Legoland with a 9 year old

[Anonymous]

Anyone been to legoland in Carlsbad CA? We are planning to take our son there as a Christmas gift. He will be 9 when we go. He loves legos, lego books, lego movies and lego characters, but I was wondering if anyone has been there and what you thought of the place if you went. Are the rides good for a 9 year old? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Th boy I babysit went for his 8 birthday and loved it!
He is going back for his 9 next month

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Th boy I babysit went for his 8 birthday and loved it!
He is going back for his 9 next month

Really? Thanks for the feedback. I was reading on yelp, and it seemed most reviews were pretty positive, but a few had me worried.

[Anonymous]

It's pretty small and the rides were short and had long lines. It was ok, but now having been to Disneyland, I can see how Disney just does the whole theme park much better.

However, for a lego fan, it would probably be worth it. Try to get your hands on a Lego club magazine so you can get the free child's ticket with a paying adult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty small and the rides were short and had long lines. It was ok, but now having been to Disneyland, I can see how Disney just does the whole theme park much better.

However, for a lego fan, it would probably be worth it. Try to get your hands on a Lego club magazine so you can get the free child's ticket with a paying adult.

Again, thanks for the feedback! We have a subscription to the Lego club magazines, which is where I got the idea after seeing the free child's ticket. DS went to disney world in Florida already and loved it there and wants to go back. He has also been to Hershey park and a few other places. He has asked about Legoland, but he doesn't know that we are planning the trip yet. I'm hoping that since it will be winter and during the school year the lines won't be too long.

[Anonymous]

I've been to Legoland, FL not in the west. My kid loved it. And he mostly loved playing with Legos in one of the rooms. But I thought it was way overpriced for what you got. Small, not many rides, just a couple venues for shows. No roving acts. Saw puke on the ground twice in one day. Not as clean as other parks.

So if you are going to go just for the Legos than you will be happy, if you compare it to what you could have spent to go to Busch Gardens or other major amusement parks then you might feel you wasted your money. I know we will never go back, just not worth it for the money. (I was referring to FL, but I expect they are all similar.)

[Anonymous]

I think your son will likely be "border line" of being too old for Legoland. We used to live very close to Legoland and it frustrated me that it had such a limited age range--their height restrictions on fairly tame rides make it so the average 2 or 3 year old is too short to ride most things, yet the rides are so tame that many kids over the age of 8 will be bored.

If your son is REALLY into legos he might enjoy seeing the lego displays they have more than the actual rides. They had a huge area with lego models of major cities that was actually pretty impressive, even to me as an adult. Still, I'm not sure I'd pay such a high ticket price just to see the lego displays.

[Anonymous]

We went last summer with a 4 year old and 7 year old and they both LOVED it. Not too young at all.

[Anonymous]

We go during winter when there aren't any lines and it is great. The lines are too long in the summer for the quality of the rides. Keep in mind that they aren't open every day in the winter. I think they close tues through thurs., so check online.

[Anonymous]

If you are going to the San Diego legoland, make time to go to the Midway Airplane carrier. My son loved it.

[Anonymous]

My boys are lego fanatics and loved it. They were 6 and 8 the last time we went, and at 9 it would be great. My only comment is that one day is enough. We went two days running once and we were bored and exhausted the 2nd day. It's a manageable size, which I like, but one day is enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think your son will likely be "border line" of being too old for Legoland. We used to live very close to Legoland and it frustrated me that it had such a limited age range--their height restrictions on fairly tame rides make it so the average 2 or 3 year old is too short to ride most things, yet the rides are so tame that many kids over the age of 8 will be bored.

If your son is REALLY into legos he might enjoy seeing the lego displays they have more than the actual rides. They had a huge area with lego models of major cities that was actually pretty impressive, even to me as an adult. Still, I'm not sure I'd pay such a high ticket price just to see the lego displays.

Totally agree! A 32" limit on a tiny ride that did nothing but go slowly in a circle? My 2 year old wasn't able to do any rides. We all did enjoy seeing the cities are out of Legos.

[Anonymous]

It's worth going to only once. We took my son when he was 6 and he loved it. BUT, the lines are very long, as PPs have said, and there are not very many. I felt like I was mainly paying to look at all the awesome Lego creations.
Agree that Disney does it right, 100%. Too bad Lego didn't follow Disney's way of doing business.
Also, went in January, off season, and the lines were still long.

[Anonymous]

We went to LL San Diego in June, and the lines weren't bad (especially if Disney is your reference point). My almost 6yo who is obsessed with Legos loved it, and has asked to go again. They had the set from the Lego movie (the basement); we probably spent an hour just looking at that. If your 9yo really loves Legos I think it would be worth it to go once, but the rides are generally tamer than those at Disney. The free child's ticket is a good deal, and they also have 2nd day free specials.