Polk County's Legoland to lay off more than 200 employees

The Winter Haven resort and theme park announced the cuts in a letter to state officials posted Tuesday.


One of three roller coasters at Legoland Florida.
One of three roller coasters at Legoland Florida.
Photo by Chip Litherland
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Legoland Florida Resort in Polk County is laying off 234 employees.

The theme park and resort reported the job cuts in a letter to state officials that was posted Tuesday morning to Florida’s Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification database.

According to the letter, which was sent to meet federal requirements, the layoffs will begin March 25 and continue until April 7. The cuts are permanent.

Job titles affected include performers, stage managers, the head of resort quality, the resort operations manager and entertainment technicians.

Julie Estrada, the North America public relations director for Legoland’s parent company, British entertainment giant Merlin Entertainment, writes in email that the cuts are a mix of permanent and seasonal employees.

She says that Legoland Resorts in Florida, California and New York are making changes to “help us elevate the guest experience in 2025 and beyond. This includes changes in how we deliver entertainment.”

“The decision to reduce the size of some of our teams was undoubtedly difficult, but these changes will allow the resorts to operate more flexibly and responsively in a competitive market,” Estrada writes.

WARN databases in California and New York did not list Legoland layoffs on Jan. 28. Estrada, in a follow up email, writes that the number of affected employees is not being disclosed through media statements. “Where needed, figures are published in WARN notices.”

Despite the job cuts, she says Legoland will continue with its in-house entertainment offerings, which will scale up during the year and and include working with a yet-to-be named “global entertainment leader.”

This is the second major round of layoffs for the property in the past couple of years. In January 2023 it cut 519 jobs as it transitioned its food and beverage services to Aramark Corp. Employees in that case were able to transition to the new company.

Legoland Florida Resort in Winter Haven opened in October 2011 on the site of Cypress Gardens, an old Florida attraction known for its water ski shows.

The theme park and resort, according to a November story in the Business Observer about its new president, employs about 1,600.

Merlin owns 11 Legoland parks worldwide along with several other resorts and theme parks. 

Legoland will help workers find new employment and share audition opportunities with the outside entertainment company.

This story has been updated to include a statement from Merlin Entertainment.

 

author

Louis Llovio

Louis Llovio is the deputy managing editor at the Business Observer. Before going to work at the Observer, the longtime business writer worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Maryland Daily Record and for the Baltimore Sun Media Group. He lives in Tampa.

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