I did a search across the forums but didn't find a topic on this.

 

My family is going to SD Legoland for the first time. We are staying at the hotel for one night. Of course every polybag I see has a free child ticket coupon on it. What is the best strategy for buying tickets? Anyone go recently and have any tips? Right now I am just planning on my wife and I each buying a ticket for one kid each using a coupon.

 

Any thoughts appreciated.

I am not an expert, but I did go to Legaland CA couple weeks ago.  I didn't go with that BOGO free coupon because that coupon is valid only for two of the three inside parks (Main park+Water park or Main Park+Sealife Aquarium) and is only valid for one day visit.   I think this is the cheapest route to get inside the park but also has the weakest option.  If one day visit is all you need, then I'd go for BOGO.

 

Since we took a trip to the park for 3 days, so we went with the online special promo where buy one ticket get 4 extra days free, but the BOGO coupon is not eligible for this online offer.  If you have kids that are under 3 yrs of age (or appear to be under), this is a very good option since kids under that age are free.  Water park admission fee is $5 for toddlers though.  As for parking, it's $15 per day.

 

As for the food/beverage, feel free to bring whatever you want to the park.  They said no outside food/beverage, but they won't check at all.  If you want to enjoy the food inside the park, I recommend Knight's Table BBQ after 5pm.  Kids meal are free with adult meal purchase, but only after 5pm.

 

Oh one thing worth mentioning is the wait time to get on the ride.  Some of the popular rides you may need to wait in line for over 60 minutes, like Sky Cruiser.  You might want to check the Legoland website for the attractions and plan ahead of time.  

 

Some of the attractions I liked:

Sky Cruiser

Miniland USA / Model Shop

Lego Movie Experience showroom

Wave Racer 

Chima 4D

Clutch Powers 4D

Chima Water Park

 

Good luck and have fun!

Be sure you read the terms of the coupons carefully - they can vary substantially. For example, if you buy online using the link legoland.com/legosah2014 , you can purchase park hopper tickets at the Buy One, Get One price at any of the parks. Some of the coupons work only on 1 park, no hopping. If you buy the 1-Day Legoland/Sea Life hopper ticket, you can either visit both the same day, or just focus on Legoland for the first day and come back another day (within 9 days of the first visit) and go to Sea Life. This is helpful for young kids. It does require a trip to Guest Services before you leave on the first day.

 

Also check out Mousesavers.com for more discount coupons.

 

If your kids plan to do the free minifigure trading with employees, bring your own minifigures so you don't waste time having to buy them there. Also plan for extra time at the park to do this. 

 

Get there early, it makes a HUGE difference. We went on the 4th of July but got there before opening. We were able to do multiple rides with little wait. The park officially opens at 10:00 a.m., but the turnstiles open at 9:00 a.m. and some of the rides open at 9:30 a.m. 

Thanks all for the tips. We ended up buying tickets for the buy one day, get an extra day free. Should give us complete flexibilty to hit up whatever. 

 

What sort of minifigs do the employees give out in the trades? My son of course doesn't want to give up any of his hundreds of figs, and wants us to go buy some before we go. :-)

Thanks all for the tips. We ended up buying tickets for the buy one day, get an extra day free. Should give us complete flexibilty to hit up whatever. 

 

What sort of minifigs do the employees give out in the trades? My son of course doesn't want to give up any of his hundreds of figs, and wants us to go buy some before we go. :-)

 

My daughter and I do this every time we're at Legoland.  The MC's (model citizens) are great.  Some of them have only one or two, but others have very elaborate set ups.

 

I've never seen them refuse a trade with a kid.  I always have a ton of crappy minifigs from my bulk lots that I have with us.  She trades them for whatever she thinks looks cool.  Lately, there have been a lot of Simpsons minifigs, but I've also seen other CMFs for trading as well.  Other times, it's figures that have been customized.  My daughter brought home a pretty cool looking king figure the other day.

 

I'd say make sure you have a good handful of figures there.  Of course, you can always embrace the trading aspect, and find a couple of figures to trade for, and then use those to trade again throughout the day.  It's a fun little activity.

 

There are also three or four trading stations around the park.  There's one by the dino coaster, another at the mini golf course, and there's sometimes someone standing in front of the Big Store.  Those locations usually have a minfig case with figures inside that you can trade for.  I think those stations allow for 2 or 3 trades at one time.  Check your map, because the stations are listed on there.