On a quiet Saturday morning among orange groves and oak canopies in Winter Haven, LEGOLAND Florida opened with a flurry of colorful Lego-shaped confetti. LEGO fans from around the world came to see what the Model Citizens, LEGOLAND employees, created.
Amongst the thousands of park goers that made up the grand opening weekend crowds were several local Floridians who grew up visiting Cypress Gardens, Florida’s first theme park which opened in 1936. LEGOLAND Florida was built on the former Cypress Gardens grounds and sits on 150-acres, making it the largest of the five LEGOLAND theme parks in the world. The unique landscape and sprawling banyan trees set this theme park apart from all other LEGOLAND locations. Architects and park designers carefully built the new park in harmony with the historic natural surroundings and restored the world famous botanical gardens. Each of the zones, or theme areas, offers amazing views of Lake Eloise. Throughout LEGOLAND, hundreds of moss-lined oak trees were preserved and offer shade from the hot Florida sun. As a tribute to the Cypress Gardens Southern Belles and their hoop skirt dresses, we found two LEGO Southern Belle figures in the park. I overheard an older couple commenting on how wonderful it was that LEGOLAND created these pieces. It turned out that the lady had once worked as a Southern Belle at Cypress Gardens. We could not resist posing alongside these and other life-sized LEGO figures.