ORLANDO, Fla — Legoland Florida has delayed the planned opening of its Pirate River Quest attraction to early 2023. Blame it on the rains or at least the rising water levels near the Winter Haven theme park.
“The canals of Cypress Gardens, along with the Chain of Lakes and Peace River, have seen record-breaking water levels this year which have impacted the attraction’s intended launch date,” said the park’s official news release. The decision was announced after Hurricane Ian crossed Florida.
In June, Legoland announced that the boat ride would debut Nov. 2.
But it will be an actual boat ride, designed to be driven by a Legoland worker/captain onto Lake Eloise and into the Cypress Gardens area. The attraction’s storyline involves Captain Redbeard’s lost treasure, a crew of Lego pirates, a set of “mischievous monkeys” and a kraken, Legoland says.
“We have a lot of special surprises in the canals,” Nick Miller, director of operations for Legoland Florida, said this summer.
“There will be treasure. There will be gold, and guests are going to have to help us and our boat captains find that gold. That is the quest that you will be going on,” he said.
“We will be interacting with whatever it is that the lake throws at us,” Miller said in July. “You know, we have ospreys and eagles. ... The old historic gardens themselves are obviously an attraction that you’ll be seeing along with the effects and the theming and the monkeys and the pirates and all that stuff.”
Following the storm, Legoland Florida Resort announced it would donate $130,000 to the American Red Cross — a figure tied to ticket sales over a period — to help people affected by Hurricane Ian.
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