LEGOLAND Florida Reopens to Guests; Photos and Video from Preview Day with Look at Safety Measures

Hi everyone –

As I write this, LEGOLAND Florida is just hours from opening to the public. Thanks to a friend of ours, we spent a few hours there on Saturday afternoon in what was a friends & family type of event. LEGOLAND Florida is the first major theme park in the area to open and will be followed by Universal Orlando this week. There are changes coming to all the theme parks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here is a look at our first visit back to LEGOLAND with some thoughts on new procedures (and ones that aren’t different). We are Annual Passholders and may stop by there for a brief visit today too.

Our first stop is for a temperature check. This is hand-held like at Disney Springs and you can’t enter the park if the temperature is above 100.4. I hadn’t noticed at the time that disposable masks were being handed out, but anyone without a mask could ask for one. Masks are not required at LEGOLAND Florida.

We walked toward security here. The area is pretty narrow for temperature checks and security, but there are “bricks” on the ground for social distancing. You will see these all over the park.

I am not photographing the security area closer but it is the same as before. I was hoping they’d find a way to do touchless bag checks in the interim. I did ask if I could move my items around myself (I did) but will leave my backpack in the car next time.

The bricks tell guests where to stand.

It was nice to be back at LEGOLAND. We do enjoy the park and have worked with them as media since the beginning, also visiting as Annual Passholders.

Here is a look at our day in over 20 minutes, and then more photos and information.

We wore masks. I prefer to and wish LEGOLAND had a rule like other parks. It was about 50/50 during the preview for mask wearing. I get asked about this a lot.

Things will be different, and one thing I noticed was no LEGO bricks in this area for kids to play while parents are picking up tickets.

There are signs all over the park, including to leave 6 feet for social distancing. LEGOLAND does put its own fun spin on the signs.

There is also a sign encouraging masks, again with its own LEGO style.

More signage can be seen when walking in.

We first stopped for photos with Rey and Chewbacca LEGO sculptures. During the preview, we didn’t see any characters walking in the park  – there won’t be meet and greets, none of the parks will have standard greets for now, but most (probably all) will have character experiences.

 

 We walked toward the Carousel.

We didn’t ride the Carousel, but were told they are only loading the first level currently.

There are over 200 new sanitizing stations around the park. Unfortunately, they are not touchless. I do bring my own along with some Lysol wipes in a bag. I tried this one out and ended up hitting the button and nothing came out, so had to use my sanitizer anyway.

Our first ride was The Dragon. Jeff rode twice more too. It was always a fun ride that is not only a roller coaster, but part dark ride.

This is what the queue looks like, with social distancing bricks.

Attractions team members (Model Citizens) clean the roller coaster. Not every row is occupied during the ride. Also, the Model Citizens working the attractions wear not only a mask, but a face shield. There are some other employees who do as well.

Here is a video of our ride on The Dragon!

We stopped by The LEGO Movie World.

 Another element that is not available is the play areas for kids.

“Thank you for being awesome”.

This play area for kids, Pharoah’s Revenge, was also closed.

There is still more fun, and there is a lot open.

I feel like he is pointing the way to it.

The rides barely had waits when we went. I expect opening day to be quite a bit busier.

We rode Ninjago next, which is my favorite ride in the park.

There was a 5 minute wait, which was accurate.

There is hand sanitizer outside and inside the ride.

What I really like about Ninjago is that it is touchless. Instead of having a joystick or buttons, you only use your hands.

This is what it looks like while waiting. Honestly, I’m not really ready for indoor lines without masks but it was fun to get to ride again.

There are social distancing bricks throughout the queue, but guests weren’t always using them.

There are distancing bricks outside Lego City Burger Kitchen.

And it has gone cashless. We will see a lot of this throughout the parks.

There was no line for Boating School, so we went there next.

Each boat was wiped down before guests entered.

This is always a cute ride.

There are LEGO figures along the way.

These water fountains were on time-out. I assume all are, but didn’t notice.

This restroom is monster-free.

My favorite area of the park is Cypress Gardens, which is a historic section.

There was a sign for high water levels, but I didn’t see any. We walked a different way in but there were no signs or anything blocking this location and ended up walking over the bridge on the way out.

We did remove our masks since nobody was around. And the Cypress Gardens section looks as beautifully manicured as I’ve ever seen it – just perfect.

I don’t remember these signs during our last walk-through here. They give a lot of fun info.

This is generally a quiet area for guests to enjoy.

Here is a view looking back.

It was a very hot day but I wanted to see the Banyan Tree. This was planted as a seedling in 1939 and is beautiful, really my favorite attraction of any sort in the park.

I love feeling like I’m out in nature and not in a theme park.

If you haven’t visited the Cypress Gardens section, I do recommend it.

We talked with Rex Jackson, who we know and is General Manager at LEGOLAND Resort. He gave a welcome back talk to everyone in Miniland.

We had a nice time at LEGOLAND and stopped by The Big Shop for a couple of more photos of Rey and Chewbacca.

And the LEGOLAND Pirate Hotel opens today along with the LEGOLAND Hotel and the Beach Retreat.

We are glad to have had this preview of the park, it was a fun day! If there were any changes I’d make, it would just to make as much touchless as possible – including sanitizer, restroom sinks, bag check, etc. That isn’t just good during a pandemic but all the time. I do prefer masks too but we mostly spend our time outdoors so we just try to keep a little distance. LEGOLAND is located in Winter Haven and it is exciting to see it back.