Our Review of Legoland- Westchester NY

During Superbowl Sunday, we took a ride to visit Legoland Discovery Center in Westchester NY since the boys have been begging to go after seeing some you tube videos about it. It was about an hour drive for us from where we live in Central NJ which wasn’t so bad. I was pleasantly surprised that it was part of an outdoor mall  and next time we go back, it’ll have to be during nice weather so I can take advantage and shop too! There were palm trees, a mall directory and even outdoor escalators. I was worried it would be difficult to find parking or that it would be expensive, but we got parking right in the Otis Garage which is the closest to Legoland and it was only $3 for the entire day to park which was fantastic!

Let me start off by saying this is not like the YouTube videos of Legoland they’ve watched. This is much smaller in size and it is the “Legoland Discovery Center” so it’s more about small play and learning, not a theme park.

When we first walked in, there was no line. I am not sure if it’s always like this on a Sunday, or if it’s just because it was Winter and also Superbowl Sunday when most people stay in or go to a Superbowl party, but we were next in line right when we entered. We had the basic tickets, and didn’t get a lanyard.

Be prepared, the first room you enter after getting your entry tickets you’ll be staged to take a family photo. There are booths inside that you will have the option to purchase the photo if you wish, but we did not due to the fact that my boys didn’t look at the camera because they were so focused on entering Legoland. Personally, I think they should take the photo at the end when everyone has experienced it already and not impatiently waiting to enter and take coats and such off.

While I am on the topic of coats, let me address a few things. YES you can bring a stroller. I advise you do so that you can store all of your belongings in it. You can put your stroller to the side near you while the kids play. The only thing that will make the stroller more difficult, is the first attraction where the line is really tight. There are also a few cubbies inside where you can store your stuff, but act quickly because they’re first come first serve, Luckily, when we entered at 10am, there were a bunch of cubbies available and we had no issue with getting one.

When we entered, we had to skip past the first attraction because my son had to pee really bad. Unfortunately the ONLY bathroom in the place is right smack in the middle of everything, so we had to quickly walk by everything to get to it, and then back tracked. We couldn’t get on the first ride which was “Kingdom Quest” because we had already past the line and would’ve had to squeeze through everyone to get back. I personally disliked how that set up was, it felt awkward to squeeze past everyone with our big heavy coats and say “sorry, just going through, we aren’t cutting… ” “sorry, my son needs to use the bathroom, we aren’t cutting in line…”. The line was pretty long too, so I didn’t want to wait in it anyway.

Here is what the entire map looks like so you can get an idea of the layout.

Since we had to initially rush past everything, we back tracked and started at the “Miniland” which was probably me and my husbands favorite part aside from the 4D movie which I’ll get to later. The things that are built here are unbelieveable. They are replicas of landmarks in NYC equipped with sound effects and lighting that you control by pushing buttons. There is even a METS/Yankee stadium that is a working pinball machine!

Check out some of the amazing displays;

 

Unbelievable that these are created entirely by tiny legos right?

After we checked out Mini Land, we went to the Lego Build & Test section. This is really cute because kids and parents get the build their own lego cars and there is an official race every few minutes that everyone watches. You want to build the biggest and best car to beat your opponent. I liked watching, but my boys weren’t too big in building their own cars. After they tried for a minute they were on to the next activity.

This is the largest part of the facility, the “Play Zone”. This is just a large crawl through obstacle filled with foam legos, slides, and tunnels. I loved this part because me and daddy were able to relax while the boys played safely. They will not let them out until you come to get them from the gate which was really nice. We were able to see them from the small dining area and we got some refreshments and snacks which we watched them play. They stayed inside for about a half an hour and then we had snacks and moved on to the featured 4D movie.

What is 4D you ask? It is A-Maz-ing! Not only do you get 3D glasses to experience the movie up close, but you also FEEL everything going on such as wind and water from rain, etc. It was really cute. The movie we saw was a weekend special, the “new” Lego Movie made specifically for Legoland. I think it was a short term show, and they change it weekly but it is always 4D. It was 10 minutes, and my 7 year old still talks about it today. My 3 year old liked it, but he wasn’t a fan of the 3D and didn’t wear the glasses. Personally, I thought it was really cute and would’ve done it again! It is all included in your entry fee and there is no additional cost. You can go in as many times as you’d like too. Here is the trailer of the one we watched; https://www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/westchester/lego-4d-movie/

There are a few other sections, like the Master building class which we did not do because my 3 year old probably wouldn’t be good in the room an might be a distraction. There was a Lego Village with a karaoke area that both boys loved. Also, a Lego Duplo area specifically for kids under 5, and another ride that me and my 8 year old went on called  “Merlin’s Apprentice”.

I can’t forget to mention there is a Lego store when you exit the center, and it has some really cute but pricey sets. We got the mini-figure key chains 5 for $20 which was the best deal – you can remove the key chain part and you have mini figures!

We went to eat afterwards at one of the diners outside in the mall. There isn’t much to choose from inside Legoland itself besides a few basic sandwiches and chips. You’re NOT allowed to bring your own food into Legoland (although you can bring a juicecup/bottles) but they did not really check any bags either.

Overall, if you’re not too far from it, I’d say go check out the Legolan Discovery Center in Westchester. Like I said, we will most likely go back during the Summer so we can make a day out of it and hit up the outdoor mall stores as well. It was much smaller then I thought, but then again it wasn’t for me. It was for my boys and they had a blast.

Have you visited this location? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Check out the video from our visit;

 

Also, if you’re interested in visiting, you can save 20% on your tickets by using my promo code after clicking below:

https://www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/westchester/tickets-and-offers/ticket-prices.aspx

When you are purchasing your tickets, there will be a tab titled “Promotional Code” when you click on it you will be prompted to input the code and the discount will be added to your order.

• JUST FOR MOMS READERS PROMO CODE IS: MB16008

Follow the prompts to complete the purchase.

ENJOY! Let me know below in comments if you’ve visited!