pirate - The Family Holiday Guide

Legoland Florida Resort – park and hotel review, guide, video tour and top tips

by Victoria Pollitt | Nov 11, 2022 | Accommodation, Reviews, Top Story, USA

We take our children to stay at Legoland Florida Resort in the US

As part of an action-packed holiday in Florida, we squeezed in two days and nights at Legoland Resort, enjoying the main park and waterpark and staying at one of its three hotels.

The entrance to the park was just a few quiet steps from our room at Pirate Island Hotel – bliss after racing throngs of people at Disney World and Universal.

When we arrived in our hotel room, the children were thrilled at the bunk beds, the theming, the LEGO to play with and the treasure hunt for LEGO gifts.

And we adults were quite content to sleep opposite a giant image of a bearded Lego pirate next to wallpaper and curtains depicting Lego pirates.

If first impressions are anything to go by then Legoland Pirate Island Hotel was a hit. And we still hadn’t entered the park!

Read all about our mini-break to find all about what we thought of the park and hotel and don’t miss our top tips to make the most of your visit.

Name

LEGOLAND Florida Resort.

Where is it?

Legoland Florida is in the Winter Haven area. It is about an hour’s drive from Orlando in central Florida, America.

The resort is in its own grounds next to Lake Eloise in a self-contained safe site.

What is it?

LEGOLAND Florida Resort is a holiday destination made up of Legoland theme park (the second biggest in the world after Windsor), Legoland Waterpark, a new Peppa Pig theme park and three on-site hotels – the Legoland Hotel, Pirate Island Hotel and the Legoland Beach Resort.

Is it family friendly?

Do you really need to ask? The resort is all about families and their target age is two to 12.

The hotels have themed rooms, bunk beds, Lego to play with around the hotel, evening entertainment and specialised family dining at breakfast and in the evening.

Then there’s the theme parks…

The rooms

At Legoland Pirate Island, the rooms are, you may have guessed, pirate-themed. Images cover every wall, curtains and even the carpet.

The rooms themselves have a children’s area with bunk beds, and a rollaway third child’s bed if needed, a tray of Lego and a child’s TV which can play all the Lego movies on demand.

Bunk beds and Lego to play with

Adults get a king-sized bed (which was surprisingly high off the ground), plus side tables with lights and their own larger HD TV.

The bathroom is compact with toiletries provided in Lego-branded tubes.

The room also has a small desk, safe and good storage for cases.

With lots of pirate ship-style brown wood it is quite dark in the room and the corridors of the hotel.

For a fresher, brighter feel – but fewer pirates – consider the Legoland Hotel which is next door.

Food and drink

The Shipwreck Restaurant serves breakfast and dinner.

Breakfast (included free with all rooms) is unusual as it is table-service and you get a family skillet (basically a big round tray) with hot food on it to share.

Ours had waffles, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, American breakfast biscuits (a type of savoury scone) and a gravy/creamy sauce to go with them.

Breakfast at Pirate Island Hotel

Friendly waiters and waitresses take your drinks orders and you can request other items like cereal.

A big shout out to our lovely waitress Bailey who went the extra mile to get us some fruit and pancakes on request.

We enjoyed experiencing something different, but the skillet won’t suit every family at breakfast time.

There is a similar skillet offering in the evening for all courses of a three-course menu (adults $36 and children $15).

We were given a salad starter with bread then a choice of two skillets as a main course with a range of meats or fish and sides like mashed potato, rice and beans.

Pirate Island Hotel

The restaurant will also do specific dishes for children like chicken and chips on request.

Dessert was either an ice cream and cookie dish or fresh fruit and marshmallows with chocolate sauce to dip in.

The quantities are absolutely huge, if you have a big appetite you will get value for money here. For those who prefer smaller portions, it might be a bit daunting!

Nearby

More Lego stuff – the adjoining hotel next door has a large reception area and Lego to play with. There is also a nice bar area, more pleasant than the Smuggler’s Bar in Pirate Island.

Lego fun to play with in the hotels at Legoland Florida Resort

Lego fun in the hotels

But of course, the main nearby attraction is the theme park itself – only 130 steps and 30 seconds away.

We could see the entrance opposite our room!

Legoland theme park

Legoland Florida has most of the rides you might expect if you have been to Windsor.

Lego Ninjago was our favourite as all four of us could compete together, shooting the villains with 3D glasses on as we spin through the ride.

Fortunately, the park was lovely and quiet when we visited during the week in October half-term so we could ride it four times!

