LEGOLAND AT A GLANCE

Legoland California Resort is a theme park, miniature park, and aquarium located in Carlsbad, California, based on the Lego toy brand.

Address: One Legoland Dr, Carlsbad, CA 92008

Phone: (888) 690-5346

Hours: 9:30 AM to 8 PM

Tickets from $89 - Under 3 is free: Discount Tickets from Local Wally

Legoland says that the park is aimed at kids 2 to 12 but I’d probably make that 4 to 10 as the sweet spot. Younger than that and you have to deal with height restrictions and older than that will get you questions like “Why didn’t we go to Disneyland?” And no, Legoland isn’t like Disneyland. It’s more like a very cleaned up and upscale version of the kiddie parks of long ago, charming even if it does at time seem a bit goofy. I say that in a good way - I mean, I used to work at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland and Legoland has the same spirit of that little storybook park. It’s unpretentious in its aim to give the little kids what they want. And that’s exactly what Legoland does.

The younger kids will love the rides where they can pilot a boat or drive a car. And while parents might be a bit impatient when the kids go into rooms filled with Legos (“YOU HAVE THESE AT HOME, LET’S GO!”) it’s exactly what the kids want to do.

I took my 3 year old grandson who did a good job avoiding all the rides I thought he would love (the ones I wanted to go on) and was addicted to areas like the dinosaur dig where you get a pail and a shovel and search for dinosaur bones. The roller coaster nearby would make it’s loop with screams and he had no interest so I snuck away and hopped on (I needed a break!) and give it a big thumbs up. Perfect for the older kids who want to go on a great coaster by themselves, or for adults seeking a bit of a rush.

The BIG RIDE that every kid gravitates to is NINJAGO and I highly recommend two things - first, that if this is on your list you should go there first as it is the most popular ride. Second, unless you have a kid who knows everything about this ride you need to ask or pay attention to what you are supposed to do because this is a highly interactive ride where you get points. My wife and I got on Ninjago knowing absolutely nothing about it and when the car stopped in front of a giant screen filled with ninja characters, well, let’s just say we scored zero points. This is highly embarrassing for me as I was once the video game king in college back when Centipede was the top game. I demand a do over.

There’s a submarine ride where you search for sea creatures that’s super fun and there’s also a cool aquarium area called SEA LIFE you can add on. Other reviewers have said that this isn’t as good as Sea World and I’ll add that for me the Birch Aquarium at Scripps in La Jolla is obviously a better sea life experience but that would be missing the point. Kids will LOVE the aquarium at Legoland. Does Birch Aquarium put Legos in with their fish? You already know the answer to that.

There’s also a water park but that’s a good time to say we have to do that another day as that’s really a day in itself and I might suggest you try your best to convince your little ones on vacation that the beach might be a better use of time - though if you do end up there you can pat yourself on the back for being a very good parent as the kids will for sure love it and love you for it too. Maybe the beach can wait.