LEGOLand Florida in 2011

It was officially announced today in Winter Haven, Florida that Cypress Gardens will be transformed into the first LEGOLand theme park on the east coast of the United States. The park is scheduled to open sometime in 2011 and will apparently be the largest LEGOLand yet. The park is expected to create over 1,000 jobs for the local economy.

Questions still remain about what may become of some of the current attractions at the park, including the Starliner roller coaster. Since LEGOLand Florida is supposed to be the largest park, this could mean the roller coasters will remain. It was confirmed that the botanical gardens section of Cypress Gardens will remain intact.

Hopefully LEGOLand can avoid many of the problems that doomed Cypress Gardens, such as three major hurricanes hitting the state within a few month period. There is no reason why the park should not be as successful as the other LEGOLand parks, although it does face the problem that it is an extra trip away from the main Orlando attractions market. However with the buzz that has already been generated and the excitement around the announcement, it is hard to believe that LEGOLand Florida is not going to be a "blockbuster" hit.