Is Reserve and Ride Worth It at LEGOLAND California?

If you want to be taken straight to the $39 kid deal, click here.

Is the Reserve and Ride system at LEGOLAND worth it? My answer is YES if it’s a crowded day!

During summer break and other school breaks, popular rides at LEGOLAND Park can get up to 30-40 minute wait times and longer on the most crowded days of the year.

Note: If you are staying at a LEGOLAND hotel or LEGOLAND Castle Hotel, hotel guests get one hour of Early Access before the rest of the guests. I highly recommend this if you are visiting or it’s your first time. They have the coolest themed rooms and great play areas!

Here is what I will cover:

1. What is Reserve and Ride?
2. How Reserve and Ride Works
3. How Much Reserve and Ride Costs and Tier Explanation
4. Which rides do Reserve and Ride cover
5. Which Tier I Recommend
6. Current LEGOLAND Discounts and Ticket Prices
7. New Visitors to LEGOLAND
8. What To Know Before You Go
9. LEGOLAND Tickets and Parking
10. Cool Stuff To Not Miss At LEGOLAND

What is Reserve and Ride?

Reserve and Ride is LEGOLAND’s skip-the-line ride reservation system. You pay one flat fee to skip lines all day. You will need to pay the fee for anyone who wants to ride, however, you do not need to pay for guests under the age of 3 years old.

I highly recommend you reserve online ahead of time on the LEGOLAND website. They only sell a certain number per day to make sure it’s a good experience for guests. If you aren’t sure if you want to use Reserve and Ride beforehand, you can also reserve in the park at the Reserve and Ride / VIP counter at the entrance of the park by Guest Services. You can also go here to troubleshoot anything with your reserve and ride. 

For example, we reserved Ultimate, but it was performing like Deluxe. They quickly fixed it and we were good for the whole day.

How Reserve and Ride Works 

The entire system is in the LEGOLAND app. Once you purchase your Reserve and Ride, you get access to the list of rides and wait times. The wait times you see on the app reflect how long you will wait, not what the actual wait times are at the park. So if you got the 50% reduction in wait time (Deluxe) and a wait is 30 minutes at the park, you will see 15 minutes in your app.

There are a total of 18 rides. You choose one ride and enter the virtual line. You hang out at the playground or building station while your phone clock counts down. When your time is up, you will see a QR code. You then enter through the Reserve and Ride entrance and the ride attendant will scan your QR code. Some rides you enter through a labeled Reserve and Ride entrance, some you enter through the exit. It will say on your app which is which. 

Something to note: I like to practice with my apps before I visit a theme park. The LEGOLAND app doesn’t work until you are actually in the park. So take a second to familiarize yourself with the app after downloading and purchasing your reserve and ride passes.

For my annual pass holders, this would be an easy thing to add on to a regular day at the park. Think birthdays or when you have guests in town!

How Much Reserve and Ride Costs and Tier Explanation

There are three different tiers for Reserve & Ride: Express, Deluxe and Ultimate. I will break them all down for you and what they mean. Each include all 18 attractions and access to the Reserve and Ride entrances, but they differ in how long you need to wait between QR codes. 

Express: $40/person. Reduces wait time by 25%. What this means is, if the ride for the dragon coaster is 30 minutes long, you will need to wait 22 minutes. However, you are not waiting IN the line. You can make your reservation and then take the kids to that cool playground on Castle Hill. You are able to use the virtual wait line from your phone on your mobile app.

When your ride time comes up, you get them off the playground or out of the splash pad and walk on the ride. WAY better than waiting in line with a bunch of kids. If you haven’t visited LEGOLAND California Resort, there are play areas and building stations in every themed land. I think it’s the best amusement park for kids for this reason!

Deluxe: $60/person. Reduces wait time by 50%. If the wait time for LEGO Technic Coaster is 30 minutes, you wait 15 minutes. You do not have to wait in the line. You can wait in that cool ball area by the airplane ride that shoots balls everywhere. When the wait time comes up on your mobile phone, you go straight to the ride. 

Ultimate: $100/person. The best one! It says 75% percent reduction, but we walked on every ride like it was an instant reservation. I made the reservations as we were walking to the next ride. We didn’t spend much time in line at all and we rode all 18 rides! Our longest wait was never more than five minutes. We went on a crowded summer Friday in June and the park was PACKED.

What rides does Reserve and Ride cover?

Reserve and Ride covers all the popular rides at LEGOLAND including The Dragon Coaster, Deep Sea Adventure (the submarine ride!), Junior Driving School, Coast Cruise, Ninjago, The Technic Coaster, all the rides at the brand new Dino Valley, and all the rides in LEGO Movie World.

The only rides it doesn’t cover are the rides that have shorter wait times like some rides in Fun Town and the rides for younger kids like the train in the DUPLO area. You cannot use Reserve n Ride at the water park. If you have a smaller child they may be too young to ride a lot of the rides that take Reserve and Ride, so check height requirements in the app before you go.

Which Tier I Recommend

This depends on how crowded the park is. If you go on a random Tuesday in early November (this is a good time to go by the way!) the park might be empty. I wouldn’t bother with Reserve and Ride for days like this. If you are going on a weekend and don’t want to bother with lines, perhaps try the lowest tier and spend time perusing the gift shop and playgrounds instead of waiting in line. 

