Just back from 2 days at Legoland Florida

[jkstewart1800]

Ask away!

 

[Reddy]

OK what is there??
rides or just Legos

 

[jkstewart1800]

OK what is there??
rides or just Legos

Mostly rides, and kiddie ones at that.
There were 3 stores.
Build a Mini - which is just what it sounds. But only a small portion of the store was designated for that - most of it was just more merch.
The Big Shop - which was still smaller than the old DTD lego store.
and The Factory - which had more merch and a wall of pick a brick.

I really thought there would be more "Leog stuff" to do. There was one large building that housed a "build and race your own car" and a MindStorm sessions.

 

[DOOM1001]

I loved the park,I was amazed at how much nicer it is than from when it was Cypress Gardens.There are several rides just for kids but the rollercoasters while smaller are fun for all ages,the Test Track wild mouse coaster is my favorite followed by the wooden Coastersaurus.One thing however is I couldn't imagine that park with big crowds I went on a calm day in October and noticed that some of these rides have very small capacities,for example the wooden Coastersaurus has only one train and each car only fits one adult or two kids,I couldn't imagine the waits with big crowds.They have a lot of other unique attractions like the Aqua Zone wave blasters,really fun ride as when you open the wheel it feels like you're going to fly out.We saw 2 of the 3-D movies which were both good and the observation tower gives you an amazing view of the area.The ski show is definitely for kids but is still cute with the Lego dudes skiing.I'm glad they kept part of the old gardens area which are still amazing.The food overall was a thumbs down for variety as they still haven't opened the Chicken restaurant or the sandwich place,so when I went the only options were two hamburger places,the marketplace restaurant which didn't impress me at all and a pizza buffet place.One thing I have to give them props for are that the burgers were very good.Another thing to add is the miniland which was amazing and you could easily spend 1-2 hours watching it.

 

[jkstewart1800]

We went when it was the most crowded it has ever been. They actually closed the park due to capacity the first day we were there. It was hurrendous. All the rides are very short and all the lines were VERY long.
They were not prepared for that number of people. They ran out of everything... food, room and CM patience.

Also, we had a child in a wheel chair due to a broken leg and after traversing the park with him and seeing what "accesable" options there are I would NEVER recomend this park to anyone with disabilities or special needs

 

[momto2js]

I took my 2 and 5 year olds to legoland in the middle of November. They are still talking about our day at legoland so if you ask them it was fantastic. However, I think their maketing materials should be more clear that EACH child under 48" really needs to have an adult with them. Most rides require the under 48" crowd to have an adult with them to ride, but I assumed I could ride with both kids at one time. The cars are so small that 2 is the max capicity and with few exceptions I approached strangers that had more adults than kids in their party or bigger kids that could ride alone and asked if they would ride with one of my kids.

It would have never dawned on me that this would be an issue with the amount of marking they do to SAHM's with preschoolers. Most of the SAHM's I know have more than one kid. Even a family with 3 kids under 6 could have a really hard time with the requirements.

I also agree the food offerings were limited. We packed a lunch because I had read about cross contamination issues and my son has life-threatening nut allergies.

I am considering a return trip, so it couldn't have been too bad. But we would not even be considering it with out a discount or during the summer. I can't imagine how HOT this park will be in the summer.

 

[jkstewart1800]

I took my 2 and 5 year olds to legoland in the middle of November. They are still talking about our day at legoland so if you ask them it was fantastic. However, I think their maketing materials should be more clear that EACH child under 48" really needs to have an adult with them. Most rides require the under 48" crowd to have an adult with them to ride, but I assumed I could ride with both kids at one time. The cars are so small that 2 is the max capicity and with few exceptions I approached strangers that had more adults than kids in their party or bigger kids that could ride alone and asked if they would ride with one of my kids.

It would have never dawned on me that this would be an issue with the amount of marking they do to SAHM's with preschoolers. Most of the SAHM's I know have more than one kid. Even a family with 3 kids under 6 could have a really hard time with the requirements.

I also agree the food offerings were limited. We packed a lunch because I had read about cross contamination issues and my son has life-threatening nut allergies.

I am considering a return trip, so it couldn't have been too bad. But we would not even be considering it with out a discount or during the summer. I can't imagine how HOT this park will be in the summer.

My kids loved it too and it was by luck that 2 of the 5 boys with us were taller than 48" because we only had 2 adults between us. This is just ONE of the issue that Legoland is going to need to work out.

 

[mdurette]

Ask away!

We are heading there this week sometime (waiting for the crowds to lighten up). We picked this place because we will have two 5YO and one 3YO with us that just love to go on rides. I don't find WDW has many offerings for that age group. Will we find that there?

