Legoland California Reserve ‘n’ Ride is a ride reservation system that offers guests the opportunity to skip the line on a select number of rides across the park. It is a fantastic perk for busy days and is a great way to avoid waiting in long lines with young kids. Having purchased Reserve ‘n’ Ride during our most recent visit we wanted to share our take on whether Lego California Reserve ‘n’ Ride is worth the cost, including its pros and cons and how to purchase the ticket add-on.
Is Legoland California Reserve ‘n’ Ride Worth the Cost?
Here’s everything you need to know about Legoland California Reserve ‘n’ Ride:
1 | What is Reserve ‘n’ Ride at Legoland California?
Reserve ‘n’ Ride is a ticket add-on that allows you to cut the wait time on a select group of 15 rides – when you reserve the ride you are given a wait time based on your level of Reserve ‘n’ Ride pass and, after the wait time period has passed, you can enter the Reserve ‘n’ Ride line for fast access to the ride.
There are 3 levels: Ultimate, Deluxe and Express and they reduce the way time by 90%, 50% and 25% respectively. So, for example, if a ride has a 60-minute wait and you have an Ultimate Reserve ‘n’ Ride pass then you will be able to join the ride line in 6 minutes, for Deluxe you will wait 30 minutes and for Express 45 minutes.
There are some restrictions depending on the level of pass:
The Express Pass does not include Emmet’s Adventure which is one of the most popular rides in the park and typically has long wait times. Three rides (Deep Sea Adventure, Ninjago and Unikitty’s Disco Drop) are restricted to one ride on the Express Pass, two rides on the Deluxe Pass and unlimited rides on the Express Pass. All other rides included in Reserve ‘n’ Ride are unlimited use.
There is a special line for Reserve ‘n’ Ride guests which provides expedited access to the ride.
At busy times, some of the rides are closed to Reserve ‘n’ Ride reservations and are listed as Full. This is usually just a short-term measure when the Reserve ‘n’ Ride line gets too long and reservations typically open up again a short time later.
Legoland California Tickets
We highly recommend purchasing your Legoland California tickets well in advance of your visit. Reservations are required in advance and Klook.com offers all the ticket options, including some second-day free offers – check prices now!
Buy your Legoland California tickets now
2 | What Rides are included in Reserve ‘n’ Ride?
The following rides are included in the Reserve ‘n’ Ride pass:
- Coastersaurus
- Coast Cruise
- Deep Sea Adventure (one ride on Express, two rides on Deluxe, unlimited rides on Ultimate)
- Driving School
- Emmet’s Flying Adventure (not included in Express Reserve ‘n’ Ride, one ride on Deluxe and Ultimate)
- Kid Power Tower
- Lost Kingdom Adventure
- NINJAGO The Ride (one ride on Express, two rides on Deluxe, unlimited rides on Ultimate)
- Pirates Reef
- Safari Trek
- Splash Battle
- Skipper School
- Technic Coaster
- The Dragon
- Unikitty’s Disco Drop (one ride on Express, two rides on Deluxe, unlimited rides on Ultimate)
3 | What rides are excluded from Reserve ‘n’ Ride?
Some of the smaller rides aimed at younger kids are excluded from Reserve ‘n’ Ride. These include Beetle Bounce, Captain Cranky’s Challenge, Fairytale Brook, Fun Town Police and Fire Rescue, Junior Driving School, Legoland Express, Queen Watevra’s Carousel, Royal Joust, and Sky Patrol.
4| How much does the Reserve ‘n’ Ride Pass Cost in 2024?
The typical cost of the Reserve ‘n’ Ride add-on (this is in addition to regular park tickets which you will need):
- Express: $40 per person
- Deluxe: $60 per person
- Ultimate: $100 per person
We purchased our Reserve ‘n’ Ride tickets at the same time as we reserved our park tickets and our hotel stay.
Depending on availability, there may be Reserve ‘n’ Ride upgrades available on the day – it does sell out on popular holidays and other busy days so you might want to purchase in advance if this aligns with your visit. You can purchase on the app (click on Reserve ‘n’ Ride in the shopping tab on the app and there is a Buy Now option) or there is a Reserve ‘n’ Ride booth close to the park entrance where you can check availability.
5 | Do kids require a Reserve ‘n’ Ride Pass?
Yes but if you have a 3-year-old/under 36 inches you might want to read this carefully and double-check before you purchase – children aged 3 and over require a ticket for Legoland California but Reserve ‘n’ Ride is only payable for children aged 4 and over.
We didn’t want to pay for Reserve ‘n’ Ride for our 3-year-old if it wasn’t necessary, especially given she couldn’t ride everything due to height requirements so this was important for us.
Legoland California Reserve ‘n’ Ride tip: on our most recent visit we purchased a vacation package with a stay at the Legoland Castle Hotel for 2 adults and 2 children (age 3 and 5) and an infant, 4 park tickets (for the 2 adults and 2 children) and 3 Reserve ‘n’ Ride passes (it specified age 4+ in the description). When we made our Rerserve ‘n’ Ride reservations we had the option to reserve for 4 guests so our 3 year old was still able to join us in the Reserve ‘n’ Ride line.
6 | How does Reserve ‘n’ Ride Work?
