hats and LEGO mugs).
My son actually wanted a "life-size" LEGO mug (which they sell at LEGOLAND) and so we bought him that. Now, it's his favorite cup to drink out of (and truth be told, it's a pretty cool looking cup - Daddy might have to borrow it sometime). The bench and trashcan bit is perfectly fine as well (it adds a bit of extra structure to the park set-up) but is otherwise forgettable.
The second instruction booklet is the first to offer up actual rides to build. The main ride of this booklet is a spinning Pirate ride - complete with three spinning buckets which you can make move simultaneously by spinning the giant skull in the middle of the ride.
My son loved all of the gears on this ride - and the fact that everything spins at once is great too!
The other major build for this instruction booklet is a yellow submarine. It's not 100% clear whether this is supposed to be a ride of some sort or if it's actually nothing more than a "photo op" (the real LEGOLAND has a number of brick built photo ops around the park). For my money, I think this is a photo op (mostly because there is an included photo sign).
The set comes with a minifigure who holds a camera as well as the (printed) cell phone tile you see above. I'm fairly certain that kids these days will only recognize the cell phone!
The rest of manual #2 is used to build two smaller items - a hot dog cart and a park sign. Honestly, the park is sign is one of my favorite of the mini builds - even if it is chock full of stickers! I think the design is top-notch!
The hot dog cart is perfectly fine though it's not much different than other hot dog cards that LEGO has produced in other sets. I have no idea why there is a barrel with an included banana and carrot here. While I never mind getting more food pieces, that particular pairing seems out of place with the hot dog cart (also, it's interesting that the hot dog cart seems to sell ice cream as well).
Moving on to instruction manual #3, we arrive at the "Miniland" portion of the set build.
A trio of smaller builds come together to form the Miniland section of the park.
I think there's enough here to represent the idea well - and some of the mini builds are quite well done (Statue of Liberty, for instance). On the other hand, there's plenty here that I don't know what it's supposed to represent which is kind of a bummer.
The fourth manual is where we finally get to build the "star" of the park - the large Dragon roller coaster.
The coaster is a small loop with an included castle to go through. Lots of stickers on the castle but I think the finished product looks great (especially considering the relatively small piece count for the castle)!
The back of the castle is where the bathrooms are located - both for adults and a changing table room for babies! The yellow ducky (sticker) for the changing table is a particularly charming touch.
Finally, the last manual gives us the tallest structure of the park - the observation tower.
The top of the tower spins around by using the red wheel at the base of the building. The tower's roof pops off for easy access to get minifigs in and out - a nice play feature for young hands!
Last but not least, here's a quick look at the various minifigures included in the set:
There's plenty here to create multiple families walking around the park. For me, the biggest "miss" is the fact that you only get two park employees (one male, one female). The mix of adults and kids though is spot on.
I love that LEGO is including things like wheelchairs in more sets. Inclusion and representation is a good thing.
The Bottom Line (out of 10):
Fun: 10
Play Value: 10
Kid Value: 10
Adult Value: 7
Overall: 9
The LEGOLAND set #40346 is a great set from start to finish. There are tons of smaller builds (some of which super young kids can even do with minimal help) and each set of bags brings new things to the table (literally and figuratively). There's a nice mix of minifigures and the included rides are well done (and fun)! Sets like this will always have their detractors that say it's nothing more than a bunch of small sets mashed up into a larger box (for a larger price tag) and while that's true to some extent, I do think all of the pieces here fit together to make a cohesive whole amusement park.
As I was building the set, all I could continually think about was how utterly charming everything was - and my son loved reliving our LEGOLAND memories as we built (and talked about) the different parts of the park.
For what it's worth, LEGO also sells a number of smaller sets to augment the main LEGOLAND park. For me, I don't (currently?) plan to buy any of the other sets but it's worth noting that they exist.
In the end, this one's an easy recommend for purchase - especially if you've actually gone to a LEGOLAND park and enjoyed it!
Cool set. It doesn't really fit my Lego collection, but I can see where a could would enjoy it. I think my favorite things are the baby stroller and wheelchair.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this set is definitely geared toward younger kids (though it was still fun to build for me). The stroller is a great little build - and I did like the hot dog cart too!
Delete