Legoland

Legoland (/ˈlɛɡoʊ.lænd/, trademark in uppercase as LEGOLAND) is a chain of family theme parks focusing on the construction toy system Lego. They are not fully owned by The Lego Group itself; rather, they are owned and operated by the British theme park company Merlin Entertainments, which shares a common owner (Kirkbi A/S) with The Lego Group.

For other uses, see Legoland (disambiguation).

Legoland Parks
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryTheme parks, attractions, family entertainment centers
Founded7 June 1968 (1968-06-07) (Legoland Billund)
Services
  • Theme parks
  • Hotel lodging
ParentMerlin Entertainments
Websitewww.legoland.com
The entrance of Legoland Deutschland

The Legoland Billund Resort opened in Billund, Denmark in 1968, followed by the Legoland Windsor Resort in Windsor, England in 1996. Further parks opened in Germany, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates (Dubai), the United States (California, Florida, and New York), and a Legoland Water Park at Gardaland in Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy in 2021. Parks in Belgium, Beijing, Shanghai, Sichuan and Shenzhen are currently under construction.

Attractions

The parks are marketed to families with younger children (15 and under), and although the attractions include a number of roller coasters, the roller coasters are not as numerous or as extreme as those in other parks, and there is a greater emphasis on rides suitable for younger children. Legoland parks are split into various areas, which are consistent among the chain's parks. For example, all six of the parks include a Lego miniland, a model village which includes models of landmarks and scenes from around the world, made from millions of genuine Lego bricks.

Educational elements
Educational elements of Legoland include the "hydraulophone" (water-operated pipe organ)

An important aspect of Legoland is education and learning.

Examples include:

  • Water flow channels in which participants can construct dams from Lego blocks to understand laminar and turbulent fluid flows
  • Interactive musical instruments, such as musical fountains, and the Aquatune hydraulophone, which is an underwater pipe organ in the shape of a giant Lego brick
  • A 45-minute Lego Mindstorms class for fun-based learning
  • Duplo Gardens (for smaller children)
  • Driving area (including attractions such as Driving school, Boating school, Ballooning school, Flying school, and Fire Academy)
  • My Town
  • Wild Woods
  • Knights' Kingdom

The parks' rides are all Lego themed; many are made to appear as if they are built out of Lego bricks. They tend to be based on one particular line of Lego: for example, a popular ride at all six parks is the Dragon Coaster, which is loosely based on the Knights' Kingdom Lego sets. Another popular ride is the Driving school, in which children can drive small electric cars made to look like Lego cars around a small road network, after which they gain a mock driver's license.

Despite the commonality of the above-mentioned attractions, the exact set of rides varies between parks, although as with the Disney parks there is some overlap.

Parks
Locations of Legoland parks across the world — Parks are opened, Parks are in progress of build, Water parks


Europe

Site Location Opened Details
Legoland Billund Resort Billund, Denmark 7 June 1968[1] The oldest Legoland and was built near the original Lego factory. It is divided into ten different worlds: Duplo Land, Imagination Zone, Legoredo Town, Adventure Land, Miniland, Pirate Land, Lego City, Knights Kingdom, Viking Land, Ninjago World, Lego Movie World, and Polar Land. The park has 1.6 million visitors annually, making it the largest tourist attraction in Denmark outside Copenhagen.
Legoland Deutschland Resort Günzburg, Germany 17 May 2002 The smallest Legoland outside of Asia. There are eight areas in the park: Imagination Center, Miniland, Lego X-treme, Lego City, Knights Kingdom, Adventure Land, Ninjago World, and Land of the Pirates.
Legoland Water Park Gardaland Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy 15 June 2021 At Gardaland Resort.[2][3][4]
Legoland Windsor Resort Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom 17 March 1996 Built on the site of the previous Windsor Safari Park. There are twelve areas in the park: The Beginning, Bricktopia, Miniland, Duplo Valley, Heartlake City, Lego City, Land of the Vikings, Kingdom of the Pharaohs, Ninjago World, Pirates Shores, Knights Kingdom and Lego Mythica. It is the largest Legoland park in the world in terms of area – its area is approximately five times greater than that of Legoland Billund.

