Legoland – Pirate Shores

Documents filed with the South West Florida Water Management District in July 2012 outlined details that LEGOLAND Florida were planning new pirate themed additions to the Legoland Florida park. Work was expected to be completed in 2013 but no official announcement was made at the time.

In the end Pirate Shores was never developed in Florida and in its place, LEGOLAND Florida built World of Chima. This page is purely for historical interest

The plans showed a new area called Pirate Shores to be developed on an unused 1.6 acre plot of land to the right of the main entrance near the DUPLO Village and LEGO Kingdoms. It featured two new water based rides, water play areas and accompanying pirate themed games and shops.

It was expected that Pirate Shores would draw heavily on the similarly named area at LEGOLAND California with similar rides and attractions.

Splash Battle

Firstly there was a new water ride called Splash Battle. Here guests would ride in water cannon equipped ships and get to blast away at pirate ships, other guest and spectators. Prepare to get soaked by everyone including the spectators who also had water cannon at strategic locations around the perimeter of the ride.

Each ship seated four and rode around on a rail so you could concentrate on firing your hand cranked water cannon.

Minimum ride height was to be 36 inches and children under 44 inches had to be accompanied by an adult.

Captain Cranky’s Challenge

The second ride was to be called Captain Cranky’s Challenge. Guests rode in a large pirate boat with six rows of seats and got to test their sea legs. The ride was a Zamperla Rockin’ Tug style ride that simulated sailing in rough seas; a bit like a “tea cup” ride that rotated but also rocked from side to side so may not have been suitable for people susceptible to motion sickness.

Minimum ride height was to be 34 inches and children under 42 inches had to be accompanied by an adult.

Soak-N-Sail and Swabbie’s Deck

The final attraction was to be called Soak-N-Sail and Swabbie’s Deck and was a children’s water play areas featuring pop-up water jets, water fountains and squirt cannons.

Soak-N-Sail was centred around a pirate shipwreck with water slides and tubes and a 300 gallon water bucket that could tip at any time. Swabbie’s Deck was more suitable for younger children who might be intimidated by the larger Soak-N-Sail.

There were no minimum height requirements for either Soak-N-Sail or Swabbie’s Deck.

The whole area was to have a definite water based theme but was not envisaged as part of the LEGOLAND water park on the same site. If you intended to go on some of the attractions, a change of clothes might have been a good idea!

LEGOLAND Florida already has two pirate themed attractions, namely the Pirate’s Shores area of Miniland USA and Pirates’ Cove, home to the water ski and stunt show.

The LEGO Pirates range was first released in 1989 and was re-released in 2011 as “Pirates of the Caribbean” following the success of the films of the same name.