Legoland--what would you do?

[LibrarianBecky]

My family and I are planning a cruise out of Port Canaveral in April of next year. Our cruise is from Sunday-Sunday, and we always try to fly down a day early, just because flying in the day of the cruise makes me too nervous about missing the boat. So, we will be flying in to Orlando on Saturday.

I'm trying to plan what we are going to do that day. We don't want to do Disney or Universal, because we are hoping to visit both in December of 2015. I think that Legoland might be a great place for us to go. My son is 8 years old and loves Legos. "Big" rides (Thunder Mtn Railroad, for example) make him nervous, but he loves rides that aren't big/scary.

How many hours do you think it takes to 'do' the whole park or at least a significant portion of it? I've read that you can do the whole thing in one day....but I"m not sure that we would be able to be there the whole day. We generally prefer to fly non-stop on Southwest, which limits our flight options. Late April's schedule is not out yet, but in early April, there is a 5:45 am. flight that gets in at 8:30 am or a 9:00 am flight that gets in at 11:30 am.

We could do the 5:45am flight....but it makes for a pretty long day. We would need to be out of our house by 4:00am to get to the airport on time. That is pretty early for us, making the 9:00am flight look a whole lot more attractive. However, by the time we get our luggage and rental car and drive to Legoland, I"m thinking it could be at late as 1:30 or 2:00pm. Hours for Legoland for April 2015 aren't posted yet, but last April their hours were 10:00am-7:00pm. Is 2:00-7:00pm enough time to make it worthwhile to go to Legoland?

Also, does anyone have a hotel recommendation in the Legoland area? We would stay the night there and drive to Port Canaveral in the morning.

 

[JaxDad]

Hi Becky! Regarding your last question, I read that the Hampton Inn in Winter Haven is a good hotel for LEGOLAND. I also believe there will be an actual themed LEGOLAND hotel opening soon. You might want to check that out.

I did LEGOLAND easily in one day with a 7 and 10 year old, but I started from park opening. I think you could do it in one day 2-7. Research the rides your son will want to do. The Chima water ride was fun, there is a Buzz Lightyear like ride where you shoot at targets (don't recall the name), and an assortment of low-thrill coasters. I'm sure you could hit several of these rides without too much wait, then spend your last hour or so looking at the cool lego constructions. I think 8 is about the best age for LEGOLAND.

Finally, do not pay full price. Use the coupon in the Lego magazine or look around for others. It's a fun place for kids, but only a decent value if you can get a decent discount. I think there are some LEGOLAND threads in the other forums, and you can look at TripAdvisor too. Have fun.

 

[P800aul]

Hi

Totally agree with the above the rides are very short and low thrill, there is a show on the lake and a film I recall which you may miss but to be honest a day more than covered it. It's built on the old Cypress Gardens and part of that remains which is nice to walk through.

It wasn't very busy when we went in October 2012 and I agree look for coupons on-line etc for big discounts off the walk up price.

Regards

Paul

 

[Upatnoon]

My family and I are planning a cruise out of Port Canaveral in April of next year. Our cruise is from Sunday-Sunday, and we always try to fly down a day early, just because flying in the day of the cruise makes me too nervous about missing the boat. So, we will be flying in to Orlando on Saturday.

I'm trying to plan what we are going to do that day. We don't want to do Disney or Universal, because we are hoping to visit both in December of 2015. I think that Legoland might be a great place for us to go. My son is 8 years old and loves Legos. "Big" rides (Thunder Mtn Railroad, for example) make him nervous, but he loves rides that aren't big/scary.

How many hours do you think it takes to 'do' the whole park or at least a significant portion of it? I've read that you can do the whole thing in one day....but I"m not sure that we would be able to be there the whole day. We generally prefer to fly non-stop on Southwest, which limits our flight options. Late April's schedule is not out yet, but in early April, there is a 5:45 am. flight that gets in at 8:30 am or a 9:00 am flight that gets in at 11:30 am.

We could do the 5:45am flight....but it makes for a pretty long day. We would need to be out of our house by 4:00am to get to the airport on time. That is pretty early for us, making the 9:00am flight look a whole lot more attractive. However, by the time we get our luggage and rental car and drive to Legoland, I"m thinking it could be at late as 1:30 or 2:00pm. Hours for Legoland for April 2015 aren't posted yet, but last April their hours were 10:00am-7:00pm. Is 2:00-7:00pm enough time to make it worthwhile to go to Legoland?

Also, does anyone have a hotel recommendation in the Legoland area? We would stay the night there and drive to Port Canaveral in the morning.

Your son is the perfect age for Legoland.

Why not fly in on Friday? You can pick a later flight, enjoy a nice rest, see Legoland all day on Saturday, and have plenty of time for your cruise on Sunday.

By flying in on Saturday, chances are you'll have very little time there. You'll feel rushed. Any air delay or traffic delay will put you even more behind. Your son will be mad he is missing out on so much fun. You'll start your cruise tired.

If you must fly in on Saturday, I would pick a different fun activity.

 

[DCbride]

We went this past summer from opening until about 4. Like Disney the first 2 hrs walk on rides later 30 minute waits. I agree that trying to fly Friday would be best.

 

[misse336]

We went this past summer with a 10 and 7 year old boy. We went from park opening to closing (10-7) and still didn't do everything there. We missed the whole Chima section, boating school, the Imagination Zone (I think it's called where you can build your own cars to race, the Hero Factory area and the area with the video games) and a few other areas. My boys loved it and wanted to go back another day, although we didn't have any other days we could go.

If you can come in a day early I'd do that. If you only have from 2-7 I would just research the attractions online and watch videos of the rides and prioritize what you want to do most. If you have a late lunch and eat after you leave the park so you don't need to eat in the park you would have a little extra time.

We got tickets for the kids for free with the purchase of an adult ticket. We either got them from Amazon local or a groupon, I forget which. I just searched for them online. They have them in the magazines too.

 

[Woodview]

You are flying into MCO mid morning .

You are going to start your cruise from Port Canaveral.

Port Canaveral is on the same side of Orlando as the Airport MCO

So why do you wish to drive approx 60 miles the other way , from the airport

and another 60 miles back.

I would arrive at Airport and drive towards Port Canaveral

BUT GO to Fort Christmas at Christmas ( A replica of a Army Fort )

and then on an Airboat ride at Midway Airboats & then onwards to Port canaveral.

To do this Leave airport and Join Hwy 417 North & then

join Hwy 528 heading for Titusville / Port Canaveral & Cocoa Beach

Next turn off Left from Hwy 528 and join Hwy 520 North

Then Turn Right onto Hwy 50 . heading for Titusville .

Fort Christmas & Midway Airboats are on your Left.

There are quite a few good Motels on outskirts of Titusville & then it is a

short drive to Port Canaveral next day.

 

[LibrarianBecky]

Flying in Friday...what a good idea! I don't know why I didn't think of that on my own. That is what we are going to plan for. Much more relaxing start to our trip.

Thank you for the suggestions on other things to do closer to the port, but a 60 mile drive to go to Legoland sounds pretty reasonable to us. We drive more than that to go to the zoo in our area. We are all Lego fans, and plan to drive four hours to Indianapolis for a Legofest event in a few weeks. we are hooked on those little plastic bricks.

 

[DCbride]

Don't forget to purchase your tickets online ahead of time, we ordered the night before and also bought parking ahead. McDonalds has an online buy adult get kid free deal.