If you go on a summer weekend day and its one of the busy days, the extra cost to upgrade will be worth it. It really is the best way to ride everything and avoid long lines. 

My expert advice if you’re on a budget is you will be fine with the lowest tier because you get all the benefits of using the special entrance. If money isn’t an issue, you will not regret upgrading to Ultimate!

Current LEGOLAND Discounts and Ticket Prices

The current deal is FOUR $29 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 regular single park admission. These tickets also include the Sea Life Aquarium which is huge and worth a look!

These tickets are great for experiencing the brand-new Dino Valley and the new LEGO Parade that just began in May.

By the way, I do earn a commission from these links. It is no extra cost to you, so if you love this info please remember to buy through my link. Thank you so much! It helps me keep bringing you the best LEGOLAND content for free.

New Visitors to LEGOLAND

These next sections are for my LEGOLAND newbies. If you’ve never been before, it’s been a while, or you just want to learn all my tips and tricks, read on! 

LEGOLAND Park is the best amusement park in San Diego. Here is why Legoland is awesome: there are interactive rides but there’s also creative play stations and stuff built out of Legos throughout the entire park. Yes, there ARE rides, but what other theme park will your kid happily spend most of the time in creative play? It’s a great way to spend the day!

LEGOLAND California opened in 1999 (I went the year it opened at 8 years old!). It was the first LEGOLAND in the United States. It used to be just Miniland (the huge collection of LEGO models) and a few rides. It’s since expanded to include more rides, a movie theater, and now a water park and aquarium. The LEGOLAND team is constantly expanding, adding more lands, amazing LEGOLAND hotels, LEGO friends, interactive LEGO features, more rides, and more playgrounds.

LEGOLAND California Resort is located in Carlsbad, just north of San Diego and about an hour south of Orange County. It’s close to the ocean so it rarely gets too hot or cold. Some fun things around LEGOLAND include the sandy beaches (Carlsbad State Beach is the nearest beach, Moonlight State Beach is our favorite), The Flower Fields (open in the spring only), and The San Diego Zoo Safari Park to the west. It’s a great addition to any San Diego vacation. Here is everything I have written on Carlsbad!

What To Know Before You Go

The ideal age for LEGOLAND is 3-12. Though it’s great for both boys and girls, it’s magic with my little boys who love cars, building, and pressing buttons. Those outside this age range will still enjoy it.

The best time to visit theme parks is NOT during school breaks (summer, winter break, spring break etc) and on a weekday if possible. LEGOLAND especially has grown faster than it has the capacity for. The lines can get long at peak times, but on a random Wednesday in February, there is no wait! Check the site isitpacked.com for best estimator on days to go. If you need to go on a crowded day, using Reserve and Ride is your best bet.

You can do everything in the main park part of LEGOLAND in a day on a non-crowded day. Two days will be great if you add the waterpark and aquarium. There’s also a ton to do at the hotels so keep that in mind.

LEGOLAND Tickets and Parking

The first decision to make when visiting LEGOLAND is how many days you will be there. You have to buy theme park tickets for the date you want to go, so if the water park is open that day, it will present that as an option. See ticket calendar here.

If you’re just there one day, just buy the LEGOLand ticket. No need for hopper tickets. For more days, the water park and SeaLife aquarium to see sea creatures make great add-ons. The SeaLife Aquarium is massive. And the water park is perfect for little kids!

There’s a nice big parking lot at LEGOLAND theme park. It costs $35 to park (parking is free with Platinum and Elite passes). There is EV parking in front of the LEGOLAND Hotel and to the side at the Castle Hotel. The Castle Hotel EV parking rarely works, so we always do the LEGOLAND hotel if possible. The parking lot is very close to the park entrance, no trams or stroller folding is needed.

Cool Stuff To Not Miss At LEGOLAND

They 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. Also make sure to check out Granny’s Apple Fries in Castle Hill!

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! Pirate Shores is a fun spot as well and one of the best rides. My kids love the fire academy where you drive a fire truck to a window, spray it, and then get back in the fire truck! They have so much fun and it gets competitive.

They recently added a LEGO Ninjago playground that is very popular. 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. In all this is the perfect place for kids and we love taking our family here!

Here is a whole blog I wrote about Annual Passes (best deal!) to LEGOLAND and more discount tips and tricks!

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.

Thanks so much for reading!

If you find any of this information to be incorrect or need updating, please send me an email to sandiegomamas@gmail.com or a DM on Instagram to @sandiego.mamas . There is a reason I chose to call this San Diego MamaS (plural) not San Diego Mama. It takes our whole mom community (which now includes you!) to make sure I can share the most accurate information for your family.

Sharing this post helps the mom behind you and helps my page grow! Please feel free to share this link with any other mom who might need it.

Oh, I also send out a weekly email with theme park updates, my top picks for events (with discount codes!) coming to town for the month as well as tons of other activity suggestions for you to choose from. Basically, it will help you feel in the know for all the fun things happening in San Diego.

Planning all the activities for your family is a hard job, so let me help you! You can find info on signing up for that below.