Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Adventures in Legoland

We were blessed by four free tickets to Legoland from David's sister Nicole. Since we were going to be in Southern California for a wedding, we figured we might as well make the drive to Carlsbad so we could take the kids to Legoland.

Originally I had wanted to do two days at Disneyland, and then head to Legoland on our way home. However, Carlsbad (near San Diego) isn't "on the way home" to Sacramento from LA! So we went there first. Because it was our first day of activities, the kids were full of energy! Looking back, I wish we hadn't told the kids about the tickets to Legoland, and had stuck to my agenda. The kids were so exhausted by day three that they didn't really enjoy Disneyland. But that's another post...

Back to Legoland.

The pros: the kids had a GREAT time!

They got to go on a train ride (a few times).

And squirt water at the Lego.


They got to drive the cars in a race.


(Well, Brandon & Olivia go to drive, Abbie was too young.)


There were lots of fun Lego things to put your head in.


And a very cool area of mini Lego cities. I got to snap a few pics on the way thru as we were on a mad dash to the bathroom. And honestly, as cool as I think it was, I don't think the kids would've last too long.


The cons: We only lasted about four hours because really, there wasn't much more to do. The lines were long, and didn't have "fast passes" like at Disney and people were cutting in & out of them. And they were just "rides". I'm so thankful we didn't have to pay $67 admission (per person)! The play areas were nice, but we have free parks here that are nicer, and TONS of Lego at home (that hasn't been touched by lots of dirty hands...just my kids!).

My HUGE complaint: The first ride we went on had a 45 minute line. When it was our turn, the worker let Brandon & David get on their car. Abbie screamed because Daddy had left her. Fine, I can handle that. The next car came, so the girls & I stepped up to get on. The 17 year old worker told me I could only take one child on with me, but I could leave one of them behind & their nice little play area (where I would not be able to see her while on the ride).

EXCUSE ME?! Of course we waited for David to come back & took a few turns to get everyone on. I was irritated at the stupidity of the worker's comments, until I noticed that all of the rides had these Lego play areas with signs that said "kids play while parents wait." Cool concept, except, really? Who's going to do that? And these were on the little kid rides too.

(Fast forward to the next evening at California Adventure at Disneyland. David took Brandon & Olivia on the bumper cars. I waited outside with Abbie. Again, the ride was designed for one parent, one child. So one of the employees went on the ride with Brandon! What a different experience! Kudos Disney!)

All in all, the kids had fun at Legoland. They were bummed that we didn't let them buy any Legos, but I honestly didn't see anything there (Lego-wise) that you couldn't get in the Lego store or online (which, by the way, if want something that is available online but not in the store, you can have them order it for you at the store for FREE shipping).

My recommendation: not worth it. Especially if you're going to Disneyland (where they have a Lego store in Downtown Disney) or if you live 30 minutes from a Lego store.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for your thoughts. We have been considering going to Legoland in August. Don't think our younger two (age 1 and 3) are ready for Disneyland...?! What are your thoughts since you've been to both?

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