The picture is not a city. Its made completely of Legos. Amazing , I know! I wanted to write about some tips and what to expect when planning a trip to Legoland. This is for all my all those parents wondering if they should take the trip to the rural NY town. In short, Yes! It is worth it. There are definitely a few things you should know.
Legoland is located in Goshen, NY. Very close to those that live in NJ and NY. Goshen, is not New York City. If your not familiar, it is a ways from the city. It is in rural New York, almost upstate but not really. There are several towns that encompass Goshen. You don't have to necessarily stay in Goshen to enjoy Legoland. Can this be a day trip type thing? Sure, if your looking to do something for the day, you can totally drive there in the early morning. Spend the day having fun and drive home. You will be very tired but it can be done. Tickets are comparable to most theme parks. There are coupons floating around to maximize your dollars. I was lucky enough to find a BOGO coupon this summer. We did a whole weekend adventure and budgeted out a low cost trip. In the future, I will probably do a day trip to save a few bucks. Besides Legoland there are a few nearby attractions that you could totally plan out for a weekend. You will need to drive to the neighbor towns and you will definitely need GPS.
Where to Stay? Located on the main campus of Legoland is the Lego Hotel. It looks pretty awesome from the road. It is a Lego Themed hotel. Each room has a different Lego experience. On the website you can see the different packages and themes for each room. It is pretty cool. It is very pricey though and those of us wanting to do a budget trip, this hotel maybe be a little much. When I think of a hotel, I have a few requirements. It needs to be close to my trip, its needs to be really clean, and it needs to be cost effective. Cost being the most important one. Lego Hotel didn't check off the cost box so, we decided to stay at a more reasonably priced Hotel. Which leads me to my fav hotel, Holiday Inn Express. If you haven't had the chance , read planning out trip section to get an idea of what I look for when picking a hotel. Anytime there is an Holiday Inn Express in the area, 9 out of 10 times, I'm staying there. There are a few things they do really well. Most important they consistently check off those three boxes, every time. There are 2, Holiday Inn Express very close to Legoland. I stayed in the Middletown HIE, it was excellent. There is a WAWA in the same parking lot. A Walmart and restaurants were also located near by. They were very well priced. This one was about 7 miles from Legoland. Close enough to get there quickly, far enough your not in gridlock town when exploring. You know those towns that are so close to an attraction that you have to make reservations to go to the bathroom. That a little too busy for me. I like staying just outside the hustle and bustle.
What's there to do? This is titled Legoland after all , let's talk Legos. This is a new theme park , it opened this past summer 2021. It is a whole theme parked centered around Legos. Every ride, although not made out of Legos; that would be crazy, looks like a Legos. Lego coaster, Lego boats, Lego slides, Lego trees, Legos everything. Its a really cool park. I'd say that younger kids will have the best time there. I am a kid at heart , I really had a great time.
The first thing you want to know, is the park hours are a little different. You want to make sure you plan accordingly by checking their website. You can find a bunch of useful information, location, times, buy tickets, cost and FAQ. You have to pay for parking, it is cheaper to pay before you go. Make sure to pay for your parking when purchasing your tickets online. You pay parking as your leaving the park, so leave your parking voucher in the car. When you arrive to the park, the staff will guide you where to park. You can park up to an hour before they open. If you like up front parking you can arrive early and park close to the entrance. There is a whole parking area for handicap parking close to the entrance. There are a few photo ops in the front entrance such as a Lego car, animals and Lego people. There is a small show at the front entrance at opening time. Its cute and little children really enjoy it, the staff and Lego mascot come out and dance. There is security check point, there is a list on contraband items on the website. You can bring your own water bottles, they will have to go through xray though. If you have baby formula plan accordingly.
