Welcome To Screamscape!

Park News - (1/23/12) Legoland Florida is gearing up for a very full 2012 with a whole slew of special events to take place throughout the year. The list includes:
    Lego Friends Weekend – Mar. 24 & 25 – Celebrating the new girl-centric Lego line.
    Winter Haven Hospital Foundation Citrus Classic 5K – Apr. 14
    Red, Brick & Boom –3D glasses turn fireworks into exploding Lego Bricks on July 4th
    Brick-or-Treat – Weekends in October
    Legoland Florida 1st Birthday Party – Oct. 15
    Christmas Bricktaclar – Weekends in December
    Countdown to Kids’ New Years Eve – 3D Fireworks on Dec. 26-30
    Kids’ New Years Eve  - Dec. 31, Celebrate NYE at Kid Standard Time (7pm)
    (1/6/12) Orlando Parks News drops into Legoland Florida for a massive two part photo update to see how the newest central Florida theme park is fitting in.
    (12/21/11) Orlando Parks News reports that Legoland Florida will soon open a new quick service restaurant in the Imagination Zone area of the park called I-Zone Panini.

2012 - Legoland Wat er Park - (1/25/12) Behind the Thrills went on a construction tour of the new Legoland Florida waterpark this week and reports that they hope to have it open by May. For anyone wondering, all the existing waterslides that were opened under Cypress Gardens are still there and will open to guests in addition to the new water attractions designed for the kiddies. Park Guests will have to pay a $12 upcharge fee to gain access to the waterpark.
    (12/1/11) Legoland Florida has announced the details of their new Legoland Water Park, which will open in time for Summer 2012. The new waterpark area will feature a wave pool, a Build-A-Raft lazy river, tube slides, body slides and an Duplo Safari themed interactive water play structure. Admission to the waterpark is not included with general park admission, and will require a $12 upgrade purchase. Admission is included however for Legoland Premium Passholders.

Legoland Florida: Park Review - by Keith Trotter
    After a visit to Legoland Florida, you will leave with the realization that anything is possible with imagination.    The park creators did a great job of transforming a large portion of the existing park along with lots of newness to create an experience that is truly unique and lots of fun.  The entry plaza is bright, welcoming, and sits adjacent to a behemoth new parking lot with plenty of space for huge crowds. 
    The Island in the Sky is a rotating observation wheel that is raised 150 feet into the air on a hydraulic arm.  The view of the park and surrounding area is breathtaking.
    The Wells Fargo Fun Town 4D Theater was amazing.  Three dif ferent shows alternate throughout the day.  The 3D was amazing and the wind and snow effects were powerful and really added to the entertainment.  Do not skip this attraction.  It is absolutely more entertaining and fun than you would possibly imagine.  The creators of these three 20 minute movies are incredible story tellers.  Top notch.
    The Factory Tour gives you a look at how legos are made from tiny balls of plastic that are melted down and then molded into the famous bricks.  It is presented in a manner that small children would understand.
    Miniland USA is the most detailed and interesting section of the park in my opinion.  The attention to detail and the accuracy of the recreations are absolutely amazing.  You could easily spend hours gazing at the exhibits and still not notice all the details.  The amount of time that had to be spent on planning and building just blows my mind.  In Miniland USA, you will see Florida (Daytona Speedway, Kennedy Space Center), Las Vegas, Washington D.C., New York City, and a Pirate themed section.  There are special effects all over the place including moving cars, boats, sounds, and even a real lego marching band that actually marches!
    DUPLO Village is a section for the wee little ones that has several kiddie style rides: Big Rig Rally, Junior Fire Academy, Granny’s Jalopies, and DUPLO farm play area.
    Lego Kingdoms is a medieval themed area anchored by big toy-style castle that houses a ride, shops, and a restaurant!  The dragon coaster was a great surprise.  From the outside you see the coaster (similar to Goofy's Barnstormer at Magic Kingdom).  What you don't see is that once you enter the elaborately themed queue and indoor air conditioned loading station, the coaster is the last part of the ride.  This is a dark ride that has amazing show scenes themed around a medieval king, jester, dragon, theme.  Very enjoyable. 
