The Parent’s Guide to Legoland written by a former employee, southern California resident, annual passholder and Lego-Mom!

My credentials:
You have come to the right place for Lego advise because I know Legoland inside and out! I worked at Legoland California for three summers in retail and attractions during high school/college and am now the mom of two Lego-loving kids. Over the years I have come up with “the plan.” What, you might ask, is ”the plan?” It is the perfect step-by-step guide of what to ride, eat and buy at Legoland and when to do it. If you follow “the plan” you will get the most bang for your buck at Legoland because you will find yourself spending more time on rides having fun and less time spending money and waiting in line!

(Here I am living the plan....notice how no one else is in this picture aside from Lego Man and Quin.  I know how to beat those crowds!)

“The Plan”

For starters:

Before I delve into “the plan” let’s start off with a few valuable pieces of information to make your day the best it can be and help you save money!

1.        Save Money on Tickets:

You can easily get everything done at Legoland in one day at a toddler-pace.  That is the beauty of Legoland.  The park is small enough that you don’t have to rush to get everything done, but is large enough to keep you busy for an entire day.  However, if you want to go to the Sea Life Aquarium (which is attached to Legoland) and Legoland Water Park as well, I would recommend an additional day.  The Sea Life Aquarium is pretty standard as far as aquariums go and my boys are usually done after an hour or two looking around.  On the other hand, you could spend all day at the water park.  I love the Legoland Water park because it is so toddler/preschooler friendly.  There are smaller slides and a large wading area for the younger swimmers.  However if you don’t want to fork out the extra money to pay for the water-park, no worries!  There is a huge “splash zone,” in Pirate Shores of the Legoland park.

This is a perfect spot to cool down and they even provide “family sized blow-driers” that you can step in to dry off.  There is no extra cost for this area, just don’t forget to bring your bathing suits!

2.       Save Money on Food:

There are a lot of dining options just outside of Legoland park that will feed your family for a lot less!  Just off of Palomar Airport Road (the main road leading to the hotel entrance) is a Costco.  You know what that means….Costco Food Court!  Lunch and dinner doesn’t get cheaper than $1.50 for a hot dog and soda or $11 for a huge pizza.  The food court is outside so don’t worry if you don’t have a membership, you can still get the food!  If you are looking for cheap gas, this Costco is also a great place to fill up! 
One more great aspect of this Costco is that they are often selling Legoland tickets.  The deals are better off season (not summer or major holidays).  Right now they have a 2-day pass for $79 (does not include parking).  However, when I looked at the end of February they had a 3-month pass for the same price, $89! Going to this Costco could prove worthwhile if you know you want to spend more than a day at Legoland.

Now back to food....If you are looking for a Southern California classic, eat at In-N-Out which is also really close to Legoland.  They serve the BEST burgers and fries!  Heading West on Palomar Airport road cross the five and take a right on Avenida Encinas and you will find it!

3.        Save money on Souvenirs:

If you are looking for some inexpensive Lego gear check out Kohls before your trip!  The carry lots of lego brand shirts in the boys department.  In fact I just got a Lego Star Wars shirt for my 4 year old for only $3!  Before buying any souvenirs at Legoland check out “The Big Store” located at the front of the park.  They often have a few bins of clearance items that you can save on. 

Currently, as you walk to the front of the park there are timeshare people close to the entrance.  Their promotion is that they will give you a $100 gift card on the spot for going to a timeshare presentation at a nearby hotel later that week.  My husband and I were hesitant, but agreed to try it out.  It was actually a great deal! We got the $100 for the day and then went to the Hilton hotel later that week for the presentation (it really was only 90 minutes!).  The best part was that they had childcare available so we were able to listen while our kids had fun playing and eating breakfast in the kid’s club!

4.        Save your Time

So here is the reality of Legoland: they have TONS of height requirements.  Don’t plan on being a single parent going with a toddler and a preschooler because you will literally be able to go on 4 rides together.  Seriously, 4 rides.  I know because I have done it.  Almost all the rides have a minimum height requirement and then on top of that, children almost always need to ride with an adult.  I highly recommend going with an adult for each child under 48 inches and vigilantly checking the height requirements on all rides before getting in line.  Warning: if you have a child under 34 inches, do not expect them to go on a lot of rides.  Plan on taking advantage of parent swaps on the rides you want to go on and embracing other aspects of Legoland, aside from the rides.

