Legoland Trip Report Pt 2

[AgentC]

I finally have a chance to update my report with some specific details.

We went to Legoland on 10/21. There was no school in a couple of FL counties that day. I would say it was moderately busy. There were several popular areas that had crowds, but overall the park was not crowded. I spoke to an employee and he said for Legoland it was crowded, but as a former Disney cast member he would consider it light. On some of their weekdays , Legoland has had less than 1000 guests. Legoland has shorter hours than most parts. If attendance is higher than usual, they will extend hours. If it is lower than usual, they may close early.

Parking was a bit disorganized. You were directed to a lot by employees but once in the lot , it was a free for all. The are people were directed too had spots angled the opposite way, so everyone was going to the end of the aisle and making a u turn and coming back to park. When we walked in, we noticed that the lots closer to the entrance were empty. Hopefully, they will get better on parking.

We had bought our tickets in advance. The line to buy tickets at the park was quite long. I would advise buying them in advance. Publix and AAA South both sell discounted tickets.

The first are is "The Beginning". Stroller rental is here and it is very reasonable. $9 for a single. $14 for a double. There are several Lego figures here including a large dinosaur that gets squirted with water. My son was eager to get his picture taken with everything.

[AgentC]

Next area is Fun Town. It is mainly made up of stores and food shops.

There is a double decker carousel that was enjoyed by everyone. As a reminder Legoland has a lot of height requirements. My children are tall (Daughter 41 inches at 3, son 48 inches at 6) so it was not an issue for you. If your children are on the shorter side, definitely check what they can ride before going to the park.

We also stopped at the Legoland Factory which shows how LEGOs are made. The kids got a free souvenir block. There is a movie theater with 4D movies. We did not have a chance to go.

Next we went to DUPLO Village. This is an area for younger children. My kids enjoyed DUPLO Farm which is a covered play area themed as a farm. There were LEGOs to build with as well. Across from the farm, there is an outside play area as well as a few rides. We rode Granny's Jalopies which are cars that go around on a track. The kids enjoyed it. There is a height requirement. It reminded me of a basic carnival ride. There are two similar rides in the area.

[AgentC]

We moved on to LEGO Kingdom which is a medieval themed area.

My husband had gone to get burgers here and was in line for 40 minutes. The burgers were decent and a very good size. Fries reminded me of Burger King fries. About $8 for the burger and fries and $2.50 for a drink. Seating area was limited. After finishing our meal, I could not find a place to return the tray.

This area has pay for play carnival style games and a few rides. My husband took the kids to The Forestmen's hideout which is a large play area with forts and slides. I went to ride the Dragon which is a style roller coaster. The coaster starts inside and goes past elaborate LEGO displays. When the roller coaster goes outside, it becomes a fast ride with lots of turns and a few drops. I like roller coasters so I found it mild, but others might find it too fast.

Merlin's Challenge was another carnival style ride. My kids wanted to go on the Royal Joust. The children ride a horse with a jousting pole on a track past LEGO jousting scenes. It was a very slow loading ride, so we skipped it since we had a few rides we wanted to make sure we got too.

[AgentC]

Next up was Land of Adventure. This area is all rides and games. No food.

Coastersaurus is a wooden roller coaster rethemed from Cypress Gardens. It looked fun, but the wait was posted at 2 hours ,so we skipped it.

My husband and daughter went on Lost Kingdom Adventure while I took my son to Beetle Bounce. When my husband first got in line LKA was posted at 60 minutes even though the line was very short. Someone then came and changed it to 30 minutes.

Beetle Bounce it a drop ride similar to carnivals. 7 riders are strapped in. The riders go to the top and then it drops and goes up and down similar to Tower of Terror. One odd thing. The rides holds 6 children and 1 adult. If you want to ride with your child, you may need to wait until an adult spot opens up. Overall , this ride was a big hit. My son rode once alone and then later with my husband and daughter.

Then I went on the Lost Kingdom Adventure ride with my son and daughter. This is a shooting ride. The targets are nice and big and it is easy to see where you are shooting. The LEGO sets are great and shooting certain targets will make the scenes come to life. It also has a cute story to it. It would be nice if the ride gave you a score but it was still a lot fun. Everyone liked it and would do it again,

My one complaint is the loading of the ride. It was VERY slow. Cars load at one door and empty at another. Employees really did not have a sense of urgency the day we were there.

There is also a safari ride on a track, but we did not have time to do it.

[AgentC]

Next up LEGO City.

