@Esquoret
Maybe their servers just can't handle the massive influx of new Little Big Planet 2 players. Or they just need to patch something again. So much for the game not needing a patch on day 1... That was the reason it was supposedly delayed: to make the retail copy perfect.
So for anyone looking to connect I've had some success doing the following. First invite someone to your game from your buddy list. If they don't appear in your pod you can still choose a level. Usually the pod part is fine. However is they don't load in the level then wait a few seconds then hit the replay button. This trick worked 9 times out of 10. On replay they would load into the level immediately.