Legoland Aquarium Makes Amends With Orange County School

DANA POINT, CA — All's well that ends well for the large group of moderate-to-severe special needs children who were denied entrance to Legoland Sea Life Aquarium in Carlsbad after a ticketing error earlier this week. The RH Dana Exceptional Needs school's principal and theme park have worked together to find a resolution for the "mix up," Patch has learned.

For mother Pam Tate, who had to explain to her child why he couldn't "see the sharks," the extended offer will "make things right for the kiddos."

"The teachers worked so hard to get the kids there," she told us. "I hope this will resolve the situation."

On Tuesday, multiple teachers, chaperones and around 40 special needs children set out to the aquarium only to find that the theme park was unable to verify their paid reservation.

"As you can imagine, it was no easy task to take that many special needs children on a field trip," mother Cindy Thomas wrote.

Though they had a receipt, the whole group was turned away, Thomas said.

"The aquarium couldn't find proof of purchase in their reservation system at the gate," she said. The children waited for "about an hour" outside the gates and were told they were "welcome to take pictures outside" by Legoland staff.

Mother Shannen Lob added her grievance on social media.

"So, instead of saying ‘come on in guys, while we sort this out,’ they chose to keep them waiting during which time the manager didn’t even bother to step outside," Lob wrote. "After an hour, the entire group was sent packing."

Andrea Meissner, principal at RH Dana ENF, told Patch she is working with Legoland to plan another day for the students to attend the aquarium.

Legoland responded to Patch that they were working with the school to develop a new experience with the students.

The Legoland Product Excellence Manager reached out to the (school) as soon as he heard about the situation, Patch was told.

"It’s our primary mission here at LEGOLAND California Resort to deliver memorable experiences, and therefore we are extremely disappointed this was far from the outcome for the group," Legoland's media spokesperson told us.

Legoland apologized to the school for the mix up and poor experience, and is reimbursing all of the tickets purchased, they said.

The class has been invited back "for a fun-filled day at LEGOLAND California and SEA LIFE Aquarium.”