This was the area my kids had been waiting for- the LEGO driving school. I took my daughter to the junior school for 3-5 while my husband took my son to the 6 and up course.

Junior driving school was very cute. My daughter loved driving the mini Lego cars. They go around a simple circle, but they really drive the cars. Employees help out when the kids get stuck. At the end of the ride, each child gets a paper "driver's license" that they can attach a picture too.

We got the the 6+ course in time to see my son drive. The older children go through a basic instruction before getting in the cars. The course is much more elaborate an includes rotaries, stop sign , stop lights and merges. It was very cool. My son had a blast. Like the junior school, the kids got a license when they were finished. For $15 , you can buy an official laminated license with a photo.

Next we did the Boating School. You drive a LEGO boat. Although there is a course to follow, the boats are free to float around. You do really have to steer. Several adults got grounded and had to be assisted by the staff. . We all liked this ride. Again, it was a bit slow to loaded since each boat only holds 2.

There is another roller coaster here, a show and a few other rides but we did not have time.

[AgentC]

The last area we had time to really visit was the Imagination Zone. There are several LEG building areas here but we only did Build and Test. Similar to the LEGO store at DTD, you build LEGO and race them. There are several different types of ramps.

There are also tables for younger child and an "earthquake" station. You build towers and then can make the base shake until the tower collapses.

Again a big hit with the kids. I thought the area was a bit small, but it was not too crowded the day we were there. I could see it being a problem on a busy day.

Outside are the Kid Power Towers. They are towers that you pull your seat up using ropes. My daughter wanted to try but we did not have time.

LEGO Technic is next to this area but we did not go on anything there. There is a coaster there and a ride called the Aquazone Wave Racers that looked very cool.

Next to these area is Pirate's Cove, where the water ski shows are and a small section of the original Cypress Gardens. We did not have time to do either.

[AgentC]

The final area is MiniLand. We checked this out as we left. This is little LEGO cities including the major areas of Florida as well as Las Vegas, New York, D.C. and a pirate area.

Parts of it are interactive. Many of the displays move and it is an awesome display of LEGOs. We did not spend much time here due to the short hours of the park and my son's need to shop.

On the way out we stopped at three store. The Garden Shop had almost no LEGO merchandise. It had some beautiful garden pieces such as sun catchers.

The Minfigure Market had LEGO clothing and some interesting items I hadn't seen before (LEGO popsicle trays?) but the highlight is the mini figure area. For $9.99 you can build 3 mini figures using a variety of pieces in bins. Since we went here close to closing it was rather crowded. I would suggest hitting it at the beginning of the day.

Finally we went to The Big Shop. It is a combination of assorted LEGO clothing and other merchandise as well as LEGO sets. Again we made the mistake of going at the end of the day, so it was quite crowded. If you want to buy LEGO sets and not the other themed merchandise, I think the DTD LEGO store has a better selection.

I did forget to mention there is a cute medieval store in the LEGO Kingdom complete with a princess area.

[AgentC]

My overall impression of Legoland was positive. Everyone enjoyed the day there. We were there for about 6 or 7 hours and did not have time to do everything available.

We do plan to go again. If your children between 3 and 10 and tall enough for the rides, they will have good time. It isn't as efficient as Disney, but that is okay. It was a nice change of pace for us.

The kids gave it a 10 out of 10. Of course, they also give WDW, Busch Gardens and the Florida Aquarium a 10 out of 10.

[Kenny1113]

Thanks for the report. Sounds great! Can't wait to take my Lego fans next week.

[Melanie]

Thanks so much for the report Cindy! Interesting details. Sounds like there is plenty to do, and it may even require more than a day to do it all. Less than 1K people in the park on certain days? Wow.

We did not spend much time here due to the short hours of the park and my son's need to shop.

This cracked me up!

[AgentC]

Originally Posted by Melanie

Thanks so much for the report Cindy! Interesting details. Sounds like there is plenty to do, and it may even require more than a day to do it all. Less than 1K people in the park on certain days? Wow.

The employee I spoke with told me earlier in the week I went, they had a day with only 400 people and closed early. The day we went, they extended by one hour since is was busy.

I think if you are there on a moderately busy day and want to see all the shows as well as play with the LEGOs, you would need a second day to complete.

We did not spend much time here due to the short hours of the park and my son's need to shop.

Originally Posted by Melanie

This cracked me up!

Oh Mel,this kid is a shopper. You should see him at WDW or actually ,anywhere that sells toys.