LEGOLAND Florida Celebrates Its First Fourth Of July With Red, Brick, And Boom
LEGOLAND® Florida celebrates with a bang this Fourth of July with its first Independence Day festivities, Red, Brick and Boom. Central Florida’s newest theme park will celebrate with four nights of family fun and fireworks, Jul. 4-7, 2012. But, this isn’t a typical fireworks show. LEGOLAND Florida’s special glasses turn ordinary fireworks into millions of exploding LEGO® bricks making this show a must-see. With over 50 rides, shows and attractions and the all-new LEGOLAND®Water Park, this independence celebration is perfect for families with children ages 2 to 12. The park will have extended hours with four nights of fireworks at 9pm.
A special all-American blow-out bash is reserved just for the fourth with atmospheric entertainment, backyard games and a Party in Miniland USA. Families can also build their very own star to add to LEGOLAND Florida’s first American Flag made out of thousands of LEGO bricks.
Red, Brick & Boom, July 4, 10:00am-9:00pm
Backyard games on the Mansion Lawn
10:00am – 5:00 pm
Build your own star to add to LEGOLAND Florida’s first LEGO American Flag at the Fun Town Plaza
10:00am – 5:00pm
Meet and Greet with LEGO Friends Olivia at the Fun Town Plaza
11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm
Party in Miniland USA with DJ Renee
5:00pm – 8:30pm
Battle for Brickbeard’s Bounty Pirate-themed Pre-Show in the North and South Ski Stadium
8:30pm – 9:00pm
Fireworks Finale turns fireworks into millions of exploding LEGO bricks
9:00 pm
Red, Brick and Boom is included with park admission. The best way to experience LEGOLAND Florida is through two limited-time special offers on the Florida resident Premium Pass and $10-off a single-day water park combo ticket. Guests will enjoy extended summer hours where families can stay and play until 8pm daily Jun. 23 through Sept. 2. To purchase tickets, visit www.LEGOLAND.com.
LEGOLAND® Florida Launches Limited Time Offer to Florida Residents
NEW! Savings on Premium Passes and Single Day Tickets
Winter Haven, FL (June 19, 2012) – Families can have a blast for less cash this summer at LEGOLAND® Florida. With over 50 rides, shows and attractions and the all-new LEGOLAND® Water Park, Central Florida’s newest theme park offers two great ways to save so families can take part in the ultimate LEGOLAND® Florida experience. Special offers on both Premium Passes and single day Water Park combo tickets add up to a summer of fun. Guests will also enjoy extended summer hours where families can stay and play until 8pm daily Jun. 23 through Sept. 2. From roller coasters to the Build-a-Raft Lazy River, LEGOLAND Florida is the perfect combination of thrill and chill for families with children ages 2 to 12.
New Florida Resident Premium Pass Offer: This 6-week promotional offer allows Florida Residents to get an unlimited, 12 month Premium Pass to LEGOLAND Florida and the all-new LEGOLAND Water Park for just $159 plus tax. The Premium Pass has no black-out dates and includes admission to a year filled with special events at LEGOLAND Florida including the Red, Brick and Boom 4th of July Celebration, the Brick-or-Treat Halloween events, Christmas Bricktacular, a Kid’s New Year’s Eve Celebration and more. Free parking, discounts on food and merchandise and a complimentary subscription to LEGO® Club Magazine are also included. Guests can purchase the Premium Pass at the front gate or online at www.LEGOLAND.com through Jul. 31.
$10 Off Single Day Combo Ticket: A new online discount offers $10 off combo tickets for single day admission into LEGOLAND Florida and the all-new LEGOLAND Water Park. Families can now enjoy both parks for only $77 for adults and $67 for children ages 3-12 and seniors. This promotional offer is only available when purchased online now through Oct. 28 at www.LEGOLAND.com.
Existing Plus and Premium Pass members will also be receiving their own special offer from LEGOLAND Florida. Visit www.LEGOLAND.com for more information.
Just in time for summer, LEGOLAND Florida expanded their park options with the opening of their all-new Water Park on May 26, 2012.
“With the debut of our new water park, LEGOLAND Florida is now easily a two-day experience,” said LEGOLAND Florida General Manager Adrain Jones, “which puts us well down the road toward our goal of becoming a multi-day resort destination.”
