And no gambling.

Legoland Florida in Winter Haven will contain replicas of scenes from Las Vegas, as well as Washington, D.C., and other locations, a company executive revealed Thursday afternoon to Lakeland business leaders.

John Ussher, general manager of Merlin Entertainments Group, unveiled new details of the forthcoming theme park during a Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Lakeland Yacht & Country Club.

Legoland Florida is scheduled to open in November of 2011 at the former Cypress Gardens attraction in Winter Haven.

Ussher displayed artists’ renditions of plans for the park, the heart of which will be a “Miniland,” a collection of elaborate models constructed from about 20 million Lego bricks.

Ussher did not release drawings of the proposed park for publication.

Ussher said the Miniland at the Polk County attraction will replicate some elements of the version at Legoland California, including depictions of Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., and California.

The highlight of the local Miniland will be a Florida area shaped as a peninsula surrounded by water.

Ussher said Legoland model-makers plan to incorporate elements from Kennedy Space Center and Daytona Beach, and probably some landmarks from Polk County.

Details on possible local scenes had not been finalized, he said.

The artists’ rendition of the Florida section of Miniland showed miniature boats floating in the water surrounding the peninsula.

“We might do something with a mouse, just for fun,” Ussher quipped in an obvious reference to Walt Disney World.

Merlin plans to keep many existing structures from Cypress Gardens, a venerable, 150-acre attraction that closed in September of 2009, said Ussher, a Canadian who led development of Legoland Germany and Legoland California.

But the renditions made it clear those buildings will be thoroughly transformed.

Ussher said the presence of existing structures will allow Merlin to speed its development of the park from the normal 36 months to less than two years.

He confirmed that Legoland Florida will retain the water-ski shows that were the trademark of Cypress Gardens.

Legoland also will preserve the former Splash Island Waterpark, scheduled to reopen on Memorial Day weekend of 2012, he said.

In response to a question about ticket prices, Ussher said admission to the California park is $67.

He said he expects Legoland Florida ticket prices to mirror those of Walt Disney World – currently $79 for adults and $68 for children ages 3 through 10. Children younger than 3 are admitted free.

Ussher also described plans for an education program, coordinated through the Polk County School District, that would bring thousands of students a year to the park at greatly discounted rates.

Merlin plans to retain some of the rides from Cypress Gardens, including one roller coaster.

Stressing that Legoland parks are geared toward children in the 2-through-12 age range, he said the attraction will have “pink-knuckle” rides, as opposed to white-knuckle thrillers.

Ussher repeated the company’s pledge to hire more than 1,000 employees, known in the company as “model citizens.”

He said that figure will include 140 full-time, salaried employees, 500 full-time hourly employees and 500 or so seasonal workers.

Merlin plans to spend about $150 million in developing the Winter Haven site.

In addition to Legolands in California and Germany, Merlin, the world’s second-largest owner of tourist attractions, also operates parks in England and Denmark.

For more information, contact Gary White at The Ledger.