Los Angeles Ad Town: The Waterpark Ruins in Tony Hawk's New Commercial

In a new spot for Mini Cooper (above), Tony Hawk and his family sneak into an abandoned waterpark to skate:





Of course, anyone who takes the 15 to Las Vegas recognizes it as the remains to Lake Dolores and Rock-A-Hoola, a failed water park in the middle of the desert (Newberry Springs, to be exact).

Of course, in these drought times, the idea of a waterpark that deep into the desert is preposterous. But it was always a crazy idea. Yet, Lake Dolores had been around for decades before it went bust 15 years ago.

Here's what the front of the water park looks like now, via the Mini ad:



And here's what it looked like in full operation:



I wrote about it in 2011:

Opened by Bob and Dolores (the park's namesake) Byers in 1962, Lake Dolores is considered one of the first -- if not the first -- water parks in the country.

A popular recreational attraction for much of the 1970s and 1980s, it finally shut down in the late 1980s. Ten years later, in the late 1990s, it reopened as the 1950s-themed "Rock-A-Hoola." Here's a promo video from 1998:

The new owners went bankrupt, and it shut down for good by 2004. Since then the water attractions have been removed and the location has been vandalized. Now, it's a spooky shell of its former self. See more at my 2011 post here.

Retro Friday: Lake Dolores, America's First Waterpark

It's one of the many bizarre sites (along with Zzyzx Rd.) you can't help but notice while speeding down the 15 to or from Las Vegas. An eerie, abandoned water park in the middle of the desert: "Rock-A-Hoola," formerly known as Lake Dolores, seems to have been a pretty bad idea.

Yet it thrived as Lake Dolores. (Above, an 1980s-era ad for the attraction.) Opened by Bob and Dolores (the park's namesake) Byers in 1962, Lake Dolores is considered one of the first -- if not the first -- water parks in the country.

A popular recreational attraction for much of the 1970s and 1980s, it finally shut down in the late 1980s. Ten years later, in the late 1990s, it reopened as the 1950s-themed "Rock-A-Hoola." Here's a promo video from 1998:



But the new owners went bankrupt, and it shut down for good by 2004. Since then the water attractions have been removed and the location has been vandalized. Now, it's a spooky shell of its former self.

Now, people can't resist stopping off the freeway to take videos of the eerie water park ruins. Some videos:





And in the most famous example, the stars of MTV's "Rob and Big" took their skateboards and rode on the abandoned slides:



Lake Dolores isn't forgotten. Not only do thousands of motorists drive by it every day, but one filmmaker is even working on a documentary about the country's first waterpark. Here's a clip:



Check out more cool pics of the abandoned waterpark at Lost America here.

A Day at Legoland, Including First Look: The New Star Wars Miniland

Blogger Kid's definitely in the Legoland sweet spot at the moment -- He's 6, after all, so it's all-Legos-all-the-time at our house (which is kinda cool by me). So as we pulled up to the Legoland amusement park in Carlsbad this weekend, the BK couldn't contain his excitement.

"YES. YES. LOVE IT. LOVE. IT."

I'm not sure when Evan started talking like a 16 year-old girl, but hey, I could appreciate the enthusiasm. It was our second trip to the park, and this time was extra exciting for Blogger Kid and Blogger Toddler 2.0: We had made the trip with their two cousins (and their parents). (Read all about our first trip here.)

The eight of us arrived, unfortunately, just days before Legoland's new Star Wars miniland opened to the public... but with most of the work already done, we were able to sneak some peeks:







Here's more info:

Guests can enjoy seven of the most famous scenes from the six live-action STAR WARS movies, as well as a scene from the animated series STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS™ all made out of 1.5 million LEGO® bricks built in 1:20 scale.

Guests will be further immersed into the STAR WARS experience as they pose with life-size LEGO models of Chewbacca, R2-D2 and Darth Vader.

Following a chronological path through the STAR WARS timeline, LEGOLAND guests retrace the major events of the beloved Saga. Some of the 2,000 LEGO models will be more than 6-feet-tall. Interactive buttons will allow children to activate animations throughout the scenes.

The individual film scenes were selected after careful consultation with Lucasfilm Ltd. Pictures and drawings of the figures, spacecraft, vehicles, landscapes, etc. were taken as the basis for the detailed construction blueprints. The model designers used a special LEGO drawing paper for this, on which one square is equivalent to one LEGO knob. In the next step, they calculated how many bricks and which colors and forms would be needed for the models. For particularly difficult model parts, prototypes are first built, before the model is constructed brick by brick. To help the LEGO models last longer, all of the bricks are glued together and then sprayed with a special UV coating.

Of course, Blogger Kid and his cousins enjoyed the rides -- particularly the Volvo Cars, which (unlike Disneyland's Autopia) run without a track. Evan may only be 6, but he's a stickler for rules -- and obeyed the rules of the road while driving. It was a treat to watch -- he stopped at the proper points, stayed in his lane and drove cautiously.

But Blogger Kid's favorite part of the park remains the Minilands. New York City, New Orleans, Washington, San Francisco, Vegas and more -- all built with Legos. Some shots of the Lego creations found there and throughout the park:


Lego Washington gets his ears cleaned (look for the Lego guys using a Lego Q-tip on his left ear)


Lego Sydney Concert Hall (featuring a real duck terrorizing the harbor)


Lego Pharoah


Lego New York


Lego Hollywood Bowl and Lego Griffith Observatory


Lego Vegas Wedding Chapel


Lego Grauman's Chinese Theatre


Blogger Kid and Cousin watch the Lego Boats


Lego Times Square