If you are planning a trip to New York and Legoland New York is on your bucket list of places to visit, don’t start planning before reading this blog. We have all been to places where we wish someone would have told us what to expect so, I am sure that you can relate. This past weekend my husband and I packed our car and drove almost 6 hours to New York with our two kids (ages, eight and five) to visit Legoland New York. We arrived the night before our scheduled tickets to the theme park and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Middletown New York.
The hotel was only a short 15-minute drive to Legoland Theme Park and we were able to save over $875 by staying at the nearby hotel. First and foremost, we were not going to pay over $878+ per night just to stay at the resort. As a family of five, I am always going to encourage you to travel smart and save some cash. 😉
I wanted to share all the details of our trip in this blog post so that you can be as prepared as possible for your trip!
Disclosure: I was provided with media tickets to visit LEGOLAND New York to facilitate my review, but that does not influence my opinion. We still had to cover the cost of food, parking, add-ons, travel costs, and more, so trust me, I am keeping it real as always.
About LEGOLAND New York Theme Park
Legoland New York is a theme park for families with kids ages three to 10. If you visit their website, the age recommendation is 2 to 12 years old, but I have to disagree. Most of the rides are for younger kids and our soon to be 9 year old was not as thrilled as my younger kid. The park features more than 50 rides and attractions, all based on the popular Lego toy line. if you have watched any of the movies with your kids, I am sure you know what I mean.
Legoland New York is located in Goshen, New York, about 60 miles from New York City. The park opened in 2020 and is the second Legoland theme park in the United States (after Legoland Florida).
Pro tip: If you are a Super LEGO fan and own any minifigure, do you know you can trade them with the staff if you bring them. Bring your old ones to get a new one.
1-Day Ticket, Annual Passes, and Parking
Legoland New York is open daily from April to October. Ticket prices start at $67.99 for both adults and kids. Seniors (ages 65+) and military personnel can get a discount on tickets and Annual passes are also available for those that are interested.
The Annual passes starting price at $149, which includes free parking and discounts on food and merchandise. If you want to review the different types of options available click HERE.
Same-day tickets cost $67.99 online for adults and $89.99 at the gate. So you must book your ticket in advance to save money. Also, when you are booking your ticket online go ahead and pay for parking as the cost is $24 online and $27 at the gate. Since our theme park tickets were sent to us via email. I had no idea that we needed to pay $27 for parking until it was time to leave the park.
Children under the age of three are free.
Hours of Operation
Legoland New York is open Monday – Friday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM and Saturday – Sunday from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Don’t worry about the short hours during the week. At 37 weeks pregnant, we walked the whole park and my kids got on all of the rides within 6 hours. So, you can do the theme park in one day if you are strategic. Keep reading, I will share more about that!
Pro tip: You can enter the theme park starting at 9:45 AM, so be sure to arrive early to have enough time to park and be at the gate before 9:45 AM.
The things that no one shares about LEGOLAND New York
- PACK some water, juices, snacks, or sandwiches. YESSS, they will allow you to bring drinks and food. So you have no excuse to spend so much money on food inside of the park unless you want to. Bring a mini portable cooler and pack a few things to keep everyone happy and hydrated.
- Leave your cash at the hotel or in your packet. The theme park does not accept cash payments. So plan accordingly and bring your travel card, credit card, or debit card. They also accept Apple Pay.
- Download the “LEGOLAND New York” app. The only way you will be able to purchase FOOD is through the app, so save time now and download it. The app also offers other perks like you can review ride times, schedule show times and locations, reserve rides for a fee, and they will even send you promo deals when they’re available.
- They have a baby care station. If you need to change your baby in peace, quiet, and a super clean bathroom. Check out the theme park map and look for Lego City. The baby care station is in the same building as the Brickolini’s Pizza and Pasta Buffet.
- Pack an extra pair of clothes for everyone and bring some waterproof sneakers or water shoes. At Lego City, the Palace 4D Cinema has an interesting Ninjago movie for you to watch. Seriously, you and your kids will come out of there WET. So be prepared to have your hair ruined and enjoy the FUN. 😂
- The Lego Pirate Theme areas have three cool water rides. So if you are planning to get on any of these rides, you will get wet.
- Service dogs are welcome to the theme park, but they cannot ride on rides.
- If you are pregnant like me and the walk is just too much, motorized wheelchairs are available for rent at the Mini Market located on Brick Street. Click HERE to learn more about the rental prices.
- Last on my list. The ride wait time is terrible, not because the lines were long but because the ride operators are not properly trained or experienced. We stayed in a short line of like 5 people for 30 minutes. So, I just want to set the expectation (be patient), and let’s hope that by the time you visit things are running smoother.
