Bins of legos so big you can climb into them. Dance parties in every elevator ride. Lego models all over the hotel and in the rooms. A separate kid bunk bed area in each room. A bar located right next to the kid play area. Why would you ever want to stay at any other hotel?

When researching this trip, I discovered that staying at the Legoland Hotel mid week was quite reasonable compared to the surrounding hotels. Add in that they were offering a free 2 day kids ticket to Legoland with Adult 2 day ticket bought, and you had a great deal for your stay during Legoland. The previous day we had been in Anaheim. We headed down to Legoland after the morning traffic had abated. We arrived at the hotel around 11:30 am, and went to check in and leave our bags. As luck would have it, the hotel was not at capacity and they were able to get us into a room right away. We were give our keys, a map, a guide to the hotel, Legoland Hotel and 1st time buttons, and a treasure hunt for the kids to complete. While we took care of checking in, our kids jumped in the lego bin, and started doing some creative play, while looking around wide eyed at all the cool lego models.

Who wouldn’t enjoying being in a giant bin of Legos?

The Room

We stayed in the Adventure themed room. As you enter, you see immediately how it’s geared toward families. Right inside is a kid nook. There is a bunk bed with a trundle underneath if needed. There is also a separate TV just for them. Available in the room is a bin of legos to play with and free juice and hot chocolate you can make in the Keurig. There is also a treasure chest with a lock. If you did the treasure hunt and found the code, you got to keep what was inside.

The kids loved having a section of the room that was all for themselves

For the adults, we had a king sized bed, with a TV up on the wall so we could watch something other than cartoon. There was coffee and bottled water, as well as spa toiletries in the bathroom. The bathroom had a nice huge shower, with the curved shower rod I love so much. Laughed when I first went to lift up the toilet seat. It had a baby toilet seat built in for those little ones still learning. The bed was super comfortable, and I had the best night of sleep out of the entire trip in the Legoland hotel.

The adults enjoyed the nice bathroom, toiletries, and coffee and water left for your use

The Treasure Hunt

All kids who stay in the hotel are given a treasure hunt every day. It requires you to go around the reception and restaurant, and pool areas of the hotel for your observations. How many lego palm tress are on the patio? How many lego flowerpots are at reception? How many mini figures are outside the Brick Family restaurant? Etc. Once you answer all the questions, you have a 4 digit code. This code opens the treasure chest in the room. And if you crack the code and open the chest, the treasure is yours! Don’t worry, the questions are fairly easy, and even my five year old solved it on her own. Inside were two sets with mini-figures and a little model. The kids had fun immediately dumping those legos on the floor and building. Guess I have to wear my shoes all the time even in a hotel room….

This little box guarded by the lego monkey and lock, contained a fun little Lego sets for each kid

The Mini Lounge and Castle Play Area

The Castle play area is exactly what you’d expect. It’s a huge indoor play area in the shape of a castle. There are Lego building areas within it, climbing structures, and general fun to be had. During the winter months, mid-week, the park shuts down at 5pm, but the kids are not quite out of energy yet. We took the kids both days we did Legoland to the play area afterwards. They ran around, built, played, and made new friends.

The castle play area was a favorite of all

However, Lego is a smart brand that appeals to both kids and adults. Right next to the play area was the Mini Lounge. The Mini Lounge is a bar, and all the seating is comfortable, cool, modern, and pointed at the play area, so you can have your drink and keep an eye on your kids. The bar offers a selection of wine, beers, and mixed drinks. They also have a coffee bar and selection of soft beverages, as well as some light food options. Bonus, if you are staying at the hotel, you can charge everything to your room. I highly recommend the Sangria.

The mini lounge was a favorite of the adults

Dance Parties

So one of the things everyone loves about the Legoland hotel is the dance party in the elevator. When you enter the elevator, it’s silent. When the door closes, the disco ball starts and dance music comes on until you get to your floor. We had a fantastic time dancing to “Everything is Awesome”, “Disco Fever”, and “YMCA” whenever we road the escalator. In addition the Legoland hotel has activities and building contests each night. We were there during the Dance Party night. They have a room with lights, and a Princess and Prince DJ come and play kid friendly dance music and dance with the kids. Both my kids love to dance, so we spent a long time at the dance party dancing to Taylor Swift, Pink, and other popular fun dance songs.

My daughter loved meeting and dancing with the DJ Princess

Breakfast

You stay includes breakfast at the Brick Family Restaurant in the morning. It’s an all you can eat buffet that has a lot of good options. There is the standard make your own omelet bar, as well as eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits with gravy, various potato options, etc. There is also cereal, yogurt, oatmeal and toppings, and smoothies as well. In the center is the kid station, which is lowered to kid height, allowing children to select there own food. There are a lot of kids friendly options such as eggs, tater tots, French toast and pancakes, etc. While I enjoyed the different flavored coffee options, the kids liked the milk dispenser that allowed them to choose regular or chocolate milk.

Early Admission

Staying at the Legoland hotel, you get to enter the park at 9:30, and a few rides are open to only you, including the Coastersaus, The Jungle Trek, and Fairy Brook ride. Due to the fact that we were in Legoland mid week during the winter, the longest lines we waited on were actually the early access rides. Since there were so few rides open early, and almost everyone in the park was Legoland hotel guests anyway, they all gravitated to the few rides open. I’m not sure it’s much of a benefit, but if you come in summer or a weekend, it could be nice to get in those rides early before the non-hotel staying crowds come to the park.

Got access to a few rides, but it didn’t turned out to be the advantage we expected

Our favorite accommodation the entire trip was the Legoland hotel by far. Everyone found something they loved about it. The kids loved playing with Legos, the food, and kid nook in the room. We even let them watch some TV while they were in bed (something they don’t have the ability to do at home). Mom and dad enjoyed all the food, loved the adult area of the room, and the comfy bed and amenities. Legoland knows how to make families happy and they certainly were the highlight of our trip. We are a hard core Lego family now.

Hard core Lego fans, Ninjago being their sub-brand of choice

Legoland Hotel

• Address: One Legoland Drive, Carlsbad CA 92008
• Costs: Generally the best discounts come when you book hotel and tickets together. Booking during the winter starts at $129 a person for one night and two day tickets (based on 2 adults and 2 children)

This has been a stop on our Great Southern California Adventure