Everything is AWESOME at Legoland Florida
Legoland Florida is one of the newest theme parks to enter the Florida market. They just recently celebrated their 10th birthday! The theme park is located in Winter Haven, about 30 miles southwest of Orlando and 45 miles east of Tampa. The complex features the theme park itself, a waterpark, three on-site accommodations (Legoland Hotel, Pirate Island Hotel, and Beach Retreat), and a brand-spankin new park based on Peppa Pig.
The park was built on the former Cypress Gardens theme park. Legoland Florida has preserved the timeless botanical gardens and re-themed the water park and several attractions to go along with the Lego brick theme.
The park is most definitely geared towards kids, but you’ll want to pay close attention to the ride requirements before queuing up. We suggest measuring your kids ahead of time and researching which rides they can go on, or measure them at the entrance of the park and refer to the infographic (and map) to determine which rides they can enjoy.
Pro-Tip: Be sure you pack a pen or a marker in your bag so you can mark up your park map with rides your kids can go on.
Table of Contents
Legoland Florida Rides
The Legoland Florida theme park has ten sections each with its own unique Lego theme. The sections are rather small, in comparison to Disney, but there is still plenty to do.
In this post, we’ll explore the various sections of the park and list out the rides and main attractions in each. We’ll further explore the rides and go into more detail about them in an upcoming post.
The Beginning
Naturally, the entrance to the park is known as The Beginning. This section does not have any attractions however, this is where you’ll find the primary gift shops, some restaurants, and administrative buildings such as guest services.
We suggest skipping this part of the park when you enter and hitting it on your way out so that you don’t have to tote your shopping bags around the park. Prepare to be amazed by The Big Shop!
Fun Town
Fun Town is where you’ll find the first attractions. A two-level carousel called Grand Carousel and the Wells Fargo Fun Town Theater which features 4D films.
Pro-Tip: Be sure to grab Legoland’s #1 snack while you’re here! Granny’s Apple Fries are legit!
Heartlake City
Heartlake City opened in 2015. It has 1 ride- Mia’s Riding Adventure, a theater, and a heart-shaped fountain with Lego brick instruments.
We opted to hit up Duplo Valley a second time and skipped this section entirely- with the exception of the kids posing with some of the Lego Friends character statues.
Miniland USA
This section just underwent an extensive remodel. Miniland USA features scaled models of Washington DC, New York City, Las Vegas, Florida, and more. It is extremely impressive!
It was cool to see what the Legomasters are capable of. There are lots of moving objects, and interactive elements mixed in as well. Throughout the displays, there are buttons that you can push to get parts of the exhibit to move. In the Florida section, you’ll even find a rocket launch at the replica of the Kennedy Space Center.
Being a huge American History nerd, I was drawn to the mini-version of DC’s National Mall.
Duplo Valley
This area was designed with toddlers in mind. It hosts two rides Duplo Train, and Duplo Tractor, an air-conditioned playground called Duplo Farm, an outdoor playground, and a toddler splash pad.
Our boys are obsessed with trains, tractors, construction trucks, rescue vehicles, etc so this section was perfect for them.We enjoyed this part of the park so much that this is where we started and ended our day. The lines are typically extremely short making it easy to ride these rides multiple times.
Lego Kingdoms
Journey back into medieval times at Lego Kingdoms. The Dragon is a remodeled roller coaster from the park’s Cypress Garden days. Here, you’ll also find a toddler friendly ride called The Royal Joust, a small circular rollercoaster called Merlin’s Challenge, and a playground known as The Forestmen’s Hideout.
The boys loved The Royal Joust but our daughter (almost 8) was rather bored with it. We all were huge fans of Merlin’s Challenge. We took advantage of the playground, as well. The kids really seemed to enjoy it.
Land of Adventure
You’ll find a treasure chest of fun in this Ancient Egyptian themed section. Don’t miss Beetle Bounce, Coastersaurus, Lost Kingdom Adventure, Safari Trek, and Pharaoh’s Revenge- a super fun playground.
The Lost Kingdom Adventure is an indoor ride that would be perfect to escape into in the event of rain or extreme heat. The ride is comes equipped with laser guns that you aim and shoot at targets to collect points. It’s a lot of fun.
The Lego Movie World
This section is centered around The Lego Movie. There are three main attractions here including Masters of Flight, a flying theater attraction, Unikitty’s Discodrop, and Battle of Bricksburg a super wet family-fun ride.
We skipped Battle of Bricksburg since it cooler out and we didn’t want to spend the day wet however, it looked like a ton of fun!
Lego City
Cruise into the heart of Lego City for trunk loads of fun! Kids can act like grown-ups and drive almost every vehicle imaginable! Here you’ll find Ford Driving School, Ford Jr. Driving School, Flying School, Boating School, and Rescue Academy.
Pro-Tip: The Rescue Academy attraction requires way more physicality than it looks! Guests have to pump a two-sided lever to get get their fire truck to race across the track to the “fire”. Then, run out, put out the fire, and maneuver the fire truck back to the finish line. It’s a work out.
Lego Technic
In this section you’ll find Technicycle, a pedal-powered spinning machine that propels you into the air, The Great Lego Race coaster, and AQUAZONE Wave Racers.
Imagination Zone
This zone features 2 spaces where kids can get creative! At Build & Test kids can build race cars and zip lines, and Lego Mindstorms is an exhibit where they can build robots. At WB Games Zone kids can play video games. There is one ride, Kid Power Towers, where guests hoist themselves to the top and free-fall to the bottom.
This is a great area to hang out in the event of rain or extreme heat!
Pro-Tip: Kid Power Tours requires you to use your muscles to hoist yourself up to the top of a tower. It requires quite a bit of effort.
