Legoland, Carlsbad

This is one crazy fun theme park that is all about hands on. I must say that from a Mom perspective, one of my favorite aspects is the design of the park. Nearby many of the rides that my four-year old could go on (but my just toddeling toddler could not) were lego type statues and artwork that the younger one was thrilled with playing with, pounding on, or crawling through. Plus there were a ton of features (for example the climbing / crawling playground and a feature that you could make water jump from one place to another by pounding a button) that both kids were entertained with.  Another feature that is much appreciated is the rest rooms that offer nursing stations complete with rocking chairs and privacy curtains.  Though I would not normally include one location in my “full day trips” section, this is certainly one place where you can get the little one’s needs taken care of without even leaving the park.

There is a nice website that offers hints about finding ways to save money on admission: http://www.mousesavers.com/legoland.html#admission  Since this is a pretty popular tourist attraction, if you can avoid the high-tourist season the crowds are not bad at all.