    Royal Joust is a kiddie ride with maximum height and age restrictions that simulates jousting.
    Merlin's Challenge is a smaller version of a Himalaya ride, but you do pick up speed throughout the ride and the person on the outside does get squished!!
    The Forestman's Hideout is a fabulous play area for bigger kids that sits in the middle of a real forest with gigantic trees that create a great area for kids to play in.  Why didn't we have stuff like this when I was a kid?
    Lego Technic Test Track is the biggest coaster in the park that starts off with a 45 foot drop immediately after the lift hill. Most mouse coasters start with some switchbacks first, not this one. 
    AquaZone Wave Racers is a water ride that was the biggest thrill to me.  You are on a ride vehicle that is attached to an arm that spins around the circular loading platform.  Each vehicle has a steering wheel that controls the fin on the  bottom of the boat vehicle.  As I was waiting in line to get on, I kept thinking that everyone was getting off laughing and smiling.  I couldn't imagine what the big deal was.  Once I got on, I realized what a fun ride this was.  When you turn the wheel left, your vehicle hugs the loading platform.  When you release the wheel to turn it right, the vehicle flings out so fast you feel like your going to fly out!!!  How fun is that??  And of course you wheel back to the left again as fast as you can so you can fling yourself out again.  There are two platforms in a dueling style formation, and in between them are a series of air canons that blast water in the air and ultimately you!  Fun, fun, fun.
    Technicyle is a flat ride that goes around in a circle similar to Dumbo except instead of elephants your gondola is a Technicycle!
    Hero Factory is an immersive interactive play area based on LEGO’s popular Hero Factory line.
    Build & Test is an indoor area where you can build a LEGO car and test it against the competition on the digitally timed track.
    Kid Power Towers is a ride that at first looks like mini drop towers.  Actually parents and kids hoist their ride bench to the top of the towers with a rope and when you reach the top, you let go of the rope and your bench drops back to the ground quickly, but under control for the little ones.
    Pirate's Cove Live Water Ski Show is an homage to the original water ski shows that Cypress Gardens is so famous for.  The centerpiece of this show is the huge pirate ship that is made to exact scale of a famous Lego Pirate Ship Toy!  Spectular ski stunts make this show a must-see.
    Coastersaurus is a  junior wooden coaster that curves and dips in and around a prehistoric jungle of animated and life-sized LEGO brick dinosaurs.  Formerly the Triple Hurricane.
    Lost Kingdom Adventure is LEGOLAND Florida’s spectacular dark ride invites guests to fire laser blasters at targets and brave the rugged Egyptian landscape in all-terrain roadsters, while attempting to unearth the vast treasures of a forgotten empire.  What makes this ride great that your guns fire a beam that lights up about two-inches wide red circle (instead of the pinpoint red laser light that other shoot 'em up rides give you) that provides you great aim, and perfect for little ones who need help with their aim.
    Pharaoh’s Revenge is an outdoor attraction lets children and parents fire soft foam balls at enemies and explore the complex maze of the Pharaoh’s kingdom.
    Beetle Bounce is a 15 foot drop tower.
    Safari Trek is a slow moving outdoor car ride that explores the wilds of Africa and features gorgeous, life-like LEGO animals.
    FORD Driving School is a total hoot.  Children 6 through 13 can drive their cars through a “real-life” driving course.  Kids must obey the traffic signs and other real-life road rules.  No passing allowed.  The group of kids I watched didn't have patience for those in front of them.  One little boy couldn't take it, and passed up the little girl in front of him.  Once the drive time is up, kids receive their official LEGOLAND driver’s license.  At the entry point to the attraction is the famous Ford Explorer that is made completely out of Legos.
    FORD Jr. Driving School is a pint-size version driving school course for children ages 3 through 5.
