Legoland Tuesday April 24th Mini Report About This Page:

[WeLvBCV]

We went to Legoland last week. Originally we were scheduled to go on the following Friday but our WDW plans all got switched around as we went. As of two weeks prior Legoland was going to be closed on tuesday and Wed that week. But the schedule changed at the last minute and we headed over. The people at the gate said they had no clue how busy or not it would be because of the last minute change in hours. Ultimately it was amazingly empty and it turned into a really nice slow day.

Tickets for Legoland are pricey. Last fall I bought some through a promotion "buy 1 adult get 1 child for free". So our ticket cost for the 4 of us was approx $160 plus $15 (plus or minus I forget exactly) for parking. I cannot imagine paying gate price for the 4 of us it would have been just about double that

Oh and the cast of characters here was me, DH, DS9 and DS6. My boys are not big ride fans. They also love Legos. I do think the park is for a very narrow age group. For us it was perfect. Oh and speaking of ages I have not seen it mentioned before but there are some rides for smaller kids and even a play area for crawling/toddler older babies.

Back to our trip. We always have our car and the drive over was quicker then we thought. Lots of signs to follow and easy to find. We arrived at 9 on the dot and were the first ones in the parking lot. Felt a bit like Wallyworld on arrival But there were people at the gate and we parked and spent some time covering ourselves in sunscreen and so forth. We were first in line at the ticket entry. Legoland opens up the main gate about 9:30 ish letting people into the front area of the park only. You can go on the carousel and explore shops until the official opening at 10am.

The main shop was amazing with Lego products I had never seen. My kids went nuts. We had to drag them out . Later in the day we did buy them each a lego set. Thinking about it later I could have saved 10% buying the sets at DTD with my AP discount. I did really want to get them t-shirts but the nice simple Legoland Tshirts were all for adults or babies and no in between. There were a bunch of really cool Lego Star Wars t-shirts I have not seen elsewhere. Plus lots of over the top clothing no one seemed to be interested in and even some 50% grand opening products.

We then explored the front entrance area and rode the double carousel. At 10 they dropped the ropes and we headed to the far end of the park. We went right to the Ford Driving School as we had been told. The boys loved it, though my older DS's knees stuck up in the car The ride had a total of 5 boys so they were able to stay in the cars for a couple of rounds. When they got off they got their driver's licenses for $12.95 each This charge really annoyed me. They make such a big deal about the license photo and the kids get all excited and then you get charged for it. Hopefully your kiddo will forget the photo and if you do not walk them through the shop area you can avoid it.

The rest of the rides were the same all day. Just about empty. We saw the water ski show and my boys loved it. When the life size minifies showed up my 6 year old yelled "they are alive!!!"

Lunch ended up being hamburgers near the castle. I found out later they had a much better selection of food near the main gate. My fault, I should have looked more closely at the map and food options.

We skipped all the rollarcoasters and did not go into any of the "build" type buildings. We did spend time looking at the Lego cities. My boys were amazed. Around 3 we watched one of the 4D movies and then headed back to WDW where we had an ADR to get to.

If we lived in Florida I would get an annual pass for my boys there, at least for this year. They had an absolute ball. They fit perfectly into the age/interest range. I know they would love going back and doing more of the build activities. Not to mention the new water park area. Besides the roller coasters the rides are geared for the younger set and I would expect that to get old with my boys in the next year or so. But for now it was perfect.

Now for the not so great issues. The park itself certainly has a few growing pains to work through. With crowds the limited hours will make it harder to see everything in a day. Even with only short or non existent lines some waits were too long. I have read about this from other visitors. Loading and unloading was really slow and sometimes made absolutely no sense. This really surprised me because it's not like Legoland does not have other parks around the world. Don't they have any experience with this? Or is it because coming from WDW we see ride loading/unloading perfection?

Hope this helps someone. Feel free to ask questions

[Colexis Mom]

Thanks for sharing your experience! We were there the week before you, the 17th and found it quiet (although quite a few school groups with unattended small kids just butting you in line)! I agree on the ride loading situation...for the dragon coaster, there was basically no line, but you had no idea that you were supposed to just walk into the building and just pick any row you wanted! Very strange! We too got suckered into Castle burger, and should have went back to the front of the park for more options!

[mamasann]

We went in November. Lines were very short, not much of a wait at all. Inside the "build" area, they offer a robotics class that you have to sign up for. Our son is 10 yrs. old and that was a must-do as far as he was concerned. The classes are limited in size and book quickly, so we got him signed up and sat, waited and rested while he joined the other kids building cars to race until the class began. It was worth the wait and a great experience. He loved driving the cars and enjoyed the firetruck races. But at 10, and "growing up Disney" most of the rides seemed like little kid stuff (his words) to him. Mini-land was amazing to see! We didn't buy Legos there because we had VIP points and AP discounts we could use at DTD. For folks with kids 10 and younger it was worth the ticket price I guess. We got a AAA discount on our adult tickets and when we got to the park, found out that our Free Child's Admission wasn't valid because it was only good if the adult paid full price. So that was our bad, since we didn't read the fine print. I guess we've been spoiled by Disney. We expect more bang for the buck. But overall, Lego Land was colorful, cute and spotless and a great trip for little guys.

[chezp]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the park - all in all, sounds like a good day.

[jagafen]

thanks for the info. we're headed there in august with our 9 y/o....hoping he'll fall intothe same interest group as your boys, if not, there's always the waterpark to fall back on!

[disneygal]

Great info, thanks! We are planning on visiting in November.

[B.M.]

Thanks for the info.... I recently started looking at Legoland for consideration as a day trip during our next trip down.... After thinking about it and looking online, I was considering taking only my 9yo and 6yo; leaving the older kids (teens) at the resort to relax for the day.... I think reading your mini TR confirms that decision.... I'm not sure it would hold much appeal for the teens and not sure I want to spend $ on their admission if they aren't going to be super into it.... but my two little boys are very into lego men nowadays and I really think they would enjoy it....

[Beautiful Mother]

The info was very helpful. My adult DS and DIL LOVE legos and want to go there in December. So, I will pass on the information.

[itsmemickeymouse]

Thanks for the report...my boys are the same age so its good to know the age specific areas are perfect...:-) We wil be there April 2013 woohoo!! but we are doing all the outside parks before we get to WDW so to avoid disappoinment compared to WDW.
Where we live in OZ we only get a tiny tiny fun fair visit once a year and it has about 3 rides so i think my boys are going to be a little overwhelmed...lol

[Canada Amy]

thanks for the tips!