Florida Guide > Other Parks
LEGOLAND FLORIDA
Bright, colourful and family friendly. Ideal for children ten and under this is an exciting place – especially in the sparkling Florida sunshine.
And if you are fortunate to have visited any other Legoland Park (England, Germany or California), Florida’s new Legoland will not disappoint.
Lego must be one of Denmark’s most famous and successful brands. Investigating the word Lego it means leg godt or translated, ’ play well’. However it also transpires that it means ‘I put together’ or ‘I assemble’ in Latin – rather appropriately named in hindsight!
Originally, back in 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen made wooden toys, developing a plastic injected mould Lego brick in 1949. However, the larger Duplo bricks, for pre-school children, were developed quite a few years later in 1968. Billund, Denmark saw the first Legoland open in 1968. It was originally a garden of ingenious models but the idea just kept growing and the ‘garden’ needed to be 9 acres!
Legoland Florida opened in 2010 did not disappoint us – and we have been annual pass holders at our local one in Windsor, England. From Christiansen’s first vision of a 9 acre park Legoland Florida far exceeds this at 150 acres. There are 50 rides, shows and attractions to entertain your young family and it is a fun alternative to Disney and Universal. Situated on the old Cypress Gardens site in Winter Haven it is just half an hour from the many vacation homes offered through Orlando Villas.
The Entrance is known as The beginning where the ticket booths and guest service areas are homed, together with a large shop – yes, you’ve guessed it – for buying Lego purchases. But there is also a 150 foot rotating platform, Island in the Sky, giving visitors amazing views over the park. From here you enter Fun Town where you can enter the Factory and learn how Lego is made or visit the 4D Theatre, but most striking is a most beautiful horse carousel.
Next is Miniland USA featuring five different areas of the USA – from California on the west coast to New York and Washington DC on the East…and of course Florida is featured! Here you can see the amazing models of the space shuttle at Cape Canaveral.
Duplo Village is great for the very young visitors with rides such as Granny’s Jalopies a bumpy ride, Big Rig Rally where youngsters can ride trucks, Junior Fire Academy based on fire engines and to finish off this area is a fun play area where kids can climb, ride and slide around farm animals.
Our favourite area is Lego Kingdoms where you travel back to medieval times. Perhaps because we are English the castles, knights, damsels and dragons make us ‘feel at home’! ! Here you will find Merlin’s Train, a huge multi level adventure playground (great to let kids run around letting off steam), ride a horse and practice balance and jousting skills and our favourite Dragon Ride, a thrilling roller coaster which travels both inside and outside.
The Imagination Zone lets your children try out their creative skills – using Lego of course. After this try out the Power Towers where kids hoist themselves up a tower structure to get great views of the park and then let go and experience the thrill of dropping to the bottom. The Land of Adventure is themed around Egyptian tombs. Try out driving skills in Lego City both for young and older children. Then move on to the Flying School roller coaster or a trip on a boat – all modes of transport catered for in Lego City!
Lego Technic is an exciting zone, where you can zip in and out of waves on the Aqua Zone Wave Chasers , or try the Test Track another roller coast, or try pedal power on a bicycle ride.
Along with these fantastic rides there are shows, including Pirates’ Cover, a water ski and stunt show. And if you get hungry there are plenty of eateries, to suit all at varying prices, around the park.
Legoland has been clever not to forget the origins of this site, Cypress Gardens. The gardens were there for 75 years and as you walk around spot the models of Cypress Belles. You can also enjoy the beautiful historic gardens.
Excitingly Legoland has recently announced it is to build its own water park – these are very popular in the Sunshine State.
Legoland is open 5 days a week, closing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but it opens daily during specific holiday periods. For more information check out their website www. florida. legoland. com . The latest Park tickets and offers available are obtainable through Orlando Villas Park Tickets (www. park-tickets. com)
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