A New Era for Legoland
Legoland is evolving. The Carlsbad theme park is set to unveil Lego Galaxy, a new 2.4-acre themed land that promises to bring a fresh and exciting experience to visitors. At the heart of this new area is the Galacticoaster, an indoor, space-themed thrill ride that marks the park’s most adult-focused attraction yet. This spinning coaster takes riders on a fast-paced journey through a darkened landscape, where they must save a Lego-infused galaxy from an “asteroid of probable destruction.”
The Galacticoaster reaches speeds of 40 mph, making it the park’s fastest ride. However, its short duration of about 60 seconds and focus on banking and turning ensure that it remains family-friendly. It’s designed as an introductory, big kid coaster for many, blending lighthearted humor with a relaxed atmosphere. Floating farmers and barnyard animals cruise among the stars, creating a whimsical backdrop for the action.
“My favorite is the surfing alien,” says Tom Storer, North American project director for Merlin Magic Making, the creative team behind Lego experiences. “She’s my favorite thing to see in there. It’s right after the blast. It will sneak up on you.”
The Galacticoaster is the centerpiece of Lego Galaxy, which also includes two smaller outdoor attractions, a vintage-style shoot-’em-up video game, and a play area for little ones. This new area is part of a $90-million investment in Legoland’s California and Florida parks by parent company Merlin Entertainment. An identical Galacticoaster can be found in Lego’s Florida park, showcasing the brand’s commitment to innovation and modern technology.
Storer isn’t shy about the Galacticoaster’s inspiration. He references Space Mountain, the classic Disneyland Resort staple launched in 1977, as a point of comparison. “But this is kind of the new way,” he says. While the Galacticoaster is faster and brighter than Space Mountain, it lacks the intensity of its predecessor due to its lack of lift hill, sudden dips, and near pitch-black darkness. However, the objective here was to create a welcoming adventure with plenty to look at.
“When you think of outer space, you instantly think of stars and planets,” Storer explains. “We have a really cool digital planet and we have stars everywhere.”
The Galacticoaster sits four per car, loading attendees parallel in a row via a moving platform. Once seated and locked in, it nearly immediately takes off, jetting riders into a darkened hallway with white lights before injecting them into a Lego galaxy. Lego aficionados or those who grew up with the sets will likely spot many allusions to past toys. In the ride’s queue, guests in line will walk past a wall that features a timeline of many a Lego space set.
Action comes fast, but surrounds guests, as the coaster cars rotate around a hurtling asteroid. While it twists from side to side, drawing light comparisons to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Walt Disney World’s Epcot, some refer to this as a starter version of that more powerful coaster. However, it’s a smooth and relatively unobtrusive twisting, making it suitable for those prone to motion sickness.
While Legoland has other coasters, many are known as what Storer refers to as “pink knuckle” coasters, slang for safe for kids and families. Galacticoaster, with a minimum height requirement of 36 inches, certainly is as well, but the creative executive hopes it falls somewhere between the pink and white knuckle level of force, the latter term reserved for the most thrilling of coasters.
“We’re known for having ‘pink knuckle’ coaster, where it’s not too scary,” he says. “It’s kind of, ‘My first coaster.’ This is family-friendly. We’d never do anything that’s not family-friendly. We want to make sure our guests from 5 to 12 have lots to do, but it’s a little more punchy and has that cool launch with a space blast-off feel.”
Theme park aficionados will be keen to know that this is the first attraction in the park to feature an animatronic figure. The character of Biff Dipper, an engineer, will be found in the ride’s preshow, familiarizing guests with the story of the asteroid that spells impending doom. Stout and slightly gruff, Dipper has a digital face that can approximate more than 40 expressions. The animatronic, says Storer, was an important investment for the park, as Legoland in Lego Galaxy was cognizant of guests becoming bored in what will surely be one of the park’s longest lines this upcoming spring and summer season.
There are interactive elements throughout Lego Galaxy. In the Galacticoaster, for instance, riders will build a virtual approximation of a spaceship from a touchscreen, selecting options for wings, cannons, and more. Some are militant. Others look like burgers or rainbows. There are 625 variations, and the creation will then appear at the start and finish of the attraction, injected into the ride’s projectors via a guest wristband. Legoland officials like to refer to Galacticoaster as a 10-minute experience, a time that takes in the preshow with the Dippper figure as well as the construction of the spacecraft.
Elsewhere in Lego Galaxy, there’s a full video game-like experience called the Rocket Assembly Bay. Here, guests will first build their own spaceship, and then have it scanned into the game for a cooperative shoot-’em-up. Rocket Assembly Bay is good fun, and rewarding even, to see a virtual scan of a hand-built ship injected into the game, this despite that fact that the play experience is largely a modern update of old coin-op “Asteroids.”
“There’s something about the simplicity of some of the things that have been done,” Storer says.
Two other core attractions dot the land. The G-Force Test Facility is a spinner that’s pitched as an astronaut training experience. Guests with a minimum height of 40″ will be elevated off the ground via vehicles situated on rotating arms. There’s plenty of swinging and rotating action in this more standard amusement park-like creation, although Storer notes that riders won’t experience any actual G-forces. Still, here’s one that those with a propensity to motion sickness may want to take a pass on.
Lego Galaxy is rounded out with a play area and the preschool-focused ride Launch & Land. For those with a minimum height of 34 inches, this is a casual, patient experience, one in which seated guests will gently lift off into the air for a slightly elevated view of the land. Nominally designed as a spaceport, Lego aliens and spaceships populate the area. Press a button near one of the ships, and initiate, for instance, an engine test.
But don’t expect anything too serious. The Galacticoaster, after all, has a farting space cow.