Now let’s move on to the big stuff……”The Plan”

1.        Usually the turnstiles to the park open at 9:00am but the rides don’t open until 10.  I HIGHLY recommend getting to the park by 9:30.  There are lots of great photo opportunities at the front of the park! 

      From “The Beginning” (the official name for the front of the park) you can go left towards Dino Island or right toward the Imagination Zone.  Go left towards Dino Island.  This will be difficult because there will be a big crowd of people waiting here while the other side will seem less crowded.  But trust me.  Go to the left! 

2.       As soon as they drop the chain to allow entry comes the next challenge.  You are going to power walk by the first few rides.  Coastersaurous (a small roller coaster) will be on your left and Safari Trek will be on your right.  DO NOT GO ON THESE RIDES FIRST.  They are always the most crowded the first few hours of the park opening.  The lines may not even look that long, but they really are!  Safari Trek in particular loads very slowly!  If there are more than 10 people in line, don’t go on because you will be waiting too long for a very short, and somewhat disappointing ride.  Wait to do these rides at the end of the day!

(The main reason my husband is smiling on the Safari trek ride is because he didn't wait an hour to ride like every one else did in the morning!)

3.       Continue walking and ignoring the carnival games in Dino Island as well as Duplo village.  Duplo Village will be hard to get your kids through without stopping because there are a lot of fun, interactive water games (Water Works) to explore as well as a huge Lego playground.  But be strong!  Continue on to Funtown.   I always keep my kids strapped in the stroller and don’t let them out until we get to the first ride….

4.       Skycruiser!  This is one of those really deceiving “the line doesn’t look that long” queues.  You will probably walk up to the front, notice some people in line and think “this will probably be 10 minutes tops!”  Stop right there and triple whatever number you thought in your head.  If it looks like 10 minutes, it is probably 30.  This ride is officially the slowest loading ride in all of Legoland.  However, you can’t pass it up because it gives you a great view of the entire park and your kids will be pointing at it all day saying “I want to ride the Lego car in the sky!”

  So do it first thing before the line is over an hour.  Luckily there is a Lego play area provided at this ride. 

Your kids can build Lego cars and test them out on some giant ramps while you wait in the frustratingly long line.  Beware of this ride, there is a 36 inch heigh requirement and small children need to ride with someone 48 inches or taller.

5.       After Skycruiser, head over to Junior Volvo Driving School (for kids 3-5) or Volvo Driving School (for kids 6-13).  This is my 4 year old son’s favorite ride.  He loves it because he is actually in control of the car. 

However, the bummer is that in our family he is the only one who can ride it, so everyone else has to wait while he rides it.  Because of this you will want to ride it early in the day before the line gets too long.  Usually if you get there in the first half hour of the park opening your child can ride it a couple of times without waiting more than 5 minutes. 

6.       After accomplishing these first two rides we usually ride the Kid Power Tower and Helicopters.  We will then head over to Duplo Play Town to run off a little energy on the play-structures and to ride the train which is tucked back towards the rear of the playground and can easily be missed.

7.       We then continue in a clockwise direction and hit the rides throughout the rest of the park.  From Funtown we go to Pirate Shores (mostly wet rides so we skip most of these if it is a cold day) and then up to Castle Hill.  I usually never buy food at theme parks because the food is almost always overpriced.  However there are a few food items worth mentioning (and purchasing)!

a.       The Garden’s Panini Sandwiches are delicious! Although a bit spendy (about $10) they are yummy, especially the Strawberry Chicken Panini!!!

b.      You must buy some of the Granny Smith Apple Fries. (Below our Granny is modeling this delicious treat)

                        These do not disappoint.  They are like apple-pie-to-go with whipped cream dipping sauce.

c.       During the summer Legoland has a promotion for a free kid’s kit (kids meal) the last hour the park is open.  My sister (who works in food and beverage) says that not many people know about this and it is a great deal if you can hold your kids off until the end of the day.  Saves you about $8 a kid! Typically this promotion starts mid-June.

