WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Watching Ryan Wood create his version of a LEGO Ferrari, you feel it.

What You Need To Know

  • LEGO Ferrari Build and Race experience opened this month at LEGOLAND Florida Resort

  • A LEGO Ferrari is made to scale from more than 424,000 bricks

  • Families can build, test and race their own mini LEGO brick Ferraris

  • A new Aquarium addition is coming in Fall 2024

He could probably do this blindfolded.

“I got my first LEGO set as a 4-year-old. I got it for Christmas one year,” Wood said. “Ever since then, I’ve been building, been creating and have managed to turn it into a career.”

Wood heads the Master Model Builder Workshop at LEGOLAND Florida, and he helped put a model together for the “LEGO Ferrari Build and Race” experience that opened earlier this month at LEGOLAND Florida Resort.

“It took a team of one designer, six builders, three animators and 1,850 hours to build this nearly two-ton automobile,” Wood said. “It’s made out of more than 424,000 LEGO bricks.”

His favorite part of the LEGO brick car is the Florida license plate.

“It’s a LEGO-built, Florida license plate. It says 296 GTS, and it looks just like the Florida license plate on my car,” Wood said.

It’s all a jumping-off point for children to build, test and race their own creations.

As a child, getting paid to do this was inconceivable to Wood.

“Four-year-old me would have said you are lying. You are not gonna work for LEGOLAND. That’s not even a job," Wood said. "LEGOLAND wasn’t even a thing — and now it’s a thing, and we have 10 of them all over the world. It’s crazy, and it’s been my job now for 15 years.”

In fact, Wood won a model-building contest to begin his LEGO career.

And now, he’s going digital for a spell.

The car gets a scan, and it’s on a large screen, coming out of a garage, and racing.

For the children who want to do what he does one day, Wood said, “I like to tell them to keep persevering.”

This dream job is possible. Just keep building. And enjoy the ride.