Legoland


Legoland is a chain of family theme parks, which has its main focus 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.
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, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Parks in New York, South Korea, Shanghai, Sichuan and a Legoland Water Park at Gardaland are currently under construction.

Attractions

The parks are marketed to families with younger children, 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

An important aspect of Legoland is education and learning.
Examples include:
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 driving licence.
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

Europe
SiteLocationOpenedDetails
Legoland Billund ResortBillund, Denmark1968The 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 ResortGünzburg, Germany2002The second Legoland to open and the smallest 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 GardalandCastelnuovo del Garda, Italy2020At Gardaland Resort.
Legoland Windsor ResortWindsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom1996Built on the site of the previous Windsor Safari Park. There are thirteen areas in the park: The Beginning, Imagination Centre, Miniland, Duplo Land, Heartlake City, LEGO City, Land of the Vikings, Kingdom of the Pharaohs, Ninjao World, Pirates Shores, Knights Kingdom, Star Wars and Adventure Land. 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
SiteLocationOpenedDetails
Legoland California ResortCarlsbad, CaliforniaMarch 20, 1999The park is split into nine sections, which are: The Beginning, Explorer Island, Heartlake City, 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 to feature a water park. On May 24, 2014, an add-on was built for the water park, themed after Legends of Chima.
Legoland Florida ResortWinter Haven, FloridaOctober 15, 2011The 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. 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 May 26, 2012.

Asia
SiteLocationOpenedDetails
Legoland Japan ResortNagoya, JapanApril 1, 2017On June 30, 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. Construction officially began on April 15, 2015. The park was expected to cost around US$15 million to construct for the first stage. The park officially opened on April 1, 2017. According to the contract, the second stage of the Legoland will be completed in 2021.
Legoland Malaysia ResortIskandar Puteri, Johor, MalaysiaSeptember 15, 2012It is the first Legoland in Asia. Initially, there are seven themed areas of attractions for all ages which are; Miniland, The Beginning, Land of Adventure, Imagination, LEGO Kingdom, LEGO Technic, and LEGO City. The centerpiece of the park is Miniland, where almost all Asian landmarks were built using LEGO bricks. LEGOLAND® Water Park was built up by March 11, 2016.
Legoland Dubai ResortDubai, United Arab EmiratesOctober 31, 2016It was originally scheduled to open in 2011 in Dubailand as "Legoland Dubailand", but was then delayed until October 2016 and is now located at Dubai Parks and Resorts and Water Park as "Legoland Dubai". 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.

Future parks

North America
SiteProposed locationPlanned opening dateDetails
Legoland New YorkGoshen, New York2021In May 2016, Merlin Entertainments reported that it had purchased in Goshen, New York, just south of the former Arden Hill Hospital, to develop a Legoland theme park. The park was originaly scheduled along with a hotel on July 4, 2020, but the opening was pushed back until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asia
SiteProposed locationPlanned opening dateDetails
Legoland KoreaGangwon Province, South Korea2022Legoland Korea is currently under construction in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province originally slated for opening in Spring 2019 but delayed until 2022. Upon completion it will be the world's largest Legoland at nearly 1.3 million square meters including a Lego hotel, condos, water park, spa and outlets. Construction of the bridge connecting the Legoland island to Chuncheon Station officially began on November 28, 2014 and construction of the theme park will be finished by January 2019. Located next to Seoul Metropolitan Subway's Chuncheon Station, the site is a 1-hour trip from Seoul via the ITX train.
Legoland ShanghaiQingpu District, Shanghai2022On October 21, 2015, Merlin and China Media Capital announced a $300 million joint venture investment to build a Legoland amusement park in Shanghai, China. Merlin Chief Executive Nick Varney said that Legoland Shanghai would be a similarly sized investment to the $300 million parks it is building or already operates in Japan, Korea and Dubai. It is expected to open in the Dianshan Lake area in Qingpu District by 2022.

Former parks

There was an earlier Legoland Park in Germany, from 1973 to 1976. 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.