Legoland

One LEGOLAND Drive, Carlsbad, CA 92008

Good for: Weekend getaway, families
Price: Starts at $59/child, $69/adult

If you have boys or girls that are 12 or under, you HAVE to make a trip here. We went in 2008 and loved it. Legoland is located in Carlsbad, CA which is between Los Angeles and San Diego in southern California. Our one daughter of 7 (at the time) had a fantastic time, as did my husband and I. The one thing that really stands out are, of course, the creations made of Lego. We had a blast posing with various displays, as you can probably tell (the the mummy one was not made of Lego it was still fun):

The Volvo Driving School is such an awesome attraction. The children line up on the wall, have their picture taken, then get a physical Legoland driver’s license. We paid for that but it was relatively cheap and doubled as a souvenir. Three years later it still hangs on her closet doorknob! By the way, we found out here just how bad of a driver she is. Who steps on the gas and brake at the same time?!

Looking back at our pictures, I’m surprised by how many rides there were and that my daughter could ride on at the time. As I mentioned, this park is not aimed toward the teeny-bopper crowd so almost all the ride can be ridden on by younger ones. That’s not to say they are ‘baby’ rides and are boring – even I thought they were quite fun!

Now they have added a 4D show and a new waterpark section. I’m really hoping that we can visit that area the next time around.  It’s not all play though. Legoland has an educational side as well. From learning how Legos are made to using the study guides available on the official site, this is an enriching experience as well as an enjoyable one. They even have special Home School Days with discounted ticket prices that are more than 50% off! That’s the deal we chose to take advantage of and it save us a significant amount!

The day begin a little slow for us adults. That changed as we entered Miniland USA. Famous landmarks and their surroundings were recreating using only the small construction blocks. The tallest skyscrapers were still much shorter than my daughter at that time and even the Statue of Liberty was only about a foot or so. The photos below are a little small but you can get an idea of the magnitude of work and creativity put into these displays. In case you can’t make it out pictured from left to right are San Francisco, New York, and Las Vegas.

Everything in Legoland made you do a double-take since everything was so detailed. I had to keep reminding myself that they were made of Legos. When you really take the time to look around the park closely, you will find little treasures and silliness here and there. Okay, that is so not me. It was my husband that would find those details and point them out to me. The following photos are:

1. A pool party scene on the rooftop of one of building in Miniland USA
2. The flag on top the huge castle-themed marketplace in Castle Hill
3. The sign above the public restrooms!

I had heard of Legoland many years earlier but was totally uninterested. To my surprise, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My only gripe was that, in their main Lego store, they had no ‘girl’ hair. For such a huge establishment you would think they would cater to children of both genders. We will be planning another trip here soon!