2Pirates2Princesses
DIS Veteran
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- Nov 15, 2010
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We spent a day at Legoland during our recent trip and loved it 
We stayed at Windsor Hills and did five straight days in the Disney parks before visiting Legoland on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. I think we picked a great day to go because the crowds throughout the park were small (I think due to the water park being open which we did not visit). It was about a 45 minute drive to Legoland from Windsor Hills and we arrived around 20 minutes before the park opened and were able to get a close parking spot and did not need to pay for preferred parking. I think this park was really great for my kids who range in age from 4 to 11. After five days in the Disney parks, Legoland was a welcome change of pace because it was very walkable for them and the crowds are nowhere near the crowd levels at Disney (and the crowd levels at Disney ranged from levels 5-8 on the days we visited). Again I think the water park being open helped disperse the crowds a lot at Legoland. The theming is very whimsical and colorful and my kids loved all the various Lego structures, especially in Miniland. When the park opened we headed straight to the back of the park to do the Ford Driving School first and we were basically the first people there. We did the Lego City area first (the Ford driving school, Jr driving school, and boating school). We did the Lego Technic area second (Aquazone wave racers, Technicycle, and Lego Technic Coaster - which was our favorite and my DS4 just made the height requirement for this since he is 42 inches tall ). At this point there were still no lines and we pretty much walked on all those rides. After doing the Lego Technic area we went over to the Land of Adventure area and did Coastersaurus and Safari Trek which both had about a 15-20 minute wait - I think since this area is close to Miniland the crowds gravitated here before reaching the Lego City or Lego Technic area. After those two rides in the Land of Adventure we were ready for lunch so we walked through the Miniland area before stopping for lunch. Miniland is really, really a sight to see and is truly awe inspiring for Lego fans of all ages. DH and I were especially awestruck. We walked through the Lego Star Wars area first and this was really well done. The Miniland area is surrounded by beautiful landscaping and lake views as well and really kept our attention for awhile as you can really spend an hour or more just looking at all the creations. I can see why it is recommended to save this area for after getting your "must do" rides done first. After Miniland USA we ate lunch at the Funtown Pizza & Pasta buffet which we all thought was pretty good and the total cost for the six of us to eat was around $72 which we thought was nice for a "buffet" lunch considering this is close to what we paid on average for us to all have a counterservice lunch at the Disney parks. The buffet included drinks and there was also a salad bar in addition to the pizza and pasta. After lunch we stopped at the Lego Friends gift shop which was a must for my DD11 and DD6 and we met one of the Lego Friends characters 
. We then did the Grand Carousel which is two levels and we saw the Legends of Chima 4D movie in the Fun Town theatre. There is construction going on now for the World of Chima - an area at Legoland based on the Legends of Chima 
. After Fun Town we went over to the Lego Kingdoms area to ride Merlin's Challenge and the Dragon coaster which was my kids' overall favorite because they rode it four times in a row - yes four times! There were NO lines! After this we visited the Duplo Village to have some downtime in the play areas (the Duplo Farm and Play Town). Lastly we went back to Fun Town to do the carousel again and were able to meet a couple characters - Max and then one of the main Chima characters (Laval). Our final stops were through a couple of gift shops - the Lego Factory pick a brick shop and the Big Shop. We were fortunate to have great weather that day - 85 degrees and no rain, and what is also nice about Legoland is that all the rides have shaded queues Unfortunately we didn't do everything and missed the Pirate ski show and walking through Cypress Gardens, but those will be on our list for next time. We definitely want to go back and felt we had a very productive, fun filled day without the pressure to rush around. I think this park is perfect for elementary school age kids and even my tweens really enjoyed their day here. Because of the height requirements on several of the rides, I think my DS4 was at the perfect age for a first visit to Legoland. The employees were also great and were helpful and cheerful. It seems like a lot of the operational issues I read about a year ago have been worked out or maybe it was just how things went on our day here. I am glad we included a day here on our vacation itinerary. At first I was concerned that we were taking time away from Disney by going here, but I am glad we did as it was a great experience for our family, especially for my kids' age range.
