First World Problem: Spending a month in SoCal, help me decide if I need Legoland APs

Jperiod

I am the rebel spy!
Joined
May 20, 2008
I seriously feel completely ridiculous asking this but I have no real life friends that would understand such a conundrum. Please help me decide!

Me and the 2 kids, DS12 and DD6, will be spending 4 weeks around carlsbad mid July-mid August. Two of those weeks will be at Grand Pacific Palisades across the street from Legoland. We have DLR APs and plan to drive up maybe once or twice a week. We'll hang out at a beach non-DLR days, but still have to drive to those as well.

I took DS12 to LL last when he was 8 and swore I wouldn't go back. But he LOVED it. We only went on 1 ride. All he wanted to do was play with legos. Even at 12, he still does legos and says he'd like to go back. We have a Lego Discovery Center here and he loves going, spending all day there.

DD6 hasn't been but she LOVES Lego friends and the discovery center here. She's the prime age and prefers mellow rides.

Costco has a $99 AP that includes the waterpark too. No parking or food discounts though. I could get a standard merlin AP for me at 199 and that includes parking, discounts, and admission to the discovery center here ($11 each time I go about 4 times a year). If I buy these this spring, I'd need to go to LL and activate them soon. We're going back to DLR in March and could swing by, but I'm not thrilled about a detour. I'm not sure if there will be any other cheap ticket or AP deals by summer.

We've never been to the waterpark there and that's a big appeal to me (my kids love those). Is there a separate entrance to it or do you have to walk all through the park? We've been to the sealife aquarium here and it's kinda lame. My kids would probably only run through it once. I've only gone to LL during the offseason, so I'm concerned about dealing with crowds.

Should I get us APs? Should I just get some of the BOGO tickets and just go 1 day? I don't think I'd even consider going if we were spending 2 weeks across the street and seeing it every day. I imagine my kids are gonna beg me to go at least once. But between DLR and the beach, I wonder if LL APs would be a waste and too much.
 
The Costco AP is a good deal. Last time we paid $90 for 3 day hoppers through Costco. You won't need the free parking since the Grand Pacific Palisades is so close, cross one street and you're at the Legoland parking lot.

You do have to walk through the park to the water park. My kids (3 and 6 at the time) really liked it. DS's favorite part was making a Chima boat to send down a water table. He was just saying he wants to go back the other day.
 
Wow if I was staying that close for 2 weeks I'd get a pass for me and I'm in my 50's.

Really if you spend $400 on passes for 3 of you even if you go twice they've almost paid for themselves plus parking and discounts. Plus you're covered for the Lego place at home.

When my DS was younger we went to SD every summer and had SeaWorld season passes. We live 27 hours away and still found it worthwhile for parking and discounts. I found with the passes we could go for a few hours and not be in a rush to see everything in a day. It was much more relaxing. We even went to Legoland for the day and stopped at SeaWorld on the way back to see the fireworks and the late orca show.
 
I'd be inclined to get APs if I was staying at GPP for that long. It's just so nice to be able to go LL for an hour or 2 that way. During that time of year, there will be extended hours and even without the waterpark, the splash area inside the regular park is a lot of fun for kids.
 


I took DS12 to LL last when he was 8 and swore I wouldn't go back. But he LOVED it. We only went on 1 ride. All he wanted to do was play with legos. Even at 12, he still does legos and says he'd like to go back.

If he loved it, knows what's there and still wants to go back, why would you not go there?

As for the BOGOs, though, if it's "buy one adult get one child" ticket, be aware that he might already be "adult" ticket age. I was reading one of the coupons we get from Lego magazine a couple months ago and it indicated that 12 is adult.
 
If he loved it, knows what's there and still wants to go back, why would you not go there?

I'm worried most about over doing it since we have DLR APs too, and worried about summer crowds. We almost never go during busy seasons. I'm afraid we're gonna go the first day and be discouraged by all the lines, people, and heat, and not want to go back. But I suppose even just the water park could be worth it.

Personally, I think Legoland is pretty boring compared to Disneyland and the rides are really underwhelming. :duck:
 
The benefit of having passes is you can go off times. Or you can go for the first hours in the morning and then head to the beach or Waterpark.
 


Two words that make the water park worth it: lazy river. My DH and DS9 would go back daily for that alone of they could!
 

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