LEGOLAND Parks & Discover Center Buying - General discussion

[donbee]

Use this thread for questions and discussion about buying from LEGOLAND Parks and Discovery Centers.

 

What should I look for at legoland?

I'll be going there for the first time this weekend.

I have no idea what to expect.

Do they have a store and clearance items, like at a regular Lego shop?

[Kenxxx]

3 hours ago, donbee said:

What should I look for at LEGOLAND?

Which one?  When I went to Legoland, FLA, a couple months ago, they didn't have much at any great discount.  You just have to be aware of what's retired (recently), and what's sold out everywhere, so that if you find it there, you'll know you should pick it up.  The main store had no discount items to speak of.  I was told here they had a discount / clearance "store" near the "technic" section of the park, but I could not find it... I think it was closed.

Amother thing to key on is polybags - knowing what's available, and what's not.  When I went there, I bought a couple dozen 5002122 - the TC-4 red Protocol droid.  I had no idea if it was rare, or common, a waste of money, or what...  only after coming back and chatting here did I learn that it was much desired. I sold those I purchased very quickly, and should've bought as many as I could afford (they had hundreds).  They had a couple Ninjago and Nexo polybags "early" also. If you see something you don't recognize, take a quick pic and post it in the deal-or-no-deal thread. Hopefully you'll get some help while you're still in the store.

[MinifigW]

6 hours ago, donbee said:

 

What should I look for at legoland?

I'll be going there for the first time this weekend.

I have no idea what to expect.

Do they have a store and clearance items, like at a regular Lego shop?

Legoland CA has a small clearance section at the back of the big shop, items are usually 25% off as they sell quick.

[ISO8T0]

3 hours ago, Kenxxx said:

..... The main store had no discount items to speak of.  I was told here they had a discount / clearance "store" near the "technic" section of the park, but I could not find it... I think it was closed.

The discount store at Legoland FL is called the Extreme Brick Bargain Shop

See #44 on the park map.

 

[midbenne]

2 minutes ago, pstebbing said:

The discount store at Legoland FL is called the Extreme Brick Bargain Shop

See #44 on the park map. 

 

They could also call that the place in a normal lego store that still displays Chima. (At least they pretty much only had chima when I was there in Dec.)

[mosqy]

1 hour ago, pstebbing said:

The discount store at Legoland FL is called the Extreme Brick Bargain Shop

See #44 on the park map.

That store was closed when I visited last month, there were some Chima sets on sale in the main store.

[Kenxxx]

Yeah, we were there (in FLA) in January. I had that map. There is a building at that location, had a (closed) sandwich shop, and what looked like some sort of (locked) conference / seminar room... but no store... walked around the building several times looking for an entrance... some kind of sign... couldn't find a "store". It was low season, mid-January... maybe just a short term shut down.

[exciter1]

4 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

Yeah, we were there (in FLA) in January. I had that map. There is a building at that location, had a (closed) sandwich shop, and what looked like some sort of (locked) conference / seminar room... but no store... walked around the building several times looking for an entrance... some kind of sign... couldn't find a "store". It was low season, mid-January... maybe just a short term shut down.

I had trouble finding it last June, but I did find it.  It's really tucked away.  Haven't heard any recent reports, besides yours.  Well, now mosqy too.

[Jackhammer3639]

3 hours ago, midbenne said:

They could also call that the place in a normal lego store that still displays Chima. (At least they pretty much only had chima when I was there in Dec.)

In Early March it was still closed. Housing something else that was closed for renovation. Often it's full of gear vs bricks/sets. I found the shopping at LL lame compared to the pricing time machine I found at Legofest (retired sets on sale price). LLF didn't even have Poe's Xwing. I liked the LL themed stuff in the minifig store and the Poly bags. Bought myself some of the TC4 mentioned earlier. 

[exciter1]

11 minutes ago, Jackhammer3639 said:

In Early March it was still closed. Housing something else that was closed for renovation. Often it's full of gear vs bricks/sets. I found the shopping at LL lame compared to the pricing time machine I found at Legofest (retired sets on sale price). LLF didn't even have Poe's Xwing. I liked the LL themed stuff in the minifig store and the Poly bags. Bought myself some of the TC4 mentioned earlier. 

The only thing I left LEGOLand with was the minifigs I traded for and some t-shirts and hats for the family.  I went in June when the PC and TOO were still scarce and they had the Jedi Cruiser in abundance at the discount store for $70 or so.

[donbee]

I'll keep you updated with what I find here. I don't live too far from Orlando. My wife wants to get an annual pass. I didn't complain.

My nephew, who has been there before, told us that they sell exclusive minifigs for the park that he collects. I asked about it in another thread and I was told no.

