Where to stay near Legoland? And need LL tips!

[pinay]

I bought them there and there wasn't much of a line at all.

[Tondi G]

I booked using priceline express deal and got the 5 star Hyatt Park Aviara for $175/night. It's not as close to Legoland as some of the others (about 5 miles away, so pretty close). Unfortunately this means paying for Legoland parking AND hotel valet parking.

If we go in off season we would consider the Legoland hotel, but it is crazy pricey now (like $500/night).

I've heard that the Avaria is lovely! We stayed at the Mar Brisa resort which is up next to the Sheraton ... all of the rooms have a kitchenette or a full kitchen. We enjoyed our stay and being able to make some food in the hotel was helpful. I second the rec above to get those apple fries.. YUM! Hope you have a great trip!

[citymama]

Back from our Legoland trip. The Aviara was *lovely* - so serene and peaceful. Didn't get to really enjoy the place as much as we would have liked since we were at Legoland 2 full days.

LL - we had the kids go free PTA tickets (thanks DD1). It was just $20 per person for the extra day, and we went to the water park too.

It was great that DD2 was over 40 inches and could do all but 2 rides in the main park. Turns out she likes roller coasters! Kids ate free after 5 pm too - we liked the ramen place best.

I loved that the lines were not as long as at DL. The kids got to do a few favorite rides multiple times, including the popular roller coasters, later in the day when the crowds thinned out even more. The only one we waited for was the Sky Cruiser, which the kids both declared to be disappointing and skippable. I agree, although if just starting out at the park, I might have felt differently. We went at the very end of the day. I have no idea why there's such a long line for it.

The water park was ok. We could have skipped it. We all enjoyed the lazy river though!

Loved the Lego Movie set! So very cool to see. Overall, a really fun trip!

In terms of places to stay, if going in off season it looks like the Legoland hotel is affordable and looked like fun! The Grand Palisades is also across the street and staying at an attached hotel saves $15/day on parking. The Aviara is lovely if you're trying to get away from the theme park madness, especially if you can get a Priceline deal as we did.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

[HannaAddict]

We stayed at the Grand Palisades a couple of years ago in the condo part, two bedrooms and a kitchen and fun pool area for kids. It was reasonable for what you get and literally walk across the street. And they don't charge for parking. Glad you had fun!

[ExcitedMamma]

I just got back from Legoland and saw your post. Not sure if it's too late but we loved the Sheraton in Carlsbad. We made a last minute reservation the day before. It was about $150 night and Legoland was about $500. The Sheraton was great, super clean and quiet. We spent about two weeks in So. Cal. and this was my favorite hotel! The pool was huge and warm too.