Today's Blog co-written with Adriana Mederos - a super fun friend who is always up for an advernture!
 |
| The kids in a Lego Space ship with Lego Robot |
I received an email a few weeks back from AAA offering a preview day for the new Legoland Florida. My girls aren’t into Lego and I had no clue what a Legoland was, but I sure wanted to be part of an exclusive. The days offered were Friday Oct 7 and Saturday Oct 8 so my next decision would be if the girls were going to miss dance and soccer Saturday or miss school on Friday and take a vacation day from work…I chose the latter…and invited fun friends Dana and her son Samuel to join us as well. Our traveling party consisted of 2 moms a boy (6), and 2 girls (4 & 6). The 4 year old is just over 36 inches so there was nothing she wasn’t able to ride…with an adult.
The drive there was pretty uneventful with just one potty stop for all. We took a mental note of the local eating establishments and gas stations as we knew we would be using both after a long day at the park. We found gas for 3.21 outside the closest Walmart…and if you had some kind of member card it was only 3.16. There were several restaurants within 10 miles – Pizza Hut, Chili’s, Bob Evans, McDonalds, Wendy’s Burger King, and Hurricane’s. We decided Ruby Tuesday would be our post park stop since it was in the same plaza as LegoLand. OK, I decided that in the am and Dana confirmed it by the afternoon when she was craving vegetables.
We arrived at the parking lot of Legoland around 9:30 (it opened at 9). The line was long, but moved at a decent pace. Parking was $12 – let the spending begin! The staff at Legoland was very happy and the parking was easy. But there are no trams or trolleys and no characters on flags or on the pavement marking where you parked. PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE YOU PARKED – it helps finding the car after a long day at the park.
We had our home printed tickets in hand so we went on our first line into the park. Adriania started taking pictures right away. So many bright colors. The Lego throughout the park was fantastic. There were a few exhibits/rides that weren’t open, this was after all just a preview…and I’m sure would get less repeat customers if there’s wasn’t something new to see next time.
The first ride we stood in line for was the double decker carousel…yes, a carousel that had nothing to do with Legos, but it was neat that it had two levels…we got horses on the first level – but kids were just as happy. Not sure if the music wasn’t working because it was a preview day, but to make up for the lack of sound, the ride operators cheered on the riders and the crowd.
The barn was closed and so was Playtoon, but the kids were able to take pictures inside the lion’s mouth. The kids rode some antique cars that didn’t go very fast and then we moved on to the castle and rode a ride that went a little faster, but was still great for the kids. The ride operators really pay attention to the ride rules. All of the rides are 2 people and you cannot smush three small kids into a seat. Also, they double and triple check seatbelts on all of the rides. Yes, even for the adults with our long legs jammed into the extra small compartment.
Parent note: when planning your trip be sure to go in even numbers, or be prepared to have someone ride alone. All of the rides we encountered were for 2 people or 4 – no exceptions to their capacity rules.
After our first three rides, the kids wanted to run around and play in the cargo net/slide are. It was perfect timing because the mommies were able to chill in the breezy shade.
Apparently girls will fall for any princes! The princess outside the Castle area was nothing like a Disney Princess but our girls did not care, we took pictures with them anyway! Sam was happy with a sword and shield fight with the Lego staff members. Again, the staff couldn’t be nicer or more accommodating. Katie really wanted to go to the Royal Joust…so we did. The wait was at least 30 minutes. 3 layers deep of lines there was a technical difficulty and half of the people bailed from the line…but not us. Kids were on their horses within 10 minutes (ok, way less than 30).
Miniland was AWESOME. The level of detail in each of the displays is AMAZING – NASA, South Beach, Keys, Vegas hotel strip, the white house, statue of liberty, San Francisco streets – the works!
We took a break and had lunch at the Market Restaurant since the Pasta and Pizza line was WAY too long. The one downfall of the setup here is that if you want to purchase adult meals, desserts and kids meals you have to stand in THREE different lines – NOT cool. Needless to say this feedback was left with staff (with smiles on our faces) as we were leaving and they were asking for honest feedback from guests.
