Legoland Homeschoolers Discount

[SundayCrepes]

During the school year, homeschoolers can go to Legoland for just $21 per person. You have to register 1 or 2 weeks early (their site is inconsistent so I registered 2 weeks in advance. You don't actually buy the tickets until you are at the gate.) We got the legoland and aquarium package. I thought the aquarium was fun, but the kids just wanted to get back to the rides. My husband pointed out that if it were crowded the aquarium would be unbearable.

Here's what I wrote on facebook:

Yesterday was Legoland. It was a totally perfect day. Hardly any crowds (off-season Monday, I was told.) Weather was overcast. Our 3 yr old daughter was a bit uncertain about standing by the measuring post (to see if she was big enough to ride) at the beginning of the day. At the end of the day she would run up to each post with glee--even if we'd just ridden the ride 3 times. Longest line was 15 minutes in the morning, the rest of the day top waiting time was about 5 minutes. Our 5 yr old son loved the coastersaurus roller coaster. He rode it 7 times. Daughter liked the safari cars. We rode that 4 times plus however many times she and my husband went on it when son and I were on the roller coaster. The aquarium had some interesting features, but both kids wanted to get back to the rides. The place is certainly geared towards families with little kids. The bathroom stalls are big enough to have 3 kids in there and the doors are low enough to the ground that no one can crawl out (these are the regular bathroom stalls. There's also family bathrooms.) Another great feature is that all rides have the loopbacks like Disney in case there are long lines. However, at each ride there is a play area where kids can play...you guessed it, Legos or Duplos. So, the kids can play there while the adults stand in line. We had no need for that since the lines were so short, but what a great feature. Son was exhausted when we left. Daughter took a nap in the truck so she sang the 30 minute drive to the hotel. After dinner we went to the hottub. The kids went back and forth between the hottub and the pool. Don't know how they could go from the hot water to the cold water, but they did. By the way, using the Legoland homeschool discount saved us $220.

[Mere]

We took advantage of this last year and it was fabulous.  I felt bad when the lady in line in front of us paid almost $200 for her family to get in, and we paid half of that for more people.  It is a GOOD deal. 

[AAK]

Man, I wish I had known about that a few years ago.  We did have fun though (and at the end of January, we didn't have lines either!)

Amy

[Wittyone]

Where on the website do you register?  I looked around but didn't find anything obvious.  We just went last week and felt we did pretty well with the brick or treat pass and a free kids ticket - but it was still way more than $21 per person!!  We know we will want to go back again so thanks for posting this info!

[SundayCrepes]

http://california.legoland.com/en/tickets/groups/education_programs/home_school_days/

[Wittyone]

Thank you!

[liberalmama]

Hi --I'm trying to get some info on this "homeschool" discount. I'm just curious how Legoland justifies giving this very very big discount to homeschool families and not to those attending traditional schools. (and I get that it's a marketing thing to bring people into the park when school is in session. But it seems odd to reward people just for homeschooling when they don't seem to have another comparable discount for students who are not homeschooled.)

I also don't understand why small children -- such as a 3 y/o who is not old enough to attend traditional school would be eligible for such a discount, especially when there are other families playing 200 dollars to get in. For example, if the person in front of you in line has a 3 y/o and doesn't send them to preschool, well, I suppose technically that's "homeschooling." 

I'm also aware that all you have to do is enter your family's name as the school to get the discount. I'm glad to get a discount, but think it's pretty cheesy that Legoland singles out this particular demographic for a special discount. And it's a very, very big one.

I guess it irritated me because I send my daughter to preschool part time. I signed up for the homeschool discount and another mom implied that I was being "unethical" somehow by signing up for it. I know other moms of 4 y/olds who have signed up and consider themselves "homeschooling" because they don't send their kids to preschool. I do as much "homeschooling" w/ my four-year-old as they do. Then I got to thinking that giving this discount to this particular population is kind of unethical in and of itself.

Wondering if anyone else thinks it's weird -- or if Legoland has some sort of agenda I'm not aware of.

[4evermom]

Originally Posted by liberalmama 

Hi --I'm trying to get some info on this "homeschool" discount. I'm just curious how Legoland justifies giving this very very big discount to homeschool families and not to those attending traditional schools.

I doubt LEGO has any agenda. After all, they give teachers free admission on certain days. The field trip price for a school that hasn't visited LEGOland in the past three years is $6 per person. It's $8 if the school has visited more recently. That's compared to $21 for homeschoolers. They have discounts for girl scouts and other youth groups that are better than the homeschooler discount.

Most museums and "attractions" give discounts to schools and teachers. That's something homeschooled families have traditionally never been able to take advantage of. In more recent years, they've started offering similar discounts to homeschoolers to be fair. Some places give discounts to any group that makes arrangements in advance and presents themselves as a group. I've participated in such groups as a homeschooler and it can be very difficult to organize due to the fact that each homeschool family has a different schedule.

[liberalmama]

ok -- that makes some sense. I can see the rationale behind it now. I appreciate you taking time respond. Thank you :)

I still think it's weird that they give the discount to the parents and also the children in the family under 5. The parents are technically "teachers" but so are most parents.  They can't walk in on special days and get a huge discount for the whole family.  Guess my problem is in giving the entire family this huge discount. All parents teach their children.

It makes some sense but I think any family should be able to get in for that price on that day. Going to Legoland with your family (including siblings who are 3 or 4 years old) is very different from going to Legoland with your homeschool group (whom I believe should get the field trip price) or your school class and your teachers.  But hey, Blackstone/Merlin is a private company so they can dole out these discounts as they see fit.

[4evermom]

Homeschoolers don't all have "groups." Most don't, actually. So it's frequently like trying to coordinate a bunch of minor acquaintances with different work schedules, not so simple to have a field trip. And the school field trip prices allows for parents and siblings of the student to come along for only $22 each. It also allows one adult as a chaperone for every 3 children for the $8 price. So that's a dollar more for the extra parent chaperones and the children under 5 but still only $8 for the school student and school teacher and chaperones compared to $21 for the homeschooled students and homeschool teacher/parent.

What I really want to know about LEGO, is why haven't they opened a LEGOland someplace I can get to? Now THAT'S not fair!
 

 

Edited by 4evermom - 3/9/12 at 6:34am

[OkiMom]

I went to Legoland Florida with a home school group when it first opened. Tickets were 5.00 per person ages 3 and above. It was great HOWEVER if you have smaller children you need to make sure to have another adult with you to help out with the rides. Most can't be ridden by children under a certain age/height combo. We still enjoyed ourselves and for the price it was a great "cheap" day for us. Florida's Legoland also has a botanical gardens attached that my girls loved to walk through.