Why LEGOLAND is a Great Deal during Orlando’s Peak Travel Season

The Miniland area of LEGOLAND salutes Florida with miniature locations like the Kennedy Space Center.

During Orlando’s peak travel seasons—the winter holidays, spring break, and summer vacation—you’ll see plenty of crowds packing International Drive and all of the local theme parks, but what if there was a way to enjoy a day at the theme park without spending so much of your drive just getting into the parking lot?

With the Opening of LEGOLAND in October of 2011, Orlando visitors and residents now have even more options for theme park fun. Located in Winter Haven, Florida, LEGOLAND draws visitors from both the Orlando and Tampa area, and since the park is only a few months old, there are still plenty of discount deals available for tickets and annual passes at the largest LEGOLAND theme park in the world—located less than an hour away from the Orlando attractions.

LEGOLAND is geared for the 12 and under crowd, and kids who want to continue having fun with Lego building sets will find more than enough Legos to choose from at the Big Shop located near the park entrance. (Note: If you do plan on buying any Lego sets here, do it on your way out of the park). The Duplo Village is where the littlest visitors will have the most fun, and older children will get plenty of thrills from Coastersaurus, Flying School and the Project X coasters.

Besides the Lego-themed rides, the Miniland area of LEGOLAND is a must-see stop for all visitors. There are several recreations of famous Florida locales such as Miami Beach, Tampa, and Kennedy Space Center (although you won’t find a salute to Orlando theme parks here). Other amazing replicas include Las Vegas, Washington DC and San Francisco, just to name a few. You might end up taking most of your photographs right here, posing the kids in front of various Lego landmarks.

Another unique aspect of LEGOLAND Florida is the theme park’s history as the Old Florida attraction Cypress Gardens. A small section of the original botanical gardens remains for visitors to enjoy, and the water ski shows that made this park famous more than 70 years ago continue to delight crowds with new Lego-themed shows. (And admittedly, it’s amazing to see how well these performers ski in their full Lego block costumes.

Since LEGOLAND is Florida’s newest theme park, expect to see more interest in this park in the months to come; when Disney and Universal reach maximum capacity during the Christmas/New Year’s holidays there is a good chance that LEGOLAND might max out as well. However, LEGOLAND’s location just outside of Orlando’s Disney World-Universal-SeaWorld complex has its advantages for travelers who want to experience a unique, modern theme park without spending the first hour of their journey traveling through the parking lot to get to the front gate. LEGOLAND is a welcome addition to the Central Florida theme park scene, and it looks like it will be for years to come.