LEGOLAND New York: LEGOLAND Theme Park Experience
We purchased a LEGOLAND New York Resort vacation package that included tickets to LEGOLAND theme park for 2 days, while we stayed at the new on-site LEGOLAND Hotel New York, and we thoroughly enjoyed our 2 full days at the theme park! Although we previewed the LEGOLAND New York theme park in May 2021, that experience - although good - pales in comparison to our more recent 2-night stay at LEGOLAND!
For this 2-day adventure in the park, we started with a list of rides and attractions we wanted to experience. During our preview day in May 2021, we experienced Brick Party (the carousel) and enjoyed The NINJAGO Ride, so I did not include those on our list of things to do for our August 2021 visit. The list of items I prepared for this 2-day adventure is as follows
Rides & Attractions (This is the order I prepped the list in, and this order guided how we did the rides):
Merlin’s Flying Machines
Dragon’s Apprentice
Tower Climb Tournament
The Dragon
Driving School
Fire Academy
Anchors Away*
Splash Battle
Rogue Riders
Miniland
Build & Test
LEGO Factory Adventure Ride
Jay’s Gravity Force Trainer
DJ’s Dizzy Disco Spin
Here’s a taste of the awesome rides & activities at LEGOLAND NY’s theme park!
Food & Snacks:
Granny’s Apple Fries
Smokey’s Brick-B-Que
Ninja Kitchen
Wizard’s Frozen Wonders
Games (created our list ahead of time after watching this video on the Winner Every Time YouTube channel):
King’s Court
Knighty Ducks
Here are the 2 games we recommend at LEGOLAND NY’s theme park for boys in the same age group as our sons, ages 10 and 6!
*The only 2 rides we have not yet done at LEGOLAND New York are Anchors Away and Coast Guard Academy. After seeing Anchors Away on Day 1, the boys said they didn’t want to get on it, and while the adults could’ve taken turns getting on it, it honestly wasn’t a “must do” item for me, so we didn’t do it. Coast Guard Academy looks like an easy-going boat ride to wrap up the day or maybe even to take a break in the middle of the day, but it also wasn’t a “must do” item for me, so we didn’t get on it.
We honestly had ample opportunities to get on Anchors Away and Coast Guard Academy, but chose not to do so because there were other things in the park that we wanted to do instead. When we could have gotten on Anchors Away early in the day when we returned to the LEGO Pirates area on Day 2, we instead opted to get on Splash Battle again because it’s now a family favorite. We considered getting on Coast Guard Academy towards the end of Day 2 in the park, and seeing the length of the line at that time, we gave the boys the choice of waiting on the line for Coast Guard Academy or going to Build & Test, and they chose Build & Test.
Additionally, we opted to not go to the 4D Cinema that shows LEGO shorts throughout the day. On Day 1 – Friday – we could’ve walked right in, and on Day 2 – Saturday – as with a number of other rides, there was a significant line to get in. There were lots of other activities that our boys wanted to enjoy again on Day 2, so we opted to not get on the line that day. Had we known that our hotel room wouldn’t have been ready at the time we arrived at the hotel on Day 1, which was around 5 PM, then maybe we would’ve stayed at the park a bit longer that day in order to experience Anchors Away, Coast Guard Academy, and/or the 4D Cinema. Honestly, though, we have no complaints about missing those things, and we thoroughly enjoyed all the other experiences we had at the park on both days, especially those that we did twice!
Rides/experiences we enjoyed twice:
Driving School
Fire Academy
Splash Battle
Jay’s Gravity Force Trainer
After watching our videos and others to get a sense of the rides, and/or simply checking out the park for yourself first (although we highly recommend mapping out your visit ahead of time), make a list of your “must do” items and pace yourself throughout the day to get to them all. Like us, you may decide to forego some of the other possible options if there are definite favorites for your family/group.