Day 1. 

We're broke!

I must say, I was expecting a little more from Lego on our first day of a...read more Business Entertainment Events / Happenings

Day 1. 

We're broke!

I must say, I was expecting a little more from Lego on our first day of a 4 day stay at LegoLand Hotel California. I had read reviews on the Hotel and thought we had a little better idea of how it would be, especially for the price we were paying, having purchased the  "Family Vacation" package with LegoLand. 

We arrived in our packed suburban, 5 kids ages 9 down to 2. Valet was polite and helpful, checking was easy, and away we went. Food! The kids were starving, so was mom and dad. All our snacks were scattered in the Suburban, snacks I would soon realize I'd go get due to what we were about to go through.

After fighting the McDonal playland like lobby, we tried the Brick Family Restaurant at 1:45pm. "Sorry we are closed until 5pm" the two teenage greeters told us. OK, where do we eat? Nobody seemed to know until another mother pointed us to the Sea Life Aquarium building where there was a restaurant on the 2nd floor.

We hustled on over through the light rain coming down, took an elevator up to the 2nd floor restaurant only to find it so small and so packed that there was just one table available, dirty from the last families (plural) that had eaten there. We sat down quickly and off I went to purchase our family some food.

Two bowls of Macorni, two Sliders (one slider is a plate with 3 mini hamburgers and fries), one chicken tenders meal (3 chicken tenders, chips, and a pouch organic juice drink), one Tru Mu milk, one apple juice. I feared to do any more glancing at prices as I spilled out what our kids would eat. 

"That will be $49.00 sir. What?! I said in my mind, rolling my eyes. I reluctantly pulled out the three 20s and handed them to this gal. I then waited as the three polite cooks, all in their 20s, made home made macorni by putting a few slices of cheese into a hot pan with milk and some butter, cooked up mini hamburgers, and pointed me to the already made Emmet and Wild Style bag with baked chips and the organic juice pouch. 

The food was good. It was hot and made fresh. I think however the price would upset any family on a budget. After attempting to encourage the kids to eat this fifty dollar meal, we packed back up and headed down to the entrance area to attempt our first time at the Aquarium. 

Germaphobia - Clausterphobia

After our tummies were somewhat full, we decided to take a slow stress free walk through the Aquarium, as we had ignored it on previous trips, uninterested in what might lurk there. The greeters were nice as usual, and we awaited the automatic doors with bright yellow and black warning tape telling kids and adults to stay back so as to not be crushed by the auto-doors opening towards us, who knows when.

Once the doors swung open, our little group walked into the first waiting room, where yet another danger-warning door was closed. We waited a few more minutes, when that door opened, it opened to utopia, where there was a darkened room with a slide built around a ligthed, large fish tank-tree theme room. 

Observing the area, watching my kids and others go up the few stairs, across a bridge where my son held tight to his glasses to look down into the open fish tank below, hoping they would not fall off, I saw the years of dust hanging off the rope bridge seperating the kids from plunging into the tank themselves. 

It was a fun beggining for sure, until I realized how many kids were touching everything, and how dirty things looked, and how most the employees, in fact all of them, were so far in their 20s, and unless trained, unaware of the germs that lurked all about this park. 

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a germ-freak - and I really don't buy into all the media hype about Measle, mumps and rubella, for me it is simply watching the other kids and where their hands are going (ie. floors, to mouth, to ears, to floors, to slide, to pants, to shoes, etc.).

After leaving the first utopia slide room, I then began to walk through, what my wife and I would label as, clausterphobic germtopia Aquarium - where the glass bubbles that allowed children to look into each water exibit seemed to be (at least to the children) a big bump they should lick and kiss and touch and rub their faces against. In horror I watched child after child repeat the same lolly-pop like ritual, slobber, fingers, toungues and all. Ya know, the kids couldn't help it. Even I as an adult, who read the warning about objects being closer then they appear as they were bubbles with thick glass that warped the eyes abilit to see how fart they pertruded out. But then at the right angle, I could easily see the bubble glass, because of the thick slobber, finger prints, and toungue trails. I quickly reminded my kids to just observe and not cuddle these germ bumps themselves. 

We then arrived to the tunnel tube area, where you walked under the ocean above and surrounding you. It would have been an enjoyable experience if it were not for the tight, diver-like experience you felt as you squoze through the tunnel with all the other families, trying to stop and enjoy the few little children germ tubes, where the kids could craw into a glass tube to be part of the fish tank. These little germ tubes however caused much stress on the other families simply trying to get through the tight area. I trully felt the sweat on some of those passing by myself and 5 kids.

