The fun isn’t done when Christmas comes to a close. LEGOLAND Florida gets the New Year’s party started early with a Countdown to Kids’ New Year’s Eve that features nightly fireworks over Lake Eloise Dec. 26-30, 2012. A special New Year’s themed live-action show in Pirate’s Cove Stadium is featured each night throughout the five day celebration prior to the fireworks show with a grand finale on New Year’s Eve. Watch a spectacular fireworks display with special 3D viewing glasses that turn ordinary fireworks into millions of exploding LEGO bricks.

The whole family can enjoy a family-friendly party with Kids’ New Year’s Eve on Dec. 31. Kids get to rock out in Miniland USA with a live DJ Dance Party that’s sure to get the whole family moving. This grand finale features an amazing live-action show, an impressive LEGO fireworks display, and a chance to watch the BRICK Drop at just the right time for kids, midnight KST (Kid Standard Time) - otherwise known as 6 p.m. EST. Mom and Dad even have time to attend a party of their own after all the fun at the park.

Holiday festivities on Saturdays and Sundays in December during Christmas Bricktacular will feature tons of family fun:

• LEGO® Christmas Tree: The more than 30-foot-tall LEGO Christmas tree made with a combination of 270,000 forest green LEGO and DUPLO® bricks provides the perfect place for every holiday family photo. Through Dec. 25, a special family will be chosen to help light the Bricktacular tree each night. The season's first official tree lighting ceremony will be held Nov. 29 at 5pm with a special master of ceremonies.

• LEGO Model Build Activity: What LEGO lover doesn’t want a chance to build while at Central Florida’s newest theme park featuring massive creations of the world’s most beloved toy? Help LEGOLAND Florida build a LEGO Christmas Tree in the Wells Fargo Fun Town 4D Theatre Plaza that will stand over 20 foot tall when completed.

• LEGO Santa Scavenger Hunt: Help find Santa in this fun-filled holiday scavenger hunt. The whole family can enjoy searching for Santa in the over 30 million LEGO bricks that make up Miniland USA. *See below for answer

• LEGO Santa and LEGO Toy Soldier: Guests will have meet and greet opportunities with LEGOLAND Florida’s special holiday friends, LEGO Santa and LEGO Toy Soldier.

• Holiday Festivities and Entertainment: Festive decorations and sounds of the season will fill the entrance of the park and a variety of holiday entertainment will take place throughout the weekend to delight guests of all ages.

• Holiday Shopping: LEGOLAND Florida is the best place to celebrate the season and pick up the holiday gifts that are on every child’s wish list – LEGO! With six specialty stores, the park is proud to offer a unique and often hard to find selection of LEGO products and more.

What is the best way to enjoy a year of fun at both LEGOLAND Florida and LEGOLAND Water Park? Well, if you are a Florida resident, the new Florida Resident Pass is your ticket! With unlimited admission to both parks with no blackout dates, as well as admission to 12 top Merlin US attractions, free parking, discounts on food and merchandise and special events, what more could you want? How about a convenient monthly payment plan? We’ve included that too!

The new Florida Resident Annual Pass is just $159 per adult or $129 per child or senior, a $20 savings compared to the Merlin Annual Pass USA, which has the same benefits for non-Florida residents. Florida residents can also purchase this new pass using a convenient monthly payment option, with payments of less than $10 per month before tax, after down payment.

The monthly payment plan for an adult Florida resident pass is $57.24 down, with payments of $9.26 per month for the remaining 11 months, and for children or seniors the down payment is $46.44 down, with payments of $7.51 per month, plus tax! That means a family of 4 can enjoy a year at both LEGOLAND Florida and LEGOLAND Water Park for less than $40 per month for 11 months.

This great offer can be purchased online or in the park, and you can also upgrade to the Florida resident pass from your admission ticket.

For everyone else who wants to enjoy a year of LEGOLAND fun, we also have 4 more Annual Pass options for you!

·         The Standard Annual Pass gets you a year of unlimited admission to LEGOLAND Florida with no blackout dates for $99 per child/senior or $129 per adult.

·         The Senior Garden Pass gives guests age 60 and up admission on weekdays, with free parking for $90 per senior.

·         The Merlin Annual Pass USA now includes all Merlin US Attractions, including both LEGOLAND Florida, LEGOLAND California, both LEGOLAND Water Parks, Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE Aquariums and LEGOLAND Discovery Centers, as well as free parking, discounts on food, merchandise and more, for $149 per child/senior or $179 per adult.

·         And, for the LEGOLAND fanatic, we offer the Ambassador Pass, which includes lifetime membership to all LEGOLAND Parks, free preferred parking, discounts and an exclusive Model Builder session annually, for $2500 per person.

