First I want to thank all of the TnB members who answered my questions before my trip and provided great advice! I'll be writing this review in stages.
LEGOLAND Hotel
LEGOLAND California - the park
LEGOLAND Shopping!
Eating at LEGOLAND and the LEGOLAND Hotel
I had the opportunity to spend a day at LEGOLAND and two nights at the new LEGOLAND Hotel in Carlsbad, CA. I thought I’d write a review.
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. 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 and I forgot to take pics.
The hallways were fun with lots of LEGO brick picture frames and large minifigures displayed throughout.
SPOILER ALERT: 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.
First floor – kingdom
Second floor – pirate
Third floor – adventure
The floor whoopee cushion is also very fun:
Hotel Entertainment
They have various entertainment items:
6PM Hero Training
7PM Model Build Competition (different theme each month, prize is given to a winner)
8PM Kids Improv Hour
8:30 Movie at the pool
3-7 Character Meet and Greet in the lobby
We did not really have time to do these, so I can't speak on the quality of them. IMO, it was chilly to be in the pool at night. The temps really seem to drop, we did not use the pool due to temps and time.
UP NEXT: Our ROOM....
Review of LEGOland Hotel and LEGOland California
Review of LEGOland Hotel and LEGOland California
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LEGOLAND Hotel Room
Our “Premium Pirate Themed Room”. My daughter wanted a pirate themed room. I decided to go with the Premium room. I don’t 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 don’t think the rooms have great views either on the front or back of the hotel.
The room was great. We loved the kid’s 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!
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.
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 didn’t 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).
Kid’s Gift/Treasure Hunt:
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 didn’t use the pool. They do have entertainment in the lobby (magician, costumed characters). Personally I think they should do away with the resort fee and just include everything in the room price.
In-room MODELS, in addition to monkey above:
In kid's area:
Bathroom:
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 don’t think the rooms have great views either on the front or back of the hotel.
The room was great. We loved the kid’s 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!
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.
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 didn’t 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).
Kid’s Gift/Treasure Hunt:
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 didn’t use the pool. They do have entertainment in the lobby (magician, costumed characters). Personally I think they should do away with the resort fee and just include everything in the room price.
In-room MODELS, in addition to monkey above:
In kid's area:
Bathroom:
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The Park
as a hotel guest, you can enter the Park at 9 vs. 9:30. There is a special entrance over by the Aquarium.
The following rides are open at 9:
Safari Trek, Coastersaurus, Fairy Tale Brook, LEGO Express, Sky Cruiser, and Kid Power Tower.
Safari Trek: Cool models of animals.
Coastersaurus: My 8 year olds favorite. Pretty tame, but fun.
Sky Cruiser: Fun, great way to see the park from up high. You do have to pedal, or you go very slow. The line seems to get very long for this.
Kid Power Tower: Also fun, but you have to use your own strength to pull a rope to go up. Small children will need a parent's help.
We did not ride the other two rides.
The Volvo Driving School is fun for kids. They give you a cardboard license. You can buy a laminated one with a lanyard, but it is round $14.
Miniland is a must see. We spent a lot of time there.
We actually did not see the entire park. We did not make it to Castle Hill. We walked around Pirate Adventure, but my daughter was not interested in the rides. The X Wing is a must.
We took the Factory Tour and parts of it was not working, it was kind of disappointing.
We only spent 1 day in the park because I read that it could be done in one day. We needed more time. We did leave around 5 as my daughter was tired (she was burnt out from 4 days at Disneyland) and still on East Coast time.
We also did not do the Aquarium or Water Park. We don't regret skipping those.
The following rides are open at 9:
Safari Trek, Coastersaurus, Fairy Tale Brook, LEGO Express, Sky Cruiser, and Kid Power Tower.
Safari Trek: Cool models of animals.
Coastersaurus: My 8 year olds favorite. Pretty tame, but fun.
Sky Cruiser: Fun, great way to see the park from up high. You do have to pedal, or you go very slow. The line seems to get very long for this.
Kid Power Tower: Also fun, but you have to use your own strength to pull a rope to go up. Small children will need a parent's help.
We did not ride the other two rides.
The Volvo Driving School is fun for kids. They give you a cardboard license. You can buy a laminated one with a lanyard, but it is round $14.
Miniland is a must see. We spent a lot of time there.
We actually did not see the entire park. We did not make it to Castle Hill. We walked around Pirate Adventure, but my daughter was not interested in the rides. The X Wing is a must.
