Legoland and South Florida with DramaMama and Thrill Shakespeare

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

Looks like fun!  I love all the Lego creations.

 

There is a small indoor Legoland in Dallas.  When it opened I heard it was geared towards the 5-8 crowd and my son was already older so we never went.  I have a 2 year old now so I am thinking in a few years we may make a trip down there for him.  

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

That's the one thing we noticed about the park on the last visits. Faded blocks, broken displays. I think they underestimated the ferocity of the Florida sun.

They have added quit a bit since they opened. The Chimera land was new and so was the farm building and water park.

The hotel is a major addition and looks impressive.

The hotel looks impressive from the outside and the online room pics are sweet.  However, at $350 a night, I doubt we'll ever stay there.

 

I'm in!

We've been on the fence about venturing over to legoland (we fly down so it would be a hassle really). But for what it would end up costing, it's probably not worth it.

Your son's face on the safari ride is hilarious and so is your FIL sitting with the old Lego man.

It would be a haul from WDW if you had to get a taxi.  

I put that pic of DS1 on because I thought it was fitting, but he wasn't really like that very much on the trip.

 

Looks like they've added a couple of things since we've been there.  Tough to say though, little man was only 10 weeks at our visit so I was a little preoccupied :)

 

You definitely would have been!

 

Great job so far.  The photos are great, and the commentary is even better- there's some funny stuff there!

 

Thanks for writing this report. I've never been to LEGOLAND, and I don't anticipate any reason that I would visit there in the immediate future.  It looks like a great place for families with young children.

 

I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

 

TCD

Thanks!

 

Great trip report. We have debated on going but will wait until the grandson visits.

 

However, young son #2, young son #1 with his family and inlaws are going to Legoland California. I am interested in hearing how they like it.

Thanks.  You'll have to let us know what they think.

 

If you lived in the area, this would be the way to go

 

The Merlin AWESOMERPASS.

 

$149 YEAR INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING

 

LEGOLAND

 

LEGOLAND Water Park

 

Orlando Eye

 

Madame Tussands Orlando

 

Sea Life Orlando

 

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Atlanta

 

Collectors Edition Welcome Kit

 

Free Parking

 

10% off retail, dining LEGOLAND Hotel Stay

 

Bonus Brick Time (early entrance starting May 16 )

 

Newsletter

 

$15 off guest tickets to LEGOLAND (up to 6)

With the $17 a day parking this would really be a great deal for locals.

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

It's a more relaxing type of park, not all of the crazy running around trying to see everything in a day atmosphere.

 

BUT, they do need to figure out how to get the line queues to move faster.

It does have a different vibe.  The guests are pretty much young families.  I saw few teens and only very agile senior adults.  No scooters, no rushing to one or two specific rides.  The load thing?  They could use some WDW training.  They would ask us how many in our party and then still split us up.  Only one time did I hear them ask for "group of 2?" to fill a ride.  Some rides have adult seats and kid seats.  There aren't signs to tell you that, you just have to figure it out when you don't fit and then they say, "oh, you'll have to wait for the next one."   :faceplant2:

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

Looks like fun!  I love all the Lego creations.

 

There is a small indoor Legoland in Dallas.  When it opened I heard it was geared towards the 5-8 crowd and my son was already older so we never went.  I have a 2 year old now so I am thinking in a few years we may make a trip down there for him.  

You probably have a good 2 - 3 years until it will really hold his attention.

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

Time for an update!

I will finish up the Legoland portion of the trip report with a few pics from the Cypress Gardens area.  

But first, some background:

 

You can read all about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_Gardens

 

An excerpt from that site:

Billed as Florida's first commercial tourist theme park,^[2] Cypress Gardens opened on January 2, 1936 as a botanical garden planted by Dick Pope Sr. and his wife Julie. Over the years it became one of the biggest attractions in Florida, known for its water ski shows, gardens, and Southern Belles.^[3]

It became known as the "Water Ski Capital of the World" because it was the site of many of the sport's landmark firsts and over 50 world records were broken there. During World War II, soldiers visited and waterskiing was introduced for their entertainment.^[3] Numerous movies were filmed at the park, including portions of This is Cinerama, the first feature filmed in the wide-screen format, and a string of Esther Williams films and TV specials in the 1950s and 1960s.^[4] In the 1950s the Southern Belles attraction was introduced, in which young women dressed in the crinolines reminiscent of the Antebellum South. During the American Civil War Centennial young men dressed in Confederate uniforms would be photographed with the Southern Belles. In the early 1960s a custom photography boat named Miss Cover Girl was introduced, and the park became a popular site for the filming of television commercials.

