ORLANDO, Fla. -- The clack-clack-clack sound is returning to Legoland Florida theme park soon. Its Coastersaurus roller coaster is scheduled to reopen Sunday, dovetailing with National Roller Coaster Day.
The ride has been in refurbishment mode since January.
The downtime is a natural consequence of Sunshine State conditions versus a wooden coaster, said Cory Lytle, tech services director at Legoland Florida Resort in Winter Haven.
“Anything that’s a wooden structure in Florida is experiencing all the humidity and all the termites and all of the things that go on in this area,” he said.
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In 2024, Legoland replaced the upper half of the ride, and this year concentrated on the ground-level structural support.
“The wood that we are using is a premium pine wood. It’s been treated for termites and for mold, so it will withstand, we believe, the elements that Florida is going to present to it,” Lytle said.
Also part of the upgrade was the control system for braking, the motor that runs the chain that drives the trains to the top of the track and an operator interface, Lytle said.
Coastersaurus debuted in 2004, and it has seen things. It was constructed in the era after the original Cypress Gardens closed, and a new owner was preparing a reopening as Cypress Gardens Adventure Park. There were delays, including some caused by three hurricanes — the Charley, Frances and Jeanne era — that battered the area.
The storms gave the ride, which stood firm according to Orlando Sentinel reports of the time, a new name: Triple Hurricane. (The triple bunny hop maneuver in the second half of the ride was said to be a happy coincidence.)
Eventually, Merlin Entertainments bought the park, transformed it into Legoland Florida and rethemed the ride a bit, creating Coastersaurus in 2011. The company got rid of another wooden coaster, the Starliner, which had been transplanted from Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Panama City Beach.
Although Legoland added Galacticoaster, a modern indoor coaster, nearby this year, officials opted to restore Coastersaurus rather than replace it.
“It’s probably one of the most popular rides we have in the park, and obviously we want to hold on to that historical piece of the park,” Lytle said.
“I think the decision was made two years ago when they first did their major investment on the top side of it,” he said. “Obviously the plan if we’re going to invest on that kind of side, then we might as well invest in the rest of the ride and keep it around for another 20 years.”
The ride is considered a junior or family coaster. It peaks at 40 feet and goes up to 32 mph over 1,365 feet of track. Ride time is about 50 seconds, according to the online Roller Coaster DataBase. Legoland’s height requirement is 42 inches.
The coaster’s course remains the same, and the Lego-built dinosaurs have stayed in place. An upgrade was made to the lap-bar monitoring system as another “layer of security,” Lytle said.
The new operating system also makes the transition back to the station less abrupt. But the look and feel of a wooden coaster remains, Lytle said.
“I grew up on wooden coasters, and that’s the kind of thing I like. I like that jostling feeling. I like the feeling of jumping over the hill,” he said.
“As soon as you get to the hill and you start riding it down, all the noises come right back to you.”
Wood works
Coastersaurus is billed as Florida’s only fully wooden coaster. Mine Blower at Fun Spot Kissimmee and White Lightning at Fun Spot near Orlando’s International Drive are considered hybrid, using steel supports. Those two are more intense, with a twisting inversion on Mine Blower and a dramatic drop on White Lightning. Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is also listed as hybrid, and it goes 76 mph and has a drop of 206 feet.
The Legoland ride isn’t the first wooden coaster in Polk County history. Haines City’s Boardwalk and Baseball, which closed in early 1990, introduced the Florida Hurricane in 1978. Fun and perhaps freaky fact: The ride was also known as Michael Jackson’s Thrill Coaster for a while.
It was relocated to Magic Springs theme park in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and called Arkansas Twister. It ran there until 2025 and is now listed as SBNO — standing but not operating.
