# Carlsbad plans, is Legoland for 2 days enough?



## Denise L (Jul 5, 2007)

I'm trying to plan our trip to Carlsbad Seapointe later this month with our two kids, ages 5 & 8. I was debating between buying the Legoland tickets through Costco (3-month passes, total $185.88 for 4) or through AAA (2 days, $167.50 for 4). Does anyone ever go to Legoland for more than 2 days? It would be $18.33 more to get the 3-month passes. We'd go non-consecutive days, probably Monday and Friday, and go to Sea World on Wednesday. The other days would be beach days, I think, though I am open to suggestions  .

Will it take an hour to drive from Carlsbad to Sea World? Is there a better time of day to leave Carlsbad and a better time of day to leave Sea World to return to Carlsbad?


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## chemteach (Jul 5, 2007)

Denise L said:


> I'm trying to plan our trip to Carlsbad Seapointe later this month with our two kids, ages 5 & 8. I was debating between buying the Legoland tickets through Costco (3-month passes, total $185.88 for 4) or through AAA (2 days, $167.50 for 4). Does anyone ever go to Legoland for more than 2 days? It would be $18.33 more to get the 3-month passes. We'd go non-consecutive days, probably Monday and Friday, and go to Sea World on Wednesday. The other days would be beach days, I think, though I am open to suggestions  .
> 
> Will it take an hour to drive from Carlsbad to Sea World? Is there a better time of day to leave Carlsbad and a better time of day to leave Sea World to return to Carlsbad?



Denise,
We go to Carlsbad each summer and find Legoland to be dreadfully crowded in the summer.  I'm actually planning to buy the 3 month pass this summer so that we can go for the first two hours of the day and then leave for midday and go back in for the last few hours.  The park is really crazy mid-day.  Last year, we waited in line for almost 2 hours  for a 2 minute ride.  It was pretty miserable. 

As for Seaworld - San Diego traffice seemed very unpredictable last year, but maybe some san Diego tugger will chime in.   It took us about an hour each way last year.  We left Carlsbad at around 9 am and stayed at the park until about 9 pm.

When are you at Seapointe?  We'll be at the Grand Pacific Palisades 7/28 for the week.


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## cr4909 (Jul 5, 2007)

chemteach said:


> Denise,
> The park is really crazy mid-day.  Last year, we waited in line for almost 2 hours  for a 2 minute ride.  It was pretty miserable.



Hmmm, I must say that I had a completely different experience when I went with my 3-year old two years ago.  This was on a Saturday in August and I didn't find it to be too crowded, certainly not anywhere near a 2-hour wait (what ride was that??).  I think the longest we waited was maybe 15 minutes.  Granted, we didn't go on that many rides because of his age, but still I didn't find the crowds bad at all (we left the park mid-afternoon, around 3:00 PM).

Five and Eight should be a good age for Legoland.  One day should be plenty, especially since you'll be staying nearby so you can get there when the park opens.  Of course, it looks like you're getting a good price on the 2-day deal, so you can certainly stick with that.  More than 2 days is definitely overkill.


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## chemteach (Jul 5, 2007)

cr4909 said:


> This was on a Saturday in August and I didn't find it to be too crowded, certainly not anywhere near a 2-hour wait (what ride was that??).  I think the longest we waited was maybe 15 minutes.



It was a ride where you pedaled along a tramrail above a large part of the park.  It was definitely not worth the wait...

We went the 1st full week of August last year.  Were you there at the end of the month?   I wish our day had been only 15 minute waits!!


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## glenn1000 (Jul 5, 2007)

Denise,

Two days in Legoland should be plenty. I couldn't imagine any more than that. I think it's a good time for you to go because Legoland is really for kids under 10. It was crowded when we went in the summer so maybe weekdays would be better than a weekend. When we stayed in Carlsbad we drove to Seaworld with much trouble. I think about an hour is right.


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## kewanee (Jul 5, 2007)

chemteach said:


> It was a ride where you pedaled along a tramrail above a large part of the park.  It was definitely not worth the wait...
> QUOTE]
> That ride is definitely the longest wait - it has a very poor 'throughput' or whatever the right word is.  Plus, make sure you check the height limit.  Lots of people ignore it, then when they get to the top, their kids can't go on!
> 
> Denise L - 2 days is more than enough, but for $18 it might be worth it to be able to go just during the morning or late evening hours over several days.  But then you would have to pay parking more times  .   We usually just go one day.  The other long wait is the one where the kids drive the cars along streets with stop signs, etc.  I would head straight to that first.