First of all, you will need to set up the Reserve ‘n’ Ride passes:
Add park tickets and Reserve ‘n’ Ride passes in the app
You will need the Legoland California App (you should have this anyway as it has all the information about rides, wait times, and entertainment!).
We added our park tickets to the app prior to our visit but this didn’t include our pre-purchased Reserve ‘n’ Ride passes – a staff member explained the process to us while we waited for the park to open.
To add Reserve ‘n’ Ride passes if you purchased in advance:
- click on the Shop tab in the app
- select login on the menu dropdown
- log in with your Legoland username and password
- you can also stop by the Reserve ‘n’ Ride booth to activate your account
If you are purchasing on the day:
- click on the Shop tab in the app
- select login on the menu dropdown
- log in with your Legoland username and password
- click Buy Now and select the number of guests (over 36 inches/age 4+)
- Select the level of Reserve ‘n’ Ride pass (express, ultimate or deluxe)
- enter payment details and purchase
- you can also stop by the Reserve ‘n’ Ride booth
Using Reserve ‘n’ Ride
- The wait times for each Reserve ‘n’ Ride ride are listed in the app – these reflect the actual wait times based on the level of your Reserve ‘n’ Ride pass.
- Click on the ride you wish to go on and reserve your spot for the required number of guests.
- A timer will then appear on the ride which counts down the time until you can enter the Reserve ‘n’ Ride line.
- A QR code will appear after the wait time has elapsed. A member of staff will scan the QR code at the entrance and you can then enter the Reserve ‘n’ Ride line.
If a ride shows as Full/ Closed:
Legoland California limits the number of guests who can access the Reserve ‘n’ Ride line. The line is closed when it reaches capacity – this is to ensure that you will experience a short wait time in this line and that Reserve ‘n’ Ride is beneficial.
We find the rides tend to open again relatively quickly as the line clears.
7 | Do I still have to wait in line with Reserve ‘n’ Ride?
We visited Legoland California on a really busy weekend (President’s Weekend) when the park was at capacity and there was still a significant wait time for many rides even when using the Reserve ‘n’ Ride line – we waited at least 30 minutes to board many of the rides after entering the Reserve ‘N’ Ride line (Ninjago, Emmet’s Flying Adventure and the Dragon all had significant wait times even with our Reserve ‘n’ Ride).
That’s not to say the Reserve ‘N’ Ride pass isn’t worth it – it was more than worth it and the amount of time we saved waiting in lines was substantial. The regular lines for the most popular rides were well in excess of an hour and, with young kids, we wouldn’t have been able to ride any of the big rides without Reserve ‘n’ Ride.
8 | Which level of Reserve ‘n’ Ride should I purchase at Legoland California?
We recommend the Deluxe or Ultimate Reserve ‘n’ Ride pass.
The reason for recommending Deluxe or Ultimate is that they include one ride on Emmet’s Flying Adventure. It is one of the best rides in the park (it’s Legoland California’s equivalent to Soarin’ in Disneyland) and expedited entry is only included with the Deluxe and Ultimate Pass – the line is consistently long and even with Reserve ‘n’ Ride it still takes a while to board.
We went with the Ultimate Reserve ‘n’ Ride as we wanted to cover the majority of the rides in a single day so the 90% reduction in wait time was important to us – even with the reduced wait times we just about managed this ask! If you have 2 days, the Deluxe Reserve ‘n’ Ride is a good compromise as you can pick up any rides you missed on your second day.
The park opening hours are quite limited so we only had time to make it onto most rides once, therefore, having restrictions on the number of rides wasn’t a big deal to us – we did take advantage of multiple rides on Ninjago and Unikitty’s Disco Drop and rode them a few times. Our kids rode Junior Driving School and Beetle Bounce at least 3 times each but they weren’t included in Reserve ‘n’ Ride!
9 | Do I still need Reserve ‘n’ Ride with Early Access?
Yes! We had early access 30 minutes prior to park opening on 2 mornings and we still needed Reserve ‘n’ Ride. Early access only lasts 30 minutes and is limited to a small number of rides: Coastersaurus, Coast Cruise, Ninjago, Safari Trek (this only seems to open for early access on busy days) and Fairy Tale Brook were open during early access so we sill need Reserve ‘n’ Ride for the 11 rides that are included in Reserve ‘n’ Ride.
Check out our guide to Early Access at Legoland California
So…Is Reserve ‘n’ Ride Worth it at Legoland California?
If you are visiting on busy days or at weekends when the park is closer to capacity then yes, Reserve ‘n’ Ride is absolutely worth it.
On our most recent visit over Presidents Weekend, the park was close to full on Saturday and Sunday and we were still able to ride all of the Reserve ‘n’ Ride rides in one day- the lines were so long that I’m not convinced we would have managed to ride any of the most popular rides without the pass.
Is Reserve ‘n’ Ride worth it for younger kids?
Yes! Our 5-year-old could (and did!) ride every ride included on the Reserve ‘n’ Ride pass. Our 3-year-old, who didn’t need a pass, only missed out on Lego Technic Coaster with its 42″ minimum height requirement so I’d guess that most average-height 4-year-olds will be able to ride 14 of the Reserve ‘n’ Ride rides as well.
