October 17, 2011

2012: LEGOLAND MALAYSIA




Legoland Malaysia is set to open by early 2012 in Johor Bahru at Nusajaya, Iskandar Malaysia Economic Region. This will also be the first Legoland Theme Park in Asia and sixth in the world after Denmark, Britain, California, Florida and Germany. The massive 76-acre (31 hectare) project is brought together by IDR Resorts and UK based Merlin Entertainment costing a whopping RM750 million. The good news for those across the border is that is it will only be a 20 minute drive from the Tuas Second Link to Medini in Nusajaya which is one of five flagship zones of Iskandar Malaysia. This will be the biggest family entertainment project in Johor which will attract tourist from locally, Indonesia and also Singapore.
  

Among the attractions at Legoland Malaysia, there will be a gigantic replica of the Petronas Twin Towers, all built using Lego bricks and it will be the tallest Lego structure in the world. Replicas of famous landmarks from around the world such as India’s Taj Mahal, Beijing Bird’s Nest Stadium, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and Singapore’s Merlion statue will also be featured, all made from Lego bricks. All the main structures will be located at Legoland’s Miniland. The theme park would also have famous buildings in Johor Baru, such as the Royal Museum, Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque and the Dataran Bandaraya clock tower. A total of 50 interactive rides will be available while an amazing amount of 30 million Lego Bricks are used throughout the park for building structures. The current completion date for the park has been set for early 2012 so stay tuned for news announcements. For further details on tickets and information, please read the end of this article.


Above: Perdana Putra - The Prime Minister's office, Replica of shoplots at Jalan Wong Ah Fook in Johor, Local shops at night in Johor; All made from Lego.


 One thing I foresee is that many will capitalize on Travel and Tour Packages to Legoland Malaysia. Tour companies will take the opportunity to include this package for Malaysians, Singaporeans and Indonesians making the Southern region a worthy visit for holiday makers. Imagine spending 4-5 days around here where you get a chance to visit Singapore's Universal Studios, Sentosa Island and Legoland Johor in one visit where everything is just a drive away.


Legoland Location: Nusajaya, Johor
Ticket Prices: To be announced 
Opening Times: To be announced
Attractions: Main Theme Park, 4D Theater, Kids Driving School, Legoland Hotel, Lifestyle Mall

For future updates, please visit the official Legoland Malaysia Website.
If you are looking for a job career in Legoland Malaysia, please email: career.legoland@my-iib.com

Ticket prices for Legoland have yet to be confirmed but the word out there is that it will be very affordable for a family of six people. The ticket price for an adult in Legoland California is around US$69 (RM210) per day so there are a lot of guesses on how it will be priced here in Malaysia. I am pretty sure that for the opening, there will be Family Package Tickets and promotional prices. The park is also targeting about 1.5 million visitors annually.

For family theme parks, there is also KidZania Kuala Lumpur at The Curve NX which is opening in December 2011. So there are a number of kids and family interactive theme parks in Malaysia now. I am hoping that this park opens in the first quarter of 2012 without any delays so that I can pay a visit here to fulfill a childhood bucket list. I am pretty sure that most of you would have had some experience playing with Lego in your younger days. I clearly remember my uncle from the UK who brought a massive Lego Box Set as a gift when I was about seven years old. That alone kept me busy for many years so you can imagine the thrill of visiting an entire park filled with these little colourful bricks. Till 2012, see you all at Legoland Malaysia.


No comments: