11 Things You'll Want to Know Before Your Legoland Trip

There are now two hotels directly outside the entrance to Legoland: Legoland California Hotel and the recently opened (and visibly newer) Castle Hotel. Staying at either location gets you early access to rides within the park that don't open to the public until later in the morning.

Being just steps away from the gates also allows you to be front and center for the opening ceremony each morning, when a life-size Lego figure (in our case, Ninjago Kai) chooses one child from the crowd to help officially open the park for the day.