North America

Site Location Opened Details
Legoland California Resort Carlsbad, California 20 March 1999 The park is split into nine sections, which are: The Beginning, Explorer Island, Lego Movie World, Fun Town, Castle Hill, Miniland USA, Imagination Zone, Pirate Shores, Ninjago World, and Land of Adventure. A Sea Life aquarium is adjacent to Legoland California. In 2010, a water park opened on its grounds, as one of the only three of Legoland parks (Followed by Legoland Florida [Formerly known as Splash Island], Malaysia, and Dubai being the newest) to feature a water park. On 24 May 2014, an add-on was built for the water park, themed after Legends of Chima. The park and hotels were shut down from March 2020 until April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
Legoland Florida Resort Winter Haven, Florida 15 October 2011 The second Legoland park in the United States, and the world's second largest Legoland park after Legoland Windsor which is 5 times bigger than the one in Billund.[6] The park was built on the former site of Cypress Gardens, a historically famous Florida theme park. This park is divided into 13 areas: The Beginning, Fun Town, Duplo Land, Miniland USA, Kingdoms, Pirates Cove, Imagination Zone, Technic, Land of Adventure, Lego City, Lego Movie World, Lego Friends, Ninjago, and a restored replica of Cypress Gardens.

Legoland Florida opened a water park replacing the former Cypress Gardens "Splash Island" water park on 26 May 2012, and became a resort following the opening of the Legoland Hotel in 2013. A theme park in-relation to the children's animated series Peppa Pig opened on the resort grounds on 24 February 2022, making it the first Legoland Resort to feature a park based on a non-Lego related property.[7]

Legoland New York Goshen, New York 29 May 2021[8] In May 2016, Merlin Entertainments reported that it had purchased 520 acres (210 ha) in Goshen, New York, just south of the former Arden Hill Hospital, to develop a Legoland theme park.[9] The park was originally scheduled to open along with a hotel on 4 July 2020,[10] but the opening was pushed back until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, the park opened on 29 May 2021.[8]

Asia

Site Location Opened Details
Legoland Malaysia Resort Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia 15 September 2012 The first Legoland in Asia. Initially, there are 8 themed areas of attractions for all ages which are: Miniland, The Beginning, Lego Ninjago World, Land of Adventure, Imagination, Lego Kingdoms, Lego Technic, and Lego City. The centerpiece of the park is Miniland, where almost all Asian landmarks were built using Lego bricks. A companion Legoland Water Park was built by 11 March 2016.
Legoland Dubai Dubai, United Arab Emirates 31 October 2016[11] It was originally scheduled to open in 2011 in Dubailand as "Legoland Dubailand",[12] but was then delayed until October 2016 and is now located at Dubai Parks and Resorts and Water Park as "Legoland Dubai".[13] It has 6 areas: Factory, Lego City, Imagination, Kingdoms, Adventure, and the first indoor Miniland. The Park contains over 15000 Lego models by using 15 Million Lego Bricks.
Legoland Japan Resort Nagoya, Japan 1 April 2017[14] On 30 June 2014, Merlin and Nagoya city officially announced that they had signed a contract to construct Legoland Japan, to open in Nagoya harbour, Japan, in February 2017.[15] Construction officially began 15 April 2015.[16] The park was expected to cost around US$15 million to construct for the first stage.[17] The park officially opened on 1 April 2017. The second stage of the Legoland was completed in 2021.
Legoland Korea Resort Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, South Korea 5 May 2022[18] It is the first Legoland built on an island and is Asia's largest Legoland at nearly 1.3 million square meters including a Lego hotel, condos, water park, spa and outlets.[19] Construction of the bridge connecting the Legoland island to Chuncheon Station officially began on November 28, 2014, and construction of the theme park finished by 26 March 2022.[20] Located next to Seoul Metropolitan Subway's Chuncheon Station, the site is a 1-hour trip from Seoul via the ITX train. The park officially opened on 5 May 2022.

Future parks

Europe

Site Proposed location Planned opening date Details
Legoland Belgium Gosselies, Belgium 2027
Cancelled		 In September 2020, the Brussels Times reported that Merlin Entertainment was planning on building a new Legoland park on the former site of Caterpillar's Gosselies factory. Although Walloon Minister for the Economy Willy Borsus confirmed it was possible, it is still in the early planning stages.[21] On 30 August 2022, it confirmed it will open in 2027.[22] The project was cancelled on 24 March 2023.[23]

