Legoland Florida & SeaWorld Orlando Trip

Soon, I’ll be headed down to the Sunshine State for a family theme park trip. My daughters are 2 and (soon to be) 5 so we’re targeting SeaWorld Orlando and Legoland Florida. We’re saving the Disney parks for a later trip when our youngest is a bit older. I doubt she’d remember a trip from when she was only 2.

I visited SeaWorld Orlando for the first time back in 2009 for Manta’s media day. Like the other SeaWorld Parks (includes the Busch Gardens parks) it was a great looking park with excellent theming. Manta and Kraken were world-class roller coasters and the little bit that I saw of a show was pretty neat. Now I’ll be returning with the family and we’ll obviously spend more time on the marine life exhibits. My oldest daughter wants to check out the sea turtles. Too bad we’re going to miss the opening of Turtle Trek. It’s SeaWorld’s new 3D 360 attraction.

My kids are pretty young and would probably be a little scared of it anyway. If my oldest is up for it, we might even tackle the whale-themed kiddie coaster Shamu Express!

Legoland Florida opened last fall. It looks like they’ve done quite a bit of work since its previous life as Cypress Gardens. It’s not every day that a new theme park opens, so I’m really excited to check it out. I was wondering how another amusement park could survive in the theme park megapolis of Central Florida, but Legoland seems to be geared more to younger kids. My 5 year-old’s tall enough to ride all four of the park’s roller coasters. Whether she’s up to it or not is another issue. It was one of the first times that I’ve really had to research height requirements for coasters and it was neat to find out she could ride all the coasters if she wants to.

The park has Flying School (a family Vekoma inverted coaster), Technic Coaster (a wild mouse coaster), Coastersaurus (a junior woodie), and The Dragon, a heavily-themed indoor and outdoor kiddie coaster. I thought it was pretty cool to see how much they added to the beginning of the ride. It starts with a dark ride section and then finishes with what looks to be a standard “roller skater” layout. If was a kid, I’d think that it was quite an adventure. I’m all for parks going the extra mile to make a standard ride something more. See Demon at Six Flags Great America.

Note – This video was filmed by professionals with permission from the park. For safety reasons, please DO NOT take a camera on a roller coaster.

What’s Your Take?
Have you been to SeaWorld Orlando or Legoland Florida? Do you any recommendations or tips? Leave a comment below. Photo via (cc) Flickr user NathanF.