We visited Legoland Florida this month, with our son (we left our younger one at home – thanks, grandma and grandpa!) and we had a brick-tastic day! I was really impressed with a lot of things about Legoland – from its cleanliness, to its family-friendly rides, to its inclusion for those with special needs, we had a great experience all around. Let’s dive into the awesome-ness of Legoland Florida!

Location, Parking & Park Entry

Legoland Florida is located in Winter Haven, FL, about 40 miles away from Walt Disney World. From our house, on a Saturday morning, it took us just about an hour to get there. Traffic wasn’t bad, and I enjoyed seeing parts of Central FL that we hadn’t seen yet.

Parking was easy – standard parking was $25, and there was an option to park preferred for an additional $15. We chose to park standard, which was in an uncovered flat lot. We walked through the preferred section to get to the park entry. The preferred parking section was covered (shady!) and right up front. The walk wasn’t long though, it was maybe ten minutes maximum.

The security line looked long, but we were through it in less than ten minutes. Thankfully, the Legoland Hotel was right next to security, so our son had something to look at and we could talk to him about it while we were waiting. Security consisted of metal detectors, and “Model Citizens” (park workers) who looked through your bags & strollers. Our son was allowed to stay in the stroller the entire time. If you set off the metal detector, you’d be pulled aside for additional screening.

Before we entered the park, we had to go to a ticket counter to exchange our tickets, as the tickets we were using were vouchers from Costco. Thankfully we timed it just right, as we were the third party in line, and the line built quickly behind us! The line here moved a little slowly, but when we were called to the window, our needs were handled quickly.

Blue Hero Pass & Wheelchair Tag

It was at the ticket windows that we inquired about Legoland’s Hero Pass! Hero Pass is similar to Disney’s DAS program – basically, for guests with disabilities who have trouble waiting in line, sign up for the Hero Pass, and you will be able to use an alternate entry at each ride.

At Legoland, I said to the Model Citizen at the ticket window, “I heard about the Hero Pass for kids with autism. How do we sign up for that?” She didn’t ask any further questions about why we needed it, and said, “sure, I can get you started on that!” She then asked who our Hero was (our son) and wrote his name on a little blue piece of paper. She explained the Hero Pass process.

Basically, our party would be allowed immediate boarding at all rides when we presented the Hero Pass at the designated spot. The Model Citizen would sign off on the back of the paper, next to the ride name. If we wanted to go on it again, we would be given a return time based on the current wait time, so we could have our son wait in an alternate area. The Model Citizen who explained all this said that if there wasn’t a wait for a ride, we would more than likely be able to go again right away. The Hero Pass entry for each ride, for the most part, was at the exit, and was marked with a sign indicating so.

We also inquired about a wheelchair tag for our stroller. Since we hadn’t been to Legoland before, we weren’t sure if we were going to go see a show or not, and we didn’t know how our son would handle himself when we were waiting to board rides (even though we were granted immediate access, we still had a bit of waiting to do every now and then). He has a tendency to drop to the floor, elope, etc. so having a wheelchair tag is important for his safety. She gave one to us, no questions asked. We did not end up needing to use it, but I’m glad that we had it just in case!

Legoland Rides We Enjoyed

We went on many rides at Legoland that were great for the whole family! Here’s what we went on, and a brief description:

• Aquazone Wave Racers – this was a spinner ride that took place on the water! How cool is that? You control the angle at which you spin by turning a wheel. This was a fun and unique ride!
• Beetle Bounce – kiddie drop ride, our son really enjoyed this one but I was a little scared!
• Coast Guard Academy – pilot your own boat around a cute little lake. Our 4 year old could reach the gas pedal, so he felt really in control of our journey!
• Lego Ninjago: The Ride – 3D screen based shooter ride. This was a lot of fun! Our son doesn’t like 3D glasses or things on his head, so he just sat there and watched.
• Lost Kingdom Adventure – laser shooter ride. My husband & I enjoyed this one, but our son doesn’t understand the concept of shooting targets so he just enjoyed the sights.
• Safari Trek – outdoor slow-moving ride past Lego animals. Our son liked pointing out the animals but did not like the elephant squirting water on him.
• Technicyle – spinner ride where you pedal faster to go higher. This was a unique ride and our son liked it although he could not quite reach the pedals just yet.
• The Dragon – family coaster with indoor and outdoor elements! Our son had a blast on this one.
• The Lego Movie Masters of Flight – simulator flying ride over various Lego scenes. It made me a little dizzy, but it was cute!

