Photo Trip Report: Legoland California

[JimmyBo]

Legoland California. This is a park that I will always enjoy. Not only is it 10 minutes from where I grew up (and still 10 minutes from my dad's house) but I am a huge LEGO fan and thankfully my boys are as well. We decided to stay on property this time and I will tell you now, that it is totally worth it.

 

This report will be broken into 3 parts...

 

Legoland Part I

Legoland Part II

Castle Hotel

 

Legoland Part I -

We surprised our boys with a visit during our Fall Break this year. They had no idea we were going here and they were totally excited. My oldest, Jackson, remembers visiting 3 years ago and remembered some rides. My youngest, Griffin, wasn't tall enough to ride pretty much anything last time (which is silly for a family park) so this time we made sure he was tall enough to ride a majority of the rides.

My youngest finally rode his first roller coaster (and then his second) and he is a huge fan of them. He now wants to ride every roller coaster in the world (but still needs to grow before that can be accomplished.) My oldest still isn't too sure about them, but thankfully Legoland is not all about coasters, its about just having a fun time with your family...as long as the kids are tall enough to ride some rides.

The only thing that is a bummer about Legoland is that they still do have height restrictions on some of the rides. It didn't bother us this time at all, but I kept hearing families being disappointed that their kids couldn't rides some rides because they weren't tall enough. Here's an idea, look at the website and height restrictions on the rides before you come to the park. Crazy, I know!

Anyway, on to the first Part as the pictures will explain our glorious and AWESOME adventure through Legoland!

The boys are excited to visit Legoland

Legoland California was celebrating it's 20th birthday this year. I remember the year it opened since it's only 10 minutes from where I grew up. It was a huge deal to have this park in Carlsbad and I glad it has turned into a great family destination!

LEGO Jake opens the park every day.

First up, Coastersaurus. This was Griffin's very first roller coaster and he loved it. The ride-op gave both my boys "1st Coaster" pins. That was a nice touch.

Someone is excited for his first roller coaster while the other is a little scared.

This truly is such a great ride for kids to ease them into the roller coaster riding experience. Little amount of thrills but still a great family ride.

Jackson finally started to enjoy it and put his hands in the air!

Outside the coaster, Griffin decided to hatch from the egg and then play as a dinosaur while we rode Coastersaurus several times.

Safari Trek time! Griffin literally thought he was driving the car the whole time....until a ride he rode later.....

LEGO Lion!

Griffin enjoyed the Lion!

Time to head to Fun Town to check out their rides and decorations. This is one of the original lands from when the park opened and a lot has changed from 20 years ago.

First up, Driving school.

Here's where Griffin was REALLY driving a car (and would have passed his driving test!)

Here's where Jackson was REALLY driving a car (and would have failed his driving test)

But at least they can still drive a Limo and pick up celebrities!

Time to fly some helicopters!

Jackson took control of the Police Helicopter and destroyed all the bad guys!

Griffin was in the Rescue Patrol helicopter but pretended he was a bad guy and destroyed all the Heroes. Kids and their imaginations!

Fire and Rescue! This is such a great family attraction that every can enjoy (as long as you still meet the height requirement)

Put out the FIRE!!!

When we visited Legoland 3 years ago, this was Jackson's favorite attraction. You go inside and you have to search for a key in several different rooms. Last time we visited, we probably did this about 10 times. Thankfully, he a little older now and we only had to suffer through it one time.

Fun Town has been taken over by Giant Spiders and their webs!

Webs everywhere!

Even the painter has to deal with Spiders! It was an intense situation in Fun Town but we made it out alive.

Baby Shark, do do doo do do doo (You're welcome)

Skipper School where the boys REALLY drive a boat

Amazing views out on the open sea today!

Only downside is that this ride takes forever and there is no shade along the water. It wasn't hot when we went (well, not hot for people from Arizona) but i can see how this ride might be a bit hot for some other people.

Time to drive another boat and get completely drenched!

The boys loved Splash Battle. We had to get EVERYTHING wet...

....including people taking our picture! HA!

Now, time for a stroll along Mini Land. New Orleans has turned into Boo Orleans!

The Spiders really have taken over!

the Las Vegas section is still my favorite section (yes, above the Star Wars Section) because i just love the architecture in Vegas and the LEGOs capture it very well.

We made it to Egypt!

