Thank you Legoland, California for hosting the Cammo Style Love family! We had such a blast and we can’t wait to go back again. If you are a Lego-loving family Legoland is a must visit It’s a unique experience, unlike most theme parks that I have been to. Here are some tips we learned that we’d like to pass on to you all in the hopes that you’ll have the best time! Also, a little tip for families, military or otherwise, there’s a great La Quinta not too far down the road. We love traveling with LaQuinta because of the afforability, the quality of the stay and the breakfast! Such a great place for families, and makes our lives so much easier!
The boat ride is a must-see – you get to see some really cool large scale Lego designs
- Find the Discount – you can always find a discount to Legoland! Sometimes on the smaller plastic bags of Legos, sometimes on their website, but find yourself a discount! Like most theme parks it can be a bit pricey. If you are military you are in luck, you can score a great discount anytime! They have two different park hopper passes (which can get you into the waterpark and the aquarium in California). We skipped the aquarium this time as we have been to Monterey and we live right by the Baltimore Aquarium which is amazing! We almost regretted not getting the waterpark pass, but you’ll find out why it ended up being okay. Legoland also has their own version of a FastPass, which has three different options and reduces your wait time by 25%, 50% or 95%. It is a bit pricey, but it might be something that you want to consider depending on your vacation priorities.
- Pack Snacks and Food – What’s great about Legoland is you can bring your own food in. I pack a ton of snacks and even sandwiches for the kids. I typically bring a lot of food with us on trips where we stay in hotels anyway. It’s a great way to handle snacky growing kiddos, and save some money. Sometimes you can find deals in the park, where the kid’s meals are free with an adult purchase, so keep an eye out for that! Two places I would recommend with the most inexpensive food (and good) was the Knight’s Smokehouse and BBQ, by the dragon ride, and the food in Fun Town (they have Nathan’s Hot Dogs!). Don’t forget to get your famous apple fries! They are heavenly and worth the calories and price tag!
- Do your research – So there aren’t a ton of big rides as Legoland really is geared toward the littles, and there are a lot of non-ride activities to participate in. So, if you want to ride the big rides go there immediately to avoid waiting for a really long time. After you get your fill of that ride then you can move on through the park. Pick a different ride for the next day. The park isn’t extremely large, but it is definitely sprawling so we worked our way through in order after our chosen first big ride. Chose to do your water stuff on the same day, towards when you are going to leave the park. The pirate water ride will leave you VERY wet, but its a blast!
- The Water Park – So, we were aware that there was a water park, but for time and money’s sake, we chose to pass on it. Little did we know there is a smaller water play area that is completely accessible to regular park goers! It is right next to the pirate ride, which makes it perfect. I wish we had thought to have the kids wear bathing suits, but we had no idea that this was a thing. In all my research I didn’t see anything about this. So, here I am passing on the good news. Pack that swimsuit and play your day accordingly. Go on the water pirate ride and then spend some time at the water area. The kids had a blast!
- Bring your Mini Figures en mass – Yes, this is really a thing! Bring a baggie of those to trade with any of the employees that you see walking around. Note that they will have very non-descript Lego characters on their badges. But we did get some cool ones that the kids had never seen before. Think City lego set characters. We went onto eBay and just bought random lego guys to bring with us. This is a super fun part of the trip and because of that, our kids didn’t really ask for souvenirs. We did let them pick out lego characters at the store (caution, it is right at the entrance).
Most, importantly have fun! Walk around and take in all the cool sites, visit the little portion of the factory and museum, meet characters, stop in Friendship Villiage and watch the shows! Even my oldest boy liked those. It is a fun time and way less stressful than many park experiences simply because it’s just not as big.
