TPR's Orlando Halloween Trip of Awesomeness

It may just be me, but did that Dragon darkride section look pretty lifeless? I mean maybe I'm just so used to LLCA's Dragon, but...

if i were to go to disney...can u ride if u have non epileptic seizures i just got diagnosed ii love beer and piers....can i be his hag

If I were you, I'd speak to your doctor about it as they would know best. The more intense rides though say you shouldn't ride if you have any medical conditions. But talking to your doctor will be your safest bet.

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I realized that I never posted our pictures on TPR from the Legoland Media Day. I posted them to Twitter and Facebook, but not here...

So here goes... our pictures from Legoland's opening!

Hooray! We have arrived at Florida's newest theme park!

TPR was invited to Legoland Florida for media day!

Preview days have been going on this whole week leading up to the Media Event.

One of TPR's Favorite Legoland attractions.... Rescue Academy!!!

And they're off! Racing to the burning building!

Then it's a race to put out the fire!

Then it's a race back to the finish line!

The winning team!!! Seriously this ride is GREAT FUN!

Happy to be part of the occasion!

Hooray! TPR has been granted access!

Legoland General Manager Adrian Jones gives the official opening ceremony!

Merlin Entertainment CEO Nick Varney welcomes you to Legoland Florida.

The 50th Million "Golden Brick" is put in place to officially finish and open Legoland Florida.

Here is the "Golden Brick!"

The "Land of Adventure" area of the park.

They say that Coastersaurus is the first wooden coaster in a Legoland park!

For a junior coaster (you only have to be 36" to ride it) ...it really is a lot of fun!

These look a little familiar!

I give them credit. They did a decent job with re-theming the wood coaster!

The area around the station was really well done.

Lego "attention to detail" everywhere.

And they're off!

KidTums loved Coastersaurus!

And yes, there is a POV of Coastersaurus!

The popular Driving School was brought to Legoland Florida!

This just might be where KidTums learns how to drive a car!

And of course they gave her a drivers license when she was all done!

Kid Powered Towers!

There were plenty of rides...more than I was expecting, to be honest!

Yay!!! Aquazone!

Love Aquazone! So glad they brought this to Legoland Florida!

Yes, we are planning to get you VERY wet!

"Don't worry, KidTums, we've told our friends not to blast the water cannons at us."

"What? I was never told such a thing! I was told to blates aim for Robb & KidTums!"

SKLOOOOSH!!!!

The random Legoland characters you find all over are awesome. This guy, of course, it outside the restrooms!

Lost Kingdom Adventure is Legoland Florida's shooting dark ride. It's totally cute!

I believe this little Lego dude is the hero...

...and he's the bad guy.

It's certainly better than Adventurers Club!

Lost Kingdom Adventure was a lot of fun!

Lost Kingdom Adventure POV!

And in Lego Kingdoms you'll find wizards and dragons! (And I prefer the Lego version to the Wizarding World...just to put that out there!)

The Dragon is a totally awesome dark ride/roller coaster.

The dark ride section comes before the coaster part...

All the dark ride scenes were made of Lego!

And yes they are all totally cute...

Ok maybe slightly disturbing!

And of course...there is a Dragon!

The coaster part is actually the old Cypress Gardens "Vekoma Roller Skater"...but they actually chopped it up, added the dark ride section, added the transfer track so it could run additional trains, and added some more track to the coaster section. Well done!

Dragon POV!

The buildings from the "original" Cypress Gardens (like before the Adventure Park days), we kept and re-themed and re-used for Legoland.

Another random Lego guy!

Megan and KidTums were chosen to be on the red carpet for the grand opening ceremony!

Flight School was one of the pre-existing Cypress Gardens coasters that was given a Lego Re-theme.

Remember guys, it's a Vekoma!

Flight School POV!

Yay! Chainsaw bunny is even back! In the "Legoland Lore", where you see Chinsaw bunny traditionally meant that his location was about to get refurbed, changed, or some sort of construction going on. I wonder if it's the same for Florida?

The Technic area of the park is where you'll find some of the parks more thrilling rides.

Technic Test Track was originally located at Legoland in Windsor, but was given a fresh coat of paint, and it's looking new again here in Florida.

It's one of the Mack Wild Mouse coasters with the "big drop" at the beginning.

And then the rest of it is traditional fun Wild Mouse type of stuff.

You can get a pretty good idea of the layout from here.

Gives you a nice view of the lake. (And yes, of course we also have a POV!)

TPR having fun!

And to pay homage to Cypress Gardens, not only have the gardens been kept in their entirety, but that section of the park has kept the original name it's had since 1936.

The traditional Cypress Gardens have been beautifully preserved at Legoland Florida!

Yum!

