Three Days In Legoland

(October 19 – 21, 2017). We pulled up anchor in Mariner’s Basin, in Mission Bay, on a bright, sunny, and warm morning, ready to head to San Diego.  There, we would leave the boat at anchor for the first time ever, and spend three days in Legoland, about 45 miles to the north.  For months, we’d been asking the girls whether they preferred to visit Legoland or Disneyland, and without hesitation, it was Legoland every time.

We had a nice sail between Mission Bay and San Diego, but due to traffic and a lack of wind, had to furl the sails and kick on the motor as soon as we entered the channel leading into San Diego Bay.  From there, it was nearly a two-hour long motor into the anchorage, which was on the far side of the Coronado bridge.  It didn’t take long to get the anchor set, and we started packing and preparing the boat for Legoland.

Rich took on the task of trying to find a place where we could leave our dinghy for three days during our trip.  As it is, there are less than 10 dinghy landings in all of San Diego Bay, but finding one that we could use overnight proved to be impossible.  Eventually, Rich secured a 20-foot slip at the nearby Glorietta Bay Marina in Coronado as our only option.  But, it wasn’t a bad option, because the price was comparable to what some of the dinghy docks charged anyway, and the dinghy would be secure.  So, we piled in the dinghy and made our way to shore.

I encouraged the girls to try to rest during our Lyft ride to Legoland, but they were too excited.  Sitting securely on their Bubble Bums, they goofed and chatted and played the entire way there.

As we stepped out of the car, we were assaulted with all things Lego!  Lego pieces and minifigures adorned the front of the hotel.  In the lobby was a large Lego sculpture of a spigot, dumping out Legos, with a Lego dragon sitting on top.  The trail left by the spigot led to a large pit of Legos, and it wasn’t long before the girls dove in.

Our room was a further onslaught of all things Lego.  We had a castle room, and there was custom stone-walled wallpaper with Lego minifigure knights, kings, and princesses all about.  In the corner of the girls’ room (which donned bunk beds, of course!) was a Lego owl sculpture, and in the bathroom a Lego crown sculpture and black-and-red spider adorned the wall.  Several more castle-themed Lego sculptures were displayed on a high shelf in the parents’ section of the room.

We arrived shortly after lunch time and hadn’t eaten, so first we tried out the Skyline Cafe.  It’s the only actual restaurant in the Legoland Hotel, named for the Lego-sculpture skyline displayed along one side.  It was empty when we sat down, and our fabulous server, Alison, got our stay off on the right foot.  Not only did she not even flinch when Ellie inadvertently dumped her drink on the ground, but she brought her another one, and assured us that she sees kids all day, loves them, and expects these things, and that our kids were great.  That helped us feel a little more at ease in the excited chaos that is the Legoland Hotel.  The girls ran back to the lobby to play with Legos while Rich and I finished up, and we were thrilled to be able to let the kids just play.  Little did we know, that was probably the last time we’d be able to leave them alone during our entire three-day stay.  We had no idea how exhausting it would be.

Our first hint came when we tried to go swimming.  You see, the pool at the Legoland Hotel has a (completely ridiculous, irrational, baseless, arbitrary, and just plain stupid) rule.  Anyone under 48” had to wear a lifejacket in the pool.  There was no way to swim test out of this requirement, and it didn’t matter if the person (because it’s not just kids – there are adults under 48”) is just sitting in 3” of water at the shallow end.  A lifejacket is required, unless an adult is physically in the pool within arms’ length at all times.  So, when Ellie literally did not measure up, she was absolutely devastated.  It was cold, and I just wanted to relax, but I told her I’d go in the pool with her so she didn’t have to wear the stupid lifejacket.  During my time in the pool, I watched her – again, literally – swim circles around taller kids who were far worse swimmers.  I was pissed.  I couldn’t wait to get out of there.  Especially because I was just standing there shivering.  So, I told Ellie I needed a break, and sat down.  After a few minutes, I told Ellie to just get back in the pool like she owned the place.  She did, and luckily no one asked her to put a lifejacket on again.

As soon as the Legoland park closed, the hotel was swarmed with people and kids everywhere.  The chaos was overwhelming.  Luckily, we’d made dinner reservations at the buffet, so we didn’t have to wait in the 30-minute line to get a table.  At dinner, we learned about some of the special activities going on in the hotel, including a “spooky” treasure hunt.  Some of the hotel staff was going to lead the kids around the hotel, following clues, until they found a place to roast marshmallows.  The girls wanted to do us, and the staff who told us about the event said we could just sent the kids without parents.  It was $20 extra per kid, but 20 or 30 minutes for Rich and I to relax?  Priceless.  I paused my dinner to go to the front desk and sign the girls up.  At 6:45, Rich took the girls to drop them off for the adventure.  Twenty minutes later, he still hadn’t returned.  It turns out that, even though we paid $20 for each girl to go on this excursion, and despite the fact that we were told parents weren’t required, a parent was in fact required.  So, Rich never even got to finish his dinner.  I finished eating alone, and headed to the Skyline Bar to wait for them to be done.  It was only a 20-minute “adventure,” (excluding the 15 minutes they were waiting to get started between the 6:45 “you have to show up then” time and the actual 7PM start time), so it didn’t take long before they reappeared.

