The LEGOLAND California Water Park: Tips To Know 2025

Here is the link for the $39 kid deal ticket! Note that this goes through November 1st, so it includes Brick or Treat dates.

Here is my guide to Brick or Treat.

The LEGOLAND Water Park is amazing, especially if you have young kids. The water slides aren’t too scary for kids and they have a ton of splash pads and open play areas. I also LOVE their wave pool at the back and their lazy river. 

The Water Park is at back of the main LEGOLAND park near Fun Town. You will need a regular LEGOLAND ticket and a water park ticket to go. They currently only sell tickets as part of a Park Hopper or you can add on for $30 once you’re there.

It’s a great hands-on theme park experience that is absolutely worth the entrance fee whether you live locally or are visiting. LEGOLAND California Resort is the best place to ride water slides for young children in San Diego and I will tell you why!

Here is what I will cover:

1. LEGOLAND Water Park Ticketing and Discounts
2. When To Go
3. Planning Your Day
4. What Age Is Best For The LEGOLAND Water Park?
5. What To Bring (and NOT bring)
6. How To Get There
7. Best Things To Do
8. Food and Where To Eat
9. Annual Passes
10. Hotels
11. Fun Things To Do At LEGOLAND

LEGOLAND Water Park Ticketing and Discounts

The current deal is FOUR $39 kid tickets with the purchase of one adult ticket. The deal expires September 13th 2024. Click here to grab this deal.

You can purchase these any time throughout the summer and they work for both park hopper (includes the water park and Sea Life aquarium) and regular single park admission. More on that later!

Keep in mind the parking fees are currently $35 per car so work that into your budget as well when planning your day.

Click this link for my full post on finding discounted LEGOLAND tickets. There are lots of opportunities throughout the year!

When To Go

It’s open every day in the summer and on weekends in the spring / fall. Check the schedule before purchasing a park hopper because you don’t want to find out that it’s closed after you’ve bought a ticket. The absolute best time to go is in the fall. Southern California stays very warm until about November, plus it’s empty then. I would avoid popular days like Labor Day and Memorial Day otherwise there will be long lines.

Planning Your Day

We plan on a whole day. We start the day in LEGOLAND at opening, move over to the water park, and then end the day riding roller coasters after the water park closes. Oh, and we always grab some apple fries or churros with chocolate on our way out. Park hours range. Sometimes it’s open all day, or just part of the day. Check the LEGOLAND website or the LEGOLAND app for the most updated information. 

We usually stay at the Water Park from about 10 am to 2/3 pm. By that point, everyone is ready to move on. I change everyone into their dry clothes and we head back out into the LEGOLAND part of the park. The lines at LEGOLAND tend to be shortest in the late afternoon and evening so it’s a great time to hit up some roller coasters!

What Age Is Best For The LEGOLAND Water Park?

The best part of this waterpark is it is very clearly divided into sections. This means if you’re watching multiple kids it’s hard for them to wander off to another area.  The bigger slide height requirements are 42 in+ but there are a lot of splash pads and smaller slides for young kids. For age range, I would say toddler to 10 years old. Small kids will have the most fun because of the splash pad. However, I’ve taken teenagers there and they’ve had a great time. A waterslide is a waterslide!

What To Bring (and NOT bring)

You can borrow life vests for free, so no need to bring floaties unless there’s one your kid is particularly attached to. They require life vests on some rides and for young kids in the wave pool. Small children must have swim diapers. Bring an extra just in case. Don’t wear a swimsuit with a zipper. They won’t let you on the rides because certain zippers can scratch the slides. 

You (the adult) will want a swimsuit, especially for the lazy river and wave pool. It’s not a watch your kids from the sidelines kind of place. There are changing rooms and lockers right as you enter. Bring water shoes for the kids and waterproof shoes for you (shoes I brought for me / shoes I brought for the kids). Bring towels and sunscreen. They don’t provide them and the ones for purchase are expensive. 

There are lockers to put your stuff in and changing rooms. I prefer to arrive in dry clothes, change everyone into their swimsuits, and then change back into dry clothes to leave the park.

How To Get There

Getting into the LEGOLAND waterpark is a little complicated. Starting at the park’s main entrance, you walk through Dino Valley (new area!) then by LEGO Movie World. It’s at the back of the park (near Fun Town). Good luck walking by all the rides without meltdowns. You also need a valid Legoland ticket the day you want to go because you walk through the park. 

Walking there is not so bad, but walking OUT is always a fight with my kids because they want to keep riding everything! Usually, I relent and extend our LEGO experience because why not? By the way, did you know you can bring minifigures for minifigure trading? Ask any of the workers and they will help you out!

