LEGOLAND Florida is situated on the site of the Cypress Gardens Theme Park that graced Winter Haven, FL with its presence since the 1930's. I went there with my parents circa 1980 and some of the carnival rides that were once there are still there mixed in with the new LEGO theme rides. The park is located about 45 minutes southwest of Disney World. Like its German counterpart it is small and can easily be done in 6-8 hours. Your feet will still hurt but little legs can easily do this park.
Most rides except perhaps one can be enjoyed by children as young as 3 although 4 and 40 inches tall is probably best. My nephew is 4 years old and was able to ride everything with us. The best age for this park in my opinion is 4-10 years old, maybe some preteens depending on maturity level. Teenagers would be bored easily here.
Every ride has an adjacent play zone for kids to build while parents hold their place in line. However, being that this park is new, the lines are minimal. The longest wait was about 15 minutes which is nothing compared to the 60+ minute waits at other Orlando parks.
There are a few coasters and even a wooden coaster held over from the Cypress Gardens park that occupied his space since the 1930's. The coasters have their peaks and valleys but no loops or upside down shenanigans that scare children.
There is a Mini Land at all LEGO Theme parks. The scenes they create are quite remarkable and based on the parks' location This one focused primarily on scenes from Florida including a replica of the Miami Skyline, Little Havana (with a sign on a restaurant that says Versigh - it's an actual restaurant and the correct spelling is Versailles), Key West (with motorized speedboats and sharks), Panama City and Tampa. There are also replicas of the Kennedy Space Center and the Daytona Speedway (with motorized race cars). Non Florida shout outs go to Las Vegas, Hollywood, New York City and our nearest hometown, Washington DC down to the remote control Tourmobile buses an the Iwo Jima Memorial. It's fascinating to wonder how long it took them to put these replicas together. The kids enjoyed it as much as the adults.
There are also several shows which may extend your park stay beyond the hours listed above. The kids enjoyed a well produced 4D movie called Spellbreaker which we also saw at the German park. The ski show from the old park is still there rebooted for the new millennium with a LEGO theme.
New this summer is a water park adjacent to the main park for $12 additional ticket dollars. We have a water park at the hotel so we did not go to this one.
Overall, children in the age ranges I listed will enjoy this park. As a parent, the parks' low crowds, shaded areas and no lines was refreshing after spending a few hours in the crowded Hogsmeade village of Islands of Adventure yesterday. Our park experience was cut short due to lightning that shut down rides, but I can't say we missed much because we had been to the German park and it is quite similar.
I only have two disclaimers. The first is for anyone who has gone to any other theme park. This is not Disney or Universal. The pace is slower and, depending on where you are in your weeklong vacation, it may be a welcome break. At $75 per ticket, I did find it overpriced, but we had coupons for free kids tickets with an adult purchase. If you have a LEGO fan in your midst, sign up for the free magazine online or scour the Internet for coupons.
Disclaimer number two applies for your LEGO fans 8 and up. My LEGO fan's (Thing 1, age 9 3/4) only reason for coming was the vast selection of LEGO's available for purchase at the BIG Store. Had I known this, I would have saved myself $150 and taken him to the LEGO Store at Downtown Disney. Kids younger than 8 will have a ball without the store.
Happy brick building!
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