Lego Land..... a review!

Well.... we have officially been tourist of Lego Land.  The dream has been realized.  The desire has been met. Momma can check that off her LIST!  Is it weird to say that I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest?  I mean this was something that we all knew was such an intense passion of Matt's...I wanted to meet that passion! 

We woke up to the news that Kirsten had fever and we were opting to either go without her or wait and hope for her to feel better so that we could all go together on Thursday.  However with the concern that all the kids had been around her the day before and COULD likely get sick as well by Thursday we ended up going as to avoid that happening and us not being able to go! 

It was fabulous!  Here is the good and the bad:

cost

We paid 75.00 for us adults and Kate (13 and up) and 65.00 for Matt and Emily--- honestly it was fine, you get a FULL days worth of activities.  There are games and souvenirs but not a TON of "other" costs throughout the park-- so MOST of the activities are included in the cost.  For 15 dollars you can add another day... which is a great deal!  You do not have to do it that day all you do is come back with your ticket within 7 days and you can get in for 15 dollars.

Our hotel offered discount tickets for 69, also Triple A gives a 3 dollar discount but I was concerned that you couldn't add on a second day for 15.00 with a discount ticket-- this fear could be resolved by simply calling and asking!

Parking was 12.00 and 20.00 for preferred (PLAN ON preferred---TRUST me at the end of the day it will be the best $8.00 you've spent!)

Food

I choose a pizza buffet because to be honest pizza and buffets make MY family happy people.  It was kind of expensive 10.99 for adults and 6.99 for kids.  --this did include a drink so at least that was a bonus, also they included Kate as a kid.  There was pizza, pasta and a salad bar.  It wasn't bad food but not the worst.  You could absolutely eat cheaper at the park though.

We did not get any snacks except as we were leaving Kate and I shared Apple sticks (fried pieces of apple / covered with cinnamon and sugar with whip cream -- wow good!)

Atmosphere/ park/ rules/ workers

The atmosphere was great-- I mean it's no Disney but it was still very well done and we caught many small things that "MAKE" the difference!

the park was bigger than we thought and we walked A LOT.  We were tired by the end of the day, let me tell you.  It was open from 10-5 If we had 3 more hours we could have done everything so two days is really needed to get everything done, however usually you won't need to do everything!

rules- there was no smoking except for out of the park which was awesome.  We had zero problems, minus some attitude at the pizza place that was taken care by another worker.

workers-- I want to say besides the above mentioned they were awesome!  They were ALL kind, helpful and really great.  I had one awesome experience involving my (fat) self and an attendant who bless his heart wouldn't say I was fat and handled the situation so wonderfully!  I also witnessed another experience with a worker and another child who happened to have CP and they were awesome with her and dealing with the situation. 

I also needed to check on a seat size on a ride to see if I could ride with Emily or not and a
 worker helped me go through a "special employee" door to see the cars, which I thought was great!

Rides

When they say the park is for kids 6-12 they really do mean it.  There was a good portion of the day that Kate was bored without being able to do something or simply just thinking it was too young for her.  If you have a very small 13 year old it might be different though.

Our favorite ride was the  LOST KINGDOM ADVENTURE... We as a family could ALL ride it and it was a blast. (If you have been to Disney it is like the Buzz Lightyear ride where you  use the lazier gun to get points. 
I will point out that I beat EVERYONEs score..... in fact I think this area was our favorite.

The FORD Driving school was very well done and Emily thought it was the coolest-- but then again what 8 year old doesn't want to earn her license!

Emily also liked the Boating School-- they did not work it out between themselves to share the turn driving so bud wasn't happy but they should have worked that out!  :0)

There was a safari ride, a water ride and two other roller coaster type rides that we didn't get too or didn't choose to ride.

Kates favorite part was of course MiniLand...

Here are some pictures of the REAL vs. the MINI LAND version!

Dave's picture of Lumbar Street from his San Fransisco Trip vs. Lumbar Lego Land

The REAL Painted Ladies from Daves trip vs. Lego Land Painted ladies

Matt pointing out Lego Land Golden Gate Bridge and Dave's picture of the Golden Gate Bridge

Our picture of the capitol building in Tallahasee and Lego Land's version in Mini Land

Overall

-- we had a GREAT day.  Very stress free.  Very fun.  Very entertaining.  Very kid friendly for younguns.  Very dream fulfilling!

One of the best things was that we were able to be a part of the VERY FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING EVER at Lego Land and yes, folks they call it a Christmas tree.

Some important Lego guy was there, a local Floridian who was a hurdler in the Olympics and Santa Clause HIMSELF was there on sight for the lighting... very exciting!

And that's all folks.....