8.        Castle Hill has a couple of great play areas for kids.  First is the “Hideaways” which is a huge outdoor play structure.  My favorite aspect about this play structure is that there is only one way in and one way out.  So if you plant yourself at the entrance/exit, you know your child won’t be able to sneak away!  The second great play area is between Granny Smith Fries and the course for the Royal Joust.  You will see a small covered area with a ton of legos available for your kids to play with.  Our family likes to stop here in the afternoon when things are hot because it is usually shaded and breezy.  The kids can play while Mom and Dad snack on the Granny Smith Fries.  Bliss. It seems like there are never more that 2 or 3 kids playing here and is a nice little hideaway. 

(above is my very own Lego creation made at Castle Hill Lego play area!)

9.       From Castle Hill either venture into Mini-Land for a break from the rides or down to the Imagination Zone for more ride action. 

10.   During the last hour of the day head back to Dino Island and enjoy the rides (without waiting in line)!  We usually end our day with a couple of rides on Fairy Tale Brook (one of the few rides that have no height requirement or line) or digging with the complimentary buckets and shovels at the “Dig Those Dinos” sandbox. 

Overall, Legoland is a wonderful amusement park, especially for families with young children.  I love that I can take my children on a few rides, then play at a playground or go build something with some legos.  There is a great balance of activities here for younger children that a parent can really appreciate.  The attention to detail is amazing and there is a wonderful feeling to the park itself.  It really is a great place to capture the imagination! 

Home Sweet Home

Things are finally starting to settle down in the Doty household and return to a routine.  Our prayers were answered and we found a rental home in Anaheim Hills!  We looked for months for a townhome/condo/apartment to rent.  We submitted many applications only to be denied because we had kids, or didn't act on the posting within the first hour or didn't put down a years worth of rent up front.  Needless to say, Bryce and I had low expectations for our home in the area because of the competitive rental market and high pricing for homes.  After months of this, I found a rental home in our price-range (yes, an actual home) on craigslist that looked promising and had Bryce look at the home after work that same day it was posted.  When Bryce went to look at the home there were a dozen other applicants and even a offer to the homeowner for a year's rent up front.  We submitted an application (even though I hadn't even seen the home), but honestly did not expect to get the house.  However, Heavenly Father was looking out for us and against all odds were were picked to rent our new home.  Hooray!  I know that we have been guided to our new home and that there are great things in store for us!

After 4 moves within a year I am happy to finally be settled!  The kids are happy to be reunited with all of their old toys:

 And are not so happy about all of the child-proofing that is going on in our new place.

However their favorite part of the house (by far) is the "racetrack" which curves around our house.  The kids spend hours riding their bikes and racing around it.  This is a big deal for us considering the fact that we didn't think we would even have a yard for the next few years!

 My favorite part of our new place is the kitchen!  I had resigned myself to having a nasty kitchen for a while because everything with nice kitchens in the area were way out of our price range.  On the day that we moved in (which was also the first time I saw the house) I almost cried because of this beautiful room!  It was more than I expected!  You will find me happily cooking and cleaning in this room most days!

 Over the last 6 months as we have gone through many ups and down's of finding work and a home I had this quote hanging on my mirror which always made me feel better:

"Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come." —Jeffrey R. Holland

I am grateful for our blessings and the good things that have arrived and are soon to come!

Tantrums and Tickles

Here is a running list of things that make my kids mad:
Dallin-
1.  Not having a sippy cup in his hands
2.  Being given water in his sippy cup
3.  Seeing other kids with sippy cups and not getting to drink from their sippy cups
4.  Only being given one sippy cup when he can see three.  He wants all three.
5.  Being put to bed without a sippy cup of water.  Below is a picture of Dallin sleeping (and although he wasn't exactly "put to bed") you can see there is a sippy cup by his foot.  This is the key to getting Dallin to sleep, and is also the only time his accepts water in his sippy cup without a fuss.....he's complicated.


















