There’s a new kid on the block, Legoland Melbourne a.k.a Legoland Discovery Centre has brought Legoland to Australia! We are accustomed to travelling far and wide to experience Legoland, we travelled to Legoland Malaysia for our experience. Having been to a Legoland I was a bit unsure about what to expect at Legoland Melbourne.Â
Legoland Melbourne is located in the largest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere, Chadstone, the Fashion Capital! Chadstone is a mammoth complex so I was interested to see how Legoland Melbourne would work being fully inside. Legoland Malaysia is all outside and includes a water park, its a whole Legoland theme park!
Contents
Legoland Map
Legoland Melbourne being a Discovery Centre is much smaller than other Legolands so don’t expect it to be like ones you may have visited. Firstly it’s inside so that tells you that’s its not going to be massive. It is larger than you would expect and they have done a lot with the space that they have. See the Legoland Map below to help you visualise the set out and familiarise the layout before arriving. This will help particularly if it is busy.
Legoland Ticket Prices
Legoland Discovery Centre tickets can be booked online or at the door. If you live locally you could consider purchasing a yearly pass if you kids are right into Lego. Â Note that children under 3 are free.
Legoland Tickets Individual
I recommend purchasing your tickets through this link Legoland Discovery Centre, Klook often have specials that might mean you pay lees than the amount quoted below.
Legoland Annual Tickets
Melbourne Big Ticket
The Melbourne Big Ticket incorporates entry to Legoland Melbourne and Sealife Aquarium Melbourne. This is great value and save you money if you are planning on visiting both attractions.
Legoland Melbourne Hours of Operation
When booking tickets to Legoland Melbourne online you will be prompted to elect a date and a time, you must adhere to the date and time specified particularly during school holidays and on weekends. This is when the it is busiest and the crowds are managed by allocating visit times. You will need to allow around about 3 hours maximum to explore Legoland Melbourne.
Monday to Sunday Legoland Melbourne is open from 9.30am through to 5.30pm. Last entry time is 4pm and you will need to exit at 5.30pm. Thursday and Friday’s it will be open until 7pm, the last entry time on these evenings is 5pm.
Legoland Discovery Centre Melbourne
When you arrive you are given a wrist band and a Legoland map, then it’s through to the first section for your official Legoland photos. These can purchased for $35 and are presented in a flip book with a few different photos in it.
The Kingdom Quest ride takes you through the Kingdom Quest world in 5 seat carriages where you shoot spiders, orcs and skeletons like you are in a massive video game. Of course Craig got super competitive and had to beat the kids! I, of course, was last, I was to busy watching the kids have fun. It’s a clever little game and proved amongst other things that the kids have much better hand/eye coordination than I do.
Next up was my favourite part of Legoland anywhere, Miniland. Miniland is when you see cities that you know and love made from Lego. I particularly loved this one because it was all of Melbourne’s major attractions. There was Flinders Street Station, Customs House, Eureka Tower, the MCG, Flemington Race Course, the Melbourne Star, Arts Centre Spire, Federation Square, Melbourne Town Hall, Carlton Exhibition Buildings, The Shrine of Remembrance, Luna Park St Kilda and of course a Melbourne Tram.
I loved them all but most of all the MCG our famous sporting arena the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was done so well that when the lights were dimmed if you looked from one side the reflection looked like you could see the inside of the ground on the other side, super clever. Â Flinders Street Station was impressive too, complete with clocks to meet you friends under!
Next up there are a number to Lego tables where you are free to play and make anything to your hearts content. I can imagine that little kids would really love this and would be happy to spend a good amount of time here playing on the kiddie sized tables and chairs. My kids being a little older had a little play but were happy to move on pretty quickly. Particularly as they have a number of larger Lego sets at home that they had spent most of the school holidays making their little cities.
There were a couple of little rides and a play ground aimed at younger kids. Not that it worried my kids, they still had a go and were happy that they were well and truly over the allowable height restriction for a change! Next was the 4D movie theatre, we watched the Legends of Chima. 4D glasses are supplied on the way in and the movies go for about 15 mins. I love watching the kids in these movies as Caelan in particular will still reach out and try and touch things as it really does feel that real. I still jump when things come straight at you and when you cop that spray of water you weren’t expecting!!
The kids were then keen to explore the solar system display, this was a great learning display and they walked around to each planet and read the information provided. Caelan finds the solar system fascinating and really enjoyed this area. It’s only a small display but definitely rich in information and does a great job of engaging young kids and tweens like my kids.
Legoland Cafe
I was very pleased to see very healthy nutritious food options at Legoland Melbourne. The fridge consisted of juices and waters, sandwiches and fruit snacks and salads. There is a coffee machine so parents can keep up with their kids! For the little ones that have been good, you might be able to find a sweet cupcake treat.
There is a good amount of seating there as well so you can sit and still see the Lego explorer tables and the indoor fire academy playground. This means you can sit for a while and enjoy your latte while the kids play Lego with all the other kids.
Legoland Shop
Avoid this area like the plague…….just kidding! Wait until you see the amount of Lego in the shop not to mention the Lego kits that you have never seen in stores before. The kids will go wild! There are plenty of things to purchase from a little Lego keyring to $1000 Star Wars sets that are really impressive. I really like the Lego Architecture sets with the Empire State Building or Big Ben in Lego, that’s something I would love, create my own little Miniland at home!
You do have to go through the shop to exit the Legoland Discovery Centre, there are so many things to chose from the hardest part will be deciding!
Our Verdict
The kids really enjoyed it, we did get through it quicker than people with younger kids but that’s to be expected. Tweens get bored quickly and the rides were aimed at younger children. It was surprisingly big inside although that could have been the clever layout to make it feel bigger.
If your kids are right into Lego and are happy to free play (mine prefer a booklet to follow) you could end up staying in there for your whole alloted time. I think it is perfect for kids aged 4-7, this is the ideal age group. Miniland was great, I would go back again just to see that.
Have you been to Legoland Melbourne? What did you think of the experience? Let me know in the comments below. Make sure you check out my Melbourne free attractions post for other things to see and do in Melbourne with kids.
Safe travels,
Sal, Craig & our3kids.
Disclaimer: We had a mutually beneficial arrangement with Legoland Discovery Centre Melbourne, however our opinion as always is our own.
