Legoland

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Entrance to Legoland Germany in Günzburg

Legoland is the name of eight theme parks that are thematically based on Lego toys. In the parks you can see landmarks from all over the world modeled with Lego bricks . The rides were also built in the style of Lego bricks. The Legoland parks have belonged to the Merlin Entertainments Group since 2005 .

history

The Lego company opened the first Legoland in 1968 in Billund, Denmark . Later, more Legoland parks opened in Sierksdorf (1973–1976), in Windsor in the UK (1996), in Carlsbad in California (1999) and in May 2002 in Günzburg in Germany . All Legoland parks are known for their respective Miniland, in which international and national landmarks have been recreated from Lego bricks.

The first German Legoland was located from 1973 to 1976 on the site of today's Hansa-Park in Sierksdorf . Some of the rides from back then still exist today in a modified form, e.g. B. the Western Railway and the cog ride (at that time Kohlraupe).

In 2005 Lego sold its four parks to the US investment firm Blackstone Group for 375 million euros . The amusement parks were incorporated into the new company Merlin Entertainments Group , in which Blackstone held 70 percent and the Danish Lego owners, the family of Lego founders Ole and Godtfred Kirk Christiansen , 30 percent of the shares. In the meantime, Dubai International Capital LLC has joined the group as a further investor . Further Legoland parks were opened in Florida (USA) in 2011, in Malaysia in 2012 and in Dubai in 2016. Further future locations are Korea and Japan.

Locations

Legoland Billund

Legoland Billund logo
Legoland Billund

Location: 55 ° 44 ′ 8 ″  N , 9 ° 7 ′ 34 ″  E The oldest Legoland is in the Danish city of Billund , which is also home to Lego. It was officially opened on June 7, 1968. Legoland Billund is divided into nine different themed worlds: Miniland , Duplo Land , Legoredo Town , Piratland , Knights' Kingdom , Adventure Land , Imagination Zone , Polar Land and Ninjago World . The amusement park was expanded from the original 3.8 hectares to 14 hectares. In 2014 it was visited by 1.925 million people, making it Jutland's most visited tourist attraction . In the meantime, the area of ​​the park is limited by external buildings. In 2013, two family attractions closed in order to be able to build Ghost - The Haunted House, the 2014 season novelty. Since September 2017 there is a new attraction in the city of Billund - the "LEGO House". In the 23 m high and 12,000 m² building, a whole universe of Lego bricks is presented. During the 4-year construction period, over 25 million Lego blocks were installed in different themed areas. The "LEGO House" should reflect the history of the LEGO idea and be a place for all age groups. A museum, a LEGO store, restaurants and special areas for children and adult LEGO fans are also located in the building, as are terraces, which can also be experienced.

Legoland Germany

history

Location: 48 ° 25 '28 "  N , 10 ° 17' 56"  O The first Legoland Germany was 1973 to 1976 on the site of the current Hansa parks in Sierksdorf in the Baltic Sea.

Logo of Legoland Germany
Legoland Günzburg

Legoland Germany in the Bavarian city ​​of Günzburg was opened on May 17, 2002 and is visited by around 1.3 million people every year. The company owns an area of ​​140 hectares. Of this, 70 hectares are built on, of which around 20 hectares are used for parking spaces, 14 hectares for the adventure area for visitors and 8 hectares for the Legoland holiday village. Legoland already had its five millionth visitor in 2005, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bavaria. Legoland Germany was named the most child-friendly amusement park in 2012.

Miniland

In the park, a miniature landscape was built from over 25 million Lego building blocks, the so-called Miniland . In Miniland, detailed scenes are being recreated, currently:

The largest structure in Miniland , the Allianz Arena, was assembled on a scale of 1:50 in 4,209 working hours from over a million Lego bricks. The model weighs 1.5 tons. In Legoland, eight model builders create their work from up to 2000 different elements in around 60 different colors - all commercially available Lego bricks.

In addition to the elaborate Lego landscapes, there are numerous play attractions for children. The roller coasters are mostly suitable for small children. The theme worlds in German Legoland include: Lego X-treme , Knights' Kingdom , Lego City , Miniland , Land of Adventure , Imagination and Land of Pirates . The latter area opened in 2007 and, with an area of ​​5,000 square meters, is the largest expansion of the park since its inception.

Sometimes people react very quickly to current events, such as the visit of American President Barack Obama to Berlin in spring 2009 . The Love Parade that had been set up in front of the Lego Reichstag building was replaced by an honorary formation with the President , Chancellor , various accompanying persons, President's wife (a little apart) and President Dog First Dog Bo .

Attractions (selection)

Legoland Windsor

Legoland Windsor logo

Location: 51 ° 27 ′ 49 ″  N , 0 ° 39 ′ 4 ″  W Legoland Windsor is the second Lego amusement park and was opened in March 1996 in Windsor , England , near London . Legoland Windsor includes twelve themed worlds: the Beginning, Imagination Center, Duplo Valley, Miniland, Adventure Land, LEGO City, Pirate Shores, Heartlake City, Knight's Kingdom, Land of the Vikings and Kingdom of the pharaohs . The 60.7 hectare park, which opened on the site of the former Windsor Safari Park , attracted around 2.2 million visitors in 2014.

