A trip to Legoland, FL

[fred67]

So I thought I'd give a little review of Legoland, FL. It was my first time - I've never been to a Legoland park before, so it was all new. We went to Busch Gardens the day before, so I can't help but compare.

First of all, a couple days before we went, I googled Legoland codes, and was able to order my e-tickets online with the "kid's free with adult" promotion without needing any physical coupons or anything. The same code worked for both kids, so the total price was just $150 for the whole family of four (before tax). Kid's at Legoland are 12 and under. Compare that with well over $300 at Busch Gardens (kids are 9 and under, so both of mine required adult tickets).

The park was open from 10am to 5pm, but I think hours are expanded over the summer months... just not quite yet. Luckily schools in Florida were still in last week, so the park was blissfully (relatively) empty, and lines were pretty short. Sadly, if you're planning on going anytime soon, they are out this week.

It's obvious that the park was designed with LEGO's core demographic in mind; the rides are nothing special. No coasters go upside down, nor are they particularly long rides. On top of that, the rides experienced a lot of technical difficulties and were often shut down for a periods of time. I only witnessed this twice, both times shut down for 5 to 10 minutes, but talked to another parent while we waited for another problem to resolve: lightening. Nobody saw any, the sky was clear with white fluffy clouds, but a little after 4:00 they shut down ALL the major rides because of lightening. That lasted about 30 minutes.

They kept some of the Cypress Gardens stuff alive, which is nice. The water skiing show features LEGO Minifigure characters waterskiing, so that's not something you see every day.

We did not go to the water park.

The stores were interesting - they are selling stuff there that I haven't seen for sale in a while, as well as stuff that I've never seen for sale elsewhere... none of it that I was interested in, but interesting stuff anyway, and certainly would be something a lot of people might want. The PAB selection was absolutely fantastic compared to what's available in my local LEGO Store, but instead of volume they sell it for the pretty outrageous price of $8.99 for a QUARTER pound. Still, lot's of interesting pieces, so I ended up with about a half pound.

My verdict... my kids are both tall enough to ride ALL the rides at Busch Gardens, which is much more of a ride oriented park, so they were both pretty bored at Legoland. That left, for us, the LEGO creations to look at - the pictures speak for themselves; Miniland is just incredible. On the whole, with kids the ages mine are, another park is probably a lot more worthwhile. It's possibly something to do once. Busch Gardens tickets cost more than twice as much, considering no discount, but we also opted for the meal option, which gave us food and drinks all day - one of the common complaints about theme parks. I spent probably about $80 or so on food and drinks at Legoland (although I treated my Mom and nephew, who went along with us).

For fun and excitement... Legoland is kind of a dud compared to other theme parks. It's somewhat less expensive, but when you consider traveling expenses and everything else, the difference doesn't make it worth it. It was OK for a one time deal, and I'm glad I did it, but I don't picture myself ever going again.

Here's a sampling of the pictures; full res by clicking on the image or going to view the stream. Some of the pictures were with my phone, some with my good camera. Here's a link to the stream.

IMG_20120531_161220 by FredJH, on Flickr

IMG_20120531_103845 by FredJH, on Flickr

DSCF1452 by FredJH, on Flickr

[Niku]

Thanks for this detailed review.

I guess if I ever go to that park, is going to be alone.

As Ive read before it is not that exciting expirence, unless you are kid or an AFOL.

[vriverajr3]

thanks for the insight. planning on going this summer with my son. even though i know its not the most exciting theme park, its something you have to do at least once like you said

[jFox]

Thanks for all the pictures! You weren't kidding, Miniland is pretty incredible! I've been debating taking a trip down there, given its "tame" nature. But seeing some of those pictures is making me lean a bit more in the positive direction. Cypress Gardens was really nice, it's good to hear they kept some of that around.

[krystalKING]

This brings back memories, except I don't remember batman and robin there.

[forkliftaccess001]

Nice plce. I wish I can go there.

[sharky]

I heard that it's better for the younger crowd as the rides are really kid oriented. I would guess that anyone over 10 would probably be bored unless they are really into Lego? I need to make a plan to go soon before my daughter gets too old to enjoy it.

[Vindicare]

Great photos. I really want to get to the one here in California. I'm not much for rides, but I really want to see all the models around the park.

[Bilbo Baggins]

I was planning on going to Florida next year now I'm sure I'll nedd to visit Legoland.