China opens world's largest LEGOLAND park in Shanghai

The first Legoland theme park in China officially opened on the morning of July 5 in Shanghai, the 11th Legoland park in the world .

The amusement park covers an area of 318,000 square meters, making it the largest Legoland in the world.

In the center is a 26m high model with the Chinese characters "Shanghai" and a heart symbol, surrounded by roller coasters.

Visitors can also take a boat ride past miniature Lego models of the ancient Bund area, or visit the indoor area with large models simulating traditional Shanghai landscapes and architecture.

Legoland Shanghai also has a 250-room hotel themed after Lego characters. In total, there are more than 75 attractions divided into 8 themed areas, using more than 85 million Lego bricks.

According to John Jakobsen, director of strategic development at Merlin Entertainments, which operates the Legoland theme park chain, Lego has grown strongly in China, both as a brand and as a toy company. The size of the market and the popularity of the Lego brand have helped the company decide that this is the right time to expand its operations in China.

Legoland Shanghai is located in Jinshan District, about a 90-minute drive from downtown Shanghai or an 18-minute high-speed train ride from one of the city's main stations. Although the surrounding area is still largely agricultural , Legoland's presence has spurred development projects, including a nearby shopping mall.

The confidence in the Lego brand in China is also reflected in the high ticket prices for Legoland Shanghai. On opening day, adult tickets cost 549 yuan ($76.60) while tickets for children aged 2 to 12 were 439 yuan.

On the same day, the adult ticket price at Legoland Japan was 6,600 yen (45.9 USD). The adult ticket prices in Korea and Malaysia were 57,000 won (41.9 USD) and 199 ringgit (47.1 USD), respectively.

The Legoland Shanghai project appears to have learned lessons from the Legoland Chuncheon Park in South Korea.

The park in the Land of Kimchi, which opened in May 2022, encountered initial difficulties due to its location about a two-hour drive from the capital Seoul, limited public transport and difficulty in accessing it for families.

Legoland Chuncheon reported a loss of more than 20 billion won ($14.6 million) in 2023. However, CEO Scott Lee said the park has narrowed its losses and expects to turn a profit this year.

However, local politicians have expressed mixed opinions, saying that Legoland Korea has not fulfilled its commitment to creating jobs and contributing to the local economy, and have also questioned the transparency of its annual visitor numbers.

In China, the opening of Legoland comes as the amusement park industry in the world's second-largest economy is struggling as consumers tighten their spending.

Disney media and entertainment company said the decline in visitors to Shanghai Disneyland theme park caused the global revenue of its parks and experiences business in the first quarter of 2025 to decline./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/trung-quoc-khai-truong-cong-vien-legoland-lon-nhat-the-gioi-tai-thuong-hai-post1048089.vnp