    Boating School calls for all aboard this fun-filled ride that allows kids to captain their own mini-vessels.  The boats are free floating and as I earlier suspected, little kids can't steer boats, but don't worry there are plenty of operations employees to help get them back in the right direction.
    Flying School is the suspended steel coaster that lets kids experience the thrill of flight.  I rode this once and it was my last time unfortunately.  The OTS restraints that they use come in really far towards your head and you get banged around pretty bad.  I predict you will see changes to this ride sooner rather than later.
    The Big Test Show was a really cute show that teaches kids what to do in the event of a fire.  Get out of the house, dial 911, stop drop and roll type stuff.  This show seemed a little silly to me at first, but it grew on me and by the end I wanted to see it again.  There are lots of stunts, acrobatics, music and effects in the show.  Note to remember- don't sit in the front if you don't want to get wet!
    The original Cypress Gardens are still intact and relatively unchanged.  As you can see in the pictures, the gardens are serene, beautiful and an escape. 
    Everyone keeps asking me if they should go to Legoland or if it is just for kids.  The park was designed for families with children 2-12.  What I can say is that there are things to enjoy for every member of the family of any age.  I would tell everyone to go at least once to check it out, you won't be disappointed.  Families with children will now have another place to add to their Central Florida attractions list to visit on a regular basis.  Kids will absolutely love it and will never be able to get enough of this place!!!!!


    (10/18/11) Legoland Florida did announce some details about their future expansion plans over the weekend. Nothing too groundbreaking, as we have heard it mentioned before, but the Legoland Waterpark expansion area will be ready to open by May. Much like the one in Legoland California, there will be an upcharge price to be paid to get in, as admission to the waterpark is not included with a regular park admission. However… you can’t just pay to get into the waterpark either, it’s an “add on” to your regular Legoland experience.
    Legoland Florida also has plans in the works to open their very own Legoland themed resort hotel on site by either 2014 or 2015. The exact size of the resort has not been determined, as I think they are still waiting to see just how well the park does and what kind of crowds they get throughout the first year before locking in their hotel plans.
    (10/17/11) Our man Keith was in attendance at the media opening event for Legoland Florida the other day. While we await his final review on Central Florida’s newest theme park, we do have a huge collection of photos to share showing off this unique park environment, blending the new Legoland themeing while still keeping some of the old Cypress Gardens charm.
    (10/3/11) One of our readers was lucky enough to attend a sneek preview day at Legoland Florida over this past weekend, as the park soft opened to friends and family members of employees. Check out their photos and review posted to FloridaBricks.com.
    (9/29/11) Keith was lucky enough to be invited out to Legoland Florida for a preview visit through a few of the park’s new areas, including a preview performance of the new Lego Waterski show. You read that right... Lego People... on Waterskis. Just wait til you see the pictures... so without further ado, here’s Keith...

    I have visited the original Cypress Gardens and the Cypress Gardens Adventure Park.  When Cypress Gardens became an "adventure park", with the exception of the rides area, most of the park remained untouched or maybe just another coat of paint added on.   I honestly did not know what to expect from Legoland Florida.  Was this going to be another coat of paint and a cheesy overlay of an existing park?  As we were escorted into the park the first area I saw was the turnstile area.  I couldn't believe it... this was a completely new park.  I didn't know where I was.  As we walked further into the park, I started to recognize the layout of some of the buildings, and realized where in the old park I was, and everything looked absolutely new.  I was very impressed.  All of the existing buildings that remain in the park have been expertly restored, and if you had never been in the park before, you would think the park had been built from the ground up.   I never got the Legoland concept until today.  The incredible Lego Brand theming set against the lush landscaping, this park will succeed.  While the park has some existing infrastructure, all the walkways have been replaced and look amazing.  There is newness everywhere.  The colors are eye-popping and the landscaping is ,of course, worth the trip alone.