A “park within a park,” the attraction includes Build-A-Raft River, where guests can build their own LEGO inner tubes and float down a 1,000-foot lazy river. For the little ones, the DUPLO Splash Safari is a toddler haven with perfectly sized slides a zero-depth wading pool. Guests of all ages can play for hours at the Joker Soaker water playground, a riot of brightly colored ladders, levers, pumps and slides of every length and type. And a 583,000 gallon, crystal clear wave pool and five slippery fast slides full of thrills.
The Water Park attraction is actually within LEGOLAND Florida, so guests must purchase a theme park ticket and pay an upgraded fee to enter the Water Park area and it also takes a lot more planning on your part to visit both in one day.
There are several different ticketing options if you are interested in visiting both the LEGOLAND theme park and water park.
Purchase a single-day LEGOLAND Florida ticket with water park upgrade for $87 (adult) or $77 (Children 3-12). Children under 3 only pay $3 for the water park.
Purchase a two-day ticket for $97 (adult) or $87 (Children 3-12) and get access to the theme park and water park for both days. Second day admission must be used within nine days of the first visit.
Purchase a Premium Pass for $179 (adult) or $149 (Children 3-12) and get unlimited access to LEGOLAND Florida and the water park (open Seasonally).
It is also important to know that the Water Park opens one hour after LEGOLAND Florida opens its gates seasonally, and since park hours fluctuate its a good idea to check www.LEGOLAND.com when you are planning your visit to the parks.
The first thing that you will want to do is reserve a locker for your belongings at a self-serve kiosk. There are three sizes of lockers available for rent small ($5), large ($7), and family ($12). Also, if you need an extra towel they are available for rent for a daily fee of $3.
There are plenty of umbrellas and lounge chairs, but if you are looking to have an upgraded experience you can reserve a private cabana online or when you arrive. The cabanas are large and airy and include a mini-fridge stocked with 10 bottles of water, upgraded lounge chairs and two souvenir towels. Daily cabana rental prices range from $79 to $199 based on season.
The LEGOLAND Water Park is a perfect way to introduce toddlers and younger children to the water park experience!
The Duplo Splash Safari is a play area perfect for timid toddlers that is loaded with hands on activities such as small slides, animal sprayers, and zero entry splash area. It is such a cute and perfect area for little ones to gain their confidence and have a great time learning about safety at a water park.
Another fun way to experience and see the park is by taking a ride on the 1,000 foot Build-A-Raft River where you can gather floating LEGO foam bricks to create your own perfect raft. This was by far my most favorite attraction! We had a blast floating around the lazy river gathering LEGO pieces to decorate our rafts!!!
Wave pools are tame at the LEGOLAND Florida water park, where gentle rolling waves make the LEGO Wave Pool perfect for the whole family. Smaller children can play at the water’s edge and work up the courage to venture further into the deeper end. The pool is just the right size that its not overwhelming!!!
If the LEGO Wave Pool is too much, you can take a break at the LEGO Imagination Station where kids can test their building skills in this water play area in the shade. I really appreciated that this area was under a large shade, because its important to have some time out of the sun for the little ones.
The Joaker Soaker is a gigantic water playground that is full of brightly colored ladders, levers, pumps and slides of every length and type. It is a great place to let the kids climb and play while the adults take a small and well deserved break! Who am I kidding? We had a blast running and splashing around in this area!!!
If you have thrill seekers in your party, you might want to check out Splash Out and Twin Towers which play home to five super fast slides.
At the Beach-n-Brick Grille there are several healthy (and not so healthy options) available with value in mind since every menu item is priced below $10, before tax, including combos that come with fries, salad or slaw and a 22-ounce drink.
The Surf Shop is the perfect place to shop for things you may have forgotten at home such as sunscreen, towels, swimsuits, and all sorts of things that may be useful for a day at the water park.
I really enjoyed my time at the LEGOLAND Water Park, and think that it is an excellent way to introduce toddlers and younger children to a water park experience!
LEGOLAND Florida will get into the holiday spirit by hosting its first annual Christmas Bricktacular where festive holiday decorations and music will fill The Beginning and Fun Town throughout the season.
The Beginning is home to a truly spectacular, Bricktacular sight – a more than 30-foot-tall LEGO Christmas tree made with a combination of 270,000 forest green LEGO and DUPLO® bricks.
The park’s first-ever tree lighting ceremony takes place on December 5th with a special master of ceremonies. Every night, through December 31st, a special family will be chosen to help light the Bricktacular tree.
Santa Claus will also make special daily appearances in the historical botanical gardens!
