Theme park lays off more than 500 who'll transition to positions with new vendor

Legoland Florida Resort is eliminating 519 jobs as it transitions food and beverage services in January to Aramark Corp., which will take the affected employees on.

The Polk County resort disclosed the move in a letter posted to the state’s WARN database Nov. 3.

According to the letter sent to the state to meet federal Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification notice requirements, employees working at the resort will keep their current positions and pay. Employees who qualify for benefits will see no break in coverage.

The change over will happen Jan. 15.

A company spokesperson says in an email that the move was made “to provide resort guests a custom culinary experience beginning in January.” The spokesperson, however, did not respond to a question about how much the change would save the company annually.

Philadelphia-based Aramark provides food services along with uniforms and management services to companies, localities and other organizations in 19 countries.

Legoland Florida Resort in Winter Haven opened in October 2011 on the site of Cypress Gardens, once a major tourist attraction in Florida known for its water skiers. Legoland is owned by Merlin Entertainments from Great Britain.

While the layoffs in this case have a happy resolution for employees, the hospitality industry has been hit hard in the past month because of Hurricane Ian and other forces leading to just shy of 1,100 jobs being lost.

In Tampa, a Double Tree hotel is closing and laying off 74 employees while employees in Southwest Florida have lost their jobs at The Ritz-Carlton Naples, 591, South Seas Island Resort, 238, and at the Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina, 195.