Winterfest Festivities: Delights of Christmas at Carowinds

On a fall flight, Kim (K) flew to Charlotte, North Carolina, in the early morning.  Upon landing, she admired the lights glowing at Carowinds Amusement Park below, thankful that they had left the pretty lights on.  A little website wandering later, and she realizes Carowinds is hosting a holiday celebration called Winterfest, debuting in 2017.  Our family typically travels to Williamsburg, Virginia, for part of Christmas, taking in Christmas Town at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  Christmas Town, however, has become exceptionally crowded, including during the "off days" of the week between Christmas and New Years.  Looking for something that was a little less overrun, we were very pleased to find Winterfest.  It was simply magical.

The park was bedecked in lights and had several festive zones, including a Dickens Christmas Carol display and a Peanuts land J found especially delightful.  Visiting was a lot about admiring the lights and enjoying experiences like strolling carolers, photo ops, and a nativity petting zoo.  We took in a fun Charlie Brown show and especially appreciated the references to the nature of the season, including a gorgeous display of Holy Family figures and a lighted Hanukkiah.  Rides were understandably limited by the season, but we immensely enjoyed ourselves on J's new favorite ride, Snoopy's Pirate Ship, and others.  This was our first visit to Carowinds, and we were extremely impressed with the friendliness of the staff, their engagement with visitors, and the fun they were sincerely having.  We hope to return--E was especially intrigued by the roller coasters (mainly closed for the season) and the planned expansion of Camp Snoopy looks like a ton of fun.

If you go, arrive at opening and plan to stay til closing.  The parking process is easy, but you want as much time as possible in the park. Look into preschool passes for anyone qualified in your party in advance, and enjoy the relatively flat landscape of the Carolinas, another difference from Williamsburg.  While in town, we also visited the awesome holiday display at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens, IKEA, Charlotte Premium Outlets, and SouthPark's American Girl and Lego stores.  Hotels catering to business travelers were well-priced for the season.  We'll always recommend to you that you "holiday" during Christmastide, so see what you can do between December 25 and early January.  Virginians, get ready:  Cedar Fair Parks Kings Dominion is also hosting Winterfest in 2018!

If you are looking for really detailed pictures and videos of 2017 Winterfest, try the Coaster101 blog.

Back to Legoland: The Ultimate Halterman Weekend Returns

By early spring, Kim was realizing that the annual passes for Legoland Florida were about to expire. We had a great time last year, and it was time to plan a return trip for Kim and E--you know, we could not just let the passes go without a repeat visit and taking advantage of this great "sunk" cost.  As a reminder, we got our annual passes on a special email deal for just $99 each--admission to Legoland Florida and the associated water park (usually separately ticketed) for one year + park perks like an extra 30 minutes of play, a 10% purchase discount, and free parking.  What a deal!  If you are interested in going, comb their website and Google for deals and sign up for email alerts.  The park has been know to have whole months when, say, professional emergency responders enter free--so you never know what great find you'll get! While we're not yet Florida park connoisseurs, we think this one is a gem--good value and no complex trip planning involved.  This year, we met up with friends in the park and let our kids explore together--a great way to spend time with friends in Florida and also a perfect park for kids to enjoy on a playdate.

Again this year, we thoroughly enjoyed the park's family coasters, and this time, E was tall enough (44 in. +) to ride all four.  These coasters are magic for thrill seekers ages 5 - 9ish...they are not "baby" coasters but are not huge screamers, either.  Also on the "have to visit" list were Ford Driving School, a driving range of small cars kids really control and drive, and Lost Kingdom Adventure, a "dark" ride with only pleasant, gentle surprise elements that allows you to "shoot" light targets for points in a Egyptian-esque setting.  Kim also recommends some truly unique rides like the double-decker carousel, Quest for Chi water ride, Boating School where kids can pilot their own boats, and Island in the Sky, a sightseeing throwback to the previous Cypress Gardens park.  If in the park on a busy day, start at Driving School and Boating School first--these rides are worth it but are slow loaders, and you want to go when the lines are not tremendous.  Check out information about the rides here.

The waterpark is small--and separately ticketed unless part of your pass (it was part of ours).  We might take a pass on it if here on just a day trip, but for cooling off in the afternoon on a multi-day trip, it's a good stop. E's picks were the wave pool, lazy river, and large sprayground full of slides.  There are also tube slides, speed slides, and a small children's area.  Near the wave pool, you'll find some pretty fantastic water tables--including an amazing "build a boat" course that will delight anyone who enjoys Amazement Square's canal system water tables.  If you don't want to do the waterpark, it's fairly simple not to--the park is in the very back of the Legoland expanse.  Here's a link to the information on waterpark features.

While in the park, don't forget to take in Miniland USA, a wonderful set of Lego models of famed places with the footprint of a football field.  There's also an adjacent Star Wars set of Lego models that is quite impressively animated.  We suggest ending a day in the park in this area--at quitting time, you can amble out and enjoy the displays as the rides close down.  In other park tips, don't miss shopping at the small store by the Lego Factory.  You can buy Legos by the pound--and there's quite a variety of pieces and colors, all neatly organized like a candy store. Remember, you can bring in your own food here (only small coolers)--and there's a Publix grocery store very nearby.  Our experience of travelling in the spring has been if the park is a bit crowded, the waterpark is not...and vise versa.  We have not stayed at the Legoland Hotel, but someday, we might take an extra day, get a room, and just hang out there and enjoy the setting.  We tend to be tired after a day at Legoland, so simply stopping for fast food and heading back to sit in a hotel room and watch a little TV works for us, particularly given that we've had some odd timing on arriving/departing flights when coming in and out of Florida.  The Shergill Grand Hotel in Winter Haven is very close by, reasonably priced, and safe--but it doesn't fall in any luxury category if that is what you are going for.  Read reviews first and make sure it is a fit for you.  Yes, you could walk to the park from this hotel if you don't have passes that would comp your parking--but you will also walk a lot in the park, so keep this in mind.  For more on our trip in this area in 2016, please check out our blog entry on Clearwater Beach.