Legoland Playgrounds and Exhibits We Enjoyed

Legoland has a ton of playgrounds, interactive areas, and exhibits. We didn’t get to all of them, but we did do quite a few! Here is a list of what we did, along with a brief description:

• Miniland USA – this is a huge, outdoor (but covered) walkthrough area with Lego sculptures of different cities from around the US! Very impressive!
• Benny’s Play Ship – this was outside Lego Movie Masters of Flight and features a couple of slides. Our son enjoyed this.
• Technic Tot Spot – this play area was next to Aquazone Wave Racers, and was technically for little toddlers, but our son had fun pretending he was driving a school bus.
• The Forestmen’s Hideout – outdoor shaded play area with picnic tables and an ice cream shop. This area was also fenced in pretty well with only one entry & exit point so our son could run around freely without us fearing he would run away. It was outdoorsy-medieval themed and reminded me of something from a Robin Hood movie!
• Rebuild the World – indoor Lego build area. My husband and our son enjoyed building Lego structures together!
• Pharaoh’s Revenge Land of Adventure – this play area was near Beetle Bounce, and had little guns so the kids could shoot foam balls at each other. Our son really loved this play area.
• Duplo Splash & Play – splash pad with Duplo figurines. Bring a change of clothes!
• Florida Prepaid Schoolhouse – this had a couple play areas along with the baby care center. We stopped in to change clothes after playing at the Duplo Splash & Play area, but didn’t play at the play area (much to our son’s chagrin).

Legoland Food

We all got hungry pretty early, as we typically eat lunch around 11-11:30am, so we stopped at the first restaurant we found, which was Burger Kitchen. They sell, you guessed it, primarily burgers! They also had a meatless burger for those who don’t eat meat, as well as chicken tenders for the kids. My husband and I each ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and a fountain drink, and we got the kids chicken tenders for our son. The kids meal came with fries, a fruit cup, and a drink.

The cheeseburgers were okay – the burger itself was fine, but the bun was a little odd, and they used sweet pickles instead of dill! The fries were decent. The soda machine was having some sort of issue because both my Diet Coke and my husband’s Coke were completely flat.

Our son did okay with the chicken tenders. The breading was really pepper-y, so we peeled off some of the breading and doused the chicken in ketchup. He loved the fries, of course! Overall, we have had better theme park food, but it wasn’t terrible.

We also had to get ice cream, of course! We were initially going to grab ice cream from the shop next to the Forestmen’s Hideout, but the line was moving glacially slowly – in fact, after 20 minutes of standing in line, it hadn’t moved at all… so we packed up the stroller and headed to a gift shop where they had ice cream treats for sale from a freezer. We grabbed a treat for each of us, but they were not frozen very well and almost instantly began melting. My husband had an ice cream cone, and the ice cream scoop came detached from the cone, and he had to catch it with his hand. I’m not sure if they needed to adjust the temperature on the freezer, or if we just have bad luck! At least it tasted good!

Legoland Accommodations for Special Needs

Legoland Resort recently became a certified autism center, and as part of their certification, they offer a variety of services for those with special needs. Here are just a few of the things we experienced that made our visit easier.

Blue Hero Pass

The previously mentioned Hero Pass, allowing us to bypass waiting in a traditional line, helped us avoid meltdowns. Our son has trouble understanding verbal directions and gets confused when lines zigzag – if a line physically turns away from the ride, even if it will zigzag back to the ride, he thinks we aren’t going on it anymore, and it can trigger meltdowns. We were also able to spend some extra time looking at rides to show him what to expect, instead of spending time waiting in lines trying to tell him what to expect. The paper card system worked great, and it was easy to get the hang of.

Wheelchair Tag

The previously mentioned wheelchair tag can also come in handy for those with special needs, if you use a stroller as your wheelchair. Our son runs away, falls to the ground, etc. and it is a serious safety concern to have him in a new, overwhelming place, unsure of how he’s going to act. Even though we didn’t end up needing to use our stroller as a wheelchair, having that option just in case he was having a rough time was a nice convenience.

Play Areas

The ample play areas for kids of all ages was a convenient way to burn off some of that energy in a controlled way. As I mentioned, our son is a runner, but when he doesn’t have a contained area to run in, we are concerned for his safety. The Forestmen’s Hideout was a great place for him to run around as it was fenced, and there was only one way in and out. The play areas at the Florida Prepaid School house were another great option (although by the time we made it over there, we were burnt out!).

Sensory Guide

When the Model Citizen gave us the Hero Pass, she also gave us a Hero Accessibility Guide, which included a Cognitive Reference Sheet. Here, we could see which attractions had flashing lights, dark screens, loud noises, etc. It also included information on what type of restraint was used, and the total experience time. It was really handy so we could know exactly what to expect on each ride, and gave us an idea of what rides to avoid given our son’s sensory sensitivities.

Attraction Sensory Signs

Each attraction had a sign indicating what those with sensory sensitivities can expect – does this attraction include touch, taste, sight, smell? It was easy to see right at the attraction entrance, and used familiar icons to indicate what to expect. Combined with the Accessibility Guide, this was a handy tool!

Baby Care Center – Florida Prepaid Schoolhouse

The baby care center & sensory break room is located at the Florida Prepaid Schoolhouse. It’s entirely indoors, and has a play area too! We used the baby care center to change our son into dry clothes after he ran around the splash pad. They had ample changing tables (which had some really cool UV lights to disinfect them after each use!) and I also saw nursing rooms, and high chairs for feeding babies.

Although this was pretty much our last stop on the way out of the park, this would have been a nice spot to get a sensory break!

Final Thoughts

Legoland Resort in Winter Haven is a great way to spend an extra vacation day in Orlando! In addition to Legoland park, there’s a water park, Peppa Pig Theme Park, and hotels on site. If you have a bricktastic family member, be sure to plan at least one day to experience Legoland Florida!