Any discounts to be used? We did get the buy one adult get kid free ticket. Just curious if anything else it out there.

 

[alaska8]

curious as to where you found the discount to get the child free when you buy an adult ticket
thanks

 

[mdurette]

mousesavers has the links for two kids free with adult ticket purchase promos that are going on. One is buy Pepsi - can't remember what the other one is.

 

[jkstewart1800]

We are heading there this week sometime (waiting for the crowds to lighten up). We picked this place because we will have two 5YO and one 3YO with us that just love to go on rides. I don't find WDW has many offerings for that age group. Will we find that there?

Any discounts to be used? We did get the buy one adult get kid free ticket. Just curious if anything else it out there.

We used a AAA discount. There are a few florida resident discounts available, but no military discounts.

Check ride height restrictions before you . If you have a tall 3 year old you'll be fine. But keep in mind that unlike Disney World you MUST have a person 48" or taller RIDE NEXT to the child that is shorter than 48" even if you only have to be 40" to ride...
I think the Magic Kingdom has MORE to do for little ones that Legoland, but it's bigger. MK only has 3 rides with height restrictions. In LL most rides you have to be 42 inches or taller. There are a handfull of rides that are for littler ones.

 

[jkstewart1800]

mousesavers has the links for two kids free with adult ticket purchase promos that are going on. One is buy Pepsi - can't remember what the other one is.

Triple A

 

[GAGirlInVA]

However, I think their maketing materials should be more clear that EACH child under 48" really needs to have an adult with them. Most rides require the under 48" crowd to have an adult with them to ride, but I assumed I could ride with both kids at one time. The cars are so small that 2 is the max capicity and with few exceptions I approached strangers that had more adults than kids in their party or bigger kids that could ride alone and asked if they would ride with one of my kids.

It would have never dawned on me that this would be an issue with the amount of marking they do to SAHM's with preschoolers. Most of the SAHM's I know have more than one kid. Even a family with 3 kids under 6 could have a really hard time with the requirements.

I also agree the food offerings were limited. We packed a lunch because I had read about cross contamination issues and my son has life-threatening nut allergies.

Well.. I'm glad you posted all of this. We'd be screwed!

 

[HLAuburn]

We went to Legoland in October with our 7 and 2 year old girls and we LOVED it! I think there was a lot to do for both ages. My husband and I thought the grounds were beautiful and it was a nice escape from the other "major" theme parks.

We are taking my little one a trip for her 3rd birthday and out of all the parks, she picked Legoland, so we'll be back next week and we're all looking forward to it. It's definitely not Disney, but as long as you don't go with the expectation that it is, it's a great park!

We are heading there this week sometime (waiting for the crowds to lighten up). We picked this place because we will have two 5YO and one 3YO with us that just love to go on rides. I don't find WDW has many offerings for that age group. Will we find that there?

Any discounts to be used? We did get the buy one adult get kid free ticket. Just curious if anything else it out there.

Publix grocery stores have adult tickets for $60+tax and kids/seniors for $50. If you have a car while you're there, it would be easy to find one and run in to pick up tickets. Also, ticketsatwork.com has the best prices I've found -you have to be a member, but it seems like a lot of companies and groups are enrolled (we get ours through our neighborhood HOA).

 

[momto2js]

We are heading there this week sometime (waiting for the crowds to lighten up). We picked this place because we will have two 5YO and one 3YO with us that just love to go on rides. I don't find WDW has many offerings for that age group. Will we find that there?

Any discounts to be used? We did get the buy one adult get kid free ticket. Just curious if anything else it out there.

I'm sure that it is too late for this but if what you are looking for is "kiddie" rides and a nice day for the whole family, for the same money we would go to Busch Gardens over legoland everytime. Busch is a more established park with WAY more shade, and they have a great variety of attractions. It is a favorite of my family after a few disney days of waiting in line for everything, to go and ride some smaller things but not have to wait for long for any of them. The "kiddie" rides at BG allow kids to go together or alone but an adult isn't usually required.

Legoland is a whole other ballgame. In order to do most things you will need a third adult, or one adult will have to stand in line 3 times once with each kids and maybe the others could wait in one of the play areas. Really to enjoy MOST of the attractions at legoland you need an adult for EACH child under 48 inches.

Just one more thought. In my estimation there is NO reason to bring a baby or young toddler to legoland. Save the money for the adult that is going to sit on a bench next to the stroller the whole day. There is very little (I'm actually comfortable with the term nothing)
that you could do with a baby in arms.

