The Carlsbad theme park will on Friday open Lego Galaxy, a new 2.4-acre themed land that will feature its most adult-focused attraction yet in the Galacticoaster. An indoor, space-themed thrill ride, Galacticoaster is brief but impressionable, a spinning race through a darkened landscape to save a Lego-infused galaxy from an “asteroid of probable destruction.”
At 40 mph, it’s the park’s fastest ride, but coming in at about 60 seconds and focusing on banking and turning means it still has full family appeal. Expect it to serve as an introductory, big kid coaster for many. It’s infused with lighthearted humor — floating farmers and barnyard animals cruise among the stars — lending it a rather relaxed atmosphere for a save-the-world, fast-paced attraction. In other words, it’s sleek, it’s hurried and it’s cutesy.
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“My favorite is the surfing alien,” says Tom Storer, North American project director for Merlin Magic Making, the creative team behind Lego experiences. “She’s my favorite thing to see in there. It’s right after the blast. It will sneak up on you.”
The Galacticoaster is the centerpiece of Lego Galaxy, which also includes two smaller outdoor attractions, a vintage-style shoot-’em-up video game and a play area for little ones. Its part of a $90-million investment in Legoland’s California and Florida parks on behalf of parent Merlin Entertainment (an identical Galacticoaster can be found in Lego’s Florida park). Lego Galaxy hopes to draw visitors — and perhaps new audiences — by focusing on slicker, more modern technology and injecting in the park the sort of excitable ride more commonly found at Legoland’s Southern California competitors.
Storer, for instance, isn’t shy about the Galacticoaster’s inspiration.
A view of the stars and scenery that surrounds the Galacticoaster track.
(Legoland / Merlin Entertainment)
“What is the space roller coaster of 2026? Space Mountain is a classic from back in the day,” he says, referring to the Disneyland Resort staple launched in 1977. “But this is kind of the new way.”
It is faster and brighter than Space Mountain, as the Galacticoaster is heavily populated with twinkling stars, planetary projections and many a Lego brick creation. But while Space Mountain tops off at about 32 mph, it likely still has Galacticoaster beat in the intensity factor due to its lift hill, sudden dips, jolting turns and near pitch-black darkness. No matter, says Storer, as here the objective was to place guests in a welcoming adventure with plenty to look at.
“When you think of outer space, you instantly think of stars and planets,” Storer says. “We have a really cool digital planet and we have stars everywhere.”
The Galacticoaster sits four per car, loading attendees parallel in a row via a moving platform. Once seated and locked in, it nearly immediately takes off, jetting riders into a darkened hallway with white lights before injecting them into a Lego galaxy. Lego aficionados or those who grew up with the sets will likely spy many an allusion to past toys. In the ride’s queue, for instance, guests in line will walk past a wall that features a timeline of many a Lego space set. Action comes fast, but surrounds guests, as the coaster cars rotate around a hurtling asteroid.
Legoland’s new Galacticoaster is an indoor space-themed roller coaster with twinkling stars and many Lego brick projections.
(Legoland / Merlin Entertainment)
While it twists from side to side, which has drawn light comparisons to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Walt Disney World’s Epcot, with some referring to this as sort of a starter version of that more powerful coaster, it’s a smooth and relatively unobtrusive twisting. Those prone to motion sickness — and I am one of them — likely need not be too concerned here.
While Legoland has other coasters, many are known as what Storer refers to as “pink knuckle” coasters, slang for safe for kids and families. Galacticoaster, with a minimum height requirement of 36 inches, certainly is as well, but the creative executive hopes it falls somewhere between the pink and white knuckle level of force, the latter term reserved for the most thrilling of coasters.
“We’re known for having ‘pink knuckle’ coaster, where it’s not too scary,” he says. “It’s kind of, ‘My first coaster.’ This is family-friendly. We’d never do anything that’s not family-friendly. We want to make sure our guests from 5 to 12 have lots to do, but it’s a little more punchy and has that cool launch with a space blast-off feel.”
Theme park aficionados will be keen to know that this is the first attraction in the park to feature an animatronic figure. The character of Biff Dipper, an engineer, will be found in the ride’s preshow, familiarizing guests with the story of the asteroid that spells impending doom. Stout and slightly gruff, Dipper has a digital face that can approximate more than 40 expressions. The animatronic, says Storer, was an important investment for the park, as Legoland in Lego Galaxy was cognizant of guests becoming bored in what will surely be one of the park’s longest lines this upcoming spring and summer season.
There are interactive elements throughout Lego Galaxy. In the Galacticoaster, for instance, riders will build a virtual approximation of a spaceship from a touchscreen, selecting options for wings, cannons and more. Some are militant. Others look like burgers or rainbows. There are 625 variations, and the creation will then appear at the start and finish of the attraction, injected into the ride’s projectors via a guest wristband. Legoland officials like to refer to Galacticoaster as a 10-minute experience, a time that takes in the preshow with the Dippper figure as well as the construction of the spacecraft.
The character of Biff Dipper is Legoland’s first animatronic figure. Dipper is in the preshow of the Galacticoaster.
(Legoland / Merlin Entertainment )
Elsewhere in Lego Galaxy, there’s a full video game-like experience called the Rocket Assembly Bay. Here, guests will first build their own spaceship, and then have it scanned into the game for a cooperative shoot-’em-up. Rocket Assembly Bay is good fun, and rewarding even, to see a virtual scan of a hand-built ship injected into the game, this despite that fact that the play experience is largely a modern update of old coin-op “Asteroids.”
“There’s something about the simplicity of some of the things that have been done,” Storer says.
