Well where should I begin?

My 6 year old son got a "free" ticket to Legoland for completing 25 hours of reading at our local library and so we planned a trip to San Diego from Torrance today! (95 Miles)

Before purchasing my tickets on-line, I called Legoland to make sure that it was okay to purchase Mom and Dad's adult tickets via Internet. They said it was fine so I made the purchase, printed tickets and hit the road.

We read other reviews saying that 3 hours is enough time to get your fill and so we planned to arrive with around 3 hours of time. It was a Friday and they closed at 5pm + we expected there wouldn't be too many lines since most kids are in school now.

We got to the park at 2:00pm and went to get our ticket for my son at the customer service window. The attendant was a gloomy looking teenager and he told me that I "MUST" purchase an adult ticket from the booth for my child's free ticket to be valid. I told him I called earlier in the morning to see if it was okay to purchase on-line and had the green light. He said the phone operators denied speaking with me and was telling me I had to refund 1 of the on-line tickets for 40$ (I spent $50) then pay for a $60 dollar ticket. After wasting about 30 minutes, I finally spoke to his superior and we negotiated on me getting a "full" refund for 1 on-line ticket, then purchasing a $60 dollar ticket...

Not a great way to start my family's first Legoland experience. Add to that bad appetizer the consistent lack of teenager staff that didn't even attempt to hide their negative attitudes and we have a problem. The entire park is run by either rude/annoyed teenagers or rude/
annoyed senior citizens...no joke. Aside from literally a handful of nice staff that I can count on 1 hand, the rest were pathetic. I literally found myself having to distract my son from their negative vibes... I didn't spend all this money to have to put forth my FULL effort to have a good time with my family. It was quite irritating.

It is a shame because the park itself was actually fun because there were minimal lines for attractions. I would say about 50% of the rides were pretty weak... but not having to an hour+ to ride them made it worth it. I can't imagine coming on a busy day and having to wait over an hour for the rides they had.

The coolest things they had were the interactive playgrounds. (obstacle courses, playgrounds, structures etc) Also I enjoyed seeing the gigantic mini Lego cities in Miniland.

I think the park is great for kids, but beware parents, this is quite a test of patience to say the least.

I will not be returning to this Themepark, they need to stop hiring from the local high schools and get a better Human Resources Department.

They could take a lesson from Disney Land as far as Staff goes. Disney Land makes Legoland look really bad. :/

Namaste,
Dey

We were at Legoland Saturday, Sept 13th and were sorely disappointed with the park. The only reason I give this park 2 instead of 1 stars is because my four year old daughter did had some fun here. My husband and I, on the other hand had the worse time out of our week stay in Southern California. I agree wholeheartedly with the other reviewers:

1) Lines way too long. We got there 15 minutes before the park opened and waited almost that long to pay for parking. Only one booth was open. We also waited in line for over an hour to do a disappointing log ride. We could see that the ride would be disappointed and tried to talk our daughter into going on something else, but she was quiet content to wait. The length of the line would have only taken 15 minutes to go through at any other park. Also waited over an hour to ride theSKy Cruise. Another huge disappointment. We passed up several rides because the lines were just not worth it.

2) Food is insanely over priced. Not only is it expensive, you will again wait in long lines. I was third in line for the shrimp pasta and had to wait for 15 minutes before I got my plate. The shrimp was very over cooked.

3) Dirty and run down. The lego exhibits are neat, but they do have cobwebs all over them and many of the moving ones don't move anymore. Some of the same interaction things people complained about months/years ago, still were not working.

4) Terrible staff. They were rude, unfriendly and unhelpful. We waited for our coastal cruise boat to start moving while two of the staff members chit-chatted. Once they were done with their visit, we finally got moving.

5) Odd height requirements. Yes, we checked the requirements before we went so we knew there were several rides she couldn't get on. However, when we got there and saw the rides, they were ones she has ridden at other parks. It was hard to explain why this park would not let her ride the same thing she's already done.

6) Closing at 5 pm but still paying the same price as high season and still waiting in super long lines = not worth it!

We are doing a theme park whirlwind tour over the next couple of days. Today we went to Legoland, which was the first visit. I have no sense of the other parks so can't compare, but I can say that it was really good fun for the whole family.

My two girls (both under 10) enjoyed most rides, with the driving school being a favourite.

One of my girls is coeliac (wheat intolerant) and this was a real problem - despite the official website talking about plenty of options - the reality was they were hard to find. In the end we had to order a turkey sandwich with no bread. She was happy enough, but it would have been nice to have at least one real option (we tried three restaurant - so we may have missed one).

We arrived at 9:40, which meant we were about 10th family in one of the 6 or lines, which was plenty early enough. We were lucky in that it is the first week after school holidays, so the park seemed almost empty at first, and we did not line up for more than 10 minutes all day - the only ride that had a line was the sky cruiser (about 30 minutes wait).

I would definitely recommend going, but suspect the experience would not have been as positive during busier times.

Okay, it's not cheap. But neither is Disneyland, and this amusement park rubs shoulders with the best. It is most suited to pre-teens and younger, even toddlers have a place here. However, older siblings will still find many parts to enjoy, and dad will likely love the models and engineering/science aspect of the park. Attention to detail, as with lego sets, is phenomenal.

It's not far from two major cities in California... 45 minutes south of LA or 30 minutes north of San Diego (although the traffic in S.Cal can be unpredicable, to be kind). We stayed right in Carlsbad and enjoyed the gorgeous beaches while we were there, also enjoying the slightly cheaper room-rates. We commuted to the cities rather than the other way around.

There are long lineups in Legoland during spring/summer, Halloween & Christmas (and school breaks). If you can get there just before/after any holidays, holiday weekends, or when school starts, you will sail through everything.

You are not allowed to bring in food or drink, and the on-site food is both overpriced and not very good. So bring a cooler, get your hand stamped, and head back to the parking lot for a picnic. It will make your feet sore but your wallet happy. The hand stamp lets you re-enter the gates for the entire day.

We loved it here ... went back four times and Disneyland only once. It was a great place for our boys and we've been spreading the word.