Legoland's opening to be state's first park in years

For the first time in decades, this sunny state chock full of theme parks will finally have a new one.

Legoland. A plastic brick-themed amusement park geared entirely to kids age 2 to 12, and the parents who pay their way, will open its doors in the competitive shadow of Mickey Mouse and smack in the middle of a particularly tough economy.

Legoland already has one thing already going for it long before opening day: Built-in brand awareness among millions of kids who clamor over where the family will vacation.

"Legoland has an excellent product and people respond so well to it," said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services. Every kid in America seems to love, or at least know about Legos, he said. "Go to any mall that has a Lego and Apple store, and they're the busiest places there."

Fans of the former Cypress Gardens won't get lost finding the front gate, as Legoland was built atop the ruins of that yesteryear playground of waterskiing dancers. In its heyday, Cypress Gardens was a sparkling attraction decades before Walt Disney World's opening day.

While Legoland formally opens Oct. 15, a few preview tickets have been leaking out, and members of AAA could buy tickets for two days this weekend. As that clock ticks down to the formal opening day, the marketing onslaught has ratcheted up to a global scale.

By sheer size, Legoland won't match its bigger neighbors. While Disney, Epcot and Universal now sprawl across much of central Florida, the Legoland park is just 150 acres – about half the size of Busch Gardens or just the Magic Kingdom at Disney.

Legoland also sits just outside the Orlando tourist megalopolis in the quiet town of Winter Haven – a city mostly known in past decades as an RV destination for semi-retired northerners fleeing the cold.

Legoland's appeal, however, isn't the size. It's the focus. Everything is geared to kids and their families in a series of areas made for different ages and interests.

There's a Duplo-themed area for the barely-walking set where they can toddle around the jumbo-sized plastic blocks.

For older kids, there are a half-dozen, junior-sized roller coasters and a merry-go-round where kids can mount a kind of (permanently attached) water scooter and squirt their parents with water with each passing twirl.

There's a Land of Adventure section with areas like Pharaoh's Revenge, where kids can fire soft foam balls at enemies, and the Beetle Bounce that launches kids 15 feet up to a platform.

For hungry parents, there's a market area with imported Danishes, pastries, coffee and ice cream, plus Legoland's signature munchie, Granny's Apple Fries – thin slices of apple, fried and dipped in sugar. A kind of Granny Smith apple churro.

There's also a factory tour to see how Legos are made, an entire Lego city with buildings replicating skylines of New York, Florida cities, Las Vegas and Washington.

Even the old Cypress Gardens waterskiing show was adapted. Lego style. Instead of water nymphs whizzing past in a human pyramid on skis, there is a Pirates' Cove show with Lego characters zipping around on water scooters yelling "Yarg!"

Compared to Disney, that charges about $82 for a single-day adult ticket, Legoland tickets cost $75 for adults, $65 for kids, and an annual pass can cost $129 for adults and $99 for kids. Parking is $12.

Perhaps Legoland could have opened in a worse economy, but not by much.

Florida's unemployment rate remains stuck over 10 percent, and the state is littered with foreclosed homes, and many major intersections have clutches of homeless people on each corner selling water bottles.

"For tourism, Legoland builds on the regional appeal, and adds another attraction that targets maybe a little different group than Universal or Disney," said Sean Snaith, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida. "The size of Legoland isn't transformational, but it's definitely an improvement on the margins."

Spiegel of International Theme Park Services notes the travel economy is recovering from 2008 lows, and the opening of the Harry Potter exhibit at Universal last year was such a success that 5-hour lines formed for weeks and boosted Universal's attendance by 35 percent.

Initially, Speigel expects Legoland to draw nearby visitors in Florida and those already vacationing at Disney who chose it as an add-on daytrip.

The Legoland park in Carlsbad, Calif. opened in 1999 and over time added a hotel, a water park and an aquarium, making the area more into a destination, Speigel said, helping it attract about 1.6 million people a year in 2007, which was a flat year in the industry.

Without divulging many details, Legoland officials already envision that same kind of development next to the Florida park.

As that happens, Seiegel expects Legoland will become more of a national draw.