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For adults, miniland is very neat. You could spend a couple hours staring and taking pictures of the Lego models of cities. There is the major California cities, New Orleans (currently closed due to renovations), New York, Washington, and Las Vegas. Star Wars is very nice.
I personally like to shop at Legoland since members get 10% off. Of course I use that on hard to find items. They always are well stocked in collectibles minifigs.
I would probably go during Legoland Star Wars weekend (March 31-April 1) to maximize on promotions.
If you are hungry around Carlsbad, might I suggest a little meat market called Tip Top Meats. They serve a huge breakfast and a cheap prime rib dinner with all the fixens.
We used to live in San Diego and had the annual pass as well. But this was before I even considered collecting. I recall only getting the Duplo brick during the Star Wars days, but in recent years I thought they had giveaways like the Shadow ARF trooper.
I recently filled one of the holiday promo boxes with 14.8 oz, to help give a little context. If your buying larger bricks, by oz may be better. High volume of tiny pieces, buy by volume.
Have little kids? Yes, check it out. There are always promos for the park to take advantage of. Buy one adult get one kid in free. Buy one season pass get a "one day admission free". Supermarkets, Lego Stores, Ebay. Lots of promos out there . . .
Its definitely geared towards little kids, food is better than disneyland, they have an awesome playground, water park during warm months, lots lego playing areas.
Just going by yourself? I would just suggest getting a "one hour shopping pass". You will have to pay for parking but it can be reimbursed if you spend something like $20 at one of the gift shops. Imo, its not worth paying admission as an adult otherwise. You can walk the park for an hour and be good. Plenty of pics on the internet of all the displays as well. And like mentioned before, their Lego stores are very well stocked.
Seemed to me their PAB stuff was more expensive than Lego Stores. VIP points do not count as the park is not owned by Lego.
In terms of PaB, they now order from the same supply that the stores can choose from to fill their walls. I think they have a couple remnants from the "old days" when the PaB was filled with stock used by/ordered by the model shop. But for the most part, it's not very exciting (they cut the number of bins in half about a year ago).
You can however purchase full cases of S5 and S6 minifigures there.
Below is a picture of the entrance that I took. At first sight I was all "Whoa.... I'M GONNA BUY SOME LEGO!!!" Honestly, the best part of the place is anything with Lego bricks, so you'll probably just enjoy buying. :)
@BrickDancer With a yearly pass, you get 10% off Lego and I think 20% off food. Last time I was there the Pearls were 25% off. Think the series 5 were 33% off.
Anyways, I've been to LegoLand two times and I've enjoyed my visit a whole lot. Although the rides are aimed at children, just walking around Miniland is good enough for me. The water park is fun too. The shop has a nice selection and some cool exclusive LEGOLand souvenirs.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiredforsound23/sets/72157625981271777/
I'm planning on visiting Legoland in June this year and I was planning on staying in the Legoland California Resort Hotel but it seems like it's geared for kids and I can't seem to find any reviews of adults who have stayed there as AFOLs (without kids) and what they've thought of the place and whether it was weird turning up without kids (every review I've read, people have brought their kids). I am interested in the Lego treasure hunt freebies too naturally, but I wonder if they restrict that to kids only (which would be quite disappointing)! Any thoughts/feedback would be great.
Also any tips on Lego displays/shopping/activities around LA/ San Fran/Vancouver/Anchorage, would be great as well!
Thanks in advance!
But regarding the Legoland hotel, why not just call and ask them your questions?
I visited LLC in Oct just to see Miniland and walk through the park. Did not go on rides. Did not see any real values in the gift shops except for a couple of tees on sale. I usually don't buy anything else in the parks and am disappointed that they don't have interesting exclusives at each park.
It is easy to get wet, so do take dry clothes and shoes for all. And just enjoy your free time not fixating on whether or not you find any good buys. You will need a sunny day and possibly a jacket for the wind if it is blowing hard. Have fun!
The hotel is basic, but the proximity and the themes all around were the best parts. There was a great bar we went to once, but just walked through taking picture of the CMF's. The food was ok, but it's a hotel, and it's a buffet. Didn't do room service.
It was full of kids and I would recommend asking for a room away from the pool. Ours looked out on it and it was a bit loud and annoying. I didn't realize the park closes so early, so figure out what to do in the evenings and at night, would've been bored or at least at a loss if i hadn't known that ahead of time. There's a great restaurant/brewery nearby. That was a great dinner choice, FYI. I would stay there again, we spend three nights there, and it was worth it. I'm a bit biased, though, as we had won a contest and got to go for mostly the price of gas. Long story. Pm me for more information.
There's also the Vancouver Mini Maker Faire (BC, Canada): June 7 & 8, 2014. Our club is still organizing what sort of commitment we might have there.
If you're in the area you can get a Shopping Pass. Pay full price admission and you have 1 hour to shop (or quickly check out some of the minilands) If you don't get back to the front gate in 1 hour you pay the full price. If you finish within the hour you get a complete refund at the Guest Services window. Also with the Shopping Pass, If you spend at least $20 in the park, they refund your Parking Fee.