Visit The LEGO Store for a giant pick-a-brick wall with 180 different LEGO elements to choose from. Plus, there's a variety of play tables to inspire creativity and eight larger-than-life models, including a LEGO robot towering over 34 feet tall! 10:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Click here forparty details! Bricks 4 Kidz® after-school classes build on the universal popularity of LEGO® Bricks to deliver high quality, educational play. Every class is a fun, enriching experience for your child, using the classic bricks loved by generations of children. A Bricks 4 Kidz® workshop uses LEGO® Bricks that kids love, to deliver hands-on lessons correlated to cross-disciplinary curriculum objectives. The Bricks 4 Kidz® approach to learning is imaginative, multi-sensory and fun, creating a dynamic learning experience for your students. Bricks 4 Kidz® camps are a fresh and fun way for kids to spend their school or holiday break! Children will enjoy using LEGO® Bricks to build specially-designed models, play games, explore the world of engineering, architecture and movie-making.
Celebrate your child’s birthday and build memories with a unique Bricks 4 Kidz® party experience. The timeless fun of LEGO® Bricks is sure to be a crowd pleaser for boys and girls from pre-school to pre-teen. Experience our exciting Jr. Robotics and Advanced Robotics classes! Build a motorized model and watch it come to life using simple LEGO® WeDo® software. As your skills improve, advance to LEGO® EV3 Mindstorms® classes for more challenging robot-building and programming!As your skills improve, advance to LEGO® EV3 Mindstorms® classes for more challenging robot-building and programming!Brick by brick, your family will be amazed at these architectural wonders. And when they are done LEGO gazing, there are roller coasters, shows, a water adventure park, and lots more. It was 1932 in Denmark when Ole Kirk Christiansen began making wooden toys in his small workshop he named “LEGO.” In his wildest dreams, he probably never imagined that his passion would turn into the toy empire that it is today.
Coincidentally, the word “Lego” in Latin means “to put together or assemble.” Since 1947, children all over the world have been using their imaginations to build creative masterpieces with LEGO bricks. And today, LEGO fans of all ages can visit their life-size imaginary world at LEGOLAND, Florida, located in Winter Haven. LEGOLAND Florida offers 150 acres of interactive theme park fun, with more than 50 rides, shows, and attractions designed specifically for families with children between the ages of 2 and 12 years. LEGO enthusiasts have the opportunity to see first-hand how LEGO bricks are created from scratch at the LEGO factory in “Fun Town.” The heart of the park, however, is located in “Miniland USA,” home to seven special themed areas– all made from LEGOS, of course! Here, guests can race LEGO brick cars at an interactive Daytona International Speedway, battle it out on the high seas with opposing pirate ships, or get an up-close look at a LEGO version of the Kennedy Space Center.
Kids can venture back to medieval times in “LEGO Kingdoms,” where they can hop on LEGO-themed horses and trot through a variety of medieval scenes, ride on the back of “The Dragon,” an adventurous indoor/outdoor steel roller coaster, or climb aboard a mysterious wooden train said to be powered by the magic of a wizard. If your little ones want to take a break from the many thrilling rides, they can challenge their climbing skills as they navigate their way through a multi-level playground. The entire family can enjoy the “Land of Adventure,” where they can explore hidden tombs and even hunt for treasure. Thrill seekers can hop aboard a wooden coaster that dips and curves in and around a prehistoric jungle filled with animated life-sized LEGO brick dinosaurs, or take a “Safari Trek” and explore the African wilderness with life-like LEGO animals. And what would an adventure be without the opportunity to blast away at targets in the dark in an all-terrain roadster?
“LEGO City” is a scaled down town designed specially for youngsters. Here kids can go to driving, flying, and boating school. At “Rescue Academy,” families can compete with each other in fire and police vehicles to determine who can put out a simulated blaze in the shortest time. LEGO fans can enjoy seven of the most visually exciting LEGO models in the world, and will also get a chance to create their own masterpiece at “Imagination Zone.” LEGOLAND Florida offers several not-to-be-missed spectacular shows, including a live-action water ski stunt show off beautiful Lake Eloise. “Big Test Live Show” uses acrobatics, music, and playful fun to teach families all about fire safety. Also, LEGOLAND has the largest 4-D theater with 700 seats and three different movies for film buffs to experience. LEGOLAND Florida has taken great care to preserve the beautiful historical gardens established by its predecessor, Cypress Gardens. The gardens, created 75 years ago, have been completely restored, and even the famous, vast Banyan tree that was planted back in 1939 still stands today in all its glory.
So, don’t limit your children’s summer fun to playing with LEGO bricks in their rooms. Plan a visit to LEGOLAND Floridaand let their imaginations soar. Don’t forget to pack bathing suits, towels, and sunscreen because LEGOLAND just opened a new water adventure park with a large wave pool, “Build-A-Raft” lazy river, thrill-seeking slides, and an interactive water-play structure for toddlers. / for summer hours. Layla Popoff, 10, of Orlando, Fla., zoomed to victory Monday, June 20, 2016, in the "MINILAND 400" race against veteran NASCAR driver Casey Mears at LEGOLAND Florida Resort. The special event #BuiltForKids celebrated the giant new Daytona International Speedway model at the Winter Haven, Fla., theme park. (PRNewsFoto/LEGOLAND Florida Resort) lessThe special event ... more Inside a Goshen, N.Y., catering hall, a crowd of people gathered last month, playing with miniature Lego blocks and posing with life-size brick characters. They were waiting to hear how a British company planned to build a huge amusement park in their midst.
