If you're wondering whether or not to book that trip to Legoland, take this as your sign to go ahead and do it. Between the 3 theme parks and 2 hotels, there's so much family fun at LEGOLAND California resort that you'll have no trouble keeping your kids busy on this vacation!
Legoland has been on our list of places we want to take the kids, but we wanted to wait until they were at ages where they could really enjoy it. I would say that kids from age 4-10 would have the best time there...but I'm 40 and had a blast, so it has a broad reach. Because we live in LA it's only a two hour drive, so we packed up the car for a short road trip...or a loooooong road trip if you ask the kids!
If you do have to fly, check to see if there's a hotel shuttle that can pick you up at the airport. When you stay at the resort, you probably won't need a car because there's a few different restaurants and you'll likely be eating inside the park for lunches and snacks. There's also a variety of entertainment hosted by both hotels, so you won't need to go off the premises looking for stuff to do once the parks close.
The two on-site hotel options are The Legoland Hotel and The Legoland Castle Hotel. We stayed at the castle hotel because it was slightly cheaper for our dates, but both hotels have a separate sleeping area for the kids. They had bunk beds with a trundle bed that you could also pull out and their own tv in the room. There was a bin of legos that the kids could play with, in addition to a locked safe that could be opened by doing a scavenger hunt around the hotel. Each hotel has a few options for restaurants, and you have the option to include breakfast into your stay. Breakfast at the castle hotel was a buffet with plenty of foods to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters. The dinner buffet at the Legoland hotel was our favorite dinner spot, so I highly recommend making a reservation for that.
My favorite part about staying on the property was how family centric everything was. They had so many activities scheduled for after the parks closed that it was easy to keep us all entertained. There were storytelling shows, and magic acts and musical acts, and movie showings. In addition to the activities, they have a great playground area that accommodates a range of ages and abilities. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!! Staying at one of the Legoland hotels puts you steps away from the park entrance AND it secures you an early entry. In the summer months it also makes visiting the water park so much easier because you can just run up to the room to change into dry clothes and get back to the action in no time.
The three parks that make up Legoland are the Theme Park, Water Park and Sea Life Aquarium. Our stay included entry to all three of the parks since we stayed at one of the on-site hotels. If I were to buy tickets for just one of the parks, I would easily choose the main park. The sea life park was very small and not much different than any of the other small aquariums we've been to. The water park was also small, but it had enough to keep the kids occupied for a whole afternoon. If you have multiple days to spend there, I would highly recommend getting tickets for at least the main park and the water park.
One of the best things about a visit to Legoland is that it's all made with little kids in mind! Even though my daughter was a *smidge* too short for some of the rides, my 7 year old easily fit the height requirements for all the stuff he wanted to do. They also make it really fun to just wander around the park if you're not into rides or have a baby that's too small to ride. The full range of Lego creativity is on display throughout every inch of the park, from the mini cities with all their landmarks to the array of colorful characters around every corner. To get more info and book your own getaway head to their website here:
And if you're in the mood to explore SoCal outside of Legoland, you can also check out all of the wonderful things San Diego has to offer. It's only a 30 minute drive from the resort and you'll have hotel, dining and entertaimnet options to suit any budget! And if you plan enough in advance you can score some great deals.
If you were on the fence about a Legoland vacation I hope this post gave you some helpful insights! Let me know if you've been to Legoland California and what you thought about it.
Happy Travels!
Looks like fun!