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.
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