Kids can construct their ideal holiday at Florida's Legoland. Photo / Supplied
Kids can construct their ideal holiday at Florida's Legoland. Photo / Supplied
That's a hard-won pearl of wisdom for visitors to Florida's Legoland hotel and park, warns Josie Clarke.
Anyone who shares a house with a child aged between 2 and 15 would be extremely lucky to have never suffered the extraordinary agony of stepping on a piece of Lego.
So imagine the joy my 6-year-old Eliza felt when she learned she would be staying at a hotel prettymuch made of the stuff and where there was no chance whatsoever that anyone - even her mum - would be stifling her creative genius with housekeeping banalities.
Throw into the mix that this hotel is on the doorstep of Legoland in Orlando, Florida - a place we were reliably informed has the biggest icecreams in the world and a water park to boot, and life's looking pretty rosy indeed.
Legoland Florida has just opened its first on-site hotel on the banks of Lake Eloise at Winter Haven, an idyllic location on and around what was Cypress Gardens, the original Florida theme park established more than 75 years ago.
Merlin Entertainments has big plans for expanding Legoland Florida too, and is banking on the expectation that the strength of the brand and its focus on younger children will encourage families to visit - and hopefully stay a night or two.
A Lego Friends Heartlake City section is now open. But British owners Merlin have made a point of carefully restoring some of the loveliest original features of the park, where Southern belles once paraded in the botanic garden, with its huge and stunning banyan tree, and on the lake's boardwalk.
Even the original carousel has been restored and is in operation, drawing a steady stream of children to its intricate horses and old-school tinkling tunes. But first things first. we're checking into the hotel, where Lego Minifigures are displayed behind the desk.
The Legoland Hotel is exciting for kids young and old. Photo / Supplied
The wait while parents complete the formalities is enlivened by an enormous pit of Lego bricks just begging to be dived into.
Look a little further and a multilevel adventure playground, with rubber swords, is the perfect place to burn off energy pent up during the flight and the drive.
The only thing that could possibly lure children away from this paradise is a Lego-themed room complete with a nightly treasure hunt, and even the journey there is in an elevator with feet-activated music and a disco ball.
This is clearly a hotel that has been designed very much for children and, as we all know, happy children make for happy parents.
Its location is a two-minute walk from the Legoland park entrance, so, after a restorative night in our adventure-themed, luxuriously appointed room we set off for more Lego-themed roller-coaster action.
Some visitors have mentioned that the park is not really big or thrilling enough for teenagers but for those with young children, it offers a gentler and more manageable experience.
We spend a relaxing day in 30C temperatures on roller-coasters just exciting enough to elicit shrieks from everyone on board but gentle enough to ensure there's still a smile at the end, and when it all gets a little hot we take the World of Chima ride, which leaves us happily drenched from the waterfalls and fellow riders' water cannons.
Floating some construction ideas in the Legoland pool. Photo / Supplied
There are Star Wars, Technic and Imagination zones. But after lunch we make a beeline for the three schools - boating, flying and driving - the latter boasting separate tracks for younger and older children.
Legoland Florida also keeps the park's heritage of water-skiing shows alive with a Pirates' Cove-themed performance featuring swashbuckling baddies, making it safely the only place in the world where you'll see five fully-costumed Lego figures sailing over a ski ramp behind a jet boat, while parents take in the views of beautiful Lake Eloise.
It's the quirky little features of this place that make it such a worthwhile destination and one of these is the shop selling Granny's Apple Fries - a Florida original. You might say that only in the US could you find such an unhealthy version of fruit - the apple fries are served in a thick cinnamon batter with a large dollop of sugary cream - but they are delicious and fortify us for the 200m walk back to the hotel, which, by this time of the day, feels like a Himalayan trek.
This is where the hotel comes into its own. Merlin has installed UK bosses at its Florida sites, which - of course - means a fantastic selection of beers are on tap in the bar.
And there's a pool to cool off in. It's no ordinary pool either but one of a safe depth, with two lifeguards to watch over the children as they build rafts out of large, foam Lego bricks.
The next morning, we opt for a half day at the on-site Legoland Water Park, which features a lazy river where children can use rafts they have customised themselves with bricks.
In the afternoon we venture back in to Orlando where Merlin has opened the Orlando Eye, Sea Life Orlando and Madame Tussauds.
They offer a calm space where children can escape the heat to ride into the sky and try to spot where they've been over the last few days or wander around the aquarium looking at everything from sharks to stingrays, and learning about the planet's ecosystem and what they can do to help.
There's just one thing left to do before we head to the airport and that's track down that enormous icecream of legend - cue a stop-off at Ben & Jerry's for a double scoop. As first trips to the US go, it doesn't get much better than this.
