An Adventure to Legoland California

Legoland California

Hello, Adventurers! Today, I'm talking about the rest of my trip to Legoland California! (If you missed my post on "The Lego Movie Experience," be sure to check it out HERE!)

You see, the last time I went to Legoland was over a decade ago - around the time the park first opened! I remember there was only a handful of rides in the park and it seeming more like a museum of lego models. Fast forward to today and there are substantially more rides! However, I didn't end up going on any big rides because the lines were way too long! All the interesting rides had wait times of at least an hour, which I just wasn't really up for. (As a sidenote, Legoland really needs to make the signs for wait times a lot bigger. You basically have to walk up to the end of the queue before you can see what the little number says so it'd be nice if you can just see the wait time from a distance.) The only ride my brother and I did end up on was the BIONICLE Blaster, Legoland's version of the spinning teacups, and that was only because the ride had a 10-minute wait.

MINILAND USA

Legoland - Painted Ladies in San Francisco

Aside from missing out on most of the rides, I did enjoy Miniland USA, an area of lego models of major US landmarks. It was my favorite part of Legoland when I went as a kid and it still remains one of my favorite attractions.

Legoland - Golden Gate Bridge

They have a mini San Francisco with the Golden Gate Bridge.

Legoland - Las Vegas

There's a mini version of the Las Vegas strip.

Legoland - Capitol Building

And a model Washington, D.C. as well as other major cities like New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans during Mardi Gras, and the New England area.

STAR WARS MINILAND

Legoland - Star Wars Miniland

One of my brother's favorite areas was Star Wars Miniland, where the Master Builders recreated scenes and planets from the Star Wars movies.

Legoland - Millennium Falcon

My favorite had to be the fallen AT-AT.

Legoland - AT-ATs

GRANNY'S APPLE FRIES

Granny's Apple Fries in Castle Hill

My family and I ate lunch at Costco (right outside the park) to save money, but we did splurge on Legoland's famous Granny's Apple Fries located in Castle Hill.

Granny's Apple Fries Price ($5.45)

These apple fries are made with Granny Smith apples, dusted with cinnamon sugar, and served with vanilla whipped cream.

Granny's Apple Fries

The tartness from the apples mixed with the batter and cinnamon sugar made it seem like we were eating a deconstructed apple pie, but without the thicker pie crust. I've never had anything like them before.

SEA LIFE AQUARIUM

Sea Life Aquarium

Our 1-Day Park Hopper tickets included admission to Legoland's Sea Life Aquarium - an attraction that wasn't there when Legoland opened years ago. (A quick Google search revealed that the Sea Life Aquarium opened in 2008.)

Lego Submarines

Inside, you see tanks of fish, sharks, jellyfish, stingrays, and other sea creatures with lego divers and submarines.

Lego Diver with Stingray

The entire aquarium takes about an hour to walk through and includes some interactive tide pools and trivia questions.

Lego Submarine with Shark and Stingray

I personally prefer the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, but it was interesting to see lego models in an aquarium.

Overall, Legoland California seems like a great place to bring kids. Most of the kids I saw were 12 and under and you could see they were having loads of fun! I wish Legoland would instigate some sort of Fast Pass program so the wait times don't seem as long for rides though. However, "The Lego Movie Experience" pretty much made the trip worthwhile for me so be sure to read about that part of my adventure!

The Pain of Stepping on Lego Bricks

For now, I leave you with this hilarious collage of a dad stepping on lego bricks - something most parents can relate to. Seriously, the Master Builders at Legoland have a great sense of humor.