    There are several key structures that remain and restored such as the Magnolia Mansion, the iconic observation wheel ride, the water ski show pavilions, the main show building, as well as many others. While the Lego Brand has completely taken over the property, the developers felt it was necessary to pay homage to the original park because of the rich history.  There are two Southern Belle Lego structures that will be in place in front of the gazebo which will allow families to take photos where they may have at one time taken family photos with their grandparents and the iconic Southern Belles.  Also, remaining are the two ski show stadium pavilions where the Pirates Cover ski show will take place. The show is 20 minutes and will feature characters such as Captain Brickbeard, Miranda Valentina, Sawtooth the Shark, and Imperial Soldiers. Featured in the show is a life-sized Lego Pirate ship which is amazing.  Only the right stadium will be used for the show. 
    While the park will be completely operational when it Grand Opens on October 15th, there are still some things to come. First of all there will be a Christmas event that will include special shows, decorations, and events. New Years for Kids will be the next special event that will countdown the New Year at a more kid-friendly 6 or 7PM. Next year, the park will unveil an all-new re-themed water park. Stay tuned for more information on those upcoming events.
    I got the opportunity to ride two of the brand new rides for the park, the Lego Technic Roller Coaster and the Boating School boat ride. The coaster was great starting off with a 45 foot drop which is big for a mouse-style family coaster.  You then experience the switchbacks characteristic of a mouse coaster and then it finishes off with some bunny hops.  The Boating School boat ride is something that children will definitely enjoy.  The boats are driven by the riders without any track, and we all know how fun it is to "drive" things when you are a kid.  The boats are slow moving, battery powered, and very quiet.  This will definitely be a great place for photos.  There are four "schools" at the park:  Ford's Driving School, Ford's Junior Driving School, Flying School, and Boating School.
    The park is in full-prep mode.  1000 people back to work.  Merchandise is being put on shelves, giant stuffed animals being hung in the games areas, food-preparation training in the restaurants, technical rehearsals at the ski show, landscapers putting the final touches on everything, benches and trash cans lined up and ready to be put in to place.  I am very excited to return to the park in a few weeks for Grand Opening when everything will be up and running! 

    (9/28/11) Check out a new time lapse video showing off the creation of a Ford Explorer, made entirely out of LEGO bricks… approximately 380,000 of them. It took about 2500 hours to build and is being sent from the Ford Chicago Assembly Plant to be placed inside Legoland Florida, right in front of the Ford Driving School attraction. This marks the start of a new long term alliance between Ford and Legoland.

    (9/26/11) It seems Legoland Florida has inked out some kind of partnership deal with the Nickelodeon Suites Resort in Orlando (just outside of Disney property) to offer Legoland Vacation Package deals that include park tickets with your stay. Click here for details.
    (9/15/11) A full ride through video of the Lost Kingdom Adventure dark ride at Legoland Florida has been posted to YouTube and embedded below. Enjoy!

    (9/14/11) Behind the Thrills went out to Legoland for another behind the construction wall tour of the park, as they enter crunch time and scramble to get everything ready for next month’s grand opening.
    (9/8/11) Sally has sent in two images showing off cute Lego figures and scenes they’ve built for Legoland Florida’s Lost Kingdom Adventure interactive dark ride, as well as finishing up the production work on the Lost Kingdom Adventure ride also confirmed to be going into Legoland Malaysia in 2012.
    (8/27/11) Hoping to make it easy for guests from Orlando to get to Legoland Florida when it opens, the park will be offering bus tickets from the Orlando Premium Outlet mall to the park for the low cost of just $5 at first, which is cheaper than paying to park. Read more details here.
    (8/18/11) Legoland Florida has announced a series of new educational programs that the park will hold for students when they open as well as a complimentary Standard Annual Pass for all active Florida teachers. Click here for more information.