Children with a Lego punk at Legoland Florida

Lots of photo opportunities

The site is spacious and with the lake on one side and plenty of greenery, it is quite a relaxing place to visit.

Most of the rides are suited to younger children, but there are some speedier ones.

We also enjoyed the aqua coasters and the fire engine ride where you have to pump your own engine to reach the blaze and put it out.

Some of the rides might feel a bit dated and quaint if you have just been to Disney World or Universal Studios but our children really enjoyed driving their own motorboats or steering a car in the driving school. Plus it was a relief to escape the crowds and the queues from the bigger parks.

Meeting a life-sized Lego figure

There are several places to cool down from the Florida heat – such as indoor spaces where you can create with Lego and a 4D theatre.

For a bigger cool off there is Legoland Water Park on site.

Legoland Water Park

You can only enter the water park with a ticket to the main park itself, but you need to pay extra.

Frustratingly it is at the far end of the park – a 15/20 minute walk from the entrance which means if you return to the park after a break/lunch like we did, you have to carry your swimming gear past all the rides – there is no separate entrance.

Once you make it inside, there is a nice, long lazy river with giant Lego bricks floating along to play with and a pool with a wave machine which runs every 10minutes. The water is lovely and warm and it feels very safe.

There is seating at the front of the wave pool and some umbrellas for shade.

Opposite the wave pool is a section with small slides and a splash park for younger children.

Splash zone and water slides for younger children at Legoland Florida

Slides and splashes for younger children

It has a large bucket which tips water over everyone every few minutes, five or six gentler slides and spray guns to fire water at parents.

For older children, there are the Twin Chaser and Splash Out rides. These were much bigger, faster water slides but unfortunately were closed when we visited.

There is only one changing room at the entrance to the water park and it is fairly basic.

We enjoyed our visit to cool off but parts of it do need updating and painting.

Peppa Pig Theme Park

The new Peppa Pig Theme Park is aimed at young fans of the children’s tv phenomenon.

It includes interactive rides, themed playgrounds, a cinema and character shows and an indoor cinema for quieter moments.

There’s a splash pad for practising jumping in muddy puddles, fair games and a little roller coaster.

Our highlights

*Location – it is amazing to be staying so close to Legoland park. You can leave your hotel room just before the 10am opening and be straight on a ride minutes later.

No accommodation at Disney, Universal or most UK theme parks gets you so close to the entrance.

*Rooms – the theme is fun, the treasure hunt on arrival is entertaining and it is a magical experience for small children. It is brilliant to see their faces when they enter the room for the first time and discover their bunk beds, TV and Lego tray.

*Pool options – you can choose the theme park waterpark or there are smaller, shallow pools at both Pirate Island Hotel and the Legoland Hotel. The pool at the Legoland Hotel had its own small slide.

Legoland Hotel swimming pool

*The setting by Lake Eloise – it feels very calm and tranquil compared with other theme parks. You can do a short boardwalk along the lakeside, although the signs warning of possible alligators and snakes could be alarming (we think we spotted an alligator eyeing up its prey in the lake near to the shore).

Top Tips

*Go to the park at opening and you get the place to yourself for a bit. It is so close to the hotel that it makes sense to get in first. We visited on a quiet midweek in October and didn’t have to wait more than five minutes for any ride all day. At the same time of year at Disney and Universal, some ride waits were 90 minutes!

*Breakfast got very busy after 8.30am so try and go beforehand if you don’t want to queue for a table. Also, the restaurant is more relaxing when it is quieter – the rest of the time it sounded like a full-on children’s party!

*Grab some towels from your hotel pool area to take to the waterpark if you haven’t brought your own with you. You use your room card to access the towels from inside a cabinet and check them back in when you return after your swim.

*There are strollers and lockers to rent just inside the entrance to the park.

*Download the Legoland app for help navigating the park and seeing theatre times etc.

Video Tour

Legoland Florida Resort information

Food: There are various food outlets around the parks serving a range of fast food, ice creams and drinks.

For bigger meals there’s a pizza and pasta all-you-can eat buffet.

Address: Legoland Florida Resort, 1 Legoland Way, Winter Haven, FL 33884, USA.

Opening hours: Opening Hours change depending on the season but are generally – theme park 10am to 5pm, waterpark 12noon to 4pm.

Parking: Parking is free for hotel guests. Otherwise, it costs over $23 pre-paid or over $37 on the day.

How to book: LEGOLAND FLORIDA booking

/ TAG / PIRATE