Legoland Florida, Part II

Sarasota, FL      High:  80     Low:   61

Yesterday we had so much to share about Legoland, Sparky decided to add another post about the rest of the park, another two sections of the park that we thought were amazing. We had taken Trevor, Eldy's grandson, and his little friend, Brooklyn, to Legoland Park in Winter Haven, FL. It's about an hour and a half from Sarasota...First, we want to say we highly recommend Legoland Florida. Just bring lots of money! Food is expensive, and there is a lot of cool Lego stuff in the main stores. Heck, you can buy little tiny singles pieces of Lego by the quarter pound, pound, etc., around 9.00 for 1/4 pound. It was like being in an M & M store with all the bins of every single color you could think of. We missed several sections of the park yesterday, as we just ran out of time to see them. One was the Imagination Zone, which showcases seven of the most amazing and visually exciting Lego models. There was a HUGE Lego statue of Albert Einstein right outside it that caught Sparky's attention, but we just didn't have enough time to explore it.

We did explore Mini Land which were U.S.A. attractions built out of Legos and Cypress Gardens. Mini Land was really cool! There are seven specially themed areas in the Mini Land section of the park, Las Vegas and the Daytona Speedway being two of the themes. The Daytona Speedway had mini race cars that you could actually race on a track by pushing buttons.

A third theme was the space shuttle NASA exhibit built out of Legos and a rocket that spouted steam like it was going to take off. The replica of Las Vegas had MGM Grand Hotel, the New York New York AND the Excalibur Hotels along with cars and Lego people. The attention to details was incredible!

As we were winding up our day, we headed out of Mini Land, took a wrong turn, and ended up in a garden section of the park which was a WONDERFUL way to slow down, relax, and take in some of the beautiful nature in front of us.

The Cypress Gardens is a historic garden preserved from more than 75 years ago. It didn't say who the gardens belonged to, or give any history, but it was truly beautiful and awe inspiring. Sparky, being the nature nut, loved it probably just as much as seeing how much fun the kids had on all the rides in Legoland.

This was one of the most beautiful nature parks we have seen on our travels. It was like walking into a cultured jungle of every possible blooming plant and exotic flowering plant that Florida has to offer. Although young kids are usually not too interested in nature, they were amazed at this banana tree bloom.

They were interested to see where bananas come from. This is another look at the banana tree blossom.

They loved the sausage tree. That was the name on the placard in front of the tree!

And how about this amazing banyon tree planted in 1939?

Eldy wanted to explore the innards of the baryon tree more, but the kids were skipping along, anxious to get home after a long day. Eldy looks tired, doesn't he? We were really dragging by this time.....But not the kids!

There was a beautiful waterfall area....

And Trevor found a kid with a lizard so the walk came to an abrupt, screeching halt while he cajoled the kid into letting him hold it. He tried to talk the boy into letting him have it, but no dice! Trevor and lizards are like peanut butter and jelly. On every trip to Florida, Trevor has been bound and determined to catch a lizard and take him home. He already has a snake!

You would have thought the kids would have crashed on the way home after such a tiring day, but nope! They were excited and happy kids. Trevor had purchased a small Ninjago Lego kit and had it just about built by the time we got home. Brooklyn watched "Wrecked Ralph" on a DVD player for the umpteenth time. :-)

It was a really fun day for Sparky and Eldo...Sparky misses being around little kids so that was a really fun day for her, too, even if she didn't ride the roller coasters!  We hope you enjoyed hearing about Legoland...It's a great place for kids and always fun for adults when you have your grandkids with you!