Two other core attractions dot the land. The G-Force Test Facility is a spinner that’s pitched as an astronaut training experience. Guests with a minimum height of 40” will be elevated off the ground via vehicles situated on rotating arms. There’s plenty of swinging and rotating action in this more standard amusement park-like creation, although Storer notes that riders won’t experience any actual G-forces. Still, here’s one that those with a propensity to motion sickness may want to take a pass on.
Lego Galaxy is rounded out with a play area and the preschool-focused ride Launch & Land. For those with a minimum height of 34 inches, this is a casual, patient experience, one in which seated guests will gently lift off into the air for a slightly elevated view of the land. Nominally designed as a spaceport, Lego aliens and spaceships populate the area. Press a button near one of the ships, and initiate, for instance, an engine test.
But don’t expect anything too serious. The Galacticoaster, after all, has a farting space cow.
The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link is expected to be the world’s longest immersed tunnel and rail link by 2029
The EU granted the tunnel project around 1.3 billion euros (£1.1 billion).(Image: femern)
The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, an underwater tunnel poised to link the Danish island of Lolland with Germany’s Fehmarn island, represents a remarkable feat of engineering. This remarkable tunnel beneath the Baltic Sea, set to become one of the planet’s longest submerged structures, is due for completion by 2029.
Spanning more than 18 kilometres (11 miles), the Fehmarnbelt tunnel will dramatically reduce journey times between Scandinavia and mainland Europe. Danish planning firm Femern has described the tunnel as “Denmark’s largest infrastructure project and the world’s longest immersed tunnel and rail link”.
The scheme carries a substantial estimated price tag of DKK 55.1billion (£6.4billion), with the European Union providing roughly 1.3billion euros (£1.1billion) in funding.
Femern has stressed that an immersed tunnel represents a “safe, tested and efficient way of building an underwater tunnel”, reports the Express.
“The technology is Danish-developed and builds on experiences from, among others, the Øresund Tunnel. Once completed, the tunnel will not pose any obstacle to vessel traffic in the Fehmarnbelt. Marine safety is also a top priority during the construction phase.”
“The Fehmarnbelt tunnel will be just as safe as a corresponding section of motorway above ground. The tunnel is equipped with continuous hard shoulders and emergency exits along its entire length.”
The Institution of Civil Engineers highlighted the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel’s unique positioning atop the seabed, dubbing it “a remarkable engineering feat”.
“Weighing in at 73,500 tonnes apiece, these colossal structures are a testament to modern engineering,” they explained.
“Once a tunnel element is ready to be shipped, waterproof bulkheads (barriers) are installed at both ends, and the segment is carefully towed into position by tugboats.”
“In total, 89 elements will be connected sequentially – much like assembling giant Lego pieces – to form the complete tunnel.”
A MAJOR Lego attraction less than two hours from the UK is getting a new experience this month.
Lego House in Billund, Denmark, has launched a new Lego Master Academy Level 1 attraction, where visitors can build together with a number of animal-inspired challenges.
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There’s a new experience with animal-inspired challenges coming to Lego House in BillundCredit: Lego House
Called ‘Splash into the Bricks’, the new experience involves hands-on building in the Home of the Brick in a creative pond world, “where ducks fly, frogs spin, and buzzing bugs come to life through Lego play”.
The experience will be the most accessible level of Lego Masters Academy with a focus on curiosity, experimentation and play.
In total, the experience lasts one hour and the guided building session is led by Lego House Play Agents.
Guests can create their own ducks, frogs and little bugs as well as build catapults, spinners and slingshots.
And there’s the chance to interact with other guests too, through group challenges.
At the end of the session, visitors even get to take home their builds.
For the launch of the new experience, there will be two sessions featuring well-known Lego designers and Lego Masters judges.
The first session on February 9 will include Lego Masters Denmark judge Soren Dyrhoj and the second session on February 16, will feature Lego Design Lead, and Lego Masters US judge Amy Corbett.
Lego House is a much-loved family attraction that is spread over 12,000 square metres and boasts 25million Lego bricks.
The Sun’s Head Of Travel (Digital) Caroline McGuire took her six-year-old son to the Billund attraction last summer, said: “I’m not sure that any attraction has wowed me quite as much as Lego house.
“We spent seven hours inside the building, seeing how the blocks are made, building our own characters, making our own short Lego movie and even having our food delivered by Lego robots.
“As a mum whose child is obsessed with Lego, I was expecting him to love it – but I wasn’t expecting to love it myself.
“And yet, I thoroughly enjoyed every single activity.
“I happily sat for half an hour building a bouquet of Lego flowers, I loved making my own lego robot that danced on a video screen and I still have myself and my child in Lego miniature on our mantelpiece at home.
“For a place to inspire creativity and joy in so many adults AND children is really rare – usually it’s aimed at one or the other.”
Each session lasts one hourCredit: Lego House
Speaking on the new experience Soren Bering Andersen, head of experiences at Lego House said: “Lego Masters Academy Level 1 is about Lego play bringing people together.
“It’s a space where families and guests of all ages can build, laugh, and explore creativity together.
“Everyone meets the bricks on equal terms, and the fun comes from sharing the experience.”
For those who want to progress their skills further, there is the Level 2, in which there is a focus on specific Lego building techniques as well as more challenges.
In Level 3, visitors then progress to advanced designs and storytelling challenges.
Visitors can also explore an outdoor play area and there is a cafe on-site too for a bite to eat.
And, the attraction is just a nine minute drive from the airport, making it the ideal activity if you are on the way to the airport.
