LEGOLAND Pirate Island Hotel Review: Searching for Treasure

Ahoy, Mateys! There’s a new pirate experience on deck at the LEGOLAND theme park in Orlando Florida. The LEGOLAND Pirate Island Hotel offers a fully immersive pirate experience from the moment you step foot on the property — and drives it home with pirate-themed rooms, restaurant, food and pool. Plus, the hotel is just steps from the entrance to LEGOLAND. In this review, we tell you what we learned, what we loved, and what we wouldn’t love to have again.

The newest LEGOLAND hotel, LEGOLAND Pirate Island, is a sister hotel to the LEGOLAND Hotel. They share a check-in area and main entrance. But that’s were the combination ends. Pirate Island has its own distinct pirate-powered identity.

The Pirate Island Hotel, which opened June 1, 2020, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, has its own heated pirate-themed pool, its own pirate-themed Shipwreck restaurant and Smuggler’s Bar, and 150 pirate-themed rooms, including 4 suites.

Read More: How to entertain the kids on a rainy day with a hotel scavenger hunt.

What to Expect in a Pirate Island Hotel Room

I didn’t quite know what to expect from the hotel. But my son, the avid vlog watcher, was thrilled to tell me lots about what we’d enjoy. He was most looking forward to breaking the safe and the treasure hunt.

Turns out he was right and that’s just one of the distinctive things that make this a room to fall in love with.

A standard Pirate Island Hotel room sleeps five in two areas separated by the bathroom.

Atlantis Bahamas CYBER SALE 20% OFF

BOOK NOW

The kids’ play and sleeping area accommodates three kids with twin-size bunk beds and a pull-out trundle bed. It also has its own flat screen television and LEGO play wall, so the LEGO model can stay out of the way. No excuses for LEGOs on the floor!

The adults’ area has a king bed and carries out the pirate themed decor.

Both the kid and adult sections have their own custom interactive Alexa devices. They offer the standard voice-activated Alexa features — news, music, weather, storytime, etc. But they also have specially programmed features. These Alexas can talk like a pirate and tell pirate jokes!

Why We Loved the Rooms

In addition to the decor, there are lots of fun details that help build on the pirate experience.

My son was right about the treasure in the safe.

The hotel provides an in-room treasure hunt that makes you explore your room a little more. I think it was our favorite part and we made it a group activity. Once you crack the code, you’ll be able find the treasure. The treasure is replaced every day of your visit, so every night your kids can break open the safe again.

From a parent perspective, I liked the room because it fits families well. Each kid can have their own space with the bunk beds.

It works for little ones, too, with a floor-level trundle bed, a stepstool in the bathroom and toddler-size potty within the toilet seats.

The adult area has a decent desk area for working.

Complimentary Breakfast in the Shipwreck Restaurant – Another Thing to Love

Every morning and evening you’re welcome to get your fill of pirate ship provisions at the Shipwreck Restaurant.

We loved everything we ate there! It was flavorful for adults to appreciate but also fun enough for the kids to enjoy and try something new.

They are also very accommodating to allergies; our first morning the allergy consultant visited us and went over best menu choices for us. At both breakfast and dinner, they were willing to create a separate smaller skillet so my son wouldn’t feel left out.

All room reservations including a complimentary family-style breakfast. The default breakfast is served in a big skillet and has breakfast potatoes, pancake or (LEGO shaped) waffles, sausage, bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy. You also have choices that aren’t listed on the menu like yogurt, cold cereals, fruit, and oatmeal.

Don’t Skip the Dinner Either!

Dinner in the Shipwreck Restaurant is not complimentary but it is worth doing at least one night. During our stay in February 2021, it was $28 per adult and $13 per child. There aren’t tons of restaurants nearby, so eating at the Shipwreck is a great and easy choice after spending the day inside the LEGOLAND theme park.

Choose from among three menus to share, all-you-can-eat family style.

Everyone starts with a salad of mixed greens with toasted almonds, dried cranberries, tomatoes, apples and asiago cheese topped with a homemade poppy seed dressing.

The main course choices are a plant-based menu, meat-heavy Pirate Platter or seafood-focused Seadog Skillet. The nice thing is while you choose one option there are enough choices on both that both meat and seafood lovers will be happy.

For example, the Pirate Platter includes slow-smoked beef brisket, BBQ pulled pork, spare ribs, rotisserie chicken and smoked sausage served with a side of baked beans, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, and roasted seasonal veggies.

Dessert is an incredibly decadent warm chocolate chip cookie served with ice cream and toppings. The plant based dessert (my son had it because of a dairy allergy) was just as rich. It was an incredible vegan fondue dish with bananas, strawberries and marshmallows for dipping.

More Pirate Adventures Await

After our dinner, we made time to visit the heated Pirate Island pool. It was only open on weekends when we visited, so we didn’t get to try it out. Instead, we headed to the LEGOLAND Hotel pool.

The pool has a zero entry side and goes up to 5 feet deep. Lots of oversized Duplo bricks float around. Overall, the pool area was laid back and calm, perfect to relax at the end of the day. The day might be a little more active, but the lifeguards do a great job of making sure people stay safe.

If you need a little more adventure, there is a modest size water slide you can check out next to the pool. It’s not a substitute for the rides in the LEGOLAND Waterpark, but it works for easy fun.

Final Things to Know about the Pirate Island Hotel

Smuggler’s Bar and its adjacent play areas act as the gathering spot for the Pirate Island Hotel because the hotel lacks a dedicated lobby and check-in area.

Parrot Post is the entertainment area where you’ll find storytimes, pirate sing-alongs, LEGO master builder classes and character meet and greets.

How Much Does it Cost to Stay at the Pirate Island Hotel?

Pirate Island Hotel rooms can be booked with LEGOLAND theme park tickets or as an independent stay. During the winter season, weekday rates were around $160 per night plus a $25 per day resort fee. Weekend rates during peak season can be as much as $400 per night with the resort fee. The resort fee includes parking, wifi, breakfast and all activities.

LEGOLAND Pirate Island Hotel and LEGOLAND Florida are in Winter Haven, Florida; about a 45 minute drive from the main Orlando areas. This is another reason why I’d recommend staying onsite at the hotel. There aren’t as many different things to do in the area. You can play at the mini-golf course or take a boat ride around Lake Eloise, but these are also right behind the hotel.

LEGOLAND Theme Park is celebrating its 10th birthday this year and there are lots of different events to celebrate this landmark. Piratefest Weekends are happening through the Spring, LEGO NINJAGO Days are in the Summer and then Brick or Treat & HOLIDAYS at LEGOLAND occur in the Fall.

Plan your visit early to take advantage of the best rates for these activities.

Traveling During the COVID-19 Pandemic

We visited in February 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and for the most part, I felt very comfortable with the precautions that the Pirate Island Hotel is taking. There are signs and hand sanitizer everywhere reminding people to be cautious. Groups are asked not to share elevators, and you have the option to decline daily housekeeping.

Mask-wearing enforcement at the adjacent LEGOLAND Hotel, however, was lax. There were lots of families in the lobby and play areas of the LEGOLAND Hotel who were not wearing masks. After I mentioned it, the staff said they’d look into it.

According to Polk County law, children under the age of 8 do not have to wear masks. But there were several parents who should have been wearing masks and weren’t.

Because this play area is adjacent to the bar, the hotel staff told me that it wasn’t required for people who were eating or drinking. However, I observed parents playing and dancing who weren’t wearing masks.

While this made me incredibly concerned about staying or visiting the LEGOLAND Hotel, I did not see it as much in the LEGOLAND Pirate Island Hotel. It made me very grateful for the separate spaces of the hotels.