With two children aged 4 years old and 20 months old,
finding a family friendly vacation spot (that won’t cost a month’s salary) can
be a challenge. Since we had an
opportunity, Monika and decided to take Angela to Legoland while leaving Jon
Connor home with our nanny. We were
lucky she was willing to stay all weekend while the rest of us got away. As we were packing up to leave, I felt really
guilty. Jon Connor seemed excited about
all the commotion of packing and was playing with the suitcases. Knowing we were leaving him home really got
to me. Logically looking at the
situation it made sense. Jon Connor
would get as much out of the experience as if I took him to an unfamiliar room
in the house and threw a bunch of legos on the floor. The potential downside of taking him would be
that it would limit our options. Nap
times would HAVE to be observed and this year… I think it would have just
diminished the experience for Angela.
There would be ways to mitigate the effects of taking Jon Connor with
us, but the easiest choice was to leave him home. I think for our next trip, he goes with
us. I loved my time with my girls, but
the vacation seemed to be lacking without the whole family there… even if it
was a little easier.
So… Legoland. Since
neither Monika nor I have much vacation time saved up, we decided to go over
the recent long weekend. This was not a
unique idea since it seemed like EVERYBODY in the southwest apparently had the
same idea. LA was crowded, but I kinda
think that is the norm there. Legoland
was very crowded. I know it was more
crowded than normal because I took the time to ask various staff members
throughout the weekend. It wasn’t THE
MOST CROWDED EVER!!!! But more crowded
than normal.
After researching options for the trip including package
deals, we went with a package from Get Away Today. Mid-level hotel close to the beach and close
to the park. The La Quinta is about what
you would expect from a La Quinta.
Service was good, rooms were clean and not too small, and it had a
surprisingly good continental breakfast.
The hotel was off the main drag, but you were only minutes away from
anything you would need. My overall
impression was the hotel was worth the money we spent to stay there.
My impressions of the Legoland park:
- Clean (surprisingly so)
- Very well manicured. In similar theme parks, things can look run down and old. I didn’t feel like that anywhere in Legoland.
- The park did a good job setting expectations for how long it would take to get through a line for a ride. Towards the end (beginning?) of any line, there was always a sign similar to “…30 minute wait from here…” I like these.
- They also did a really good job clearly communicating how big a child needed to be to ride each rides. I would hate to stand in line only to find out Angela was too small for something. Legoland has effectively addressed this potential problem.
- Older kids would probably be bored here, but for children younger than 12 there is a nice variety of rides appropriate for their level of courage. Couple bigger rides, but most were geared younger.
- The price of food and drinks was high, but this didn’t surprise me. I’m a little cheap and $3.50 for a bottle of water seemed high.
Legoland is billed as having three distinct
attractions. Legoland, The Water Park,
and The Aquarium. This is overstating
things a bit. The aquarium was pretty
sad. Having been to some nice ones over
the years, this aquarium seemed like an afterthought and they should be ashamed
for charging people to go in. We had the
park-hopper pass, so it was included for us, but had I paid I would have wanted
my money back.
The waterpark was great, but like most water parks, it just
has trouble handling the crowds when it gets busy. Lockers were a good deal (and necessary), but
getting one was awful. I think that may
have been the longest line I stood in while at Legoland. There also didn’t seem to be enough bathrooms
in the water park which makes me think most kids were just peeing in the
pool. Yech! Like the rest of Legoland, the water park had
a great variety of stuff geared towards all ages. Angela lit up when she saw the little kids
area. She ran around jumping and playing
with a huge smile on her face. Monika
and I just watched her play while trying to contain our big smiles.
Knottsberry farm was where we went last year. That trip was cheaper. We looked into Disney this year, but that was
REALLY expensive. Legoland kinda fit
right in the middle for us. And I feel
like it really “fits” right in the middle of the three. Disney is probably in our near future, but I
think we made the right choice this year.
The only negative for me was the behavior of many of the
children at the park. I realize that
kids get excited and sometimes that excitement takes the form of being a little
out of control… I try to overlook that.
I get that some kids are just “let loose” by the parents. But the ones that annoyed me were the ones
that were pushy and rude while their parents were STANDING RIGHT THERE! When your kid (bigger kid) hip-checks Angela
out of the way so they can see… and you don’t say anything; you have no right
to get on my case when I do say something.
But… this is a gripe I hear from every parent… so I will try to let it
go. It is obvious where many rude adults
get their behavior tendencies from… not being corrected as a child.
I know Angela had a good time, because she was close to
tears when it was time to leave. Like
any 4 year old, she had her moments over the weekend, but overall she was
great. The sheer joy in her eyes when
she saw something new and the unsolicited exclamations of “I LOVE YOU DADDY” or
“I LOVE YOU MOMMY” made the trip for us.
I am already looking forward to the next trip… but this time Jon Connor
with be with us!
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