Legoland Q's

[BitsnBearsMom]

We are headed to Cali in August for 2 weeks - My 9yo lego freak ds' saw that there is a lego land there and I was wondering what ages the park is good for?? I'm travelling with dh, 15yo ds and 9yo ds - wondering if dh and the 15yo are going to be bored at lego land or if it would be suitable.

We are already going to DL for 3 or 4 days, Universal, sea world, dh wants to go to Vegas for a few nights and we want to drive up the coast and hopefully get a golf game in somewhere.

 

[MelKeil]

Just returned from a tip to Legoland (and DL) with my DH, DD (6), and lego-loving 9 year old son. My kids loved it but 15 may be a little old unless he is really into lego too. The rides are mostly aimed at younger children though there are 3 that could be considered "thrilling" by older kids. An older child may also like the technic building area as they have robot building "classes". For a child who loves lego though, I would say Legoland is a "do not miss". The rides, shows, miniland, and all the displays are so intersesting. One of the best parts about our visit was that my children were both old enough and tall enough to go on all the rides. And were old enough to appreciate all the work that goes into building all the lego displays.

 

[c&m]

We've been to Legoland many times. My DDs are 9 and 13. I think July 2008 would be our last time to visit. Our DD13 likes the place (and it is fun to see all the Lego structures) but finds all the rides too slow or not exciting enough. This is especially the case if you do Legoland AFTER Disneyland. It also seems that the waits for the rides are longer than for DL. Then when you do get on, the rides are really short.

Legoland is good for your 9-year-old. But the 15-year-old may prefer going surfing or boogie boarding at the beach in August. There are many beaches in SD to choose from. Our favourite beach is in Encinitas called Moonlight Beach -- very family friendly.

 

[thecapells]

How long does it take to go thru all of Legoland?
And which attractions are "do not miss" versus "been there, done that" amusement-park rides that can be skipped?

 

[LoveTheseKids]

The lego cities are very cool and are DO NOT MISS rides - everything else is so so - the 9 year old will like it, but the 15 year old will likely be bored out of his mind. We have passes, and my kids love love love it, but I can't imagine a 15 year old liking much more then that. It really is geared towards very little kids (my 8 year old boy loves it, but I can only see that for another 2 years or so).

 

[endy]

Legoland is very unique. My son loves the place & we've spent 2 days there each summer while he was from 7 - 10 years old. He's 12 and now we just do the one day.
This could be a good day for your dh and 15ds to go golfing or find a good beach for the day. Just do so casual exploring while you and ds9 go to LL. This way they get alone time with a parent and out of each others hair for a day.
I'm not saying they wouldn't enjoy the park but it's a lot of $$ to spend.
As another poster mentioned Miniland is not to be missed. There are several robotics sessions during the day, you have to sign up early to get a spot. My son really enjoys this. One of the sessions is for older kids but I can't think of what is is.
Oh and the apples with cream are not to be missed either. Yummy.
My son also loves to eat in the sports restaurant (forget the name) they have a kids only buffet, burgers, dogs, mac & cheese, fries, veggie & maybe salad.
Oh and LL knows kids are still kids until they are 12. Unlike Disney and SeaWorld who think kids are adults when they're 10 years old.

I find it a very relaxed, peaceful day. The landscaping is beautiful especially since we don't get such an assortment of flowers here in Alberta.

 

[jessica52877]

I think ride wise the kids won't be thrilled, especially the older one. But the park itself is just really great! We all thoroughly enjoyed our trips there (4 adults and DS5 at the time). DS of course loved most of the rides.

 

[magicallyDisney001]

I think the 9-year-old will have a great time, especially if he's into Legos. 15 might be a bit too old, as the rides there are more directed toward the 6-11 range. If the 15-year-old is a big fan of Legos too, however, then go for it! They have a great little area with famous places around the USA made entirely out of Legos. It's a great experience, if you're into that type of stuff.

