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Legoland Florida

One of the things I really like about this park is it's a little smaller and more relaxed than all the other big parks. There are a good number of what are basically kiddie rides. There are a few water rides as well as a water park so you might want to plan for a swimsuit if you decide to do that. Make sure to get some Apple Fries, they're across from the carousel near the entrance. The Island in the Sky is one of the original Cypress Gardens rides and makes for a nice way to see the layout of the park. Also make sure to go through the Cypress Gardens area, it's a nice way to get away from the park atmosphere and relax, the banyan tree is amazing!!
I LOVE THE APPLE FRIES!!!! :hail:
 
Apple Fries? That sounds good. Any other recommendation on food?

My daughter will probably want to go on mostly coasters. I'm assuming they are all pretty family friendly right?
 
Apple Fries? That sounds good. Any other recommendation on food?

My daughter will probably want to go on mostly coasters. I'm assuming they are all pretty family friendly right?
It's not a recommendation, but don't go to the pizza buffet place. The food is just bad.

They're all family friendly. The Flight School is one of the roughest rides in Central Florida though. I'd say it could rival the old Hulk, so watch out on that one.
 
One of the things I really like about this park is it's a little smaller and more relaxed than all the other big parks. There are a good number of what are basically kiddie rides. There are a few water rides as well as a water park so you might want to plan for a swimsuit if you decide to do that. Make sure to get some Apple Fries, they're across from the carousel near the entrance. The Island in the Sky is one of the original Cypress Gardens rides and makes for a nice way to see the layout of the park. Also make sure to go through the Cypress Gardens area, it's a nice way to get away from the park atmosphere and relax, the banyan tree is amazing!!
Awesome I didn't know the banyon tree was still there. Now I'm much more excited for when my son is old enough to go on the rides!!
 
It's not a recommendation, but don't go to the pizza buffet place. The food is just bad.
I actually like the pizza buffet. It's not the best quality, but I think it compares well to Cicis Pizza. We go there if we're planning to eat a lot and take advantage of the buffet aspect. Otherwise I enjoy the Chinese food at the place up by the front.
 
Just a quick mini review...we went on last Friday. The park was clean and the staff was friendly. The rides were about what I expected, a few steps above your typical midway rides, but a lot (5?/6?) smaller "coasters" that really catered to the 5-12 crowd. My daughter (age 6) absolutely loved it. She was also really impressed with the "mini-land" section, which kind of surprised me.

The park was completely dead though...all rides were walk on, with several ride vehicles going out with no passengers. This was great in most cases, as we were able to ride and re-ride without leaving our seats. It was only a problem on the "Chi" water ride, as there were no people to spray, or get sprayed by. Being the only ones on a giant river raft felt kind of lonely. The ride itself isn't much fun without that interaction.

We both liked "the dragon" the best, as it provided a fun dark ride and mini coaster that was just enough thrill factor for my daughter. Flight School was really only fun in the front row, and that being said it was extremely bumpy. It knocked me in the head constantly. The Spinning pony ride was probably the most thrilling ride in the park. That 4D movie was cute, but the "effects" were rather lame compared to Disney's attempts.

Overall I'd rate the park a 8 for kids under the age of 10, and maybe a 7 for slightly older kids. Kids in their teens will probably want to go to UOR instead.

My real question was, how can a park this large survive with so little turnout? How in the world did they find funding for a second hotel? I would be curious to see what their profit margins are on this park, because I'd be surprised if they weren't greatly in the red....of course this is my impression based on going on a "school day" in what is still considered off season. The park is really in the middle of nowhere too...I can't see too many out of town folks venturing out.
 
My real question was, how can a park this large survive with so little turnout? How in the world did they find funding for a second hotel? I would be curious to see what their profit margins are on this park, because I'd be surprised if they weren't greatly in the red....of course this is my impression based on going on a "school day" in what is still considered off season. The park is really in the middle of nowhere too...I can't see too many out of town folks venturing out.
The park does have it's busy days, sounds like you picked a good day. Of course even on the busiest days lines aren't ridiculous or anything. Since we have a toddler not yet in school we often try to go on school days also. It is kind of out there location wise, we live about halfway between Legoland and UO so for us it's about the same as going there. I think one thing that helps pull people out there from the normal tourist area is they run a bus from I-Drive, this makes it easy for anyone without a rental car.
 
