Everything Was Awesome at the LEGOLAND Hotel!

Timing was uncanny as a few days before enjoying a stay at the Legoland Hotel, I received news that I was selected as a 2016 Legoland Blogger! I am excited to be writing this post to share with you and look forward to sharing more LEGO news as the year progresses!

The LEGOLAND Hotel opened on April 5, 2013.  It took us almost three years to finally get to stay here!

One of the amazing features of the LEGOLAND Resort is the sheer amount of figurines and LEGO sculptures that are really true works of art!

Behind the reception desk in the lobby there is an entire wall created out of 6,000 LEGO Minifigures!

Hotel Rooms:
There are three themes to choose from when you book your stay at the LEGOLAND Hotel: Kingdom (Knights and Castles),  Adventure (a la Indiana Jones), and Pirate.  We stayed in an Adventure Themed room.

The kids have their own separate area made up of a bunk bed (with a pull out trundle bed underneath) and TV. This easily sleeps three!

The adults have a separate King-size bed and their own TV to enjoy.

Hot and cold complimentary beverages are included with your stay and a refrigerator is provided in the room. Along with free WIFI, these were nice touches.

Found on the first floor in the ice/vending area was a microwave.  We didn't notice one on our floor. This is great for extended stays and warming up food brought in.

Pool Area:
Most San Diego days are perfect for the pool. A lifeguard is always on duty and floating bricks are available to play with in the water. There is also an outdoor walk-up counter to order food from the Cafe.  Cabanas can also be rented. On select days, a swim-in movie is shown as a bonus feature!

Photo by Legoland Resort

Hotel Dining:
Brick's Family Restaurant is open as early as 7:00 am and serves breakfast until 10:30 am.  The breakfast buffet is included in your stay. It opens again for dinner from 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm. The front desk person told us it would be $60 for the dinner buffet for a family of two adults and two children. (We opted to dine at Ruby's Diner in the nearby Carlsbad Premium Outlets.)  Themed character meet and greets are part of the dining experience. At breakfast time a minstrel was wandering around playing music and a balloon lady made the wait entertaining for the kids.  The buffet has a dedicated section for kids.  Perfect for their height and helping themselves!

If you would like to dine at Bricks as a non-hotel guest, adults cost $16.95 and kids are $9.95.  This is an AYCE buffet, complete with omelette station, standard breakfast fare (pancakes, french toast, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage),  biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit smoothies and parfaits, hot (oatmeal, grits) and cold cereals, an international station with smoked salmon, and a hot station that served sauteed veggies and mushrooms and much more.  All sorts of beverages are included as well.

Other options for dining at the hotel include Skyline Cafe, Mini's Lounge, and Room Service.

Early Ride Access:
As a hotel guest, exclusive early ride access to select rides and attractions are available to you for a half hour before the general public.  A valid admission ticket is required and kids are given a slap on wrist bracelet that indicates that they are hotel guests (and also serves as cool souvenir!).

Entertainment and Activities:
Each night there are interactive activities at the Castle Play area located in the hotel's main lobby.

The night we stayed, there were Hero Games at 6:00 pm, where the three floors were pitted against each other in friendly competitions. At 7:00 pm there was a LEGO Model building competition and at 8:00 pm, a Kids Pajama Party.

LEGOS are literally everywhere you look, right when you enter, in the Castle Play area and even in your room! You can use these to enter the Model competition.

With so much to do, the family can stay the whole day and night here at the hotel and be entertained without even going into the park!

LEGO Fun in the Hotel:
Once you check in, kids have the opportunity to explore the hotel via a scavenger hunt.  The answers to questions on the hunt provide the code to unlock the treasure waiting in the room.  This was a unique and memorable experience for my son! I loved seeing him work through the questions and unlock the treasure chest!

The elevator is another experience!

The LEGOLAND Hotel is a great place to immerse yourself in colorful, creative play. In an age where I find parents somewhat pressured to feel that they are not keeping up with the Joneses if their kids aren't in sports or martials arts or in music lessons, I find it refreshing that there's a place that actually promotes and welcomes unstructured play. I think that's why my son loves his LEGOs so much.

Staying at the LEGOLAND hotel is not cheap, but totally worth saving for. I made a reservation when rates were on sale.

Upcoming LEGO News
It was just recently announced this month that LEGOLAND was in the application approval process to build a second tower similar to their current hotel, 3 stories made up of 250 rooms/suites.  It is planned to be open by 2018 and themed rooms are yet undecided.  At its current hotel, a fourth theme, Friends Heartlake City, will be added to some rooms come April.

LEGO Movie 4D A New Adventure opens at LEGOLAND on February 6th, 2016.

NINJAGO The Ride is scheduled to open at LEGOLAND in Spring 2016.

Stay tuned for more LEGO blog posts from your new LEGOLAND Blogger!