LEGO® Discovery Center Washington, D.C. — Attraction in Springfield

I REALLY wanted to love this place. My 2 kids (7 and 5) seemed to like it well enough. But never in my life have I been around people who hate children as much as most of the staff here appear to. The second we walked in, there were no minifigs in what looked to be a minifig room. There was, however, a staff person adding more random Lego who yelled at my kids for merely entering his space. They were touching nothing at all, just looking in all of the bins for the missing minifigs. Not a great start. The laserpointer ride was fine, but short. The workshop (12:30p on June 13) was a highlight. The green shirt in there was one of only 2 pleasant staff people working today. He was jovial and silly, but explained the process of building a panda really well and at an age-appropriate level. He gets a star. The other green shirts were nowhere to be found. We came as part of a Scouting promotion, and were told to seek one out to complete a mission to earn a patch. We couldn't find one who wasn't teaching a workshop until 3:15. We got there at noon. Another highlight were the 4d Lego movies. (Ninjago, Dreams, and City) We saw all 3 over the course of our 4+ hours there. The guy working the theatre was also lovely, playful, and kind to the kids and adults alike. Another star for that portion.

Now for the negatives. The 2 green shirts who eventually appeared were talking suuuupppeer rudely about the kids. I heard several snide comments about how kids could never build cars if the staff hadn't built and planted them first. Or, that they designed those cars to be too wide for the ramps. Another time, a green shirt huffed and puffed and gave unclear instructions, and then fussed at a kid who stopped their vehicle to seek clarification. If you don't like kids, don't work at a kid-oriented job. Stick to selling Lego at the store. Snark is wildly inappropriate in a customer service setting in general, but especially when directed at elementary-aged kids.

There was zero staff presence at the laser maze or play structure. There were literal fights and unsupervised children cussing at younger ones. They cut in line, shoved other kids, or took multiple turns on the laser maze. Incidentally, the sensors in the maze didn't work all that well, and often wouldn't end a turn. This caused the clock to just keep running for minutes on end.

There never was a good answer as to why there were no minifigs, nor any guidance on where to get the one that was supposedly included in the price of admission. This meant that kids could not use any of the machines at every station designed to be used with a minifig. Not a huge deal, and certainly minor in comparison to the violence between kids and rudeness of the staff. However, it definitely added to the less than stellar experience...

I enjoyed going but during the week is the way to go. Weekends are too crazy and waiting in line for anything here is not worth it.

Note - we went on a homeschool day for half price which feels like the right pricing and there was barely anyone there. I don’t think paying full price for a crowded day makes any sense. Also, we had to show proof of homeschooling which is fine but I wish the add would have told us we would have to prove anything.

Duplo zone is cute for littles. The Dino merry go round was a hit.

There is a short ride which is fun and safe. You use wants to blast things on screens.

Movie theater is 4D. Smoke, wind and water (sprinkles). I don’t love wearing the glasses. There are 3 different movies which are all about 10 min each. Not a lot of dialogue, just fun visuals. You can sit in the back to avoid getting wet.

Food is standard fare, overpriced snacks etc.

For runners the exit and the entrance are close to each other which can make monitoring easier

Space zone - build a spacecraft and then scan it and then fly it around on a big screen. Super fun!

Class - there is a little side room by the entrance that sometimes has building classes. We didn’t know this and missed out but they looked fun.

Pictures - there is a Card you will get to track photos throughout like on the ride and at the entry way. Not a ton of other picture places.

Embossing - there were a bunch of places on the wall where you could “stamp” a paper. It’s an extra fee to get the book but a plain piece of paper works too

Buildings - I absolutely loved all the DC models and castles etc. The lights go on and off to show various areas. Look down low because there are cutouts underneath the structures as well or on the sides.

Climbing zone - small and closed when we went

Hero area - small but fun to do the laser room

Mini fig- when you first walk in, there is a bunch of mini fig pieces. You don’t get to keep them but you can make one and play with it throughout the visit. Be careful about putting it in the machine called FINAL MISSION. It will scan it to put it in a little video but you won’t get it back. Lots of tears if you don’t want your kid!

Ramp area - there are 3 structures for kids to launch vehicles they build. A volcano , over an alligator and through a pyramid....

The first time Lego disappointed me in about 40 years.

Ok I get it probably amazing as a kid.

But us gifting uncles & aunts buying Lego for every occasion we can for the kids.

This was more than uninviting.

31 $ to attend a birthday party , then being flagged at the door as a potential weirdo since you are not a child or with a child, although I was there with my dad. Since we arrived late - yes you can't visit without a child.

But who says LEGO is only for children, ok fine this place is clearly for humans smaller than 5 ft ( max height to enter the playground ) but the actual Lego part is a recreation of the Mall in DC.

Which clearly appeals to adults. So why don't you sell tickets to just see the Lego display for everyone of any age and tickets for the playground separate and only let children and their parents into that area.

Long story short very very nice work on the Lego miniature DC, however overpriced as plus two visitors that get flagged at the door.

If you can stomach the entry fee for you and your kids , you'll have an amazing time booked for them for sure.

If you don't supervise a child it's probably a lil on the expensive side to see 10 buildings made of Lego and being questioned why you want to enter.

If you like us a real LEGO fan see the LEGO store, they have it all , including build your own LEGO figures and 6 feet high models to purchase.

Dear Discover Center please try to focus more on LEGO rather than playground.

I am sure it says on your webpage somewhere that this is a small children's experience,however in progress of buying tickets for 3 this was not made clear, nor did we enjoy being questioned where our children are since that was not made clear while purchasing tickets either.

And no Discover center I do not need a reply from you mentioning that it says on the webpage , I spent 93 $ plus fee and I had no clue about a only with Child policy.

Make it clear !!!

There are docents of feedback stating the same point as I do so it's your inability to fix this issue.

Besides all the things mentioned broken a year ago are still broken and the display is heavily dusted.

Certain you fail your Lego audit that way.

Your...