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## pedro47 (Jul 5, 2007)

glenn1000 said:


> Denise,
> 
> Two days in Legoland should be plenty. I couldn't imagine any more than that. I think it's a good time for you to go because Legoland is really for kids under 10. It was crowded when we went in the summer so maybe weekdays would be better than a weekend. When we stayed in Carlsbad we drove to Seaworld with much trouble. I think about an hour is right.



I agree Legoland is for children under the age of 10.  However, I thinks adults will enjoy the many things made out of Lego's like the area of all the U.S. Presidents, and the area where major U.S. and Inernational cities are in scale made from lego's.


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## cr4909 (Jul 5, 2007)

chemteach said:


> We went the 1st full week of August last year.  Were you there at the end of the month?   I wish our day had been only 15 minute waits!!



Ok, I looked at my RCI vacation history and it was actually mid June, not August that we went.  I guess the full summer rush hadn't started yet and it was quite hot that day (for Carlsbad, anyway) so perhaps that discouraged some daytrippers as well.  Still, I think Legoland would be very manageable in terms of crowds, especially if you do a weekday.


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## ricoba (Jul 5, 2007)

I've never been to Legoland and never plan to go, even though it's just down the road a bit.

When it first opened, my kids were the ideal age (under 10) and we just never got around to it.  Now that they are teens they have no desire to go.

But one recommendation I can make is Camp Snoopy inside Knott's Berry Farm.  It's also designed for younger children and Knott's also has lots of other rides for bigger kids too.


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## Cathyb (Jul 5, 2007)

Denise:  I live in Carlsbad -- Two days would be the maxiumum in the park altho earlier posters may not know that Legoland has added at least two more rides this past year -- trying to draw in a little older kid.
  Our grandkids at your kids' same age absolutely loved the ride where they drive cars around the track with red and green lights. Before they could drive, they had to take a driver's course and gets a license when they finish it.  The cars are not attached to anything, the kids have complete control (but they don't go very fast).


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## honeybunney (Jul 6, 2007)

We were in Legoland on 06/24/07, Sunday and didn't know it was Star Wars weekend there.  I think the longest line were kids waiting to have their pictures taken with Darth Vader.   We did it in one day, but I think two days is good if you want to cover every single ride and be more relaxed.  They have an area where kids can play like a playground, but with more bridges and slides.  On the day that we went, Legoland was open from 10:00am to 6:00pm.  That's why we missed some rides.  When we stayed there it closed relatively early for a theme park.  Check their website for hours.  Also, bring swimsuits for the kids.  There's a small waterpark for the kids to play in.  My kids were 4 and 6 yrs old.  They loved it and my mom loved the lego models.  I think kids who are at least 42" can ride majority of the rides there.


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## ava (Jul 6, 2007)

We were at Legoland 2 years ago July 4th and it wasn't bad at all. I was with 2 seven year olds and they loved it. I really enjoyed it myself. I was at Sea World yesterday, the day after the 4th. It was very crowded but we were still able to see everything. I actually think that one day at Legoland is enough. You can see pretty much eveything is that amount of time.


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## JohnnyO (Jul 6, 2007)

It may be worth it to get the 3 month pass and go at the least crowded times early and late.  You can go take a nap or go to the beach in between.  Get permission and park at the Grand Pacific Palisades and walk over.

The ride that is up in the sky that you pedal is called the Sky Cruiser.  For some reason the line is always long and has a slow turn around.

When it is crowded is when you may want to skip the rides and do other things like the water play area and mini land etc.

Here are some threads which talk about So Cal traffic, drive times, parks and activities and Legoland crowds.

Southern CA - which parks/activities

Legoland crowd/park updates

Carlsbad Information and Links


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## Denise L (Jul 14, 2007)

*Thanks, everyone!*

Great information, thanks for your help.

So I finally decided to buy the tickets through Costco. It was easier and they shipped the tickets right to our house. They arrived yesterday afternoon. We also just found out that the new SpongeBob lego sets are out yesterday afternoon, so I called our local LEGO store and put them on hold (we'll bring a set with us for the kids to play with at the resort). I sent DH to the store to get the sets, and lo and behold, the store is offering a free Child's annual pass with any $75 purchase  !

Needless to say, I was at Costco today returning the two Child's 3-month passes  . Lucky for me, Costco takes back nearly everything, and they even refunded the shipping. DH is back at the LEGO store today to get another pass  .

DH wanted to wait until we got to Legoland to buy the SpongeBob sets, but sometimes they are out of stock on LEGOS there, so I didn't want to take the chance. I'm glad he went to the store last night, because otherwise we would have kicked ourselves when we got back. We go to the LEGO store at least once a month, and the special is for July and August.

