A couple of days ago, I read an article on CTVNews.ca that a man from Windsor, Ontario was turned away from a LEGOLAND Discovery Center after driving 3 hours to Toronto because he didn’t have a child with him. John St-Onge is a 63 year old AFOL who was excited to that there was a location close to home since he has health problems and can’t travel that far. When he found out there was a Discover Center in Toronto, he planned the trip with his daughter only to be refused at the entrance to the park because he didn’t have a child accompanying them.
Apparently there’s a relatively obscure rule that was posted on the website but nobody thought to look at it since they were already paying for the admission tickets. Needless to say, John was devastated that his dream of visiting a LEGOLAND attraction would be crushed by what I think is a pretty stupid rule by LEGOLAND Discovery Centers ran by Merlin Entertainments. Although LEGOLAND does have an adults-only night once a month, it doesn’t take away from the fact that an ill man went out of his way to buy a ticket and drive 3 hours only to be refused at the entrance. They state that the rule was in place “to protect the families and children that visit.” I think it’s just a rule for Merlin to make more money since parents most likely won’t be leaving kids there by themselves and they are pretty much obligated to attend with their children.
Everyone is a kid at heart. LEGO fans such as AFOLs and TFOLs go to LEGOLAND attractions to see LEGO models and gain inspiration for their own MOCs. I’ve been to LEGOLAND California by myself many times with only a standard annual membership and haven’t been refused entrance yet so I think the policy is only for Discovery Centers. It’s terrible that LEGOLAND didn’t make an exception for John. There is some good news though. Mariann from Model Building Secrets is reporting though a source that John was invited to BrickFete, which I think is way more interesting than the Discovery Centers.
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The guy looks a little creepy which I’m sure didn’t help his cause. However, with a small child and another on the way, I applaud what they did. We can’t be too careful when it comes to protecting kids these days. It is a crazy world now. I understand there will be others that say he shouldn’t be treated this way, but it only takes one incident.
Also, do you proof these before writing them? “I’ve went”?…come on now 🙂
Idiotic knee jerk reaction, anyone without a child is a danger to children.
ridiculous.
The same exact thing happened to me in Atlanta. My girlfriend took me there for my birthday. We had the whole day planned out and then we were both refused entry because we did not have a child with us. I was disappointed, but at the end of the day, I understood why the rule was in place and respected it. We live about 35 minutes away, so I might not have been so “understanding” if I had to drive 3 hours. We finally got to go about 3 months later when her 10 year old niece came to town for a visit. I did not feel that they were trying to make more money from us because we had a coupon for a free child admission.