Legoland California Ready to Open New Ninjago World with Innovative Darkride

© Legoland California

Starting May 5th, visitors to Legoland California will be able to train, explore and battle in the park's new Lego Ninjago World themed area.  The latest expansion of the ever-growing theme park features all the Ninjago characters along with interactive exhibits that test kids' balance, agility, speed and creativity.

The themed area also includes 22 new Lego models and Zane's Temple Build, and area where visitors can free build with a large supply of Legos.  Rounding out the offerings of Lego Ninjago World are Ninja Kitchen, a new dining facility, and Wu's Warehouse, a retail store.

© Legoland California

The major attraction that will have guests lining up in droves is Ninjago The Ride, North America's first interactive dark ride featuring Maestro hang gesture technology.  The feature retires the traditional 'blasters' found on similar rides, allowing guests to shoot fireballs, shockwaves, ice and more at enemies using just their hand movements.

“We’ve really taken Legoland California’s principle of ‘hands on, minds on’ to a whole new level,” said General Manager of Legoland California Resort Peter Ronchetti. “We’re firing the imagination to another degree taking the idea of using gestures to propel fire, ice, etc…it has never been done before and it’s bridging the gap between the old way of using physical props, bricks, and the like, with the new world of virtual technology.”

Riders collect points as they move through the ride, with winning totals displayed at the end.  Real effects such as heat, smoke and wind make the 3-D experience into a 4-D one.

SoCal Attractions 360 was on hand at the ride's media event, and filmed this tour of the new area, ride queue and the actual ride experience.

Once aboard the 4-passenger vehicles, riders travel "through 13 different scenes encountering villains such as snakes, skeletons, ghosts, Lord Garmaddon (king of the Skulkuns) and ultimately, The Great Devourer…a giant serpent who can only be defeated by all of the ninja riders working together and using all the elements."  The above video shows how riders can tell how they're doing on-screen by following the color assigned to them on the ride vehicle's dashboard.

While the ride and new area are just getting ready to officially open in California this week, the parent company of the parks is already planning similar Ninjago expansions at Legoland parks across the globe, including Legoland Florida in 2017.