by Alanna Peters
The first time I ever went to Legoland, Samantha was about 3 months old. I knew we wouldn’t be buying passes anytime soon but, since I was fortunate enough to use a friend’s guest pass, it was a great opportunity for me to see what Legoland was all about. Even after that visit though, I really had no idea at what age it would start being fun for her. We ended up going back again on another guest pass when she was somewhere around 15 months old. That was it, guys. We ended up staying all day long and absolutely loved it! She could only go on a couple of rides but, between those rides, the play areas and the water park, we had a blast. I took her occasionally over the next couple years, whenever friends had guest passes to share with us. I think a pass would have been a great purchase at that age but sadly it wasn’t in our budget yet.
Then I had a second baby. Again, I figured we would eventually get Legoland passes but I still had no idea when since I was still in the fog of adjusting to life with two kids. We tried it again when Katrina was a newborn. That’s when things really got tricky! Samantha wasn’t big enough to go on many rides by herself and I couldn’t go on them with her because I had an infant that couldn’t ride. I ended up sitting in the middle of the Land of Adventure area while Samantha rode the same two rides over and over again, all by herself. (Of course she didn’t mind…but it wasn’t fun for me and didn’t seem worth the money. And that only worked out for us because it wasn’t a busy day at the park.) The water park was definitely the highlight of that trip. Again, I couldn’t go on any slides with her and she couldn’t swim on her own, but the wading area was perfect for her to splash and play in while I wore Katrina in a wrap. It was still very stressful for me though since I wasn’t fully free to dive after Samantha in the case an emergency should happen. I decided it still wasn’t the time for us to get passes.
A year later, Samantha was turning 5 and Katrina was about 15 months old. I had a feeling this would be our year! We ended up buying Samantha (and me) passes for her 5th birthday and it has been WELL worth the money. We used the monthly pay option which is AWESOME, so we paid the down payment and were then able to split up the cost of the pass on a monthly basis. It has worked great for us, being on a limited budget!
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So, what do we do at LEGOLAND?
My kids are pretty tall and, at age 5, Samantha was definitely tall enough to go on several rides by herself. Katrina was also big enough to go on a few rides too! And of course, the water park was a huge hit for everyone all summer long.
Samantha is now tall enough to ride most of the rides at Legoland. Unfortunately, Katrina can’t ride all of those rides or, if she can, we would need an additional adult (or taller friend) in order to ride with us. It’s great when we have Daddy with us so we have one adult per kid, or at least one adult to stay with Katrina while the other goes with Samantha on a ride. Now that Katrina has hit the 36″ mark she is able to ride more rides, but we still have the limitation of sticking to rides that allow two kids per adult. Once Samantha hits 48″ she will be able to ride most rides on her own so our world of ride options will grow exponentially!
There are still plenty of things for us to do in the meantime though. Here are some of our favorite attractions that we visit on a regular basis when it’s just me and the girls. We still regularly ride the all ages rides, and keep adding more as the girls get taller! We tend to start at the Explorer Island side of the park and move around clockwise. The attractions for the smaller kids are concentrated on this side, and as you get around to the other side you find more and more rides for bigger kids. There are definitely attractions for all ages spread throughout the park though!
All Ages (No height restriction to ride with an adult):
Fairy Tale Brook
Coast Cruise
Cargo Ace (Must be able to walk)
Mia’s Riding Camp Carousel
Preschool (36″+ can ride alone):
Beetle Bounce
Dune Raiders
Cargo Ace
Royal Joust
Our Favorite 34″+ Rides That Require One Adult (or Bigger Sibling) Per Child:
Safari Trek
Coastersaurus
My girls also love the play areas. Not only are there no size restrictions, but there are also no lines. Win/win!
1) The DUPLO Playtown is a big hit with the little ones. It’s the first play area we get to so we often stop there for quite a while. It happens to be right next door to Heartlake City (mentioned below).
2) There is also the Dig Those Dinos area in Explorer Island for digging fossils…if you don’t mind sand. (Not my jam.)
3) Now that Samantha is a little bigger, she loves the Hideaway at Castle Hill. (Katrina and I love climbing on the wooden bridges and going through tunnels, too!)
4) Our other favorite is the Pharaoh’s Revenge in the Land of Adventure. The little kids love loading the cannons with foam balls and the big kids love blasting them while climbing through the play structure.
On warm days there are also splash play areas. And let’s not forget about the shows! I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve sat through the LEGO Friends show at Heartlake City. “Best friends forever, forever and ever…” anyone with me?!
We also love the SeaLife Aquarium for quick morning visits when I’m not in the mood for walking around the entire park, but I want to take the kids out for something fun. We usually breeze through it pretty quickly so I can get on with my day, but the kids feel satisfied that we got our adventure for the day.
There are SO many other attractions than what are listed here – these are just our personal favorites! Check out the Legoland website for a full list of activities. I guarantee you’ll find something that your toddler (or big kid!) is interested in!
So to answer my initial question, at what age do I recommend buying a pass (or even making a one-time visit!)? It really depends on your budget and what you are hoping to get out of it, but I would say somewhere between 15 months and 2 years old is a great time for a first visit. If you live close enough to visit often a pass is great because you can go play for an hour or two and not feel like you aren’t getting your money’s worth. We’ve had our full-day Legoland marathons but I honestly love our quick end-of-the-day one-hour visits even more.
We are super excited to check out the new NINJAGO World, which opens on May 5th. And don’t even get me started on the Legoland Waterpark. I cannot WAIT for some warm summer weather! I’ll save our waterpark adventures for another post. Stay tuned, friends!
I am a LEGOLAND blogger. I received complimentary admission in exchange for my honest opinion.