If you’re looking for a great place to explore with your kids and enjoy the last days of summer, LEGOLAND New York is it. Find out everything you need to know to plan your trip in this post.
For more fun things to do, check out all of our attraction reviews.
If you’re into LEGO toys, LEGOLAND has to be on your bucket list. It’s a LEGO-themed theme park. There are nine across the globe with a trio of them in the United States (LEGOLAND Florida, LEGOLAND California, and LEGOLAND New York).
Michelle took her family to the LEGOLAND New York Resort, the third LEGOLAND park in the United States, based in the town of Goshen. It was their first visit and they had such a great time, so she wrote us this LEGOLAND New York review post. This post is based on that location. If you’re looking for an in depth review of the other locations, well, you’ll have to wait until we get there to check those out.
Also, this is based on LEGOLAND New York in Goshen, not the LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester in Yonkers, New York. That’s also a LEGO themed park, but it’s smaller than LEGOLAND. The Discovery Centers also act more as a creative workshop with a focus on building, although they do have some rides.
If you love LEGO bricks and you’re trying to find a way to get excited before your LEGOLAND trip, make our DIY LEGO Head Marker Holder.
And, don’t forget about our Gifts For LEGO Lovers gift guide if you’re looking going to LEGOLAND as a birthday surprise and you’re looking for gift ideas to match your theme.
LEGOLAND New York: Everything you need to know
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LEGOLAND New York is in Goshen, New York, which is in Orange County. That’s about 65 miles north of New York City (and about 40 minutes north of where I grew up).
The 150-acre theme park is the largest of the LEGOLAND parks — and has room to be even larger. The property is 500-acres, so there’s a good chance it’ll expand past the LEGOLAND hotel and theme park that’s on the property right now.
LEGOLAND New York is split into seven LEGO-themed lands: Brick Street, Bricktopia, LEGO Ninjago World, LEGO Castle, LEGO City, LEGO Pirates, and Miniland. Plus, there’s the aforementioned LEGOLAND hotel, with 250-rooms. Unlike LEGOLAND, which is open seasonally, the hotel is open year round.
LEGOLAND New York Review
Take it away, Michelle …
My six-year old had asked earlier in the month if we could go to LEGOLAND after seeing an advertisement at Burger King. Burger King has a BOGO offer, which works perfectly for our big family trying to save money but still have experiences.
Side note: You can also get discounted LEGOLAND New York tickets through Groupon.
One of my sons is turning 4 in a week, so this was a really special trip. I pre-purchased the tickets and parking online at the LEGOLAND New York website, which made things a lot easier.
We went later in the day because that’s what worked with our schedule that day. I was worried we wouldn’t get to do much because the park closes at 6 pm (every day but Saturday), but I figured since it’s our first time, we didn’t need to see the entire park. I would just let the boys take in what we could and if we really liked it, I could plan a trip to go back.
The good thing about arriving later in the day is we were able to walk right up to bag check with no line. There were LEGO figures and vehicles on the way in that my boys were super excited to see and pose for pictures with. Security at the park entrance was really nice and we passed through easily with my giant Wonderfold wagon, a diaper bag, my crossbody bag, a baby carrier, and my four children.
The first thing I noticed was how empty it seemed and for that I was grateful. I mentioned it was our first time at Legoland and the gentleman at the gate handed us two maps and told us about the LEGOLAND Resort Mobile App. It has an interactive map, a list of show times, dining options, and ride wait times.
Speaking of wait times, there’s a skip the link purchase option. I’m glad I read online that it’s not really necessary to purchase because we never encountered a long wait. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a ride. So I’m glad we didn’t waste our money on that.
Our first ride was the Duplo carousel. It goes really slowly, but my boys were happy. After the carousel, we stopped at one of the building centers to build some fun LEGO models. Then, we started to explore the other lands.
Now, pro tip: Make sure you have good walking shoes on because within two hours I had hit my daily step goal. I, however, had the wrong shoes on, so as I write this I’m soaking my swollen swollen hooves.
The walk down to Miniland reminds me of the famous Lombard Street in San Francisco. It is long and steep! I had seen posts about a hill, but did not expect this. It was worth it, though. My boys loved seeing the LEGO cities, like Las Vegas, and famous landmarks, like the Statue Of Liberty. Most of them are interactive, which is so cool. It’s amazing how creative these LEGO masters are.
The themed lands are really so cool to see. While you’re exploring them, make sure you get to LEGO City. There’s a movie theater there that plays LEGO movies. We were able to catch the new 4D movie DreamZzz.
Don’t be fooled by the name. This is not the place to catch a quick nap. The seats have built in fans and water sprayers that give you a good surprise! After the short film we found a character from the movie and were able to take pictures with her.
We didn’t have enough time to reserve time slot at the water park (maybe next summer, you can only reserve 20 minutes slots anyway) so we cruised right by to LEGO Pirates: our favorite! What pirate-themed land is complete without a pirate ship on water!
