February 20, 2013

Off-Island: SEA LIFE Aquarium at LEGOLAND California Resort

When we visited LEGOLAND California, we knew my kids would love visiting SEA LIFE Aquarium since they love seeing all kinds of sea creatures

Highlights of Our Visit:
After watching a short video about the SEA LIFE Aquarium before entering, a very cool exhibit complete with fish and a slide greeted visitors at the Gold Rush River (click on all photos to enlarge).
The kids loved going down the slide, but I secretly wished it was more towards the exit versus the entrance because I had such a hard time getting my kids to move on to other exhibits!

As we walked through the aquarium, it was obvious how excited the boys were to see all sorts of fish, crabs (the new CLAWS exhibit featured some HUGE crabs), seahorses, and other creatures, and they got even more excited seeing awesome LEGO creations all throughout the aquarium.
The kids also loved the Discovery Zone Touch Pool where they got to touch sea stars and horseshoe crabs.
I thought there were a lot of neat exhibits (my personal favorites were the Lost City of Atlantis and the Shoaling Ring). and I liked the interactive areas that allowed the kids to do more than just observe sea creatures through glass. 

Food:
We did not eat at the aquarium, but there is an Ocean Journey Cafe on-site, complete with a LEGO-building station and yet another awesome exhibit!

Visiting with a Child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD):
My oldest child has an ASD, and although I know every child with an ASD behaves differently, I always like to share our experience whenever we visit attractions.

Prior to visiting we made sure to tell him where we were going, and since we've visited other aquariums before he knew what to expect in terms of what we'd be seeing.

Fortunately, because the aquarium was a small facility, my son did not seem over-stimulated and he never wandered off far (he can be prone to wandering) or had any meltdowns (if he had, we would've tried to find seating for him to calm down; although limited, seating can be found in such places as the Cafe and Shoaling Ring).

The only real challenge we faced was getting him to move on from the first exhibit (he kept wanting to go down the slide), but thankfully all of the aquatic and interactive exhibits helped to keep him focused.

Final Thoughts:
Although SEA LIFE Aquarium is a rather small aquarium, what it lacks in size it makes up for with intriguing and informative exhibits, and fun LEGO displays.

We all enjoyed our visit at Sea Life!

Below are more photos from our visit. Enjoy!
Click to play this Smilebox slideshow


SEA LIFE Aquarium at LEGOLAND California Resort: One LEGOLAND Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008; (760) 918-5346


Admission: $20 Adults (ages 13+); $15 Kids (ages 3-12); visit the SEA LIFE Aquarium website for more ticket promotions and offers.


Thank you to LEGOLAND for providing complimentary passes for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.  I received no monetary compensation for this post.

No comments:

Post a Comment