Legoland's first visitors say it's a good value | News

Winter Haven, Florida -- It's not Busch Gardens and it's not the Magic Kingdom or Islands of Adventure. And frankly, it's not designed to be.

Even though the majority of Florida's theme parks are kid-friendly, visitors to the new Legoland in Winter Haven say visitors is all about the kiddos.

Photo Gallery: First look at Legoland Florida

Even the roller coasters at Legoland are geared toward youngsters... not that teens and parents wouldn't still get a thrill out of them too.

"My belly went straight down," said one rider coming off one of the park's quicker coasters.

Still, the attractions are just tame enough so that most kids can ride just about every ride. And that really may be where Legoland finds its niche.

At $70 for an adult and $60 per child, admission prices are already slightly less than most other theme parks.

"A lot less," said Matt Gaskill, a father of three, thinking about buying annual passes.

Being from Orlando, Matt knows his theme parks. He says Legoland is a solid value. The others are fun, "but this is geared more toward little kids and we have a six, a four and a one-year-old, so this is definitely a lot better."

See Also: Are theme parks too expensive?

Kids don't have to be distracted by larger-than-life mascots either. The Lego play areas and displays (composed of an estimated 50 million Lego blocks)  seem to amaze them.

Entire replicas of cities sit in the theme park's center, including Lego versions of Tampa, Miami, New York, Las Vegas, and a few other major cities from around the world.

Parking is $12. In many Orlando-area parks, it's closer to $20 now.

Be warned, they won't let you bring in your own food into Legoland, but parents say kids meals seemed to be a bit more reasonably priced in too. A hot dog chips and a drink was $6.49.

In all, just about every visitor we spoke with thought Legoland is a winner for what it offers.

It's not perfectly convenient to reach from either Tampa Bay or Orlando, but visitors say it's worth the trip, worth the price and worth coming back to.

"We will buy the annual pass," said Margarita Gonzalez. "Yeah, [we] love it."