“To create a high growth, high return, family entertainment company based on strong brands and a global portfolio that is naturally balanced against the impact of external factors.” Since Merlin’s formation in 1999, it has sought to strengthen and diversify its portfolio of nationally and internationally recognised premium brands focused on “fun learning” which provide memorable, entertaining, interactive and educational experiences, principally for families and young adults. Merlin has sought to diversify geographically and to maintain a balance between its indoor and outdoor attractions and between domestic and international visitors with the aim of reducing trading volatility and producing reliable returns on capital invested. Underpinning this strategy is a focus on six growth drivers: 1. Growth of Existing Estate Via Planned Investment Cycles Regular planned investment in new rides, shows and themed areas at all attractions to maintain and enhance our product quality.
Driving volumes and guest satisfaction. For example, a new 14-looping roller coaster, ‘The Smiler’, at Alton Towers or a Madagascar show at Gardaland in 2013. Maximising the marketing, product and cost synergies available as a result of the Merlin’s scale and range of iconic brands. These are most effective where Merlin has strong concentrations of assets, such as the UK and Germany. The Merlin Annual Pass, national promotions with strategic partners, and procurement savings Clustering our Midway assets together to drive cross selling and operational efficiency. Being able to share capex developments over more than one site. For example a new 4D LEGO film can be utilised in six parks and ten LDC’s. 3. Resort Destination Positioning Developing our theme parks as short break destinations whilst maintaining our position in the day visit market by adding themed accommodation and other leisure activities. For example, a fully LEGO themed 250-room LEGOLAND Hotel opened at LEGOLAND California in 2013.
This extends the catchment area and drives new revenue streams and additional spend whilst developing a closer relationship with our guests and encouraging pre-booking. 4. Roll-Out Of Midway Attractions Merlin has five chainable Midway brands (SEALIFE, Madame Tussauds, The Eye, The Dungeons and LEGOLAND Discovery Centre). Since the start of 2010, 23 new Midway attractions have been opened in 10 countries further diversifying the portfolio geographically, building clusters such as Dallas and Tokyo, and increasing our concentration of assets in key markets in America and Asia. Midway businesses are cost effective to build and deliver a good return on capital and steady cashflow whilst strengthening and building the portfolio gradually over time. We have identified at least 100 further potential roll out locations and have the resources to target and deliver an average of 6-7 new openings each year. 5. LEGOLAND Park Development The strength of the LEGO brand globally and the nature of the LEGOLAND Park format mean that there is potential to develop new LEGOLAND Parks whilst driving a good return on capital.
In the last two years Merlin has successfully opened new LEGOLAND parks, in Florida and Malaysia and is actively looking for new sites, mainly in Asia and North America. We estimate there is currently potential for up to 20 more LEGOLAND Park sites worldwide. Merlin intends to open a new LEGOLAND Park on average every two to three years. These are targeted strategic acquisitions intended to support the development of the business and the other growth drivers. Merlin acquired Sydney Attractions Group in 2011 which enabled a Madame Tussauds to be added to the Sydney cluster in 2012. Merlin acquired Living and Leisure Australia in 2012 adding ten new sites to the portfolio in the fast growing Asia-Pacific region, and creating clusters in Shanghai and Bangkok.This post may contain affiliate and sponsored links. We donate 10% of our sales commissions to charity. If you’re planning a trip to LEGOLAND, you’re in for a treat! We visited LEGOLAND California twice in the same year because our LEGO loving son loved it so much.
The rest of us are not quite as excited about LEGOS, but we all had a lot of fun at this colorful and innovative theme park near San Diego, California. Wondering what you need to know to make your trip to LEGOLAND awesome? I have a 6-year-old son who is passionate about LEGOS and an 8-year-old daughter who isn’t. Both children had a great day at LEGOLAND. The rides are perfect for their ages, and even visitors with a casual interest in the iconic bricks will be delighted and fascinated by LEGO sculptures throughout the park. Teens and adults will find no serious thrill rides at LEGOLAND. Most of the rides are built for guests of all ages, and some require adults to ride with young children. Some rides have minimum height requirements of 34-42 inches. However, even the roller coasters are tame by most theme park standards. My kids loved them. There is no good reason to pay full price at the gate for your tickets at LEGOLAND California! There are several easy ways to get discounted and even FREE tickets.
Want to know how? Join our FREE travel deals email club and we’ll send you this exclusive post: 3 Ways to Save on LEGOLAND California Tickets. Despite Spring Break crowds, one day was enough to get our fill of LEGOLAND, but we didn’t have time to ride every ride or set foot inside either LEGOLAND Water Park or SEA LIFE Aquarium. The 1-Day pass we purchased included a visit to the aquarium, and allowed us to come back to only the aquarium the next day. The LEGOLAND Hotel is located next to the park’s front gate, and is like no other hotel you’ve ever seen. Imagine disco balls in the elevators, bunk beds in the rooms, and colorful LEGO play everywhere! During the busy seasons, the park officially opens at 10:00 a.m., but the turnstiles open at 9:00 a.m. and some of the rides open at 9:30 a.m. We arrived at the ticket window before 9:00, bought our tickets and walked into the park without waiting in line. Guests who arrived a couple of hours later were not so lucky.
