Legoland With a Toddler
Over the winter holiday my husband and I decided to venture down south and explore the sites. This lead us to Carlsbad and naturally, Legoland. My 2.5 year old is a total thrill seeker and loves all types of fasts rides, so we thought this would be a fun adventure, especially since we just watched both Lego Movies".
I’m pleased to report that we spent roughly four hours (from parking to exiting) at Legoland and overall it was a huge success! We were lucky to have my in-laws in tow since every extra hand is a total godsend when traveling with kids.
Here’s a list of everything we did (in chronological order as we walked counterclockwise through the park) and a couple tips/tricks. And for reference, my daughter is 2.5 and around 36” inches.
Safari Trek - This was the first ride we did and I was surprised the line was pretty long. I think we were all overwhelmed looking at the map and just picked something that was close to the gate we’d come in just to do something. But it ended up being a great starting off point! You can fit one adult and one little kid per safari car and it goes in one relaxing loop through vignettes of Lego animals. I was worried this ride might be a bit of a dud but ended up really enjoying it.
Fairy Tale Brook - This boat ride through various storybook scenes was super fun. We sent the kid off in her grandparents’ boat and took our own so it was basically like a five-minute date! Definitely recommend this one. Also to note, this is right by the Coastersaurus ride that I was hoping to do but skipped. Usually my daughter loves rollercoaster but she overheard people talking about how it was scary (which is didn’t actually seem to be) and then she decided she didn’t want to go. Toddlers, man. So easily influenced! Unless it’s parents trying to get them to do something. Then they are as stubborn as can be.
Sky Patrol - We walked around the park and watched the lego driving school and saw the future home of the Legoland movie section to get here. We didn’t have to wait too long for this one and my daughter loved riding in the little helicopter. Pro tip - you can control the helicopter and make it spin and go up and down. Some people didn’t seem to know this.
Captain Cranky’s Challenge - You might remember a paragraph ago when I mentioned my daughter loves spinning and going fast, so this ride was her jam! So much so, we did it twice in a row and if she’d had her way we probably could’ve spent all afternoon spinning in circles on this pirate boat. I’ve developed terrible motion sickness post-baby and this one pushed me right to my limit but ultimately was just as fun for me as it was for her.
Lego City Deep Sea Adventure - This was another super fun ride and I loved that they had Legos for kids to play with at certain points in the line so they could get a little break. In this ride you climb down into a partially submerged submarine and there are real fish/sharks and Lego creatures that you see as you boat around. It was a decent length too so it didn’t feel like you waited a long time for nothing (anyone feel that way about The Mummy rollercoaster at Universal?? I always waits for-ev-er and then it’s over in five seconds).
Granny’s Apple fries - Right after the Deep Sea Adventure we stopped here for a snack and they were truly delicious. These are basically “French Fry” in shape but '“Apple Pie” in taste. I would happily eat apple fries dipped in whipped cream any day.
Miniland - This was probably my favorite part of the whole park. By the time we got here, I was getting a little tired and cranky (but don’t worry, my actual toddler was fine lol) and part of me wanted to skip walking through this twisting, turning outdoor museum-like attraction. I was like “Oh cool… little cities made out of legos.. sounds super cool… NOT.” But then IT WAS INDEED SUPER COOL! We all loved it and having lived in several of the cities that were miniaturized, it was seriously amazing to see how these were created. Especially all the water features and moving cars.
Coast Cruise - This one had a very long line but was totally worth it. This communal boat trip takes you around a large part of the park and gives you a great view of miniland that can only be seen up close from the water. I was also just really happy to sit down for a long time at this point.
Duplo Playzone - This was fun for 15 minutes of sitting and playing with Duplos. Not life-changing but nice after waiting in lines and they had fun features like shaking tables to test your Duple structures architectural integrity and extra large Duple blocks for assembling ginormous creations.
The giftshop on the way out - Obviously! I wanted the giant $100 Around-The-World set but seeing as it was literally days after Christmas there was sadly no way i could justify purchasing it, but it was super fun to walk around and look at all of the cool sets. We compromised on a small “Frozen”-branded Duple set as a memento of our trip.
Now here are a few general tips:
Make sure to check out the hours! That sounds obvious, but on some days they actually open the gates 30 minutes before the official opening time. Only certain rides are open at that point but it gives you a chance to get into the park and figure out where you’re going.
Download the Legoland app but don’t trust the wait times (it told us some rides were closed when they were clearly open and we were in line for them). Maybe it gets more accurate as the day goes on? And also know you probably won’t have signal in all parts of the park which is sort of confusing since every ride references using the app throughout the park (even in these no-signal zones).
If you buy your ticket from a hotel (which we did) you have to get in the purchase line to exchange your voucher for an actual ticket. We went right up the gate originally thinking it was our ticket and then had to get back in the sales line which lost us a little time (and frustrated my husband).
Make sure you get a current map when you enter the park. Again, seems super obvious but our hotel gave us maps ahead of time when we bought the tickets but they were several years old and didn’t accurately reflect the current park attractions.
If you’re interested in committing some time or effort into getting discount tickets (beyond the standard $10 off online) definitely google it. There are dozens of posts out there detailing ways you can become Costco members/buy a special deal/do a San Diego pass/etc to get better deals on tickets.
Have fun!
