Legoland tips?

[sadie427]

Hi all--We're planning a short trip to Legoland when we're in SoCal in November w/ DS1 (6yo) and DS2 (9mo at that time) Some questions:

-Recommended lodging, preferably a decent but reasonably priced suite w/a decent pool--looking at the West Inn and Suites which is a bit over $150/night, I wonder if we can do better.
-Anyone go to the Aquarium that's near legoland, is it a good aquarium?
-I'm assuming two days at legoland, or a day and a half w/ the other half day being at the pool or beach, would be good? Can a six year old see most of the park in one day, or is it too big?
-How's the food at legoland, is it horribly overpriced and bad, or is it decent? It's generally better to bring your own food to those kind of places, I know, but if that seems like a hassle will we be ok eating at Legoland and not having to carry a bunch of food w/ all the baby's gear?
-Good restaurants nearby for dinner?

Thanks!

[StantonHyde]

We say Legoland and the Aquarium in a day but it was raining so it was very empty. I still think you can do it in a day. The aquarium was a nice diversion--but SeaWorld was better. We stayed in the Homewood Suites (or something like that owned by Hilton) near the San Diego airport. We went to SeaWorld one day and Legoland the next. It worked very well (kids were almost 4 and 6.5)

[Zansu]

We stayed at the Homewood Suites close to LL (Which is actually close to the Palomar Airport)when we went, but we've also stayed at the HS by the San Diego Airport. Both are nice properties with pools. The one by SAN is in a nicer location, but it's about 20-30 minutes from LL.

HS is good b/c it offers breakfast every day, and a basic dinner on weeknights (spaghetti, burgers, etc).

Aquarium wasn't open when we were there.

We went to LL for 1.5 days, which was great. DS1 got to spend tons of time building and racing Lego cars, DS2 got to go on all of the easy rides, and they both got to spend lots of time driving the cars.

Food was ok. We had Italian. They had POG to drink (a "juice" mix) which made me very happy. I don't think it was as bad as Disney, but it was typical pricey park food.

There's not much nearby. If you drive a little, you'll find everything. We went to PF Chang's so that the vegetarians could have more options. Also went to Soup Plantation. If you stay at HS by SAN, there are more options.

[Tondi G]

We just went to Legoland a few weeks ago (for the 2nd time). My boys ages 4 and 8 love it!

I've heard good things about the West Inn and Suites and if we stayed up in Carlsbad would probably stay there! If you are a AAA member you can get a better price than their standard rate on the website!!!

I have read that the Sheraton adjacent to Legoland is nice too... and they have a private entrance into the park from the hotel!

We ate at Legoland and it was quite good. 1st time we had pizza and pasta ... decent. This last time we went to the sport cafe (close to the test track rollercoaster) and it was good. I had a nice sandwich, the boys had chicken strips and DH had fish and chips (he liked them and he is picky). It was a nice place to sit down in the A/C (they had a lego play area inside for the kids to play while they waited for their food and while we were waiting for the bill), it was HOT while we were there. The prices aren't cheap but not too bad since the food was actually good.

We didn't go to the Aquarium since we had 2 days at Sea World but some friends have been and said it was great (but smaller which is good, I think)!

For dinner near by .... I got recs for a pizza place called Pizza Port. If you want mexican go to Fidel's Norte ~3003 Carlsbad Boulevard, Carlsbad, (760) 729 0903.

check out the forum and info on Trip Advisor for hotels and restaurants

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g32171-Carlsbad_California.html#EATERY_OVERVIEW_BOX