Legoland

Legoland is a chain of Lego themed theme parks:

• Legoland Billund (Billund, Denmark)
• Legoland Windsor (Windsor, England, United Kingdom)
• Legoland Deutschland (Günzburg, Germany)
• Legoland California (Carlsbad, California, USA)

The entrance of Legoland Deutschland.

Attractions

Replica of the New York City skyline at Legoland California

The parks are marketed to young families, and although they have a number of roller coasters, they are not as numerous or as extreme as those in other parks, and there is a greater emphasis on rides suitable for young children.

The parks are split into various areas, which are common between the parks. For example, all 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. Other common features include a Lego Mindstorms centre (fun-based learning), Duplo Gardens (for smaller children), Driving area (including attractions such as Driving school, Boating school, Ballooning school and Fire Academy), My Town, Wild Woods and Knight's 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 four 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 license. The exact set of rides varies between parks, although as with the Disney parks there is some overlap.

Parks

Legoland Billund

Legoland in Billund, Denmark, is the largest and the oldest. It is divided into nine different worlds: Duplo Land, ImaginationZone, LEGOREDO Town, Adventure Land, Miniland, Pirate Land, Lego City, Knights Kingdom and Viking land. The park opened in 1968 and has 1.7 million visitors annually, making it the largest tourist attraction in Denmark outside Copenhagen.

Legoland California

Legoland California is located in Carlsbad, in North San Diego County. The park opened March 20, 1999, and is split into nine sections which are The Beginning, Dino Island, Explore Village, Fun Town, Knight's Kingdom, Miniland USA, Imagination Zone, Pirate Shores, and Land of Adventure.

Legoland Deutschland

Legoland Deutschland is located in Günzburg, Germany, and opened in 2002. As of 2009, there are seven areas in the park, including: Imagination Center, Miniland, LEGO X-treme, LEGO City, Knights Kingdom, Adventure Land, and Land of the Pirates.

There was an earlier Legoland Park in Germany, from 1973 to 1976. It was located in the city of Sierksdorf in northern Germany. This park is now called Hansa-Park.^[1][2]

Legoland Windsor

Legoland Windsor was built on the site of the previous Windsor Safari Park in Windsor, Berkshire, and opened in 1996. As of 2009, there are eleven areas in the park, including: The Beginning, Imagination Centre, Miniland, Duplo Land, Traffic, LEGO City, Land of the Vikings, Kingdom of the Pharaohs, Wild Woods, Knights Kingdom, and Adventure Land.

Future Legoland parks

Legoland Malaysia is planned to open in Nusajaya, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia under the Iskandar Malaysia in 2012 as the first Legoland in Asia. Legoland Dubailand is planned to open in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, by 2015.

Financial and visitor information

The Californian[1], Danish[2] and German[3] parks all receive approximately 1.4 million visitors per year. The British park received approximately 1.65 million visitors in 2007, making it the 15th most visited park in Europe.

Despite this, the parks have struggled to make money, and have not fully maximised their potential ticket sales. In June 2005, a 70 percent stake in the four theme parks was sold to Blackstone Group of New York, an investment and advisory firm, under its Merlin Entertainments brand. Lego Group retains a 30 percent stake.^[3]

See Also

• Legoland Discovery Centre

References

External links

• Legoland
• LEGOLAND Travel The Official LEGOLAND Billund Accommodation Provider
• Legoland Survival Guide
• Hotel Legoland
• Legoland California Visitor Guide
• Satellite image of Legoland California from Google maps
• Satellite image of Legoland Deutschland from Google maps
• Satellite image of Legoland Billund from Google maps
• Satellite image of Legoland Windsor from Google maps

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lego

Coordinates: 55°44′09″N 9°07′35″E / 55.73583°N 9.12639°E / 55.73583; 9.12639