Water randomly shoot out of the seas in that land, so even without going to the water park, they were able to get wet. I’m glad I had brought a towel and change of clothes for them. They loved spraying people and getting sprayed.
We traveled to LEGO Ninjago World, which is Asian-themed, and the food smelled so good. I wish we would have had lunch there.
Speaking of lunch, while my two older kids rode one of the roller coasters, I took the two little kids to get some food. I chose the wrong place.
We ate at Royal Feast, which is a mobile order location. That’s convenient, butt I didn’t know the food was precooked. I ordered a cheeseburger, hot dog and the kids meal (two chicken tenders, fruit cup, and chips with apple juice pouch). The cheeseburger tasted like it was made a few days ago, the hot dog bread looked good but the hot dog was a weird color. The chicken tenders were okay.
I wish we had tried Smokey’s Brick-B-Que, the BBQ cafeteria, or the taco stand that smelled good.
What was really good is I purchased one of the LEGO themed refillable cups for $19.99. That’s the price for the day of your visit and we definitely got our money’s worth refilling in all three of the refillable stations. The cup has a sensor on it that the refilling station can detect, so you can’t bring your own water bottle and try to fill it up there.
One of the sweetest memories was my two middle boys got matching light up swords at one of the gift shops. The kind people ringing us up gave my son a birthday pin. The pin is so great. Instead of a pin with a sharp pin that could stab young children, these are plastic rounds that snap together. Any staff member who saw the pin said happy birthday and made the day extra special for my son. One staff member even gifted him a LEGO toy.
Quick note about the park: One last thing to add: The whole park is cashless. So, you have to have a credit card, debit card, or Apple Pay to pay. There are three Cash-to-Card Machines at LEGOLAND New York where you can convert your cash to a prepaid card that can be used just like a VISA card within the park. That’s kind of annoying but it made everything move much faster.
We stayed until a little after 6 pm and just followed the crowds out. That walk up the hills really did my feet in, but hearing the boys say, “This was the best day ever” made it worth it. I am strongly considering getting season passes because it’s so close,, the boys had so much fun, and LEGOLAND has a great deal (buy 16 months for the price of 12).
LEGOLAND New York: Frequently Asked Questions
1 Legoland Wy, Goshen, NY 10924
(845) 410-0290
Sunday through Friday: 10 am to 6 pm; Saturday: 10 am to 7 pm (through August).
It’s only open Friday through Sunday, plus select Mondays, in September; Thursday through Sunday, and select Mondays, in October; Saturday and Sunday, plus select weekdays, in November.
A 1-Day Theme Park Ticket is $59 (pre-tax and fees) for ages 3 and up. Annual passes start at $149.99.
Groupon sells discounted LEGOLAND New York tickets, so that’s a good way to save some money.
Also, if you’re a Hudson Valley resident, you can save 50% on tickets bought ahead of time.
LEGOLAND does not offer free parking. One day parking is $30 (as of 2023. There’s a discount if you’re a season pass holder).
You can prepay for your parking before you visit the park or purchase a daily parking pass inside the park which you’ll scan when you’re leaving the parking lot. You can also pay at one of the pay stations as you exit the park.
LEGOLAND is geared towards kids ages 2 to 12. LEGOLAND is a theme park with rides, but they’re not huge roller coasters and thrill rides, like Six Flags. So, if your older kids are more into that, they might not love LEGOLAND. But, if they’re into LEGO models, they’ll like the park.
Each Model Citizen (employee) at LEGOLAND has a minifigure on their badge. If you like it, you can trade for it.
There are a few caveats. The entire minifigure must be traded. You can’t just swap a torso for a torso.
The minifigure must be LEGO branded. So, although custom minifigs are a fun thing to own, you can’t trade it. And LEGO Friends Minifigures aren’t able to be traded since they don’t properly fit on a Model Citizen’s badge.
You can either purchase a minifigure at a gift shop within LEGOLAND or bring one from home to trade.
LEGOLAND is cashless and only accepts credit cards, debit cards, or Apple Pay. If you only have cash, there are Cash-to-Card Machines where you can add your cash to a prepaid card. This also goes for the LEGOLAND New York hotel as well.
If you move quickly, you can do LEGOLAND New York in a single visit. The park is only open eight or nine hours, depending on the day. So, you can do it all, you might just be rushing through a little bit of it. If you move at a slower pace, you might want to plan to come back a second time in order to see the rest of the park.
More Kid Friendly Attractions In The Northeast:
If you live near LEGOLAND New York, or if you’re just visiting, and you’re looking for some more family fun, we have a few other reviews of kid-friendly attractions in the area. There’s Liberty Science Center (in Jersey City, New Jersey), Wild West City (in Stanhope, New Jersey), and the The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark (in Monticello, New York).
If you’re looking for something seasonal, there’s also Stew Leonard’s Spook-tacular Halloween Drive Through (in Yonkers, NY) and Sesame Place’s The Count’s Halloween Spooktacular (in Hulmeville, PA).
Have you been to LEGOLAND New York? Give us your review in the comments.