In Florida, Plans for a Legoland Hotel Legoland Florida, a 150-acre family theme park in Winter Haven, Fla., recently announced that is planning a new Lego-themed hotel. The four-story hotel, expected to open in 2015, will feature a multicolored exterior and entrance, 152 brightly colored and themed rooms and suites; Lego décor; interactive play areas; a pool and a restaurant. The property will be built near the entrance to Legoland Florida, which has more than 50 rides, shows and attractions, restaurants, shopping, a botanical garden and a new water park, and is steps away from Lake Eloise. "The opening of a Legoland Hotel will transition Legoland Florida from a single-day-visit theme park to a multiday resort destination," Adrian Jones, the general manager of Legoland Florida, said in a statement. The hotel will be the second Legoland hotel in the United States and the fifth in the world. A hotel at Legoland California in Carlsbad opened earlier this year. Bjorn Hanson, divisional dean of the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University, said that the addition of family-friendly hotels has been an important change compared with a generation ago. "Vacations are much more child- and teen-centric than ever before with children's interests and, even more significant, children's input, a critical consideration for decisions about family vacations," he said.