Legoland (/ˈlɛɡlænd/, trademarked in uppercase as LEGOLAND) is a chain of family amusement parks focusing on the Lego building toy brand. 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.

Legoland Parks
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTheme parks, attractions, family entertainment centers
Founded7 June 1968; 56 years ago (1968-06-07) (Legoland Billund)
Services
  • Theme parks
  • Hotel lodging
ParentMerlin Entertainments
Websitewww.legoland.com Edit this at Wikidata
The entrance of Legoland Deutschland.

The Legoland Billund Resort opened in Billund, Denmark in 1968, followed by the Legoland Windsor Resort in Windsor, UK 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 Beijing, Shanghai, Sichuan and Shenzhen are currently under construction.

Attractions

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The parks are marketed to families with children between ages 2–12[1] and most attractions are geared towards younger children. Attractions consist primarily of outdoor flat rides, dark rides, interactive play structures, and splash pads, as well as designated stations for playing with Lego bricks.[2][3][4]

Parks

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There are 11 Legoland parks currently in operation and 4 planned parks.

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


Asia

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Site City Country 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[5] It was originally scheduled to open in 2011 in Dubailand as "Legoland Dubailand",[6] but was then delayed until October 2016 and is now located at Dubai Parks and Resorts and Water Park as "Legoland Dubai".[7] 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[8] 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.[9] Construction officially began 15 April 2015.[10] The park was expected to cost around US$15 million to construct for the first stage.[11] 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[12] 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.[13] 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.[14] 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.

Europe

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Site City Country Opened Details
Legoland Billund Resort Billund   Denmark 7 June 1968[15] 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 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.
Legoland Deutschland Resort Günzburg   Germany 17 May 2002 The smallest Legoland outside of Asia. There are nine areas in the park: Imagination Center, Miniland, Lego X-treme, Lego City, Knights Kingdom, Adventure Land, Ninjago World, Land of the Pirates and Lego Mythica.

The resort will see the addition of Peppa Pig Park for 2024, making it the second Legoland resort to have a non-Lego themed attraction and Peppa Pig theme park.[16]

Legoland Water Park Gardaland Castelnuovo del Garda   Italy 15 June 2021 Standalone waterpark at Gardaland Resort.[17][18][19]

North America

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Site City Country Opened Details
Legoland California Resort Carlsbad, California   United States 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) to feature a water park. On 24 May 2014, an add-on was built for the water park, themed after Legends of Chima.
Legoland Florida Resort Winter Haven, Florida 15 October 2011 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.[20]
Legoland New York Resort Goshen, New York 29 May 2021[21] New York, just south of the former Arden Hill Hospital. [22] The park was originally scheduled to open along with a hotel on 4 July 2020,[23] but the opening was pushed back until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, the park opened on 29 May 2021.[21]

Future parks

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Asia

Site Proposed location Country 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 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 Dapeng New District, Shenzhen 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 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 Park

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Europe

Site Location Country 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]

Cancelled Park

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Europe

Site Proposed location Country Year planned to open Year cancelled Details
Legoland Belgium Gosselies   Belgium 2027 2023 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, but it was still in the early planning stages.[34] On 30 August 2022, it was confirmed it would open in 2027.[35] The project was cancelled on 24 March 2023.[36]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "LEGO Attractions | LEGOLAND". www.lego.com. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  2. ^ "The Ultimate Guide to Legoland New York". Parents. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Your Guide to LEGOLAND Florida Resort". www.visitflorida.com. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  4. ^ Legoland Guide
  5. ^ "LEGOLAND Dubai Unveils Exciting Plans" (PDF). 15 October 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ McGinley, Shane (26 April 2010). "Legoland Dubai 'will go ahead' despite delays - developer". Arabian Business. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "Merlin Entertainments to open Legoland Japan", Blooloop, archived from the original on 1 July 2014.
  10. ^ The Asahi Shimbun (16 April 2015). "The Asahi Shimbun Weekly". Getty Images.
  11. ^ "New Park to Be Built". Legoland Japan. Scream scape. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  12. ^ Lee, Hae-rin (28 March 2022). "Legoland to open in Chuncheon May 5". The Korea Times. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  13. ^ News, Donga, 27 November 2014.
  14. ^ Legoland in Chuncheon is completed at the end of June, and Open next year after test
  15. ^ "Billund travel guide". World 66. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  16. ^ "Germany to get Europe's first stand-alone Peppa Pig Theme Park". 30 June 2023.
  17. ^ "Legoland apre a Gardaland, e cerca 50 appassionati bagnini". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Brescia. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  18. ^ "Attrazioni e aree tematizzate di LEGOLAND® Water Park Gardaland che aprirà a fine maggio 2020" (in Italian). 21 January 2020. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  19. ^ "LEGOLAND® Water Park to open at Gardalans resort, Italy in 2020". 11 July 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  20. ^ "World's first Peppa Pig™ Theme Park to open at LEGOLAND® Florida Resort in 2022".
  21. ^ a b "Legoland N.Y. opens Saturday: Info on reservations and more". silive. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  22. ^ "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.
  23. ^ Herrmann, Michele. "LEGOLAND New York Resort Announces July 4th Opening". Forbes. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  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. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. 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{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
  32. ^ "Hansa Park". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  33. ^ "Meilensteine in der Geschichte des Hansa-Parks". Hansa-Park (in German). DE. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  34. ^ "Legoland heading to Belgium, Halloween is on at Legoland Windsor". Blooloop. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  35. ^ "Un parc d'attractions Legoland à l'horizon 2027 sur le site Caterpillar à Charleroi". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  36. ^ "Merlin renonce à construire un parc Legoland à Charleroi" (in French). L'Echo. 24 March 2023.
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