Welcome!
Are you planning a trip to LEGOLAND Florida? You are in the right place!
If you have a true LEGO lover in your house, you’ve probably been planning a time to visit the famous LEGOLAND. Honestly, when our LEGO magazine arrived with the park and water park advertised, I never thought we’d go. I guess I just thought LEGO would be a passing phase. Was I wrong! Not only did we make a trip to Florida, but we’ve also gone to the one in California. True LEGO fans, are fans for life – just ask my husband!
For Brother’s Day, we surprised our kids with a trip to LEGOLAND! We were already vacationing in Naples, Florida and told them we’d drive up to Winterhaven to visit LEGOLAND, Florida!
We’ve also visited LEGOLAND California.
Be prepared before you go:
- Kid’s Camera – I highly recommend this waterproof camera for kids. GREAT pictures and kids love it.
- Smart Phone case – I highly recommend this case (click here). It goes around the neck and is a waterproof case for your phone.
- Hats – We found that this type of hat with a chin strap was perfect.
- Sunscreen – This sunscreen was awesome, my kids liked it and it doesn’t stick to sand!
- Sunglasses
Top 10 Tips for Visiting LEGOLAND Florida
I spent a lot of time doing research before we left. The night before we went I read an unfavorable review and was completely overwhelmed! I didn’t need to be. So I’ve listed some of our tips below, and relevant links at the bottom for you to access.
1. This place is for LEGO lovers!
LEGOLAND is not Disney World, nor does it try to be. Important to note, LEGOLAND is not open everyday during the off season. Call ahead or look on-line.
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| Life Size Ford Explorer out of LEGOS! |
2. If you have an extreme LEGO lover, think about going for 2 days.
The price only increases a little for a day two ticket. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Winterhaven. They have a shuttle that runs in the morning and night, but we chose to drive (pay parking). Make sure you read Tip #8 for a discount tip.
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| This is my family in Legos – good Christmas card? |
3. Bring minifigures to trade.
Who knew this would be such a highlight? Tell your kids to bring their 3 least favorite LEGO minifigures to trade. Every LEGO employee wears minifigures on their name tag. Employees are very gracious and willing to trade immediately. There is also a “Minifigure Ambassador”. This employee can be hard to track down, but they have almost 100 minifigures pinned to them ready to trade. If you need to, purchase some before you go, here is a good assortment.
4. Weather can be tricky in Florida.
We used the weather app on our iPhone to carefully track the weather. We planned ahead for rain and saved the indoor activities for those days (see Tip#5).
5. Indoor Activities at LEGOLAND Florida
Lego Mindstorm (sign up at the beginning of the day for a class later in the day), 4D movies, Hero Factory build, and the Warner Brothers Video Game Center are perfect to save for the rain.
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| Little LEGO Florida oranges! |
6. Food at LEGOLAND comes from Florida
We found that 4 kids meals (hamburgers) was more than enough food for our family of four. They came with burgers, fries, fruit, and water. A lot of reviews I read raved about the Granny’s Apple Fries so we tried them, they were only so-so.
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| Huge LEGO giraffe! |
7. The LEGO Bargain Shop is worth a stop.
Our kids loved the minifigure magnets and they were quite a steal. My husband figured out how to get the magnet removed from the back too.
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| Fist Bump from a Lego guy! This was a great show! |
8. Saving Money at LEGOLAND FLORIDA
We were leery of buying our tickets on-line, just because plans can change. There are Kids Go Free Vouchers for sale on Amazon (click here). We chose to use the coupons from the free *LEGO Magazine. It was buy one adult, get a child free.
We went ahead and added on a second day at the ticket booth (we were not able to do this on-line). The ticket booth took a long time to get through, so leave extra time or order on-line.
*Keep in mind that the free LEGO Magazine is great, but is a bi-monthly publication. If you’re planning your trip several months in advance, sign up for the magazine to get the coupons early.
