For Spring Break this year, we decided to spend a couple days at LEGOLAND California. We had an excellent time as a family and can’t wait to go back. This was our first trip to the resort, and my kids (3 & 6) were the perfect ages to enjoy the park. Everything at LEGOLAND is extraordinarily family-friendly and has many fun details everywhere. In this blog post, we will provide some tips to help make your visit as enjoyable as possible. So grab your sunscreen and water bottles, and let’s get started!
Stay at One of The LEGOLAND Resort Hotels
There are many benefits to staying at a LEGOLAND hotel during your trip. Is the room rate pricey? Sure is. Was it worth it? Yes. First of all, the hotel is right outside the park gates. You can’t get any closer. You can enter the park early, at 9:30 am, with your room reservation. We only stayed one night at the hotel, but we could get into the park early on both days.
The LEGOLAND hotel has the best hotel lobby for kids:
The hotel lobby included a lego building area, a castle/pirate ship play area, and a bar for the parents. My kids could have spent hours in the lobby. After our first day in the park, we got margaritas from the bar and watched the kids play for a while.
Be prepared for the elevators at the hotel:
While the Legoland hotel only has four floors, the elevator is a party. As you enter the elevator and the doors close, a disco ball drops, and a dance party begins. My kids went wild every time we rode in the elevator with their singing and dancing. It is such a fun little detail.
The Hotel Rooms:
The hotel rooms at the Legoland hotel are themed, and that’s cool for the kids. We stayed in the Adventure-themed room, and the details were so cool. The Legoland Hotel takes family travel into consideration with their rooms. There’s a kids section of the room with bunk beds and a tv and a “parent” section with a queen bed, desk, tv, and mini-fridge. More hotels should come with a bunk bed option. As a mom that travels with kids, that feature was fantastic.
Activities at the Hotel:
We stayed at the hotel as restrictions from 2020 were winding down. I don’t know what else the hotel used to do for the kids, but what we did do, we loved. In every room, there is a locked chest, and by completing the scavenger hunt (finding things around the hotel), you can unlock the chest and find a Lego-themed prize for each kid in your room. There was also a family dance party at night, which was fun. The Legoland Hotel also has a pool, but we didn’t have time to enjoy it. Even though it looked so cool. We can’t wait to go back to check it out.
Free Breakfast:
The Legoland Hotel takes its complimentary breakfast seriously. Included with your stay at the Legoland Hotel is a full buffet filled with pancakes, waffles, eggs, meat, veggies, fruits, and pastries. The breakfast buffet was a great way to fill up before a day at the park. We had to make reservations to eat there, but it’s just to ensure a table for you.
When to go to Legoland
We decided to go to Legoland during Spring Break for various reasons. But if you have flexibility, use this crowd checker calendar to plan your trip. This calendar gives you four types of days: Ghosttown, Hey It’s Alright. Yup, it’s Packed, and Forget About it.
Plan to Get to The Park Early
Legoland opens at 10 am. If you stay at the hotel, you get early access to the park starting at 9:30 am. Whether you have early access or general admission, I would plan to arrive early to allow time to get the stroller out, walk into the gates, and get settled before the park opens.
*As of this writing in 2022, if you have early access to the park, run to these rides that are also open early: Coastersaurous, Fairytale Brook, Coast Cruise, and Ninjago. All of these rides have long waits on busy days, and you’ll be glad to have the extra time to ride these rides.
Download the App
To be honest, I don’t think it is the most reliable regarding approximate wait times, but we used the interactive map to find rides, bathrooms, places to eat, and get showtime reminders. Since it was our first time at the park, it was nice to plan what we wanted to do next while waiting in line.
Get the Coca-Cola Freestyle Souvenir Cup With Free Refills
The unlimited refillable drinks at Legoland were probably the best purchase we made. For our two days at the park, we paid $20 for each cup. You can fill up the cup throughout Legoland: The Market, Urban Kitchen, Smokehouse, and Castle Ice Cream. These are also good locations to fill up your water bottles (with ice and water for free).
Bring Your Mini Figures
Did you know you can trade mini-figures with employees at Legoland? Before heading to the park, go through your mini-figures and bring the ones you might want to trade at Legoland. Sometimes employees wear mini-figures or mini-figures (to trade) found at most cash registers and customer service desks.
When we were at Legoland in April 2022, on Friday afternoon at the Lego Life Zone in Fun Town, they had a Minifigure trading event where every kid in line got a free mini-figure.
General Theme Park Tips
- Wear comfortable shoes! You will be walking and standing a lot. When we went to Legoland, I wore my favorite white sneakers.
- Bring sunscreen and sweatshirts just in case.
- Go with the flow. Theme parks can be crowded and unpredictable, and while I do recommend going to Legoland with a plan, there will be times during the day you may need to throw the schedule out. There’s so much to do at Legoland; don’t worry about getting it all done.
- Have fun, take photos, and make memories with your family.
- If you are trying to decide if you should bring a stroller, bring it! While my kids didn’t sit it in all the time, I mainly brought the stroller to hold drinks and other items we had that day.
- Bring an external battery pack for your phone. After all the photos and videos that I took during the day, my phone battery died rather quickly.
