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Legoland Windsor

There is clearly more dollar in ensuring the Legoland parks are up to scratch from a visual standpoint. But that was always bound to be the case, the larger-scale resort theme parks such as Alton Towers are very much not the owners priority, which is why I still hope that the non-Lego parks can be sold off to an organisation who will really inject money into existing rides and attractions in the next few years.

Although out of all of the owners of the Tussauds group was there ever an owner that really wanted to inject huge sums into it?
Pearson did quite well in the 90s, Charterhouse in the early 2000s was when they tried to expand more towards resorts with the addition of Splash Landings. But Dubai Investments didn't seem to care so much.
Blackstone prior to the stock market listing of Merlin seemed okay and now Kirkbi/Blackstone seems OK again. It is really hit and miss as to which owners want to do good things to the RTP part of the Tussauds estate.
I don't see Kirkbi splitting up Merlin really though, there must be some cost benefits on supply contracts for some items between Legoland and the UK RTPs.
and even though the LEGO is maintained to a high standard at Legoland, I don't think they really do invest well in rides.
 
To be fair, I think KIRKBI have been really good so far with keeping on top of the RTPs; there’s been a lot done this off-season in TLC terms at Alton, Thorpe and Chessington!
 
To be fair, I think KIRKBI have been really good so far with keeping on top of the RTPs; there’s been a lot done this off-season in TLC terms at Alton, Thorpe and Chessington!

To be clear, that is nothing to do with KIRKBI. Alton Towers have very little money available for anything currently. There's been no directive from Lego HQ to drive up standards at Alton Towers, to my knowledge. Certainly no CAPEX investment - which is not the case at Legoland.

RE: cash injections, I would say Merlin spent heavily in the first few years. This has dried up though.
 
I actually can’t wait to ride this and see the finished area. It’s the first time we’ve had a proper new area at Legoland in a long time and not just a ride shoved in somewhere with no real thought (I’m looking at you Monster house party and Ninjargo) or a bit of a retheme or a current area.
Will be interesting to see how the theatre compares to the others I have done. I guess with it’s being lego and fake, it will be easy to take you to a real fantasy world, and not so real life, like Europas and PAs.

Also always a lover of those drop towers they are getting, and I’ve always liked the wave surfer ride, so be nice to have all of those rides together.
 
Am I imagining things, or are the drop towers the same model as Windmill Towers at Paultons Park?
 
Both rides are the standard Zierer family drop towers that you can find all over Europe, though until this year there were none in the UK (possibly, I might have forgotten one somewhere). They're pretty common really - EP, Liseberg & Phantasialand all have a pair of them and many other parks have a single tower version. Merlin have recently rolled them out across several LL parks as a support ride to the flying theatres.
 
I actually really love those drop towers, the ones at Phantasialand are probably the best around that I’ve been on. However dread to think what the queues may be like for them on a busy day at Legoland.
 
I actually really love those drop towers, the ones at Phantasialand are probably the best around that I’ve been on. However dread to think what the queues may be like for them on a busy day at Legoland.
I know this is probably in the wrong topic but it's kind of related. Obviously this land was intended to be The Lego Movie World but it was changed due to the lack of interest in the films, yet Legoland California are having the same land opening this year but they've stuck with the movie franchise, does anyone know why?
 
Exactly. Something that needs to be remembered is that Mythica is one of the few 2021 rides that was always intended to be opening in 2021. Legolands addition last year (the DUPLO coaster) actually did open last year as the park briefly opened before the pandemic.
 
Believe the park had some kinda press event today, one week before the official opening of Mythica, including their new flying theatre Flight of the Sky Lion. Looks pretty cool, and the soundtrack is great!

 
Some footage from the Mythica VIP event

This is probably the best theming Merlin have done in ten years!

Here's Jack Silkstone's vlog as well;



Edit; having watch both vlogs, WOW.
Flight of the Sky Lion looks incredible, as does the whole area! :)
 
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I’m avoiding too many spoilers on Flight of the Sky Lion, but I’d have to say that I’m incredibly impressed by what I’ve seen of the area so far; the theming and Lego models look genuinely incredible!

I think I’m certainly in for a treat when I visit Legoland in July…
 
Until my dying day I will not understand the appeal of watching someone else experience an attraction before you do.
Personally, watching somone experiece a ride or attraction psychs me up and makes me want to ride it more, but I understand that it can be opposite way around for others. :)
 
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Until my dying day I will not understand the appeal of watching someone else experience an attraction before you do.

Depends on the attraction, my park visits are very limited, so I'm more than happy to look at someone's footage of F.L.Y., for example, as I'm for sure not gonna be there any time soon.
 
Voletarium has set the bar for how these can be themed. Keen to see what Sky Lion is like though, as reports are good. It just means going to the cash cow that is Legoland.



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Voletarium is probably not the best ride to compare Sky Lion to in terms of how it's themed. Voletarium is a fairly standard flying theater film with an exceptional themed queue which adds a lot to the experience.
Sky Lion is in a building that only really serves the purpose of enclosing the ride. It's better hidden than Ninjago and Monster Party due to its location but no better themed.
However the ride film is unique to other flying theatres, more comparable to Flight of Passage. This seems to be the reason it's getting a really good reception. But I've yet to ride it myself, only seen it from the outside.
 
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