Noah and I picked up breakfast from Dunkin’ Donuts and we joined the girls for a quick breakfast before checking out of our hotel rooms. The drive to the LEGOLAND New York Resort was short, and we were in our parking spot just a few minutes after its 10:00 a.m. opening time.
Despite our on-time arrival, we walked through the parking lot and found ourselves in the first of two queues to enter the park. After making our way through the metal detectors then stood in a second line to have our tickets scanned. While the entrance was crowded, there was room to spread out once we were inside the park.
Eilidh found a Friends character to pose with before we were even inside.
I was most intrigued by the park’s Miniland, which included awesomely detailed recreations of New York City, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Mt. Rushmore, and more. We weaved our way downhill stopping for photos and to admire the impressive builds. I loved the displays but the kids grew tired of the winding walk and were ready to check out the park’s rides.
LEGOLAND had been open for less than two months, and it felt a little rough around the edges. A handful of attractions, and several food stands, weren’t open. Rides aimed at the youngest children like Eilidh were mostly run by a single worker, meaning for slow turnaround between rides and far longer times in line than on the rides.
Shockingly, the $10 we spent on balls did not make it into the baskets to win a prize.
Eilidh and Emmie posed inside a LEGO fire truck, though the accompanying ride was closed for the day.
Eilidh earned a junior driver’s license for her time driving a mini LEGO vehicle.
Eilidh mostly enjoyed her first roller coaster ride!
Emmie posed with a number of LEGO creations around the park.
Eilidh did enjoy all of the rides she experienced, and the older kids seemed to enjoy the park’s lone roller coaster, which conveniently had comparatively short wait times. The park required a lot of walking and there were few spots for shade, so we were fortunate it wasn’t terribly hot. In the end, I’m glad we had a buy-one-get-one coupon code to get the kids in for free.
The most exciting stop at the park was arguably at the expansive LEGO store, where we purchased the 9,000-piece Colosseum set. Amanda liked how the set matched her Roman homeschool theme, and once she agreed to the purchase, the box didn’t leave my hands. We got several comments as we left the park, lugging the large box to the van.
Noah and I both posed with the giant LEGO Colosseum set.
After a quick trip through the Taco Bell drive-through, we were on our way to our next destination: New York City.