Legoland California features 50 rides, shows and attractions. Merlin officials say some of the signature Legoland rides will be featured at Legoland Florida.
Kids and kids at heart will have a new place to play soon.
The new owners of Cypress Gardens announced today they are turning the attraction into Legoland Florida.
The theme park is scheduled to open in October 2011 and will create 1,000 jobs, Merlin officials said.
They don't plan to stop there. They will develop Legoland Florida Resort which will include a hotel and a water park, to be opened at a later date.
Merlin paid around $22.3 million for Cypress Gardens, according to the Polk County Property Appraiser's Office. Land South, the previous owner, shut down the attraction in September, saying the park was not economically viable.
Merlin officials say they chose the Winter Haven site partly because it already has the landscaping typical of other Legoland parks in the world. That speeded up the development plan, and allows the park to open in less than two years, as opposed to four or five years if they had decided to open a park in Orlando.
They plan to create ways to combine the Legoland theme with the water ski show and botanical gardens that have been part of Cypress Gardens' appeal since it opened as Florida's first amusement park in 1936.
Merlin officials did not disclose how much money they would invest in reinventing the park, but said it would be substantial. They expect more than 1.5 million visitors when the park launches.
Gov. Charlie Crist attended today's announcement.
"There could not be a better time to get this kind of economic injection in Florida," he said.
Ticket prices have not been finalized, but company officials said they would be similar to the ones for Legoland California, which charges $67 for adult one-day passes and $57 for children ages 3 to 12 and adults over 60.
Legoland Florida will be geared toward children ages 2 to 12 and will include signature Legoland rides such as the kids' Volvo Driving School. Legoland California offers 90 rides, shows and entertainment areas.
Merlin operates 59 attractions, six hotels and two holiday villages, according to a company statement. It has Legoland theme parks in Carlsbad, Calif., the United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark. It also operates attractions that include Madame Tussauds wax museums and a chain of aquariums called Sea Life.
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