Here is a link to LEGOLAND California’s Opening Days and Hours calendar. Find out what time the park opens on the day you will be there. We had 30 minutes to browse the gift shop, which is the biggest and best in the park (see Tip #6), and then rode the Coastersaurus and Safari Trek while wait times were relatively low. If you are not near the front of a line at 9:55 a.m., walk directly to the back of the park and hit the headliners in Pirate Shores, where several water rides are located, or Castle Hill, or scurry to another of your top priority rides. You will not see shorter lines for the rest of the day. Who wants to carry a bag full of souvenirs around the park all day? Use LEGOLAND’s Package Pick-up service. The souvenirs you buy early in the day will be transported to the park exit for you to pick up before you leave. After the first hour, the long waits for major attractions were the only thing about LEGOLAND California Resort that disappointed me. The lines didn’t look so long, but they moved surprisingly slowly.
I think that Disneyland could have moved twice as many people through the lines in the same amount of time. LEGOLAND California Resort does provide play areas full of LEGOS near the lines of their most popular rides so children can play while parents wait in line. They also provide pagers for some rides, so you don’t have to stand in line. By lunchtime, I decided that I didn’t care how many rides we rode and I started enjoying the things that make LEGOLAND different from other theme parks. An area of the park we particularly enjoyed was Fun Town. There are no major rides in Fun Town, so it was less crowded, but completely charming. At the Fun Town Police and Fire Academy, families can compete against each other by moving their hand-powered fire trucks down a lane, shooting a target with water guns and powering back to the finish line. This was perhaps my favorite “ride” in the park. The LEGO Factory Tour and the Adventurer’s Club in Fun Town were interesting and creative walkthrough experiences.
At the nearby LEGO Club, LEGO lovers can build with LEGOs and purchase bricks by the pound. My children also enjoyed the XBOX Family Game Space. My son loves playing LEGO video games at home, and in the Game Space he was able to try out games that we don’t own. We didn’t spend much time here, but it was a fun diversion while my husband held our place in the Chima 4D Movie X-Perience line next door. The 4D Movie was my son’s favorite part of LEGOLAND California Resort. If you’ve seen 4D movies at other parks, this will probably be similar, and of course, it’s an ad for the LEGO kits that are sold in the gift shop. However, it was the only high-priority attraction on my son’s list and he was not disappointed. There are also several playgrounds in the park where children can run and play freely. I wish we’d taken more time to enjoy these. One of the nicest parts of my day was relaxing at a patio table at the Garden Restaurant. This is a counter-service restaurant that offers fresh, healthy fare and great views of Miniland.
When we finally walked into Miniland in the mid-afternoon, my LEGOLAND experience changed from “It’s okay” to “Wow, this is cool!” Imagine the landmarks of Washington D.C., New York City, Las Vegas, San Francisco and New Orleans made of LEGOS. Nearby, you’ll find LEGO busts of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth II, William Shakespeare and other famous faces. Around the corner, every major planet from the Star Wars movies is depicted in LEGOS. As parents, we had to divide and conquer in Miniland. My son would not be torn away from examining the Star Wars worlds he knows well, while my daughter was fascinated by the cities. These are a LEGOLAND speciality. Apple fries are french-fry sliced apples, deep fried and tossed in cinnamon sugar. Vanilla whipped cream is provided for dipping. Find this sweet treat at Granny’s Apple Fries in Castle Hill. One order was not enough for our family of four, but two was plenty. Tip: Granny’s Apple Fries is located next to a castle-themed playground.
This is your chance to take a snack break and let the kids play! This one is just for kids. Many LEGOLAND employees wear LEGO minifigures on their badges, and they will trade if you give them one of your minifigures. If you can’t assemble a minifigure from the LEGO pieces between your couch cushions at home, there is a shop where you can build custom minifigures just inside the entrance to LEGOLAND California. At most theme parks, riding as many rides as possible is usually my top priority. That’s what we paid for, right? The rides at LEGOLAND are fun, but I enjoyed our day a lot more when I allowed myself to experience the whole park, instead of just one aspect of it. We had hoped that this visit to LEGOLAND would be timed perfectly for the ages of our children, and it was. We had a fun day, and hope that these LEGOLAND tips will help you make the most of your visit to LEGOLAND! We recommend booking your LEGOLAND trip with Get Away Today. Find a cheaper vacation package?