Legoland Florida

I still haven’t caught up, so please forgive me while I jump back a couple of weeks to our Florida trip…

I wonder whether the inventor of Lego ever envisaged enormous theme parks based on his little (then) wooden bricks back when he came up with them in the 1940’s.  Or if he knew how his (now multi-coloured plastic) little bricks would become so hugely popular that  it’s estimated that every single person on earth owns something like 65 bricks each ( although I am not exactly sure how they came up with that figure!)!

And of course huge Lego theme parks do actually now exist, and have done for some time…  No expat contract in Denmark would ever be complete without a visit to the original Legoland in Billund.  The Small People were absolutely determined that we were going to make it there, and we did.   And I still love my picture of Lego Nyhavn complete with little beer drinking figures!

As you might have gathered, Small Boy is going through something of a Star Wars phase, so when he was told that Legoland Florida featured a big Star Wars exhibit, that was it – we were definitely going (Star Wars is just around the corner from New York by the way, up the slope from Hollywood, and worth the trip “across America” to the six planets complete with moving figures, and to say a quick hi to C3P0 (or C345P0 if you are Eight and really want to wind your little brother up!)).

Legoland Florida was once home to Cyprus Gardens – a botanical garden once famous for its water-skiing contests.   As one of Florida’s earliest (and perhaps more “leisurely”) “theme” parks, I bet the creators of Legoland Florida couldn’t believe their luck with this pre-prepared site to build their Lego on!  And it’s because of this that in some areas it does retain some of that vintage feel, especially in the sprawling garden sections –  it’s quite easy to imagine what it was like back in its heyday (check out the  “Island in the Sky” for an original ride, and to get a glimpse of the entire park!).

Set out into different Lego-themed “lands” such as Lego Kingdom and Pirate Cove, I do think this is a place aimed at a certain age-group (as I did with Legoland DK)…    Yes, there are attractions for the very young (such as Duplo Village), but they are few and far between.  And quite honestly teenagers are not going to thank you for bringing them here unless they are completely crazy about the coloured blocks themselves (especially with the more adventurous parks just up the road!), but there are a couple of slightly exciting roller coasters such as CoasterSaurus and Flying School that might placate them if they don’t mind queuing…   And you will be spending quite a lot of your day queuing….

I think the favourite ride of the day for the Small People was probably a toss-up between the “Royal Joust” a ride where you become a valiant knight riding into battle (albeit very slowly) on life-sized lego horses, or “Merlin’s Challenge”, a ride that reminded us all very much of the Galley Ships at Tivoli, back in the homeland of Lego…

Mini Land USA is fun, and whoever built this had a good sense of humour.    Look out for the mini Obama family on the steps of The White House, and the dead body in the desert in Las Vegas!   I also loved Central Station with its intricate chandeliers and working escalators.

I enjoyed watching plenty of this vast country’s patriotic citizens admiring its famous buildings in Lego form.  Whilst standing next to one family, a mother proudly boasted to her lot that she had been inside nearly all of the buildings that lay before her.   “No you haven’t, you wouldn’t fit” came the quick-witted retort from Grandma… Cue lots of tutting and groaning, but it made me laugh!

The pirate themed show was fun, and kept the Six Year Old enthralled for its entirety.  Making use of some of Cyprus Garden’s history, it also featured some pretty cool water-skiing girls which kept The Eight Year Old entertained too.  Just don’t sit at the front – you will get wet as you might expect…

We found the Park to be laid out nicely, and it isn’t too overwhelmingly vast.   There are some good rides for children aged 5-10, and some good healthier eating options as well.    The Small People loved the idea of the Lego Figure Swap (keep an eye out for the badges displayed by members of staff, if you like the look of that particular Lego Figure, and you have one to swap, then Bob’s your uncle!) and the Eight Year Old also loved the Lego Friends section.    Herein lies perhaps my only complaint (apart from the queues, and the rather cheeky car park fee on top of the entry!) to LegoLand Management…   Girls actually like Lego.  And undoubtedly they are going to be attracted by the pink and purple stuff you thought you might test the waters with, so you might want to look into increasing the size of your Lego Friends shop somewhat?   Being squished into an area so tiny and claustrophobic that it gives you an insight as to how it feels to be a Tokyo commuter, probably doesn’t increase your sales that much (which was perhaps a good thing what with limited suitcase space and all)…     But thanks to their Grandparents The Small People both found something they liked in one of your many other shops, and both came away very happy with their day.   You might also have noticed a slight peak in the sales of your Star Wars Lego selection that day!!…