Legoland California Water Park Tips
The Legoland California water park opens up in May, but is it worth the extra cost to get in? Let’s review the rides and attractions inside the water park and answer frequently asked questions!
Legoland California’s water park is divided into three main areas: Legoland Water Park, Chima Water Park, and Surfer’s Cove. We’ll take a look at each area and the attractions and dining areas in each.
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Legoland Water Park
Yes it seems redundant to have an “area” called the Legoland Water Park, but that’s what they call it so we’ll run with it!
The Legoland Water Park area has the following rides and attractions:
Build-a-Raft River
The Build-a-Raft River is a lazy river where swimmers can float endlessly on one-person or two-person rafts. The rafts have spots to attach one or more of the many large soft plastic LEGO bricks floating in the river. You can pick them up and build your own creation as you float along, or just relax and let the bricks float on by.
On our most recent visit in May 2022, the Build-a-Raft River was closed. We were disappointed because this is one of our favorite ways to relax at the water park. The lifeguard we spoke to let us know that they didn’t have the staff required to open it — not enough lifeguards! Hopefully the summer will bring more employees and we’ll see this attraction open back up again.
Duplo Splash Safari
Have kids under 6? This is the perfect spot for them. This area has a small slide, shallow wading pool, and lots of big Duplo animals to splash around.
Imagination Station
The Imagination Station is a nice spot to play when your kids want to take a break from being in water. They might still get wet here but not soaked!
Joker Soaker
The Joker Soaker is a big tower with a bucket of water that fills and splashes down on anyone underneath. It’s in a shallow pool area so kids can splash around while they wait for the bucket to fill back up!
Orange Crush
The Orange Crush is a water slide built for the whole family to ride! The large tube fits up to 6 people and sails you down a fun water slide into a waiting pool below.
Pirate Reef
Pirate Reef is an actual ride that you can access from either the Legoland side or the water park side. I’d highly recommend only doing this ride from the water park side when you have your bathing suit on!
As I mention in my Legoland Insider Tips post, you get absolutely soaked on this ride! There is really no escaping it. When the giant flume hits the water at the bottom of the hill, all the water it displaces flies up into the air and lands directly back on you.
If you didn’t get wet enough on the ride, you can stand on the bridge that goes over the ride and get soaked again!
Soak-n-Sail
Splash Out and Twin Chasers Water Slides
Splash Out is a blue single rider water slide that “splashes out” into a pool below. The pool isn’t for wading in though so be sure to get out quickly and avoid the lifeguard’s whistle!
The Twin Chasers water slides are two red single rider slides that you and another rider can race down! Challenge Mom or Dad, your sibling or a friend to see who gets to the bottom first!
Splash Zoo
Splash Zoo is a bit of a mystery to me because the description on the Legoland website does not match up to what I actually saw at the water park. There are supposed to be Duplo animals and a teeter-totter but all that’s there right now is a big splash pad. I can only guess that the animals were taken out for some reason and maybe we’ll see them come back in the future. Still, a fun place to play in the water for kids who might not love the slides or pools.
Surfer’s Cove at Legoland Water Park
The Surfer’s Cove area is the newest addition to the Legoland water park. It features sand beach areas for lounging, another splash pad called Wipeout Lagoon, and a fun timed multi-rider water slide. Riders grab a mat and race down one of six slides to see who is the fastest on Riptide Racers.
Chima Water Park at Legoland California
The Chima water park is inside the Legoland water park but there is one entrance point so it can easily be closed off from the rest of the water park. The last two times we visited in 2022, the Chima water park was not open. The sign indicated it would open in “summer” and when we asked around the consensus was it would open in June.
Unfortunately this meant I couldn’t get in and take pictures, but I’ll still describe what is inside this Lego Chima-themed water park!
Cragger’s Swamp
Cragger’s Swamp is like a massive jungle gym in the water. The base is a shallow pool and kids can climb up and down stairs, get dumped on with buckets of water, and ride two water slides — Crug’s Run and Crooler’s Twist. There are plenty of chairs around for you to sit and keep an eye on your kids.
Eglor’s Build a Boat
This attraction is almost exactly the same as the Build-a-Boat attraction inside Legoland. Kids use a pre-built boat base, add Lego blocks to it, and then send it down a water table.
Lion Temple Wave Pool
This huge wave pool is a lot of fun for older kids who can swim, or younger ones that can still hang on to Mom and Dad. To be extra safe, the Legoland water park does have life vests for kids to use. In fact, kids under 48″ are required to wear a life vest, and kids under 42″ must be accompanied by an adult while in the wave pool.
Legoland Water Park Cabanas
One of the questions I am asked the most is whether renting a cabana at the Legoland water park is worth it.
Here’s what I think. If you have a larger group, are celebrating a special occasion, or absolutely need to have shade, then yes it’s worth renting a cabana.
However, if you enter the water park right when it opens, you are almost certainly guaranteed to find seats in a shaded area. We just put our towels over the chairs we want and we’ve never had anyone take our spots.