Anyhow, so our kids' passes are basically "free," since we were going to buy the LEGOs anyhow someday. Or, you can look at it like spending $150 to get passes that I would have spent at least $84 on anyhow, so no matter how you figure it, we came out ahead (okay, so we have a lot more LEGOs now, too).

I love LEGOs!


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## Denise L (Jul 14, 2007)

JohnnyO said:


> Get permission and park at the Grand Pacific Palisades and walk over.



How can I do this? Do I just ask the parking lot folks at GPP? 

I was also curious if anyone has Day Passes for this resort, I wanted to check it out. I've seen a lot of rentals there and it seems so convenient to the park, plus the pool area/water play area looks nice.  Any help would be great!


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## nightnurse613 (Jul 15, 2007)

Just got back from a short trip to Legoland.  We were there during the Star Wars event, too!  There are a couple of rides for older kids, my teenager went on something called (I think) the Dragon Claw.  It reminded me of the Octopus.  The Bionicles were a major attraction for my 8 year old nephew. The Hydronaut was kinda cool, too -in a grandmotherly sort of way!  There are a couple of roller coasters for older kids but, I would say, two days is more than enough.


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## rhonda (Jul 15, 2007)

Denise L said:


> How can I do this? Do I just ask the parking lot folks at GPP?


Introduce yourself to Jay Anderson the GM at Seapointe.  He was the Asst GM at Grand Pacific Palisades (yes, we miss him!) and I'm certain he will give you good advice.

(Please pass along my greetings!)


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## Denise L (Jul 16, 2007)

rhonda said:


> Introduce yourself to Jay Anderson the GM at Seapointe.  He was the Asst GM at Grand Pacific Palisades (yes, we miss him!) and I'm certain he will give you good advice.
> 
> (Please pass along my greetings!)



Thanks for the tip. I will be sure and look for him!


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## Ckwik (Jul 19, 2007)

*Legoland crowds fluctuate, depends on when exactly you go...*

Many of the schools near Legoland start the second week of August, so it gets less crowded then. Most of the summer camps send their kids on Fridays. The bigger rides are off to your right as you come in, so we always head that way first. You might try getting them to skip the water ride & teacup type ride, you can try those later since they can be reached from mini-land. Your kid's passes should get you free parking & food discounts. 
The Knights Tournament ride often has a very long wait, if your kids are too short to ride at least level 2, don't bother. Check the website, that ride is confusing.
2 days is plenty of time to enjoy without rushing.

Traffic down 5 to Sea World is possibly the worst around, especially if horse racing is still going on at Del Mar. If you leave after 8:30 it should be o.k. You might leave a little later, grab lunch at Jack-In-The-Box (exit Clairemont Drive), and then head into the park. They close at 10:00 right now with some cool stuff after 9pm

Have Fun!


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## TomCayman (Jul 19, 2007)

Am at Four Seasons Aviara right now, figured Legoland and Seaworld to be the busiest things to do, so did Legoland Monday, Seaworld Tuesday.

I'll be honest, I don't find these places remotely restful (and all I really want to do on vacation is relax), but my kids love 'em.

Arrive early in the morning at Legoland if staying in Carlsbad, but for Seaworld I waited until 9:30 to leave Carlsbad and the traffic was light on I5 (except around Del Mar), but was still there 45 minutes door to door.

Both places real busy, can only imagine what a nightmare on the weekends !

Went to Wild Animal Park yesterday, but it was VERY hot, so four hours was plenty... Gorilla enclosure was fantastic.

Highlight yesterday though was seeing Harry Potter V on the IMAX screen at Edwards Mira Mesa, complete with 3D for the climactic scenes.

Today ? Chilling out ... but tomorrow (takes a deep breath) San Diego Zoo.

As to Four Seasons Aviara, condos are gorgeous, meadows pool superb... but haven't used any of the hotel facilities. I actually enjoy cooking in (especially with kids around), so being from a (relatively) isolated Caribbean island, love the Trader Joes in Encinitas and cooking dinner in the condo, then relaxing by the fire and watching a DVD on the huge Sony flat screen TVs.


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## Denise L (Jul 19, 2007)

Thanks for the tips on traffic and crowds. I'm already needing a vacation *thinking* about the vacation crowds (and driving, and packing), and will need a vacation when I get home  .

We are going for the kids who are crazy about LEGOs, & I wanted to check out the resort  . My favorite place is Disneyland, but it doesn't look like I will get to go this trip  . Too many other things to do, and it's a good hour's drive from Carlsbad. 

We plan to visit Legoland, SeaWorld, friends in Poway, and the beaches. We will definitely leave late for SeaWorld, since there is no way my DH will be up early on any given day.  When we aren't at a park, we will be eating in and hopefully enjoying a view of something (train tracks  )?


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