Lego Land??

[Saskalarri]

So this will be our second time down to the area (From Canada) and we are considering on hitting Lego Land this time around. Our son was disappointed we didn't hit it last time. He was 6 then. He will be 11 this time.

Last time we spoke with other parents from our hotel who thought it was a waste of time and pretty expensive and it swayed us to stay away.

Any opinions? Worth checking out? He still enjoys Lego, but not like he did when he was six!

 

[ImDMous]

Hmmm, that's a tough one. I don't have kids myself but have a lot of friends with young ones. From what they have experienced, Legoland is more appealing to the under 10 crowd. Most of them have passes and children under 7. They do have the Star Wars stuff which looks pretty cool and the new Chima Water Park. We haven't been yet mainly because it's too pricey to be worth it if we're not going to go on any rides, which are mostly geared towards younger kids.

 

[ktlm]

I would think an 11 year old would be bored to tears at Legoland. We did it once when DD(8) was around 4 or 5. She loved it, but being used to DL and WDW and things there being entertaining and interesting for adults too, DH and I were totally bored with a lot of the stuff and we both agreed that it was only entertaining for pretty young kids.

 

[Angrose]

I was just at Legoland Mother's Day weekend with my DH and DS6, both Lego fanatics. This was our first trip and we had a GREAT time! I had read so many mixed reviews so went in with pretty low expectations, but I was very pleasantly surprised. No, it's not Disney, so don't expect it to be. I think it helped that our trip was not combined with a Disney trip. Of course that is where I would rather have been, but watching my boys have so much fun was a blast for me. Honestly, DH is such a huge Lego fan that he would have gone even without our son! DS doesn't care much for rides so the small rides were fine for him, and to be honest, I think when he's 11 he would still enjoy it. Every kid and family is different, so if you think your family would have fun, then why not give it a try? You should ask your son if he really wants to go and then make your decision. You don't want to look back on your trip again and wish that you had gone.

If you do go, make sure to check out the Lego Movie Experience, it's the set from the Lego Movie and it was GREAT! Also, the Fire Fighter show was really entertaining

 

[laura&fam]

How long would people recommend for visiting Legoland? With the water park and the aquarium would 2 days be enough for everything?

This question seemed to follow the thread, sorry if it's off topic.

 

[Angrose]

How long would people recommend for visiting Legoland? With the water park and the aquarium would 2 days be enough for everything?

Two days is definitely enough time, especially if you will be going during the longer summer hours. We went when the parked closed at 5pm so had two partial days: Sat 12-5pm and Sun 9:30am-3pm. We also stayed at the LEGOLAND Hotel, which helped keep the fun alive We did not visit the aquarium or the water park. The aquarium looked really small, so you probably wouldn't spend much time there, maybe an hour? I'm guessing 2-3 hours at the water park would be fine. There are some water play areas in the park, especially the water playground in the pirate's area. Bring some extra clothes for that just in case, DS6 loved it. I keep meaning to write up a trip report from our recent trip, maybe I'll have the time this weekend. Have fun!

 

[laura&fam]

Thanks! That was very helpful. I think we'll need longer than an hour at the aquarium because my 14 year old likes to read every sign but I won't plan a whole day like I was thinking.

 

[Angrose]

I would also suggest watching YouTube videos of the parks. That really helped us to get a sense in advance of what rides we would want to do.

 

[atmail35]

We have been to LEGOLAND twice, we spent one day at the park each time. I also recommend the LEGOLAND Hotel, my DD who was 8 on her first visit loved it.

I kept hearing 1 day is enough to do the park (not including water park or aquarium). It wasn't enough time during our first time last summer. At 11, I think your son would love MIniland (does he like Star Wars?).... We spent over an hour there. We spend one more day there this past April and hit some things we skipped last time and some favorites.

There are some rides that are geared for bigger kids. Check out the website. Some of the rides are definitely for younger 8 and under kids.

The LEGO Movie Experience is also great, like PP said.

You also need time at the shops, LOL.

We have not done the water park or aquarium.

I think 2 days is a good amount of time to see it all.

I agree that it is not at the same caliber as Disney (for customer sevice, crowd control etc), but it is a nice park, especially if you love LEGO.

 

[atmail35]

Make sure you check out this thread for discounts...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2977629

 

[Diszona]

As others have said, the Legoland Hotel really adds to the trip. As far as how an 11 year old would like it, it really depends on how much he likes legos. My son is 11 and loves Legoland, even if most of the rides are a little young for him (though he still rides them with his little sister). He loves Legos though so that is the appeal for him.

 

[laura&fam]

As others have said, the Legoland Hotel really adds to the trip. As far as how an 11 year old would like it, it really depends on how much he likes legos. My son is 11 and loves Legoland, even if most of the rides are a little young for him (though he still rides them with his little sister). He loves Legos though so that is the appeal for him.

Do adults and bigger kids ride the younger rides or are there maximum height requirements?

 

[mich311e]

We went last week with our 9.5 year old son who loves Legos. We'd been once before when my son was 4 and we weren't overly impressed. Now that my son is a huge Lego fan I decided we needed to hit the park one more time.

It is expensive. Like someone said, check the discounts thread. I did buy one adult ticket with the Barbara's bakery link, $49! I was planning on using the coupon from the Lego magazine for buy one adult get a child free. I didn't know until we got to the gate that we had to buy a park hopper for this deal. I swear I read the fine print over and and over, I thought I could buy a one day/one park ticket. So it ended up costing $101 at the gate, so $150 for the 3 of us for the day. I would have saved more by pre-paying all of our tickets through the Barbara's bakery link. (Not sure if it's still available) Plus $15 parking.

We got there right at 9:30 and we were done by 4.

Your son might like the Mindstorms class. We weren't at the front of the park at opening so I didn't get to try to sign up until noon and the classes were full already. We got on the waitlist for the last class but it was full.

We really liked the Lego Movie Experience, that and Miniland were probably the coolest things there.

My husband wasn't a big fan of Legoland the first time but he didn't really want to miss this visit now that our son is bigger. He still didn't enjoy it though. I think it's an OK park but a little pricey for what it is.

We didn't go to the aquarium but we've seen it before and we have a Sea Life (same chain) aquarium in AZ that we have visited as well.

The water park is probably cool but I just bought water park season passes for our home park in Phoenix so I couldn't justify spending more money for just a few hours.

They didn't check our backpack and I packed bottled waters, PB&J, apples and nuts for us. We only spent $6 on the Apple Fries. So we saved money on food.

Good luck! Many of the things you'll see there are cute and unique to the Legoland experience.

 

[mich311e]

Do adults and bigger kids ride the younger rides or are there maximum height requirements?

It's all on their website. There are a few rides that are for kids only but we went on most everything else.

 

[Scotch]

Thanks! That was very helpful. I think we'll need longer than an hour at the aquarium because my 14 year old likes to read every sign but I won't plan a whole day like I was thinking.

It is a small/cramped aquarium compared to other "modern" built aquariums; even if your kid plans to read every sign you won't need more than a couple of hours. We went once with discounted passes; both DH and I said we were glad the family didn't pay full price.

 

[stayfos]

We are heading down (also from Canada!) in October. It will be our first time at Legoland… our daughter is 6 and loves Lego…. and aquariums! We have planned Seaworld first, then Legoland, then Disneyland…. build up to the excitement rather than disappointment after DL!

We managed to get our tickets for both Legoland and Sea World using our Airmiles so the price wasn't really a factor this time, but I agree…. it does seem pricy to pay full price for what I have heard is there.