Last week, as part of my role as the VISIT FLORIDA Family Insider, my family and I visited LEGOLAND Florida in Winter Haven, about 45 minutes from Walt Disney World.

We had a great time exploring the park and I even rode a roller coaster!  I was surprised to see how many rides and hands-on activities there were at the park – it’s so much more than just building LEGOs (you can do that too, though)!

With my girls being five- and three-years old, I was excited to see how many ‘little’ kid activities there were at the park, besides the coasters. We loved the safari tour, aboard our own little car to see the animals – giraffes, elephants, lions – all made of LEGOs. The Boating School was also a hoot – there’s no track involved, so be sure to help steer the boat! Don’t worry – It doesn’t go very fast and the water isn’t deep.

When you visit, make plenty of time to explore MiniLand U.S.A – it’s entire scenes from across the country built out of LEGOs. I just loved it!  Tons of places throughout Florida (including the Daytona International Speedway), California hot spots, Las Vegas and even an area of Star Wars figures. So fun!

Here are a few tips that I learned on my visit… you can save a good chunk of change if you plan ahead!

• Plan ahead and purchase your tickets online – you can save up to $15 per ticket and discounted parking.
• LEGOLAND Florida partners with local accommodations to offer money-saving vacation packages.
• If you’re in Orlando, plan ahead and take advantage of the daily shuttle service leaving from the Orlando Premium Outlets at Vineland Avenue. The roundtrip price is only $5 per person.

I’m already looking forward to going back when the weather warms up so we can check out the water park!  They have a lazy river where you can build your own raft out of soft LEGO bricks. That sounds like my kinda place!

Have you been to LEGOLAND Florida?