“This was specifically developed for Legoland California,” said Tom Storer, senior project manager with Merlin. As they move through the line, submarine passengers are treated to a bit of high-tech wizardry as they’re given a briefing on the mission that awaits them by a 3-foot-tall Lego diver whose face appears to be moving as he speaks.Įxcept the figure itself isn’t really moving. In keeping with the Legoland tradition of Lego model-building, the journey starts in the ride’s queue area where children are invited to construct sea creatures at a large table dominated by a 5-foot-tall shark crafted from more than 80,000 Lego bricks. The ride’s story line is structured around a voyage in which the passengers are searching for sunken Lego artwork, swords and other treasures strategically located on the “ocean” bottom. But this is real so we’ve broken new ground for North America.” “The industry benchmark in North America has been submarines with animation and mechanical fish. “How many 10-year-olds have been on a submarine and looked out and seen a shark?” he said. It’s also designed to appeal to Legoland’s demographic of young children who likely haven’t been exposed to submarines or even sharks, Ronchetti said. It checks all the boxes for us, it’s something different for us, it’s in an exciting environment, and we’re bringing the ride and fish together in a whole new way.” “So bringing that into the ride in a very controlled way opens up a whole new area of discovery for the children. “Sea Life Aquarium is an extremely popular attraction here and part of the formula that makes Legoland a successful resort,” said park president Peter Ronchetti. It also builds on the popularity of similar attractions at the Windsor, Dubai and Japan parks. In a May post on his website,, editor Robert Niles said of Legoland’s Deep Sea Adventure: “no matter how this turns out, it’s got to beat last summer’s Submarine Quest ride at SeaWorld San Diego.”Ĭonceived four years ago, the attraction has a direct tie-in to Lego’s Deep Sea Adventure line of toys and complements its aquarium that opened eight years ago. It has been closed since early this year with little explanation for the closure. The ride inevitably invites comparisons with SeaWorld’s ill-fated Submarine Quest, a ride that ran on an elevated track and did not traverse water. “There is a lot of competition in Southern California so every so often you have to do something really big to make a difference.” “For a lot of these it’s animation or animatronics so this is something no one has done, not even Disney. “This is a big deal because any other submarine ride is mostly simulated and there isn’t even water in them much less sea life,” said Larry Wyatt, owner of Pasadena-based Wyatt Design Group, which does design work for theme parks and was involved in the original planning for Legoland California. While the Carlsbad park is no stranger to underwater life considering it also operates the Sea Life Aquarium, it is no small feat creating a massive concrete-walled tank and the accompanying infrastructure needed to navigate 12-seat vehicles through the watery environment.
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