And when the holidays end, the fun continues with ‘Kids’ New Year’s Eve’ on Dec. 31. During this event kids will rock out and watch the sky explode with LEGO fireworks at just the right time for them, midnight KST (Kid Standard Time) – otherwise known as 7 p.m. EST.
Holiday events are included in park admission. Tickets and Annual Passes for LEGOLAND Florida are available at www.LEGOLAND.com
LEGOLAND Florida….Oh, LEGOLAND Florida…I have struggled about how I feel about you, and I have to be honest and say that after some careful consideration I am still confused about how I feel about us. So let’s take this one step at a time…
Rides & Attractions
There are ten themed zones at LEGOLAND Florida that are chocked full of Rides and Attractions that offer “Pink Knuckle” thrills.
“The entire LEGOLAND experience is designed for families with kids ages 2 to 12, so there’s no longer any reason to delay the decision to take that first family theme park vacation,” said Adrian Jones, LEGOLAND Florida general manager. “Our highly immersive rides and experiences are designed to encourage children and their parents to play together, and are perfect for creating cherished memories for every member of the family.”
One thing to consider when looking at the number of Rides and Attractions at LEGOLAND Florida is the age group that they are designed to entertain. This means that a lot of their rides go at a slower pace, and are not very thrilling. Another careful consideration is the size and scale to which they are built. The Rides & Attractions were definitely sized for children to enjoy, the seats are smaller and the details are at lower levels which at times made it uncomfortable to experience for adults.
The Safari Trek vehicles are pretty tiny...
Our interactions with the Model Citizens of LEGOLAND Florida manning the Rides and Attractions were amazing! Since a lot of the Rides and Attractions require guests to ‘work’, they are great at cheering you on to pedal faster or push harder.
My biggest problem with the Rides and Attractions at LEGOLAND Florida was that their load/unload process was extremely slow. I am hoping that this is just because this is relatively new process to the model citizens of LEGOLAND. However the Rollercoasters had only one car running, except for the LEGO TECHNIC® Test Track Coaster, and the automated times between cars on other Rides and Attractions were slow, like on The Lost Kingdom Adventure.
The ride vehicles from 'Lost Kingdom Adventure'.
One thing to definitely experience is the Factory Tour in FUN TOWN. There you will be able to watch a short fun film about how LEGOS are made, followed by a very cute re-enactment of they are REALLY made. As a bonus, at the end of your tour you will receive a very special and free gift.
The special LEGO from The Factory Tour.
Zoe absolutely enjoyed the Rides & Attractions, and at the end of the day that is what matters the most! Her favorites were Coastersaurus, AQUAZONE® Wave Racers, and The Ford Driving School.
Shows
Our day at LEGOLAND Florida was super full and went by entirely too quickly!
With our hectic schedule, we only got to watch The Pirates Cove Live Water Ski Show at Pirates’ Cove.
The view as you walk up to Pirates' Cove.
Pirates’ Cove is nestled along the beautiful shores of Lake Eloise, and is the home to some swashbuckling LEGO ‘mini-fig’ pirates who star in “The Battle for Brickbeard’s Bounty”, a live action, water-stunt show that is full of action, fun, and most importantly water-skiing!!!
Who knew these guys could ski so well???
The show itself was really entertaining and cute! And the water skiing elements were really well placed and executed. I can’t imagine how hard it is to get those flips right all of the time!!!
Yowsas!!!!
The dread Pirate Brickbeard!!!
My only wish was that the story featured Miranda as more of a strong female lead who didn’t have to be ‘saved’ when things didn’t go as well as she hoped with Brickbeard the Pirate.
Come on Miranda! You can do it!!!
Dining
There were definitely a lot of counter service options at LEGOLAND Florida, from burgers to healthier entrees using ingredients that are locally grown.
Another option was an all you can eat pizza and pasta buffet that was really reasonably priced.
The signature snack of LEGOLAND Florida is Granny’s Apple Fries that can be found in FUN TOWN. These are Granny Smith apples that are lightly fried, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, and served with icing. I didn’t get the chance to try them…but I will next time!!!
Also, there is a real coffee shop located just inside of the Market Restaurant in THE BEGINNING.
Services and Model Citizens
LEGOLAND Florida offers all of the things that you would come to expect from a theme park.
Stroller rental is located at the front of the park, $9 for a single and $14 for a double, alongside of the locker rental area, package pick-up, and photo (pictures are taken on rides and by photographers located around the park) area.
