Thinking of visiting Legoland in Florida? Then read on! One of the huge benefits of being a Florida resident is having all of the theme parks in our own backyard. Given our location and that I try to
do something special each year for my kids, I knew Legoland would
be a great surprise for my little boy. He has been obsessed with anything Lego for quite some
time, and so I knew it would be a huge deal for him. As soon as we purchased the tickets my mommy mode went on full speed. I started my obsessive mom
activities by researching, comparing, and planning everything I could.
Purchasing tickets: I don’t know if
there are coupons available in other states but I found Legoland
coupons a couple of months ago at Dunkin Donuts. They were for free child
admission with the purchase of an adult ticket. Legoland offers ticket and their prices vary depending on how far in advance you purchase them. The further in
advanced the cheaper. If you do have a coupon like I mentioned earlier, these do
not included date induced discounts. None the less you still save a lot of
money not having to pay for your kids.
Parking: Purchase your parking tickets online in order to
save 2.00 (it might not seem like much, but 2.00 is 2.00, plus when you arrive
you don’t have to wait for your credit card to go through, or for them to get
you change. They simply scan your ticket and print your receipt.)
Strollers: My kids are 4 and 6. They may be older, but kids
get exhausted walking all day. Thankfully stroller rentals are available at Legoland. Single strollers are 14.00 and double strollers were 20.00. Wheelchairs and ECVs are also available. Click here for more info: http://www.legoland.com/florida/planning-your-visit/overview/
If you are from out
of town and jumping from park to park there is another option. The link below is for a local stroller rental company. There you can rent out high quality strollers for your entire stay, which may be more economical then renting one at each park. An added bonus is that they’ll deliver, and pick up the stroller to and from your hotel.
Lockers: Me and my husband simply placed our backpacks on top of the stroller. It was convenient having everything on hand, but if you need a locker, the park provides those in the following sizes and prices:
- Small = $7
- Medium = $10
- Large = $13
What to bring:
The Florida sun,
heat and humidity can be brutal. Dress for comfort, heat and walking. Hats,
sunglasses, sunscreen, and sneakers will make your visit to Legoland much more
comfortable. Ladies: if your concerned about looking good, they will make you
take off hats for much of the rides, so beware of hat hair!
Legoland has no problem with visitors
bringing their own food. I froze water bottles and juice boxes overnight,
which provided us with cold drinks throughout our day. I packed some
sandwiches, chips, cookies, and donuts for lunch. For snacks we had fruit and
nuts. Not only did it keep us full and hydrated, since the kids always had a snack on hand they didn't ask us to buy
them any food throughout the park which ended up saving us money.
I also
packed:
Baby wipes: Almost every mom I know carries one around, it's great for sticky hands and mouths.
A change of clothes: Just in case we got wet on
a ride. ( I left these in the trunk of our car. We did end up getting wet on
the Quest for Chi but the sun dried us up in no time, so we never actually had
to change. If you don't mind possibly being wet on your ride home, or to the hotel you can exclude extra clothes.)
A medicine pack: Including Children’s Motrin, Advil and a
thermometer. I had the experience of visiting a theme park before where my kid
got sick and I had no medicine. We had to rush to the first aid section to get
him some fever reducer, so now I always bring things along just in case.
If you decide to not pack anything, I would strongly recommend at least bringing your own water bottles to the park, Florida gets hot, and dehydration is not something you want to deal with. My son was telling me he was thirsty and a fellow Floridian offered me one of her water bottles. Thankfully I had my own but I was very thankful for her offer. The heat is no joke, and its important to note that locals understand this. Especially if you are planning your visit for the summer. Water bottles will cost more than 2.00 at the park.
Starting your day: I had read a lot of blogs that suggested
to head towards the left of the park in order to avoid long lines. We did that
and I found that the lines were never really too long of a wait, the only thing
is that we had a harder time navigating the park. Visitors tend to start at the
right of the park and work their way around and so the park is set up that way.
