I just got back last week from 2 nights at the LEGOLAND Hotel and I thought I'd share my experience.
We had just come from 3 nights at Disneyland so that might impact some of my feelings. I've decided that you cannot compare LEGOLAND to Disney. We checked into the hotel around 5PM. The bellman took our bags and was super nice. I walked into the lobby of the hotel with my 8-year-old daughter and she was in awe. I was surprised how loud and unruly the kids were. It seemed like there were dozens of children running around unattended by their parents. There was a big pit of LEGO bricks and children were walking all over them with their shoes, which seemed sacrilegious! It just was very loud and kind of crazy. I have stayed at several Disney World and also at Disneyland Resort hotels and have never experienced anything like this with kids running around unattended or with parents who were not watching their kids.
I approached the desk to check-in. The woman was nice and polite. She made us our room keys and gave an explanation of the benefits. We could enter the park at 9:00 through a special entrance, by passing other non-hotel staying park goers. The gates open at 9:30 and some of the rides do not start until 10.
The minifigure display behind the desk was quite a site.
2013-08-03 LEGOLAND Hotel 106 by atmail35, on Flickr
There is a small shop in the lobby that is open 24-hours. There is a bar area, Bricks Family Restaurant (buffet) and also a smaller eating area. There is a large castle structure for the kids to play on. There also is a pool, but we did not have time to enjoy the pool.
2013-08-03 LEGOLAND Hotel 111 by atmail35, on Flickr
The lobby theming and décor is great.
SPOILER ALERT: in white font, highlight to see.
The elevator was a blast. It is a disco elevator and when you first go in it plays elevator music, then when the doors close the disco ball lights up and it plays disco music (YMCA, Dancing Queen and others). It is quite a fun time. If you are in a hurry, just take the stairs as there are always people waiting for the elevator. The hotel is only 3 stories high.
In case you prefer a certain floor:
1st floor is Kingdoms
2nd Floor is Pirates
3rd floor is Adventure
Our Premium Pirate Themed Room. My daughter wanted a pirate themed room. I decided to go with the Premium room. I dont think the room is that different than the regular room, additional curtains, the door has a design on the front, themed wallpaper (which was very busy) and maybe more models. Not 100% sure if it was worth the bump in price, but it was pretty cool!
Our room was the room furthest away from the lobby. It was quiet at night, but difficult if you needed something from your room! We were overlooking that parking lot. I dont think the rooms have great views either on the front or back of the hotel.
The room was great. We loved the kids area with bunk beds and a trundle. The kids have their own TV. It would be nice if there was a curtain, but my daughter was so tired our TV did not bother her. Our room had lots of models&those were fun. Some were very dusty though, they should probably clean them!
2013-08-01 LEGOLAND Hotel 024 by atmail35, on Flickr
2013-08-01 LEGOLAND Hotel 009 by atmail35, on Flickr
2013-08-01 LEGOLAND Hotel 006 by atmail35, on Flickr
Some kid friendly features:
Lower peep hole in door, which by the way I had to use myself as even on tippy toes, I could not reach the taller peep hole (I am 5'1").
Step stool in the bathroom, which is a step up from Disney as they never provide a step stool.
Built-in potty seat for little ones (flips down from the lid).
Shower has a removable handheld showerhead, great for rinsing off your kid's hair.
LEGO bricks in the room to play with, it was a blue brick box, but it was a bunch of random parts, not the actual set&we didnt even use it.
Other features:
We were left 2 bottles of water and 2 juice pouches each night (complimentary) and there is a small fridge in the room.
Decent TV stations.
Bathroom was a decent size.
Coffee Machine in room
CONS:
No pen in the room
The bathroom door is of the sliding variety and has no lock on it.
The rug is very busy and hard to find dropped items.
Overall:
The room was very clean and in decent shape. Although the hotel just opened in April, there was some damage to the bathroom door and furniture (dings and such).
Hallway...
2013-08-03 LEGOLAND Hotel 094 by atmail35, on Flickr
SPOILER Kids Gift/Treasure Hunt: in white font.