Now we are in New York...but the Vegas New York and not the other version about 200 feet on the other side.

The first hotel my family stayed in when we visited Vegas the first time. And yes, we visited when there was still an amusement park there and it was amazing!

Griffin making the volcano explode!

I love that the rides at the top of the Stratosphere move. And i love that it's still the Stratosphere and not whatever name they are calling it now in the real Las Vegas

The Death Star is so massive in person! "It's no moon...it's a space station!! WooHoo!!" (person who names that movie gets a cookie)

Disneyland secretly used this model for Batuu and the Smuggler's Run attraction!

My boys haven't seen any of the Star Wars movies, but they know all the characters thanks to the LEGO Star Wars video games and cartoons.

These set pieces are still as impressive as when they first opened this area of Mini Land

I spy an Ewok house in the trees!

The Force Awakens makes an appearance in Star Wars Mini Land.

No we are in New York....but the New York New York and not the Vegas version about 200 feet on the other side.

More of New York's Skyline.

Part II coming soon!

[SharkTums]

Great first part! I really do love the legoland parks.

 

And as someone with a kid, I totally get the frustrating height restrictions thing. It's everywhere!!!

[JimmyBo]

Legoland Part II

Time to ... you guessed it ... Build a Boat!

Kids can build a boat out of LEGOs and race it down the river

You pull the lever to release the boat and watch it either make it to the end or crash down the river.

Here's a good look at the river.

Griffin's didn't make it most of the time but he still had a fun time building them.

SPACESHIP!

Benny is our favorite LEGO Character

They had scenes from the LEGO Movie 2

The scenes were very impressive to see how they are constructed.

Then we got to see Wildstyle ... or Lucy

The boys loved seeing her!

LEGO Movie World is going to open next Spring in California

The posters had some of the rides that will be there and pictures from the park in Florida. It's going to be a great addition and it's taking over where HeartLake City was.

Time to head up the Hill for some food.

The Royal Feast!

Jackson got to have sorbet! He is allergic to Dairy so he was very excited that Legoland takes care of people with allergies and are very nice and cooperative with people you need special restrictions on their food.

Here's my treat! Apple Fries are to Legoland like what Dole Whip is to Disneyland...it's a necessary treat!

Time to ride the Dragon!

Griffin rode this twice while Jackson did his own Ninja Warrior routine on the playground.

It's still such a great family ride. I love the dark ride section of the coaster too!

This Knight is ready to take on the Black Knight!

....and.....this Knight needs to grow a couple more inches.....

Jackson's favorite ride at the par. He rode it about 15 times while we were there.

You get the ride your own horse and joust with LEGO figures around the track.

And then you defeat the Black Knight at the end. Jackson loved it!

There was still some spooky theming around the park!

Deep Sea Adventure! New this year and and AWESOME addition to the park!

Great theming outside.

And like almost all other attractions...they have an area for kids to build LEGOs while the adults wait in line.

LEGO Dive Man gives you instructions on your task and what lies ahead.

You are told that you are going to embark on an underwater advetnreu and that you need to find the treasure under the sea.

Here is the vessel for your voyage!

You look through portholes and can see several LEGO figures and real fish, sharks, and sting rays

There is a display that shows you what you need to find and when you find it, you tap the display and it logs that you found that item.

There were so many things to find and it was fun to see real fish and sharks swim along the submarine.

The LEGO figures added the special LEGO feel to the ride.

Once you were down with your voyage, you got to see how your ranked in finding all the items. It was such a fun ride and I hope more rides like this are built. Great for the entire family (No height limit!!!)

In the gift shop, you can build your own LEGO fish.

There were several stations where you could build a fish....

....and then the fish appears on the screen and swims around for awhile. You can even tap in certain areas to "feed" the fish. This was truly a great addition to the park!

After seeing all the fish, Griffin found his inner Fisherman.

The Duplo Playtown moved to the top of the hill to make way for the new LEGO Movie World near HeartLake City. My boys were just happy that the train made the move!

Spooky theming still haunts the park.

When you need time to relax...just go play some LEGO Video Games. It was quite hilarious watching them play these games at a theme park that we have at home.

Time for my boy's favorite land...Ninjago! Griffin loves all the characters. Here he is with Jay (his favorite character) and the dragon.

