Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Legoland Water Park - Opening Weekend (pics)

It was the opening weekend for the Legoland Water Park (I salute them for not adding a cloying name to it; it's a water park, so they call it "Legoland Water Park"). After breaking a world record for beach balls in the air at the opening, they settled in for a normal weekend open to regular guests.



It costs $12 extra per adult (anyone three years old and older) to enter the water park. You pay at the back of the park, where this park is, rather than up front.




In a nutshell, the park is essentially unchanged from its days as the Cypress Gardens Water Park, which was at the time included with the price of admission. There's a rather minimal lazy river, a smallish kiddie pool with a couple of minuscule slides, a full-sized water playground with bigger slides, a wave pool, a tower with raft slides, and a tower with a few thrill slides. They did add cabanas you can rent (about $100/day, sometimes more).


















There has been some re-theming to the LEGO brand, and I like these touches. However, they are cosmetic, and do not change the capacity of the water park. It's still a somewhat niche place to bring your family, and not meant to be an all-day diversion. I'm not convinced it will stay a separate admission forever, although that's how they do it at Legoland in California as well.










It rained and stormed on us - the fury of Tropical Storm Beryl reaching down past Central Florida - and first they closed access to water rides, then eventually they chased everyone into the women's restroom, and then out of the park. Be aware there are no refunds when this happens.






They were also fighting a sewer leak at First Aid (that's the water dribbling down the sidewalk).



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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.