Legoland Johor Bahru, Malaysia

The reason we had to go to Singapore last month was because we had annual passes to the newly opened Legoland in Johor Bahru that needed to be used this year. We bought it before the theme park even opened because we did the math and realized that we only needed to go twice to make it worth it.

Getting there is easy enough to do from Singapore. It's just a bus ride away and you have several options. I will write a separate post on that.

We took the most flexible option  not the most convenient oneby taking the Causeway Link Bus Service.

When we got there, the first order of the day was to claim our annual passes.
They have this small webcam they give you to take your own photo.

Surprisingly, despite the heat and humidity,
all of us looked nice in our passes.

We arrived around 1pm (because we left past 11am),
so our first stop was lunch. 

There are a lot of eating options at the mall right across the Legoland entrance. They have Burger King, KFC, The Chicken Rice Shop, and a lot of other restaurant including Pancake House that is opening soon. The toilet is really dirty at the mall, so it's better to enter Legoland first and use the toilet before you eat if you need to go.

Excited to go to Legoland after lunch.

Getting her annual pass scanned.

Mr. Plumber just did some repairs.

This uncle was snoring.

Our first stop was Miniland because we run out of time to do it when we visited Legoland Windsor earlier this year. It is nothing alike because this is the Asian version.

Kuala Lumpur

Sofia at the Petronas Twin Towers.

There's a cruise ship at the harbor.

Wall's product placement.

The Singapore skyline we know and love.

Singapore Flyer.

Shop houses at Boat Quay. 

The Fullerton Hotel and the bridge
at the back of Asian Civilizations Museum.

They also had some of the heritage sites in Asia.

The Ankor Wat in Siam Reap, Cambodia.

Some place in Thailand.

The Forbidden Palace and Great Wall in Beijing, China.

The Taj Mahal in Agra, India.

I couldn't resist doing this :)

Because at the real Taj, all the tourists do this :)

Surprisingly, there was also some sights of the Philippines in Miniland. We actually missed it the first time around, but we saw it on the map, so we went back to find it.

Fishing Village and Jeepney beside an old church.

The church is nice because the stained glass windows are lit at night.

Starting and ending our visit with Miniland.

We were able to do a lot and go around the park twice even though we arrived past one because we went on a weekday, and we skipped all the rides with long lines (which we were able to go back for during our second round). It helped a lot that we had annual passes because we didn't feel like we were missing out by skipping some rides because we could always come back.

Sofia's first ride was the Driving School, her favorite in Legoland Windsor (sponsored by Fiat). The ride in Malaysia (sponsored by Nissan) failed miserably in comparison because there were no driving lessons for kids, no picture taking, and no drivers license given to each kid after the ride. Booooo.  In other words, you just line up to drive a car.

Sofia in the lead.

The kids are just herded together, then it ends.

There was also the Fire Academy, Sofia wanted to do this, because this was the first ride we did in Windsor, however we were too lazy to do it with her (adults need to do the work for this ride!), so we convinced her to see the rest of the park first since she's done it already.

The Fire Academy.

Legoland is such a hit for kids Sofia's age because they have more age appropriate rides. Most of the time, they even have a version of rides for 6 years old up, and a tamer version for kids aged 3-5. I convinced Sofia to do the kiddie rides with shorter lines first.

Lego City Airport.

 Spot the difference between the next two pictures.

They had to off-load Tim because only 2 people can ride a plane!

Lost and Found Luggage and Boxers at the airport.

We also had fun at the game booths. They stuff toys were nice and did not look cheap, so you'll really be tempted to play. 

The Pharoah Sponge Bob looks look,
except his face might start falling apart.

I played in the catch a dragon game while waiting for
Sofia in one of the rides.

I won her a purple dragon. Yay!

I must confess though that I played in a booth
where you're guaranteed a prize every time.
But I'm proud to say I won a Medium prize.

Sofia was so impressed, she also wanted to win herself her own dragon.

For RM15 you get 2 chances to catch a dragon.

Each dragon has a number below.
They add up the total score to determine the size of the prize.

Sofia won a Medium green dragon.

Because of the humidity, we were very strategic in how we went around the park. We needed a lot of breaks in the air-conditioned activity areas.

Giraffes outside the eating area.

Across it, they also have a playground which is under a tent. We had to take turns to watch Sofia, but it was always Ninong Tim's turn.

Slide.

Sliding down the pole with help.

Food for the lion.

After the playground, we wanted to catch a 4D Movie.

But we were told that the next showing was at 4pm.

We had 30 minutes to kill,
so we went to the air-conditioned activity area next to it. 

You get to make a building...

Then you can test how strong the structure is by simulating an earthquake.

Sofia and Ninong's building.

Uh-oh. Good thing it's movie time.

4D Movie, here we come!

The 4D show is the best ride if you're tired because
you can just arrive 5 minutes before the show, and sit the whole time.

After resting, Sofia and Ninong had energy again to go on the Duplo ride.

You start at the bottom.

Then you need to pull yourself up with the rope.

Go Go Go!!!

Nice view from the top.
Sofia even told me she didn't get scared.

Our next stop was the Lego Kingdom.

Sofia rode the Lego horse.

Ninong went with her while I played to win the dragon.

With the wood chopper Blacksmith.

At the Lego castle.

On our way out, we passed Albert Einstein. I think this would also be a good break from the humidity, but those who are age 8 and up can learn some cool stuff. Younger kids can borrow sets to build.

 We made our way back to the front for more photo ops. This was also when we decided to catch the last bus (at 7:50pm) to Johor Premium Outlets so we could do a second round of the park.

An artist painting Legoland at Night.

Scuba Diver.

The biggest Lego Christmas Tree in Asia.

We wanted to go back for the rides with longer lines now that we had time to wait. The Boating School was under maintenance, but the Lego Express Train had a shorter line. We were very efficient because Ninong Timmy and Ninang Ads lined up while we rushed to squeeze in more playground time.

The Shipyard is right beside Lego Express.

On the ship.

Speed play.

Slide again.

We came back with time to spare before it was our turn to ride the train.

You get a good view of Miniland.

Sofia loves riding the theme park trains.

Ninang Ads and the twin towers.

Sofia adding to Dino's load.

We even got a chance to go up on the
Observation Tower before we called it a day. 

Christmas Tree at night.

Catching the last bus is extremely stressful. I suggest you never plan to do it. Anyway, after getting scared of getting stranded in Legoland, we still made it to Johor Premium Outlets for a quick stop.

At JPO, still not tired of playgrounds.

Sofia let us shop because she wanted to shop too.

It was a very tiring but fun and productive day trip.

I'm so happy we can do it again and again for a year.

See you soon Legoland and Red Brick!

When we got back to Singapore, Sofia told me, "Mom, this is really my best day ever!" 

awwww. priceless. just saying.

You can read about our visit to Legoland Windsor here.