Building blocks

Executive Summary
Company. Legoland Florida Resort Industry. Hospitality, tourism, development Key. The recent opening of a hotel inside Legoland Florida in Winter Haven has provided a significant economic boost for the area.

Officials at the nonprofit Bok Tower Gardens in east Polk County could have thanked some tiny toys for extra motivation when they launched a $12 million capital campaign in 2014.

Those toys are Legos, the small interchangeable bricks kids worldwide use to build spaceships, dinosaurs and dollhouses. The name Lego itself is an abbreviation of the Danish words “leg godt,” which translates to play well. And in east Polk, from Bok Tower Gardens, a botanical gardens attraction in Lake Wales, to downtown Winter Haven, Legos mean something more serious: an economic resurgence.

That stems mostly from Legoland Florida Resort, which opened in October 2011, and more recently the Legoland Hotel, which opened on the resort grounds May 15. Legoland, owned by Great Britain-based Merlin Entertainments, is on the site of what was Cypress Gardens — one of Florida's first theme parks. Legoland Florida was one of the largest construction projects in years in Polk County, coming on the heels of the recession.

“It's created a whole new face for tourism in this county,” says Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Katie Worthington. “It changed the trajectory of Winter Haven.”
It's also indirectly led to multiple business and economic expansions in the area in and around Winter Haven. That goes from new restaurants, including the area's first Chipotle, to renewed talk on the Winter Haven City Commission about building an arena and convention center. There's also Bok Tower Gardens, one of several area attractions targeting kids and families with new projects. At Bok Tower, that includes a new children's garden, part of which comes from the $12 million campaign that's nearly complete.

“Orlando has always drawn people to central Florida,” says Bok Tower Gardens President David Price. “Legoland has helped people look further down and see what else is out there.”
From a chamber perspective, Worthington, who has also worked in tourism in central Florida, says business is booming. Traffic, on the website and in people who walk into the chamber's office for information, has increased dramatically.

“We are seeing a lot of interest and increased activity, a lot of meetings,” says Worthington. “People are starting to pay attention to the area. It's a great time to be a chamber of commerce director.”

'Run the place'
It's also a great time to be a kid in a family that booked a night, or a few nights, at the Legoland Hotel. The five-story, 152-room hotel, a $25 million project, is all Lego, all the time. Even the pool has Lego toys.

“There's nothing like it,” says hotel Operations Director Kevin Carr, with a nod toward the famous family-focused hotels and amusement parks in Orlando, 45 miles north. “People want to come and explore this.”

The property, say hotel officials, is a scientifically tested 130 kid-steps to the Legoland theme park entrance. More than 2,000 Lego models, built from 2 million Lego Bricks, are in the lobby, restaurants and guest rooms. The check-in desk is kid-friendly, with a wall of 5,000 Lego mini-figures seen through a rotating magnifying glass/bicycle.

The guest rooms come in four themed options: Pirate, Adventure, Kingdom or Friends. The rooms have children's sleeping areas with bunk beds and a treasure chest that can only be unlocked after completing a treasure hunt. Each room has at least eight Lego models, and the doors come with lower-level peepholes. “We want the kids to feel like they run the place,” says Legoland spokeswoman Julie Estrada.

One more feature: A Master Model Builder Workshop. Open only to hotel guests, the workshop is a chance to build and create with Lego professionals. “That will make us stand out among any other hotel in this area,” says Carr.

Planning for the hotel began in 2013, say Legoland officials. But the idea goes back to 2010, when Merlin Entertainments first announced plans for the Legoland theme park, a project worth at least $100 million. The five other worldwide Legoland parks, in Denmark, England, Germany, Malaysia and Carlsbad, Calif., all have Legoland hotels. The property in Germany, Legoland Deutschland, is made up of cottages, a campground and 102 Lego-themed rooms.

Merlin Entertainments appointed Carr to run Legoland Florida hotel operations in September 2014. Carr, 37, has been with Merlin for a decade. He ran the hotel for the Alton Towers theme park in England, and he also oversaw construction, training and booking for the Legoland Malaysia hotel project.

Big breakthrough
The hotel is outperforming expectations, say officials. “Things have been going really well,” says Carr, three weeks after the grand opening. “The feedback has been great.”

Carr and other officials decline to discuss specific occupancy rates, only to say business has been good. Rooms are booked through the fall, some at rates of $400 a night and up.

To Worthington at the chamber and Price at Bok Gardens, the mere presence of the Legoland Hotel is enough to generate excitement. Worthington says some national hotel brands have begun to look at Winter Haven sites, which would be a big breakthrough. She declined to say which flags were poking around. “A lot of people are waiting to see how the Legoland hotel does,” says Worthington.

She adds that new hotels will both replace aging properties and add to the total room count. “We are unapologetic in the fact that we need a serious increase in hotel inventory,” says Worthington. “We are a bit short in family-friendly hotels in Winter Haven.”

In Lake Wales, near Bok Tower Gardens, there's a Hampton Inn and a Holiday Inn Express. But Price is also anxious for more rooms. “Having more hotels is definitely a big plus,” Price says. “When people spend more days in town, they will look for more stuff to do.”

At a glance
Legoland Florida Hotel
Location: Winter Haven
Opened: May 2015
Rooms: 152
Themes: Four different room themes, including Pirate, Adventure, Kingdom or Friends.
Restaurants: Bricks Family Restaurants includes a buffet station. The Skyline Lounge features a Lego skyline with 20 humorous scenes designed by the park's Master Model Builders.
Steps to Legoland: 130 (by a kid walking)
Bricks: Two million Lego bricks make up more than 2,000 Lego models throughout the hotel.

Legoland Florida
Location: Winter Haven
Opened: October 2011
History: Legoland opened on the former Cypress Gardens theme park site. Cypress Gardens opened in 1936, and became known nationally for water ski shows. It closed in 2009.
Bricks: Models are made up of more than 58 million bricks
Rides: At least 50, including rollercoasters and family rides.
Zones: Island in the Sky, a 100-foot rotating platform that provides a view of the park; Fun Town, a Lego village; Miniland USA; Lego City; Imagination Zone; and Legoland Water Park.