We then breathed a sigh of relief, having reached the outside part of the Aquarium, where the kids could reach in and touch some of the living sea creatures. Then again, as the teenage gal that instructed us on how to do the two-finger touch with the animals, I coudln't help but gasp, as I watch child after child (not my own, but others) climb up, rather than the lean over instructions, parents oblivious, and basically were only held back from falling right in by their own awkward positionings and restrainings. 

Having enough with that, the kids however enjoying touching creatures, we made our way out of the Aquarium, vowing to not go back, and agreeing we saw that enough in our lifetime, then applying the sanitizer amply. 

Gouge you where we can

If the food wasn't expensive enough, let alone the price of the tickets, and hotel room we had yet to experience (due to our having arrived early and our room not being ready as of yet), the light rain and slight breeze needed to be battled, so we presented our tickets, entered the LegoLand park, and after asking around where all were getting these yelllo rain ponchos, we were pointed to the lego store where we walked in, and I just had to take a breath, expecting a slightly over priced poncho or two, or possibly even free for having been paying Lego customers on a rainy day.

I needed a total of 7 ponchos, 5 kids, 2 adults. "That will be $45.00 please", the teenage gal said. "What?!" I said in my mind again... Handing over again three more 20s, glancing at my children, I took the 7 ponchos and we made our way out of the store to where a single fire was contained in a single tube next to an expensive little deli-coffee shop. 

We put on the ponchose, paid a visit to the Boat Express lake ride, where classic jokes are told as you meander on the lake and gawk at the every-so-aged legos - if you could even call those legos, as they look nothing like the legos our kids recognize, not even I recognize them, as they were getting quite dated. 

Back to the 1960s

Recognizing our children's tired eyes, and cold noses, we decided if we were to avoid sniffles for our four day visit, it was time to go get into our room, which we were conveniently told was read for us. The nice belle hop dad (he was my age, has 3 of his own kids), took our luggage with us to our room. 

I was really hoping this was going to be the brighter experience for us this day, as this was to be our home for the next 4 days. As we passed the eateries, and made our way by the bathrooms and elevators, my always observing other parent's faces, just to discern what they were experiencing, we turned a corner and I looked down what felt like an old castle hallway, where the light seemed to be coming from the wall decal lego stickers themselves, you know the yellow color. It felt like a long dark elementary school without windows hallway. We finally arrived to our room, where the only updated piece in the building was the door lock, which I just put my card up to, and it unlocked. Entering the room, I did another, "What?!" to myself, and I could see the same look on my 9 year old son's face as we entered into a dimly lit, 1960s retro, lego, aged apartmen, castle themed room. 

In an instant, enteirung the room, I then realized why they said, no refunds unless it was 7 days in advance notice for hotel rooms. They don't even tell you about the brand new resort on the very East side of the park, a non-lego, fully updated, bright and new resort and retreat, pool and all. 

Sitting here, writing this with my wife and oldest son, and youngest still awake, we then discussed how we were told by the nice lady at the check-in desk that, "oh by the way, we will be charging an additional $100.00 a day, to your card, don't worry fully refundable IF your room is in the same condition it was when you went in." You can guess I did another, "WHAT?!" to myself.

My son found the card in our room that re-inforced the warning byt he sweet lady, "The Lego Models in this room ahve been created and installed for your enjoyment at an estimated value between $90 and $960 per model. Ever guest room is inspected thouroughly after departure to ensure all models are fully intact for continued enjoyment... " and them my smiling says, "or to charge you a fee"... continuing, "Missing or damaged models will result in a charge to your preauthorized credit card, please report any accidental damages to guest services immediately."

Day 1 Summary

I really didn't want to come off negative after our first day, but I must say, we are highly dissapointed in the decrepit feel of the Lego Hotel. If they are going for the castle feel however, I guess they got it right, spot on, as we are in the futhermost back corner of the castle (creek). The King bed feels like a 1950s Queen bed, the pull out bed seems to be the most worn out torcher chamber bed, and is almost a full size bed, and the decor, throw pillows and bed spreads I hope are not from the 50s as they smell fresh, however I can't promies the floor is anywhere as clean as the bedding, as the floor also adds to the darker feel of the room.

Needless to say maybe, I ran to our vehicle and cleared out all the snacks we had in there, filled up an entire large suitcase with them all, and I know the oodles of snacks we have from the store cost less then the ponchos.

I will update this after day two is over... less Business  Entertainment  Events / Happenings