6 tips and tricks for Brick-or-Treat at LEGOLAND California

Hey there! Planning a trip to LEGOLAND California in October? Check out Brick-or-Treat, LEGOLAND's Halloween celebration.

We just returned from a Fall Break trip to LEGOLAND California. Even though my kids are older now (ages 9 and 12), they were really excited to return to this fun family park. We made sure to visit LEGOLAND on a Saturday so that we could attend its special Halloween event, Brick-or-Treat.

Brick-or-Treat is held every Saturday evening during the month of October. It features all the fun of a day at LEGOLAND, plus treat stations and special entertainment.

Want to know what to expect at Brick-or-Treat? Here is everything you need to know to make the most of your evening.

Tickets

Brick-or-Treat is a separately ticketed event. You can purchase the ticket on its own or in a Full Day Package. The online Brick-or-Treat Full Day Package was the best deal for a single day ticket when we visited. However, the Brick-or-Treat Full Day Package is not eligible for San Diego's Kids Free in October promotion. Comparing the two promotions, here is how the math worked for my family of four in 2016. Both include access to SEA LIFE Aquarium.

Kids Free in October, 2 BOGO tickets and 4 Brick-or-Treat tickets: ($113 x 2) + ($40 x 4) = $386

Brick-or-Treat Full Day Package: $70 x 4 = $280

Crowds

Brick-or-Treat was crowded. I walked to my car to get costumes at about 4 pm and it looked like at least as many families were headed into the park as out of it. Crowds thinned slightly once the daytime crowds had all gone, but ride lines were long all evening. We spent our time on the treat stations and the costume contest. We were worn out after spending nearly twelve hours in the park, so we left a little before Brick-or-Treat ended.

Hours

Brick-or-Treat hours are 5-9 pm. Anyone remaining in the park after 5 pm will need an event wristband, which is distributed in two locations to the left and right, inside the front gate. If you'll be visiting the park all day, get your wristband during the soft open or in the middle of the day when the fewest people are entering the park. We did not wait or our wristband, but lines were 15-20 minutes long later in the morning and just before the event.

LEGOLAND California may be open earlier and later than the official hours on Brick-or-Treat Saturdays. On busy days, a few shops and rides near the front of the park (including Ninjago!) open an hour before the rest of the LEGOLAND. It's a great time to enjoy a few rides and beat the crowds when the rest of the park opens. We cruised through the entire park and walked onto most of our top priority rides before 11 am. By lunchtime, the park was packed and waits for many rides were 60+ minutes for the rest of the day, including Brick-or-Treat.

During Brick-or-Treat we learned that the entire park would be open an extra 30 minutes. We didn't stay that long, since we had already spent the full day. Between the early open and the late close, visitors that day got an extra 90 minutes of LEGOLAND fun!

Costumes

Part of the fun of Brick-or-Treat at LEGOLAND is seeing all the fun Halloween costumes! Adults and kids can wear costumes, but like much of LEGOLAND California, this event is mostly about the kids. Masks are OK.

We saw few costumes in the park before 5 pm. We kept our costumes in the car and had no trouble re-entering the park with our Brick-or-Treat wristbands. Locker rentals are available near the front of the park as well.

Treat Stations

Families can collect candy and treats at about a dozen treat stations throughout the park all evening at Brick-or-Treat. We hit at least half of them and picked up a generous handful of wrapped Twizzlers, Smarties, suckers or Clif bars at each. You can collect a special souvenir brick at one of the stations. Ours was a green Duplo brick with a Frankenstein face. Most of the stations had lines, but they moved quickly.

Entertainment

Brick-or-Treat at LEGOLAND California has family-friendly musical entertainment, dance parties, character photo ops, crafts and Halloween-themed shows, rides and decorations throughout the park.

We discovered the Costume Contest in Miniland about an hour into the evening and it was a lot of fun! The emcee interviewed every contestant and kept us laughing with his witty banter and ad libbed jokes.

There are three costume contest categories: Group, LEGO and Creative. We were there for the last two. Except for the Group category (I'm guessing), the costume contest is just for kids. The Creative category had more than 160 entries, while the LEGO category had fewer than 30. Prize baskets are given for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place and all include LEGO merchandise and park tickets. Clever homemade costumes won the night.

How else can we help?

We recommend booking your LEGOLAND trip with Get Away Today. Find a cheaper vacation package? They’ll beat the price by $10. Learn more about our partnership with Get Away Today here.

Save $25 on any San Diego vacation package of 2 nights or more that includes 2 tickets (San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, etc) when you use the coupon code SDFamily.

Allison

Hi there! I am the founder of Tips for Family Trips. I am a married mom of two children, ages 14 and 17, living near Salt Lake City, Utah. We took our first child on a two-week road trip when she was four weeks old and we have been traveling as a family ever since. We love to get out of the house to see and do fun things, both far away and in our own neighborhood.