Legoland Discovery Center Opens In Plymouth Meeting: Take A Look Inside

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA -- As torrential rain pounded the glass pane windows outside, a swarm of children and their parents nestled into the warm fantasy world of Legoland Discovery Center for its grand opening at the Plymouth Meeting Mall on Thursday morning.

The center, the first of its kind in Pennsylvania and only the ninth in the nation, is a pocket of Disney World-eqsue escapism burrowed into the Plymouth Meeting Mall.

The highlight is Miniland, a scaled replica display of major landmarks in the city of Philadelphia. It's essentially a 21st century, interactive version of the Dickens Village. The attention to detail is exquisite and will ring true to anyone familiar with the city (not only does the Art Museum model have a Rocky Statue in front of it, but there are Lego characters taking pictures there).

Many of the landmarks, streets, and intersections are interactive, and visitors can push buttons to make crew boats move along the Schuylkill in front of Boathouse Row, and make players run across the field at the Linc. The entire city has both night and day settings, and the room grows dim as the neon colors of Pat's and Geno's and the white and blue of the city's skyline lights up.

The 4D theater, meanwhile, features interactive special effects like wind, rain, and confetti. On Thursday, the crowd of mostly children and some adults cheered at the conclusion of each short show.

The remainder of the main floor is made up of play stations that incorporate various challenges, encouraging children to implement their newly-built race cars on a racing track, and to pit their battle-ready ninjas against one another. There are also guided building classes, a laser maze, a jungle gym-like play area, a snack bar, and, of course, an amusement ride.

Plymouth Meeting represents a unique choice for an attraction of such regional importance. The larger and more notable King of Prussia Mall is just a few miles away. And Plymouth Meeting recently suffered the loss of Macy's, one of their largest department stores.

However, the mall took the closing in stride, and has repeatedly cited their re-branding as a "lifestyle destination" with stores like Whole Foods and a variety of family-friendly programs.

"Plymouth Meeting Mall is an ideal location for (the center) because it is family-centric," said Legoland general manager, Michael Taylor. "The mall offers monthly events for children...and pre and post-natal fitness classes for every stage of motherhood."

Taylor added that Plymouth Meeting was chosen due to the population density and number of children in the area.

"One million children ages 2-12 live within an hour of the mall. This includes over 800 schools," he said.

Check out some sights and sounds from the grand opening below:

Images: Justin Heinze