The gift in the safe was two Series 10 minifigures and a bag of chocolate coins. Keep in mind this is the gift for TWO kids. My daughter was told she was lucky that she got to keep both gifts. Kids have to do a scavenger hunt to find out the code to the safe. I thought the prize was a bit lacking as you pay a $20 per day resort fee which they say includes the cost of the prizes, but that is only $6-7 and we didnt use the pool. They do have entertainment in the lobby (magician, costumed characters). The resort fee also includes wifi and they do have a nightly building contest. Personally I think they should do away with the resort fee and just include everything in the room price.
BRICKS RESTAURANT:
We did eat at Bricks for breakfast on the two mornings. I had called the LEGOLAND Hotel to follow up on my reservation. The person taking the call offered me 3 vouchers (2 adult and 1 child) for the Bricks Family Restaurant at the hotel for the breakfast buffet. Seemed like a good deal so I bought it for 2 days. The normal price for the buffet is $16.95 for adults, $8.50 for kids (Edited, found the actual prices). I would not have paid that price, but for $20, plus a tip for the three of us we were happy. The only glitch was that when I checked in, they gave me 1 adult and 1 child. I said that I was told it was for 2 adults and 1 child and she gave me the third pass. The website says 1 adult and 2 children, but I specifically asked when I was booking it and the guy on the phone said it didnt matter.
The restaurant is very loud. The food was decent. They had cold cereal, oatmeal, pastries, toast/English muffins/bagels (lox too). There was a variety of fresh fruit, yogurt. The hot buffet had breakfast meats, pancakes, scrambled eggs, French toast and waffles. You could have an omelet made to order. I think there were biscuits and gravy. Juices, milk, coffee, tea.
You can eat outside, but I saw a huge crow carry off someones bacon. The service is so so, the server brings you coffee, but we had to flag her down for refills. The second day the floor underneath our table had bacon and other food on it.
One day a jester came by and did some magic. The second day a princess came by.
Overall we were happy as it was fairly quick and the food was fine. The restaurant has lots of cool LEGO models, but you dont have to eat there to see them. Dinner is $19.95 adult/$10 child.
We had just come from 3 nights at Disneyland so that might impact some of my feelings. I've decided that you cannot compare LEGOLAND to Disney. We checked into the hotel around 5PM. The bellman took our bags and was super nice. I walked into the lobby of the hotel with my 8-year-old daughter and she was in awe. I was surprised how loud and unruly the kids were. It seemed like there were dozens of children running around unattended by their parents. There was a big pit of LEGO bricks and children were walking all over them with their shoes, which seemed sacrilegious! It just was very loud and kind of crazy. I have stayed at several Disney World and also at Disneyland Resort hotels and have never experienced anything like this with kids running around unattended or with parents who were not watching their kids.
I approached the desk to check-in. The woman was nice and polite. She made us our room keys and gave an explanation of the benefits. We could enter the park at 9:00 through a special entrance, by passing other non-hotel staying park goers. The gates open at 9:30 and some of the rides do not start until 10.
The minifigure display behind the desk was quite a site.
2013-08-03 LEGOLAND Hotel 106 by atmail35, on Flickr
There is a small shop in the lobby that is open 24-hours. There is a bar area, Bricks Family Restaurant (buffet) and also a smaller eating area. There is a large castle structure for the kids to play on. There also is a pool, but we did not have time to enjoy the pool.
2013-08-03 LEGOLAND Hotel 111 by atmail35, on Flickr
The lobby theming and décor is great.
SPOILER ALERT: in white font, highlight to see.
The elevator was a blast. It is a disco elevator and when you first go in it plays elevator music, then when the doors close the disco ball lights up and it plays disco music (YMCA, Dancing Queen and others). It is quite a fun time. If you are in a hurry, just take the stairs as there are always people waiting for the elevator. The hotel is only 3 stories high.
In case you prefer a certain floor:
1st floor is Kingdoms
2nd Floor is Pirates
3rd floor is Adventure
Our Premium Pirate Themed Room. My daughter wanted a pirate themed room. I decided to go with the Premium room. I dont think the room is that different than the regular room, additional curtains, the door has a design on the front, themed wallpaper (which was very busy) and maybe more models. Not 100% sure if it was worth the bump in price, but it was pretty cool!