Quin-
1.  Having to wear his eye patch.  To the right is an image illustrating this one.  Quin in time-out for hitting after being told he must wear the eye patch.
2.  Being told to wipe his bottom more than once.  We will just leave it at that.

Things that make my kids happy:
Both boys:
1.  Fuzzy/Cuddley/Soft items.  These items include but are not limited to stuffed ewoks and fuzzy scarves you are trying to sell at your garage sale.

 Things that make Dallin happy:
1.  Getting his hair blow-dried.   Below is a picture of Dallin in an ultimate state of bliss as he get's the blow-drier turned on him.

2.  Pulling all of the cards, receipts and cash out of mommy's wallet and spreading it throughout the house.

3.  Giving his favorite snacks a ride on his monster truck.  It is a rare occurance to find this monster truck without some sort of food on the back.  As you can already tell, food and drink are very important to Dallin.

5.  Looking at his shoes and trying them on.  His current favorite pair is his red crocs.

Things that make Quin happy:

1.  Going to Legoland and riding the Dragon and the cars.  He also enjoys miniland where you can just walk around and see things like the Ewok village from Star Wars built in a bush.

2.  Digging.  Quin love digging in the dirt in Grandpa's yard (may you Rest in Peace Snowdrop flowers that Grandpa planted).  He also loves going to the beach and bringing his dump truck and excavator to help with his digging adventures.

3.  Watching this show on Netflix:

However, sometimes Mommy gets lucky and is able to convince Quin not to watch Godzilla and to watch Tinkerbell instead.  Our last showing of Tinkerbell inspired the building of this fairy-house.  We will let you know if we catch anything.  In fact I think we might be seeing Tinkerbell in the not to distant future.....

Dally Turns 2!

 Here are some highlights of Dallin's second birthday:

 Dally woke up to a room filled with balloons.  Usually when Dallin wakes up he wants to eat immediately.  However we were able to hold off his rumbly-tummy for a while with these little beauties.

Check out this dynamic duo.  I should entitle this picture "born to be wild". 

After breakfast we went to the Vista Sports Park to try out Dally's new trike.  This was Quin's favorite gift that Dally received as is illustrated in the background of the picture below:

Dallin loves to run.  And man he is fast!  He is officially at that "on-the-go-constantly" stage.  Since we have moved to Cali, Dallin literally spends 75% of his day outside (half of which is spent running).  He comes in for meals and to sleep.  But other than that he is usually outside or banging on the sliding door to go outside.  

 Next we had Dallin's favorite meal for dinner- spaghetti.  I think everyone enjoyed it!

 This was followed by gifts.  The biggest hit of the night was a Mickey Mouse from Nana.  Yes, I know he looks like he is going to eat Mickey in the picture, but in actuality he is screeching with joy.

We ended the day with a little strawberry shortcake (notice Quin gearing up to blow out the candles).  My boys love their strawberries, so this treat was a hit!

I love this little boy.  He isn't a baby anymore (I may or may not be tearing up a little bit....).  I am so proud of him.  He has gone through so much in his short little life and had so many great accomplishments despite these struggles he has had. He has such a joyful spirit about him.  I could just sit and watch this little guy all day.  He does the funniest things!  I'm so glad to have this little two-year old!

Happy Easter

Count Your Blessings

I feel like I have been doing a lot of moaning and groaning.  So I thought I should post on some of the good that has been going on lately.

 So I now have two boys with glasses.  And yes they look stinkin' adorable in them.  Wherever we go we are basically a parade.  As I walk by I usually hear people whispering on both sides of me "Look at those cute boys with glasses!" People stop and stare.  People smile and wave.  People call out "I love your glasses."  We should probably bring candy with us wherever we go and throw it to people as we walk by...

 The weather is awesome.  I have been outside with the boys more in the last 3 months than I had in the year before.  Last month we went to PETCO Park for the Padres Fan fest.  All three of the boys enjoyed running around the baseball field.

