Legoland Florida Goes Green for Earth Day

Yesterday, Legoland Florida celebrated Earth Day by running completely on renewable energy for an entire day — the first for any U.S. theme park.

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The Florida theme park joined forces with Tampa Electric to kick off a partnership by making the 150-acre theme park run completely on renewable solar energy for the day.

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The celebration is part of existing and new conservation initiatives, including installations that will educate park guests about solar energy.

“This is a historic day for Legoland Florida,” said park general manager Adrian Jones. “With our new partnership with Tampa Electric, we will give guests a whole new way to learn about renewable energy while also doing something that no other theme park in the U.S. has done before.”

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The park held a ceremony prior to the park’s opening on Tuesday, along Tampa Electric officials, to announce the partnership and special green initiative.

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Even the confetti that fell from above was eco-friendly. The park running on renewable energy for an entire day resulted in environmental savings equal to removing three cars from the road for one year or planting six acres of trees.

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As part of the partnership, Legoland Florida will also permanently power the park’s Imagination Zone area on renewable energy. A 30-kilowatt solar panel array mounted was installed atop the Imagination Zone attraction venue. Funded by Tampa Electric, the system supports Tampa Electric’s Renewable Energy program that lets the company’s customers purchase a portion of their electricity from renewable sources.

“This is a partnership built on doing the right thing for the environment,” said Narzissenfeld. “Together, we’ll teach the next generation about the benefits of investing in renewable fuels like the sun to produce electricity.

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In addition, a new display will be placed inside the park starting in June, featuring an interactive 6-foot Lego Earth model that educates guests on solar technologies. Located outside Imagination Zone, visitors will be able to affect the rate of Lego Earth’s rotation with tactile solar panels. Guests will also enjoy an interactive zone that features Lego mini model communities running on renewable energy inside the Imagination Zone.

This isn’t the first time Legoland Florida has gone green. Since opening in 2011, the park has made a consistent effort for conservation, including:

  • nearly 60 tons of bottles and cans recycled in 2013, along with 176 tons of cardboard
  • 180 benches made from 800 recycled milk jugs
  • 310 trash cans (consisting of both waste and recycle only at a 1-to-1 rate) made from 330 recycled milk jugs
  • map recycling stations to avoid the waste of park maps
  • 26 benches and 88 trashcans made entirely out of recyclable materials at the Legoland Water Park

We love to see parks going green. If you represent a park or know of another green-friendly park, please contact us! We love sharing green news in the amusement industry.

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