Nagoya Day 8: SCMAGLEV Railway Park & Legoland Japan Hotel (Friends Room)
We had our final breakfast and onsen at Dormy Inn before checking out and taking the shuttle bus to Nagoya Station.
We were off to Legoland and to get there, we took the Aonami Line train from Nagoya Station to Kinjo Futo Station.
We have arrived at Kinjo Futo Station!
The walk to Legoland Hotel took about 10-15 minutes. You will not miss it because you will see the brightly coloured Lego-like building from the train station!
You'd need to walk through Maker's Pier to get to Legoland
Maker's Pier was filled with a lot of kid-friendly shops and restaurants but we decided to deposit our bags at Legoland Japan Hotelfirst before going for lunch.
When you're checking in, don't forget to book a slot for the Creative Workshop and a slot for water play at the indoor water playground.
After checking in, we walked back to Maker's Pier to have lunch at Sagami Japanese Noodle Restaurant. We were attracted by the affordable and super cute kids meal.
Left: The super bright and cute kids menu that was meant to attract parents with young children!
Super cute baby chair!
The kids loved their kids meal, which were tasty and affordable
Left: We asked the restaurant for help to heat up bottled baby food that we got at one of the shops along the street in Sakae; Right: Yummy food for the adults.
This unique dish is a local cuisine that we have only ever eaten in Nagoya and nowhere else in Japan (and we've been to all the major cities)
After a really delicious and affordable lunch, we walked to the famous SCMAGLEV & Railway Park, which was located about 20 minutes away by foot.
Left: At the entrance of the museum; Right: Queuing to buy entry tickets, which was exactly like buying train tickets from a ticketing machine!
The tickets cost ¥1000 per adult, ¥500 for children aged 6-18 years old, ¥200 for children aged 3-6 years old and FREE for children under 3 years old.
Do note that the museum is opened from 10am to 5.30pm and closed on Tuesdays so do remember to check the museum's opening hours and plan your visit before visiting.
We were greeted by Japan's most iconic trains the moment we entered the museum!
The steam train that reminded me of Hogwarts Express in Harry Potter
The steam engine
The famous shinkansen (high speed rail)
We've never actually travelled in a shinkansen before so we can only guess how it would feel like from exploring the interior
This is a train museum so you can be sure to find different kinds of trains here and lots of them!
Trains all lined up in a row
Kids happily exploring the trains
It was fun to experience how the trains have evolved over the years
Exploring the first class cabin that came with a dining area
I liked that the railway park was very interactive and had lots of activities to entertain the kids.
Learning how the wheels of the train run on the tracks
Visitors young and old get to experience 'buying' a ticket and feeding it into the gantry
Here's a video of them in action:
More activity areas for the kids to play
You can also learn how to control the train with the lever:
My boy loves playing with this so much that I had a hard time trying to get him to stop hogging it!
We also explored a full-size shinkansen parked outside the museum. It had air-conditioning running inside so you can actually eat and rest in it!
Shinkansen
This old school train engine sits right beside the shinkansen
We headed to the 2nd floor of the museum to find a very fun Kid's Playroom!
Train-themed Kids Playroom
Mini size shinkansen for the kids to play in
Train-themed play area for the babies and toddlers
Totally padded and very suitable for baby girl to crawl around on her own
The very simply furnished nursing room was also located at the Kid's Playroom.
It has a cot, 2 odd chairs and some privacy but that's about it
The Kid's Playroom also had Tomica trains for the train fans! My kids loved building super elaborate tracks for the trains to run!
Kids working together to build their train system
So proud of their build!
Some kids loved the Tomica trains so much that when it was time for them to go, their parents had to literally drag them out kicking and screaming. Thankfully my kids were happy to leave (also because I told them Legoland was waiting for them *laughs*).
For older train fanatics, you can choose to pay for the chance to learn how to drive a train at the Train Driving Simulator. There are 2 types of trains that you can drive: Conventional and Shinkansen.