An Ultimate Halterman Weekend: Legoland, Florida!

Ever since Elijah was born, Kim has been dreaming of taking him on a Mom-and-me trip elsewhere in the country.  Elijah's love of Legos has been growing, and Kim spotted a great value in a trip to Legoland, Florida.  With that, a plan for surprising Elijah with a trip to Legoland was set in motion, resulting in a Halterman Weekend that was one of the most exciting and most blessed.

On the site of the former Cypress Gardens, Legoland is a pretty vast theme park for young kids--I'd say kids ages 4-8 and 42 inches tall or taller are prime customers.  It contains Lego everything, including a Lego outlet store, Legos you can buy by the pound, Lego statues, Lego-themed rides, etc. The park includes multiple junior coasters that held Elijah's attention (he's 6 years old and about 43 inches tall). Elijah also very much enjoyed the Beetle Bounce, a mini drop ride, and the Quest for Chi, a unique yes-you-will-get-drenched water ride.  It was also fun to make connections to the former Cypress Gardens on some of the rides, including the double-decker carousel and the Island in the Sky elevated gondola ride.  Ride queues often include Lego play areas, a nice touch, and characters wander the park and appear at designated locations at designated times.  We caught several great character photo ops with no advance planning, although there's a character breakfast on Sundays if you prefer to structure character visits.

We did not find the park crowded and enjoyed ambling about, making discoveries and meeting nice families.  Our activities included:
* Attending the Pirate-themed water ski show. (Go early and move to your left if you want to ask the usher if your child can detonate the "TNT" that saves the day in the show--Elijah did it!)
* Visiting the Lego Miniland, full of truly impressive structures like a miniature Daytona racetrack and a miniature Las Vegas.  Many of the displays include moving parts and interactive features, and they will especially impress adults.
* Riding the Ford Driving School over and over again.  Actually, Kim would estimate Elijah rode at least 20 times over our 2.5 day visit.  The driving school features mini cars children drive that are not on tracks--they have actual accelerator and brake pedals and steering wheels.  He loved it!
* Stopping by Lego Build and Test where kids can build and race Lego cars and subject Lego structures to "earthquakes"--and no advance sign up is required!
* Not skipping the "kiddie" train-type rides like Safari Trek--they afford you some of the best views of Lego models.
* Shopping in general--but particularly at the Extreme Brick Bargain Shop.  Take advantage of the option of sending purchases to the front of the park for free package pickup (as long as you will be in the park at least two more hours).  We also liked creating our own set of three minifigures at Minfigure Market.  Similarly, it was also very fun to buy Legos by the pound at the Pick-a-Brick Factory Store.  If you need to ship items home, there is a UPS store, open through mid-day weekdays, in a nearby strip mall, and the park itself also offers shipping, of course.
* Stopping by guest services just inside the park for a free first visit button.  They also have free birthday visit buttons.
* Visiting on a Friday in May.  While we didn't deal with huge crowds on Saturday or Sunday, crowds were thinnest on Friday.  We were able to ride several rides multiple times and walked on to many rides.

Legoland has a water park in the back that's open seasonally.  During our May visit, it was open Saturdays and Sundays.  It's a small park with a lazy river, a kids' play area, a wave pool, and a few slides.  Our park visit was included with our pass and made for a good first water park visit for Elijah. He very much liked the lazy river, as the tubes have Lego bases and you can build with large floating Legos as you enjoy the ride.  Kim had read that the water park was in the far back of the park and that kids would not necessarily realize it was there on any given visit--very true.  During our time in Florida, it was also the most crowded section of the park.

If you go from Roanoke, consider flying Allegiant Air from Roanoke or Greensboro to Orlando/Sanford.  The flights to and from Greensboro, NC, were pretty perfect for a long weekend and were a great deal.  We also rented our car through Allegiant's website (couldn't beat the deal) and got our hotel through Hotels.com.  We were impressed by the safety, cleanliness, value, and location of Magnuson Grand Conference Hotel, Winter Haven, FL.  The area near Legoland is full of family-friendly, budget-conscious places to eat (Golden Corral, fast food, etc.) and is very near a Publix grocery store as well.  Keep in mind you can enter Legoland with food.  If you are planning your trip in advance, keep your eyes on the Legoland website for pass deals.  Elijah and Kim have annual passes that cost about $99 each and include a 10% shopping discount, 10% in-park food discount, free basic parking (a savings of nearly $20 a day), and free waterpark admission.  You can also look for other deals--for instance, we spotted a firefighter/EMS admission deal for the month of May 2015.  If you are visiting soon, there's construction in the park--but it's not very disruptive.  A Lego Friends section is about to open, and the Lego Factory attraction is closed for remodeling.  Keep in mind the park is generally not open nights (it closed at 5 PM and 6 PM on the days we visited) and that it is genuinely fun to be present at park opening when Buddy "turns on" the power to the park.   Before you go, follow @LegolandFlorida on Twitter, an active account that will excite and inform you for your visit.