Legoland owner leaps 9% on stock market debut Saturday 9 November 2013 01:02 GMT Merlin Entertainments, the group behind London Eye and Madame Tussauds, raised £957m yesterday as it listed on the London Stock Exchange, with its shares leaping 9 per cent on its debut.The Legoland and Warwick Castle operator’s shares rushed up 32p to 347p as it sold a 30 per cent stake priced at 315p, offering retail investors discounts on tickets to its attractions. The chief executive Nick Varney, who sold shares worth £10m in the float, said: “We are delighted with the strong response from both institutions and retail shareholders to our offer. “We have long stated our belief that becoming a public company was Merlin’s ultimate destiny, providing the right long-term ownership to enable the next stage of development.”Its private-equity backers Blackstone and CVC hold 22.6 and 13.1 per cent stakes in the company while the Legoland family trusts own 29.9 per cent. The share offer was nine times oversubscribed.
Institutions have been allotted 87.5 per cent of the shares sale while retail investors, who had to buy a minimum of £1000 worth of shares to get discounts on entry tickets, ended up with 12.5 per cent of the 304 million shares on offer. After paying off the investors selling their stakes, the float raised £165m for reducing debt.A fun spot for the youngsters, with more than 60 rides across a site that spans 52 hectares, LEGOLAND® California Resort is located by the ocean in Carlsbad, about 50 kilometres north of San Diego. It is home to a hotel and water park, along with shows and attractions based on the world-famous toy bricks. The resort has different zones, each of which has its own rides and games, from Pirates Shores and Dino Island to Fun Town and Castle Hill. LEGO pirate ship, LEGO animals, LEGO cars—you can find all this and much more besides. Wander round Miniland USA, where 20 million LEGO pieces have been used to build replicas of seven different American cities, from New York and Washington D.C. all the way across the continent to San Francisco.
Miniature versions of the Golden Gate Bridge, Central Park and the Lincoln Memorial are all on display too. For a different perspective on Miniland, take to the water on the Coast Cruise. If you’re visiting with toddlers, check out DUPLO Village with its life-sized LEGO giraffes, zebras and lions. Meanwhile in Fun Town you can even explore the LEGO Factory and see LEGO bricks being moulded, decorated and packed. Head to the Police and Fire Academy to see fire engines rushing to put out blazes and cops chasing robbers. Elsewhere at Dino Land and Castle Hill the kids can take a ride on the fun roller coasters or cool down in the water rides on Pirate Shores. Kids can even take the wheel and steer mini LEGO boats around the marina. If you want to stay over, as well as the LEGOLAND Resort hotel there are local lodgings available. The different dining establishments around the park serve everything from pizzas and classic hickory-smoked ribs to light sandwiches and salads. Shops are also open where you can find souvenirs to take home or build up your LEGO collection.
The resort is open from Thursdays to Mondays, with opening times extended during some holiday periods. Check the opening hours before you visit, as these change depending on the season.It’s my nine-year-old nephew’s favourite Legoland ride. No, not the rollercoasters, the log flume or the pirates’ ship – the submarine voyage which takes riders on an ‘underwater’ voyage, meeting buried (fake) treasure, and (real) sharks.We make a beeline for it as soon as we arrive at the Windsor theme park, past the Eiffel Tower, Times Square and the London Eye - and, much to Callum’s delight - Taylor Swift, which are all made out of the tiny bricks, of course.Despite it being one of the last Sundays in the school summer holidays, the park is fairly quiet - so making sure we were at the gates when they opened at 10am was worth it - and there was only a short queue to pick up our Q-Bot Express passes, which allows us to effectively queue-jump our favourite rides from 11am. Legoland's Q-Bot Express passes allow you to queue jump from 11am and electronically book Onto rides
Riders on the park's Atlantis submarine ride can see black-tip reef sharks, rays and 50 species of tropical fish I fork out extra so we can get instant access to our first ride as Callum is so excited to go on it again after his first time at the park last year. The staff tell me it will be busy, so, not fancying an hour’s wait, I waiver and pay the extra £2 each.Although it turns out to be £6 wasted as there’s no queue when we arrive. Our first ride is just as good as Callum remembers it to be, as we glide around one of the Atlantis submarines, which is made out of 400,000 Lego bricks. Mini London: The park boasts Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye all made out of bricks The theme park is a favourite with youngsters who can act out their fantasies of dragon fights and battles He eagerly points out black-tip reef sharks, rays and 50 species of tropical fish. The ride is over too soon and he wants to go on it again, so we join the (still) short queue and use our Q-Bot pass to book our place on the Dino Safari while we look at sharks again.
We head over to our next ride (and book ourselves on to the Jolly Rocker while we're making our way there), camouflaged jeeps that slowly take riders around an ancient jungle filled with prehistoric monsters all made out of colourful bricks. Callum enjoys it, but it’s not exciting enough for him.Callum’s eager to get to Pirate Shores, so we wander that way and head to the Jolly Rocker. Our Q-Bot device is telling us that we still have a 40-minute wait for the next ride, but the queue looks rather short.My husband and Callum take the gamble while I stand this one out (it’s far too high for me). They are on, screaming and waving their hands in the air, and then off again before our buzzer even goes off. In Dino Safari camouflaged jeeps take riders around a jungle filled with dinosaurs made out of colourful bricks Taylor Swift is the latest addition to the park - made out of tiny Legoland bricksWe dart from the Windsor Resort Driving School - where children are in control of small vehicles and have to adhere to the rules of the road, including stopping at red lights - before visiting the Star Wars display - 1,500 models using 1.5 million Lego bricks.
After munching our packed lunches, we head to Pirate Shores for the Pirate Falls ride. After the buzzer goes off, we still have a further 15 minutes to wait - but it’s nowhere near as long as the main queue.I pull the short straw so get designated to sit in the front seat. Callum is wedged in the middle, and my husband is at the back. As we drift around, random Lego models squirt water at us, and at one stage, there are water guns which can be fired by other guests on dry land. Then comes the climb, and the slow tick-ticking of the mechanism pulling the weight of the ride up the steep hill. It’s then flat for a few minutes before we’re poised over the edge of a tall drop, before being let go.I close my eyes and scream (unlike Callum, who’s completely cool about it), and get showered in water, so much so, that as we walk out of the ride, a little boy points at me and laughs. For parents looking for somewhere to visit over the current half-term, Legoland is hosting its popular Brick Or Treat (until Nov 2), with various games to entertain youngsters
Over the next two weekends (24/25 and 30/31), will be this year’s fireworks spectacular - the skies will light up in a dramatic pyrotechnic performanceDrenched and needing to warm up, we decide to call it a day. We been on about 10 rides, which I doubt we would have done without the Q-Bot pass. It’s an extra expense, and adds to the overall cost of the day, but it terms of the flexibility it gives you - with a hyperactive nine-year-old - it’s priceless.For parents looking for somewhere to visit over the current half-term, Legoland is hosting its popular Brick Or Treat (until Nov 2), with various games to entertain youngsters.And over the next two weekends (24/25 and 30/31), will be this year’s fireworks spectacular - the skies will light up in a dramatic pyrotechnic performance perfectly choreographed to a ninja-inspired soundtrack. Gate prices to Legoland Windsor cost from £33.75 for children and £36.90 for adults. The Q-Bot Express, which includes 21 rides and attractions, is £35 per person.