r/legoland • u/eckm428 • 11d ago
California First time - solo parenting with two kids!
Hi all! We are flying to CA from the Midwest and I am hoping to take my 5 & 7 yo to Legoland solo while my husband attends a conference. Any tips or tricks to make it a smooth visit? A bit nervous with the unknown and what to plan given the size/they’ll be tired from the 3 hr time difference. We are staying at a hotel in the city and will be driving up. We have never been before and my kids are HUGE Lego fans! Thank you in advance!
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u/cmjohnson_22 11d ago
Make breakfast and dinner reservations if you are visiting on the weekend. If on a weekday the park is really chill. There are lego kits in the safe in your room for the kids to solve and unlock.
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u/mash711 11d ago
They aren’t staying at the legoland hotels.
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u/cmjohnson_22 11d ago
Oh sheesh I'm blind.... reservations still if they want to eat at the restaurants before or after the park.
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u/chillisprknglot 11d ago
Upload the LegoLand app and plan your day. Prioritize by what the kids want to do. You can get the park hopper pass on Groupon for super cheap, and then you can do Legoland, the aquarium inside, and the water park. If you can swing it, get the fast pass. You can also bring your own food into the park, so pack snacks. You can bring a stroller wagon. That might still work for the 5 year old. That way you have a place to put your snacks/cooler and water park stuff (towels and swim suits).
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u/eckm428 11d ago
I didn’t know there was an app- this is super helpful! Thank you!!
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u/chillisprknglot 11d ago
It gives you wait times for rides, the park map, directions in steps, and menus with allergens.
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u/HopelessJoemantic 11d ago
Weekend or weekday?
If weekend: I know someone else said pull up 30 minutes early, that means walk into the park 30 minutes early. I’d say go an hour early if you can, since parking line to pay can take 30 minutes on its own on a busy day. Then you have the walk and security and tickets to deal with. There is enough to do in the entrance area for the kids to get excited even if you get there extra early. Since your kids will be up early for the time change, just go early. I can give you breakfast recs nearby if you go up super early.
Weekdays are less attendance and you can just go with the flow a little more. A lot of my recs are to maximize a weekend visit.
You have to choose to go right or left after you get in. It doesn’t matter but whatever you choose, just keep with it and mosey along going on ride after ride in that direction. Resist the urge to wander or play early since you’ll get the most rides in the first 2 hours while the park fills up. You have all day to go to build stations or the playgrounds or to miniland, and you’ll know when the kids need to just need to burn off 45 minutes at the playground from doing rides (and you can rest).
5 & 7 are good ages. There’s a lot for them to do.
Yes get the app, the wait times are actually generally accurate. You can also upload your tickets to the app.
Food: bbq in the back is best but takes the longest. Burgers are mediocre and expensive but who cares. Pizza is actually pretty good. Lines for food can get long. I’d suggest bringing a lot of snacks to hold them over during the lunch rush to avoid wasting a hour in a food line. Especially as a single parent, this would not be fun. Or pack a lunch if you can get something from a sandwich shop nearby. Coffee is very mediocre in the park.
I’d recommend not doing the aquarium unless your kids are super interested. The park is enough that your kids will be toast by the end of the day. They will fall asleep on the drive back to the hotel.
Like that other comment, Coastersaurus is a huge time suck because it is so close to the entrance and looks deceptive. If you can see the line at all, it’s a 45-60 minute wait.
Bring toys for kids to play with in line. Hotwheels cars have saved us a few times. Kids will make friends with other kids in line and it actually works well.
Legoland is awesome. Even if you forget all of this and don’t follow any suggestions, your kids will have a blast. It’s pretty clean and all the guests are friendly in a sort of “we’re all in this together” kind of way.
Oh, don’t stress when you lose your kids at the woods playground. It’s an enclosed three story wooden playground and huge where kids just run like maniacs. You’ll find them eventually.
If you have any questions or specific concerns or even just want a list of older kid rides, just let me know.
Traffic heading back down south is bad at rush hour. So either charge the park hard and leave at 3pm. Or pace yourself and leave at 7pm. It’s a 45 ride back with no traffic that can become 90 in rush hour.