When you enter the park there is a few shops. The biggest Lego souvenir shop is located here a the beginning. It is the last thing to close in the park. I would recommend saving this store for last and buying your items on the way out. So you are not lugging around packages through the theme park. This huge Lego Store carries most items you will see throughout the park. So, if its a big Lego set you want to buy they will most likely have it there. There is one really cool store in the middle of the park, when you get to this store I would make your purchase at that time. This store sells Lego guys and create your own. They do not have these in the Mega Legos shop in the entrance. When you get to that store buy your Lego guys you want, that store closes earlier than the mega Lego Shop. The food and stores around the rides close earlier than the closing time. Don't wait for the last minute to decide you want to eat or need a drink. The Lego shop is open for about an hour after the rides close. They wont tell you that, but they stay open until everyone finishes their purchases. There is no food, beverages or Lego guys there. They do have all the huge Lego sets , shirts, and souvenirs. Again, I would save that store for last. Tip for the parents, if your kid melts down every time they see something they want, have a plan in place and be prepared. There is a store really close to every ride. Be prepared to usher them through the store. I usually tell my kids, and remind them a million times along the way, "You will get a souvenir at the end of the day, look and see what you want and take a picture with your brain." This allows me to usher them quickly out of the store. At the end of the day , I will give them a budget of how much they can buy. I usually give them $10 budget for most trips. This is Legoland, and Legos are a little pricey, so I allowed them to pick one medium set each. Which was about $30 bucks. Pricey in my opinion for a souvenir but it is Legos and they will definitely play with them again and get their monies worth.
There are live shows in the park. The shows are really good, I would look up the times or check in the front when you come in for show times. The firehouse show is hilarious. It is centered around a firehouse and comedic group of firefighters. There is 4D show in a massive theater seats fill up quick, you will want to get in line a before the show time. Lego Exhibits can be found throughout the park. They range in size from kid size to adult to massive truck sized displays. These are perfect photo ops and the kids love posing in front of them. Be careful there are display in the grass that the theme park does not want visitors walking across the grass. Be mindful of the signs. Lego rides of all kinds can be enjoyed by all ages. Lego go-karts for the kid that wants to drive , its safe and so much fun for the little guys and gals. There is so much more, one of my favorite exhibits is toward the end of the park. It is Lego displays of Americas top tourist attractions. The montage is awesome, in fact one of my selfies on this website looks like I am at the Grand Canyon , in fact it at this very exhibit. Really cool and I would take some time to really go through it. You will be amazed at the detail and moving parts. The whole theme park is a decent size and you can easily spend the whole day, open to close here. It is perfect park to do in one day. I suspect that next summer the word will be out and they will jammed packed everyday. The day we visited was not busy. The longest line we waited on, was 20 minutes. Food in the park is reasonably priced. You can take a water bottle with you. I would take advantage of my water bottle hack. It will save you a few bucks. If you want to save money on food in the park, the pizza place is the cheapest place to eat. Family of 4 can get all you can eat pizza and drinks for about $40. You can not leave the park to eat and return. They do not allow that, or reentry is limited, I don't remember. They have a funny rule about it. I will post several pictures so you can see what to expect. Yes, this place is worth the visit.
What else is there to do around there? If you are like my family, we like to do different things each day we are on a trip. Naturally, I looked up the neighboring towns and found a few fun things to do nearby. About 30 minutes from Legoland is a town called Newburgh it is a small town with lots of history. During the The Revolutionary War, George Washington had setup headquarters in this town. It lays next to the Hudson River. Washington headquarters is now a national park. You can visit sit near the Guard Tower. You can visit the museum in the headquarters. Inside there are a bunch of artifacts and you can learn all about that time period. This is a wonderful place for history buffs. You can expect to spend about 2 hours here. There are restaurants and small shops in the area. This part of town is very safe during the day. I would not venture out through the town on foot. Some areas can be a bit hairy.
Washington Head Quarters , Newburgh, NY
There is a really cool motorcycle museum located in Newburgh as well. It is 2 story building with several rooms all dedicated to motorcycle history and custom bikes. They have one of the largest display of historical bikes I have ever seen. There is a room with almost every Indian motorcycle since 1900. There are famous motorcycles, The Terminator 2 police bike. Prince's Purple Rain bike. Bat cycle, holy cow Batman! It is really wild, seeing all these iconic bikes in person. There is a basement are with loads of Harley's. This place is well worth the admission and you will spend several hours there reading up on the history of the bike and taking pictures. Below are a few pictures from this museum.
There are several other places you can visit and enjoy throughout this area. If you are like my family, this is a worthy weekend trip. Do your research plan your routes and where you are staying. Get out there and see the world. I hope you enjoyed this , if you find value in this content please share with your friends and family. I hope you have a great time at Lego Land.