First Tickets To Legoland Park Near NYC Now On Sale

NEW YORK — It's still about a year away from opening, but New Yorkers can buy tickets now to the massive Legoland theme park under construction outside the city.

The Legoland New York Resort's "First to Play" passes went on sale Thursday morning for $94.99 apiece. Lego lovers who buy one will get a special preview of the park in Goshen, roughly 60 miles north of Manhattan, before its grand opening in the spring of 2020.

"What it gives you is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience Legoland New York Resort before it opens at a special preview day event," said Matt Besterman, Legoland New York's public relations manager.

The passes also include a year of admission, special event invitations and seasonal offers for members, according to a press release.

There is only a limited number of First to Play passes, Besterman said. While he couldn't say exactly how many, he noted, "When it's gone, it's gone." More annual passes will be released through this spring and summer, he said.

Once it opens, the 150-acre park — the biggest Legoland in the world — will feature 50 rides, attractions and shows along with a 250-room hotel and thousands of sculptures made from millions of Lego bricks.

Among them will be a model of the Oculus, the Lower Manhattan mall and transportation hub notable for its arching, bone-like exterior. Legoland's model-builders took 555 hours to design and construct the replica from 40,000 Lego bricks, Besterman said.

Legoland officials unveiled the sculpture inside the real Oculus on Thursday. It'll find its home in "Miniland," a portion of Legoland that will feature scale models of the Big Apple and other major cities.

The model masterminds wanted to add an iconic New York feature outside of storied landmarks such as the Empire State Building or Yankee Stadium, Besterman said.

"It’s so beautiful, it’s so iconic, it’s instantly recognizable," he said. "It’s one of the just most spectacular additions to the New York City skyline in decades. So for us it was really just a natural fit."

Also on hand for Thursday's unveiling were Legoland New York's team of six "kid reporters," who will show visitors what the park is like through the eyes of its pint-sized target audience.

Each kid got four First to Play passes for themselves and their families, along with a giant commemorative card that looked almost as tall as they are. "You're going to be carrying them around for the next year or so," Phil Royle, Legoland New York's development director, told the kids.

The kid reporter team is led by Waverly Winchester, a 10-year-old from the Upper East Side who has her own website, Kids' News NYC, and is also New York City Patch's Kids' Mayor.

Waverly said she's excited to be one of the first to ever visit the new park. Other kids who take advantage of the opportunity could be a part of history, she said.

"It would be really important if you got to be able to be one of the first people going to go there," Waverly said. "This could go on until 2337 ... and you would be still the first ones to go in 2020."