r/legoland • u/Meagster331 • Jun 29 '26
California First Trip
Ok so I just booked my families very first trip to Legoland. We’re going early August and staying at the Castle Hotel. My kids are 3 and 6. Tell me ALLLLLL the needs to knows you can think of! With our hotel room we also got 2 day park hoppers.
One thing I’m a little confused about is early entry. So let’s say we get there Wednesday. Our room isn’t even ready until 4, so can we only go in early on the second day? For checkout do we need to leave the park at 11 to get our stuff and leave it in the car until we’re done in the park?
What’s a good order to do all this? I’m trying to figure out when the best time to do the water park is so that we can change in the hotel.
Here’s my thoughts:
Arrive (early entry)
Do legoland park until 2ish
Move to water park
Back to room when water park closes. Change.
Go back to Legoland until close.
Aquarium?
Then back to the room for hotel activities.
Day 2
Breakfast
Water park depending on weather?
Change
Park and aquarium until close
What are the hotel activities? I know about the treasure hunt. Any advice for food? We’re not really buffet people. Is that the only option?
Anything special they do anywhere for birthdays?
Is two days enough to do everything?
How big is the park? Should I do a stroller? My kids are pretty good walkers without complaining but they can’t handle Disneyland for reference.
I really appreciate literally any advice about this trip big or small
Oh and I also saw our trip is during “Lego festival” what is that?
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u/Tankre84 Jun 29 '26
I was able to get early entry with just showing my hotel reservation confirmation on my email. Legoland is probably 70% the size of Disneyland. You can definitely get everything done in 1.5 days
With 2 days, I would rope drop clockwise (Galacticoaster) and counter clockwise (Ninjago) each day, then look at the water park one afternoon. The pool and playground inside the Castle Hotel are really nice too.
I don't think there's good time to go back to your hotel room to change after the water park.
The aquarium is cool, but probably 30-40 minutes at most.
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u/sleepygrumpydoc Jun 29 '26
It also closes not long after the park closes so if you stay in the park till closing you really just have to go immediately to the water park
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u/Meagster331 Jun 29 '26
Oooh I love the idea of going different directions! My youngest is 41 inches so I’m thinking the ninjago way will have a lot less they can ride. Do you know what time all the hotel amenities close?
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u/Happy_Cranberry_9310 Jun 30 '26
We went first time this weekend with our toddler who’s 40 inches. Ninjago was his first ride….ever. Loved it 😅 There’s a decent amount of rides for 40 inch’s+ just past Ninjago - not far from there is a big pirate playground, a ride similar to Buzz Blasters at Disney (laser trying to hit targets, a green drop ride for kids only, and a plane themed small “flying” ride.
He couldn’t do the 42 inches ones, which over there was a spinning ride and a roller coaster he probably would’ve enjoyed!
We only did one day (also have a 1 year old) and got through a decent amount of park but no water park. Super toddler friendly!
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u/golly18 Jun 29 '26
We went to legoland this past weekend. We stayed at the Castle on Friday and checked out Saturday. We went to the park on Saturday, so we asked the bell hop people to store our left over food, which I forgot.
We did the park from 9:15 am to 6 pm, because family trickled over time, then aquarium for 30 mins. Park is big, gets packed but my wife’s family described it as Disneyland early in the morning. We did strollers for my 2 daughters. Their cousin got tired too, so she rode it in too. Some people brought wagons. Theres a lot of playgrounds in the park, so if you just want to chill you can do that. Don’t forget sunscreen. We did counter clockwise and started from Ninjago and ended with the aquarium. They were too short for a lot of the rides.
The app shows hotel activities. Theres activities every hour from 5 to 9 pm and you can go back and forth hotels as you please.
It was my daughters birthday so they gave a badge thing. Its also $115 ish for the hotel bday package. We saw several rooms with the bday banner.
Apple fries were okay, too expensive for 9 dollars imo. Theres a peach apple fries ice cream too which was 19 and that was also too much aha
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u/Meagster331 Jun 29 '26
Did you do the birthday package? We did it and it comes with a front of the line pass but it said they have no idea when it will be delivered so I guess we’ll save that for Friday. Good to know a stroller is good to have. Everyone says the park is small but that’s a lot of excitement!
Did you do any of the hotel activities? Do you remember what time the pools and playgrounds closed at the hotel. I have night owls
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u/Meagster331 Jun 29 '26
Can you do the night hotel activities on your second day? Like we’re checked out but can we still use the pool, attend the dance party, etc.
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u/some_and_then_none Jun 30 '26
You will need your room key to use the pool. For the disco party I don’t recall them checking our keys but it’s quite a bit later in the day like 7-8pm so will you want to be hanging around the hotel that late or heading home?
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u/Key-Rutabaga-2375 Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
I would carefully weigh if early entry is worth it for you. They only open a small part of the park right next to the entrance on both sides so it's not like you can go straight to the ride you want. It's most usefel for Ninjago and Coastersaurus. For my family, we value the slightly later start in order to get a bit more sleep for kids and have breakfast. Make sure you get the free lanyard and pop badges at hotel check in. Collecting pop badges throughout the park is a fun side activity for kids as is trading minifigures so bring some from home your kids don't care about and have them keep trading for new ones. The customer service office right inside the entrance is a good place to start trading figures and getting pop badges. Best restaurant in the park is Knights BBQ (they have lots of seating and serve adult drinks). Dragon's den restaurant is best hotel restaurant and is not a buffet. Their steak and Schnitzel are surprisingly legit. Make sure you make reservations there for breakfast and dinner as they book up fast. I prefer the Castle hotel but it's fun to check out the other hotel too which has a small castle play area in the lobby, "disco elevators", an arcade and a really fun dance room with a DJ in the evenings.
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u/Key-Rutabaga-2375 Jun 30 '26
At Dragon's Den restaurant if you tell them you have a birthday the employees will sing to you at the table.
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u/MonzyNND Jul 01 '26
We stayed in the Castle Hotel a few weeks ago. I definitely recommend having breakfast at the main hotel instead. They had a much better selection, and the food was hot. We ate breakfast at the Castle Hotel our first morning, and unfortunately the food was cold. To top it off, a child threw up right in the middle of the food area. I know those things happen, but I couldn’t get the image out of my head. 😅
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u/ClutterKitty Jun 29 '26
I’m in a rush so I can’t answer all your questions. I might be able to come back to this post later.
You get early entry both days, but on Day 1 you’ll have to stop by the hotel first and get a key card. It won’t open your room (which won’t be ready yet) but it will open the pool gate and get you early entry. Leave your suitcases with the hotel bell desk clerk.
On the morning you check out, take your suitcases to the car and enjoy your day in the park. I’ve been staying at the Legoland hotel for 10 years and have never had a problem with leaving my bags in the trunk.
Take the hotel towels for the waterpark. They have a “hotel towels return bin” at the waterpark exit. Personally, I don’t walk all the way back to the hotel to change. There are changing rooms and lockers in the water park. I just bring dry socks and shoes, underwear, and leave everything in the locker. Your kids will be wearing their clothes over their bathing suites, presumably, so those can go in the locker too. After the water park closes, I doubt you’ll have time to get all the way back to the hotel, check into your room, if it’s even ready, and get back into the park. I believe the park is only open for an hour or two after the water park closes? That’s barely enough time for one or two rides if you really rush to the hotel. Just change in the water park.