Train Driving Simulator
At the exit of the museum lies a model of the train system running through some of Japan's most recognisable landmarks!
See if you can spot the famous landmarks!
We had spent way more time than we had anticipated at the railway park. By the time we walked back to Maker's Pier, the sun was already setting.
The kids were hungry so we decided to get ice cream from Bar Gelateria & Crepe.
Lots of flavours to choose from but of course I had to choose chocolate, my favourite flavour!
Kids enjoying their ice cream 😋
After filling our stomachs, we headed back to Legoland Japan Hotel to collect our room key. We couldn't wait to check out the Standard Park View Friends Room that we had booked for ¥29,739 per room per night.
Lego Friends themed room was interesting to us because we had previously stayed at the Kingdom Room (read here) and Adventure Room at Legoland Malaysia Hotel.
The Friends and Kingdom Rooms were located at the top floor of the hotel. We contemplated the Ninjago Rooms too but decided on Friends at the end because the girl was a bigger fan of Lego than the boy.
If you follow me on Instagram, you would know what a big fan the girl and I are of Lego. My girl is a super big fan of Lego Friends in particular and is the proud owner of so many sets that she can build half of Heartlake City (the home of the Lego Friends characters). She has also watched every single episode of the new Lego Friends animated series on Netflix! To say that she was excited was an understatement.
Left: Super happy to take pictures with the Lego Friends characters that decorated the whole corridor; Right: Love this pink door! So cute!
As with all Legoland hotels, the rooms come with a big queen bed and a bunk bed.
The bunk bed and accompanying TV, fully decorated in the Friends theme
Left: Tv and study table area; Right: The closet, which could barely fit all of our luggage.
Bathroom with a full bathtub
Legoland toiletries
(same as Legoland Malaysia Hotel)
Our super girly Lego Friends themed bed
Left: We requested for a cot, which was small but very comfortable! My baby girl slept very well in it; Right: The little pink reading corner.
We had booked a Park View room and weren't disappointed by the great view of the whole of Legoland Japan! Baby had a great time looking out of the window.
Legoland at night. So pretty!
The best thing about a room at Legoland hotels is the many activities that will keep the kids occupied!
Building with a box of Lego Duplo in the room
Complete a treasure hunt in the room to get the code to unlock the treasure chest for a reward!
They opened the treasure chest to find, what else but Lego Friends of course! My girl was so happy to add it to her collection!
The time came for the kids to attend the Creative Workshop session that we had booked in the morning when we were checking in.
Creative Workshop
Each child was given a box of Lego
And taught how to make a Santa on a sleigh
(no, you DON'T get to keep it!)
The kids had fun even though they were slightly disappointed that they could not keep the Santa.
We still had a bit of time before their reserved session at the Water Play Area so I brought them to the playground at Level 2 to play.
The playground was a decent size and really super fun for the kids!
Playground at Level 2
Beautiful Lego structures for the kids to play in! It's like they shrunk themselves to play in their own Lego set! 😀
Pirate ship
Even though they had just spent the whole day playing, these two still had the energy to climb around this playground!
Younger kids might like the toddler area with foam Lego bricks while the older kids might like the PlayStation room where you get to play the Lego games
We returned to the room briefly so that I can breastfeed the baby before heading to the Water Play Area.
Loving the awesome disco lifts with music and lights!
The Water Play Area was located at Level 1. You'd need a staff to bring you in as entry is via staff pass only.
Water Play Area
Left: Lockers to put our stuff; Right: This spinning machine will spin your wet swim suits dry with a press of a button! It's super useful!
We were not allowed to take photos at the water play area but I secretly snapped a photo when the staff was not looking 🤫
The Water Play Area is great fun for younger kids but probably less fun for a child 10 years old and above because the water is really shallow.
Each session is only an hour so we headed back to room once our session is up. The kids watched a bit of the Lego Movie before finally sleeping soundly in their bunk beds.
It was a long day but I have boundless energy when I'm having fun! That's how much I love theme parks! 😂
