LEGOLAND Water Park Preview

Over 5 days and counting to the official grand opening of the newest aquatic addition to LEGOLAND Florida theme park in Winter Haven, Florida. May 26th, 2012 marks the date for the LEGOLAND Water Park debut filled with slides, wave pool, lazy river and interactive water playgrounds catered to toddlers to 12 year old kids.



Like I said before, membership has its privileges. LEGOLAND Premium Annual Pass members had a sneak preview of LEGOLAND Water Park on the very first day open to the public. You know what that means? My family in full LEGO force converged on the renovated "Splash Island", the former Cypress Garden water park of year's past. With a brand new makeover and the official LEGO branding, the new LEGOLAND Water Park was all ours for endless fun.



The Joker Soaker was ground zero for my kids. It is an enormous interactive water playground filled with slides off all sizes, water sprayers, waterfalls and water obstacle courses. For parents with elementary school kids, it is a virtual baby sitter. Rejoice! You can relax in the plethora of lounge chairs to soak up some sun or take a well deserved nap. Take comfort that an army of Life Guards are constantly patrolling the watery playground.



Our next stop was the LEGOLAND Water Park lazy river. Called the Build-A-Raft River, you can just lazily float in your Bricktacular inflatable all day. Foam bricks are provided with your raft as you wind around the 3 foot deep river with glee. I pushed my kid's rafts with a Titanic send off for that couple minutes of peace and quiet. Make that two round trips of peace and quiet!



Hitting the surf was as close as the LEGO Wave Pool. No massive and crashing waves here to speak of. Just gentle and rolling waves at the shore for the babies and bigger waves for the able swimmers at the deeper end. Surf's up for Central Florida!



"Don't Worry, Be Happy" like my almost 15 month old daughter with DUPLO friends! Parents of toddlers don't worry as well, LEGOLAND Water Park has you covered. The DUPLO Splash Safari has your 2 year old kids entertained while the older siblings hit the bigger kid slides on the other side of the park. My youngest daughter missed out on the fun because of her afternoon nap. There is always next time!



When your older kids are not attached to their Apple mobile devices, they can take a spin on the Splash Out and Twin Chasers. Big kid rides are big fun. They are even more fun when there is no waiting in line for the constant repeats!



Make a bigger splash with a visit to LEGOLAND Water Park. The summer heat is almost upon us and your family can cool off after a long day at LEGOLAND Florida. There are also bathing suits for purchase, lockers for your stuff and towels to dry off. Hungry? You can dine at the Beach-n-Brick Grill in the water park.



"Mr Hasselhoff, your new cast of BAYWATCH is ready". Your kids are safe with the LIFE GUARD crew of LEGOLAND Water Park. My oldest daughter even noticed there are more LIFE GUARDS than guests on opening preview day. I can take comfort in that!



You can view more rides, slides and attractions in my LEGOLAND Water Park Preview 2012 Gallery shot with the Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR.



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The LEGOLAND Florida Experience

We're back! The rain soaked preview day of LEGOLAND Florida did not discourage my family but actually lured us for more on this past grand opening weekend. As official annual pass member holders, the one hour drive to the new theme park is the only obstacle for our LEGOLAND Florida experience.



An amazing sunny day with cool temperatures gave my kids ample time to enjoy the new rides such as the "AquaZone" in LEGO TECHNIC. Another priceless expression captured with my Canon EOS 1D Mark IV paired with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS lens.



Ready for lunch? T minus one second for auto start sequence of STS-Granny's Apple Fries into my son's mouth topped with cinnamon and sweet cream. The epic skyline of LEGO New York City and large scale replicas such as the Kennedy Space Center gave my family a hungry appetite. MINILAND with its vast LEGO cities will definitely eat up your camera memory card and battery.



Very odd. Both hands on the wheel, eyes on the road and non existent swerving. The new Apple iPhone 4S must be in the safe hands of my Facebook App wife. Posting life's status one picture and video at a time. Mahal Kita! Kathleen!



Ford Motor Company's sponsored DRIVING SCHOOL spearheaded by the life size 380,000 red LEGO brick Ford Explorer replica gave my son and daughter a real behind the wheel experience. Of course, a very long wait followed by a brief but fun LEGO car ride illustrated patience and frustration.



Ships Ahoy! If LEGO cars are not your fancy, how about LEGO boats? Piloting your very own personal watercraft through the wary seas of BOATING SCHOOL will make you a worthy Captain.



The only shark bait being consumed will be your wallet. My kids chum the water with constant "I want this and I want that" until your Mountain Dew soda induced psyche wears off and compliance sets in. Just like at Mickey D's, it is service with a smile.



My COASTERSAURUS experience in LAND OF ADVENTURE will have to wait until my next visit. I wanted to extinguish my kid's overwhelming desire for their LEGO rides and attractions first before I get on this bad boy roller coaster. There is always a next time with an annual membership.



My almost 8 month old daughter Serena just wanted to put every LEGO brick in her mouth. Very simple and nothing complicated about that!



