Southern California Days 4-6

I can't say enough good things about the LegoLand Hotel.  We absolutely loved it!  It truly is the only way to do LegoLand!  Comparatively, I would guess it's the equivalent of a deluxe resort at Disney with it's theming (but I've never stayed at a deluxe so I can't be certain) but it certainly is fully committed to the Lego theme.  You know that scene in the Lego Movie where Emmett gets on the elevator and it has boring elevator music but once the doors close there is a disco ball and everyone dancing??  Yep, in the elevators at the hotel.  My kids loved it--especially Bree.  Every other elevator just seems boring now in comparison to that one.  The rooms were great as well.  We had an adventure themed room and it came with a king-sized bed and a kids' area which was separated from the adult area with a full-sized bath.  The kids area had bunk beds and a trundle on the bottom to sleep 3 kids and they had their own TV.  There were Lego figures all over the room, even including in the bathroom.  And of course the treasure chest with Legos in it got restocked every night you stayed.  On the main level were two restaurants and the main restaurant served a complimentary breakfast with the biggest breakfast buffet you could imagine.  If you want it for breakfast, it's there (right down to the make your own omeletes, pastries, fruit smoothies, and salmon if you really want).  My kids loved the fruit, pancakes, sausage, bacon, tater tots, chocolate milk, smoothies, juice, and french toast.  I just loved the variety.  On the second day the two youngest kids were happy with Fruit Loops and bacon.  There was just so much.  At night after the park closes the hotel comes alive with an evening show and a "swim in" movie at the pool.  I was disappointed we never got to see those or even make our way to the pool and we could have easily spent another night there just so we could have really enjoyed the hotel more.  There is also a room that is just a dance party--loud music and kids having fun.  Bree enjoyed a bit of that as well, as they were playing Taylor Swift's Shake it Off when she was walking by with her dad.  And finally, with your stay at the hotel you get early access to the rides in the park.  Since the park is just 10 feet out the breakfast room door we were there for park opening and were able to make our way quickly to some rides.  The first morning we weren't fully aware of where to go or what to do, so we stopped at the first ride we saw where they were letting resort guests in and stopping the rest of the population which was the Ninjago ride.  This ride reminded me so much of Disney.  They had the loading quickly down pat and the line was moving at a good pace with a lot to keep you entertained while you waited.  The wait went quickly and we enjoyed the ride and were reminded of the Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios.  My boys loved it.  Bree was not as impressed (it was just a little too "scary" for her).

On the way into the Ninjago ride we got to meet Kai.  Kai and Kai, quite fitting.
And don't you love Bree's outfit? She picked the accessories out herself.  She was ready for sun!  She got lots of compliments on her outfit, but unfortunately it turned out to not be needed.  It was a cloudy, overcast, cool, gray day.

Finn is still afraid of costumed-characters and opted to play on the Kai-spinners while his siblings met Kai.

In line for the Ninjago ride

Finn loves the green ninja!

After the Ninjago ride we tried to take some advice I had seen before we left on our trip that said to get to the back of the park fast and to head for The Dragon Ride.  So, that's what we did.  We walked past several fun looking rides and just kept on going to the Dragon.  The Dragon is the rollercoaster you see in all of the advertisements for Legoland.  It's a fun rollercoaster that seems like it's gotten some pointers from Disney as well.  Except it's a pretty short ride.  One big hill and some circles and you're done.  While the boys rode the ride with their dad, Bree rode these horses.  I could not get her to smile for a picture at all.  It turns out she was afraid of the horse because it was talking to her.  Oh dear.  I could not get her to ride anything else alone again!  

After getting off of the Dragon Ride we had some boys who were a little underwhelmed with the ride and the park in general, so I made them take me on the ride.  I cheered and screamed my way through it and loved it.  (I actually did love it)  By the end of riding the rollercoaster with me their attitudes had changed and I talked to them a bit about it being LEGO-land with some fun rides.  Once we had the expectations managed, we had a great day.

The scary talking horse!

I love Finn's "knight" face.

The longest line we waited in was for the Knight's Tournament, which only the boys could ride, so Bree had some fun building in a Lego building area.

Bree was happy to get on a ride her speed with her daddy.

Soo...I ended up getting a disability pass for Finn.  This can be a controversial move for some and I understand that.  Technically it wasn't a hot day and so standing in line was not an issue of dehydration.  But, there is still the issue of being stuck in small spaces with people who are potentially sick (but then again, that issue is everywhere) and there was the issue of Finn's bathroom needs.  His GI tract is still a mess and he has been having accidents in his pants for the last several months.  Finally, I feel that the kids miss out on some fun things (even on our vacation) because we spend so much time doing treatments and keeping Finn healthy.  So, for those reasons, we grabbed him a disability pass which allowed us to go to the exit of a ride and get a return time to come back and get right on without waiting.  We found out quickly, though, that most employees just put us right on the rides.  The first time we used the pass we expected to be told to come back in 45 minutes and were shocked and felt guilty when they put us right on.  So, we used the pass very, very sparingly.  In fact, we used it for only 4 rides the whole day.  This was one of those rides.  The wait was over an hour and there was just no way we could wait around for that, so the boys used the pass and got to enjoy the ride.  I still understand that to many this doesn't seem fair, and I get that.  But for us, there is so much that isn't fair.  To get a little help or benefit every once in a while is nice and we appreciate it.  So, thank you Legoland!