There's also a Lego store at downtown Disney we usually check out. I didn't know about BP when we used to visit there. 

When I visited the NYC Lego store last Christmas, I found some small sets and Polybags on 50% clearance. That's when I started getting back into Lego and discovered this site. 

6 hours ago, exciter1 said:

The only thing I left LEGOLand with was the minifigs I traded for...

Who did you trade mini figs with?

[Lordoflego]

21 minutes ago, donbee said:

I'll keep you updated with what I find here. I don't live too far from Orlando. My wife wants to get an annual pass. I didn't complain.

My nephew, who has been there before, told us that they sell exclusive minifigs for the park that he collects. I asked about it in another thread and I was told no.

There's also a Lego store at downtown Disney we usually check out. I didn't know about BP when we used to visit there. 

When I visited the NYC Lego store last Christmas, I found some small sets and Polybags on 50% clearance. That's when I started getting back into Lego and discovered this site. 

Who did you trade mini figs with?

Employees 

[exciter1]

26 minutes ago, donbee said:

Who did you trade mini figs with?

Yes, take some minifigs with you and you can trade with employees/vendors/cashiers, etc.  Don't worry about the accessories, because the minifigs they're trading usually don't have any.

[donbee]

sorry, this concept is somehow beyond me.
Are you saying I can bring any old minifig and trade it for a new one?
or do I have to reel and deal with the staff to try to get something i like?
 

[exciter1]

Old or new, you can trade with them and they are suppose to accommodate the guests.

[Loghamel]

Just now, exciter1 said:

Old or new, you can trade with them and they are suppose to accommodate the guests.

Never heard of this.

[justapilgrim]

Any polybags in the main store in California? Will be driving right by it and was wondering if stopping by for polybags. Also don't have to pay anything to go to main store right?

[Loghamel]

Just now, justapilgrim said:

Any polybags in the main store in California? Will be driving right by it and was wondering if stopping by for polybags. Also don't have to pay anything to go to main store right?

When I was out there a couple of weeks ago, there weren't any.  That's at the one in Anaheim. 

[exciter1]

Ok, you made me do it.

http://www.legoland.com/florida/map-explore/minifigure-trading/

[Alpinemaps]

Lol. Nothing so sinister. It's really easy.

I buy bulk lots of mini figures just so my kids can trade with the employees.

The employees that have them for trade are wearing them on their lanyards or name tags. There's also "stations" - basically some of the cash register stations around the park - that have a bunch of figures on display too.

Yes there are some new figures out there. I've seen some from recent figs from some recent series out there. There's also tons of mishmash figures. Parts from all over the place making up a fig.

Think of it like pin trading at Disney.

I buy the bulk figs so my kids can trade figs they don't want for figs they like. Then they can keep the ones they've traded for and go back for more with the throwaways on the next visit.

[Lordoflego]

If you ever visit discovery center in IL, bring some minifigs for trading too...

[Alpinemaps]

13 minutes ago, justapilgrim said:

Any polybags in the main store in California? Will be driving right by it and was wondering if stopping by for polybags. Also don't have to pay anything to go to main store right?

LLCA has two stores outside of the park - one at Sea Life Aquarium and another in the hotel.  The selection in both is pretty limited, and as far as polybags are concerned, I don't think they ever carry polybags in either.

LLCA doesn't offer a shopper's pass or entry into just "The Big Store."  You have to buy admission.  However, if you exit the park in under 60 minutes, they will give you a full refund.  (They do that as their shopper's pass).  If you buy $20 worth of product, you can a refund on your parking ($15), too.

There are three places to find polybags - on the map below, they are "The Beginning" #4 (The Big Shop), #5 (Minifigure Marketplace), and Fun Town #34 (LEGO Clubhouse).  Those are the three spots that I troll for polybags.  Occasionally I find something at the LEGO Clubhouse that I didn't see at the other two.  But otherwise, the two at the front usually have everything.

The last couple of months they've had polybags there that I haven't really seen anywhere else, though.  Plus there are a couple of small exclusives there (holiday sets, wedding set, etc).

[donbee]

32 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

Ok, you made me do it.

Thanks, good to know you need a hair or hat. I would've showed up with a bunch of bald minifigs.

[donbee]

WOw, it's huge, It's not what I was expecting at all, and they are expanding the FL resort. 

[jkris53406]

The resort in Florida was fantastic. We were there at thanksgiving and the experience was phenomenal. The park was great as well. As for merchandise, don't forget the LEGOLAND exclusive train set. When we were there it wasn't there and I was kind of bummed. The clearance store was across from the pirate show and was pretty sparse.