 

[toni1227]

Everyone told me you HAVE to go to legoland and my son really wanted to go. In fact half our trip was spent in San Diego just so we could go to legoland (we did the zoo too which is better than legoland IMO). I was incredibly disappointed and my DH was too.
Even he had people tell him how much he would love it. NOT! He even said I do not know what they were thinking.

The small lego city part is really neat but not worth $63 admission. And you have to pay $12 to park on top of that!

I feel Legoland was WAY overpriced and I did not like it at all. My kids DS 8 and DD 5 did like it (but they liked Disney much better). If you son LOVES legos then of course you will want to do it especially if he wants to go.

Be sure to go their first before Disney b/c it is such a disappointment in comparison. It would not be if Legoland would charge a lot LESS...but they don't and it is not worth the money IMO. I know I am in the minority because it seems so many people love this place.
????

 

[jessica52877]

When did you go? I was pleased that we didn't have to pay for parking at Legoland so wondering if they changed that. We were this past May and October.

DS6 prefers legoland over DL. Everybody is so different as to their likes and dislikes. We did not do the aquarium (it was only open the 2nd time) and so our tickets were around $40 the first time and 2nd I had a bogo and then an admission from the brickmaster club.

 

[phishy25]

I went to Lego Land once a few years ago. It was me, my DH, and our DS who was about 2 months short of 2 years. We had SO much fun! We loved all the rides, the Lego factory tour, the mini city. Everything was great. We did go before Disneyland so we kind of built up to the Wow factor. When we went to Disney a few days later we fell in love as well but Disney was a little more stressful due to the crowds. Legoland was so relaxed and fun. We were there in June and never had any long waits for anything. My DS still talks about it and loves to see the pictures from our trip. We are going again next month and he is so excited because he is a Lego nut. That is pretty much all he plays with these days.

 

[toni1227]

When did you go? I was pleased that we didn't have to pay for parking at Legoland so wondering if they changed that. We were this past May and October.

DS6 prefers legoland over DL. Everybody is so different as to their likes and dislikes. We did not do the aquarium (it was only open the 2nd time) and so our tickets were around $40 the first time and 2nd I had a bogo and then an admission from the brickmaster club.

I just went last week and now they charge for parking $12.

I think I was just disappointed b/c of the build up of everyone saying how we willl love it so much and it was just not at all what I expected. I think had we gone there first I would have enjoyed it much more though. It was just the circumstances of our trip and my expectations etc...

 

[Quilter007]

DH could golf on Legoland Day. We've found that if we get there early, we're done well before dinner. It's better to go on a week-day -- no pastpasses and they don't do the best job of line management. If the 15 yr old isn't into legos, send him golfing w/ DH. It's definitely geared towards the under 12 crowd.

Also -- if you go to the Lego web-site, you can sign up anyone in the family for the BrickMaster club for around $40 -- includes 1 ticket to Legoland which can be used for and adult or child.

Katrina

 

[scubamouse]

all the rides too slow or not exciting enough. This is especially the case if you do Legoland AFTER Disneyland. It also seems that the waits for the rides are longer than for DL. Then when you do get on, the rides are really short.
.

We just got back from spring break in Legoland and would concur with this assessment. My kids are almost DD7 and DS8.5 and DS LOVES lego. We were all really frustrated by the 60 min wait times for every.single.ride after noon. We're Disney pros who maximize FPs so that definitely impacted us at Legoland where there's no FP.

My kids really liked it but nothing compared to WDW and DLR. We used Amex points to get the tickets. If we had paid cash for the tickets, we definitely would have felt ripped off.

We did have an amazing time at the SD wild animal park, definitely worth the drive!

 

[Huff]

We went last year and I took my then 10yr old girl. She had fun on a few rides but was generally bored with the place. It's really intended for under 8 or so kids.

We went on a rather uncrowded day but the lines for most rides were still 30-45 minutes. The problem was the VERY slow loading techniques used and inefficient operators. We went on a small log ride that had a very short line, maybe 30 people. It took us 35 minutes before we got on. Almost all the rides were like that, small crowds, big wait times.