It’s been a rough start to the year for some of my favorite theme park attractions. First, Knott’s Berry Farm closed Huff and Puff. Now, it appears that the clock is ticking for Legoland California’s Fun Town Police and Fire Academy.
Plans filed with the City of Carlsbad reveal that Legoland wants to build a Lego Galaxy-themed indoor roller coaster on the current site of its Driving School. The Driving School is one of Legoland’s iconic attractions, so the park does not want to lose it. Another document filed with the city reveals that Legoland plans to rebuild Driving School on the current site of its Fun Town Fire Academy attraction.
As much as I love new coasters, I would hate to lose Fire Academy, as it provides a unique experience in theme parks. Families of four compete to move a fire truck down a pathway, at the end of which the family aims and pumps a water spout to put out a fake fire. When she was a child, my daughter described the ride as a real-life, kid-friendly challenge from the TV-show “Survivor.”
Even though it’s not a Disney attraction, Fire Academy perhaps best exemplified what Walt Disney wanted to create with Disneyland — a place where families could play together. Everyone in our family had to pitch in to make Fire Academy work. It’s not a passive ride where you just sit and watch.
But what made Fire Academy so rewarding for my family made it a frustration for others. Groups of two had to pair up with strangers. Groups of three struggled to keep up. Groups of five or more? Someone’s left out. And much like those challenges on “Survivor,” Fire Academy brought out the best in families that got along, while sometimes eliciting not-so-nice moments from those that don’t.
That’s why I understand why Legoland would opt for a nifty space-themed roller coaster over this unique experience. Attractions designed for a specific party size have become a tough sell in a market where the families that Legoland is designed for come in wildly different numbers.
Even Disney discovered the trouble with designing for specific party sizes with its Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. That’s a perfect experience for a group of six that includes two dedicated Star Wars fans and four others who are happy just to go along for the ride. Otherwise, it’s a lightspeed trip to disappointment for whoever gets stuck playing as Engineer.
Perhaps it would be nice if parks could accommodate a variety of unique experiences that might only appeal to a fraction of their audience, such as Fire Academy. But at the prices parks are charging now, everyone wants to do everything. We all want to get as much value for what we are spending as we can.
So I suspect that Legoland ultimately will satisfy a lot more families with its new Lego Galaxy roller coaster than it has with Fire Academy. But count me among those who will miss the family fun of this unique game show-style challenge.