Just a quick mini review...we went on last Friday. The park was clean and the staff was friendly. The rides were about what I expected, a few steps above your typical midway rides, but a lot (5?/6?) smaller "coasters" that really catered to the 5-12 crowd. My daughter (age 6) absolutely loved it. She was also really impressed with the "mini-land" section, which kind of surprised me.

The park was completely dead though...all rides were walk on, with several ride vehicles going out with no passengers. This was great in most cases, as we were able to ride and re-ride without leaving our seats. It was only a problem on the "Chi" water ride, as there were no people to spray, or get sprayed by. Being the only ones on a giant river raft felt kind of lonely. The ride itself isn't much fun without that interaction.

We both liked "the dragon" the best, as it provided a fun dark ride and mini coaster that was just enough thrill factor for my daughter. Flight School was really only fun in the front row, and that being said it was extremely bumpy. It knocked me in the head constantly. The Spinning pony ride was probably the most thrilling ride in the park. That 4D movie was cute, but the "effects" were rather lame compared to Disney's attempts.

Overall I'd rate the park a 8 for kids under the age of 10, and maybe a 7 for slightly older kids. Kids in their teens will probably want to go to UOR instead.

My real question was, how can a park this large survive with so little turnout? How in the world did they find funding for a second hotel? I would be curious to see what their profit margins are on this park, because I'd be surprised if they weren't greatly in the red....of course this is my impression based on going on a "school day" in what is still considered off season. The park is really in the middle of nowhere too...I can't see too many out of town folks venturing out.
They bought the land for next to nothing apparently. I assume they get a lot of field trips, and they probably get really busy over breaks.

Many regional parks operate with a small turnout during the slow season.
 
The capacity for the park is shockingly small, so light crowds are surprisingly not an income barrier. Like @s8film40 said, they do have busy days, and they get a lot of field trips and such, it just is such a small park that even then it isn't always "noticeable." Merlin has some serious ambitions for the place, too (which baffles me).
 
I think the excellent graphics makes this a lot more tempting for me to try VR.

It's a shame I'll never go to Legoland though.
 
LEGOLAND is fun with the kids up to about 10 depending. It's a pretty under rated theme park in my opinion.
Yeah it’s a little hard to justify spending the money if you don’t have kids with you. I got an AP the first year because there was a deal that made it less than $50. Really enjoyed it but couldn’t justify $150 until I had a child. Now we go all the time. It’s actually our favorite park to go to out of all the Florida parks. Sure it doesn’t have big expensive rides but we can drive up easily go in for a few hours and enjoy some rides and have a fun relaxing time. All the other parks are just such a hassle, LEGOLAND is so much better!
 
LEGOLAND is fun with the kids up to about 10 depending. It's a pretty under rated theme park in my opinion.

I think my niece would love it, she’s very much into her Lego and I know I would have if I was a kid but I can’t justify the drive. I can’t justify heading to Busch this year either.
 
Yeah it’s a little hard to justify spending the money if you don’t have kids with you. I got an AP the first year because there was a deal that made it less than $50. Really enjoyed it but couldn’t justify $150 until I had a child. Now we go all the time. It’s actually our favorite park to go to out of all the Florida parks. Sure it doesn’t have big expensive rides but we can drive up easily go in for a few hours and enjoy some rides and have a fun relaxing time. All the other parks are just such a hassle, LEGOLAND is so much better!

I’ve only been once and was able to get a discounted adult ticket and a free child ticket. So it was basically less than the price of one ticket to magic kingdom. There were zero waits for anything, and we went on several rides over and over again. There was plenty to do and see. We enjoyed it quite a bit.
 
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