Many celebrities and dignitaries have skied and visited at the park, including Elvis Presley, King Hussein of Jordan and his son and successor, King Abdullah II. It was also the site of a Johnny Carson special.^[5]

Competition for guests increased after Walt Disney World Resort opened nearby in 1971. In the early 1980s the Popes retired and transferred the park to their son, Dick Pope, Jr..

In the 1980s book publisher Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich purchased the park along with SeaWorld, Circus World(later rebuilt as Boardwalk and Baseball) and Stars Hall of Fame.^[6] Harcourt sold most of the businesses toAnheuser-Busch in 1989.^{[citation needed]} Busch continued to operate Cypress Gardens until April 1, 1995, when a group of the park's managers, led by Bill Reynolds, bought the property.^{[citation needed]}

 

Bill Reynolds and a Southern Belle

 

Under President and CEO Reynolds, the park operated until April 13, 2003, when it closed after a prolonged tourism decline following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 529 people were put out of work with three days' notice.

 

 

There were other attempts to make it a viable theme park, but nothing was ultimately successful.  The Merlin Entertainment Group bought it in 2010 and announced it would make it into a Legoland park.

 

Now, having married into a Florida family, I heard about Cypress Gardens for years - the beauty of the grounds, the cheesiness of the entertainment, etc.  Probably the most I knew about it came from  an MST3K short.  For those who may not know about MST3K, it stands for Mystery Science Theater 3000 - a TV show that began on local cable in MN and eventually ended up on Comedy Central and Sci Fi.  The show involves Joel (later Mike) and the robots he has created having to watch really bad "B" movies and commenting on them - sitting in silhouette in front of the screen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Science_Theater_3000

Some of the critiqued movies are painfully good, but the best are really the shorts - unintentionally funny educational videos from the 1950s and 60s.

If you haven't seen it, check out Aquatic Wizards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKTm-RT0m-E

Portions of the gardens have been kept intact, others added in more recent years.   It is quite pretty and neat to be able to see some of the same areas pictured in the MST3K short.  

 

 

 

After visiting the gardens we exited the park and ate lunch at the Ruby Tuesdays located at the edge of Legoland's parking lot.  After lunch the in-laws headed home to South Florida and we re-entered the park to take advantage of the water park.  

Located at the very back of the park, there is another ticket entrance, bath/changing rooms, a gift shop and lockers.  Life vests are available.  After changing we did the lazy river (you can build with big legos as you drift along).  Then we went to the wave pool.  Next we tried out the slide area.  I liked how this area was angled so that every slide emptied onto one side.  You can let your kids explore and see them emerge every so often.  As a non-swimmer I liked that these slides emptied into long flumes, not pools.  There are taller water slides that Thrill and DS1 went to check out but just as they got there the slides were shut down due to wasps.  We really enjoyed our time there; I feel the water park is nicely done.

The water park closes an hour before the rest of Legoland.  We changed and headed back through the park for a ride on the Chima themed water shooter ride.  Should have kept the suit on..... Oh well, we were soggy anyway.  After some shopping it was time to head to the truck and drive on down to South Florida for a week with family.  I will share a few pics from our fun down there in the next installment.

[BigTom 76]

The Cypress Garden Ski Team still put on shows. They perform on Lake Mirrow which is about 3 miles away from Legoland, across from the Hospital, and is free to view. It is on the 3rd Saturday of the month and feature many of the original group.

[jmaul 65]

Nice TR. Thanks for sharing.

 

Never to LegoLand. Never thought I had been there when it was Cypress Gardens but after Big Tom mentioned the ski team in the above post, I faintly recall that show back when I was a young lad.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

They are still doing a water skiing/jet skiing, lego themed show there. It has a "small" flavor of the original shows, but is heavily Lego/Pirate themed.

[Travisma 1,317]

We had been to Cypress Gardens years ago.  I think at that time it was just daughter #1, possibly #2 might've been around.

 

I remember entering and walking towards the ski show stadium with the gardens to the right, and the main part of the rides to the left.

 

I saw a 1990 map on line that seems to be how I remember it.

