Legoland

Today was another fairly early morning as we are leaving Anaheim and headed for Carlsbad, which is about an hour south.  After debating the different options, we settled on Amtrak, figuring the kids will enjoy the chance to ride the train and the station is just a few miles from our hotel (the cab driver seemed a little crushed as with all the luggage I’m sure he figured he had a lock on $50 trip to the airport). The trains depart pretty much every hour, but Ang says the absolute earliest she is willing to go is the 8am, so I settle for that as it should still get us there in time to check into the hotel and make it to the park around 10am when it opens.

At this point, the kids still don’t know where we are going, so all the way to the hotel they keep asking questions and making guesses. There is a golf course across the road from where we are staying so we tell them this is my part of the vacation and that they get to carry my clubs and hunt down golf balls for the next few days which gets a less than enthusiastic reaction.  The desk clerk at the hotel finally spills the beans when she asks the kids if they are going to Legoland, and immediately the horde is worked up into a frenzy.

This time the hotel is right next to the park, so for the next two days we are able to just walk down a short path and right through the gate. We enter about 15 minutes after it opens and are surprised (pleasantly) by how empty it seems. As we make our way through the park, there isn’t a ride or attraction that we have to wait more than a couple of minutes for.  In just one day we are able to hit everything at least once and still have time for Nick to take a Mindstorm class while the other kids build and race Lego derby cars.  Joey finds a new roller coaster that take over top spot from the one at Disneyland and is already talking about going back tomorrow.

Overall, the kids have a blast as it is the perfect place for their age group. It closes earlier than the Disney parks, so by the time we get something to eat there is still plenty of opportunity to play at the pool before turning in for the night.

Day 2 at Legoland is much of the same.  Besides the rides, we play some mini golf, get tattoos for the kids and wander through the Lego cityscapes. There is an aquarium attrtaction that is new since we were here last and we spend a couple of hours going through it.  With the last few hours, we let the boys choose where they want to finish up and I am soon on my way with Joey to ride his favorite coaster 6 times in a row.  Nick and Sam go back to the derby cars and get into a battle royale with an older kid I dubbed "King of the Dojo".  Nick finally got his car tuned up enough to beat him which made him pretty proud.  They raced over and over until Nick lost, at which point the other kid decided he needed to leave (before he lost again I presume).

We’re back on the move again in the morning. The boys have overheard Mom arranging transportation so know that we are going to Seaworld, so there won’t be much surprise this time. They are very excited nonetheless as Seaworld was one of their favorites from our last trip.