At the Beach at San Diego
Well, sorry for the slight delay in this weeks posts! I am running two days behind schedule because we took an impromptu family trip to Legoland California!
My sister in law had four free Legoland tickets, which meant that we only would have to purchase one. We were planning on going April 23rd and 24th, but she called late Monday night to tell us that Legoland was going to be closed those days. Since my husband has Tuesday/Wednesday weekends we had to go in the middle of the week. The tickets expired at the end of the month. That left one day… the next one!
I packed the car and we left at 2AM. We pulled into San Diego at just after 8AM and we spent seven hours at Legoland California. The next day we went to the beach and then we made the drive back to Marana.
Sometimes family life is unscripted.
As for Legoland itself, I thought I would post a review for those of you considering going.
Legoland vs Legoland Discovery Center
There are two Legoland locations in the United States (California and Florida). There are five Legoland Discovery Center's in the United States (Chicago, Kansas City, Atlanta, Dallas Fort Worth, and Westchester). This is a review of Legoland California. I have heard great things about the Legoland Discovery Center and I hope to go to one someday, but I have NOT been to one yet!
Cost of Legoland California
You can get hopper tickets (so you can see Sea Life and the Water park as well as Legoland), but we found we did not have time to use them! Seven hours was not near long enough to see the entire Legoland park, so the extra fee on the hopper tickets was wasted. If you go more than one day then you are better off purchasing a yearly pass (which is paid for in less than two visits). The cost for a Legoland California ONLY pass is as follows:
- Children (3-12) – $68 (membership $99)
- Adults (12+) – $78 (membership $129)
The cost for a hopper ticket is as follows:
- Children (3-12) – $87 (membership $149)
- Adults (12+) – $97 (membership $179)
A Legoland California trip for a family of four (two adults and two children 3-12) costs:
- $307 + tax for one day at legoland (includes a $15 parking fee)
- $456 + tax for a one-year membership to Legoland (add $15/day for parking)
- $383 + tax for one day “hopper” pass for Legoland, Sea Life, and the water park (I don't recommend this, there is too much to see at the Legoland park to bother trying to go to the other two locations in one day)
- $656 + tax for a one year “hopper” membership (includes a few other locations not in California and includes free parking)
The Good (about Legoland Califonia)
- The Lego models are really neat! We took the boat tour and most of the models in that area alone had 100,000 Legos or more in each. Some of the models moved.
- Squashed penny lovers will be happy to know that there are three machines in Legoland. It makes a great souvenir for kids.
- The Coastersaurus was mild enough for a younger child (my three year old enjoyed it) and The Dragon was their favorite.
- They have some AMAZING play areas throughout the park. If you have an annual pass then this would be a great place to go. I'm not sure about spending $300 to go to the play areas alone, but if I was closer I would consider getting the annual membership so we could just show up and enjoy the play areas all day.
- Pirate Town is a water park within Legoland. You will get soaked and it is included in a general Legoland admission price.
The Bad (about Legoland California)
- The shops are not “affiliated with Lego” according to a retail worker. They are souvenir shops and so you cannot get lego VIP points when purchasing Legos from them. The Lego sets are the same price as the Lego store so I wouldn't plan on actually purchasing Legos at the park if you are a VIP member.
- There is a timeshare set-up right at the entrance with a Lego model of the new hotel that they are planning on building. The model is really neat, but they want you to sign up for a timeshare presentation. If you sign up you will have to come back for a 3 day stay (you will pay for that part) and they will give you free childcare during the timeshare presentation and a $100 Legoland gift card (at the time that you come back). Honestly, I thought it was tacky to have it right at the entrance and the kids are drawn to the model made out of Legos.
- The lines were not long, but the waits were. Loading and unloading cars is a process that would take about 20 seconds at Worlds of Fun or Disneyland, but the employees at Legoland were not as good with time management and it was taking 2-3 minutes per group. They chit-chatted with each other and slooooowly walked to let people off and on the rides. If they had a smaller group they would not ask others in the line if they could fill the car. We went on quite a few rides that were only half full because we had a group of 2 and they could fit 4-6 in each car (2 to a row). It would have made more sense to put another group of 2-4 in the row behind us. This was happening on rides that had a 30-60 minute wait time (which is a very long time for the age group they cater to).
The Ugly (about Legoland California)
- The models were neat, but were faded and many were in disrepair. Many had things that were supposed to move and they no longer worked. Miniland had a sign saying they donated coins that were thrown in the water to local charities, but it appeared as though they were never collected (there were coins that had oxidized to the bottom of some of the boats, which would take a very long time – some coins were no longer even recognizable). Many times we would push a button and nothing would happen. I did not see anybody picking up trash, tending to the grounds, or even cleaning tables (we had to clean our own to eat). Although, there were at least 3-4 employees per area walking around selling photos.
Overall
I wanted to love it. My kids are obsessed with Legos and we have been planning to go for a while now. But… it just was not what either of us thought. If we were close we would definitely get a year membership so we could utilize the play areas, but as far as a family vacation, we were not thrilled.
My best comparisons are with Worlds of Fun (Kansas City) where a family of four would cost $176 instead of $307. Planet Snoopy (in Worlds of Fun) had a lot of fun kids rides that never had a long wait. The rides were comparable and the kids enjoyed it.
Disneyland would cost a family of four $336 instead of $307 and they do a much better job immersing the kids into a “different world” and it feels clean and kept up.
There were a lot of things that we just couldn't see in 7 hours so we may have missed something amazing. Have you gone to Legoland California? What did you think?
Click here to sign up for my mailing list!
