A Look at the New York Hotel and LEGOLAND Park

LEGOLAND New York (LLNY) is located in the northeastern corner of the state, around an hour’s drive from New York City. Its location just off Highway 6 which makes it convenient for travelers coming from all over the New England and the Middle Atlantic area. Specifically, it’s located in the sleepy humble town of Goshen, New York. (A model of it can be found in the Miniland area!)

You can easily make the journey on foot from the resort to the theme park thanks to their proximity. The park’s hours are very reasonable, 10 am to 6 pm daily (rain or shine), making it ideal for families with young children. LEGOLAND offers a rainy-day return ticket option. If it rains for 120 minutes straight, you can get a free return visit within the next year at the front desk. Details on the LEGOLAND New York Rain Policy.

What to do if you need assistance at the LEGOLAND New York Hotel and Park

The resort and the park are adjacent to one another, but otherwise have little in common beyond the “LEGO” name. To get in touch with the the resort, please dial +1 (845) 410-0290. To reach the LEGOLAND New York Theme Park, please dial +1 (877) 534-6526.

Furthermore, the employees, or “Model Citizens,” are not related because they are not in any way effectively affiliated with one another. The Model Citizens working in the park probably won’t be able to help you out much if you have any questions about the resort while you’re there. (Lunch and dinner are served ala carte, while breakfast is served buffet-style.) If you are a resort guest, it is recommended that you get your questions answered the morning before you leave for the day at the resort and not in the park.

The only way to guarantee entry to LLNY is to book a ticket in advance. However, resort guests do not need to make a reservation in order to gain entry at any time during their stay. If you’re staying at the resort, you don’t need to make reservations, despite what many LEGOLAND publications might have you believe.

You can order or book your LEGOLAND New York Theme Park tickets here: https://reservations.arestravel.com/attraction/single/15593/1988

The LEGOLAND New York Hotel and Resort

As a family, we decided to stay at the LLNY Resort. There is a four-hour drive to get to where we are. We decided to make a weekend out of it rather than try to travel there, play, and return in one day. We had a two-night stay. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that one park admission per person per night is included in the price of our hotel room. Our two-night stay at the resort meant that each of us got two days in the park.

A little over four months ago, I made reservations for us. I can’t say when exactly they reached capacity. However, we can confirm that the hotel was completely booked on the weekend of our late September visit. Reservations vanished some time in the previous four months, leading up to that particular day.

Should You Buy Trip Protection?

While LLNY does offer trip protection as part of your vacation package, we opted out of purchasing it. Coverage typically amounts to around 10% of the total cost of the reservation. If you don’t buy the insurance, you also can’t make any changes to your reservation. For instance, I paid an extra $65 to be able to check in after 12:00 noon instead of 4:00 pm, which is the standard check-in time. However, as the day drew closer, I reasoned that it would be fine to arrive later and enjoy the hotel’s amenities before checking in to our room. However, I was unable to disable this feature because I opted out of trip protection.

When I realized that the trip insurance only covers you up until the fifth day before your reservation, I was relieved that I hadn’t bought it. That is, the trip protection plan won’t help if you get sick or something comes up at the last minute and can’t go.

Will It Benefit Me to Get There Early?

Getting to the resort early also turned out to be a lot of fun. We had to leave our house a little earlier than usual, but it was nice to have the hotel to ourselves. The hotel is almost completely deserted during park hours. Plus, we spent the rest of our trip there, for as long as the park was open. On our first afternoon, however, we had free reign over the enormous castle-like structure in the lobby. On the other hand, we discovered that the place was much quieter and less crowded before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.

Accommodations in LEGOLAND New York

The early check-in hours were also a lot of fun, spent primarily in our rooms. It’s full of the kinds of delightful details that can only come from LEGO. To begin with, it has a strong sense of theme. When making a reservation, you can select from four different LEGO-themed options: Friends, Pirates, Kingdom, and Ninjago. We stayed in the stunning Kingdom themed room. Everything from the lobby and hallways to the beds and decorations in your room is tailored to the theme you choose.

When you walked in, you were handed a scavenger hunt with questions like “How many wizards are on the walls?” The correct responses unlocked a child-sized safe. There were several LEGO treasures in there for the kids to keep!