We took the Factory Tour and parts of it was not working, it was kind of disappointing.
We only spent 1 day in the park because I read that it could be done in one day. We needed more time. We did leave around 5 as my daughter was tired (she was burnt out from 4 days at Disneyland) and still on East Coast time.
We also did not do the Aquarium or Water Park. We don't regret skipping those.
Re: Review of LEGOland Hotel and LEGOland California
Reserved for LEGOLAND Park info and pics
Shopping
Shopping
I didn’t have much time to shop.
We were busy in the park and I left it for the end. I did peruse the Big Shop and the Minifigure Market. I was only buying items that I couldn’t find at home. I think the prices are over MSRP on sets. The keychains were $5.99, some sets were quite a bit more. I didn’t have time to really scope out discontinued sets.
I bought the following: I also went to the LEGO Club House. You can buy loose brick for $9.99 for ¼ ounce. They were in those bins you find jelly beans and candy in at a candy store. We just got a bit, maybe 1/8 of an ounce. I was disappointed they didn’t have many Friends colors (they had the 1x1 rounds in pink and dark purple).
I did get some keychains engraved. It was $5.99 for the keychain ($1 over MSRP) and $2 to engrave. The first lady told me you could have 2x4 bricks engraved, but when I asked someone else they said it was just keychains and I was out of time so didn’t investigate further. I bought this picture frame that you can build at the Shop inside the hotel. I did ask about coming back in the next day before we left (were checking out of the hotel, but not going to the park). I was told at Guest Services that I would have to buy a pass to the park and if I came out within one hour I would get it refunded. That seemed like a hassle and I opted not to do it.
Postcards were only 50 cents. We did get a number of pressed pennies for 51 cents, my daughter loves those. And my husband bought some gold colored medallions/coins from a machine in the Big Shop for my daughter.
I didn’t have much time to shop.
We were busy in the park and I left it for the end. I did peruse the Big Shop and the Minifigure Market. I was only buying items that I couldn’t find at home. I think the prices are over MSRP on sets. The keychains were $5.99, some sets were quite a bit more. I didn’t have time to really scope out discontinued sets.I bought the following: I also went to the LEGO Club House. You can buy loose brick for $9.99 for ¼ ounce. They were in those bins you find jelly beans and candy in at a candy store. We just got a bit, maybe 1/8 of an ounce. I was disappointed they didn’t have many Friends colors (they had the 1x1 rounds in pink and dark purple).
I did get some keychains engraved. It was $5.99 for the keychain ($1 over MSRP) and $2 to engrave. The first lady told me you could have 2x4 bricks engraved, but when I asked someone else they said it was just keychains and I was out of time so didn’t investigate further. I bought this picture frame that you can build at the Shop inside the hotel. I did ask about coming back in the next day before we left (were checking out of the hotel, but not going to the park). I was told at Guest Services that I would have to buy a pass to the park and if I came out within one hour I would get it refunded. That seemed like a hassle and I opted not to do it.
Postcards were only 50 cents. We did get a number of pressed pennies for 51 cents, my daughter loves those. And my husband bought some gold colored medallions/coins from a machine in the Big Shop for my daughter.
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Eating at LEGOLAND
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. 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 didn't 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 someone's 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 don't have to eat there to see them. Dinner is $19.95 adult/$10 child.
Eating in the Park:
We only ate lunch at the park. We ate at the Fun Town Market. It was a bit hectic there. You basically have to enter a separate line for each type of food.
They also had a salad bar. My husband had a steak and cheese.
Tables are outside.
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. 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 didn't 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 someone's 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 don't have to eat there to see them. Dinner is $19.95 adult/$10 child.
Eating in the Park:
We only ate lunch at the park. We ate at the Fun Town Market. It was a bit hectic there. You basically have to enter a separate line for each type of food.
They had a kids station where you get a paper bag and you get an entrée (we had chicken tenders, hot dog might have been the other option), chips, drink (Honest juice pouch) and fruit (apple, orange or raisins) for $8.50.Experience our Market style restaurant where your meal is prepared fresh in front of your eyes. We feature Asian Chicken Stir Fry, Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches, a full salad bar, baked goods and Dreyer's Grand ice cream.
They also had a salad bar. My husband had a steak and cheese.
Tables are outside.
Re: Review of LEGOland Hotel and LEGOland California
Reserved for Wrap up....overall impressions.
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