Legoland Florida president sets sights on new ways to grow market share

The top executive at Legoland Florida takes on the role just as the hyper-competitive $30 billion amusement park industry begins to show a slight dip in what was a post-COVID surge in attendance.

By Mark Gordon
| 5:00 a.m. August 23, 2024
| 0 Free Articles Remaining!

Legoland President Franceen Gonzales at the park's Lego-built version of downtown Tampa.

Tampa Bay-Lakeland

Franceen Gonzales was sitting at home one summer day in southern New Mexico when her mom, a teacher, gave the then 14-year-old a nudge: it’s time to get a job.

That first gig was rather unglamorous: Gonzales vacuumed pools and backwashed filters at a KOA Campground and water park in nearby Anthony, Texas, west of El Paso. She got to work at 6 a.m. and got the tasks done by the time the park opened at 10 a.m. Yet that job turned out to be more than a way to get the studious teen out the house and earn some extra cash.