The historic botanical Cypress Gardens provided the natural backdrop for my family portrait. Concrete and LEGO bricks did not pave over the entire former Winter Haven, Florida sanctuary. Beautiful remnants of the first commercial theme park in Florida founded in 1936 still remain. The Southern Belles are now replaced by a LEGO replica at the front entrance and the past water ski shows now have LEGO Pirates treading water. Only in America!



You can view more pictures and video shot with the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV paired with the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS and the EF 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses in my LEGOLAND Florida Experience 2011.



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New LEGOLAND Florida Preview

Membership has its privileges. The grand opening of the new LEGOLAND Florida theme park in Winter Haven, FL does not officially launch until October 15, 2011, but my family got a sneak preview of this LEGO wonderland. American Automobile Association members received discounted early admission tickets for this rainy weekend. Inclement weather did not stop the family from enjoying all the sights and sounds of LEGOLAND Florida.



Some assembly is required for this life size Ford Explorer SUV made out of 380,000 LEGO bricks. Ford Motor Company made a large impression for young future drivers in the "Ford Driving School" of LEGO CITY with miniature cars for kids with an authentic race track.



This is dedication. Through wind and rain my son rides the "Royal Joust" in LEGO KINGDOMS with a smile. My umbrella almost blew away covering my damp Canon EOS Rebel T3i paired with the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens, but I captured the moment.



Bright lights, Big LEGO City! MiniLand is at the center of LEGOLAND Florida. Detailed replicas of Florida destinations such as South Beach in Miami, FL to the Kennedy Space Center with an authentic NASA Space Shuttle on its launching pad. I do not want to forget the Tampa, FL downtown skyline and the iconic San Francisco, CA Golden Gate Bridge in all its glory. Bring an extra battery and memory card for your camera because this place is non stop photo moments.



Who does not love DIY LEGO Robots? The IMAGINATION ZONE has interactive build and test activities for the young ones. If LEGO Robots are not your fancy, you can construct your own LEGO Racers and compete with other worthy challengers on the race track.



My seven month old baby daughter Serena has not much to do in this big kid planet but taste her toys. We are looking forward to the soon to be toddler days of our youngest. We purchased the Annual LEGO Membership for the family so we can come back and enjoy the toddler friendly DUPLO VILLAGE. Catered for the kids under 3 years old, the DUPLO VILLAGE has kiddie rides and interactive play areas for the little ones.



Big kids like me want to play as well in this LEGO wonderland. Taking photographs and HD DSLR video all day of my family takes a toll on my "little kid at heart" mentality. LEGOLAND Florida has big kid roller coasters such as the "COASTERSAURUS" in LAND OF ADVENTURE and "TEST TRACK" in LEGO TECHNIC to sooth my wild side.



The family enjoyed this very brief and wet preview of LEGOLAND Florida this past weekend. The torrential rain deterred us from some rides and attractions including the historic botanical Cypress Gardens. Luckily we have the LEGOLAND annual membership pass to comeback to enjoy the rained out Pirates' Cove Live Water Ski Show and the ISLAND IN THE SKY ride. Well, Rome was not built in a day and we have the year to play and eat Granny's Apple Fries at LEGOLAND Florida.



This is a 1080p video shot with the Canon EOS Rebel T3i/600D paired with the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens at 29.97fps. Edited with Final Cut Pro and used Compressor to get a 1.3gb h264 video file. I also used the Canon E-1 Movie Plugin to transcode to AppleProRes422. For audio, I used the Sennheiser MKE400 shotgun microphone.



You can view more pictures and video in my New LEGOLAND Florida Preview Gallery.



Stay updated with the latest HD DSLR gear by Becoming a Fan on my Facebook Fan Page and following me on Twitter!

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UPDATE: Sunny days bring a better and updated LEGOLAND Florida Experience 2011. Check out my latest post on grand opening weekend of LEGOLAND Florida in Winter Haven, FL.

Youtube Releases Stylish Cosmic Panda Makeover

The Google Aliens abducted my ChadSorianoPhotoBlog Youtube Channel and imposed their stylish Cosmic Panda redesign to my surprise this morning. This abduction phenomenon began like this. My 6 year old son woke me up from bed at 5am to alert me he had an "accident". After a quick load of soiled linens in my trusty Whirlpool Duet, I discovered paranormal activity on my "Canon1dm4" Youtube Channel before sunrise.



A rub of my sleepy eyes and a swig of my morning coffee did not lessen the shock of this obvious experimental redesign of my Youtube Channel. Doubt and disbelief filled my mind by this foreign intrusion of my ChadSorianoPhotoBlog.



A quick "Google" search of the subject revealed the truth to the conspiracy. Over a month late to the news of "Cosmic Panda", Youtube's fresh and stylish redesign has mixed reviews. The new user interface, playlists, templates and other undiscovered features give a cleaner and simpler look in my opinion. I embrace change, especially when my videos have better presentation with clearer thumbnails and an improved video player interface. Despite the lack of medical probing during this abduction, I am puzzled by Google's brief visit. My ChadSorianoPhotoBlog Youtube Channel reverted back to normal 2 hours later. Hmmm...secret cover up? No, just Cosmic Panda.