Yes, that title is grammatically correct.

While I don’t have the creation prowess of some people (even if that video includes instructions), I still love legos, and have since I was a child. The best part of any birthday or Christmas was the new model to put together.

When Lego Mindstorms came out I was lucky enough to get that and some of the expansions, furthering my creativity as well as gaining some valuable early lessons in programming logic through their simple drag-and-drop programming interface. This was also my first experience with Java, when I found an entire homebrew community online that used the IR reader that attached to the computer’s serial port to control their smartbricks.

Lego used to have a magazine that came out monthly (which I of course had a subscription to). When the first Legoland opened in the 90’s I knew that I had to go one day, but Virginia and California are a long ways apart from each other, so that dream was put on hold for a while. Upon moving to Orlando I quickly found myself at the Lego store at Downtown Disney several times. Finally, it was announced that Legoland would be opening a new park, located at historic Cypress Gardens, right near my current hometown of Orlando.

Tickets are a bit expensive, I’m not going to lie, but they are cheaper than those for the other major theme parks in the area. I was extremely lucky to win four tickets from a giveaway at Chick-Fil-A earlier this year. After several failed attempts to go earlier in the summer, I gifted the tickets to my father, who is just as big a Lego nerd as I am. The family and I headed out there this weekend. Off the beaten path, Legoland is away from the larger, glitzy tourists areas on the outskirts of Orlando. There is little fanfare as you approach, and the place seems to be able to accommodate a large number of guests, but was thankfully not too crowded.

Similarly, the park itself is not too flashy. This is not meant in a negative way at all. Everything was low key, lines moved along quickly for rides, and there wasn’t a single overstimulated child crying and making a scene the entire day. It is most certainly a park for those with younger children, but there is plenty for everyone at the park. While none of the rides are as outlandish as those in Disney or Universal, there are fun games for everyone, plenty of places for children to build models, especially while waiting on ride lines, and of course plenty of shops with specialty Lego merchandise.

The landmarks of global cities were incredible, and one of my highlights of the park. They may not all look impressive from my photos, unless you notice the scales of the people standing next to them. Sure, it looks like a regular sculpture of the Golden Gate Bridge, but when you see that it’s 22 feet in length and contains hundreds of thousands of bricks, it’s an impressive feat of miniature architecture.

Thankfully, Legoland opted to preserve Cypress Gardens, including the beautiful walkways and Banyan tree. It’s incredible that the tree is only about 80 years old yet covers so much ground. There may be a few Lego Travelocity gnomes dotting the path with clear promotional signs, but that’s a small price to pay to keep that natural part of the park in great condition.

Overall, it was an excellent trip, and well worth repeating. If you are a Lego fan, you’ll find plenty to amaze and want to take home here.

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