We took a break and had lunch at the Market Restaurant since the Pasta and Pizza line was WAY too long. The one downfall of the setup here is that if you want to purchase adult meals, desserts and kids meals you have to stand in THREE different lines – NOT cool. Needless to say this feedback was left with staff (with smiles on our faces) as we were leaving and they were asking for honest feedback from guests.
The food was good and we loved the healthy options for kids – an item, a fruit and milk/water. I’m SURE guests can substitute for fries, chips and soda, but parents WHY WOULD YOU? I didn’t want to stand in 2 different lines, so Dana and I ate from the kids menu – and we were fine with that, and so were our wallets (under $30) – 2 chicken tenders with grapes/banana, grilled chicken sandwich on wheat with celery/carrots, mac n cheese and celery/carrots, grilled cheese with celery/carrots and 5 bottled waters. They also offered whole wheat pasta marinara and cheese pizza – but they were out of those. Adult menu…didn’t look, but spoke with a dad about it and he said his adult burger was the exact thing his daughter had; only difference was the sauce and about $5. Stick to the kid’s menu and you will have cash left over for ice cream.
We went on the Island in the sky ride…lucked out and didn’t wait one second. It gave a nice aerial view of the park and surrounding area. The 4D movie was pretty fun…they offer 3 different ones at different times. We went back to Miniland for more fun. It really is amazing how much work must have gone into building those scenes. We never made it to the Pirate show – but we did catch the last 5 minutes of one...it’s mostly on the water with wave runners and boats and a HUGE pirate ship in the water.
The Rescue Academy attraction was fun. Only 4 participants per car – NO negotiating. The goal is to pump levers to move the cars/trucks to the buildings and then pump some more to put the fire out with water from the hose and get back in the cars/trucks and pump your way back. Let’s just say Dana and I were too busy laughing that we both needed the firefighter to rescue us and get us back to the starting point. They really need to put a warning on this ride for parents. Not a “safety warning” but more like “please be sure you are in shape and can do strenuous activity”. We saw one muscle clad Dad who was huffing and puffing after his ride and a few grandparents who might have needed CPR. The ride was worth the time and energy because of all of the laughter and shenanigans of being rescued by a Legoland Fireman.
We took a little break and sat to watch the show at Lego City. It was a cute and cheesy script with some good gymnasts and jokes keeping the kids entertained. The first two rows are almost guaranteed to get wet. The seats/bleachers are concrete and have no back support.
We visited almost every restroom in the park and were pleased with the features provided. There were changing tables and sinks in the same area making clean up convenient…but we never used them since our babies are WAY beyond diapers and pull ups!
We drove white and black jeeps through a safari of Lego animals. Again, pretty impressive work. Long legged people beware; you will be smushed again into a small car with a safety bar. I have no idea how larger sized people would fit in those cars? I have long legs and was very happy that the ride was short!
 |
| Notice my LONG legs in a mini jeep |
We thought the park closed at 5pm so we figured we would do one or two more rides before heading out. We rode a buzz lightning like ride called Lost Kingdom Adventure and shot at mummies from a car while keeping score. The shooting game was so much fun; we forgot to look at the decorations and characters. Katie got a little scared at some points, so maybe not appropriate for little ones? However, the ride operator did tell me to "watch out for Katie on here" so I guess I was warned and didn't catch on?
We then decided to go on the beetle bounce since that was still open even though it was just minutes to 5. The ride operators were extremely accommodating and let the kids ride over and over again. Dana somehow got out of the ride so it was just me and the kids…for round 1, got off before round 2 started!
We then decided to go on the beetle bounce since that was still open even though it was just minutes to 5. The ride operators were extremely accommodating and let the kids ride over and over again. Dana somehow got out of the ride so it was just me and the kids…for round 1, got off before round 2 started!
 |
| Adriana and kids |
We decided to head out, but first HAD to get Katie’s unicorn…the one she asked for at the beginning of the day and didn’t forget about. We found it at the Castle and also found out that we still had another 45 minutes to play since the park didn’t close until 6pm! So off we went to do all the things we hadn’t done before (except the 4 roller coasters we didn’t have the stomach to do!).