We stayed at Windsor Hills and did five straight days in the Disney parks before visiting Legoland on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. I think we picked a great day to go because the crowds throughout the park were small (I think due to the water park being open which we did not visit). It was about a 45 minute drive to Legoland from Windsor Hills and we arrived around 20 minutes before the park opened and were able to get a close parking spot and did not need to pay for preferred parking. I think this park was really great for my kids who range in age from 4 to 11. After five days in the Disney parks, Legoland was a welcome change of pace because it was very walkable for them and the crowds are nowhere near the crowd levels at Disney (and the crowd levels at Disney ranged from levels 5-8 on the days we visited). Again I think the water park being open helped disperse the crowds a lot at Legoland. The theming is very whimsical and colorful and my kids loved all the various Lego structures, especially in Miniland. When the park opened we headed straight to the back of the park to do the Ford Driving School first and we were basically the first people there. We did the Lego City area first (the Ford driving school, Jr driving school, and boating school). We did the Lego Technic area second (Aquazone wave racers, Technicycle, and Lego Technic Coaster - which was our favorite and my DS4 just made the height requirement for this since he is 42 inches tall ). At this point there were still no lines and we pretty much walked on all those rides. After doing the Lego Technic area we went over to the Land of Adventure area and did Coastersaurus and Safari Trek which both had about a 15-20 minute wait - I think since this area is close to Miniland the crowds gravitated here before reaching the Lego City or Lego Technic area. After those two rides in the Land of Adventure we were ready for lunch so we walked through the Miniland area before stopping for lunch. Miniland is really, really a sight to see and is truly awe inspiring for Lego fans of all ages. DH and I were especially awestruck. We walked through the Lego Star Wars area first and this was really well done. The Miniland area is surrounded by beautiful landscaping and lake views as well and really kept our attention for awhile as you can really spend an hour or more just looking at all the creations. I can see why it is recommended to save this area for after getting your "must do" rides done first. After Miniland USA we ate lunch at the Funtown Pizza & Pasta buffet which we all thought was pretty good and the total cost for the six of us to eat was around $72 which we thought was nice for a "buffet" lunch considering this is close to what we paid on average for us to all have a counterservice lunch at the Disney parks. The buffet included drinks and there was also a salad bar in addition to the pizza and pasta. After lunch we stopped at the Lego Friends gift shop which was a must for my DD11 and DD6 and we met one of the Lego Friends characters . We then did the Grand Carousel which is two levels and we saw the Legends of Chima 4D movie in the Fun Town theatre. There is construction going on now for the World of Chima - an area at Legoland based on the Legends of Chima . After Fun Town we went over to the Lego Kingdoms area to ride Merlin's Challenge and the Dragon coaster which was my kids' overall favorite because they rode it four times in a row - yes four times! There were NO lines! After this we visited the Duplo Village to have some downtime in the play areas (the Duplo Farm and Play Town). Lastly we went back to Fun Town to do the carousel again and were able to meet a couple characters - Max and then one of the main Chima characters (Laval). Our final stops were through a couple of gift shops - the Lego Factory pick a brick shop and the Big Shop. We were fortunate to have great weather that day - 85 degrees and no rain, and what is also nice about Legoland is that all the rides have shaded queues Unfortunately we didn't do everything and missed the Pirate ski show and walking through Cypress Gardens, but those will be on our list for next time. We definitely want to go back and felt we had a very productive, fun filled day without the pressure to rush around. I think this park is perfect for elementary school age kids and even my tweens really enjoyed their day here. Because of the height requirements on several of the rides, I think my DS4 was at the perfect age for a first visit to Legoland. The employees were also great and were helpful and cheerful. It seems like a lot of the operational issues I read about a year ago have been worked out or maybe it was just how things went on our day here. I am glad we included a day here on our vacation itinerary. At first I was concerned that we were taking time away from Disney by going here, but I am glad we did as it was a great experience for our family, especially for my kids' age range.
Yes, the apple fries were great. I got an order of those when DH took the kids to do their second round on the grand carousel. I love cinnamon sugar type treats so the apple fries were definitely a hit with me, they even give you a side cup of whipped cream to dip them in 
