Adventure #3: Legoland, California

Adventure #3: Legoland

Book: Lego Minifigures Character Encyclopedia

Hotels: Legoland Hotel

Disney and my family had a date...one that we had to postpone for two years.  You see...my family and I were supposed to go to Disney World in February 2013, but I was diagnosed with leukemia just days before our trip.  So, we had to put it off, which we did - to that December.  Well, I had a relapse and we AGAIN had to postpone our trip!  So, we were thrilled to be finally going this summer.  My boys had been so sweet about postponing the trips.  Not one bit of a fuss.  So I really wanted to make this trip extra special for them since they were such sweethearts about it.

The boys are REALLY into legos right now.  By the look of things around our house, you could open a lego store. I truly mean that - we have legos EVERYWHERE.  I stepped on one about five minutes ago and have the indention in my heel still. We thought the boys were at the prime age for Legoland and since it's close to Disneyland, we thought to combine the two parks into the same trip. I have to say that I was super impressed - we never waited longer than 15 minutes for any of the rides at Legoland. Some of the rides even had little "lego pens" where your corralled kids can build their creations while the adults wait in line. Genius.

The park also has my favorite little theme park hidden gem - playgrounds.  Why wait in line for rides when your kiddos can just run around and play?  Within minutes Hank and Max were into a "dinosaur story show" with a group of new friends at the playground.  It was pretty awesome. Hank and Max came running over to tell us that they made new friends and were going to put on a show. 

We also fell in love with the mini-worlds in the park - models of San Francisco, Vegas, the various worlds in Star Wars - it was very chill and fun to check these out. You could just stand there and stare at the details all day.  Max really wanted to stop and smell the roses and check these out while Rich and Hank rode a scarier coaster that Max wasn't into.

The set from the live action part of the Lego Movie (the part with Will Ferrell and his son at the end) is at the park.  My boys really got into checking it out and were in there for quite awhile examining the construction.

Now this is where Legoland really rules.  Dance parties.  They're everywhere!  My boys are really into dance parties.  I mean, they REALLY love to dance!  There was a random dance party in the park and every night in the hotel, there is this amazing dance party, Jester Jam, where disco balls, flashing lights and loud Katy Perry music thump to the sound of kids singing and dancing as if their very lives depended on it.  

I MUST DANCE.  I was going to post pics of my boys dancing.  But I think I'm going to save that in my rehearsal dinner blackmail folder.  Actually, it was beyond cute how INTO it they were. 

Jester Jam. Oh yeah, some DJ is dressed like a jester.  Hence the name.  This hotel was really way better on so many levels than I thought it was going to be - the lego folks really put a lot of time and effort into every little detail. 

The lobby has a giant pirate ship, which my kids liked just as much as the theme park rides.  Swashbuckling seven-year-olds were everywhere. Every night there is a pajama dance party on the ship, complete with limbo sticks...and kid graffiti.

Each floor of the hotel has a different theme - this was a major dinner topic at our house leading up to the trip.  Well, really it was no contest - Indiana Jones won out.  Every room on that floor has an "Indiana Jones" type theme and they did a great job making it look like lego central in your room.  The kids even had a bunk bed and little lights on each level.

There is a treasure chest in your room and each day the kids get to unlock it to find a new treasure, which is a new lego mini set.  This is lovely, because while I was packing up our gear for the day the boys were putting together their new set and playing with it...pretty rad.

Yes, the hotel has a bar.  We didn't go, but I like the idea of it.  A giant lego bartender dude.

There is a great pool with a kids movie playing every night and you can even see the Pacific Ocean from the balconies facing the poolside. That was a nice little bonus...I am thrilled every time I can see the ocean.  That just never gets old.

Any day where you can raise your sword to the air with the ocean in the background, is a good day in my book.  You go, Hank!

We loved the hotel...the restaurant was a buffet style and it made it super easy to get in and out before going to the park in the morning. A princess and pirate were walking around chatting with the kids...but Max didn't want anything to do with the princess...he said her eyes were black and scary.  When I finally got to the root of it (trust me, I wanted to figure this one out), it turns out that he thought she was wearing too much makeup (which she was).  Good, Max.  Steer clear of gals wearing gobs of makeup.

So besides the scary eye makeup princess (she seemed sweet, quite frankly), this hotel was practically perfect.  Oh, the concierge saved us some money on the second day park pass, when we wanted to only visit the water park.  I'm not usually a water park gal (too many floating unknown objects for me), but I bit the bullet and went for the guys...and ended up loving it.  Lots of slides for little ones like Max and bigger slides for the older kids like Hank. So a perfect mix!  And nary a floating turd to be found. Yay for that!

Sweet cozy dreams after water park adventures.

To make our Legoland adventure complete, we read through some of our lego books.  We have a TON of books about legos. Tons.  But this one the boys can just sit and look at for hours.  To be quite honest, I love it, too. It's actually very soothing, reading an encyclopedia, but with pretty colors and little mini figure back stories.  

All of my lego knowledge will save my life one day.  I KNOW IT.  This book has a gazillion post-it notes sticking out of it from Hank and Max marking their favorite figurines.

If you have little ones who love legos, Legoland and the Legoland Hotel will be right up your alley. Oh, if you don't like kids, please don't bring your grumpy face around here.  (Thankfully, I didn't see any of that).  Go to Sandals or one of those kid free places.  Because this is all kid, all the time! (and everything is awesome!!!)

xoxoxo

Mary