Less than a month after taking over the parent company of the Legoland theme parks, the owners of the Lego Group are moving swiftly to expand Lego branding at other theme parks in the Merlin Entertainments chain.
Gardaland Resort, the Merlin property in northeastern Italy, announced today that it will add a Legoland Water Park to its resort, which also includes a Sea Life aquarium as well as Gardaland Park and a hotel. This would be the first Legoland Water Park not built adjacent to a Legoland theme park and the fifth Legoland Water Park overall in the world, following those at the Legolands in California, Florida, Dubai, and Malaysia.
"The LEGO brand is renowned globally and will undoubtedly contribute to strengthening Gardaland Resort's position as a major European tourist destination, as well as confirming it as a top player for family entertainment," Gardaland CEO Aldo Maria Vigevani said in a press release. The most recent TEA/AECOM Theme Index attendance report ranked Gardaland as the eighth-most-visited theme park in Europe, with 2.9 million visitors in 2018.
Gardaland's Legoland Water Park would be the first in Europe, as the Legoland parks in Denmark, England, and Germany are located too far north to make an outdoor water park financially attractive. Germany's Europa Park is preparing to open an indoor water park, Rulantica, but those are substantially more expensive to develop than outdoor facilities. Gardaland is also Merlin's only theme park in a country that does not already have a Legoland property, allowing Lego to extend its branded parks into southern Europe.
The Legoland Water Park at Gardaland Resort will open in 2020.
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>>>dd a Legoland Water Park to its resort, which also includes a Sea Life aquarium
Many bad things can be said about Merlin... but they get Corporate Synergy like the best of em.
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This was already in the works long before Merlin Entertainments went private, and there has been plenty of crossovers between the company's three operating divisions over the past couple of years- an ongoing initiative where Resort Theme Parks, Merlin Midway Attractions and LEGOLAND Theme Parks have been partnering globally. Alton Towers, LEGOLAND Japan, LEGOLAND Malaysia and others have become home to their sister divisions attractions and there will be more to come regardless of whether the company had gone private.