Legoland & Legoland Waterpark: Sparking Your Child’s Imagination and Creativity!

I was provided with tickets to LEGOLAND and Legoland Waterpark in order to provide this review, however all opinions are sincere and are my own.

Photo Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz

Located in Winter Heaven, LEGOLAND Forida is just a couple of hours away from Southwest Florida and is just a 45 minute drive from Disney.  LEGOLAND is a theme park geared towards children 2-12 years old.  This was ideal for our family as we have gone to other area theme parks where my children, and specially my youngest one, would get frustrated because they could not get on some of the rides and this didn’t happen once at LEGOLAND.

I knew that my son and my husband, both big Lego fans, would love LEGOLAND but I was not expecting that my 8 year old daughter and I would have such an amazing time.  My little guy felt like this place was built for him, he loved being given the responsibility to drive his own car, cruise on his own boat, be part of a firefighting team and build his own Lego car to compete on a race.  He was truly inspired by the amazing things that can be built with Legos as he walked through Miniland USA as he looked in amazement at the pirate ship or the space shuttle and said “Mommy I am going to build that with Legos!”.

My daughter loved all of the rides, specially The Dragon at The Kingdoms and was in awe with all the of the Lego sculptures and with MiniLand USA.

Photo: Paula Bendfeldt-Daiz

For me the best part about this brightly colored Lego wonderland is that this theme park is filled with opportunities for children to learn and get inspired.  Many of the rides require kids to really do things themselves, to get behind the wheel both metaphorically and literally and make their own decisions whether it is deciding to give the right of way at Ford’s Driving School or building their own Lego car to compete at Build & Test. These activities not only improve children’s problem solving skills but also spark their creativity.

I also enjoyed the beautiful and lush Cypress Gardens, these historic gardens established more than 75 years ago have been restored to their pristine condition and are filled with a vast collection of native and exotic plant species along with a majestic banyan tree planted in 1939.

On our visit to LEGOLAND we encountered some bad weather and where unable experience everything at the park, but here are some of our favorite attractions:

Miniland USA

The heart of every LEGOLAND Park, Miniland USA is home to seven specially themed areas.  We where marveled at the detail of the cities and monuments all built with LEGO bricks. The kids could not wait to get back home and start building their own LEGO cities.

Photo: Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz

LEGO Kingdoms

In LEGO Kingdoms kids are whisked back to medieval times, the enchanted LEGOLAND Castle houses on of the most fun rides the Dragon roller coaster. This indoor/outdoor steel roller coaster has just the right amount of thrills for children and features fun scenes of life within the castle culminating in a close encounter with a giant LEGO dragon in his dungeon and a wizard who saves the day.

Lego CITY

At LEGO City there are so many interactive things to do. At the Rescue Academy families compete with each other in fire and police vehicles.  Both my kids loved to work as a team with Daddy and where very excited about the great job they did putting out a simulated fire and saving the day.

Photo: Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz

At the Ford Driving School children ages 6 through 13 get a real-life driving experience and after finishing the driving course, where parents are not allowed, they receive the official LEGOLAND driver’s license.  Both of my children where really proud of themselves and would not stop talking about it.  Before getting out into the city streets on their bright colored LEGO cars the kids receive instructions on how to drive and learn about traffic sign. Younger kids ages 3 to 5 can drive their own pint size cars at the Ford Jr Driving School.

Photo: Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz

The Boating School is a  fun-filled ride that allows kids to captain their own little LEGO boats.  Kids are completely to steer these brightly colored vessels with simple controls that include a steering wheel, a foot pedal and the option to go forward and backward.

Photo: Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz

Imagination Zone

Imagination Zone emphasizes exploration and creation, while showcasing seven of the most visually exciting LEGO models in the world, including a replica of Albert Einstein’s head.

Photo: Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz

At Build & Test kids can build their own LEGO car and test it against the competition on a digitally timed track. My husband and my little guy where in their element here and they tested various different models that they build together. My son felt so proud about his mechanical skills, which he can only have inherited from my husband.

LEGOLAND Waterpark

The LEGOLAND Waterpark is the ideal place to cool down after a fun day spent experiencing all the excitement that LEGOLAND has to offer. With a wave pool, Build-A-Raft lazy river, tube slides, body slides and an interactive water-play structure the LEGOLAND Waterpark is a water wonderland for kids.  My children had a wonderful time and it was perfect to play in the water and the exciting slides after a day spent in the sun.

Photo:Paula Bendfeldt-Daiz

I shared with you only some of the highlights of Legoland, which has more than 50 rides, shows and attractions including the all new World of Chima that features an immersive family experience with The Quest for CHI, an interactive water ride, a super-charged SpeedorzTM Arena, Cragger’s Swamp water play area, a new 4D movie experience and character meet-n-greet sessions.

We can’t wait to go back and experience some of the attractions we missed due to the rain.  Specially:

Land of Adventure where you will find the Coastersaurus, Safari Treck and Lost Kingdom Adventure and Lego Tehnic the most extreme of the park’s zones with LEGO Technic Test Track, AQUAZONE Wave Racers and Technicycle.

Savings You Won’t Want to Miss

You can check out  my previous article about LEGOLAND to find out how you can save with a free child ticket when you buy one adult ticket HERE.

For the most current information on LEGOLAND Florida and to purchase tickets, visit www.LEGOLAND.com.

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