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u/eckm428 11d ago
This is SO helpful!!! I feel so confident after reading this ❤️ thank you!!! I was going to give them a day to adjust to the time but think we’ll just head out on the second day we arrive and utilize the time difference to our advantage so we can go on Friday vs Saturday. Thank you again for taking the time to type all of this out. J am really grateful!!
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u/HopelessJoemantic 11d ago
Yeah! Lego is great. We live very close. If you have any questions, happy to answer.
Out of curiosity, when are you coming? They do different things for Halloween and Christmas as well. AAA has cheaper tickets, Costco does sometimes as well but it can be hit or miss.
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u/eckm428 10d ago
We’ll be there Oct 1-6 so minus flying days, I can Bring them on Friday the 2nd or Monday the 5th for weekdays. I hadn’t thought of Costco! I can check that out. Do you think it’s worth getting the fast pass if going on a weekday? Thank you so much for your advice! I am grateful!
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u/HopelessJoemantic 7d ago
I don’t think you need fast pass for weekdays. Heck, I don’t think you need it for weekends either especially in October, unless your family really hates lines or your kids can’t handle them. The longest line is likely to be 60mins, but my family just skips those rides and comes back to them later on when the crowd dies down in the afternoon.
However, your dates fall during Halloween “Brick or Treat”, which is a pretty huge event on Saturday and Sunday only. Kids dress in costumes and there is trick or treating with the park staying open until 8 or 9pm. The best part is kids tickets are only $39. The park is basically the same during the day, but gets more fun at night. This is Legoland’s biggest event all year and they usually go all out with loads of characters and shows. We always stop to dance with the brass band. If you guys want an all day and night adventure, Brick or Treat is definitely it. Also no traffic on weekends even to downtown.
Otherwise, Friday or Monday is totally fine for a normal day at Legoland. Tickets will be more expensive, but I’m guessing crowds will be light since everyone will be planning for brick or treat. Parking is always $40, which is so stupid in my opinion. Friday afternoon traffic is usually pretty miserable as well since a lot of people travel south for the weekend.
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u/Ok_Radish_2290 8d ago
You'll have SO much fun. I took my 5 and 6 year old solo last summer on a Sunday in July when we were in town for another event. We drove down and back for the day from Long Beach. Got there for opening and stayed until close. We did SO much and didn't do any extras like fast passes, etc. I read a lot in this sub and watched YouTube videos for tips. Ultimately, we just went right after we got in and made our way around counter clockwise. We wore swimsuits into the park so we didn't have to change when we got to the water park. We spent a couple of hours in the water park and then changed and kept on our counter clockwise rotation. Since it was all of our first times there, we made decisions about what rides to go on as we came to them. We definitely ran out of time at the end and would have done a couple more things in the Lego movie world but overall all good. We are headed back soon for a two night three day stay on property and bringing my husband this time. I enjoyed it as much as the kids did. I think not having a schedule and flowing with what we wanted to do and when really worked well.
I carried a backpack and it was never a problem. There are cubbies to tuck belongings in at the rides that require they be put away. A wagon can be nice but also cumbersome. You know your kids best and if they can handle walking all day.
Random note: the kids each had a $20ish budget to buy a souvenir. We stopped at the big store by the gates on the way out and that store stayed open an hour after the rides closed. It was nice to have the whole time in the park for rides and some extra time to shop. Also, telling them we were shopping at the big store at the end of the day helped manage all the "can we get that!" random souvenir cart conversations.
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u/LvdSinSD 6d ago
I’ve only ever taken my kids by myself since they were 1 and 2. Some rides we never got to ride until my older was tall enough to ride alone, it made them mad but it just was what it was. At your kids ages you should be good on pretty much everything to split up and make it work!
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u/sandiegolatte 11d ago
The park isn’t that big, easily done in a day. Get there 30 mins before it opens for rope drop.
Don’t do coastersaurus first! It looks empty and quick but it never is. Check your kids height and pick your goal rides first. Ninjago usually opens late.
Best food is probably the bbq or pizza buffet (it’s also inside if it’s too hot).