Going on a life-sized Lego adventure
Central Florida resort’s themed zones and hotel keep families on and off their feet
WINTER HAVEN, FLA.— We’ve all played with and created amazing things with Lego, and Legoland in Florida lets both kids and adults enjoy the experience on a larger scale.
I convinced my nieces, ages 9 and 13, along with their parents, to join me on a Florida Gulf Coast holiday, with a two-day side trip to Legoland Florida Resort in Winter Haven.
Agreat destination for families, this park and hotel is about a 90-minute drive from the coast along the Gulf of Mexico and our holiday home base at Anna Maria Island (visitannamaria.com).
The Legoland Hotel’s “model citizens” (employees) let you store your luggage if needed so you can head directly to the park while waiting for a call that tells you your room is ready.
Travelling with a 9-year-old fan of the Lego Friends, we went straight to the newest section of the park, Heartlake City, for Mia’s Riding Adventure.
This became a fast favourite for the kids and the biggest kid of the bunch — me — on a day of roller-coasters, more rides and interactive fun.
We explored the theme areas Star Wars, Miniland USA (scenes from across the U.S. built with Lego), Kingdoms (takes kids back to medieval times), Chima (a water park), Technic (the most “extreme” zone with games and rides), and Duplo (for the youngest guests), and tested all the great rides.
A must-do for all kids is to become a fully licensed driver (by Legoland standards) at the Ford Driving School.
For competitive types, there’s interactive fun on the Lost Kingdom Adventure ride. Here we fired laser blasters at targets to gain points as we rode through an ancient ruined temple in all-terrain roadsters. This ride kept us coming back to better our scores and one-up each other.
Thank goodness the park is just steps away from the hotel, so we could quickly switch from park fun to hotel relaxation.
Disco elevators, pits filled with Lego bricks to play with, and a pool with foam Lego bricks comprise this hotel designed with kids in mind. Our Kingdom-themed room featured lower door peepholes, a separate children’s sleeping area, a kingsize bed for the adults, plus a treasure hunt to unlock the chest.
But, before that sleep, an evening of more kid fun must happen, so be prepared to play in the pool or enjoy a character show.
We fuelled up at the Skyline Lounge, which has a fun Lego skyline to check out. The Bricks Family Restaurant is also a dining option, but we saved that for the breakfast buffet included in our stay. Anne-Marie Marais was hosted by Bradenton Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, which didn’t review or approve this story.