This year, as part of our Kindness Advent, I decided to invite my 3-year-old’s best friend to a trip to LEGOLAND® with us to check out their BrickTacular Winter Wonderland and stay at the LEGOLAND hotel.
Filled with giddy excitement, we booked the kids a flight to Senai in Johor Bahru, the closest airport. The other alternative was to drive or take a bus but with limited hands, two newly potty-trained toddlers and our sanity to consider, we thought it would be best to leave the driving to someone else. Equally hilarious and adventurous also were two mamas, two toddlers, two strollers, two giant car seats, two pieces of luggage, two backpacks and two snacks of everything to bring along. Thankfully, as is truly Malaysian, we had lots of help along the way!
From the airport, it is about a 20 minute drive to Legoland. I have to say we all collectively gasped as the hotel and resort came to view. It was bright, colorful and such an amazing welcome sight for the little ones and adults. I think the mamas may have even been more excited than the super excited kids! Not only is the outside a LEGO triumph in itself, the lobby was insane with a knight’s castle, pirate ship and over 100,000 LEGO bricks for the kids to amuse themselves with as you check-in. The best part for a slightly paranoid mama to an immuno-compromised child in the height of influenza season? Hand sanitizing stations!
To continue on our LEGO hotel awe, the kids were led to a lift that when closed, starts a dance party with disco lights and music. I briefly considered taking the elevator up and down and up and down just to see the joy on their faces as they giggled and squealed.
Rooms at LEGOLAND hotel
All 258 rooms at the hotel are themed and guests are given a choice of playing pirate, commanding a kingdom, embarking on an adventure or living like a ninja. Although pricey, as a mama and as a tribe with twins, we loved that each room includes a king-sized bed for grown-ups plus a separate semi-private sleeping area that can sleep up to three children (bunk bed and pull-out trundle bed) which eliminates the need to book a suite or separate connecting rooms.
I have to say Ella Grace was so mesmerized by having her own bunk-bed/pull-out that we ended up sending back the crib we had reserved because she absolutely loved sleeping in the pull-out. Her choice was really the bunk bed but it was her first time and I wasn’t sure if she would fall out in the middle of the night!
Another really huge perk of the room from her point of view was the availability of a separate kid’s size sink and mirror and thoughtful amenities just for them like bathrobes, slippers, and toothbrush. All the amenities although not lux nor too eco-friendly, were cheerfully wrapped in LEGO theme which is sure to bring a smile to your little.
There is also a treasure chest in the room that requires decoding and leads you to a prized pack of LEGOS and coupons for your little. If that isn’t enough to entertain, there’s also a giant box of mixed LEGOs and DUPLOs in the room that Ella Grace immediately discovered and got busy with.
I will say that the room that we got is a lot more “cosy” than I expected and showed some wear and tear from busy little fingers that I suppose comes with the territory when you’re housing teeny tiny children.
The convenience of being next door to the theme park was an awesome perk at the end of a very long and tiring day or if you have combo tickets for the water and theme park that allows you multiple entries, perfect for bringing the littles back to the hotel for a nap.
The downside to this however is that the hotel only allows check-in at 4pm and check-out at 11am – a very odd timing. The upside to this is that they have figured out a very efficient system of storing luggage while you wait so you don’t have to lose precious park time waiting.
Food at the LEGOLAND hotel
The Bricks Restaurant at the hotel completely exceeded expectations. The breakfast buffet was a really nice mix of Asian and Western including Teh Tarik, Nasi Lemak, waffles and pancakes, sausage and bacon, egg and noodle stations, pastries, and freshly brewed coffee. I loved that they had little signs reminding guests with allergies that they were able to accommodate them and to just let the staff know what the concerns were. Ella Grace was amused checking out all the different LEGO constructions around the restaurant from large elaborate intricate masterpieces to smaller things like bananas at the fruit station.
One of our favorite meals on our trip was the Christmas/New Year dinner buffet at Bricks that we previewed. Tender, beautiful, carved roast turkey, flavorful fall apart ribs, roast lamb leg, seafood of every kind and an extensive selection of desserts, it was so so good.
The best part was that they put activity sheets as “tablecloth” along with a box of crayons for each kid that kept them really busy so the mamas could eat hot food and sample all the offerings.
If that isn’t enough, there was also character visits, singing, magic show, and a giant play area just outside the restaurant that features foam bricks to build and explore. My only note about this was as it was quite busy and a separate area from the dining, we didn’t feel comfortable letting our toddlers play unsupervised while we ate though it would be perfect for an older child.
Higlights of the LEGOLAND hotel for us were:
- Super fun lift with music and disco lights
- Amazing play areas and lots of activities
- Themed rooms featuring separate sleeping areas for adult and children that can accommodate up to 5
- Amenities with children in mind
- Good porter service
- Yummy food and variety at Bricks Restaurant
BrickTacular Winter Wonderland
For the month of December, LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort will be transformed to a snowy BrickTacular Winter Wonderland. Holiday-themed activities around the park include naughty elves in Miniland (this was mama’s favorite!), Duplo Christmas tree light up, Santa’s grotto including meet-and-greet and to write a wish list for Santa, Advent calendar draw with insane prizes up to RM100,000 including a family beach vacation, a chance to visit Billund, Denmark, the birth place of LEGO to petrol vouchers and prized LEGO boxes!
It’s also “snowing” at the Winter Wonderland igloo, and there are all kinds of fun performances, dances, and sing-a-longs. The grand finale culminates in the Brick-Tacular fireworks show on 29 December to welcome the New Year by lighting up the park skies with LEGO firework bricks falling from the sky!
Check out our LEGOLAND theme park review here and latest prices at the LEGOLAND hotel here.
We stayed as guests of the LEGOLAND hotel. The opinions are honest and our own, as always!
