Legoland - Florida

When planning our recent family vacation to Florida, we knew one destination was definitely on the list... Legoland!

With a 9 year old who loves to build the various sets that are available... especially anything related to Star Wars, getting to go to an amusement park dedicated to his favorite past time was a no-brainer.

Located about 45 minutes from Orlando in the town of Winter Haven, it was an easy drive to get there. But, based on the lack of crowds there, it would seem it's a bit far off the beaten path for many who may be visiting Orlando for DisneyWorld or Universal.  As I've mentioned to a few friends already, it's a shame because this park is such a gem for families with kids up to about age 12.



The park is filled with rides for the younger set along with play areas where they can just run around, as well as rides for those looking for a bit more of a thrill.  None of the coasters are too far over-the-top scary - I base this on the fact that My Youngest was willing to go on pretty much every ride they had there and had no issues with them being too fast or spinning too much.  They were also still thrilling enough for My Oldest who tends to want to ride the highest, fastest, craziest coasters that he can find.

The part of the park that we spent a lot of time checking out was MiniLand USA.  We entered from the side where they had an extensive outdoor display of their Star Wars sets - big and small, and set-up as they would be for one of the movies.  My Youngest spent a lot of time checking out the way things were set-up and My Husband took tons of photos so that they could be "studied" later.

The rest of MiniLand USA is large sections of various cities that most of us are very familiar with... NYC with the Empire State Building, San Francisco which included the curviest road and Fisherman's Wharf, Miami Beach, Tallahassee, Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas.  The attention to detail was so impressive!

Even though the park had many possibilities for grabbing a snack or drink, most of them were closed.  The park was not very busy the day we went, so we were limited on dining options.  We ended up going to their pizza and pasta buffet, which worked out fairly well.  The salad bar was nicely set-up and there were a variety of pizzas to sample.  There were two different pasta dishes - one with a meat sauce and one with a tomato sauce.  We were all able to find something we wanted to eat.

There was a nice benefit to the park not being busy... Our Boys were able to ride their favorite rides over and over without having to wait in line!  They had so much fun together that we hated to see the day come to an end... we were there until the park closed!

If you are in the Orlando area, I'd recommend visiting Legoland... it really is worth the drive!

Please note that all photos and content belong to Patsy Kreitman, unless otherwise noted. If you want to use something please ask first.