Legoland California

Legoland California logo

Location: 33 ° 7 ′ 41 ″  N , 117 ° 18 ′ 43 ″  W Legoland California is the first Legoland park outside of Europe . Located in Carlsbad, the amusement park opened in March 1999 and is located north of the city of San Diego , California . During school hours, the park closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In Legoland there are several smaller roller coasters and the first Robocoaster system in the USA called Knight's Tournament . Legoland in California has six themed worlds: Explore Village , Fun Town , Knights' Kingdom , Miniland USA , Imagination Zone and Dino Island . The park size is 51.2 hectares.

Legoland Florida

Location: 27 ° 59 ′ 24.4 ″  N , 81 ° 41 ′ 30.7 ″  W Legoland Florida is located in Winter Haven , southwest of Orlando . The park was opened in autumn 2011 and offers a botanical garden and a water ski show as a special feature. The botanical garden was taken over from the previous park "Cypress Gardens" together with some roller coasters.

Legoland Malaysia

Legoland Malaysia is located in Johor Bahru near Singapore . The official opening took place at the end of 2012, the Legoland Hotel followed in 2013.

Legoland Dubai

Legoland Dubai in Jebel Ali was opened in October 2016 as part of a complex of several amusement parks. In the complex called Dubai Parks and Resorts , a Legoland water park was also built.

Legoland Japan

Legoland Japan in Nagoya officially opened on April 1st, 2017. In the following year, the "Legoland Japan Hotel" opened on April 28, 2018.

Future locations

Legoland Discovery Centers

Main article: Legoland Discovery Center

The Legoland Discovery Center Berlin, the company's first indoor park, opened in the Sony Center in Berlin on March 31, 2007 at Potsdamer Platz . On 3500 m² there is a mini-land with Berlin in model size, a 4D cinema, a dark ride with a gondola ride through a dragon castle, a Lego factory and opportunities to build with Lego bricks yourself.

A second indoor park was opened on April 19, 2008 in the former Werhahnmühle - the premises of the former Atlantis Children's Museum - at Duisburg's inner harbor . This was closed in favor of the Legoland Discovery Center in Oberhausen, which opened in spring 2013 .

A third indoor park opened in Chicago in late summer 2008 . Another Legoland Discovery Center exists in Tokyo 's Odaiba district .

In 2013, a second German Legoland Discovery Center opened at the CentrO in Oberhausen . A third one is planned for 2023 in Hamburg in Hamburg's Westfield overseas district.

literature

  • Michael Friedrichs (ed.): The big book from Legoland Germany. Wißner, Augsburg 2002, ISBN 978-3-89639-341-8 .
  • Lisa Schwenk: The big book from Legoland Deutschland Resort. 6th, completely revised and expanded edition. Wißner, Augsburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-95786-125-2 .
  • Bernd Wißner, Christina Sammüller: A day at Legoland. Wißner, Augsburg 2003, ISBN 978-3-89639-400-2 .

Web links

Commons : Legoland  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Handelsblatt of July 13, 2005: Legoland goes to financial investor Blackstone , requested on July 13, 2010
  2. ^ Asia's first Legoland Park opened in Malaysia , www.reisenews-online.de, October 24, 2012
  3. Legoland Billund, press kit 2010 ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 4.9 MB), accessed on July 13, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.legoland.dk
  4. a b Global Attractions Attendance Report 2014. (PDF) TEA, accessed on January 16, 2016 (English).
  5. Legoland.de: Facts and Figures 2010 ( Memento of the original from August 21, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 57 kB), accessed on November 27, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.legoland.de
  6. "Förderverein Bürgernetz für die Landkreis Günzburg eV" about Legoland Germany ( Memento of the original from May 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on November 27, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bnv-gz.de
  7. Legoland named the most child-friendly amusement park. (No longer available online.) Magazine-4, April 19, 2012, archived from the original on April 26, 2012 ; Retrieved May 21, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.magazine-4.de
  8. "Facts from ten years of Legoland Germany" ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 109 kB), accessed on April 2, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.legoland.de
  9. Katia Rathsfeld: Dream job for big children. In: Südkurier of August 9, 2011.
  10. Legoland Dubai now open. Retrieved November 13, 2016 .
  11. Legoland Japan opens punctually in April. December 30, 2016, accessed January 24, 2019 .
  12. Alexander Louis: Legoland Japan 2018 with a new hotel after low visitor numbers in the opening year. May 21, 2018, accessed January 24, 2019 .
  13. Legoland New York Resort Opening 2020! Retrieved January 24, 2019 .
  14. Merlin to open first Legoland theme park in South Korea. In: Reuters.com. November 28, 2014, accessed March 31, 2016 .
  15. Thomas Frank: Legoland Korea Resort officially announced to open in Chuncheon, South Korea in 2022. In: ParkErlebnis.de. January 7, 2019, accessed January 24, 2019 .
  16. Shanghai Legoland Theme Park. In: TravelChinaGuide.com. October 30, 2018, accessed July 3, 2019 .
  17. Children's museum closes. (No longer available online.) Radio Duisburg, October 11, 2007, archived from the original on January 17, 2008 ; Retrieved May 21, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.innenhafen-portal.de
  18. Spectacular new attractions in the Centro , www.centro.de, May 11, 2012
  19. ↑ The contract with Lego is wrapped up. RP ONLINE, October 16, 2007, accessed May 21, 2013 .
  20. ^ Website of the Legoland Discovery Center Chicago. Retrieved May 21, 2013 .
  21. Plan your visit. (No longer available online.) Legoland Discovery Center Tokyo, archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; accessed on July 1, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.legolanddiscoverycenter.jp
  22. Legoland Discovery Center Oberhausen. Accessed July 31, 2020 .