If you follow me on Instagram and watch stories, you will know that we went to the Legoland Florida resort last week. Since I had a really hard time researching this place before we went, I want to help you if you are thinking about planning a trip.
The Good:
- My 6 year old son LOVED this place. We stayed at the Legoland Hotel, so it was all legos all day and all night. He said it was his absolute favorite part of the trip.
- The hotel is very conveniently located, and the park is not too big, so it’s very walkable for 5 years old and up.
- Legoland has a rainout policy, so if it rains at all, you get replacement tickets for another day for everybody in your party. The tickets are good for one year from the date of issue. It’s located in Florida where it rains all the time, so this is a very generous policy. Needless to say, we have three tickets to use before next year.
- Compared to the other amusement parks in Florida, admission is low. $85 if you buy 3 days in advance online and just over $100 to include the waterpark. If you buy after that, it’s about $130 for a combo ticket.
- The virtual reality roller coaster is AWESOME, and the triple decker couch ride in Lego Movie land was a big hit with everybody.
- The hotel has a really good free breakfast buffet. Omlettes to order and plenty of other options. I was a big fan.
The Bad:
- We spent two days there thinking one day for the park and one for the waterpark. The waterpark is not big enough for a full day on its own. In fact, the water park at Adventureland in Des Moines, IA is quite a bit more impressive and the admission there is around $38 with a coupon. I mean….it’s in Iowa versus Florida, but we couldn’t quit thinking about it.
- Many of the rides are in bad repair. I highly recommend skipping the firetruck school or whatever it’s called. Everybody left that ride in a bad mood. You have to pump some lever to move it and also put a gear in place. Despite the fact that we are all fairly mechanically inclined, we couldn’t get it to work. LAME.
- The hotel is complete chaos. There is no relaxing. Keep in mind, this was a bad for adults and a good for my son. He loved the whole trip. The pool is crowded, the lobby is full of lego pits and loud music and 8,734 children at all times.
- The bed in our room was allegedly a king, but I would bet a good amount of money it was a queen with a king headboard.
The Ugly:
- I don’t even want to say this, but here goes: We paid $1,400 for two days in the hotel, two days admission into the park, and the photo package. Hold on, I have to go vomit again.
- It worked out that our room was basically $350/night. Having just come from a beachfront room at the Wyndham in Clearwater Beach that was about $250/night, let me just say…it fell VERY short of expectations. A small bed like I mentioned in the “bad”, outdated furniture, tiny bathroom and I killed something that resembled a roach.
- When we checked in, I had to beg for a luggage cart or a bellman – or anybody who even knew what either of those things are.
- They have fun activities planned every night, but if you want your child to be able to participate, you have to be at the opening of the very overpriced restaurant at 5 pm to register. Otherwise you are out of luck. And nobody tells you this top secret information either, you have to get frustrated and ask everybody you see until you get an answer.
- Remember how I said the breakfast buffet was good? The dinner buffet was not. To be clear, the food did not taste bad, but it didn’t match. For example, there were au grautin potatoes, rice and beans, flank steak, shredded pork, curry vegetables, chicken marsala and a bunch of other random items. Maybe I’m picky, but for $21 a person, I’d like to be able to make a meal of some sort that goes together. Au grautin potatoes and ham maybe? I don’t know. But $56 for 2 adults and 1 child at a so-so buffet is more than I want to pay.
My Final Opinion
If you have a kid who is completely into Legos (like mine), it’s a fun day trip to check out Legoland. If you’re a really nice parent, you could stay one night in the hotel. They do a pajama dance party and the two employees running it the first night were absolutely hilarious and really good with the kids. My favorite part was when they sang a song about watching your own kids and they gasped with pretend shock and said something about “how novel, watching your own kids!!!”
I will personally never stay in that hotel again (unless they cut the price in half, which I’m sure is not likely) although we probably will go to Legoland for one day to use our free tickets.
Make sure if it rains to get your complimentary tickets. Even if you don’t use them, maybe somebody you know would. I’m a big fan of sharing the wealth with stuff like that.