LEGOLAND!

Five days four nights at the new April 2013 Legoland Hotel!

We checked in on Wednesday, followed directions and stopped for a quick lunch break in "beautiful Barstow"  after hours and hours of driving through the hot and not fun to look at Mojave Desert.

We stayed in an Adventure themed room, which happens to be on the third floor - which is great because every time the elevator door shuts, the disco ball comes on and it's a dance party!  Whoo!

The hotel is awesome, clean, new, fun and geared towards little people!  The food is good and wildly overpriced, but what would you expect?

The pirate ship in the main entrance of the hotel.  Also a castle and stage for nightly (or Knightly) entertainment.

Lego dudes on the back patio - facing the park entrance.

The Queen sized 'Adult area' of the room

The bathroom with Lego Adventure theme.

Lego Scorpion in the Bathroom

Lego Shower curtain.

Treasure box in the 'kids area.' Once you decode the combination (scavenger hunt in the hotel) you get treasures from the box! Lego guys and chocolate coins. 

Kids TV with Kids programming. There are also Lego Bricks to play with - but ours were pretty dirty, so we didn't play with them.

Adventure Bunks w/trundle

Lego Ice bucket.

Lego Beetle on the sliding bathroom door.

Adventure carpet.  SO FUN!!

The park was closed Wednesday, but the Aquarium was open - so that was our first Legoland stop after checking into our awesome room.

 

 

 

Our ONLY family photo the whole trip. LOOK at that Snow crab!!

Tide pools.

Looking at the sea stars and abalone.

And the crabs and sea cucumber.

HUGE lobster!

Lego undersea scuba guys with the sharks and rays.

Lego Sponge Bob.

We had Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the Park.  On Thursday, the park was EMPTY!  No kidding.  Never ONCE did we encounter a line.  From this we have decided that really you need at least two days to see the whole park, and get onto every ride (we still opted out of several rides...just because.)  And if you're going to do the water park, but another day in there for that as well.  Even then - I'd still have liked just some more time to LOOK at a few things.  The Lego Mini-Lands are amazing, I could watch and look at those for hours!!

Bubbles the talking dragon - watch out!  She squirts water!

 In the hotel, there are SEVERAL places to play with Lego's. So on Thursday, we got down to the lobby a little early and played until the Early Entry Park pass opened up.  Notice Ashton's wet head from playing with Bubbles.

Ashton with my S. Utah Delicate Arch.

Shane's helicopter

N.Q.'s design.

 The full sized Lego car.

 Nathan LOVED driving school and participated plenty of times.  He was SO cute.  He drove on the right side of the road.  Stopped at the stop signs, and looked both ways before driving again.  So darling.
Ashton also went to driving school, once, and loved it.  But then through a huge tantrum upon leaving as he was not ready to leave.  So we found other fun stuff for him to enjoy without fits.

 Nathan at the joust. Ashton wasn't quite old enough for this one, but he wasn't totally convinced he wanted to do it anyway.

 NQ at the Lion Throne.

 With Mini Luke Skywalker

 And mini Han Solo

 And mini Vadar.

 And, of course, Mini Yoda.

 They have ALL of the Star Wars Lands done up in Mini.  SO awesome. Many pieces move, make smoke or are animated in some way or another.

The boys also stopped by one of the many stores and made some of their very own Lego Guys to buy.  In the store there are body parts, leg parts, heads, hats/hair and tools to choose from.  Our little guys had a blast making their own little characters to play with. Aston carried one or two with him at ALL times.  Check his hands in the pictures - you probably see at least one little fist wrapped around a beloved guy. (Even at the ocean. And in bed.)

 Ashton at the Lion's head.  YES, the giraffe behind Ashton is made of Legos!

 At the Duplo play park, geared specifically for little kids.  Ashton was in his tiny element here.

 This train ride was probably his favorite.  He rode it at least five times on our trip.

 The electric boat were a favorite.  The kids actually get to steer the boats around a little maze. 

 Nathan did this ride at least twice all by himself, making him feel very big indeed.

There are plenty of splash areas and opportunities to get wet at Legoland.  We explored most of them. As others have mentioned and as I will too, the beauty of Legoland is that there are so many rides and activities where the kids control something about it!  There's a Lazar ride where you hit targets with a gun, there's the boats and cars that THEY drive, there are building activities, splashing activities, buttons to push, controllers to hold and so many places where the KIDS get to take control.  I LOVE this aspect of Legoland!

