23 Apr 2023
Visited Legoland NY on the way home from a trip to NYC with the family (age 5 and 10). My son and I had been to Legoland Florida a year ago and we both agreed that the NY one was a better experience overall.
PROS:
- Easy to get to for New Englanders and provides the same/better experience than the FL park. Parking was plentiful and it was an easy walk into the park. It's literally on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere.
- Food was excellent - we ate at the Pizza/Pasta restaurant slightly before lunchtime and had a very minimal wait (5-10 mins max). We did have to wait at some of the other food kiosks throughout the day but nothing more than 15 mins. Prices were reasonable/what you'd expect at a major theme park.
- Rides catered to young children, which we had - so they were able to enjoy everything.
- Park is BRAND NEW and it sure felt like it. We thought FL was rundown and outdated, but not this park! Plan to spend time in Miniland looking at the models - all of the interactions actually still worked (you can make scenes in each model move which the kids enjoyed playing with). Everything is clean and new feeling which just enhances the overall experience.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- I read reviews before going that said this park needs more shade and boy were they not kidding. This park is in a wide open field on top of a mountain - you are directly under the beating sun with no trees or shade. We went on a Spring day in April and it was 70 degrees. I can't imagine what it would be like at 90 in July. Prepare to take indoor breaks as much as possible, break up the day with outdoor rides and indoor rides if you can and wear that sunscreen!
- Not enough seating - I don't feel the park was super crowded the day we went, but we still struggled to find a place to sit. It could benefit from more benches and tables.
- Hilly - be prepared to do a lot of walking - the park starts at the top of the mountain and winds its way down on paths that snake back and forth on themselves. I understand why they did this - it's accessible to strollers and wheelchairs and makes the hills less daunting, but for the rest of us it increases your step count 100 fold. There were many areas where guests clearly forged their own paths up the grassy hills and the management dissuaded it by putting up signs requesting visitors stay on the path. Management should look at these cow paths as a sign of how your guests are navigating the park and revisit adding stairs there to help with traffic flow.
- You pay to park as you EXIT. This was strange to me. I was aware that Legoland charges for parking which is fine (almost all major theme parks do) but I've never paid upon exiting. I had paid for parking online ahead of time and frankly forgot about it so when we were leaving the park we were scrambling to find the pass on my phone and then the scanner at the exit kiosk took a good 10 minutes of fumbling to work (holding up the phone at 30 different angles trying to get it to register). We were getting frustrated as cars piled up behind us as most everyone chooses to leave the park at closing (so all at the same time). We saw many cars in similar situations, and I'm sure some non-planners were even surprised at the cost as you are leaving and think you're done for the day. It was an odd strategy to pay at exit and something future guests should be aware of.