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Our Surprise Trip to Legoland

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In November I was talking to a friend that said she got a great deal on a trip to California to take her family to Knott’s Berry Farms.  While I was excited for her family, I was felling a bit sad because we haven’t been on a family trip since my daughter was 3, and now she is 10.  I would save up money for one, and then we would end up having to use it for bills or something the broke in our house.  When my friend was talking about her trip, I couldn’t get going on vacation of my head.  For a few weeks I prayed to figure out how to go on a trip, I talk to my husband about it, and he said we could if we had the money.  I didn’t think it was going to happen.
At the beginning of December I received a check for some work I had done a few months back.  I was SO excited, but it still wasn’t enough.  So I got the idea of having our kids Christmas be small this year so we could go.  That hit the nail on the head and my husband was all in for the trip!!  We decided that we would go to Legoland!  Our kids are the perfect age for it, and they LOVE Legos right now.  So I looked around for good deals and the best deal I could find was through this awesome company Get Away Today Vacations.  The deal we got was a total of $725 for 5 tickets (buy one get one day free, 2 and under is free) to Legoland, and a 3 night hotel stay in a hotel suite with 2 Queen beds and a sofa bed and kitchen.  The Hotel was a Hilton Homewood Suites with a free breakfast and on week days free dinner!   It was perfect for our family.
We decided to go after my husband class was over on a Thursday.  I wish we wouldn’t have had to go on a weekend, it would have been even cheaper not having to pay for any dinner!  I packed the kids without them knowing while they played Legos in the play room.  We have a Chrysler Town and Country with Stow-and-Go so everything was hidden there and in the back.

On the 19th of December we woke the kids up at 6:00 am and told them to hurry and eat breakfast because we were going on an adventure for the day!  We also told them it might be a long drive and to get their pillows and blankets! They played along!  We were on the road with a new movie in tow and headed toward California!  The kids didn’t even ask questions until the movie was over and we were on the border of Cali and Nevada.

This is them wondering where in the world we were going.  We just kept telling them to trust us and know that it would be somewhere fun!

When we stopped for lunch in Baker they finally realized that we probably wouldn’t be going home since we had just driven 4 hours!  They were getting pretty frustrated by this point to know where we were going. They finally figured out we were in California, but they still had no clue where we were going!
And finally after driving 7 hours, this is where we let them out….The Beach!!  They were SO excited!!  It was their first time ever seeing the ocean!  They got out and ran up and down chasing each other with seaweed, finding shells and getting their feet wet.  I even joined them!  It was magical, and the sunset was GORGEOUS!

Then we called them together and told them were were in Carlsbad, and that we would be spending the next 2 day Legoland!  They were so excited (or confused was the look my 7 year old gave us)!

After hearing they news they screamed with excitement and ran toward the ocean!!  My two year old had no clue what was going on, but was loving every second of the excitement!

We got soaked so we decided to head to the hotel and get cleaned up so we could make it in time for dinner!  The hotel room was SO nice and clean!   My kids thought is was so cool that it had a kitchen.  We had a delicious dinner and then headed to Walmart to buy stuff for lunches!

The next morning we went and ate the excellent breakfast that the hotel provided and then we were off to Legoland.  They open and 10 and if you ever go on a Friday in December you will basically get front row parking.  We paid for the parking because the hotel shuttle times weren’t very convenient for when we wanted to be at the park.

On Friday we did half the park.  It was more of the little kids side, but my kids, 10 and under, all had a blast!  There were hardly any lines.  The longest we waited was five minutes!

They website said no food in the park, so we we ate in the parking lot.  I did see a lot of people with their own food inside the park.  They don’t check bags and they really aren’t picky!
The last 2 hours they were open we went to the Sea Life Aquarium.  It is attached to Legoland and only took us about an hour to go through!  It was good to change things up and relax a little more while the kids looked at all the fish!
They close at 5:00 on weekdays so we headed to Denny’s for dinner close by.
The next morning we decided to go the the beach early so we could get back to Legoland.
The kids had fun…the baby…not so much!
It was cold, but they played and had fun for about an hour!
We even got in a timed photo.  The only family photo of our whole trip!
Then we headed back and did the second half of Legoland.  It had a lot more rides for older kids.  The kids went on the roller coaster over and over again!

Besides rides, there were shows, 3D movies and all sorts of entertainment.  Little Mister and I went to a live show with firemen, while the older kids and daddy went to Cluch Power 3D movie!  I liked the live show better!

They close at 7 on Saturdays so we got to see the tree lighting ceremony.  It is totally made of Legos and was amazing!!

If you ever plan a trip to Legoland here are a few tips….
  • Don’t buy your tickets at the gate, buy them through a company like Get-away-today.  They are cheaper and lots of times they have deals for a second day.
  • You can do Legoland in a day if it isn’t busy, but doing it in 2 days makes it so you aren’t rushed.  If you only have one day, go on a weekday when it isn’t very busy.
  • December was a great time to go on this trip.  The weather was fine with just a jacket.   My kids were sad they missed out on the Waterworld.
  • Pack your own lunch.  Lunch in the park is expensive.
  • Check deals for the Legoland Hotel on weekdays.  My friends just went and got a great deal to stay in the hotel for one night!
  • Have a total blast.  Your kids will remember this forever!
This trip for us was just what we needed as a family.  We made such great memories and had a wonderful time!  The only problem is, I can’t wait to plan another family vacation. Where should we go next????

Comments

  1. I can’t remember if I commented on your family blog or not….if I did, sorry! 🙂
    It looks like you guys had a great time! I really want to try and do it sometime. We try and go in a little trip every year. It’s usually just for a night or two and someplace close. One year we just went up to Idaho falls. People thought we were crazy, but we had a blast just swimming at he hotel, eating out, and going to bear world. It’s nice to just get away from every day life and spend some relaxing time as a family. I’m glad you guys could make it work!

  2. Awesome family vacation; I am happy you got to go on this one. We did take very many vacations while raising our children due to financial concerns. If we had to do it over a gain; we would have taken more trips.
    Blessings!

  3. Loved reading all about your trip! Man, we need to take our kids there! That picture on the beach of your kids is one for your family room wall for sure!!!