    (8/9/11) Another Legoland Florida construction update can be found this week over at Orlando Parks News, showing off The Village and Castle Hill. In other Legoland Florida news, the park has announced a special priced annual pass option for guests after 60 and older called the Senior Garden Pass. The new pass will give them access to the park for just $60, less than the price of a regular full day’s admission ticket, but the pass is only good on weekdays.
    (8/3/11) Behind the Thrills got to take a sneak peek tour inside Legoland Florida this week. Check out their review and pictures to see how things are shaping up in the land of bricks.
        (5/24/11) Legoland Florida has finally announced that the grand opening date for the new 150 acre theme park will be on Saturday, October 15th. So all you Lego-Fanaddicts out there can now book your vacation plans to see the new park. The park has also launched new online vacation packages to go along with this as well as special advanced ticket pricing options.
    (3/24/11) Legoland Florida held a special media tour earlier today and was nice enough to send out several new pictures of the park under construction, many of which were taken by air to get the best view. They also included our first look at the new official park map showing off all of the park attractions, even if we don’t know what they will call them all yet.
    We do know that the former Triple Hurricane coaster will be getting a dinosaur make-over, and have been told that new trains are also on order. You will also notice that there is no sign of the waterpark on the map… as this will not be open with the rest of the park. I would assume that they may opt to build it up into another Lego themed waterpark like the one opened in California last year, but that would be a future project down the road.
    (3/21/11) A new website has launched with the goal of following the construction and development of the Legoland Florida theme park. You can find it at FloridaBricks.com.
    (2/9/11) Legoland Florida has now posted a very basic park map on their website, in case you wanted to know what rides were going where.
    (1/15/11) Some of the first figures for Legoland Florida have arrived. You can see pictures here.
    (1/6/11) Legoland Florida has extended their season pass purchase special office through April 30th, 2011. Click here for all the details.
    (12/17/10) Coaster101 has posted a brief interview they had with Legoland Florida’s media relations rep, Jack Wallace.
    (12/16/10) Legoland Florida is making a special offer if you buy your annual pass early. Right now if you pre-order an annual pass, you’ll get all of 2012 plus the entire fall 2011 season for free. Read the details here.
    (12/9/10) Legoland Florida has announced that they’ve signed a deal with Pepsi to become the park’s official beverage provider. This was kind of a surprise as Coke is the official beverage of the California park. 
    (10/22/10) Legoland Florida held a presentation yesterday to talk about the new park in more detail as well as to point out that the new park will be ready to open in just one short year… in October 2011. The 150 acre park will feature 10 lands when it opens: The Beginning, Fun Town, Miniland USA, Castle Hill, Land of Adventure, Xtreme, LEGO City, Imagination Zone, Pirate Cove and DUPLO Village. They’ve also begun advance sales of tickets and passes at a discount rate, as well as a lifetime pass for a whopping $2,500. Videos showcasing each of the lands have already been posted to the official website, though some sections of the site were not quite working right when I visited, so it’s still a work in progress.
    Lets take a better look at the planned attractions for this park. The Beginning is really just the main gate area with shops, no rides to see here. Fun Town will feature more stores, a “Factory Tour” attraction about how Lego bricks are made and the Fun Town Theater, a 4-D theater that will feature four different 4-D films throughout the day with seating for 700.
    Miniland USA, a focal point of every Legoland park, will feature mini recreations of Florida landmarks as well as Las Vegas, Washington DC, New York City and a Pirate themed section, all made from thousands of tiny bricks.
    Castle Hill, the medieval section of the park, will feature The Dragon coaster, an indoor/outdoor kid friendly ride as well as The Royal Joust ride.
    Land of Adventures will be located around the existing kid friendly wooden coaster which will be rethemed as Coastersaurus. It will also feature the Lost Kingdom Adventure shoot’em up dark ride, Pharaoh’s Revenge (foam ball attraction) and the Beatle Bounce (a pair of kiddie tower rides).