Because Legoland is located 45 min from the Orlando theme parks it wasn’t that
busy. We visited on Saturday, and the longest line we waited at was about 20
minutes, the shortest was 5 min. Now I don’t know if that was because we started
on the opposite side of the park. My suggestion would be to go ahead and start
on the left, if that had anything to do with the short line wait I would do it
again just in case.
Mini figure trading: This was one of the highlights for both of my kids. Simply bring or buy a complete (hair or hat, head, body and legs) Lego character and trade them. There are a few ways to do this. One way is trading with the LEGOLAND employees. They'll have their available character on their name badge.
The second way is to find small trading kiosk set up around the park.
Rides and Attractions:
Want to get a look at the park before you go? Download the park map here: Legoland Florida Map
The park is divided into 12 sections plus the water park.
The Beginning: Get stroller, and locker rentals here. With shops and restaurants I recommend exploring this section as your leaving the park. There is a laid back ride here called Island in the sky. This attraction is a gentle ascent up 150 feet where upon reaching the pinnacle, the tower rotates to give you a 360-degree view of Legoland and the surrounding areas, including Cypress Gardens, the Waterski area. Because we visited this ride towards the end of the day, the sun was lower and there was a cool breeze. So give it a try if you want to relax or just take a good look at the park and surrounding areas.
Heartlake City: Have a little girl whos a fan of Lego Friends? This is the section to visit. They had a live dancing show. Plus side for me was the A/C. Mia's Riding adventure is also located here. If your planning on buying any Lego Friend sets they have a specialty store called Heartlake Mall.
Fun Town: Want to meet the characters from the Lego Movie? It happens here at the Wells Fargo Fun Town Theater. Characters show up at certain times of the day so check schedules. (They will be given to you along with a park map at the entrance.) There's also a carousel, and more dining and shopping here.
Miniland: "Master builders" built miniature Lego versions of cities from Florida, California, New York, and Washington DC. There is also a Lego version of the Kennedy Space Center, and Star Wars. Skip this until the end of the day, once the kids have had their fill of rides and interactions. It's a great place to just walk around and look.
Lego City: My boys favorite. With a driving school, a boating school, and a rescue academy he was living out his Lego dreams. *A note to parents, the NFPA Rescue Academy was our longest wait and it is very interactive for the parents. Want to fit in a workout on your visit? Then the NFPA Rescue Academy is for you! You have to pump a fire truck to the end of a line, then pump water out of a hose, once you put out a fire you jump back into the truck and pump your way back. Because my boy is such of fan of firefighters, cops and Legos we really didn't have a choice, but be warned you will get exhausted. ;) Bigger kids will enjoy the Flying School rollercoaster.
Land Of Adventure:
This was also a great section. There's the Coastersaurus (a wooden roller coaster), The Lost Kingdom Adventure (which is a shooting ride through), and a safari ride (where you get to see Lego animals). There's also a great shaded area right across the Coastersaurus if you want to stop and have some snacks or lunch.
Lego Kingdom:
This medieval themed section includes a Royal Joust ( ride a Lego horse), The forestmen's hideout, ( a great playground) The Dragon (rollercoaster), and Merlin's challenge (a spinning ride).
World Of Chima: If its hot and you need to cool down ride the Quest for Chi, We had a lot of fun trying to shoot water at fellow riders. You will get soaked, at one point we went under a waterfall and I had to get up and move to the other side of the ship in order to avoid a complete soak.
Duplo Valley: This is perfect for toddlers, with splash stations, a train, tractor and farm ride.
Imagination Zone, Lego Technic, and Pirates Cove: We actually didn't get a chance to visit these three sections. To be honest I didn't even realize we had missed these until we left the park.
Legoland Hotel: If you want a good way to finish the day take a visit to the hotel located right next to the park. Inside the kids can continue playing with legos, you can grab a drink, or dinner at the restaurant. My daughter even got to meet one of the Lego Friends character and take a pic.
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