You can also check out a handy chart of LEGOLAND Annual Pass benefits on our website, to find the pass that is right for you! http://florida.legoland.com/en/buy_tickets/AnnualPasses/

There's a lot of firsts at LEGOLAND Florida. Many youngsters ride their first roller coaster. Families ride their first fire trucks in Rescue Academy. Kids explore their first maze at Pharoh's Revenge. 

What's missing from this picture? A way to record and capture every first moment! Well we have great news for you! At LEGOLAND Florida there are many ways to stay connected to friends and family at home and remember all of the cherished moments lived through the park.

Smart Phone Cameras: Save some weight in the fanny pack and leave your big, bulky camera behind. Both iPhones and Android devices work throughout the park. Capture photos and upload them instantly to Facebook and Twitter. You can even tag LEGOLAND Florida on Facebook for a chance to appear on our own page!  Although we encourage snapping and uploading photos, keep in mind that LEGOLAND Florida and Winter Haven only have 3G signals. 

Facebook Check-ins: Show your LEGOLAND Florida excitement through social media channels. Let your Facebook friends know you're at our park by checking in on Facebook. After they see your location show up on their newsfeed, they will want to know more about your trip. 

LEGOLAND Photographers: Don't have a camera? Not a problem! LEGOLAND Florida has professional photographers ready to capture your memorable moments in the park. Just look for a LEGOLAND Florida employee with a camera near the Walk-Around.

Attraction Photos: What do CoasterSaurus, Flight School, The Lost Kingdom Adventure and LEGO TECHNIC all have in common? LEGOLAND Florida has placed cameras on each ride to capture every scream, laugh and smile! Simply have fun and check out your photo at the ride's exit. Photos are available to purchase in a variety of sizes.

Are you looking for a fun and interactive experience at LEGOLAND Florida? 

Meet Buddy -- our walk-around character mascot of the park. He's tall, yellow, friendly, and loves taking pictures with LEGOLAND Florida guests. Buddy and his friends Max and Stormer have all agreed to welcome LEGO fans into the park throughout the day.

We are aware many of our guests may have never been to a character greet before, so here are some of our top tips!

1. First time greeters: Many of our guests will experience their first time greeting our LEGOLAND characters. This is truly a remarkable milestone in a child's life and we understand many of our guests may be intimidated by the large figures. Show how happy you are to visit our characters by greeting them yourself. When a parent is seen hugging, shaking hands, and saying hello to our characters, children are more likely to model the behavior.

2. Autographs: Although some of our LEGOLAND characters may not be able to sign with their LEGO hands, it's a great idea to bring an autograph book with a pen to the park. 

3. Photos: We want our guests to understand photo etiquette during greeting times. We encourage taking photos of your children (or even yourselves) with our characters but please be courteous to all guests that would like to also visit.

4. Avoiding moods: Many of our guests may not want to say goodbye to our LEGOLAND characters. When we see this scenario, we recommend talking about what attraction you will visit next. It's easier when a child knows there's something else to explore. 

5. Consider time: A satisfying lunch and an early character greeting makes a big difference. Beat the afternoon blues. Kids tend to have a more positive interaction with our characters earlier in the day.

As an added tip for out blog readers, if you see one of our fantastic shows, The Battle for Brickbeard’s Bounty or Big Test, hang around after the show to meet characters from the show!

Put on your party hat because LEGOLAND Florida is celebrating its first birthday on October 15. Guests will feel like it’s their birthday with 50% off single day admission to enjoy the park on Oct. 15, a prize patrol with hundreds of gifts to give away and free cupcakes for the first 5,000. 

Guests can experience the more than 50 rides, shows and attractions with 50% off single day admission to come and celebrate on October 15 (only $37.50 – adults, $32.50 – children/seniors). This amazing discount is now on sale at http://florida.legoland.com/FirstBirthday. This offer is only available online and must be redeemed on Oct. 15. Only while supplies last. Offer limited to maximum of 5,000 tickets with a limit of 6 tickets per purchase.

LEGOLAND Florida will also have a Birthday Prize Patrol team armed with hundreds of gifts to sporadically surprise guests throughout the day. 

Gifts include such amazing prizes as:

• Meet & Greet with a Master Model Builder 
• Tours of the Model Shop
• Free Food Vouchers
• Free Hero Passes for front-of-the-line access to rides
• Free Single Day Admission Tickets to LEGOLAND Florida
• Free Standard Annual Passes which includes unlimited 12 month access to LEGOLAND Florida
• Free Merlin Annual Passes USA which includes unlimited 12 month access to LEGOLAND Florida, LEGOLAND Water Park and all Merlin US attractions throughout the USA, free parking and more

Purchase your tickets today so you don’t miss your chance to join in on the birthday celebration. Park operating hours are 10am-5pm so arrive early and stay the whole day for the most fun.

