We finally made it to Legoland New York Resort this week. Ever since the amusement park opened we were hoping to make the trip down to New York but Covid border restrictions made the visit a challenge. So you can only imagine how much my kids were anticipating the trip. Approximately 4.5 hours away from Montreal, Legoland New York Resort is a great summer destination for a weekend getaway with kids. Here’s my review with all my tips and tricks from our recent visit.

The Park

Legoland New York is an amusement park for kids of all ages. At the time of our visit, my children were 6, 10 and 13. Some friends assumed they were too old to enjoy the park. This was definitely not the case. In fact, I think my 13-year-old daughter, and her friend who came along, may have had the most fun as they rode the park’s big roller coaster, The Dragon, almost a dozen times. Even the youngest of children can enjoy the park with Lego Duplo rides including a train and a merry-go round. My boys were most looking forward to the LEGO Ninjago area of the park and it didn’t disappoint with two rides, a gift shop, live show and a play park.

Navigating the Park

The Park is divided into a few “worlds” which each feature rides, play areas, live shows at specific times during the day, snack kiosks, restaurants, water refill stations and more. From ninjas to knights to city to Duplo, there is something for everyone. One of the highlights of Legoland is definitely the MiniCity where entire cities are recreated in LEGO with interactive components. Legoland New York Resort obviously featured New York City, Las Vegas, Washington and more.

Rainy Day Policy

The day we visited called for rain. Luckily it really just drizzled off and on in the morning. The park has a rainy day promise that if it rains for more than 120 minutes you will get a pass for another day. But, there’s still plenty to do in the rain. There is a 4-D movie theatre (bring rain jackets if you don’t want to get wet!), a few indoor rides, and indoor creative spaces including Build & Test, Robotics Play Center and Creative Workshop. Leo (6) had the most fun at these spots, building cars out of LEGO and running them down ramps.

App & Wait Times

Definitely download the app so you can navigate your way through the park. It also features ride wait times. Passes are available to skip the lines but I don’t think it is worth the investment. The longest line we had to wait in was 15 minutes. We arrived at the park for “rope drop” at 10am and stayed until 5pm and covered every single “world” and most of the rides. You only need a day to visit the park. However, when the waterpark opens (currently under construction) it may be worth a two-day visit.

Where to Stay

While we did want to stay at the Legoland New York Resort hotel, next to the park, we did not as the pricing for six was quite expensive. Especially with the US exchange rate. That said, it is an amazing experience which we had previously enjoyed at Legoland California. We used Marriot Bonvoy points (earned from the Bonvoy American Express) to stay for free at the Fairfield Inn & Suites which was about a 5-minute drive from the park. The hotel was quite new and clean. The free breakfast wasn’t very good although my kids always love using the waffle machines. There is a Dunkin Donuts and bagel shop nearby.

Where to Eat

The food at Legoland New York wasn’t amazing, especially for my gluten free, vegetarian diet. I managed to find lunch at the Everything Taco stand and the rest of the family ate the typical park fare of chicken nuggets and pizza. If you can pack a lunch in a backpack I would. Try the apple fries too.

Definitely bring along refillable water bottles as a plastic bottle of Dasani costs $5 at the park. Refill stations can be found in each world. A good investment is a Legoland refillable cup. Buy it in the morning for $18 and you can get free refills all day long including juices, water, sodas, Powerade and more. We only bought ours around 2pm and realized it would have been a great investment earlier in the day. We also packed snacks but lots of ice cream and popcorn can be found along the way. I couldn’t find a single fruit in the park 🙁

Where to Buy Tickets

I purchased our tickets before our trip, as you have to select a specific date for your visit. I then uploaded them on to the app for easy entry into the park. Don’t pay full price for tickets. There are plenty of deals out there including “buy an adult ticket, get a free child ticket”. We got ours on this website. A friend who was at the park on the same day found the same deal at a nearby Burger King in Chester, NY, which is 10 minutes away from the park. We also pre-purchased a parking pass and minifigure kits for the boys to build their own.

A Few More Tips

The park is 100% cash-less which was a bit annoying since we had brought US cash. And the girls couldn’t easily purchase snacks or drinks without my credit card. Canadian debit cards with a pin did not work. That being said, some people may love the one-tap solution throughout the park.

Beware of carnival games. My kids love a good game but some of these are rigged. We spent too much money trying to win a giant dog when we learned that the basketball nets were oval (optical illusions) making it very difficult for a round ball to get inside. If your kids are like mine, I’d suggest buying them a stuffy (Pokemon, Mario…) before they go to the park so you can save the money and they won’t be tempted to play.

Buy the parking pass with your park tickets. You only have to pay upon exit which makes entry super quick and easy.

For a visual recap of our day at Legoland New York Resort check out my Instagram reel here or my Tik Tok!