Even if they were just LEGO figures, he still had to do his pose. Here he is with his 2nd favorite character, Lloyd!

Zane is keeping a watch over Ninjago Land

Another pose with LEGO figure Jay.

Nya came out to say hi!

And then Jay. So many characters in this small land.

Time for Kai's Spinners.

The great part about when we went to the park, was that there were hardly any crowds. So for a lot of the rides, the boys didn't know what they were going to do because no one was riding them.

But once they found out, they always had an AWESOME time!

Time for some slides

And it's not a LEGO ride without some LEGO theming.

Jackson won every time because he would always go on 2 instead of 3 when the ride op would count down.

If you ever want to become deaf, spend 1 minute in Pharoh's Kingdom. The air cannons are so loud that it hurts the ear drum just thinking about them.

Tea Cups...minus the Tea

The boys loved to get everyone soaked on the Aqua Blasters

And then everyone got me and Jackson soaked.

Now, it's time for my favorite ride at the park...Ninjago The Ride.

The theming in the queue is great.

If you had to wait in line (which we didn't) it had a lot of things to keep you busy.

Movies played throughout the queue line

They even have a green screen photo op.

Here's the ride vehicles. I'm not a nerd so I have no idea who designed this ride but I love it. It is so simple and once you figured out the controls, it was a lot of fun. Your arm gets so sore after going on this ride a lot but it is AWESOME!

And who needs 1 High Score of the day when you can get both....THIS GUY!!!!

I found a Ninja at the Gift Shop!

Thanks for reading!

Part III - The Castle Hotel will be up shortly!

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report! I agree Ninjago is awesome. I think it's a bigger arm workout than Toy Story Mania.

 

The Legoland parks are the perfect kids parks minus all the slow moving lines.

[JimmyBo]

Castle Hotel

I don't even know where to begin with this place. When we booked this place far in advance and didn't tell the boys we were going to go here, we didn't know what to expect. Well, it exceeded anything we expected. The staff, the resort, the amenities, the atmosphere and the overall experience was just AWESOME! I will say that if you want to visit Legoland for more than one day, then i highly recommend staying at one of the resorts on site. When we were there, the Legoland Hotel was closed so we only got to see the Castle Hotel but we were not sad about that. There were so many things everywhere to keep anyone and everyone entertained.

I will let the photos speak for themselves but if we ever decide to do Legoland again for more than a day, we will definitely be going to the Castle Hotel again.

Enjoy!

The entrance to the Castle Hotel is very Grand...but it has also been taken over by spiders!

Our boys were very excited and surprised because they had no idea we were coming here.

Excited faces!!!

The Lobby was amazing! While the parents check in, there were so many things for the kids to do.

There was a slide in the lobby which made Griffin the happiest kid in the world.

There was the royal chair where there's a tiny Frog King on top of the chair that talks and sings to you when you sit on it.

Griffin is excited to explore more of the lobby!

There's a Knock-Knock Door, which tells jokes and stories when you "knock" on it.

There's even a jail that the kids can place themself in when they know they have done something bad. And the mouse with the key will never let them out!

And not to mention a giant pit full of LEGOs where you can build anything and everything!

Up the stairs, they had the sorting hat from Harry Potter. My boys have heard the audio books for the first 2 books and seen the first 2 movies and they love Harry Potter. Jackson said that the hat told him he was in Slytherin.

While of course Griffin was in Gryffindor.

They even had the full Hogwarts LEGO Castle on Display! (only $399.99)

Our favorite souvenir at any park we go to are the Penny Machines. We collected 21 pennies while we were here this visit and we can collect more on our next visit. The boys love the Penny Machines more than getting a stuffed animal or some other souvenir and the pennies usually are cheaper and last longer than a stuffed animal.

Time for the Playground!!

Great area for kids to run around in.

My boys especially love the "Ninja Course" on the playground.

The playground had everything for every age.

Time to test our Ninja skills!

My boys love American Ninja Warrior so every playground they go to, they make up their own course. This playground had it's own course so they thought that the playground was AWESOME!

Balancing is a difficult task when your big brother is trying to pass you.

But it had everything for kids to play on!

Plus, there was a theater right next to the playground where they showed LEGO shows.

The directors made sure that the correct show was playing.

And it wouldn't be complete unless they had characters. Here's the Queen of the Castle.

Time to check out the room!!!!!