 

The Island in the Sky survived from the gardens glory days.

 

Not sure if any other rides were repurposed.

 

A later map shows the entrance over near where the current one is located.

 

It went from Cypress Gardens to Cypress Gardens Adventure Park when they added more rides.

 

The 1990 brochure showed the Busch Entertainment owned it at that time.  They mentioned purchasing ticket packages for Sea World and Busch Gardens.

 

I think it'll survive just on the Lego name, but have repeat visitors they will need to keep adding attractions and do better upkeep on the displays.

 

They are kind of in the same boat as Busch Gardens in Tampa.  There isn't a lot of empty space on their property and they are hemmed in by the city infrastructure.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

We took our kids to Cypress Gardens 2 or 3 times in the late 70s/early 80s.  Always enjoyed it, but I don't remember any rides.

[Travisma 1,317]

We took our kids to Cypress Gardens 2 or 3 times in the late 70s/early 80s.  Always enjoyed it, but I don't remember any rides.

 

I remember the merry go round, the island in the sky and a boat ride.

 

The brochure form the early 2000's show a couple of roller coasters.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

We went to Cypress Gardens once, in the mid-80s.  I too remember the ski shoes, but no rides.

 

Like the picture of your boys on the bench :)

[BigTom 76]

The rides didn't show up until Busch bought it.

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

The Cypress Garden Ski Team still put on shows. They perform on Lake Mirrow which is about 3 miles away from Legoland, across from the Hospital, and is free to view. It is on the 3rd Saturday of the month and feature many of the original group.

That sounds neat!  While we were hanging out by those benches we were able to watch them rehearse for the show. We had a great view of the dock they take off from and glide onto (no costumes and basically just doing some of their tricks).  They were sweet to wave at us as they came by.

 

Nice TR. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks!

 

They are still doing a water skiing/jet skiing, lego themed show there. It has a "small" flavor of the original shows, but is heavily Lego/Pirate themed.

We saw parts of it as we criss-crossed the park a time or two.  We never made it over to watch it all the way through.  I must say it was impressive to see Lego costumed skiers.  

 

 

 

I think it'll survive just on the Lego name, but have repeat visitors they will need to keep adding attractions and do better upkeep on the displays.

 

I agree.

 

 

Like the picture of your boys on the bench :)

Thanks.  I thought they looked sweet so I had to take the pic.  You know, for those moments when you are having trouble remembering what that looks like?

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

The gardens are beautiful.   It reminds of Cypress Lake in Louisiana.  We used to go there for picnics when I was young.  :)

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

I haven't forgotten about this report; we just got home and got into projects.  I have been up to my eyeballs in pulling off wallpaper and scraping popcorn ceiling in a bathroom rehab.  Yuck!  We have a short weekend trip to AL planned and then I will get back to this.  

 

For his part, Thrill Shakespeare is writing that dissertation trying to finish this PhD!!!!  Happy thoughts, prayers, etc, appreciated.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

I haven't forgotten about this report; we just got home and got into projects.  I have been up to my eyeballs in pulling off wallpaper and scraping popcorn ceiling in a bathroom rehab.  Yuck!  We have a short weekend trip to AL planned and then I will get back to this.  

 

For his part, Thrill Shakespeare is writing that dissertation trying to finish this PhD!!!!  Happy thoughts, prayers, etc, appreciated.

 

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip!

 

His PhD!  Awesome!!!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I haven't forgotten about this report; we just got home and got into projects.  I have been up to my eyeballs in pulling off wallpaper and scraping popcorn ceiling in a bathroom rehab.  Yuck!  We have a short weekend trip to AL planned and then I will get back to this.  

 

For his part, Thrill Shakespeare is writing that dissertation trying to finish this PhD!!!!  Happy thoughts, prayers, etc, appreciated.

 

We'll be here patiently waiting for you to finish.

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

I really need to finish this report before I forget what all we did on the trip!  Plus, I have an idea for another thread....

 

Anyway,

I believe I left off with us leaving Legoland and heading to the Hollywood, FL area.  Thrill's parents, grandmother, and aunts and uncles live there.  

We got in some relaxation, pool time, shopping, and even some touristy type stuff.  

 

The boys got to pick a pineapple that was ripe in GG's (Great Grandmother) backyard.  

