SAN DIEGO — On June 27, a father in Germany decided it was a good day to do something that has never been done before. He decided to take his 5-year-old son to every LEGOLAND in the world in 13 days.
Jeff Zevely from the Zevely Zone spent the day with the father and son on the seventh leg of their "LEGOLAND Trip of a Lifetime."
"I wanted to experience something special with my son," said Dieter Deussen.
Dieter and his son, Julian, are visiting all eight LEGOLAND Parks in about two weeks. Their itinerary included:
- Thursday, June 27 – LEGOLAND Windsor Resort
- Friday, June 28 – LEGOLAND Billund
- Sunday, June 30 – LEGOLAND Deutschland
- Monday, July 1 – LEGOLAND Dubai
- Wednesday, July 3 – LEGOLAND Malaysia
- Friday, July 5 – LEGOLAND Japan
- Sunday, July 7 – LEGOLAND California
- Tuesday, July 9 – LEGOLAND Florida
"One night I came up with the idea that nobody has visited all the parks so I ask him, 'Julian, would you like to go on a world tour to visit all eight parks?' - and what did he say? 'Yes. Totally I would like to go.'" said Dieter.
Ever since Julian was a toddler, he loved Lego and still plays the bricks for hours at a time. So with elementary school starting in a few weeks, his father planned one epic trip.
"We have visited LEGOLAND Windsor first, then Denmark, then LEGOLAND Germany, then LEGOLAND Dubai, then LEGOLAND Malaysia, then LEGOLAND Japan and now we are here in California," said Dieter.
He's a dentist, but to save a little bit of money they are flying economy, and LEGOLAND was nice enough to pay for their park admission.
Turns out, continent jumping can be dangerous. In Europe, Julian drove LEGOLAND cars on the left side of the road, but in Malaysia he drove on the right side of the road. His father says that's the first time his son has driven into on coming traffic.
Julian's journey has felt as if a LEGO wizard granted him any wish. So, this king and prince said goodbye to their queen and took a dude trip without mom.
"Is this how you spoil an only child?" asked Zevely.
"Yes," said Dieter.
The last stop was Orlando for a father and son who have the whole world in their hands.
Although this was the first journey of its kind to all of the LEGOLAND parks, LEGOLAND officials realized the Deussen "LEGOLAND World Tour" would not be complete without a visit to LEGOLAND New York Resort opening in 2020 to which they awarded the family tickets to return and visit