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| Life size sun safety tips. |
9. The Water Park at LEGOLAND FLORIDA
My kids loved the water park. I hesitate to recommend it solely for the amount of gear you have to take with you. We only stayed for 2 hours, had lunch and then headed back to the park. I think we could have gotten away with wearing our suits all day long at the park (swim shirts, shorts, cover-up), but that’s not how I roll. There are lockers for rental in the park.
Note: The water park is all the way at the back of the park. If you choose not to go to the water area, your kids may not even notice.
10. Age and Height Matters on the Rides
Double check your child’s height before you head to the park. Die hard LEGO lovers do not have any age limits! That said, the shows and rides are geared for the 10 and under crowd.
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| My favorite in Mini Land – an entire Washington, D.C.! |
Bonus Tips for Visiting LEGOLAND Florida
Other links and sites to check out:
- LEGOLAND Kindle Book
- Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide
- Navigating Food Allergies
- Great tips for eating and saving money
- Good tips for travel
- 10 Travel Activities for Kids
- Under $10 Souvenirs
- Mousesavers
- Waterpark Review
- You Tube video tour
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| Take the best picture of the LEGOLAND sign… on the way out! |
*Affiliate links are added for your convenience.
Hi,
How far is Lego Land from Naples? Thanks!
Ooh – I don’t remember exactly Liz. A few hours maybe? We didn’t time it exactly right and then had to wait in line for tickets (to use our coupons). Wish we’d arrived before the gates opened!
Hi Kristen,
Great tips. We will definitely use them all.
Do you have any other tips for a family of 2 adults plus a 6, 4, and 2 year olds?
The dad (me) and 6 and 4 are crazy lego fans. Is it advisable to go to the waterpark? can we skip it? if we skip it, will we think that, we should’ve went there? Keep in mind that we’re doing the touristy stuff there (we’re from Vancouver, BC Canada) meaning we’re going to other theme parks as well like Disney, Universal, Sea World, etc.
Thank you. And if you have any more tips for trips to Florida, please forward it to me. I found your site via google.
Hi Allan – I think the LEGO fans in your family will have a great time! Make sure to get their super early to purchase your tickets in person (if you have a coupon) or order them on-line. Plan to arrive at the park at least 45 minutes ahead of time or more if you need tickets. This will allow you to get through parking, walk in, take awesome photos, and wait for the fun music to begin and the gates to open! If you’re already doing other parks, you may want to do Legoland first. It’s on the smaller side and has less of the fanfare; however, if you all are true LEGO fans, you’ll love it! Definitely skip the water park. You really can’t even see it from the park (it’s at the way back). This will give you extra time to see the movies and shows (make sure to see the ones on the water). We never had time to go through the Cypress Gardens, maybe another time. Last tip — bring lots of water, Florida is always steamy! Have fun!
Thank you so much!!!
Fastest reply I ever got from a blog.
Thanks! It helped that I had just sat down at the computer. One last tip… make sure the park is OPEN. I know that sounds crazy, but they do have a reduced schedule in the off-season. Everything is awesome! 🙂
Thanks!!
Now we’re researching the park hours for all the parks we’re visiting.
Don’t want to happen again what happened to us in Hawaii where we scheduled to go snorkeling on a Tuesday. When we got there, Hanauma Bay is closed because they clean it every Tuesday.
we didn’t get the chance to snorkel in Hawaii 🙁
Thank you for posting! I tried calling the park to get info, but I was never able to speak to a live person. So we have the buy one get one free tickets out of the Lego Club magazine (my 9 year old boy loves Legos!). If you want to go to the water park for a day, do you have to pay an additional $15 per person for a 2nd day – then an extra $15 per person to add the water park? Is that how it works?
Hi there – I’m not sure I can recall perfectly, but I think you’ve got it right. You can purchase right at the park. Just make sure you get there early!
Hello,
My kids are dying to go and we are considering a two day trip before our annual beach trip. My kids are 11 and 13 but love, love Legos. I noticed you said everything was geared to the 10 and under crowd. Not worried about the 11 year old, but would the 13 year old be too big for anything? He still loves to play them and reminds me about the park all the time. I just don’t want him to be dissappointed if he is too big for things.
