Visit Legoland in Carlsbad, California

If you have young kids in the 2 – 14 year old range and they love Legos – then this may be the happiest day of your trip to Carlsbad (also check out Sky Zone). This sprawling full-featured theme park is really 3 parks – Legoland, Chima Waterpark and SeaLife Aquarium.

What Ticket To Buy

We recommend the Hopper pass which gets you into the main Legoland theme park, and the SeaLife Aquarium. This costs about $20 – $25 more than just Legoland – but we think the Aquarium is worth the money and the extra hour or so to go through. In mid-summer, a few visits to the waterpark (which is right in the middle of the park) may be worth it for the extra $30 per person. But even if you don’t spring for the water park ticket, there are several “water fountain” parks to get wet at so you might want to wear a swimsuit if it’s hot. Pre-buy the parking ticket for $30 as there is no nearby public parking, and it’s $50 if you don’t pre-buy.

Hands-On Building For Kids

There is a lot more here than meets the eye, and parents should mentally prepare for letting their kids stop and build at the many building stations throughout the park. It’s fun, immersive but it takes time to enjoy. Build cars and drive them; build boats and float them and even dig for dinosaur bones made from legos in the prehistoric Dino dig pit.

Rollercoasters & Driving

There are 4 real adult-friendly rollercoasters to try out here at Legoland – just remember they are made for younger kids, and they are super short. Not a problem on an uncrowded day, but might be another story if the wait was super long on a hot summer day. The shortest one was only 25 seconds! But they let it go around twice so you get a full 60 second ride. Nothing terrifying and most of them are pretty enjoyable and a good primer for younger riders.

Climbing and Exploring

There are several areas where the kids can explore on their own – like the Hideaways. Pathways through enchanted areas allow parents to take a break while the kids roam at their own pace.

Surprise – The Lego models throughout the park are amazing

There Is A Very Good Variety of Food Here

Each quadrant of the park had its own themed restaurant with a different type of food. You can find chicken, ramen, BBQ (ribs, pulled pork and brisket), burgers, pizza, pasta, Tacos, excellent coffees, sandwiches and Legoland’s famous apple fries with whipped cream. We recommend the Urban Kitchen for fresh salads, Knight’s Smokehouse BBQ for Ribs (you can buy them by the bone) and the apple fries for dessert.

Restaurants and dining options at Legoland.

Restaurants offer gluten-free, dairy-free and other dietary options. Check here to see them.

SeaLife Aquarium

Even though you’ll be plenty tired by the time you visit the entire park, spending the last hour in the Aquarium is still worth the time. Multiple large tanks with large fish and sharks mixed with smaller more intimate aquariums featuring interesting sea life provides something for everyone.

Some exhibits change frequently, but we were enthralled by the bright red octopus trying to hide from us, the large eels lurking, swimming rays, schools of brightly colored fish and the chance to linger and really watch some amazing sea life.

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