In October of last year, the good news was released that the US LEGOLAND theme parks in California and Florida was going to get a sibling in New York, located at the town of Goshen. Construction has only started at that point, and we won’t get to come in until 2020. But that won’t stop us getting a preview of it, even if that happens to be rendered in LEGO. This Thursday, August 16, LEGOLAND parks majority owner and operator Merlin Entertainments unveiled a sneak peek of their LEGOLAND New York theme park by means of a scale brick-built model. Engaging the help of 20 LEGO Master Builders working 1,300 hours total using 135,000 bricks, the company has created a neat representation of what the project will look like upon completion.
Curious guests can already view the LEGOLAND New York model on its display area right next to the construction site of the real thing in Goshen, just 60 miles to the northwest of NYC. This new park will cost Merlin Entertainments $350 million to realize, but finally having a LEGOLAND in the Northeast, the first such to be built in years, is a sure bet to attract lots of guests.
LEGOLAND New York will boast these themed lands, all taken from its brother parks in the US and around the world:
- The Factory – the entry area; will have the New York-exclusive Great LEGO Adventure ride
- Bricktopia – where Master Builders are to teach young builders the ropes of advanced LEGO building
- Miniland – the LEGOLAND miniature zone featuring brick replicas of famous landmarks
- Pirate Shores – pirate-themed watery zone
- Knights’ Kingdom – site of the park’s central structure, LEGO Castle
- LEGO Ninjago World – stomping grounds of the Masters of Spinjitzu, and their aspiring students
- Heartlake City – where you can have fun hanging out with the gang of LEGO Friends
- LEGO City – the pure urban zone of LEGOLAND; you might stumble into superheroes around there
LEGOLAND New York will be within easy reach of the country and the world, accessible from New York Stewart International Airport. Arrangements with ShortLine Coach USA mean that in 2020, visitors can catch buses from the Port Authority Terminal in New York City that will take them to the park. They’ll even have a sweet LEGO Hotel with 250 rooms. We can hardly wait for that time to finally come.