The Land of Adventure at LEGOLAND Florida is host to some of the wildest attractions in the park. One of the most popular is the Safari Trek. Guests drive a jeep through the wilds of Africa populated with over 30 lifelike LEGO animals.

With a minimum height requirement of 34 inches even the littlest guest can enjoy the attraction. Guests over 48 inches tall can even pilot their own car without the aid of a responsible rider.

All of the African animal models on Safari Trek were designed and constructed to be as close to lifelike as possible.

Did you know that Zebras have black skin and white stripes and that no two Zebras have the same pattern of stripes? Just like fingerprints on humans!

Watch out for the Elephant! His nickname is squirt!

Don't miss the Bird and Mask sculptures at the entrance to the Safari!

At LEGOLAND Florida, we are constantly thinking of new ideas to increase guest interaction and create enjoyable experiences. Minifigure trading is a unique and fun way to meet new friends and Model Citizens throughout LEGOLAND Florida! There have been nearly 4,000 unique minifigures designs to date, all of them unique and special in their own way. There are more than 8 quadrillion (8,181,068,395,500,000) possible combinations of minifigures that can be made using all of the unique parts over the last 30 years.We’ve seen mobsters, explorers, skeletons, and spacemen -- all in minifigure form.

Minifigure trading is an excellent way to  meet and interact with our Model Citizens.Visitors are welcome to request to trade with any Model Citizen sporting a minifigure of their own on their nametag. Some park guests may decide to trade with other park guests while waiting in lines or awaiting a show to start. There’s no limit to the amount you can trade and swap- making it a great daytime activity.

Don’t have any minifigures to trade? Minifigure Market found in Fun Town has many pre-assembled minifigures for sale. You can also build your own minifigure from scratch and personalize it however you’d like or purchase a mystery pack for a minifigure surprise.

A fully assembled minifigure has three parts -- legs, a torso, and a head. However many also come with added accessories such as swords, hats, backpacks and flashlights. Accessories are also fair in the trading game! If you see an accessory or body part you would like to trade, go-ahead.

So get creative and build your minifigure collection now!

We want to know, what’s your favorite minifigure?

LEGOLAND Florida is a magical world where imagination comes to life. It's a place where boys and girls can become princes and princesses, explorers looking for treasure, or even just show off their inner LEGO fanatic! At LEGOLAND Florida, we want our guests to explore their dreams -- so why not dress the part? We've provided a few of our favorite fan-inspired dress-up options for our younger guests to try. 

Be A Hero: At LEGOLAND Florida, knights unite in LEGO Kingdoms. Our gift shops have many whimsical role-play items for sale. Here your young knights can pick up foam swords and shields to practice jousting and ready themselves for adventure! Your children will feel brave and prepared to take on any challenge throughout the park.

Be A Princess: At The King's Market, you'll find dress-up items galore! Your girls will smile as they receive a royal reception from passing guests and model citizens. 

Be An Explorer: Do you have a floppy hat, cargo shorts, and a magnifying glass? Your child can set out for the Land of Adventure as an explorer. Just imagine your little adventurer walking around a prehistoric jungle with LEGO dinosaurs and wild African animals!

Be A LEGO Fanatic: We love it when kids show their LEGO spirit! Our shops are loaded with a variety of unique apparel and accessories that will show you're crazy for LEGOLAND! Check out The Big Shop for our largest selection or The Extreme Zone for unique Florida-inspired gear that will ensure fun in the sun. 

How will your child dress up for fun at LEGOLAND Florida? Comment with your ideas and inspiration!

The Force is coming to LEGOLAND® Florida with a new expansion to the park -- LEGO® Star Wars™ Miniland Cluster. The big announcement came earlier today when Adrian Jones, LEGOLAND® Florida General Manager, officially announced that work has begun on the LEGO Star Wars™ Miniland Cluster.

“Today, less than a year after our grand opening and only three months after opening the all-new water park, we are thrilled to announce yet another expansion of the park coming this fall,” said Jones. “We continue to add interactive experiences for our guests and enhance the memorable moments available at LEGOLAND Florida.”

Guests will follow a chronological path through the Star Wars™ timeline and retrace major events from each of the six live-action Star Wars™ movies, as well as a scene from the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars™. More than 1.5 million LEGO bricks will be used to build over 2,000 LEGO models in 1:20 scale. Some of the LEGO Star Wars™ models will be more than 6-feet-tall.

The LEGO® Star Wars™ Miniland Cluster is being installed on the path between Miniland USA and Land of Adventure. A grand opening date for LEGO® Star Wars™ Miniland has been scheduled for November 2012. We hope to see you there.

Which scene from the six Star Wars™ movies or the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars™ are you most looking forward to seeing as a LEGO model?