LEGOLAND California Hotel LEGO Gift Shop — Local services in Carlsbad

2021-July, Legoland Hotel. Mask is not mandatory for guests, but all the employees wore it.

We arrived on Thursday @ noon. We have pre-purchase a valet service on-line. Upon arrival in front of the hotel, the valet greeted us and help us unload our luggage into a luggage cart. Since check-in is at 4pm, the valet attendant will keep the luggage and deliver to our room as soon as we get a room number. The valet even provided refrigeration of the 1-gallon milk we just purchased from a local grocery. He then gave my husband the valet number and our luggage tag number.

The lobby was big and open. There were lots of people (kids playing), only one person ahead of me in the check-in counter. In the lobby were a lego tub with perimeter bench, a huge dragon sail play area, and a deli.

The lady at the front desk asked my name, and she said she can pre-checkin me, since we were 4 hours early. (Check-in is at 4pm). She asked for mine and my husband's ID, my phone number, and a credit card. Then she said they will text me when my room is ready and I am good to go.

Wait, i have some few questions... Where is the pool and can we swim while we are waiting for our room? What is the wifi access? Are there any activities for the kids? Where can we eat? I don't understand why these information was not given freely and why do i have to ask.

She said that the Legoland Hotel pool opens @ 5pm. She also said that we can use the Castle Hotel's pool that has been opened til 9am. She said the wifi is free (its easy to connect to, but it goes on and off frequently). She gave me a paper that lists the activities for the day (which is the same the next day). She said that the restaurants are by reservation. She showed me the QR to scan for the dinner & breakfast reservation. Yes, even the complimentary breakfast needs a reservation.

We roam around and found the elevators, the pool, and how to get to the Castle Hotel.

The pool is indeed heated. You will actually feel the warm water. Its small, with zero entry on one side. Separated by a string of floaters. The deepest end is 5-ft. Giant lego soft blocks are provided for the kids. Loungers and pool towels are provided as well. The attendant let us in since we didn't have our key yet. 2 lifeguards were on duty.

I received a text that our room was available at around 230pm. The front desk handed us 2 card keys, and didn't say anything about our luggage or anything about the breakfast. I had to ask them. Breakfast is by reservation only. And front desk said that our luggage will follow.

There were 2 elevators for the Legoland Hotel and both have a disco ball and plays disco music everytime the elevator is in use. Very nice.. caught lots of parents dancing as the elevator doors open. Lol.

2 flatscreen TVs. There were like 3 or 4 kids channels though. The kid's TV looks like a 24"+/-.

Bathroom is clean, with one sink, handsoap dispenser attached in the wall (and the hand soap pump did not work), lots of counter space, towels are decent thickness, 1 bottle of conditioner & 1 hair/body cleanser was attached to the shower wall, adjustable height handheld shower, tub, toilet with additional toddler seat, a step stool. Water pressure was decent.

Beds were decently comfortable.

Only 3 outlets attached to one night stand.

Two mini fridges. No microwave. Again, No microwave. Single cup coffee maker. 2 coffee pods, w hot cocoa pods, 2 kid's juices, 2 water bottles were complimentary.

Morning breakfast buffet. We have a reservation but we still waited in line for about 15 minutes. Once seated, it was good. Bacon, scrambled eggs, pancake, french toast, cereals, tater tots, fruits, yogurt, coffee, soda, juices... it was good.

Legoland entrance was truly few steps from the hotel's...

LEGOLAND CALIF HOTEL-The pull-out bed didn't have a blanket or comforter, we had to request one, that and towels since our room slept 7 and they gave us 3 towels and no plastic bath mat when there are kids who will need it. The pull-out had these huge metal brackets that were dangerous to the little ones I had with me. The bed creaked like the frame was broken. There was no table or any place to set food down so the kids could eat room service. Brackets in the bathroom were broken, wallpaper was peeling. Wobbly lanterns and a scratched up fridge, old furniture stretched, discolored and very low quality. Cheap tiny plastic leather couch in the room, uncomfortable and I've seen better quality couches in a tire shop waiting room. The floor was damp upon arrival when we were finally allowed in our room at 5pm. The restaurant food was all frozen food, nothing below $12. Alcoholic drinks were $12 each and served in a 6 oz. Plastic water cup. All beers were $12, and every kids meal was $12....box drinks (honest brand) were $3 each. The restaurant only serves burgers and fries, and pizza primarily, nothing nutritional for growing children whatsoever. The restaurant had wobbly dirty cafeteria tables and most people walked out after viewing the tiny menu of frozen food items priced at $15+ a person. One of the meals was an uncrustable and juice fir $12!! 3 TVS and one of them is defective and went from light to dark while viewing, cables hung out under the the tvs....most of the decoration is tacky lego wallpaper. They do not provide a bar of soap ...body wash doubles as shampoo and ots strapped to the shower wall.. All this for over $600-$900 a night. The internet connection was practically non-existent. The hotel is defunct, being shut down during Covid-19 in California madness has them thieving to make up for losses. Several large areas and rides at Legoland were shut down including a roller coaster and 3 adult rides, considering there isn't much for adults to do. Save your money, it's not worth it. So...

TL;DR If you are not positive you want to purchase something, or are not positive your trip will be shorter than 60 minutes then discard the info available that says you do not need park admission.

I hate to put 1 star, however...

Google showed this as the nearest Lego store to me, awesome! I saw it was inside Legoland Hotel so I did my best to see if I needed to buy a park ticket to visit the store. The answers here said no, awesome! Drove 20 minutes, got to the gate and asked how to get to the store/parking etc. The super helpful lady explained that if I wanted to visit the store I would need to pay for parking and buy a park ticket, BUT if I finished within 60 minutes AND had proof of purchase from the store it would all be refunded.

Unfortunately, that wasn't acceptable for me. I wanted to browse and maybe find some stuff for myself or for a gift. Because I wasn't completely sure I wanted to purchase anything I wasn't willing to shell out the cash for parking and a ticket that might not be refunded.

The gate was super helpful and friendly, but this information needs to be more readily available before people make the drive. Or the store needs to be removed from listings when people Google "Lego store".

If there is a next time I'll drive an extra half hour past this Lego store to one that I can actually shop at like a regular store.

Very...