This is the only Southern Belle that would let Robb touch her!

I can remember coming here when I was like 6 years old....the gardens haven't changed at all!

Another traditional Cypress Gardens attraction that was brought back in "Lego" form, was the water ski show!

Granny's Apple Fries, popular in the Carlsbad location, were also brought to Legoland Florida.

Bionicle VS. Robb ... FIGHT!!!

The Imagination area had lots of building-type exhibits...

It also had half of a giraffe!!!

The park was very well signed, easy to get around, and really looked GREAT!

Along with driving school, flight school, there is also boating school!

Yup, the girls are learning how to drive a boat...

It kind of reminds me of the old Disneyland Motor Boat Cruise....except not demolished.

Hooray! Lego safari ride!

More random Lego dudes!

Another classic Cypress Gardens attraction that was saved is the Island in the Sky.

A few photos from the Island in the Sky!

You get a really nice birds eye view of the park.

Most of the original Cypress Gardens buildings are still there, and we are told the ones that aren't currently being used, will eventually have something in them.

A little backstory here. Renate is from the Legoland California park. She was giving us a back-stage tour on March 3rd, 2007, when I got a call in the middle of it being told that Elissa went into labor a month early!!! Needless to say, she will never quite forget that tour (since I has to immediately rush out of the park), and has been a friend to us ever since! It was nice to see her out in Florida helping to open this park!

Renate showed us around the Lego Factory display they built for this park.

They take you through a "Lego-ized" version of the process on how Legos are made...

...and at the end of the tour you get a free one! Awesome!!!

And of course, it would be a Legoland park without Mini-Land!

Like at all the other Legoland parks, Miniland is the "heart" of Legoland.

There's a little bit of Las Vegas here...

...and of course Florida!

And every one of these mini-buildings, including fun hidden easter eggs and interactive characters, are all made out of thousands and thousands of Legos!

They really did have a lot of rides at the park! Like I said before, I was actually impressed with how much the park had to do!

Thank you to Legoland and the Southern Belles for having us today!

TPR had an amazing time at Legoland Florida. The transformation well exceeded expectations! Perfect fit in family of Legoland parks!

Don't worry! We will!

Broken_[R]_(Real).nlpack

Real - Hobbester - En Fuego.nlpack

Construction Photos from early Feb 2005

To add a little excitment to the gardens section of the park, gas lines have been added which cross the paths....

We really need to STOP being such credit whores!!!

"Honk! Honk!" I guess....

The Disk-O was probably the best ride in the park...

Elissa uses her "big hose" to put out the fire!!!

Oh, no Chris! Watch your step!!!

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I think if anyone can make a "go" of this location it's Legoland. The old Cypress Gardens Adventure Park didn't cut it because it was basically a carnival on a lake. The Gardens are in good hands now.

Awesome update! This park really does look amazing. I really enjoyed the Legoland California and visited it quite a bit (since it was 10 min from my house and my sister worked there for a summer) and I'm really glad Florida got one. That story about Renate was awesome. I totally remember that weekend and how we were going to have a baby shower but then Kristen came. It's awesome that you guys got to me up with her.

Jimmy "Don't eat LEGO's" Bo

Awesome update! This park really does look amazing. I really enjoyed the Legoland California and visited it quite a bit (since it was 10 min from my house and my sister worked there for a summer) and I'm really glad Florida got one. That story about Renate was awesome. I totally remember that weekend and how we were going to have a baby shower but then Kristen came. It's awesome that you guys got to me up with her.

 

Jimmy "Don't eat LEGO's" Bo

That was a fun weekend and I remember Robb asking us after Elissa went into labor if it was OK if he left us on our own!

As for Florida, this is just another reason to leave WDW on our next visit.

Nice update! I visited Legoland California in 2007 and enjoyed it, but felt it didn't have enough flat rides. This park not only has more flat rides, but also more coasters, a beautiful landscape, and better theming. As I said in earlier TRs, I think this place could be a great family-oriented and less expensive alternative to the big Orlando parks for families that are willing to drive away from the city to get here. I think Merlin did a great job of picking this location for the park and utilizing the already existing rides, gardens, and facilities from Cypress Gardens. I think Legoland Florida has a successful future ahead of it!

SFE

I've also just updated our full 10 pages of WDW pictures from our trip here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=50&linkid=11302

In case you missed it the first time around, or just want to see it all in one place!

Enjoy!

--Robb "Be sure to Email Dan EVERY TIME it asks!" Alvey

Hmmm.... Thinking this might be a good place to whore at in May. Having had the curse of not being able to ride a Vekoma RollerSkater, this might be one way for me to sneak up on one without it being closed for repairs, or under restoration.

I really like this park! pretty awesome guys!