A Walk in the Park at Legoland Florida
Legoland Florida has released a video sneak peek as construction continues at its soon-to-open Central Florida theme park.
The video features Legoland General Manager Adrian Jones taking us on “A Walk in the Park,” and it shows rides and shows that will be featured when the park opens in October 2011. The video also shows the 4-D Fun Town Theater to the seven specially-themed areas of Legoland Florida’s Miniland, which will include Lego recreations of Mallory Square in Key West, Kennedy Space Center and an interactive Daytona International Speedway where guests can race Lego cars
“We’re building the fifth and the biggest Legoland park right here in Central Florida in Winter Haven on the shores of Lake Eloise,” said Jones. “Although we’re in the Central Florida marketplace, we’re not like the other theme parks. Our goal is not to be all things to all people. Instead, we’re laser focused on an experience that revolves exclusively around kids age 2 to 12, one that’s highly immersive and makes young families incredibly happy and keeps guests coming back again and again. “
When the park opens visitors will encounter plenty of rides the park considers “pink knuckle attractions” like The Dragon coaster in the park’s Medieval Castle and Coastersaurus in the Land of Adventure. The botanical gardens that brought tourists to Cypress Gardens for decades remain, including the park’s famed Banyan Tree and gazebo.
“We spent considerable time and money to reclaim the gardens and historic setting that so many remember here,” Jones said. “We’ve taken great care to preserve what I consider the soul of the park…We’ll even have a few Southern Belles of our own around the property to pay proper homage to our predecessor.”
It certainly looks like the people at Lego are doing a great job of bringing the new and preserving the past. It promises to be a fabulous new attraction for the Central Florida area and we can’t wait to see it when it opens on 15th October. There will be some subtle changes however, as in a land of theme parks that open every day of the year and often late into the evening, Legoland Florida plans to close by 5 p.m. most days when it first opens. The park will also be closed two days a week, at least during certain months of the year and Legoland officials say the planned operating schedule is in keeping with the park’s family friendly business model.
“We say we target kids 2 to 12,” said Kim Isemann, Legoland Florida’s director of sales and marketing. “We’re backing that up, and we’re going to be reasonable and not keep the park open all hours of the night so the kids get tired and grumpy.”
According to a schedule on Legoland Florida’s website, the park will be closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays in November and December except during holiday weeks. The park hasn’t released its calendar and operating hours for 2012, but so far they are similar to the year-round schedule for the only other U.S. Legoland, in Carlsbad, Calif.
That park is open five days a week, with the exception of summer months and major holiday periods such as spring break.
“It works very well for them,” said Isemann, who noted that Legoland is testing to see whether the same approach will work for Florida. “We understand the two markets are different.” The Southern California park also stays open until 8 p.m. in the summer.
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