Best Things To Do

I am partial to the raft lazy river. It’s the best thing there. You can build LEGO bricks while floating down a giant heated lazy river. You can share a tube with younger children. Older children can ride by themselves. Note that if you want to carry a baby on your lap, you will need a double tube not a single tube. That’s my favorite way to do the ride with tiny kids. You can also walk alongside their tube OR they have a few tubes with bottoms so the kids don’t fall out. Just ask for an infant tube. 

My kids love the DUPLO Splash Safari with little slides they can slide down and be independent on. The wave pool is also amazing. It closes and opens but it’s a great way to spend time together as a family. 

The Joker Soaker is fun! It’s a big water playground that will occasionally dump a TON of water on unsuspecting kids below. Fun for kids AND parents. Pirate Shores is a larger drop ride that actually has access from both LEGOLAND Park and the waterpark. Orange Rush is one of those big tube slides that you can sit in and watch your kid go white with terror as you slide down a giant waterslide. Of all the water attractions though, my kids favorites are the ones that have interactive LEGO features, like building a boat or playing with big bricks in water jets. 

I’ve seen some families use the cabana rental, however we prefer to move around with our kids. This would be worthwhile if you have a younger baby though I would consider it to have a private area for naps or diaper changes. 

Food and Where To Eat

There are three restaurants located inside the LEGOLAND Water Park. The best one by far is the taco place by the blue slides. The fish taco was delicious and only $5 for a pretty big taco. They also serve mocktails! There’s a snack bar near the front of the park with decent garlic fries. Then at the back of the park near the wave pool there’s a burger place. All have kids’ menus. 

If you wander out to LEGOLAND for food, make sure to get a hand stamp for re-entry. I like the ramen place in the LEGO Movie World and the BBQ place near the Dragon Coaster. You will also need Apple Fries and churros. The churros are near the pirate ride and they are amazing. The apple fries are by the big medieval playground. Go left as your exiting the water park and you will see them both. 

They allow you to bring your own food and snacks in for the kids. If we are staying all day I will usually pack lunch and then we go out to dinner. 

Annual Passes

If you’re getting an annual pass, definitely get the one with the waterpark! You can add on the waterpark for about $30 to a one day ticket or purchase a park hopper for two days. If visiting, I would suggest the park hopper. Do LEGOLAND the first day, then the waterpark the second day, and more LEGOLAND / the aquarium. The benefit to this complicated system for entering is it’s always empty. Even in peak summer, there are very few lines. 

Hotels

There are two amazing LEGOLAND-themed hotels with themed rooms located at the front of the park. The first is the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel and the other is the regular hotel. Both have fun things to do so if you find yourself there on a day when the parks close early, go check it out! It’s the perfect place to stay for a San Diego vacation. Both hotels offer early access to the LEGOLAND theme park before they open for the rest of the day. This is amazing for little kids who are up early anyway. If you’re staying for a while I would devote one day to the amusement park and one day would be a water park day. Smaller kids usually need more time to complete both. If you have older kids you could do both in one day, but you may miss some stuff. 

The lobbies are open to all not just hotel guests. We love the slide in the lobby of the Castle Hotel and the disco elevator in the LEGOLAND Hotel. Both have building stations and hands-on experiences. Check out their vacation packages online to see more details on those. 

What Not To Miss at LEGOLAND

The newest things to check out include the LEGO Parade and Dino Valley! Both opened in 2024 and they are amazing. They also recently added a LEGO Movie World based on the hit movie! You can ride Unikitty’s Disco Drop Ride, Emmet’s Flying Adventure ride (you get to fly a triple decker couch), meet LEGO movie characters, and enjoy the Everything is Ramen restaurant. Our favorite hands-on theme park experience is the Ferrari Build and Test area over by the boat ride. 

The little kids will love the Fun Town driving school where they can drive their own cars, and the smaller roller coaster Coastasaurus. The play areas are also amazing and they are all over the park!

They recently added a LEGO Ninjago playground that is very popular for younger kids. Sometimes they will also have ninja shows in that area. We also love The Dragon Coaster on Castle Hill! It doesn’t go too fast, making it perfect for a first roller coaster exposure for kids. Make sure to check wait times in the mobile app before heading over there. I also love the LEGO factory tour in Fun Town. The kids love seeing how their LEGO bricks are made! In all this is a great place for kids and we love taking our family here!

Allow me to introduce myself…

My name is Camille! I am a San Diego stay-at-home mom who is never ever at home. I share a lot of fun things to do around San Diego including parks, restaurants, LEGOLAND, the zoo etc.

My goal with my Instagram account and blog is to make any mom feel prepared for any outing with her kids so that she doesn’t have to stay home unless she wants to. Getting out with my kids was key for me in overcoming postpartum depression so I try to pay it forward by sharing what we do to help other moms in a similar situation. Read more about my story here.

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