Since Legoland’s newest park in Goshen, New York opened in 2021, my family and I have found many opportunities to enjoy this welcome addition to the Northeast area. But we’ve never experienced the West Coast counterpart — until now. On our recent visit to Southern California, we got to visit the Legoland in San Diego County to compare the California and New York parks! While Legoland sticks to the same basic theming in all its locations, we noticed some differences between Legoland’s first U.S. park (California) and its newest U.S. park (New York.) Here’s what we found brick by brick from coast to coast!
Lay of the (Lego)land
Let’s start with the most obvious. As America’s first Legoland, the location in Carlsbad, California opened in 1999 making it much older than New York’s park which opened in 2021. Legoland New York naturally looks newer and shinier, and has a bit of a more modern design. Perhaps because its young trees and newly-planted grass hasn’t had much time to fill the space, I find its landscaping a little “unfinished” looking. On the other hand — or coast — I was super impressed by the lush landscaping of Legoland California. Maybe it has something to do with the 24 years it’s had to fill in the space, but I think they’ve invested better designers and money into the beautiful flowers and shrubbery there. That said, if you’re allergic to bees, bee-ware. I don’t know if all the beautiful nature is to blame, but we could not escape the bees on our recent summer visit. Eating outdoors was impossible because they chased you and your food.
In addition to the looks of the two parks, one feels a little more compact to us. Legoland California measures 128 acres while Legoland New York is slightly bigger at 150 acres. The layout of California is more of a circle, whereas New York seems more expansive and has a lot of stairs. There isn’t a huge difference in size, but for us, we feel like we walk a lot more when we’re making a full tour of the park in New York versus when we’re strolling through the park in California. New Yorkers are known for walking more than Californians, so maybe that design was on purpose!
Cross Country Costs
New York and LA have a constant battle over which city is pricier. Well in Legoland terms, I can tell you from experience that New York wins the contest! I was pleasantly surprised to find the prices in Legoland California to be cheaper than the prices in Legoland New York. The food, merch, and even the hotel rooms are slightly less expensive in California. For example, an order of apple fries in Legoland New York is almost $10 while apple fries in Legoland California are around $7. While the parks and products on both coasts are very similar, you may notice a small difference in prices between the two.
Apple Fries and Oranges
Apple Fries are a staple snack of Legoland theme parks, and we were so surprised to see such different versions of them in the California park! Legoland New York serves what are basically soft slices of apples dipped in batter (similar to funnel cake) and fried. They are soft, moist, and a little tart. They taste like a baked apple and come with a caramel dip and a bit of whipped cream. In California, the apple fries look and taste quite different. They’re more like french fries in their shape and crispy consistency, and have a sugary coating on top of their fried shells. Their coating stands out over the apples themselves, whereas the apples boast the prominent flavor in New York’s apple fries. Besides the differences in taste and style, an order of apple fries near the Big Apple costs more than an order in California ($10 vs. $7). Although LEGO’s apple fries are quite different on opposite coasts, we found each to be tasty and unique.
Lots of Awesome Lands
Both Legoland New York and Legoland California have plenty of LEGO-themed lands to explore. Some of the lands are present in both parks with the same basic theming but slightly different names. We discovered that California has a few more lands that do not have anything like them in New York’s resort. Explorer Island (which is dinosaur-themed and looked a lot to me like Disney’s Animal Kingdom), Land of Adventure (ancient Egyptian theming), and LEGO Movie World are all part of Legoland California but not represented in New York. LEGO Movie World was a big hit with my son, and I loved the colorful, immersive theming that makes you feel like you stepped right into the LEGO movies! It seemed to us that California has more small lands, whereas the New York park has less lands but each takes up more space. Hopefully New York has enough acreage to possibly add additional lands like LEGO Movie World someday.
The Missing Professor
One unique attraction to Legoland New York is a popular new dark ride built specifically for the New York resort. In the LEGO Factory Adventure Ride, “Professor Brick,” the zany but brilliant LEGO inventor, hosts a fantastic dark ride tour in which guests are “shrunk” down to the size of a LEGO minifigure and shipped from the factory to their forever kid. It’s a high quality, indoor ride that I always notice brings smiles to the faces of guests of all ages! While Legoland California has some awesome lands, we definitely missed Professor Brick’s ride there!
Brick Encounters
Kids (and kids at heart) love stumbling upon character meet-and-greets in theme parks. But in our experience, the characters are few and far between in Legoland New York. They’re rarely on a schedule, and we often comment about their noticeable absence on peak days when they should be present. On the other coast, we had a totally different experience. In one afternoon at Legoland California, we ran into nearly ten LEGO character meet-and-greets! My son was so excited he still talks about it. There were random encounters along the path as well as plenty of scheduled photo ops with “high-profile” Brick folks in designated character spots. In California, guests can even meet LEGO Movie star Emmet Brickowski in his apartment! When it comes to characters, Legoland California wins by a landslide in our book. Time to up your meet-and-greet game, New York!
Splish Splash
For LEGO lovers who are looking to make a splash, Legoland California has a larger area they call their Water Park, but it requires an additional paid ticket and is not included in your admission to the theme park. On the opposite coast, Legoland New York has a smaller Water Playground which is only open seasonally, but it is included with the price of park admission.
SeaLife Aquarium
Merlin Entertainment owns various SeaLife Aquariums, and one location is at Legoland California, whereas Legoland New York does not have one. If you’re interested in the SeaLife Aquarium at Legoland California, keep in mind that separate admission is required. If you have an Elite Annual Pass, however, it is one of the Merlin North America admissions you get for free.
Sleepover, LEGO Style
Legoland New York has a great family hotel called — you guessed it — Legoland New York Hotel. California also has their own Legoland Hotel, but has a second kingdom-themed hotel as well called Legoland Castle Hotel. In both parks, the hotels sit right on property a very short walk from the entrances to the parks.
Old or new, West Coast or East, Legoland hotels offer highly immersive stays with kids at the center of all the design. We love the safety and convenience staying on property offers in both resorts. Some of the highlights of the Legoland Hotels are:
- Walking distance to the park(s)
- Immersive decor in every inch of the hotel, from the restaurants to the pools
- Guest rooms themed to the LEGO franchise of your choice
- Kid-friendly activities and entertainment in the lobby even after the parks close
- LEGO building classes in the lobby
- Handy gift shops
- Free family-style breakfast included with each night of stay
While there are several differences between the New York and California resorts, on the whole your LEGO lovers will surely enjoy both. My son prefers the New York Resort overall, but these differences don’t necessarily make one better than the other. The immersion and experiences are strong on both coasts and are sure to delight LEGO fans of any age.
What Lara Wrote 