In the bunk room, under the TV, the kids found an entire bin of LEGO. We never watched any TV there because, if the kids were around, they were always playing with the LEGO’s. LEGO movies, such as “The LEGO Movie,” “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part,” “The LEGO Batman Movie,” “The LEGO Ninjago Movie,” and so on, were available on demand if you wanted to relax after a long day at the park. After dinner, we always looked forward to seeing one or two of them all snuggled up.

Resort dining at LEGOLAND New York Hotel

How are the restaurants at the resort and the park? You won’t believe it, but the price of your room includes an incredible breakfast buffet. You can get a good breakfast at the Bricks Family Restaurant. This breakfast is free, but reservations are required. We found that getting to the park at 10:00, when it opened, gave us plenty of time to eat, brush our teeth, and get through security. One morning at 9:30 a.m., I saw a very long line of people waiting to enter the restaurant. Not to mention the fact that everyone there was there because they had a 9:30 reservation, but that’s a lot of people to seat at the same time. You can avoid the crowds by getting your meal started earlier, which is something I highly recommend doing.

The Skyline Bar

The Skyline Bar in the lobby is the only other dining option at the LEGOLAND New York Resort. It shares a building with Bricks Family Restaurant, but its menu is more limited and is therefore better suited to lunch than dinner. The main perk, however, is that you can keep an eye on your children as they play in the lobby castle while you place your order and enjoy your meal. For both young and old, doing so on the first day of our stay was a fantastic decision. We were able to relax and catch up while the children played happily for hours with the LEGO’s. Not all of their creations made it to the display areas, but the next morning, we saw one that had been lifted high and safely out of the reach of children.

Family-Friendly Brick-Oven Cuisine

One evening during our stay, we dined at Bricks Family Restaurant. The salads, starters, and main courses were all delicious. The kids’ menu featured the usual suspects: pizza, pasta, chicken fingers, and a cheeseburger. Prices are typical of theme parks and will range from $42 for a salmon entree to $9 for sides and $22 for sandwiches or pasta for adults. It’s also quite crowded. Despite the lengthy waits for both placing our orders and receiving our meals, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the restaurant.

If you’re looking for more dining options, the town of Goshen is only a mile away. The evening we arrived, we went out of the resort to eat at a nice restaurant in town. Parking with in-and-out privileges is free during your stay at the LEGOLAND New York Resort (regular parking is $20 per day). I recommend getting taking a ride out off the resort property and support the local community! Plus it might save you a some money.

Enjoy a meal at LEGOLAND New York Theme Park

Granny’s Apple Fries is a well-known institution at LLNY, as you may have learned from your own research. They really are as fantastic as everyone says they are. I don’t usually have strong feelings about food, but I really wanted to get them on our second day at the park! Also, consider this a hint: I had been told that you absolutely needed to serve them with whipped cream, but that caramel sauce was totally necessary. Let me tell you something: it isn’t! We tried them first without the sauce, and decided to add it to see if it would improve the dish.

Popcorn, soft pretzels, and funnel cake were the enjoyable snacks of choice for the first day’s impromptu lunch. Eat at Brickbeard’s, a buffet in Pirate’s Land, and choose from items like pizza, salads, burgers, and rice bowls. Vegetarian options were a pleasant surprise at a taco stand we passed by called Everything Taco. It was recommended that we eat at Smokey’s BBQ, which is conveniently located close to the entrance. Also conveniently located close to the entrance of the park, Brick Street Cafe served a variety of coffees, lattes, cappuccinos, and breakfast treats. There was a long line at the counter service restaurant Royal Feast in LEGO Castle land when we were there, but there are so many rides in that area that we stayed for well over an hour.

A mobile, contactless ordering system is available for all dining options. Alternatively, you can place your order at the window. The entire park also does not accept cash. Credit cards are the only form of payment accepted. You’ll need to register for an account on the LEGOLAND mobile app in order to complete a mobile order.

The LEGOLAND Mobile App

Having access to the LEGOLAND App is a huge time-saver once you arrive at the park. It shows where you are in relation to the park’s layout. Rides, attractions, shows, food and drink, shopping, restrooms, meet and greets, and services can all be separated out into their own categories. You can also see how long the current wait is for a ride, or find out the status of one.

