LEGOLAND Florida recently opened up its newest addition, LEGOLAND Beach Retreat. It’a unique take on the resort experience with bungalow style rooms, neighborhoods, and drive through check-in/check-out style service. My family was given the chance to spend the night of the grand opening and see all the resort has to offer.
The resort is built with kids in mind, specifically the 3 – 12-year-old range.
Each room has a LEGO Duplo box, hair dryer, big screen TV, mini fridge, and Keurig coffee maker with complimentary hot cocoa and coffee. The kid’s area sleeps three with the main area comfortable for two adults. There’s no room for a sixth person in the bungalows so if you have more than five to your party, consider the LEGOLAND Hotel across the street instead.
The pool is a nice size and includes floating LEGO bricks. I only wish the ones my son had at home were this soft. If you have a weak swimmer in the group you will be happy to hear the pool doesn’t go past 5-feet deep and complimentary life vests are available poolside.
Next, to the pool, there is the main playground and a sandy beach area where activities like sand castle building and bean bag games are planned. All of this is within a gated area with lifeguards on duty so you can feel comfortable letting your child bounce around.
Your food location of choice here is Sandy Castle’s Restaurant, a simple buffet with Coca-Cola freestyle beverages.The buffet is open for breakfast and dinner with an American style poolside menu available for lunch. When the kids get done eating, send them to the front of the restaurant to play while you enjoy a few minutes of quiet or some desert.
My 11-year-old son’s favorite parts of the resort were the playground right outside our bungalow and the pool with the floating bricks.
I enjoyed being able to let him run outside our bungalow to play and stay in our room and see him from the comfort of the bed or even sit on the porch and read while he played. Thanks to the neighborhood style setup, he met a few new friends that were staying in the surrounding bungalows.
If you plan on bringing older children with you, they will be happy to hear there’s free wifi. Insider tip from their IT. Don’t sign up for the wifi with your Facebook. Use the form option instead.
When the sun sets, the lighthouse lighting ceremony will commence. The ceremony happens each night with a lucky pirate matey or two being chosen to help flip the light switch. It’s a very simple ceremony and not one I would stress about catching. Instead, enjoy the view of the lighting from the pool and take in a few more laps before it closes.
While being built for kids is the major selling point of staying here, I have to say I’m a little bummed at the lack of evening activities for the older kids that might be dragged along on the vacation.
Despite the lack of entertainment for the over 12 crowd, I would have no problem returning. After taking a dip in the pool I found the room the perfect atmosphere to do some writing and my son was occupied enough with the playground and activities designed for him to let me get quite a bit done.
Prices will vary on the bungalows based on the season but at the time this article was written I figured out that the Beach Retreat, which sits 1/2 mile away from the park, is around $100 cheaper than the LEGOLAND Resort that is located at the park entrance.
Disclaimer: GeekMom attended a media event for this resort.
Great work and know you will do well in this field. Enjoyed all the info for a great “kids” weekend at Lego Land. I will pass it on.
Good job Danielle.