Legoland

Spring Break Part 2 (Finally!)

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday at Legoland.  We could have done pretty much everything in one day, but it was nice not to have to. 

First stop both days was the roller coasters.  There are 4 coasters, but somehow I got pictures of only one.

 

Project X

All three boys enjoyed the coasters, though Joshua preferred to hold on instead of using "roller coaster arms."  I rode all of them at least once, but chose not to ride them over and over.  Early in the day the boys and Tony rode this one several times in a row while the line was non-existant.

You can see part of another coaster in the background of this picture.  It was an old-style wooden coaster with lots of ups and downs (the other three had more twists and turns).  Joseph liked this one best, while Joshua preferred the others.

There were lego statues like this one throughout the park.

 

There were lots of other kids of rides, most of which involved some sort of rider interaction.

 

Riders could control the angle of these boats, and spectators could influence the blasts of water cannons under the surface.

These revolved slowly and riders used a pulley to pull themselves to the top.

High five for getting to the top:

 

These went higher the faster the riders pedalled.

 

This was a safari ride--basically sit in a jeep that you have no control over and ride down a track between all kinds of cool Lego animals.

 

This area of the park had indoor areas for building and racing cars, building with Hero Factory pieces, and taking robotics classes.  We did take time for building, but not for a class.

I used to know which family member built each of these, but I don't remember anymore.  At least one of them is Tony's.

 

More random Lego sculptures:

 

Out in the middle of the park is Miniland USA, with all kinds of cool cities rebuilt in Lego.  Here are just a couple displays.  First, the Lego version of Daytona International Speedway:

I think this was part of NYC?

There was also DC, LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and various Florida sites. There was also another section with Star Wars planets.  If the area had been shadier, I could have looked around it much longer.  Since it was sunny and upper 80's, we didn't stay quite so long.

Legoland is on the site of what used to be Cypress Gardens.  They retained the original botanical garden when Legoland took over.  It made for a very pleasant place to have lunch.

This banyan tree was planted from seed in the mid-30's, I believe.

 

Here's one from my camera (unedited) with Jeremiah so you can get an idea of how big it is.

 

 

 The park is built beside a lake on which there is a live-action show that incorporates Lego characters and a water ski show (which apparently was a signature of Cypress Gardens).  When I took this picture, we were not in the audience of the show, but were having lunch in the adjacent garden.  The performers are clearly aware that they are always on display, because the woman waving to us is totally out of view of the actual show audience at this point.

 

 Time to wrap this up.  When I saw the lion in the top picture below, I knew I had to get Joseph's picture in it.  The picture on the bottom was taken when Joseph was 17 months old, at Legoland California. 

 

 

He definitely got a lot more out of the whole experience as an 11 year old!

 

Daytona Beach

Just when you thought the blog was dead forever, we took a Spring Break trip to Florida.  Since we took over 400 photos, I thought I'd better do some blog posts.  Today, part 1 of our trip, Monday in Daytona Beach:

Our first stop was Daytona International Speedway (why is it called "International"?) for the All Access Tour.  We rode in a tram around the track and infield.

 

We got to climb the track at the finish line.  It was quite steep, and this isn't even the steepest banking on the track (which is on the turns).

 

 The flag stand:

 

 These next two give a better idea of the degree of banking at the finish line:

 (No, you don't know these people.  It's just a better shot of the slope.)

 

This gives an idea of the banking on the turns.  The driver took us just a tiny bit up onto the track at a lower slope.  He said you have to be going 95 mph to stay up on the top of the track at the steepest parts.

They had an official photographer taking pictures for purchase in victory lane, but he would also take one with your own camera.

 

 We got to see the garage stalls, which currently were housing Richard Petty Driving Experience cars.

Next we got to go up into the press box (7 stories up).

 

Looking down on victory lane:



 

Turn 3, Lake Lloyd, infield camping:

The last stop was where they keep this year's Daytona 500 winning car, taken straight out of victory lane.  It was covered in confetti, Gatorade, and who knows what else.

 

After lunch at Chick-Fil-A, we headed to the beach!

In Daytona, cars drive and park right on the beach. 

There weren't any bathrooms or changing areas readily apparent, so I did not change into my swimsuit, which turned out just fine, because the water was cold!

The menfolk, however, managed to change discreetly in the van and quickly headed out into the water.

They all enjoyed jumping the waves:

 

 Jeremiah looks like he's conducting an orchestra:

Jeremiah stayed fairly close to Daddy, but he was bravely jumping waves just like the big boys.

There were some decent-sized waves.

 

After probably an hour in the ocean, they all moved out to the sand to dig holes and build things.

 

After a couple hours, we were ready to load up the van and head out on the next leg of our adventure...