The next morning, we woke up and got ready to go to the park.  We had fun at the breakfast buffet, amid still more chaos, and then made our way to the park.  After the brief opening ceremony, hosted by whoever the red Ninjago character is, we headed in.  We hadn’t known about the mini figure exchange ahead of time, so the first order of business was to buy a minifigure.  At the park, the staff, information booths, stores, and pretty much everywhere you can think of has random lego minifigures on display.  If you see a minifigure you like, you can trade any of your own.  So, we had to buy one so we could trade if we saw any good ones.

That morning, the girls enjoyed their first roller coaster!  The Coastersaurus is a fairly tame but fun ride, and the only roller coaster open early for hotel guests.  So, we did that early on, and the kids were hooked.  We then headed over to Heartlake (home of the Lego “Friends” series); the girls got their Legoland drivers’ licenses at the driving school; we strolled through a huge Lego model of Vegas; then through several Lego Star Wars models; and the day was almost done!  We had just enough time for Morgan and Daddy to ride the Knight’s Tournament, and Ellie to take several spins on the Royal Joust, which was much more her speed.

As the park closed, we headed back to the hotel (with almost everyone else in Legoland), and rather than suffer the madness of the buffet again, we went back to the Skyline Cafe.  By the time we made it back to the room, the girls were wiped, but so excited about the past day and the next day that they had trouble sleeping.

The next morning was similar: breakfast amid complete chaos at the cafe; head to the park for opening ceremonies; have a blast on the Ninjago ride; enjoy the Technix and Dragon roller coasters a few times with almost no line since we were one of the first people in the park; enjoy a few rides until it was time for lunch.  We had a decent pizza lunch in the park, and then we went over to the aquarium!

The Sea Life Aquarium at Legoland is really well done.  The displays and colors are a little overdone and brighter-than-life, but that makes for a visually stunning experience.  And, as a visitor, especially with kids, the visual beauty makes learning about the sea life even more engaging.  I was hoping to skip the aquarium because I felt like we’d been to so many, but in the end I was glad to have gone there.  Not only is it a beautiful aquarium, but it was also a good break from the sun, heat, and noise of Legoland.

It was also where we found one of the most coveted treasures in all of Legoland – A GOLD BADGE!  Each day, each “village” in Legoland – of which I believe there are 11 – gets a gold badge.  An employee gets to wear it, and if you find an employee wearing one, you ask them if you can have it, and you take it to Guest Services for a special surprise.  Knowing that they were rare, we were determined to find one – we didn’t care what the prize was, it was all about the thrill of the hunt.  We’d almost given up looking when I spotted it – right there, on the sleeve of the woman at the touch tank!  It was mid-afternoon, and she’d  been wearing it all day and no one had seen it – she was so excited I found it, and I was so excited to have found it!  She had asked for it that morning from her supervisor because she really wanted to make someone’s day.  And that she did!  When we were done with the aquarium, we took it to Guest Services, and learned we could either keep the badge, or give up the badge in exchange for a free pass to Legoland.  Well, we didn’t plan on coming back, and we’d searched for that badge for three days, so we didn’t want to give it up!  I now have it proudly displayed in my room in the v-berth.

We headed back to the hotel for an early dinner at Skyline Cafe, and then took a nearly hour-long Lyft ride back to the marina.

We had a great time at Legoland, and we’re really glad we did it.  But, we were all wiped at the end of the trip.  The girls were wiped from all the excitement, and Rich and I were wiped from all the work it takes to take your kids to the Legoland Hotel.  You know how, in Disney parks, they put a lot of effort into making not just the kids’ experience great, but also the adults’ and the entire family’s experience fabulous?  Well, Legoland isn’t like that. It’s planned 100% around the kids, and they expect the parents to be on watch, on guard, and on duty at all times, no breaks, no nuthin’.  In the pool, you have to swim with any kid under 48” (or the kid has to wear a lifejacket) regardless of the kid’s swimming ability.  On the special, $20/20-minute s’mores adventure, a parent had to accompany each kid.  In the play areas, there were myriad signs emphasizing that parents had to supervise their children at all times.  The hotel does not offer a second of escape for weary parents, and their activities are designed in such a way that it increases the parents’ workload.  The park is no different, as many of the tamest rides required a parent to accompany the kids on the rides.  So, I have to admit, that aspect of Legoland was disappointing – there’s such an opportunity there to make the hotel and park a fabulous experience for everyone, but they choose to focus only on the kids.  I slept most of the way home in the car, and couldn’t wait to climb in bed that night after a crazy few days full of kid fun!