We have taken the boys to LegoLand a few times. Here is a full review of our first visit...

• We stayed in Orlando the night before and drove over to Legoland for the day. We live in Northeast Florida and are used to the drive to Disney. However, Legoland is another 45 minutes away. So opting to stay in an Orlando hotel was a good decision for us.

• It was a school holiday for the county that Legoland is in. So I am sure the crowds were more because of this (although as you'll read below, I did not find them to be bad).

• It was the first day that Legoland was offering their "free VIP" ticket. That line was insane to redeem this. Hopefully, they've come up with a better system.

• The park opened at 10, so we got there at 9:45. I would recommend getting there at 9:30 if the park opens at 10. It takes a while to park, buy your tickets, etc.

The good:

• Almost everything! We had a great time!

• Many of the lines have Lego Centers on the middle where the kids are gated in and can play with Legos instead of waiting in line with mom and dad. SO SMART!

• It is built on a lake and the surroundings are just beautiful.

The bad:

• The park says it is for 2 to 12 year olds. However, almost all the rides have height and/or age restrictions. M was 3 (soon to be 4) years old; he couldn't do a lot of the rides. I don't think you should take a child under 3-1/2 years of age. If we didn't have B (who was 6), I think we would have missed out on a lot of things.

• The park is huge...so be ready for A LOT of walking. The park hours were 10 to 5. They stayed open for an extended hour until 6. We got there at 9:45 and left when the park closed at 6. We didn't get to do everything...it's just massive and a ton to do!! (Sounds like a reason to go back soon!!)

The rides:

• We waited in line for about 30 minutes for the Coastersarus. Poor M...it was a roller coaster with two very big drops. He hated it. But it was the only coaster that had a minimum rider height of 36”. So I thought it would be appropriate. I was wrong. By the way, you couldn't see the coaster from the line...so I had no idea. TravelMan and I had some guilt for a while after this ride. M was just pitiful!

• We waited in line for 5 minutes or less at Lost Kingdom Adventure (a laser shooting type ride), Safari Trek, AquaZone (but then once up to the front, B decided he didn't want to ride b/c you get wet), Kid Power Tower, & Boating School.

• We walked right on Beetle Bounce, Big Rig Rally, Granny's Jalopies, The Dragon, Royal Joust, Merlin's Challenge, Test Track, Technicycle (kind of lame for M because even though he met the height requirements, he couldn't reach the pedals), Rescue Academy (I was a rock star on that ride), Ford Driving School (for B), & Ford JR. Driving School (for M).

• Junior Fire Academy ride was closed for the day.

• We didn't make it on Flying School or Island in the Sky. Again, just ran out of time.

The playgrounds:

• The park has awesome playgrounds. My kids loved Pharaoh's Revenge where they could fire the soft foam balls at other guests.

• The Forestmen's Hideout is a great climbing playground. Another area where they played and played!

• DUPLO farm was for ages 2 to 5. B was awesome about waiting while M played in this area for a little while.

The Imagination Zone:

• Hero Factory, Build & Test, and Lego Mindstorms were a good break in the day from rides to have the kids inside to just play and use their imaginations.

• Miniland is amazing. You could spend a ton of time looking at all the Lego cities. Very neat!

The shows:

• We saw Pirate's Cove Live Water Ski show. It was cute.

• The park has a lot of shows but we ran out of time and couldn't see them all. In fact, we only made it to this one.

Things the park doesn't tell you:

• There is a ticket called the HERO TICKET. This is sold at the gate and will take you to the front of every line. The lines weren't bad when we were there. So I do not have firsthand knowledge on whether or not this is worth it.

• The employees wear Minifigures on their name tags. Have your kids take 2 to 3 Minifigures to trade with the workers. Lots of fun.

The food:

• It is a Pepsi property. YUCK! I don't even like the Pepsi brand bottled water. I wish I had known. I would have packed some water bottles of my own.

• There are no full-service restaurants. I thought the food was less than average; blah to be exact.

TravelLady Rating: Not for you to read something on a bad note. Just so happens the food is where I am ending my post. Here's the truth of the day. TravelMan and I were both impressed. It is a fun, fun park! You should plan a trip sooner than later for your family.

#Florida #Legoland