July 24, 2026
Pokémon trainers can play with LEGO Pokémon right now at three US Legoland parks, days before the sets reach stores. The new LEGO Pokémon Play Zone headlines LEGO Festival, the summer event running at Legoland Florida and Legoland New York through August 16 and at Legoland California through August 30. The festival is included with regular park admission, and the Play Zone runs on a same-day virtual queue joined through the park app, with capacity limited.
Inside the Play Zone
The zone is built as a hands-on trainer journey: guests bond with, nurture, and train a selection of five Pokémon, then take on brick-built battles. In the Nurture area, trainers build their Pokémon a snack, add a SMART tag at the snack table, and watch how the Pokémon reacts. There is a LEGO Poké Ball build-and-display station, a photo op with a giant LEGO Pikachu model, and a 15-minute interactive experience called LEGO Pokémon: Trainer Center, where guests learn to nurture, train, and battle with the new sets as they come alive in their hands.
“This summer, LEGO Festival is all about play without limits and LEGO Pokémon are the perfect Play Zone partner to headline!” Legoland Resorts said in the announcement.
The Sets Launch August 1
The park zones double as a retail preview. The LEGO Group and The Pokémon Company International unveiled twelve LEGO Pokémon SMART Play sets on June 2, featuring Pikachu, Charmander, Eevee, Mew, and more. The line is built around the LEGO SMART Brick, which responds to how kids play with light, sound, motion, and sensing, no screens involved. They reach LEGO.com, LEGO Stores, and select retailers on August 1, 2026, with preorders open now through LEGO.com and Pokémon Center. Festival guests get their hands on the system first.
Five Zones, Two New Headliners
The Pokémon Play Zone is one of two new headliners this year, alongside a LEGO F1 Thrill Zone where guests design, build, and test their own F1 car, race the clock in the Brick Stop Challenge, and grab photos with the LEGO Pit Crew on the winner’s podium. The returning Music, Creative, and Chill Out zones round out five festival areas spread across each park, with brick build activities, live shows, and LEGO character meet-and-greets.
LEGO Festival is the summer centerpiece at Merlin Entertainments’ Legoland parks, and it lands in a strong Legoland year: Legoland Shanghai crossed 2 million guests in its first twelve months. It is also another case of Pokémon showing up in physical spaces, following the Pokémon Fossil Museum’s US debut at Chicago’s Field Museum this spring. And like Disneyland Paris’ new Princess Cavalcade, the whole pitch is participation: guests do the training, building, and battling themselves. Beyond the US, the Play Zone also runs at Legoland Windsor, through August 31, and Legoland Deutschland.