 

 

My MIL took us to the old Davie Schoolhouse.  It was the first school in the Everglades.  My FIL had gone to first grade there and later, while working for the school board, had an office in the same building.  We toured the building and joined in with their field trip experiences provided for area kids in summer camps.  The boys got to make homemade ice cream (shaking it in a big can), squeeze their own orange juice with antique juicers, play marbles and jacks, tour a house with train displays, tour a replica of a frontier home and wash cloths with a rubboard and wringer.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They had an awesome group of teens facilitating the tours.  They come from lots of area schools and get community service hours.

With 2 retired teachers for grandparents and parents that are teachers, our vacations often include SOMETHING educational!   :protip:

 

My FIL took us out to the Sawgrass Recreational Area to ride an airboat in the Everglades.  I had never done that and it was really cool.  Our boat captain was a hoot!  Although that sort of thing could be very cheesy, this particular family owned attraction handled it with class.  We did see a few gators while on the boat and our captain was a great teacher about all things pertaining to alligators, the Everglades, and how their environment is threatened/how we can help.  After we got back from the ride we went into the area they have with rescued animals and learned even more.  (A serious problem in the South Florida metro area comes from people buying exotic animals for pets and then, when they realize they can't care for them, they dump them in the Glades.)  There was no gator wrestling (thank goodness) and all the workers were very respectful of the animals.  

 

Our boat:

 

Our captain:

 

River of grass

 

Meeting a baby gator:

 

More later...

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

Just a few more pics.

 

We celebrated Thrill's grandma's 89th birthday while we were down with a trip to one of our favorite restaurants in Fort Lauderdale - The Old Heidelberg German Restaurant.  A little pood forn:

 

Potato soup

 

My plate with spaetzle, red cabbage, sauerkraut, and an assortment of German sausages

Thrill's veal Bavarian schnitzel:

 

We always love going to Thrill's family's church when we are down to worship and see lots of old friends.  It is such a pretty church!

 

That night we enjoyed seeing the sunset while taking a break from packing to go home.  Photos never do it justice!

 

Thus ended the trip.  Sad to leave but happy to be home.  We are on the go so much during the summer that since I started this report, we have had a long weekend trip to Alabama and are in the process of packing to go to see my family in Mississippi.  Oh well, time to start a new thread!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

What a great trip!  BTW, that German food looks delicious.

[beccaewert 10]

So,....did you get annual legoland passes?

 

We are doing a 2 week trip to the fort here in 17 days.....and then again next year.....we bought AP's to disney,...and our plan is 2 weeks now and 2 weeks next year before our AP's run out.... We drive our 5th wheel from Indiana & we have 2 boys 8 & 5, and they are HUGE lego fanatics

 

I didn't know if a 1 day pass would be worth it or if we should go ahead and do the annual passes? Are they good for 1 yr from the date you purchase or only 2015 season? 

 

Any input on this subject would be GREATLY appreciated :)

 

Also my boys have been saving there money to buy stuff at Legoland...did they have a good selection of lego sets there? More so than Walmart, or Target?

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Loved, loved the schoolhouse... it looked so pure, so innocent.  Made my heart ache a little. 

 

Thanks for the TR!  Looks like you guys made a lot of beautiful memories :)

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

So,....did you get annual legoland passes?

We are doing a 2 week trip to the fort here in 17 days.....and then again next year.....we bought AP's to disney,...and our plan is 2 weeks now and 2 weeks next year before our AP's run out.... We drive our 5th wheel from Indiana & we have 2 boys 8 & 5, and they are HUGE lego fanatics

I didn't know if a 1 day pass would be worth it or if we should go ahead and do the annual passes? Are they good for 1 yr from the date you purchase or only 2015 season?

Any input on this subject would be GREATLY appreciated :)

Also my boys have been saving there money to buy stuff at Legoland...did they have a good selection of lego sets there? More so than Walmart, or Target?

We did not get annual passes. We did the 2 day pass. It isn't that much more than one. I am glad- one day would not have been enough but we probably would not go again in the next year. They did have a good selection of sets and individual specialty pieces. They have a small store dedicated to mini figs but the selection of pieces was not as good as the little area at downtown Disney.

[DramaMama .......... Janet 75]

Loved, loved the schoolhouse... it looked so pure, so innocent. Made my heart ache a little.

Thanks for the TR! Looks like you guys made a lot of beautiful memories :)

We did. Thanks for reading along!