    Xtreme will have the Lego Technic Test Track coaster (Wild Mouse style) and Aquazone Wave Racers (a seriously fun and wet flat ride I loved at the California park),
    LEGO City is where kids get to practice being grown up at the Fun Town Fire Academy (a fun interactive group ride experience), Driving School, Junior Driving School, Flight School and The Big Test show.
    Imagination Zone will feature Lego themed video games, playtime with real Lego bricks, and the Kid Power Towers, a sort of self propelled drop tower ride, except you drop very slowly.
    From the description of Pirate’s Cove, this is simply the theme of the new Waterski Show and will not have any Pirate themed rides or attractions here other than the show.
    Finally we’ve got DUPLO Village… a kiddieland inside a kiddie park, where even the youngest of toddlers can have some playtime on special rides and attractions downsized just for them.
    (10/8/10) Here’s a good report about how the creation of I-4 pretty much spelled the end for Cypress Gardens and why Legoland Florida, despite having a large brand name, is going to have to get creative and aggressive to lure in Orlando tourists. Legoland feels their brand name is enough of a lure… but remember that Hard Rock Park felt that way as well.
    (10/2/10) According to this article a few Florida business owners have purchased the Starliner from Legoland Florida with the plan to move it all back to Panama City, FL.  They’ve launched a Facebook page to help with the project. One big way you can help is the Pepsi Refresh project. Remember how everyone helped the Conneaut Lake Blue Streak win a $50,000 grant last month? The Starliner is now up for voting for a $250,000 grant from Pepsi to rebuild it. Vote here today and every day!
    (9/2/10) For anyone interested, here is the official For Sale page for the Starliner at Ital. Unfortunately, if you look at these pictures taken by JohnnyUpsidedown not too long ago, the pieces of the Starliner look morelike they’ve been just cut up and thrown in a big pile, with little care taken to stack them or label them for any kind of reassembly in the future.  For comparisons sake, check out how the Starliner was taken apart and put into neat piles when it was shipped down to Cypress Gardens in the first place back in 2005. A big difference from this taken in August 2010. Somehow I think this Lincoln Log has seen it’s last functional days.
    (8/19/10) Legoland Florida has confirmed that the Starliner is currently sitting in storage somewhere… waiting for someone to make an offer to buy the classic woodie. It’s just kind of sad it has become homeless again… a pity Disney can’t find room for it at Downtown Disney or at their Boardwalk area. Maybe Wild Adventures will step up to the plate to give it a home before it’s lost for good. No? Daytona Beach maybe?
    (8/6/10) Legoland Florida has announced the selection of PCL Construction Services, Inc. (PCL) as the builder of the new 145 acre theme park. “Merlin Entertainments Group is confident that PCL is the right company for this enormous job,” said John Ussher, LEGOLAND General Manager of Development.  “PCL’s quality standards, along with their attention to detail and incredible safety record make them our company of choice.”
    Now before it all changes into Legoland, lets take a last look at Cypress Gardens as it was over at Amusement Insider.
    (8/3/10) Legoland Florida has announced the Adrian Jones has been appointed as the GM of Legoland Florida for Merlin Entertainment. Previously Jones served as the Divisional Director overseeing several smaller Merlin owned attractions in the US: Legoland Discovery Center (Illinois) and the Madame Tussauds locations in Las Vegas and Hollywood.
    (7/11/10) Take a peek at the former Cypress Gardens park one more time while the old logo is still up before it gets transformed into Legoland Florida.
    (7/10/10) Another update from the Legoland Florida Open House event can be seen over at Amusement Insider. They also have pictures of the park’s old Vekoma Roller Skater coaster (Okechobee Rampage) being taken apart, with a pile of track laid out in the parking lot.
    (7/9/10) Legoland Florida held a special event to give off a small preview of the park as well as answer various questions. You can see pictures from the event posted to Orlando Parks News and Johnny Upsidedown who also has a video clip where they confirm the fate of the Starliner.
    The Starliner is being taken down carefully in the hopes that they will find a new owner for it who will want to put it up again. They felt the coaster simply would not fit in well with the rest of Legoland Florida. That said… I have heard from another source that buyer for the Starliner may have actually been found… they just haven’t finalized the new home for the ride just yet. Anyone else know more?
