The Lego Movie 4D A New Adventure Opening at Legoland Parks in 2016

Debuting at the Legoland Florida Resort in January of 2016, and soon after at the Legoland California Resort on February 6th, will be an all new 4D adventure film themed to the popular Lego Movie.

The Lego Movie 4D A New Adventure was previously hinted about by the chain of parks, operated by Merlin Entertainments, but now new details have been made available.  The film is being created in partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and Lego Systems A/S, and will eventually premier at all the Legoland Parks around the globe and the Legoland Discovery Centers as well.

The film will follow a new journey for the characters of The Lego Movie, including Emmet, Wyldstyle, Unikitty, Benny and MetalBear.  A new villain character, voiced by Patton Oswalt and named Risky Business, will be added to the series.  The attraction is being directed by Rob Schrab, who is also directing the squeal to The Lego Movie in 2018, and will also feature many of the original voice actors from the feature film like Elizabeth Banks and Nick Offerman.

The plot finds the characters having received a "mysterious invitation leading them to a new theme park where all of the rides are based on the characters’ adventures in “The Lego Movie.” But not all is as it seems as the heroes are once again thrust into the middle of an evil secret plot, only this time, it will be up to the audience to use their Master Builder skills to help save them!"

The 4D attraction will feature special effects such as smoke, water, wind and lighting to create a "larger-than-life" experience for guests.  In a sense the film will also bridge the gap between the first Lego Movie and the next, still to come.

Lego Ninjago Arrives at Legoland California with Unique Interactive Dark Ride

Legoland California will debut a "world's first" ride next year as a part of a new expanded area themed around the world of Lego Ninjago.  The new land will be located under a giant arch behind the Imagination Zone, and will feature a large courtyard filled with Ninjago training activities, along with an Asian cuisine location and retail store.  The training activities will include balance spinners, reflex tests, a rock wall and more - all in preparation of the area's biggest attraction, Ninjago The Ride.

Ninjago - The Ride will be manufactured by Triotech, the company behind Cedar Fair's recent dark ride instillations.  Instead of using a blaster to interact with digital media, this new ride will be the first ever to react to hand gestures - like a karate chop for instance - and correlate them to what takes place on the screen.

More details on the experience were released by the park: "Through 3D imagery, high-tech sensors and the use of hand movements in a striking motion, up to four riders per car, representing the four main Ninjago characters, can blast animated fireballs, lightning, shockwaves and ice as they travel through dojos to master their skills before heading into battle.  Riders collect points for their training and battle efforts throughout the ride and scores are displayed when their quest is completed. 4D effects such as heat, smoke and wind are also incorporated throughout the adventure, giving guests the ultimate interactive experience."

It sounds pretty neat to be able to blast at creatures with just the movement of your hands, I'm quite excited to see how the technology will be applied to the ride, especially in terms of aim.  The interactive nature - plus the challenge of accumulating points - will make this one a huge hit with families.

Legoland California, which opened a hotel and water park in recent years, has seen 11 straight years of attendance growth - an amazing feat.

A similar expansion, featuring the same ride, will also open in 2016 at Legoland Billund in Denmark.

Amusement Piers and Polar Coasters

© Galveston Pleasure Pier

What in the heavens did we all do before we were able to instantly access great park construction updates like these?  Seems like a distant memory, or for you really young folk perhaps not a memory at all.  But I digress.

Galveston Pleasure Pier has started to build the lift hill for the Iron Shark!  Seen above, the tower was carefully lifted into place in giant sections.  Soon the crisp blue track will climb that tower, leading to a beyond-vertical first drop.  With the coaster somewhat small and extremely compact, things should go very quickly from that point.

© Legoland Billund

It's a mountain!  And a coaster train!  Legoland Buillund, located in Germany, has added one of the trains to the track on their new Polar X-Plorer coaster.  The ride weaves its way around a fake mountain, only to send the train inside to experience a free fall plunge.  And to top that off there are live penguins to see at the end!

The trains are themed as snowmobiles, and have turned out rather nicely.  These and the great looking design for Verbolten make this quite a year for Zierer!  This coaster may not be the biggest of 2012 by any means, but I have a feeling it will be one of the best received.

A Polar X-plorer Update

© Legoland Billund

Zierer's new vertical free-fall coaster, named Polar X-plorer, is making much progress at Legoland Billund.  The setting for the new coaster is Polar Land, which is fitting considering all the snow on the ground seen in this new batch of photos.

The park has placed some of the coaster's track, but much work has also been done on the ride's mountain-covered free fall section (seen above) and the ride's station and adjacent penguin enclosure.  This ride looks like a hit just from a design standpoint, and now is looking even better as we get to see it built.

Can we hope that perhaps in the future one of these rides will come to one of the U.S. Legoland parks?

Taking A Spin On the Polar X-plorer

Legoland Billund will be premiering a new coaster next year, aptly named the Polar X-plorer.  The Zierer family ride will feature a dropping track section, as well as some nice theming and even a trip past some live penguins!

The park has loaded (albeit a tad rough) a new point of view movie to their Facebook account, which shows off the layout of the ride.  For a family attraction you'll hear no complaints from me, the ride looks like solid fun.

The climax will be when the train enters the snowy mountain, only to skid on some ice and break through, falling abruptly downward.  No worries, though, as the train stops smoothly, takes a few turns, and then guests can wave hello to the penguins as they meander by.

Check out the movie at this link.

Legoland Billund Building Freefall Coaster for 2012

Well this looks interesting, a new trend in the industry, perhaps?  A third coaster with a free-fall drop element in it has been announced for Legoland Billund, located in Denmark.  This follows last year's Thirteen at Alton Towers, manufactured by Intamin, and (highly rumored, though not officially confirmed) Verbolten at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

The new coaster, named the Polar X-Plorer, will be a part of a new area of the theme park, named Polar Land.  I haven't seen any confirmation of the coaster's manufacturer, but from the art below it resembles a Zierer ride.  Polar X-Plorer will reach a maximum height of 20 meters, or 65 feet.

The coaster, the largest expansion in the park's history, will feature a 5 meter free fall.  The cars will be themed to a snow mobile, which should look pretty neat.  At one point the train will stop on a frozen lake, only to fall through directly into a cave full of polar bears.

The almost $14 million new Polar Land area will also feature Penguin Bay, home to real (not Lego) Penguins!  A unique restaurant overlooking the exhibit rounds out the area.

Sounds like a great concept - hopefully if it is a success we could see it duplicated to other Legoland parks - remember there's two in North America now!