Thanks!
Hi Joe – GREAT question! The last time I took my kids they were 10 and 12.5. They still LOVED it! Just Miniland alone is amazing. The park is geared to the LEGO enthusiast. When we went in California, we noticed that there were a lot more adults too. Who doesn’t want to go? If your kids are all about rides and shows, they’ll still find ones to entertain them. It’s just fun to be there. Hope you make it! – Kristen
I plan on taking my 8 and 3 year old sons in july but i noticed you mention a coupon. buy 1 adult get a child fre. were can i get those coupons?
Hi Karla – the coupons are located in the free LEGO magazine. Subscribe now and hopefully it will arrive in time.
Thanks so much for all the great tips! We are going this weekend and are looking forward to a great trip! I’m taking the kids (10 & 7) and my mom (67). We are all big lego fans! 🙂
Hi Katie! I hope you have a great time! Let me know if you have anymore tips to add.
Hi!
When is the best time of year to visit? I’m not a big fan of huge crowds. I know you said they are not open every day during the winter hours so I will check for that but just wanted to know when the least crowded time was. Thanks!!
Hi Becky – November is a great time! Weekdays are best too. Just double check the opening hours. Thanks for stopping by. – Kristen
Hi,
Thanks for all the useful tips. My son is subscribed and I have seen the coupon. SInce it is a digital magazine how do you use the coupon? It clearly states that no photocopies are allowed.
Thanks,
Hi Esteban – I’ve never seen the on-line magazine! We’ve only received it in the mail. I wonder if you can call and request the print version instead? Good luck!
Great blog! I am taking my family (includes 2 boys aged 7 & 5) tomorrow & just ran into your site via Google! Very helpful. I like your tip on the mini figures- I will go get some today for the boys to trade. Thx!
Hi Dietrich! I hope you had a great time at Legoland and that your boys traded a bunch of mini figures! Have fun!
I have the coupon and we are planning to go tomorrow but is the coupon two paying adults and then two kids free or one adult paid, one kid free?! Thanks so much!
HI Regan – I think there are several different types of coupons. I wish I could be more help. Hope you have fun!
Hi Kristen! I realize this was awhile ago but did you say that you used the buy one adult ticket get one kid free coupon then paid another $15 for a second day? I have that coupon but it said one day and we want to go two.
Hi Nessie – Thanks for asking. I remember searching high and low all over the website and couldn’t find the details. We went to the desk, used the coupons, and they offered to upgrade us there for the additional fee. We did some quick math and realized it was still a better deal. This did have to be done in person. Hope that helps. I hope it hasn’t changed!
Hi Kristen, thanks for the review, it really helped! We are planning on visiting later this year but only for 1 day, is that enough time? How long would it take us to get thru the majority of the park, without the water park? We will have 2 adults and an 11 year old so we might be able to move a little faster. Thanks!
Hi Rebecca – I asked my kids for their insider opinion… they think you should get there at least 30 minutes before it opens and stay all day. The hours are very limited (some days they close at 6:00). One day should be plenty. You’ll even be able to get in a show (water skiing is the best) and a 3D movie too. Enjoy!
Hi! This is such a great review. I have a lego obsessed 6 year old and a semi lego obsessed 4 year old. I was thinking of driving them down myself during summer break, but worried about height requirements for rides. If it’s just me and the kids, will my 4 year old not be able to ride many rides? Online it looks like most rides are 48 inches and up. Thanks!
Great questions Molly! You might want to call ahead to see if they do the rider-share program. Where you can ride with your 6 year old and the 4 year old can wait. I’d ask for a list of heigh-required rides. That way expectations can be set before you even begin. There are shows to watch and Mini-Land is fun to visit, no height requirements!
I read your review and you said geared toward 10 and under ? Is there a weight limit on the rides and things ? My son is only 11 but is very heavy for his age 💔
You and your son will be just fine! Adults fit the rides too. I hope you have a wonderful time. Hugs to you mama!