    As for the park, they had artwork showing off new lands like Castle Hill, City, Land of Adventure (where Triple Hurricane looks to get a dinosaur theme) and posters showing off how they will transform existing park areas into new attractions and themes.
    (7/6/10) A good breakdown on how the new Legoland Florida park may end up, as seen in a special park-preview brochure they’ve sent out to the local area hotels, can be found at Orlando United this week. It described the various lands in the park (Duplo Village, Miniland USA, etc) as well as pointing out a few specific rides as well (Clutch Powers 4-D, Technic Coaster, Wave Racers, Fun Town Fire Academy, Dragon Coaster, a wooden coaster and several others. The park will share their plans with the local public this Thursday according to this article, so many a few readers will attend to get the skinny first hand.
    (2/5/10) According to a Screamscape source the Jungle Coaster being removed from Legoland Windsor (A Mack Expanded Mouse) will very likely find it’s way across the pond to Legoland Florida where it will be rethemed and have the trains returned to their intended form.
    (1/26/10) We’ve heard a few interesting rumors over the weekend about the possible fate of Legoland Florida’s two wooden coasters… the Triple Hurricane and the famous Starliner. Unfortunately what we’ve heard so far does not bode well for the Starliner. Despite Merlin officials staying that they had not yet made up their minds about the fate of the coaster, there is a popular rumor going around claiming that the coaster may very well have been sold to “a small family park in Wisconsin” who has been wanting to find a good family friendly woodie for some time now. One very possible park is Bay Beach who mentioned back in October that they were now looking to find a good deal on a family sized wooden coaster.
    To my way of thinking the choice should be easy for Legoland, as the Starliner is famous to the Florida area and is an old time family classic… nothing too big to scare off the kiddies as it features a first drop of only 65 feet. Meanwhile the much shorter Triple Hurricane is 40 feet tall by comparison, but hardly a match in the overall ride experience department. Unfortunately it sounds like they may have already written off the Starliner.
I’d hate to see Legoland Florida get off on the wrong foot and ditch the Starliner after all the work was done to save it. Good wooden coasters are hard to find in Florida after all. So if you want to see the Starliner say… you might want to get Legoland know about it, before it’s too late.
    It is also worth pointing out that on the Ital website, the Starliner is still listed as being up for sale along with the Galaxy Spin, while the Triple Hurricane has been removed from the for sale list which makes it appear that they have made their choice. While the Swamp Thing was confirmed as being sold over this past summer to a park in Europe the Okeechobee Rampage (Vekoma Roller Skaker) is now also no longer for sale, so I can only guess that Legoland will be keeping that one.
    (1/22/10) It’s official… Legoland Florida will open on the site of Cypress Gardens by Late 2011. The 30 acre gardens themselves however will remain, and may even keep the Cypress Gardens label, though that has yet to be finalized.  However Merlin Entertainment did announce that Legoland Florida will become the biggest Legoland park in the world, offering between 40-50 attractions when it opens as well as the famous Miniland section. It was also mentioned that the existing waterpark will stay, but be a separate gated attraction, much like the new one going into Legoland California I suspect. The good news is that they also confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel that the Water Ski Show and Starliner wooden coaster would most likely be intergrated into the new park experience as well. The key factor of choosing the Cypress Gardens site over a new location was time, as they will be able to get the new park up and running in less than 2 years this way, but building from scratch would have cost millions more and extended the timeline to around 5 years before we would see the park open.
    You can catch a few pictures of the big announcement over at Behind the Thrills, as well as the press photos of the event sent out by Merlin that I’ve posted here as well.

???? - Legoland Resort & Convention Center - (6/4/10) According to this report, Merlin will follow up the Fall 2011 opening of the new Legoland Florida theme park with a new resort and convention center along the shore of Lake Eloise.