Has anyone been to Legoland before? I'm considering taking my 5 year old for a little vacation. If we go, we'd probably stay in the Legoland hotel at least a few nights and then MAYBE going to another hotel off property but I'm wondering if I will need a rental car? Also how easy is it to navigate the area? Any other sightseeing things that would be fun for a 5 year old boy in the area?
Post by nancybotwin on Mar 14, 2015 21:18:57 GMT -5
We were there this summer w 4 year old DD. You'll definitely need a car - it's not near anything else. San Diego is about 45 min away, but there is a ton to do. The zoo and/or wild animal park, the beach...we had a great time and DD still talks about it regularly.
Post by alleinesein on Mar 15, 2015 1:32:34 GMT -5
You NEED a car. There is no bus service to Legoland; you would have to hop off at the stop next to GIA and then walk a few blocks to get there and that bus service is very limited and the route caters to commuters.
It is geared towards kids so its a good fit for a 5 year old.
Look into staying at the Grand Pacific Palisades resort. Its across the street from the Legoland parking lot and there is a pedestrian entrance so you dont have to trek up Armada to Legoland Dr. The Flower Fields are also in the area (the hotel overlooks them) and the Museum of Making Music is there as well (on Armada Dr.)
Downtown San Diego is about a 30 minute drive south. Do you know when you would be coming here? Traffic on the 5 southbound is impacted from June-September due to the fair and the racing season at Del Mar. Traffic gets really bad at certain times of the day so it helps to plan accordingly.
Escondido is about 20-30 minutes east of Cbad and that is where the Wild Animal Park is located (its about 20 miles if you take the short route; 30 miles if you take the freeway). It gets super hot out there in the summer and there is almost no shade in the main part of the park. Also out east is the town of Valley Center and Bates Nut Farm; its not fancy but they have different events year round and they have some goats that you can feed.
If you want to visit Legoland, the zoo and the WAP (wild animal park/safari park) you might want to consider getting the Go San Diego Card. zoo.sandiegozoo.org/tickets If you are a Costco Member you can purchase a 4 day GO SD card online. www.costco.com/Go-San-Diego-4-Day-E-Card-with-SeaWorld-.product.100096582.html The one you can purchase directly from the SDZS is a 3 day pass and the Costco one is only $0.99 more per ticket and gives you an extra day.
You could also go up to Anaheim for a few days if you want to visit Disneyland. Its about an hour north of Carlsbad.
Post by Shreddingbetty on Mar 21, 2015 20:45:42 GMT -5
We just got back from San Diego last Tuesday. We were in downtown San Diego since DH had a conference there. We had 3 full days there. We did Legoland one day. DD didn't want to go because she gets scared easily and her only reference was the city park rides in our town with little kiddie rides that she hated. Once we got there though she did get excited as she saw that not everything goes fast . She had a blast and wanted to go back. We did maybe 1/4 of the park from 1030-530. You can go to smartdestinations.com and build your own GO card too. We got one for one day of Legoland and one day of the San diego zoo. I think a second day of Legoland (bought with the first) is only like $20 so they really get the people that just do the one day. Heck, a full year membership was $250 or something like that. There is also the aquarium there (didn't do that since people here told me that Legoland by itself would be more than we could do in a day) and the water park. Ther is also Seaworld and Disneyland. We loved the San Diego zoo. We also did one day at the New Children's museum since it was a few blocks from our hotel and nice and mellow after 2 full days of being outside and walking a lot. She painted there and then spent 3 hours playing with clay! I heard the safari park is also awesome. If you go to the smart destinations website you can see what other things can be bought with the Go card just to get an idea. I would actually like to go back to San Diego as there are so many things to do and we were only there for a short time. DD has already said she wants to go back to Legoland and would like not to have to wait to long You definitely will need a car. We ended up having to pay for expensive parking at the hotel but I guess it was worth it and definitly needed!