Some of the attractions that were originally part of Cypress Gardens have been re-themed, renovated, and renamed. The wooden rollercoaster once called Triple Hurricane was renamed to Coastersaurus.T he Okeechobee Rampage coaster was renamed to The Dragon. An inverted coaster called Swamp Thing was renamed Flying School and
Brickbeard's Water Stunt Show
We cannot recommend this live-action water ski show more! The show is performed a couple of times a day on Lake Louise. The show stars Lego characters and a handful of water skiers and boaters. It is awesome! The show was humourous and full of a ton of action.
We were impressed by the athleticism and how closely the boats maneuvered towards one another at high speeds.
The show lasts about 30 minutes. It was a nice way to break up our day and rest our feet for a few.
Restaurants at Legoland Florida
There are a handful of restaurants scattered around the park. The serve up kid favorites such as cheeseburgers, pizza, tacos, sandwiches, fried chicken, popcorn, and ice cream.
We ate at Kick’n Chicken Co. and were not impressed. We ordered a family size bucket of the hand-breaded chicken tenders and some fries. The chicken was stringy and tough.
The park permits you to bring food items that do not require heating and drinks, as long as they are not in a glass container. We packed juices, sandwiches, and peanut butter crackers for snacks.
Pro-Tip: There is a Publix grocery store right across from the park. You can easily stop by there to grab some snacks to bring into the park before you begin your day. The store opens at 7 AM.
If you are unfamiliar with Publix, they are well-known for their sub sandwiches which we lovingly refer to as “Pub Subs”.
Legoland Florida Water Park
Believe it or not, the Legoland Water Park is open year round! USA Today named it one of the best waterparks in the USA. It includes a lazy river, 14 water slides, and play areas.
The Legoland Water Park was originally part of Cypress Gardens. The original park had five rides. When the waterpark was acquired by the Legoland corporation (Merlin Entertainments), they added a sixth attraction for toddlers called Duplo Splash Safari.
Admission to the water park requires the purchase of a ticket to the theme park in addition to a seperate ticket for the Water Park.
Pro-Tip: If you are visiting Legoland Florida during the shoulder season, and your ticket includes the Legoland Water Park add-on, consider grabbing lunch at the Water Park. You’ll find the lines are much shorter than in the main park.
The hours and days are seasonal, so be sure to refer to the official website for specific information.
Packing for Legoland is similar to packing for any other family theme park. Our Legoland Florida tips include bringing along a backpack.
We also packed a pair of undies and shorts, just in case. We did notice the some of the bathrooms are spaced pretty far apart. Grab a park map or download the park’s app so you know where to find the bathrooms for potty breaks.
As always, you should make sure you’re wearing proper shoes when you’re at a theme park. Theme parks, in general, require a lot of walking and standing.
If you’re traveling with younger kids, you will probably want to have a stroller handy. Our boys rarely ever use a stroller anymore, but we always bring one with us to theme parks so they can hop in and hop out throughout the day. It was also handy for storing our bags.
Other Legoland Florida Tips for Packing:
- Sunscreen: It’s Florida, lather up.
- Cooling Aids: If you’re visiting during the hot months, consider packing a Cooling Towel or a fan
- Umbrella: It rains almost every day during the summer. Pack an umbrella.
- Portable Charger: Let’s face it, you’ll be taking a gazillion photos and probably checking the app often! Pack a portable charger, or you’ll regret it.
Visiting Legoland Florida
Many people think Legoland Florida is in Orlando however, it is actually in the town of Winter Haven just southwest of Orlando. It’s about 36 miles, or an hour away from Disney World.
Address: 1 Legoland Way, Winter Haven, FL 33884
If you’re driving, Legoland Florida is easily accessible via I-4 (via Orlando or I-75 (via Tampa).
If you are flying, you can fly into either the Tampa International Airport or the Orlando International Airport. The Tampa airport is about 60 miles away and about an hour drive. Whereas the Orlando airport is about 52 miles away and will take you about an hour (depending on Orlando traffic). Either way, you’ll most likely want to pick up a rental car to make your way from the airport to the theme park.
The Legoland Hotel
About 130 kid-steps away from Legoland Florida, you’ll find the Legoland Hotel and the Pirate Hotel. Seriously, staying at the hotel totally makes the experience. It is a kids-dream come true!
While Pirate Hotel is centered around…well…pirates, the Legoland Hotel has several different thematic rooms. Each room comes with a seperate kids sleeping area with a bunk bed and a pull-out trundle. The grown up section has a cozy king-size bed.
The hotels are combined and share 3 restaurants, several play spaces, 2 pools, a miniature golf course, and more!
The other lodging option is the Legoland Beach Retreat. Lego brick inspired beach bungalows are grouped together. Each grouping shares and outdoor play area that is within view of the backyard patio so grown-ups can kick up their feet and relax while their kids play. There is also an awesome beach-themed resort-style pool.
All of the rooms have a separate kid’s sleeping area.
Legolands World-Wide
Legoland Florida is just one of many parks in the Legoland chain. There are eight other Legolands scattered across the globe. The other parks are located in: New York, California, Denmark, Germany, Italy, The UK, Malaysia, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates. Future parks are scheduled to open in Belgium, South Korea, and China.
Legoland Florida is the second largest Legoland park after Legoland Windsor. The park sits on 145 acres and features more than fifty rides, shows, attractions, shops, and restaurants.
Can I Combine Legoland with Another Theme Park?
Many visitors from out of state combine a trip to Legoland with a visit to another theme park. The Disney World complex, Universal Studios (along with Islands of Adventure), SeaWorld, and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay are all about an hour away from Legoland. You could easily stay at the Legoland Hotel and visit one of these other parks.
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