Legoland Florida will open in late 2011 at the former Cypress Gardens theme park in Winter Haven, about 40 miles from Disney World. Parent company Merlin Entertainment reportedly paid $22 million for the 145-acre property about an hour’s drive southwest of Orlando. The new theme park, aimed at kids ages 2 to 12, would be the fifth Legoland in the world and the largest yet, with 50 rides, shows and attractions.
Besides the 10-year-old Legoland California in Carlsbad, Merlin operates Legolands in Denmark, Germany and Britain. Merlin plans a multimillion-dollar expansion of the Florida property to turn the shuttered site into a multiday resort, promising to add hotels and attractions from its other holdings, which include the Sea Life aquariums, Madame Tussauds wax museums and the London Eye Ferris wheel.