Also, there are kids play while parents wait in line areas.  This is brilliant.  However, we only stopped to play at them if we felt like it.  We Never had a line to wait in.  Seriously.  It was the best time to go.

 Also, there are opportunities to drench passerby's or people on ride with water cannons.  Nathan took heartily to this task.

 The test track was a favorite roller coaster for the two Big boys.  (Shane being one of those.)

 There's a family game place to play video games, and this place I despise.  The kids were thrilled to sit and play Lego themed video games, I will remember to totally skip over this place next time we go.

 NQ with Large Lego Vadar

 A full sized X-wing fighter made of over 5 million Legos.  Whoa.

 The Lego test track play area was much cooler, and I appreciate this spot.  Kids (and adults) make and race vehicles down a race track.  Then modify them to make them faster, straighter, etc.  We couldn't make it into here the first day because they had a school class in working.  We also totally missed the Hero Making room, because it was booked up with school kids.

 Back at the hotel, there was a meet and greet Lego Knight.

 The Rock singers.  They sing "We will We will Rock you!"

 Helicopters. 

 Skipper School

 Meet and Greet Lego Police guy at the park

I didn't get any pictures of the Water park at Legoland.  And that's a shame.  There is a toddler area for splashing.  There's a toddler lazy river and little kids water slides.  We went on a Saturday, and it was a little chilly when we got there (with a breeze blowing) There's a large lazy river that surrounds the whole water park, and a raft slide, two tube slides and one regular water slide.  There are beach chairs to sit on and even a sandy 'beach' area to sink your toes into.  The water park isn't fantastic, as water parks go, but it's a nice break from the regular park, and you can even access the super wet Pirate ride from the water park.  But - to hit the huge plash pad/play area that is in the regular park - you have to leave the water park and walk clear around to 'pirate land.' That was probably my one complaint.  I even took Ashton on the big Pirate ship ride, with the huge splash at the bottom, thinking I could be redirected right back to the Water Park, but alas no - we had to re-enter the regular park and walk back again to the water park entrance.  Ashton did NOT enjoy the ride, but didn't cry but did say, "I don't like this - DON'T DO IT AGAIN!"  When for most of time, he demanded, "Let's do it Again!!"  Otherwise, the water park is fun, and had it been later in the afternoon, we'd probably stayed a lot lot longer, but we did get a little chilly.  So we left for lunch (there's a Costco nearby) and then decided to hit the beach for a while.

The famous "granny's apple fries" on  Castle Hill.  They were not as wonderful as expected. And at almost $6 a container - I would never get them again.

More Star wars land

Ashton and I braving the seas.

Speaking of Seas.  Ah, the ocean!  And its sandy beaches!  And the salt water air!  And the coastal breeze wrapping you in its alluring magic!  My boys have saltwater in their veins!  All of them LOVED the ocean and beach.  Shane went out and lulled up and down in the wave ripples.  Nathan followed suit by trying to dive under the curls before getting crashed into.  Ashton ran up and down the surf splashing his little heart out!  We hit the beach twice and probably not for long enough.  We all enjoyed it immensely. I wished I taken pictures of the boys swimming and diving and playing in it, but I was keeping the 3 year old from drowning himself.  He really does have a knack for that.    

 Upon experiencing the beach for the first time, we walked by a couple (they were coming in our direction), the lady in a bikini.  Without warning and within very close quarters, Ashton looks right up at her and says, "Ooo!  I Love your belly!" In an innocent, complimentary and adorable way!  They just laughed and we just laughed. (Honestly, I would have guessed he would try to touch it.) By our next visit, he must've gotten used to the attire, because he didn't point out any other bellies that he saw on the beach. 

So there's our Legoland trip.  We loved it!  We'd do it again.  Is it pricey?  Yes.  Is it as pricey as Disneyland? No.  It was perfect for our little boys.  We enjoyed VERY much the hotel and its' proximity to the park.  We went back and forth a couple of times for dry clothes, or food or a little break from the action.  We also went straight from the park to the aquarium and back again to the water park.  It's all on the same property.  Ashton loved the Aquarium and the fishes and the buttons that he could push to make the Lego statues talk.  I certainly recommend it for a fun family vacation!!