When the well-coiffed representatives of London’s Merlin Entertainments appeared, they explained to the skeptical crowd why their small town, some 60 miles north of New York City and miles from mass transit, would be a great location for North America’s third Legoland, along with a Lego-themed aquarium and a Lego-themed hotel. At least one of the town’s denizens wasn’t swayed. “They come in and say they’re going to be good neighbors,” Debra Corr, a Goshen resident, said of the proposal. “They’re not good neighbors.” If you’ve ever touched a wax statue or taken a selfie with a 6-foot Lego figurine, chances are you’ve been to a Merlin Entertainments-operated attraction. Though the corporate entity lacks name recognition in the U.S., its brands are somewhat better-known: Madame Tussauds, Sea Life, the London Eye, to name a few. And then there’s Legoland. As the second-largest theme park group in the world by attendance, Merlin boasts 62.9 million visitors a year, according to data collected by the Themed Entertainment Association.
But being No. 2 doesn’t mean Merlin is anywhere close to the industry leader. Disney parks get more than twice as many visitors and dominate the list of most-attended attractions. None of Merlin’s parks is even among the top 25 most-visited globally. Legoland parks are highly interactive, more so than other amusement parks, allowing children to build their own creations. At its Carlsbad (San Diego County) location is a miniature Highlights of America tour, including the nation’s top attractions constructed from the ubiquitous little blocks. There’s also a Lego movie theater featuring its trademark blockbusters, meet-and-greets with the characters and, of course, the rides and roller coasters typical of a theme park. As family-friendly as that sounds, the U.S. amusement park industry is pretty unpleasant when it comes to corporate survival. Data kept by the National Amusement Park Historical Association shows that while 27 parks have opened around the country since 2010, 55 have closed.
Even a tourist-saturated location doesn’t guarantee a park will be successful: Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, S.C., shut after less than a year, struck down by the recession. For these reasons a Goshen Legoland is far from a guaranteed success, but Merlin remains unwavering. With four venues outside the U.S. and two more on the way, the company has been eyeing expansion into the Northeast for some time. Rather than go head to head with the giant mouse, though, it has fashioned a midsize strategy. In a 2014 report, the entertainment association noted that while “Merlin Entertainments continued its upward momentum,” it is facing “a somewhat mixed picture for their midway attractions,” citing political unrest affecting projects in Thailand, poor weather on the U.S. East Coast and a “delay in the capital investment program.” Even with these challenges, the company has grand plans for America, to replicate its successful midsize seasonal parks in Denmark, Britain and Germany.
It has no desire to try to match the scale of the small cities built by Disney: Merlin’s Florida Legoland is, at 150 acres, only a fraction of the 40 square miles that constitute the nearby Walt Disney World. Focusing on the midsize market gives Merlin a unique advantage in the themed attractions business, said Jim Futrell, historian for the Pittsburgh’s National Amusement Park Historical Association, because development costs tend to be lower. “These smaller parks help them … define their niche, which is families with preteen children,” Futrell said. “Scattering a number of smaller parks vs. having a Disney-style (park), can draw a big customer base.” But first, Merlin has to win over the people of Goshen. Before Goshen, Merlin explored building a Legoland in Virginia, according to a 2013 industry report. More recently, the company looked at two towns closer to New York City, Haverstraw and Suffern. Residents there didn’t rush to embrace the amusement park, either.
“We didn’t want to divide our community,” Haverstraw town supervisor Howard Phillips Jr. said, expressing regret that his town lost out. Merlin said its park, wherever it ended up landing, would create 800 local construction jobs, 500 full-time, year-round jobs and 800 part-time and seasonal positions. The not-in-my-backyard mentality extended upstate to Goshen. While some area residents support the arrival of the theme park, others asked questions about traffic patterns, taxes, and even infrastructure — allotment of fire and police staff were discussed. There were concerns the water system couldn’t handle an influx of Lego enthusiasts (a worry alleviated by an independent analysis that found the systems sufficient). Whether Merlin can plow ahead in Goshen will depend largely on whether the town’s 14,000 residents can be persuaded that 10,000 to 20,000 visitors each day of the season will be a blessing rather than a curse. “We know there are some who are opposed to the park, but we are finding we have many more residents who support it because of the many long-term benefits it will bring to Goshen and greater Orange County,” a Legoland spokeswoman said in a statement.
Among those benefits are the economic runoff to local businesses and the potential tax income. Legoland, however, has also requested a 30-year payment in lieu of taxes, allowing it to forgo property taxes on the 523-acre site. Instead, it wants to pay a total of $52.6 million, as well as community fees calculated per visitor for an estimated total of $39 million (based on 2 million visitors per year). The company will also pay sales and hotel taxes over the 30-year period, but the tax exemption request has drawn the ire of residents, although association president Steve Birket said such provisions are common. Legoland responded to criticism by saying that the “agreement is essential for this project to move forward.” “The court of public opinion is an important part of this discussion,” said Lee Huang, senior vice president and principal of Econsult Solutions, an urban planning firm. He says amusement parks such as the one proposed can yield benefits for the towns where they’re built.
But he added that no matter how good the deal, projects like this can’t get off the ground without community support. “They are literally and figuratively playing host.” Taking the kids to a Disney theme park is an event, one that typically requires airline tickets, hotel stays and several thousand dollars. As a result, Disney’s parks are referred to as destinations because they are impressive enough to draw out-of-towners for extended stays. Many smaller, more remote parks (such as Legoland Goshen) are seasonal and thus intensely dependent on a good summer turnout, while Disney’s established destination parks operate year round. “Disney doesn’t have to go anywhere. People come to them. People fly in from all over the world,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Paul Sweeney, who focuses on amusement parks. “Disney properties draw globally. Everyone else draws locally.” Disney representatives didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment. Legoland’s New York location would be its first American park that isn’t Disney-adjacent.