The Annual Pass Center is also located inside the park at THE BEGINNING with Lost Parents and Ticket Upgrades.
First Aid is located near The Factory Tour in FUN TOWN, and there is a Pet Kennel located outside of the front gates.
Again, every Model Citizen of LEGOLAND Florida that we encountered was extremely helpful and friendly. This was a gigantic plus, and made things more enjoyable!
My Favorite Part…
I have to say that my absolute favorite part of LEGOLAND Florida was the MINILAND area.
I could seriously stay here all day and take pictures!!! The detail and craftsmanship that went into this area is absolutely mind blowing!!!
I will be doing a post in the near future of all of my favorite pictures, but here are a few to tide you over…
From the Kennedy Space Center
Key West
Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, DC
PIRATES!!!
My Biggest Concern…
The cost of admission, $75 plus tax for ages 13+ and $65 plus tax for ages 3-12/60+, seems a little steep. While it is less than Disney, I feel like it is a little too high once you factor in travel and daily costs of visiting a park that is 45 minutes away.
Also the Annual Passes are a better value if you plan on visiting often, but without a payment plan I have a feeling a lot of people might balk at the purchase price. In Florida, where many of us have several annual passes, we are used to having this option, and hopefully it is one that LEGOLAND Florida will re-visit and offer in the future.
What I’m Hoping…
I really hope that LEGOLAND Florida succeeds and continues to grow! I really enjoyed a lot of our experiences during our day, but I feel like there is still a lot of tweaking that still needs to be done in terms of park operations.
Also I am looking forward to experiencing the upcoming Special Events at LEGOLAND Florida around the holiday Season.
In Conclusion
While I loved a lot of what LEGOLAND Florida had to offer, I find that I am still wanting more from my time there.
Maybe this will come from spending more time there…or maybe having a better idea of what to expect…
Right now, I know that I need more time to think and I want to see what more you are willing to bring to the table before I make my final decision.
Earlier this month a super unique Ford Explorer rolled off the line at an Assembly Plant in Chicago. This was a unique vehicle in that it was assembled in 2,500 hours and made entirely of LEGOs. In total it was made of 380,000 LEGOs to be exact.
The bright red LEGOLAND Florida edition Explorer, created by 22 designers, weighs 2,654 pounds and is supported by a 768-pound interior aluminum base.
This marks the start of an alliance between Ford and LEGOLAND®Florida theme park. After its debut at the Chicago Plant, which produces the Explorer, the vehicle will be loaded onto a trailer with transparent sides so motorists can see the LEGO Explorer as it makes its way to the new 150-acre LEGOLAND Florida theme park just outside Orlando.
“Ford is excited to support the alliance between LEGOLAND Florida and the Southeast Ford dealers. The LEGOLAND Florida Explorer and the Ford Driving School attraction are great opportunities to showcase our products and safety messages to families and visitors in a unique way,” said Tracy Magee, Ford Experiential Marketing manager.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqJ20tABoC8
Ford Driving School at LEGOLAND Florida allows children to experience the fun and responsibility of driving in their own vehicles in a neighborhood setting (at a maximum speed of 3 mph). There will be a Ford Junior Driving School for children ages 3 to 5 years old and a Ford Driving School for those ages 6 to 12.
The New LEGOLAND Florida them park will be the second in the United States and the fifth largest LEGOLAND Park in the world, made of up more than 50 million LEGO bricks and covering 150 acres. I am soooo excited to take Zoe to experience all that this Park will have to offer!!!! I can’t wait until the October 15th Grand Opening!!!!
With the Grand Opening of LEGOLAND FLORIDA only 100 days away, I have to say that I am getting pretty stoked about taking the family over to Winter Haven to check it out!
From new photos just released by LEGOLAND FLORIDA construction crews are hard at work transforming the property into the interactive theme park geared toward families with children ages 2-12, while still preserving the charm of the gardens that so many people have loved over the years.
I hope you enjoy them!!!
The Royal Joust, where kids ride LEGO-themed horses through a number of medieval scenes where they encounter other riders in a simulated joust.
LEGO TECHNIC® Test Track is a “wild mouse-style roller coaster where brave guests feel the power of acceleration, braking and maneuverability as they race a life-size LEGO TECHNIC vehicle along a wildly twisting track.
I love this unique perspective of the Grand Central Station NY that is part of the Miniland USA.
This Picture of the Banyan Tree is amazing!!!!
And the DUPLO® Farm and Safari Trek are well under way, as well!!!