We walked through Miniland on our way to our next stops in the park.

We had lunch at the Garden Grill off of some blog recommendations and I'll admit to being disappointed in the food selection for the kids.  But we did find food for everyone (Finn got a salad?!) and then moved onto the last half of the park.  We had done the Pirate Shores area before lunch but avoided all rides that involved water because it was just a cold day.  I wish it had been warmer as we were carrying around towels and bathing suits in our backpacks so the kids could play in the splash areas, but we never got to use those.

This is another ride we used Finn's pass for (on the older cars for the boys the wait was quite long).  Bree was able to get on in about 20 minutes and she did great driving her car.  At the end of the ride, all of the kids got "Drivers' Liscenses".  It's a cute set-up.

Towards the end of the day all of my kids got eaten by this lion! 

Kai signed up in the morning for an afternoon Lego Robotics class.  His class was at 4:30 and he went with Reid, so Bree, Finn, and I went to play in a huge fort playarea and I got some apple fries and sat on a bench and called a friend who lived nearby to coordinate a get together.  When the class was over we had just a half a hour or so left in the park so we finished up the day with the cruise around Miniland.  It was a great end to a crazy, busy day.

After our day in the park, we were all worn out.  We went into our hotel room and I had to leave quickly to get to a pharmacy to pick up a prescription for Finn before it closed, so Reid ordered some CostCo pizza for me to pickup on the way.  After getting Finn's medication, Bree and I went to CostCo and while waiting outside in the line (the whole food court was outside!) for the pizza Bree feel asleep on my shoulder.  I was grateful I had thought ahead to put her in jammies and feed her just in case, as she feel asleep and was out for the night.  I got back to the hotel and had Reid come out to the car to help me carry everything in and then I just laid Bree right in the bed and we didn't hear from her all night long.  Thank goodness!

**One of the highlights for me of the whole trip was being able to go to my favorite/best mission companion's house after the kids went to bed that night.  She lives about 10 minutes from Legoland, and her husband is also a friend from the mission.  He was my zone leader for 6 months and she was the best companion ever for 3 months.  I wish that after the mission our lives would have taken us closer together because I love her and her husband.  They are amazing and it was so good to see them.  We visited for several hours that night.  Michael excused himself for bed around 11pm and Cari and I stayed up until 12:30 talking and reminiscing.  It made me tired for the next day but it was so worth it.  I wish I could go back and let our kids play together.  Maybe one day.**

When I made the reservations I had booked two nights at the hotel simply because I knew after a long day we would be too tired to go elsewhere.  But, the deal I got was "Kids Stay and Play Free" which meant we got two-day tickets.  When we left Colorado we weren't planning on using it, but we realized our kids loved it and we were never coming back and we had the tickets (which weren't any extra because of the deal--which was a great deal for tickets, btw.  We only paid $250 for our tickets for all 5 of us for the two days.  Gate prices are around $90/person/day.)   So, we decided to spend the next morning in the park and let the kids each pick a ride or two to do.  After hitting our favorite rides again, we took our time exploring Miniland (which we hadn't done the first day) and then stopped at the Big Shop on the way out.  It was a fast, fun morning. Overeall, we loved Legoland.  I do understand the mixed reviews as the rides are short, load slowly, lines build quickly, etc.  We were lucky to have the disability pass to help with that.  My other observation is that the height requirements are quite high for many rides.  Their bionicle ride is nothing more than a teacup ride and yet Bree was not tall enough to ride, even with an adult.  I really think they need to adjust their ride restraints and decrease those height requirements so that petite preschoolers like mine can more fully enjoy the park.  And I think they need to limit attendance at the park.  I do not feel that their current infrastructure is equipped to handle the crowds they are experiencing.  But....we loved it!  (The closest thing my kids have seen to a theme park in 5 years, though, is the North Pole.  So, our bar is very low.)

One more ride on the elevator

A quick shot of just how big this fort was (this isn't a great view at all, but I didn't get a picture) if you see it all the way to the end

All the kids got to build a boat and race it down.  It was a bit of a free-for-all and I was disappointed with the parents who were letting their kids grab boats right out of the water without checking to see whose boat it was.  So, basically kids would build boats and then put it at the top to race it down and they would say goodbye to their boat at the same time because before the boat would get to the bottom (or right as it got to the bottom) someone else would grab it and claim it as theirs.

