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250-room LEGOLAND California hotel opens 2013; construction starts in October 2011

www.legolandhotel.com

The hotel will be designed for families with young children and will feature rooms and suites themed after the most popular LEGOLAND areas. The LEGOLAND Hotel joins the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa and the Grand Pacific Palisades already on Resort property. While this is the first LEGOLAND Hotel in the United States, it will be the third in the world following LEGOLAND Windsor Hotel opening in 2012 and LEGOLAND Billund which opened a 176-room LEGOLAND Hotel in 1991.  

CARLSBAD, Calif. USA (Aug. 25, 2011) – “LEGOLAND® California Resort is ready to grow again,” announced General Manager of LEGOLAND California Resort Peter Ronchetti. “In the summer of 2013, right where you are sitting, we are opening LEGOLAND® Hotel,” he announced to invited guests and media at today’s press conference.

The three-story LEGOLAND Hotel is being designed to give guests the interactive family experience that has brought success to LEGOLAND California, SEA LIFE™ Carlsbad Aquarium and LEGOLAND® Water Park. Created to bring children’s imaginations to life, the 250-room LEGO® themed hotel will feature brightly colored LEGO décor, a pool area and restaurant. LEGOLAND Hotel will be the first of its kind in North America and construction is set to begin in October.

The announcement was made at the site where the hotel will be built which is to the right of LEGOLAND California’s entrance in an area currently used for bus parking. Icons from each of the Resort’s attractions flanked the background as Ronchetti spoke to each one’s success. Ride cars from Safari Trek and Volvo Driving School and the costumed character “Buddy” represented LEGOLAND California which opened in 1999 and continues its stellar growth streak by having the most successful year in the history of the family theme park in 2010. A 12-foot acrylic shark along with two Aquarists represented SEA LIFE Carlsbad Aquarium which opened in 2008 and focuses on educating children on the wonders of the underwater world in a way specifically designed for their understanding. Two lifeguards wearing customized Build-A-Rafts represented the world’s first LEGOLAND Water Park which opened last year and was honored with the World Water Park Association’s prestigious Industry Innovation Award. And lastly, a six-foot tall model of a hotel bellhop built out of more than 37,000 LEGO bricks was revealed – the first model built for LEGOLAND Hotel.

Mayor Pro Tem Ann Kulchin from the City of Carlsbad congratulated Ronchetti on the announcement after she rode in on LEGOLAND California’s whimsical “Brick Mobile” pulling behind it a queen-sized bed decked out with colorful bedding and LEGO brick graphics. “We’ve been waiting for this and now it’s finally happening and I’m so pleased,” said Kulchin. “Carlsbad has the reputation of being family oriented and this is the piece of the puzzle that really needs to be here.” With that declaration, more than 28,000 thousand multi-colored DUPLO® bricks (a DUPLO brick is exactly twice the dimension of a standard LEGO brick) weighing more than one-thousand pounds were poured out of a big front loader onto the bed below. Children invited from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Carlsbad wore pajamas to the press conference to get in the “hotel mood” and squealed with delight as the bricks came pouring down on to the bed.

The City of Carlsbad Planning Commission approved LEGOLAND California Resort’s request for permission to build a hotel on Resort property in 2009. “Once the rest of the proper approvals were attained, we had to consider many factors including economic recovery, before establishing the perfect opening date for this remarkable hotel,” Ronchetti explained. “But now, we are ready to move forward in our development and I can’t wait to bring the LEGOLAND experience to the next level for our guests.”

Like LEGOLAND California and the SEA LIFE Carlsbad Aquarium, the hotel will be designed for families with young children and will feature rooms and suites themed after the most popular LEGOLAND areas. The LEGOLAND Hotel joins the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa and the Grand Pacific Palisades already on Resort property.

While this is the first LEGOLAND Hotel in the United States, it will be the third in the world following LEGOLAND Windsor Hotel opening in 2012 and LEGOLAND Billund which opened a 176-room LEGOLAND Hotel in 1991.

LEGOLAND® California Resort includes LEGOLAND California and SEA LIFE™ Carlsbad Aquarium, both geared for families with children between the ages of 2 and 12. At LEGOLAND California, you’ll find more than 60 rides, shows and attractions including the 5.5 acre LEGOLAND Water Park and the all-new Star Wars™ Miniland. SEA LIFE incorporates LEGO® models into a child’s voyage to the depths of the ocean and features play zones, fun facts, quiz trails and the new Octopus Garden. For more information, log on to www.LEGOLAND.com or call (760) 918-LEGO.

MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS is a leader in location-based, family entertainment, and has seen dynamic growth of any company over the last five years. Merlin now operates 77 attractions, six hotels/two holiday villages in 17 countries and across four continents. The company aims to deliver memorable and rewarding experiences to its 43.6 million visitors worldwide, through its iconic global and local brands, and the commitment and passion of its managers and more than 16,000 employees. Merlin Entertainments operates the following attractions – SEA LIFE, Madame Tussauds, LEGOLAND, The EDF Energy London Eye, Dungeons, Gardaland, LEGOLAND Discovery Centres, Alton Towers Resort, Warwick Castle, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures Resort, Heide Park, Earth Explorer, Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World, Sydney Tower Observatory and Skywalk, Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter Underwater World, Oceanworld Manly and Hamilton Island Koala Gallery. Visit www.merlinentertainments.biz for more information.

Judith Rubin
Judith Rubin
Judith Rubin ([email protected]) is a leading journalist, content marketing specialist and connector in the international attractions industry. She reports on design and technical design, production and project management, industry trends and company culture. From 2005-2020 she ran communications and publications for the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA). In 2013, she was honored with the TEA Service Award. She was development director of IMERSA and publicist for the Large Format Cinema Association, and has contributed to the publications of PLASA, IAAPA and the International Planetarium Society. Judith joined World’s Fair magazine in 1987, which introduced her to the attractions industry. She joined InPark in 2010. Judith earned a BFA from Pratt Institute. She has lived in Detroit, New York, Oakland, and now Saint Louis, where she is active in the local arts community.

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