As soon as you walk in, you know this is going to be an epic room!

In order to open this safe, the kids have to do a scavenger hunt every day and crack the code. The scavenger hunt takes you all around the Hotel and you have to answer the questions with numbers. Once the correct numbers have been chosen, you get to open the safe and inside there's a surprise. What's the surprise? It's a new LEGO Set every day you have your room serviced!

The wall paper everywhere had something to look at.

Here's the kids Bunk Bed! (And their own "room")

And there is even a projection on the ceiling that shows a starry night with an occasional shooting star.

Here's the adult bed (King Size)

With our very own stained glass window!

There are LEGO figures throughout the room. This Dragon watches over us while we sleep (not creepy at all...)

This mouse is holding up a book. And what is that giant LEGO Head you ask? That's the Ice bucket. So AWESOME!

There is always something to look at on the walls.

There are even questions on some of the wall paper where you have to find things within your room!

Jackson thought this was awesome because it was a great way to find everything in the room.

Griffin thought he could sleep in the giant bed....

...but the great thing about the boys having their own room was that they had their own TV too. So after a long day at the park, nothing like relaxing and watching TV with "milk" and cookies on your bunk bed.

Jackson even did some of the LEGO sets that were in the treasure safe!

Time to check out the restaurant. At the Castle Hotel, it was the Dragons Den...and complete with LEGO figures everywhere.

While you waited for a table, there were thing for the kids to do. They could make pictures with LEGOs

They could see how skinny they are before they eat and then how fat they are after they eat in the crazy mirrors.

Take a spin on the spinning wheel and do whatever it says!

The great thing about Legoland is that they really do care about people with allergies. Before you get your table, the hostess asks if anyone has an allergy. If you do (like Jackson) then the chef comes out and tells you want is safe on the menu to have. For breakfast (since it's a buffet and free with your stay at the hotel) the chef comes out and shows you what is safe on the buffet line. They really went far and above anything we've experienced in regards to how much they care about people with allergies. And another plus, is that they are a peanut free facility because Jackson is also allergic to peanuts.

The boys found Dragon eggs while we waited for our dinner.

In the morning, the chef actually cooked Jackson dairy free pancakes...which is a huge deal for him because he loves pancakes but we always have to make it from scratch at home because almost no where serves them without having to use dairy.

So of course Griffin got the real pancakes and ate them up.

There are little LEGO figures all throughout the restaurant. It really gave you something to look at everywhere you looked.

Griffin wanted to lock himself in jail one more time while we walked around at night.

Here's the inside of jail.

You can also push the button to make the wizard talk and then everything above him starts to move.

Another outside shot of the hotel

Again...this place is AWESOME!

Time to say farewell to the Knights, Kings and Queens at the Hotel.

At night, lights make the Hotel even more spooky with the spider webs.

And thus concludes the trip. Everything at the Legoland Resort was AWESOME!

[ytterbiumanalyst]

What an incredible trip. Glad to see the kids were so excited about it.

[SharkTums]

I'm a little sad that they're basically giving up on the 'girl lego' section, but I get it. The hotels are super fun, glad the boys enjoyed it almost as much as you!

[Taylor Finn]

That hotel is seriously awesome. Love the bit about the scavenger hunt and lego sets. Great report!

[jynx242]

WOW! I don't know if I'd be able to get my little guy out of the hotel and hotel playground to actually go into the park! What a great report. Thank you for sharing it.

 

David

[jedimaster1227]

I was so excited to see another JimmyBo trip report show up in the forums today! I really like Legoland Florida, so one of these days when I have kids, I'm sure I'll go out of my way to visit Legoland California when I take them out to SoCal. Thank you so much for sharing!

 

 

This picture is so crisp... Now all I want is Granny's Apple Fries!

Edited October 3, 2019 by jedimaster1227

[PKI Jizzman]

Granny Apple Fries look amazing! Legoland looks so awesome. I've spent a couple years working with Lego from the Cartoon Network side of partnerships and it's cool to see all of the different brands (Lego Movie, Ninjago, Nexo Knights, Bionicles, etc) have their own real life section of the park. Lego does a great job giving fans a full 360 of content to enjoy - the toys, TV shows/movies, and a dope theme park! The scale and attention is so impressive and the interactions around the park look perfect for kids. Thanks for the report!