The app also allows you to do research on available services and book appointments with them. It’s also possible to create an account for ride photos and connect them to the Imagic deal. Cell phone battery chargers can be rented for $10 per day. You can also buy a Reserve ‘N’ Ride pass through the app. You should wait to buy it until you get there, as it is only valid on the day it is purchased. You can pay $55 per person or $100 per person, depending on which option you select. Because of this, you can skip the regular (and longer) line and go straight to a faster one.

How crowded was the park?

We were informed that the park would be crowded when we arrived, that the parking lot would be full, and that visitors would arrive by bus or foot. To the contrary, we encountered very little foot traffic. It was predicted to be in the 50s and rainy, so perhaps that put people off from visiting the park. On both Saturday and Sunday, we waited no longer than 20 minutes in the longest line. We also discovered that lines were significantly shorter between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. We went on the most popular rides multiple times with almost no wait at all because of the time of day. The only other riders on one of our favorite rides were my son and I at 11:00 in the morning.

LEGOLAND New York Rides

The kids in our group ranged in age from 4 to 10. Our family of four rode every ride, and our 10-year-old son, who is slightly shorter than the average, rode everything by himself. A lot of the time, even our 8-year-old could take a ride by herself. Our 6-year-old couldn’t find anything she could ride by himself. You won’t be able to swap out adults with other adults (like Disney does), so plan ahead to ensure that you have enough adults to accompany all of your riders. Someone older than 14 can act as a supervisor for the younger kids on the rides.

You won’t have to wait in line to find out if your child is tall enough to ride because there are height requirements posted at the entrance to each ride. Furthermore, they WILL conduct height checks. Each and every ride. Additionally, each and every time. That morning, we rode the Dragon Coaster no less than five times, each time with the kids being measured at the beginning of the line and again just before boarding. I appreciated the precautions taken, but be aware that they will be routinely checked.

New York’s LEGOLAND is home to many exciting attractions. It seemed like a minimum height of 34 or 36 inches was required for many of the rides. Age restrictions apply to only four rides, but children as short as 34 inches can enjoy eight of them. To help you determine which rides are appropriate for your child, the LEGOLAND app includes useful filters.

Everyone Can Have Active Fun

Numerous rides at LEGOLAND New York required a lot of physical exertion from riders. In the LEGO Castle section, for instance, there was a tower ride. Unlike on rides like LEGOLAND Florida’s Unikitty’s Disco Drop, where riders simply sit back and the ride lifts them up, here riders must use their own strength to haul themselves to the top. Our eight- and ten-year-olds had no trouble pulling themselves and an adult up, and the weight makes it a consistent challenge. Yet it’s also a very challenging task! The grownups had a great time, but after three or four turns, our hands started to hurt a little but still a lot of fun.

The ride at the Fire Academy was full of action! Teams of two to four riders must work together to drive their fire engine down a street to a burning building, exit the vehicle to pump and aim water at the blaze, and then drive back to the starting point. And I’m a fairly fit adult, and even I was worn out after just one round! Having healthy competition within our party was a big help.

ADA Accessibility

The best part of the weekend was having my parents there to share in the thrills and fun. After recent surgery, my mom was unable to walk the entire park, let alone do so for two days in a row. The park’s large size is great for keeping crowds under control and accommodating a large number of visitors, but it also means that those with mobility issues should consider renting electric scooters. Guests can rent electric scooters from the front entrance at guest services for $60 per day.

LEGOLAND New York is built into the side of a hill. My mother had no trouble getting around the park with us thanks to the numerous wheelchair ramps. The park is circular, so going around it is the quickest way to get anywhere inside. You can also get to areas of the park across the circle from you more quickly thanks to a “hub” in the park’s center. You can’t get to this area without using the stairs. It wasn’t a big deal, but it meant our younger kids had to walk farther than they needed to because we didn’t have access to the hub and shortcut across the park for the entire party.

Accessible rides at LEGOLAND New York

It wasn’t an issue for her to dismount her scooter when necessary, as this was the case with the vast majority of attractions. Multiple transports provided convenient access for people using wheelchairs or mobility aids. She could take her scooter on any of the lines up to the point where she entered the ride, or she could park it near the entrance to the line.

