– Posted in: Destinations, Family Travel, Florida, North America, Press Releases, Travel Type, United States Yesterday, LEGOLAND Florida announced their latest expansion, The World of Chima, will open in Summer 2013. The World of Chima is a new land comprised of a splash battle water ride called the Quest for CHI, a new 4D movie, an area to build and play with LEGO Chima in the Speedorz Arena, and a meet and greet location with Chima characters. Continue reading for more details on the newest addition to LEGOLAND Florida. Update May 14, 2013: A photo re-tweeted by LEGOLAND Florida announced opening day for The World of Chima will be July 3, 2013. LEGOLAND Florida may only be 18 months old, but it has already added the LEGOLAND Water Park and the LEGO Star Wars miniland. The World of Chima will be a new immersive land with an interactive water ride and will open to coincide with the roll out of the LEGO “Legends of Chima” toy line and new Cartoon Network television series.
Cartoon Network will serve as the presenting partner for the new additions. “This is the first time a theme park has invested in a major expansion concurrently with the rollout of a new brand and product line, and it was an easy decision based on how well LEGO Legends of Chima has been received by children and those who are young at heart around the world,” said LEGOLAND Florida General Manager Adrian Jones. The centerpiece to The World of Chima land will be a “splash battle” water ride attraction, The Quest for CHI. Guests will enter The World of Chima through a fantastical stone and moss covered entrance which leads to the Lion Temple at the base of the majestic 45-foot tall floating Mount Cavora. There, families will explore a diverse landscape setting and join the Lion Tribe in a battle to recover the stolen CHI orbs. Guests will board a watercraft which will take them on an interactive experience using water cannons to help their hero, Laval the Lion Prince, defeat Cragger the Crocodile King as he attempts to steal the precious supply of CHI.
The journey will take you through the land of Chima to meet some of the highly advanced animal tribal habitats, including the Rhino Quarry, Raven’s Roost, Eagle’s Nest, Wolves Encampment, Gorilla Forest and Crocodile Swamp among other imaginative settings. The World of Chima will also feature a super-charged, super-fast Speedorz Arena where multiple players can build LEGO Speedorz and compete to win the precious supply of CHI by participating in group challenges and competing in a series of obstacles. A new 4D movie, the LEGO Chima 4D Movie Xperience, will further immerse families into The World of Chima by bringing the characters to life on the big screen. Kids will also get to meet Laval the Lion Prince and Cragger the Crocodile King at daily character meet and greet sessions. LEGOLAND Florida also announced that Cartoon Network will be the presenting partner of The World of Chima and the Official Kids Cable Network for the theme park. “This is a great opportunity to continue the successful relationship that Cartoon Network has had with LEGO Group,” said Cartoon Network Chief Marketing Officer Brenda Piper.
“We are always looking to expand the Cartoon Network brand to reach children outside the world of television and what better way to do that than by bringing the Legends of Chima to life at a theme park.” LEGOLAND Florida’s sister park in California opened a pirate themed splash battle water ride in May 2012. LEGOLAND California’s Pirate Reef included a 25 foot drop between two dueling LEGO Pirate ships. Admission to LEGOLAND Florida is $79 for ages 13+ and $69 for ages 3-12. The water park is only available as an add on ticket to LEGOLAND California admission for an additional $12. A $15 discount is available when tickets are purchased ahead of time online. For more family travel news, reviews, and trip reports, be sure to follow Adventures by Daddy on twitter and “like” our facebook page too. With Lego Legends of Chima Online, players journey across the world exploring jungles, caverns and more. And it doesn’t stop once the computer’s turned off.
With the Cross-Play feature, Chima Online allows gamers to hop off the PC or Mac and resume play on their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. But while Cross-Play delivers a seamless transition from platform to platform, it’s not enough to overcome the game’s numerous shortcomings. Understanding that the game is targeted at a younger audience and uses a free-to-play system, Chima Online is still clichèd in almost every aspect. The game fails to break away from the routine characteristics of most Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. From the start, players are thrust into a world of fetch-quests and button-mashing without really understanding why. All they know is that they’re commanders in an inter-species army of eagles, bears, lions and gorillas that stand unified against the crocodiles. Perhaps developer WB Games assumes players will come in with prior knowledge of the setting from the TV show on which Chima Online is based. But it’s a bad premise on which to build a game.
After some tutorials that are more boring than helpful, Chima Online presents its full experience. Players establish an outpost where they can gain studs — the Lego games’ main currency — craft weapons and acquire powers. From there, the game hurls quest after quest at players. It makes the adventures feel like a series of sessions carving through monotonous legions of Lego-formed minions who are little more than an excuse to repeatedly push the right and left click buttons. At least players earn studs in the process. With some exposition, the constant quests might be enjoyable but without it, the characters feel less like commanders and more like grunts given a high rank to make new players feel special. As bad as the story (or lack thereof) is, the biggest problem here is gameplay. It employs a click-to-move mechanic. Players click a destination and the character moves accordingly. It’s cumbersome at best and requires constant clicking. The HUD is so crowded that it’s easy to click open a menu instead of a desired destination.
Players also click on enemies to attack them. Frustration mounts as a missed click results in the character circling an enemy while taking damage. What’s worse is that many of the game’s collectibles need to be clicked on in order to be added to the character’s inventory. While this isn’t a big deal on the desktop and laptop, it’s a nightmare on an iPhone. It’s understandable that the iPhone needs to utilize the touch-to-move mechanic, but for the game to require players to touch every piece of fruit or every block — instead of simply having the character collect items by walking through them — is nothing short of asinine. One of the things the game gets right is the fluidity with which it handles multiplayer. Friends can join a player’s world, or outpost, and interact with it as they deem fit. Friends can adventure together or move about on their own. They can even interfere in boss battles, which is helpful when the boss is about to claim victory. Partying with other players is a fun and flexible.
Fell behind your teammates while whipping up a bowl of Ramen Noodles? No problem, rejoin them with the click of a button and get back in the action. As with many free-to-play games, Chima Online offers memberships that allow players to build larger outposts which lead to more powers, better weapons and more currency to work with. The free version is very limiting, however. In the free version, players are given enough room for a few buildings in their outpost. The game doesn’t let non-members expand at all. No matter how much in-game currency the player accrues, only members can expand. This leaves a significant portion of the game outside the “free to play” realm. It would be understable if the game allowed non-members to expand slowly, at 1.5x the price, etc. At that point, there’s not much incentive to play for free. Which is part of the point, but it would still be nice to see more free content. While Chima Online does its due diligence in placing parental controls throughout the game, including locking the chat until a parent gives the OK, it’s difficult to condone this as a introduction to gaming for young players — or as a title that can sustain their interest.