Exploring the theme park
Now, let’s get to the fun part. What to ride first at LEGOLAND New York? My advice is to take advantage that they will allow you in 15 minutes before opening time. So, since the park opens at 10:00 AM, get there between 9:20 -9:30 AM. At 9:45 AM you can enter the park and start your day at Brick Street. The theme park consists of seven themed areas: The Brick Street, Bricktopia, LEGO Ninja World, LEGO Castle, LEGO City, LEGO Pirates, and Miniland.
Brick Street
Upon entering the park, this will be the first section you will make a stop at the Brick Party Carousel. The Brick Street area is also the place where you can get a portable charging kiosk, stroller, and locker rental. If you forgot to have breakfast or need to get coffee, tea, and cold drinks the Brick Street Café is a great place to stop. The café has a variety of breakfast items, sandwiches, salads, and snacks.
Bricktopia
Bricktopia is a LEGO-themed play area for kids of all ages. There are over 500,000 LEGO bricks to build with, and a variety of activities to keep you busy. You can also find the Smokey’s Brick-B-Que, What’s Poppin Food Cart, and Top of the Block Cart in case you have an appetite and need to get some food.
The DJ Dizzy Disco Spin and the LEGO Factory Adventure Ride were my kid’s favorites in this area.
Lego Ninjago World
In this area, you will find LEGO Ninjago the Ride. This is a great first time interactive ride for small kids and especially ones that love LEGO Ninjago. There are also two other rides: Spinjitzu Slam – Jay and Zane. If you are looking to dine in this area you can find the Ninja Kitchen.
Lego Castle
The LEGO Castle area is where you will find the Dragon Coaster. You must be at least 48″ to ride or have a supervising companion. The LEGO Friends Heartlake City Express Train is also in this area. And if you are looking for a place to dine, you can stop by Royal Feast or Showtime Snacks, and the Wizard’s Frozen Wonder in this area.
There are seven rides: The LEGO Friends Nature Trails, Nature Maze, Merlin’s Flying Machines, Dragon Apprentice, The Dragon, and another really unique ride, The Tower Climb Tournament.
In this area, you can also rent portable charging Kiosks. Oh, don’t forget to stop at the LEGOLAND Theater.
Lego City
This is a great area for little ones and it was my kid’s favorite area too. The LEGO City Driving School is a must-do. And if you are looking to dine here, there are Four places: Granny Apple Fries, Brickolini’s Pizza & Pasta, City Dogs and the City Scoops Ice Cream Cart.
There are also five rides in this area: The Coast Guard Academy, The Wharf, The City Police Build Experience, Junior Driving School (ages 3-5), Driving school, and Fire Academy. The Palace Cinema will have an interesting movie for you to watch!
Seriously, don’t skip it.
If you are looking to take a break to breastfeed or change your little one’s diaper. Check out the baby changing station. Also, this area features a changing station, body dryers, locker room rental, and a Baby Care and First Aid.
Lego Pirates
Get ready to get wet in all of the fun water rides. I hope you packed an extra pair of clothes because you are going to need it. There are four rides: The Anchors Away, Splash Battle, Shiver Me Bricks, and the Rogue Riders. And if you are looking to dine in this area there are three places: Everything Tacos, Brickbeard’s Food Market, and Pirates Place.
Are you wet from riding the Rouge Riders or the Splash Battle? You can find body dryers at LEGO Pirates.
Miniland
This is one of the best parts of LEGOLAND. You can find all of your favorite landmarks in New York. There are over 34 million LEGO bricks used to build Miniland USA. Not only that, but they’ve recreated interactive LEGO cities from all over the world! It was really cool to see some of the different places we’ve visited in LEGO form and some places that we’d like to visit.
The Water Playground (Opening late summer of 2022)
The Water Playground will be a great place for the kids to cool off on those hot days. it’s needed and as of now, they are still working on building it from what we saw during our visit.
Most Unique Rides at LEGOLAND New York
Even though I felt like the rides at this park are for smaller kids, there were a few attractions that caught our eye and were worth the wait time.
The Palace Cinema provided some much needed shade and A/C from the sun but it also gave us an entertaining (and sometimes wet) treat with their Ninjago 4D movie experience. The Fire Academy also located in LEGO City will test your family’s teamwork skills as you work together to save a burning building in LEGO City. It’s combination of teamwork, water works, and a race against time definitely got us pumped up. The Tower Climb Tournament will absolutely test your strength. I’ve never seen a “ride” where you have to pull yourself up the tower similar to a rock climb but don’t let that intimidate you!
- Palace Cinema in LEGO City
- Fire Academy in LEGO City
- Tower Climb Tournament in LEGO Castle
I hope this blog is helpful as you decide to plan a trip to LEGOLAND New York!