Katie was the only one at the Ford Junior Driving School for kids ages 3-5 (again, ride operators really followed the rules. We tried to get our 6 year olds on the ride with Katie so she would be by herself, but that was a no go). We felt bad for her as she had no one to ride with and didn’t want to go again, but she did get a driver’s license for her efforts and then got to see the big kids at their Driving school for ages 6+. The big kids got to watch a short movie on driving safety, and sure enough my girl takes off running and falls on the sidewalk while walking to her Lego car…but she recovered without the need for kisses or medical attention. Kids did great and actually stopped at the stop signs, just took a long time to start back up again to keep going – guess they didn’t go over how long they were supposed to stay stopped! This ride was a big hit with Samuel too. The track can accommodate 25 kids in Lego cars. We lucked out and had 5 kids and a lot of attention from the staff.
We had to check out the Racers build and test area and were almost the last ones out of there. The staff helped each of the kids build something with wheels (even though they had already removed the wheels from the exhibit). Thanks again to the awesome staff that let us experience all of the test area with their “professional” Lego cars.
The MOST FUN part of the day came when we walked by the Wave Racers and they were still accepting guests even though I’m pretty sure it was 6pm or REALLY close! None of the kids were tall enough to ride alone so the plan was to sit one of them out while the mommies went with the other two. As we were figuring out how to proceed, one of the ride gals volunteered to take one of the kids – HOW NICE WAS THAT? It was such a fun and wet ride. Dana and I left with bruises on our legs as it jerked around a bit but the kids enjoyed getting splashed on while going fast…and we didn’t do it once, they let us go TWICE. We took a picture with the best ride attendant ever! We are refraining to disclose her name JUST IN CASE she wasn’t supposed to help us like that J
On the way out we stopped at the shops, ‘cause THOSE of course are still open. There was a lilac house near the face painting that had girly legos, but it wasn’t marked and by the time we found it they were closed L Studio Store has boy Legos – Star Wars, Cars, etc and of course the BIG shop towards the entrance which has a little bit of EVERYTHING…and where we spent some $ and stuff we had to have. BTW – credit card processing is done under MERLIN GROUP CORP UK…and if your creditor doesn’t like that they MAY just think it’s a fraudulent purchase and disable your card until you call them…My AMEX was declined at the store to my surprise and again at the gas station on the way home. I found a message from AMEX about the concern and called them back to have it cleared.
It poured down rain on and off on our ride back. Tired kids + full bellies + no movie in DVD = they slept the entire way home = mom’s chatted the entire time. At one point the rain was really coming down, the winds were strong and the lightning was bright…a VERY familiar experience to what happened to me on 9/11/11 coming back from Naples…but I’m happy to report that lightning did not strike on the same person twice…yet.
 |
| End of a long fun day |
· Two thumbs up on the new Legoland FLORIDA
· LegoLand is NOT in Orlando where there are tons of other attractions. It’s located in Winter Haven, FL on the property of the former Cypress Gardens
· When renting a car for any trip or event, be sure to check ALL the clubs and organizations you below to for discounts. AAA, Costco, BJs, Sam’s, AARP, Universities, Employer discount programs, coupon books, etc. I saved an extra $130 over all other coupons I had with Costco on an SUV rental
· Pay attention to where you park your car in the morning. Take a picture of the closest landmark
· You can save a little $ and bring snacks and drinks in a backpack, just leave the alcohol and coolers at home
· Ordering kids meals for adults will save you some $ and the sandwiches are the same price
· Don’t wear red shirts – unless you want to blend in with Legoland staff and provide park guidance to parks
· Don’t plan on winning that big stuffed animal too early in the day or you WILL be carrying it around with you
· If you plan to stay the weekend, there’s a Best Western overlooking the park as well as a Hampton in and a Holiday Inn Express within 5 miles or so
· Pack your patience. This is not Disney World, it’s a theme park and there are lines. Get over it and have a good time, no matter what your age!
· Invite us to join you, we are always up for another adventure if our schedule permits…or there’s enough sick/vacation days left
