INSIDE LOOK: A peek inside the LEGOLAND Florida Master Builder Workshop

Few toys can withstand the test of time, and it’s safe to say that LEGO© is among those that are simply timeless. It’s not just kids who love LEGOs, but adults too! In fact, for a select few, that love of LEGO that began in childhood has grown into brick-building careers. Someone has to build the LEGO masterpieces at the parks, right?

Here’s a cool fun fact. While you are experiencing the 50+ rides and attractions at LEGOLAND Florida Resort©, a team of Master Builders is working daily in a workshop on-site to refresh, update, and even build ahead for the holidays.

We recently got a peek inside the LEGO Master Builder Workshop to see it in action and hang out with Ryan Wood, who probably has the coolest job ever: LEGO Master Builder Workshop manager.

Okay—first, we have to know: How did you land this LEGO© dream job?

Ryan Wood: I got my job in 2009 after winning a LEGO Master Builder contest. I originally went to school for film and TV production and built LEGO at home as a hobby. I bought some sets and built my own things and then entered a contest to work at LEGOLAND, and that was almost 15 years ago. I’ve turned it into a brick-building career.

I love helping people turn a LEGO building hobby into a career, and over the course of 15 years, I haven’t just been a Master Builder myself, but I’ve helped others become Master Builders.

Someone has to create all of the amazing LEGO builds at the park, right? And it’s your team of Master Builders in this workshop.

Ryan Wood: I love my job. It’s super crazy. We never know what we’re going to do on a given day and I try to encourage my team of Master Builders to put something new in the park as often as possible.

Not just fix and repair, but add new things so that our guests keep coming back, see what’s new at LEGOLAND—just like our new attraction, the LEGO© Ferrari Race & Build Experience.

This is where we build memories. We build models. We build LEGO creations for our guests to see and enjoy all throughout the resort. In the hotel rooms, in the water park … you’ll see these creations all around our attractions.

This is an actual functioning model shop which means you’re going to see our tools; you’re going to see our materials, like the LEGO pieces we get to work with.

Which builds are your favorite?

Ryan Wood: I’m partial to MiniLand myself. I love the big city, and I love showing guests what they can do with the pieces that we’ve got available to them so they can go home, take their sets, and turn them into something just like we do.

We love kids being inspired by what we do and being able to come to our attractions and experience that creativity of building with the pieces that we’ve provided … and experience the opportunity to build whatever you want with the pieces in front of you and really do what we do as master builders—which is to turn nothing basically into something cool.

Because you are often using your imagination, there isn’t always a set of directions. Is this why there are so many older models stored here?

Ryan Wood: We want to hold onto these in case we need to rebuild them in the future. The car parking lot on the bottom, these were models that were in the park for 8, 9, 10 years [old] and needed to be rebuilt, so we brought them back into the shop.

They are no longer fit to stay out in front of guests anymore, so we bring them back here, rebuild them, and put them back into the park.

There is an incredible amount of organization inside this Workshop!

Ryan Wood: I love talking about organization because we can’t do what we do in this park without being organized. Unlike at home where you or I may have a tote of really mixed-up LEGOs, here in the park, we keep it nicely organized by color and piece so we can quickly find what we need to build what we picture in our heads.

How many different kinds of LEGO bricks do you have in here? It almost seems like you have every brick ever created by LEGO!

Ryan Wood: It sure seems like it, but we don’t have the space to hold every LEGO piece that LEGO has ever made. We try to do our best to have the most useful pieces for the job we have on hand, but since our job can’t always be predicted, we sometimes buy extras of new things just to see how they’ll work out in the park.

Just an example, the catalog we can order directly from LEGO currently has 15,000 unique elements to order and that’s different color combinations of the same LEGO element. And that’s just what’s available today, so if you picture going back when the LEGO system started, there are a lot more pieces we can’t even keep on hand.

Which bricks do you use the most often here at the park?

Ryan Wood: A lot of our sculptural models use basic brick and plate, and basic brick and plate are things you might be used to seeing in LEGO sets (like a 1 x 6 brick). Our sculptural models use high, high numbers of these kinds of pieces. We have humongous trays of some of these parts because we go through them at such a rapid pace due to the scale of the models that we’re building

At home, you may not have a thousand 1 x 1 plates, but because we can use these in MiniLanders, we keep a really healthy stock of this stuff.

If kids want their own bricks to stand the test of time, what kind of glue do you recommend?

Ryan Wood: White Elmer’s glue is the best possible thing, or some other off-brand white glue because it’s water-soluble. It’ll dissolve in water and it will peel off relatively easily without damaging the LEGO part.

What’s your favorite LEGO brick?

Ryan Wood: The piece I gravitate toward is this one-by-one brick with four studs on the sides because it lets you build not just straight up with studs, but with studs on the side which we call snot (studs not on top). Because there are studs on all four sides, you can go every which way with just that piece alone.

Want to tour the LEGOLAND Florida Master Builder Workshop??

While anyone can view the workshop through the windows, you can upgrade to a VIP Experience to step inside for a personal tour. Not only will you get to tour of the workshop with a Master Builder, but you’ll also get your own VIP host, priority access to rides and attractions, valet parking, unlimited photos and videos, and many more perks!

• ULTIMATEPLUS VIP Tour Experience: starting at $600
• Ultimate VIP Tour Experience: starting at $400

MORE FUN WAYS to experience LEGOLAND Florida:

There are more than 50 rides, shows, and experiences at LEGOLAND Florida, but there are also other fun things you can do with the kids.

• Minifigure Trading: Have your children bring LEGO minifigures to the park and they can trade with any of the Model Citizens and even inside The LEGOLAND Story exhibit where the workshop is located. There is a minifigure wall kids can trade from!
• Find Mr. Gold! The Mr. Gold pop badge is elusive, but he’s out there every single day! As you explore the resort, be sure to ask the Model Citizens “Do you have Mr. Gold?” A select few are distributed each day around the park, and you can either keep the special collector pop badge or exchange it for a special surprise.
• Celebrate Birthdays To add your child’s name to the birthday boards, message their name, age, and their birthday date to LEGOLAND Florida’s Instagram or Facebook. You can also grab a birthday button from Rebuild The World. Birthday packages are also available for purchase at the LEGOLAND hotels.

Learn more at LEGOLAND.com/florida

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Photos by Laura Byrne | Originally published in the May 2024 issue of Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine.