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Legoland New York Adventure Guide
What you need to know before visiting the land made out of Lego bricks.
Legoland is an awesome place to visit with kids. We have been to the Legoland theme park in New York 3 times since it opened in 2021. It is a great weekend trip with rides and activities for all ages.
Check out our tips below for a brick-tastic vacation!
Table of contents
- Bring Your Walking Shoes
- Download the Legoland App
- Get the Coca-Cola Freestyle Cup
- Bring Some Lego Minifigures to Trade
- Water Park Reservations
- Measure Your Kids
- Getting Everything Done in a Day
- Staying at the Legoland NY Hotel
- Other Hotels
- Things nearby
- Final Tips
Bring Your Walking Shoes
The first thing you should know about Legoland NY is that it is built on a hill. So expect to do some walking up and down. If you plan it out right you can just make a loop around the park and only have to go down and up once!
However, they recently built their new Minifigure Skyliner ride. It’ll take you from the entrance down to the bottom of the hill. And back up if you want!
Although, on our last trip the Skyliner had a long line at the start of the day, so be prepared to adjust your route around the park accordingly.
Download the Legoland App
Get the Legoland app for all the info on the park. They have wait times for all the rides. The wait time feature only works while you are in the park, so you will need to have location services enabled on your phone and give the app location permissions when it asks.
The app also has a park map, making it easier to navigate and find your next ride.
The app also functions as your ticket if you sync your emailed ticket to the app. Then you can just scan the app at the park entrance for quick entry.
Download the Android app from Google Play or the iPhone app from the Apple App Store.
Get the Coca-Cola Freestyle Cup
We don’t normally want to recommend sugary, carbonated beverages for kids, but we do like the idea of the Coca-Cola Freestyle cup in Legoland. For a fixed price you can get unlimited refills throughout the day.
There are multiple fill-up stations around the park so you won’t ever be too far from your next drink.
This also beats paying the markup costs of bottled beverages when you or your kids inevitably get thirsty.
Alternatively, you can also bring your own reusable water bottle and fill it up at one of their water fountains. Although you might not agree with the taste!
Bring Some Lego Minifigures to Trade
Minifigure trading is a super fun activity for the kids. You just bring some complete minifigures from home and you can trade them throughout the park.
All of the employees who work at the park will usually have a Lego minifigure on their name tag. Your kids can ask them to trade and get a new minifigure!
There are also carts that you will run across during your stay at the park. They host a large amount of figures for trading.
If your kids forget to bring some minifigures for trading, don’t worry, you can buy minifigures from the various stores throughout Legoland.
Water Park Reservations
There is a small water park at Legoland New York, so you may want to pack some swimsuits. But, you’ll want to be aware of their reservation system before you can dive in.
In order to participate in the water park, you will need to make a reservation online. You have to get a reservation or you won’t be able to get into the water park.
You’ll be able to make a reservation on the day of your park visit starting at 7am. The reservation is only for 20 minutes, so use that to gauge if it is really worth planning for!
Measure Your Kids
Make sure you know your kids’ height before traveling. Then check the Legoland app for the height requirements on rides.
Their requirements to ride rides without an adult seem higher than other places we have visited. So if you have a large family or an infant that can’t ride you may need to be prepared to ride twice or swap off with the other adults in your party.
Getting Everything Done in a Day
When the park isn’t too busy you can definitely hit every ride in the park in one day. Sometimes even riding rides twice!
When you can, shoot to go on a weekday to avoid crowds. But if you go on a weekend be prepared to potentially wait in lines.
If you think you will be going at a busy time, the booking for 2 days is probably sufficient. That will be more than enough time to see and do everything, including shopping!
Legoland does have a “fast pass” offering called Reserve & Ride. Check the pricing as it can get expensive for a large family.
Staying at the Legoland NY Hotel
Staying at the Legoland Hotel adds even more fun to a Legoland trip (disco elevators anyone??). There are Lego models everywhere for the kids (and adults too!) to enjoy.
When you walk into the lobby, you are greeted with a large Lego-themed play castle that has a slide and tons of Legos to play with.
The rooms are all themed Lego as well. You’ll get to pick your theme when you book a room.
When you first get checked into your room there will be a treasure hunt. Once completed your kids will get the code to open a locked chest in the room for a little Lego surprise!
There are also “Creative Workshop” classes available for hotel guests. The employee leading the workshop will walk the kids through building a small Lego model which they will get to keep.
Make sure you sign up at the front desk as there are limited spots available.
And of course, our kids always rave about the breakfast there so they would scold me if I didn’t mention it to you!
Other Hotels
If you’re looking to save some money, consider staying at a nearby hotel. The Kartrite Resort & Water Park is nearby and has an indoor water park.
Alternatively, Legoland partners with nearby hotels for vacation packages so consider them as well.
Things nearby
If you want to turn your weekend trip into a longer vacation, check out the American Dream Mall/Park nearby in New Jersey.
It has a huge Dreamworks-themed water park, a Nickelodeon theme park, an aquarium, an indoor ski resort, shopping, and much, much more!
We personally enjoyed visiting the Dreamworks water park. Much better than a 20-minute reservation at the Legoland water park!
Final Tips
Legoland NY is a cashless resort, so make sure you bring a credit card or use your phone to pay. They also have stations that can convert cash to prepaid cards.
You have to pay for parking (why can’t that be part of your ticket?) so it is simpler to get that taken care of when you buy your ticket rather than messing with it as you exit the park.
And of course, have fun! It’s a great place to be for kids and adults, so enjoy!