Cabanas aren’t cheap, but if you have a larger group to split the cost or maybe Grandma and Grandpa are coming and offer to pay, then go for it! Cabana rental starts at $150 for a standard cabana and goes up to $250 for a deluxe cabana. Here’s a breakdown of the differences:
| Standard Cabana – $150/day* | Premium Cabana – $200/day* | Deluxe Cabana – $250/day* |
|---|---|---|
| All-day private cabana starting at park opening until park close for up to 6 guests (8 max for additional fee) | All-day private cabana starting at park opening until park close for up to 6 guests (8 max for additional fee) | All-day private cabana starting at park opening until park close for eight guests (12 max for additional fee) |
| Two chaise lounge chairs | Two chaise lounge chairs | Four deluxe chaise lounge chairs |
| Two chairs | Two deluxe premium chairs | Four deluxe premium chairs |
| One mini fridge with six water bottles | One mini fridge with six water bottles | One mini fridge with six water bottles |
| One tote bag with four towels | One tote bag with four towels | One tote bag with two towels |
| Wristband allowing Water Park re-entry throughout the day | Wristband allowing Water Park re-entry throughout the day | Wristband allowing Water Park re-entry throughout the day |
| All-day cabana host service | All-day cabana host service | All-day cabana host service |
| Personal safe | Personal safe |
It’s nice to have an attendant to bring you food and drinks, but I’ve never seen huge lines at the water park dining areas. Note that food and beverage is NOT included, the attendant only places the order and brings the food to you.
The two upper tier cabanas do offer a personal safe, but if you are worried about valuables, you can always rent a locker.
If you decide to rent a cabana, keep in mind that they do sell out during the higher traffic summer days and holidays. You can reserve a cabana on Legoland’s web site ahead of time to insure you have one for your visit.
Also be aware that the cabana prices that Legoland lists on their web site are only starting prices. When I checked on the prices in July 2022, standard cabanas started at $250, premium at $350 and deluxe at $400! Yikes! On busy days like the 4th of July, standard cabanas were already sold out.
Legoland Water Park Dining
There are three places to eat inside the Legoland water park. Two are located inside the main water park area and one is located inside the Chima water park area.
Beach Street Tacos
I haven’t seen Beach Street Tacos open in quite a while, but hopefully they will open up during the busier summer months. They offer three kinds of tacos — fish, carnitas, and carne asada. Kids can grab a taco or chicken tenders kids meal here, and Mom and Dad can grab a cold beer or Mai Tai! You can also order chips and salsa and a side of guacamole.
Beach Front Grill
The Beach Front Grill is the only restaurant inside the water park that seems to be always open (during water park open hours). They offer a California chicken burrito, fish burrito, vegetarian wrap, turkey club wrap, personal pizzas, and salads.
We’ve tried the chicken burrito, fish burrito, and vegetarian wraps. They are all good but very filling so if you aren’t that hungry then definitely share!
Kids can choose from pizza, chicken tenders, or a quesadilla. The quesadilla is pretty small, about half a tortilla. The kids pizza is also only half a personal pizza, so if your kid is older or hungry, definitely opt for the personal pizza from the adult menu instead.
And yes, the Beach Front Grill offers adult beverages as well.
Wolves’ Den Grill
Over in the Lego Chima water park area you’ll find the Wolves’ Den Grill for those of you who aren’t into the beachy Mexican fare of the other two restaurants. The Wolves’ Den offers the standard hamburger and hot dog options.
Legoland Water Park Locker Rental
While it’s not necessary to rent a locker inside the water park, it’s nice to have a place to stash your valuables and keep your street clothes and shoes dry.
Tip: locker rentals last for the entire open hours of the water park, so if you want to head back into the Legoland park and leave your wet suits in a locker, you can. Just set a timer to remind yourself to get back to the water park before they close and grab your stuff!
Lockers come in two sizes – medium ($12) and large ($16). For our family of four we rent a large locker and have no problem cramming all our stuff inside. You get a wristband with a barcode that allows you access to the locker the entire day. You can open and close as many times as you need to.
If you’d rather not rent a locker but have a few small items that you’d like to keep safe, we love this locking bag that comes with a security tether so you can lock it to your chair! It’s also waterproof and doesn’t require a key because it uses a combination lock. It’s really the perfect accessory to have at a water park!
Legoland California Water Park Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! The Legoland California water park does NOT supply pool towels so you need to bring your own. However, if you are staying at the Legoland Hotel or the Legoland Castle Hotel, you may borrow pool towels from the hotel to use in the water park.
Yes. The Legoland water park does not have it’s own entrance, it can only be accessed from Legoland. You must have multi-park ticket in order to get into the water park.
Hours vary seasonally, so be sure to check the Legoland web site before you go! In general, the water park opens for the season in May (weekends only) and closes again in November (weekends only in September and October).
No. Since the water park only has an entrance inside Legoland, you must buy a multi-park ticket in order to visit the water park.
The Legoland water park has a limited number of cabanas for rent. There is plenty of seating around the water park, but not all of it will be in the shade. If you enter the water park right when it opens, you will have no problem getting a good spot to sit. On crowded weekends, you’ll have a harder time finding shade if you don’t enter the water park right when it opens. Cabanas offer a private, enclosed, shaded area to sit but they are pricey. During peak summer hours cabanas start at $250 and go up to $400 a day.
I hope this post helps you plan your day at the Legoland California water park! Did I miss anything? Drop me a note in the comments and I will try to find the answer for you!