There is a guide online for guests with disabilities at LEGOLAND New York, detailing things like which personal devices are permitted and which areas are wheelchair accessible.

New York LEGOLAND Birthday Parties

We spent the weekend there honoring a special birthday in the family. My son was turning 10, and ever since LEGO Masters season 1, my two younger sons and my eldest daughter had been asking when we could visit LEGOLAND New York.

I was able to include a birthday package in our reservation. A pillowcase, lanyard, birthday banner, water bottle, and teddy bear were all included in a drawstring bag. This bundle set will set you back $75. More importantly, it will not be delivered to your hotel room. You can get it at the front desk, but you have to ask about it when you arrive.

The gift’s presentation made him very happy. It’s important to remember that nothing in the bag could be bought from the gift shops. All of the celebrations were centered around a birthday trip to LEGOLAND New York. The situation was simplified for us as parents, in a way. With multiple kids, I worried that letting each pick out a souvenir from the gift shop would make them feel like they were being singled out. It didn’t seem like too bad of a deal for so many things, especially when you consider that a sweatshirt costs nearly $50 and a stuffed animal costs $30.

You should stop by guest services upon entering the park if it is your birthday. That first day, we completely forgot, and it was only in passing that we mentioned it to a friendly Model Citizen (LEGOLAND employee). She went and got a birthday button for our kid and personalized it with his name and age. any Model Citizens throughout the day began singling him out after that, which made him feel special. When they saw the birthday pin, they’d be extra nice to him.

Summary of LEGOLAND New York

Even though I initially thought that two days’ worth of tickets would be excessive, we ended up loving the opportunity to take it easy on day one and then spend the first part of the second day riding all of our favorite rides. In addition, this freed us up to attend a session at the Creative Workshop. The Creative Workshop offered classes with certified LEGO Master Builders all day long, as our children are huge fans of LEGOs. We lucked out and showed up as it was beginning, so we could jump right in, but you might want to schedule something in advance. During our workshop, we used iPads to control LEGO robots. You could test your coding skills against theirs, or you could just see what you could make them do! Even though they said it was for ages 7 and up, our 6-year-old was able to participate.

A Build & Test room is also available where you could build your own sets with LEGO and DUPLOS and lots of ways to put them to the test. Vehicles with wheels could be put through their paces on a variety of ramps, and earthquake-proof structures could be put through their paces on shaking pads. For the little ones, there were aquarium walls that kids could interact with, stud walls to build with, and Duplo pits. A half-hour was all we had, but the kids could have stayed for hours!

Don’t forget to trade Minifigures with Model Citizens!

Minifigure trading should not be overlooked. Any Model Citizen will accept any fully assembled Minifigure you purchase or bring them from your own collection. Each person’s LEGO nametag features a small figurine. We didn’t discover the trading posts until the second day, so make sure to inquire about their locations. You can trade for some awesome Minifigs, including ones with accessories, as long as your Minifig is complete. When one of my younger kids realized his guy was missing legs, a Model Citizen very graciously let him make a trade.

When we went, in late September, the weather was unusually cool. Both days’ highs never got above 50 degrees, and rain clouds loomed constantly. I started to wonder if they were open all through the year. From what I can tell, they start out being open six days a week in September, and gradually cut back until they’re only open on weekends by December. So I’m guessing there aren’t many people there?

You can check the LEGOLAND New York Park Hours here.

This past weekend, we visited LEGOLAND New York, and it was a blast! Our whole family had a fantastic time because there were hardly any other visitors, the Model Citizens were all extremely kind and helpful, and the crowds were manageable. If you have the means, you should definitely go!

Are you going to LEGOLAND New York? You can purchase your tickets here and save over $22 on each ticket! No need to print, just show your phone and tax is included.

You can also go to our popular LEGOLAND New York Discount Tickets page. We offer a buy one LEGOLAND Ticket, get one free LEGOLAND Ticket deal exclusively for our visitors.

Are you planning a trip to LEGOLAND Florida? Check out our sister site for LEGOLAND Florida Discount Tickets.

Did you know that LEGOLAND New York and Madame Tussauds New York are owned by the same company? Now you can get tickets to the world famous Madame Tussauds New York for only $48 here.