 

[-Hope-]

We are heading down in September and DS is really looking forward to Legoland. My kids are older (11 and 12) but do not enjoy thrill rides AT ALL. Soarin' is about as thrilling as they get at WDW. :lol: At any rate, I've read the ride descriptions and I think a lot of them will be enjoyable for us and we won't have to worry about height requirements.

My question is, how much time should we plan to spend? I had originally planned to do only one day but now I'm considering two since I've read so much about long lines. We were going to just take a day to drive to Winter Haven but if we do 2 park days I'm considering going there first, doing a half day on our arrival day and then a full day the following day. Then we'd head to Orlando after leaving the park on the 2nd day.

Does a day and half seem sufficient or should we plan for two full days? I'm hoping for lower crowds in September.

 

[HLAuburn]

We are heading down in September and DS is really looking forward to Legoland. My kids are older (11 and 12) but do not enjoy thrill rides AT ALL. Soarin' is about as thrilling as they get at WDW. :lol: At any rate, I've read the ride descriptions and I think a lot of them will be enjoyable for us and we won't have to worry about height requirements.

My question is, how much time should we plan to spend? I had originally planned to do only one day but now I'm considering two since I've read so much about long lines. We were going to just take a day to drive to Winter Haven but if we do 2 park days I'm considering going there first, doing a half day on our arrival day and then a full day the following day. Then we'd head to Orlando after leaving the park on the 2nd day.

Does a day and half seem sufficient or should we plan for two full days? I'm hoping for lower crowds in September.

I think a day and a half is perfect. When we went in October, it wasn't crowded at all, but many of the rides are "slow loaders" so even with a short line, it takes a while to get on each ride. We arrived at 10:00 when the park opened and left around 4 (it closed at 5 that day) and we feel like there were a few things we didn't see.

Not sure how it applies to promotinal tickets, but you can add an extra day for $15. There aren't a whole lot of hotel choices in Winter Haven - looks like the best ones might be in Lake Wales about 5 min away. We're going to stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Lake Wales...I'll be glad to report back when we return

 

[jkstewart1800]

We are heading down in September and DS is really looking forward to Legoland. My kids are older (11 and 12) but do not enjoy thrill rides AT ALL. Soarin' is about as thrilling as they get at WDW. :lol: At any rate, I've read the ride descriptions and I think a lot of them will be enjoyable for us and we won't have to worry about height requirements.

My question is, how much time should we plan to spend? I had originally planned to do only one day but now I'm considering two since I've read so much about long lines. We were going to just take a day to drive to Winter Haven but if we do 2 park days I'm considering going there first, doing a half day on our arrival day and then a full day the following day. Then we'd head to Orlando after leaving the park on the 2nd day.

Does a day and half seem sufficient or should we plan for two full days? I'm hoping for lower crowds in September.

A day an a half worked for us. I think the park would be lovely when it's not crowded, raining and properly staffed.

 

[-Hope-]

I think a day and a half is perfect. When we went in October, it wasn't crowded at all, but many of the rides are "slow loaders" so even with a short line, it takes a while to get on each ride. We arrived at 10:00 when the park opened and left around 4 (it closed at 5 that day) and we feel like there were a few things we didn't see.

Not sure how it applies to promotinal tickets, but you can add an extra day for $15. There aren't a whole lot of hotel choices in Winter Haven - looks like the best ones might be in Lake Wales about 5 min away. We're going to stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Lake Wales...I'll be glad to report back when we return

Thank you! I'll definitely look into hotels in Lake Wales.

A day an a half worked for us. I think the park would be lovely when it's not crowded, raining and properly staffed.

Here's hoping.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

We were toying with the idea of planning a Legoland/Sea World trip for this year since we just went to WDW this past August; but I am reconsidering the whole idea of going to Legoland based not only on the feedback from this thread, but also feedback from other threads/posts about Legoland on these boards and other sources. For a park that is supposed to be targeted to families with young children, I don't think they designed/planned the park to account for: the logistical needs of families with multiple children considering the child/adult ratio needed for most of the rides, having rides that can accommodate the whole family instead of only children over 36 inches tall accompanied by one adult, how to efficiently manage the queues, the inefficiency of slow loading/low capacity rides, and the lower value for your dollar when the cost of admission is contrasted against the park's limited hours of operation. The theming looks beautiful from photos I've seen and it seems like it is a fun park, but I am starting to gradually lose interest. My kids enjoy Legos, but they aren't Lego fanatics and were just as happy to visit the Lego Store/Center in Downtown Disney during our recent WDW trip. If we ever go to Orlando to visit other (non-Disney) parks, we will probably just stick with Universal and Sea World.