 For Valentines day we celebrated with heart-shaped lollipops, kisses and a fancy-shmansy dinner with the family cooked by Chef Kari and Chef Nana.  It was a lovely day!

 Although we don't have as much space, now that we are living with my parents, we have had to get creative.  For example, why not do storytime in Dallin's crib if the floor is overcrowded with toys? Cuddle-time has been at an all-time high.

 Did I already mention I love the weather?  Well, just to reinforce the point here are a few more pictures of our outdoor activities...

 Above Quin is making his "spider face" as he crawls through his web at the park.  We like to reenact the story "the Very Busy Spider" while at this park.  I will approach "spider Quin" as a cow, dog, cat, sheep, etc and try to tempt him away from his spider-web.   Can you tell we a have read the book a few times?

Quin has been working on a reward chart for good behavior and yesterday he finally filled it up.  He had been wanting a scooter for months so he finally got to pick one out at the store.  Dallin enjoyed giving it a whirl.  He worked hard for this one!

We are truly blessed!

Silly Dilly

Dallin is 21 months and busy, busy, busy!
1.  If Dallin is moving he is running.  I find that his run is the equivalent to my top speed power-walk.  He really likes to escape the aisle we are sitting on during Sacrament meeting and run at top speed toward Grandpa who sits on the stand.  Let me tell you, it is hard to catch him before he gets to the stairs when I am wearing heals!  I will probably have to retire to flats for a while.
2.  Dallin is not a fan of nursery.  As soon as I start approaching the door to the nursery room he starts crying.  Luckily one of the leaders is really sweet and holds Dallin 90%.  Dallin usually cries for a while and then retires to holding Bro. Esa in a death grip for the rest of the time.
3.  Dally must always wear his shoes.  As soon as he wakes up in the morning he will find his shoes (usually they aren't a match or even his), bring them to me, and sit down by me.  Sometimes he even brings a second pair in hopes that I will put them on over his first pair.  Then as soon as I lay him down for a nap or put him in his carseat, off the shoes will come.
4.  Unfortuneatly Dallin still hasn't grown out of the "throwing food" stage.  As soon as I set food in front of Dallin he starts throwing it on the ground.  He has been doing this for about a year and it is driving me nuts!  It doesn't matter how hungry he is, on the floor it goes!  Ugh!

5.  Dally loves chasing Uncle Bubba's chickens.  Uncle Bubba (Kyle) was able to convince my parents to get some chickens for the back yard.  The boys love them!  I thought Dallin would be afraid of them because they are pretty big and have scary looking feet.  However, Dallin laughs and giggles whenever they are around.  It is hilarious!  If I found myself sitting next to a chicken as large as I am, I don't think I would find it very funny.
6.  This kid sure can climb!  As I write Dallin is standing on the dining room table.  He has officially reached the "I can climb out of my crib, so I don't want to nap anymore" stage.  Don't worry though.  When we went through this with Quin at 12 months we discovered we could take out the spring-board-thingy out of the crib and just put the mattress on the floor of the crib.  Problem solved.....for now.....
7.  Dallin's favorite song is "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam."  I don't know what it is about that song, but it seems like all children are born with an innate desire to jump to that song.  We sing it for FHE every week and Dallin can be found jumping to the beat!

8.  In Dally's perfect world he would always have a sippy cup in each hand.  (Update: Dallin is now off the kitchen table and standing by the sink yelling and reaching for his sippy cup sitting by the sink).  If there is ever a sippy cup around, Dallin will scream until it is placed in his hands.  As a result, we have to hide sippy cups in a secret place.  Otherwise you will have a yelling Dallin until he is holding all three cups in his hands.
9.  Whenever Dally is rewarded with a full sippy cup.  He will find a pillow, lay it on the floor and plop down on it and enjoy his drink.  It is so cute!  He doesn't just want a drink.  He wants the experience of relaxation that comes with drinking.  Hilarious!
10.  Dallin's preferred state of being: naked.  Dallin is constantly trying to undress himself.  After much trial and error I have found he needs to be wearing a onsie and a shirt with a small neck hole or he will be naked in no time!  Silly boy!

We love our Dilly Dally