On our way out.  That morning the boys chose Ninjago as their ride to repeat, and Bree chose Coastersaurus.  And since we finished those quickly, the early entry time wasn't up yet and so the boys ran over and did Coastersaurus as well, and Bree got another ride on Safari Trek.  And then we let the kids show Kai the large fort and they played for quite a while.

In the play area of the hotel

The entrance to the hotel

After leaving Legoland we headed to In 'N Out for lunch.  I'll be honest, I don't get the hype.  I'm sorry if that offends some.  Two of my kids don't eat burgers and so I had to go to McDonalds to get them a Happy Meal.  But it was lunch and we were ready to go.  Our hotel for the rest of our trip was on Mission Bay, 45 minutes away.  On our drive down we stopped at the San Diego Temple.  It was my first visit and it was absolutely beautiful.

After visiting the temple for 30 minutes or so, we drove to the nearby Children's Cove which is now inhabited by seals and sea lions.  It was so neat to see these wild animals up close.  Some were swimming in the ocean and others were resting on the rocks.  There were even a couple of babies.

After this stop we headed into downtown San Diego to visit the Mormon Battalion Museum.  I was pleasantly surprised here.  The kids loved the presentation and we learned a lot.  This is a definite must do when you are in San Diego.  It's free, it's fun, and it's educational.  It was a highlight for the kids.

One of the visiting boys put on the "uniform" of the battalion members

"Panning for gold" at the end of the tour

After our tour we headed to the Oldtown Mexican Cafe and Cantina.  It was a great dinner, with some really yummy Mexican food.  And the kids liked watching them make the fresh tortillas by hand while we waited for a table.  Finally, we were ready to head to our hotel.  We stayed at The Dana on Mission Bay.  It was a very nice hotel.  The room was a great size and fit us all nicely.  I was happy with our choice as I was most worried about this hotel.  I shouldn't have worried.

The next morning we were ready to face another cold and gloomy day and head to Sea World.  Have I mentioned the locals called the weather "June Gloom"?  I'd never heard of it before, but it seems to be a regular thing.  I had no idea that the weather in California would be colder than Colorado at this time of year.  We were quickly running out of warm clothing (we had been prepared for sun and heat).  

Waiting for the shuttle in the courtyard of the hotel

A beluga whale--Ferdinand

I'll admit that I have less to say about Sea World.  I am still torn on how I feel about it.  I remember loving it as a child and have wanted to go back for years.  The reality is that Sea World is struggling and as an adult, I could see it.  There were rides down that shouldn't have been.  Maintenance was definitely an issue.  The animal shows were still a lot of fun and the sea lion show is still fantastic.  There are many aquariums around the park and lots to learn about the animals of the sea, and I enjoyed that as well.  The problem here is the rides.  Is this an amusement park or an aquarium?  What is it?  I don't think Sea World even knows.  It's obvious they are trying to compete with Disney, but should they be?  I see some clear marketing issues with this park and some confusion as to what they truly want to be/are.  I think they are a fantastic upscale aquarium and should remain that way.  Which also means their ticket prices are way too high (think Disney prices), and they shouldn't be selling all day dining plans.  Really, folks?  Disney can do that because it's become a bit of a food mecca for food lovers (especially Disney World), but Sea World?  Nope.  It's your typical park food.  Anyway, I once again had to manage expectations with my roller coaster lover and convince him that we weren't there for the rides but to learn and see the animals.  Kai was an easy sell.  Finn, not so much.

Turtle reef was awesome!

I got the kids a mega bag of cotton candy to eat while we waited for the dolphin show.  We sat in the "splash zone" and did not get wet at all.  Finn was quite upset.  

The Sesame Street Bay of Play was fun for Bree.  There was a climbing structure that was just too much for her, but was great for the boys.  She enjoyed the smaller activities and the slower paced rides.

Our last show of the day was "Orca Encounter".  They have stopped the old Orca show in response to the backlash over Blackfish, but they have this new "encounter" that is meant to be more educational in nature.  The sound system was not working for our show and so we got a trainer talking about the animals and having them show us what they could do.  I'm not sure how that was any different than their earlier show.  But it was a lot of fun and I have to say, that I'm probably on the wrong side of this issue.  But I do believe that these people love these animals and take great care of them. And we can't just put them back out in the ocean.  Anyway, because Finn had not gotten wet at the dolphin show, he insisted on sitting down low in the splash zone for this show.  Kai and Reid sat farther up because they did not want to be soaked.  The rest of us got very, very wet.  We put Bree's sweater on her, and Kai's sweater on Finn, and that seemed to help in the cooler air as we raced around the park to get Finn the souvenir he wanted and then headed out to grab a shuttle back to our hotel. 

We finished off our night with dinner at Chili's and then treatments and off to bed.  It had been a very long six days and we were all utterly exhausted.

Our final 3 days coming soon....