As theme parks go, the LEGO ones are meant to pretty good. Sure there are rides to endure, expensive foods and long queues of fractious kids – but at the base of it all the commercial stuff is an underlying kiddie passion for creating with plastic interlocking blocks. And what parent doesn’t enjoy seeing their child entertain themselves with a construction toy?
So parents of LEGO-loving progeny, particularly those living in Melbourne, will be pleased to hear that the southern hemisphere’s first major LEGO attraction will be opening in the Victorian capital next year.
LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is set to open in Chadstone Shopping Centre in mid-2017, according to the mall’s owners. It will cover a massive 2800 square metres, equal to about 30 average-sized homes, and will include interactive rides, play areas, a small 4D cinema and ‘Miniland’, which will include models of prominent buildings and landmarks of Melbourne.
It will be aimed at providing three hours’ entertainment for kids aged three-to-10 years old. But like the overseas versions, its target audience is the legion of LEGO lovers, mainly boys, aged seven-to-10.
The LEGO phenomenon
With its theme parks, movies and now even hotels, LEGO is so much more than a toy now. The Australian store will join a global network of LEGO Discovery Centres operated by British group Merlin Entertainment, including nine in North America, four in Europe and two in Japan.
A LEGOLAND has opened in the US’s undisputed home of theme parks, Florida, and while it’s the smallest one in the region, it’s apparently taking on the big players like the ‘house of mouse’, Disney World.
One of the Florida park’s drawcards is the LEGOLAND hotel – and, yes, it looks like it’s made of LEGO bricks – which features rooms decorated in LEGO story themes and a giant pool featuring floating LEGO bricks.
A LEGOLAND hotel with its concierge made of the plastic bricks. Source: LEGOLAND
Sounds like the stuff of kids’ dreams (and parents’ nightmares).
Will you be sharing this news with your LEGO-loving littlies, or hoping they don’t ever find out?
