Legoland Florida reduces entertainment department with over 200 layoffs

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Hundreds of Legoland Florida employees are out of a job as the theme park makes operational changes.

Mass layoffs are under way at Legoland with 234 employees being given the pink slip. The entertainment department makes up about 75% of these layoffs and none are represented by unions.

Executive director of Theatre Winter Haven, Dan Chesnicka, said many of them got their start at his community theater.

“I’m concerned, of course, because these people have worked with us for years and years. Most of them grew up in our Theatre Winter Haven Academy and often volunteer at our theater,” Chesnicka said.

The layoffs are scheduled to start March 25 and will continue through April 7, Legoland said in the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice sent out Friday by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

In a statement, a Legoland spokesperson told ABC Action News:

By reducing the size of our in-house teams, we will be able to operate more flexibly and responsively in how we deliver brand and guest experiences during the year. This includes working with a global leader in the sector, when needed, to bolster our entertainment provision during seasonal special events.

Theatre Winter Haven and Ritz Theatre are putting an event together to benefit the performers who lost their jobs.

“That will accomplish two goals. One is hopefully to raise some money to help them through this transition and the second is to get them seen by a number of agents and talent scouts that we happen to know and are friends with,” Chesnicka said.