Hi, we are planning a trip to Legoland this summer and I had a couple of questions. First, are we allowed to leave and re-enter the park? And second, does anyone have any hotel suggestions? I have done so much hotel searching on the internet I'm getting a headache LOL, but it is hard to tell if they are decent hotels, I have been looking in the Carlsbad/Oceanside area.
Thanks!! :)

Yes...you can leave and re-enter.
Suggest a few of the hotel/motels in Encinitas...there's a Holiday Inn Express for example among others.
Close to Legoland and a basic crime free area as is much of Carlsbad. There are motels in the Legoland area as well but I don't know the names. There's no traffic to speak of so doesn't matter much if your a couple of miles away.

Take your chances in Oceanside where it's better to know the area.


Bring your camera! This is one gorgeous park!

There is a Residence Inn in Carlsbad, its nice but a bit pricey. Its not too far from the park. There is a Courtyard in Carlsbad which is also nice and less pricey. There is a Fairfield Inn and that is still nice but even cheaper (I think). All are within a couple of miles of the park. I would stay out of Oceanside, there are many beautiful areas but its something of a crap shoot. If you are thinking of a particular place and would like some feedback, I drive in that area quite a bit. Post the name here and if I remember to check, I'll drive by the location and attmept to give you my assesment.

There is also a Suites of America Inn (or something) in Carlsbad. And a Days Inn in Encinitas that is probably about 10 minutes away. Good luck!

Quite a few of the hotels in the area sprang up after Legoland opened so some are very new and should be quite nice.

There is also a really cool outlet shopping mall a couple of blocks from Legoland called Carlsbad Company Stores. They also have restaurants there.

Also, if you have a hankering for fresh picked strawberries, there is a berry patch located down the street from the park where you can pick your own berries. But make sure you are wearing old shoes because last time we went some of the trenches were filled with mud and my son ruined his sneakers.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful time - we just renewed our passes we love it so much.

P.S. I have to agree with EandCDad and Doodle about Oceanside. To paraphrase Forrest Gump quoting his momma "...it's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get". There's good and there's bad.

Wow, thanks so much for your great help (how did we ever plan vacations before the internet LOL)
I have reservations for the Inns of America in Carlsbad, we have never been to this area before so I am really worried that we will end up in a not so nice hotel or a bad part of town :(
Thanks for the info on the re entering, that takes a load off my mind, I was a little worried about my kids having a sensory overload halfway through and thought a little break for lunch or something would be nice.

I'm not nearly as local as the others who have replied here, but I think I remember seeing Inns of America is pretty darn close to Legoland-- just across the freeway from it, maybe (Doodle? EandC? Tink? can you confirm?)

But like DoodleDuck was saying, you're pretty safe just about anywhere in Carlsbad.

You'll have a great time. When I was at Legoland a few weeks ago for the opening of Racers 4-D, (http://www.mouseplanet.com/lig/4d.htm) I was looking at the hotel near the back of the park (above the flower fields) and thinking about a mini-trip for my family just to check it out :) I'll have to check out the rates and consider doing that.

Adrienne K

Hi again, just wanted to mention that I found a great deal for the Ramada Inn & Suites on Poinsetta Lane in Carlsbad, it is a better deal than the res I have for the Inns of America (on Raintree) but any suggestions on quality.
Thanks again for your help :)

The Inns of America is pretty close to the Ramada and both are about 3 miles South of the park. The Inns of America is just west of the Freeway, about 1 or 2 exits South of Cannon (which is the exit that you would use for Legoland). That puts you close to the Carlsbad Outlet Mall that Tink spoke of.

I haven't been inside the Inns of America but it looks very nice and clean on the outside. Its in a good location, close to the beach (relatively) and also Encinitas and those beach communities and the stuff in Carlsbad. Plenty of restaurants and fast food stuff close by (although not walking, I don't think).

Can't compare the Inns of America to the Ramada, maybe someone else can. Maybe I'll take I drive by tomorrow as they are near each other and I will be driving that way anyway for work.

If you have specific plans (wanting to eat out, advice on other attractions) for when you come to Carlsbad, let us know if we can help. You are in a very good location, nothing to worry about.

Ok, I stopped by the Inns of America and the Ramada. First off, there are two Inns of America in Carlsbad (who knew), one is visible from the freeway off Cannon (that's the one AdrienneK remembers) and the other is off Pointsettia (that's where you have your reservation, its on Raintree). The one on Raintree is just down the street from the Ramada. Both the Ramada and the IoA are about 10 minutes door to door to Legoland.

I did not go inside the rooms but the outside of both properties were very well maintained. I would recommend going with the better deal, but again, I didn't actually see the rooms. The areas are very nice, clean, and safe.

As I remembered, there aren't many eating places within walking distance (although the IofA had a restaurant), but if you go one exit north to Palomar Airport Road, there is a TGI Fridays, Claim Jumper, In-N-Out Burger, Taco Bell, Carls, Jr., Ruby's Diner, McDonalds, etc. If you are willing to drive 10 minutes to either Encinitas or San Marcos, there are literally hundreds of fast food and sit down options available.

Wow, thank you so much, that was incredibly nice of you :) Since the Ramada is less expensive (by $20 a night) I think I will switch my reservation.
Thanks again, I really appreciate all your help!

We stayed at the Ramada Suites in Carlsbad in April and I would not stay there again. I am not picky about rooms ususally either.
It was very small, one lamp in each room, toilet ran all night, small beds (one queen fold out couch and two full beds) no t.v. in the room with the beds.
I would not recommend this hotel. Spend the extra $20!

Understand the plans are GO for a NEW Legoland Hotel on the property!!!!
If it's anything like the rest of the operation it will be VERY nice and priced right.

Does anyone else get knocked flat by the outstanding landscaping and gazillion varieties of plants there? We go some Sundays just for that! Awesome.

d02: This may not be of any significance to you but it might be helpful or informative to others planning on visting Legoland in the future .......

The Pechanga Indian Reservation just opened a new 500 room hotel in Temecula about 20-30 minutes away from Legoland. For those of you not knowledgable about the draw for this kind of hotel - it's gambling.

They have a monster casino at this hotel with most all kinds of Las Vegas games so if you want to enjoy some of the fun of Vegas while on vacation with the kids visiting Legoland, this might be the place.

At last report, rooms are $75-$95 depending on which day of the week it is.......

If you are in the Carlsbad area the best place to eat is Mariahs on Carlsbad Village. Great food and good prices. If you want a great hamburger, go to Ruby's for that 50's style and taste. =)

So I'm curious, have you made the trip yet? If yes, maybe I saw you! I work there. If no, maybe I can help you with anything else. :)

Hi again, thank you all for your help - we had a great trip to Carlsbad, we really enjoyed Legoland, it's a very nice park. We ended up staying at the Inns of America, which was a nice motel, I didn't have any complaints.
We were there July 29th, we stayed in Carlsbad two nights and were able to enjoy the beach while we were there too, before heading off to Disneyland.
I actually got online today because I had another question about Legoland, my son is a big Star Wars Lego fanatic and my daughter was able to buy quite a few of the Belville Lego's while we were there, but there was one item I had planned on ordering for her for Christmas that we saw at Legoland, but it isn't on the Lego website - so my question is does Legoland have an ordering system like Disneyland's? Where you can buy what you forgot while at the park?
Thanks!

First off...

DoodleDuck(A.E)-the hotel has been in the works for over a year now.....they're just working on plans and stuff. It'll be behind the park, so they're trying to figure out how they'd work entrance for the hotel guests, etc....


And dannie02-you can call Lego Shop@Home. I'll have to get the number from work and post it for you. :)