Asia

Site Proposed location Planned opening date Details
Legoland Beijing Resort Fangshan District, Beijing, China 2024 Merlin Entertainments is continuing its expansion across China with plans for a new Legoland resort in the Fangshan district of Beijing. The resort will cover an area of 304,000 square meters and will house a theme park and hotel.[24]
Legoland Shanghai Resort Jinshan District, Shanghai, China 2024 On 6 November 2019, Merlin and China Media Capital announced a £500 million joint venture investment to build a Legoland amusement park in Shanghai, China. It is expected to open in the area in Jinshan District after 2023.[25]
Legoland Shenzhen Resort Longgang District, Shenzhen, China 2024 A Legoland Shenzhen Resort is planned to open in the Dapeng Peninsula in 2024. It is said to become the world largest Legoland Resort and will cover 580,000 square metres Construction has officially begun with a groundbreaking ceremony that outlined the plans for the huge brick-based theme park.[26][27][28]
Legoland Sichuan Resort Chengdu, Sichuan, China 2025 On 27 September 2019, Merlin and Global Zhongjun announced a Legoland Resort in Sichuan Province. The resort was scheduled to open in 2023,[29] however this date was pushed back to 2025.[30]

Former parks

Europe

Site Location Opened Closed Details
Legoland Sierksdorf Sierksdorf, Germany 1973 1976 There was an earlier Legoland Park in Germany, from 1973 to 1976.[31] It was located in the city of Sierksdorf in northern Germany. In 1976, the park was sold; the former Legoland Sierksdorf is now Hansa-Park.[32][33]

See also

References
  1. "Billund travel guide". World 66. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  2. "Legoland apre a Gardaland, e cerca 50 appassionati bagnini". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Brescia. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  3. "Attrazioni e aree tematizzate di LEGOLAND® Water Park Gardaland che aprirà a fine maggio 2020" (in Italian). 21 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  4. "LEGOLAND® Water Park to open at Gardalans resort, Italy in 2020". 11 July 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  5. Legoland California Resort web site. Accessed March 7, 2022.
  6. "World's Largest Legoland Park 'Legoland Florida' Will Open Saturday, October 15, 2011". Net news. 23 May 2011. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  7. "World's first Peppa Pig™ Theme Park to open at LEGOLAND® Florida Resort in 2022".
  8. "Legoland N.Y. opens Saturday: Info on reservations and more". silive. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  9. "Legoland confirms plans to develop theme park in Orange County". Mid-Hudson News. Statewide News Network, Inc. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  10. Herrmann, Michele. "LEGOLAND New York Resort Announces July 4th Opening". Forbes. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  11. "LEGOLAND Dubai Unveils Exciting Plans" (PDF). 15 October 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  12. "New Legoland Park to open in Dubai in 2011". Lego.com. 7 May 2008. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  13. McGinley, Shane (26 April 2010). "Legoland Dubai 'will go ahead' despite delays - developer". Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  14. Yoshimoto, Minako. "Long line marks opening of Legoland Japan in Nagoya". Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  15. "Merlin Entertainments to open Legoland Japan", Blooloop, archived from the original on 1 July 2014.
  16. The Asahi Shimbun. "The Asahi Shimbun Weekly". Getty Images.
  17. "New Park to Be Built". Legoland Japan. Scream scape. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  18. Lee, Hae-rin (28 March 2022). "Legoland to open in Chuncheon May 5". The Korea Times. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  19. News, Donga, 27 November 2014.
  20. Legoland in Chuncheon is completed at the end of June, and Open next year after test
  21. "Legoland heading to Belgium, Halloween is on at Legoland Windsor". Blooloop. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  22. "Un parc d'attractions Legoland à l'horizon 2027 sur le site Caterpillar à Charleroi". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  23. "Merlin renonce à construire un parc Legoland à Charleroi" (in French). L'Echo. 24 March 2023.
  24. "Merlin continues China expansion with plans for new Legoland in Beijing". Blooloop. 21 February 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  25. "Merlin announces LEGOLAND Shanghai Resort". Legoland Shanghai. 6 November 2019.
  26. "Construction of the world's largest LEGOLAND has begun". Brick Fanatics. 18 September 2021.
  27. "Shenzhen Lagoland". Hazens. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  28. "BAUM CM". baumcm.co.kr. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  29. "LEGOLAND Sichuan Resort". www.merlinentertainments.biz. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  30. 看房的小干. "视高领地、乐高乐园两大楼盘是否停工？今日实地探访！_哔哩哔哩_bilibili". www.bilibili.com (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  31. Der Spiegel, DE, 4 September 1977.
  32. "Hansa Park". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  33. "Meilensteine in der Geschichte des Hansa-Parks". Hansa-Park (in German). DE. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
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