Legoland Florida - A Review
Fun Day Out
Lucky K! She had no school monday, allowing us to escape into a world of legos at Legoland Florida. It was a great day for us.
Oct. 2011
Legoland Florida is a 150 Acre theme park located Just outside of the 'Disney' area in Winter Garden, Florida. It just opened last week. It has 50 different rides and attractions to offer. The recommended ages are 2 - 12 yrs old & their parents of coarse, if they are well behaved parents that is.
The ticket prices, while tough to swallow for me, were actually about $5 lower than the central Florida average theme park ticket price which is currently a whopping $80 for adults and $70 for children. As with every other them park ticket, the best value are going to be multi-day passes for vacationers and annual passes for locals. Currently, regular parking is $12. The ticket line took us a good 45 minutes to get thru on a not so busy day, so advanced ticket purchases are recommended. The park is equipped for smart phone use, which I thought was great except that it seems my phone is a school drop out or of just average intelligence. Those 'up with the times' are able to purchase their tickets online and scan their smart phones at the gate completely by-passing the line.
Tickets can also be purchased at local participating Wal-Mart & Publix stores. Keep a keen eye on these as they may offer a small discount. For those on vacation, a second day upgrade option is available at the park. Currently, the park advertised the second day starting at just $15! For those locals who want to check the park out before investing in an annual pass, the park offers upgrades of your 1-day ticket. You can try before you buy and apply the price of the one day to your purchase. I found these to be great options! The annual passes currently start at $129 and increase with different options. Children under 3 are free and have a lot to do!
The attractions. There were a lot of cool lego things to see and do. We were amazed by Miniland USA. The little lego characters were walking around the park. Everything was very cute. There were plenty of rides. The park is well laid out. When we went, the park was not congested. The longest wait was 15 minutes. The rides are fun but short so I can't imagine lines that are hours long being worth it. I would not want to go during the summer. The recommended age range should be adhered to. Unless your teen is young at heart or loves to bond with their younger siblings, the rides may not keep them entertained. Given the adult ticket price, parents have some things to consider. I mean who wants to pay close to $80 for a bored teen to sit and mope? It's an easy divide and conquer plan for families with more than one adult or older teens.
We didn't get on everything. So we can't pick a favorite ride but we did enjoy the yellow ride pictured. They were little hover crafts. Observers got to operate water cannons to try to wet us. They got us 3 times! It was great, until the end. If you go on this ride, hold on to the right side railings when the ride stops. K and I have keepsake bruises from when the craft bounced and we hit the metal railings. K went from 'I LOOVEE THIS RIDE' to 'I'm never getting on again' in seconds. :)
We were really happy to see that they kept the gorgeous garden from the theme park that closed before it called Cypress Gardens. They also kept the name. We were able to walk thru it. It was like we were in a completely different place. It was wonderful! If you go be sure not to save the garden for last. The garden closes about 30 minutes before the park does. You can easily enjoy the garden for 20 - 30 minutes at least.
Have fun if you go! Many Blessings!
Personal Note: I was wiped out. This is the first long outdoor activity since my world changed. To honor my husband is to give our children, both people children and dog children, a happy life so I did this for our people child. She loved it and I think enjoyable experiences help her with her grieving. Miniland USA had Las Vegas, where my husband and I were married. I got to tell her stories that made her smile. She said she thought the garden looked like what Daddy would have in heaven. It was a good thing and worth the exhaustion, bug bites, and bruising that I have today.