Our room was the room furthest away from the lobby. It was quiet at night, but difficult if you needed something from your room! We were overlooking that parking lot. I dont think the rooms have great views either on the front or back of the hotel.
The room was great. We loved the kids area with bunk beds and a trundle. The kids have their own TV. It would be nice if there was a curtain, but my daughter was so tired our TV did not bother her. Our room had lots of models&those were fun. Some were very dusty though, they should probably clean them!
2013-08-01 LEGOLAND Hotel 024 by atmail35, on Flickr
2013-08-01 LEGOLAND Hotel 009 by atmail35, on Flickr
2013-08-01 LEGOLAND Hotel 006 by atmail35, on Flickr
Some kid friendly features:
Lower peep hole in door, which by the way I had to use myself as even on tippy toes, I could not reach the taller peep hole (I am 5'1").
Step stool in the bathroom, which is a step up from Disney as they never provide a step stool.
Built-in potty seat for little ones (flips down from the lid).
Shower has a removable handheld showerhead, great for rinsing off your kid's hair.
LEGO bricks in the room to play with, it was a blue brick box, but it was a bunch of random parts, not the actual set&we didnt even use it.
Other features:
We were left 2 bottles of water and 2 juice pouches each night (complimentary) and there is a small fridge in the room.
Decent TV stations.
Bathroom was a decent size.
Coffee Machine in room
CONS:
No pen in the room
The bathroom door is of the sliding variety and has no lock on it.
The rug is very busy and hard to find dropped items.
Overall:
The room was very clean and in decent shape. Although the hotel just opened in April, there was some damage to the bathroom door and furniture (dings and such).
Hallway...
2013-08-03 LEGOLAND Hotel 094 by atmail35, on Flickr
SPOILER Kids Gift/Treasure Hunt: in white font.
The gift in the safe was two Series 10 minifigures and a bag of chocolate coins. Keep in mind this is the gift for TWO kids. My daughter was told she was lucky that she got to keep both gifts. Kids have to do a scavenger hunt to find out the code to the safe. I thought the prize was a bit lacking as you pay a $20 per day resort fee which they say includes the cost of the prizes, but that is only $6-7 and we didnt use the pool. They do have entertainment in the lobby (magician, costumed characters). The resort fee also includes wifi and they do have a nightly building contest. Personally I think they should do away with the resort fee and just include everything in the room price.
BRICKS RESTAURANT:
We did eat at Bricks for breakfast on the two mornings. I had called the LEGOLAND Hotel to follow up on my reservation. The person taking the call offered me 3 vouchers (2 adult and 1 child) for the Bricks Family Restaurant at the hotel for the breakfast buffet. Seemed like a good deal so I bought it for 2 days. The normal price for the buffet is $16.95 for adults, $8.50 for kids (Edited, found the actual prices). I would not have paid that price, but for $20, plus a tip for the three of us we were happy. The only glitch was that when I checked in, they gave me 1 adult and 1 child. I said that I was told it was for 2 adults and 1 child and she gave me the third pass. The website says 1 adult and 2 children, but I specifically asked when I was booking it and the guy on the phone said it didnt matter.
The restaurant is very loud. The food was decent. They had cold cereal, oatmeal, pastries, toast/English muffins/bagels (lox too). There was a variety of fresh fruit, yogurt. The hot buffet had breakfast meats, pancakes, scrambled eggs, French toast and waffles. You could have an omelet made to order. I think there were biscuits and gravy. Juices, milk, coffee, tea.
You can eat outside, but I saw a huge crow carry off someones bacon. The service is so so, the server brings you coffee, but we had to flag her down for refills. The second day the floor underneath our table had bacon and other food on it.
One day a jester came by and did some magic. The second day a princess came by.
Overall we were happy as it was fairly quick and the food was fine. The restaurant has lots of cool LEGO models, but you dont have to eat there to see them. Dinner is $19.95 adult/$10 child.
