Only On Six: Behind the scenes of Legoland NY Resort
GOSHEN, NY (WRGB) - A new amusement park is in the works, just a few hours from the Capital Region, in the Hudson Valley: LEGOLAND NY Resort.
It's being built in Goshen, NY and is scheduled to open on July 4, 2020. It's the 9th LEGOLAND theme park in the world, and only the 3rd in the United States.
"Orange County here in the Hudson Valley is such an amazing tourist destination. I think people are really starting to discover it and everything it has to offer." Matt Besterman, a spokesman for LEGOLAND NY Resort said.
The park site is currently under construction. "We have rides being installed right now. The track for our Dragon coaster is in, it’s installed, we’ve got buildings going up," Besterman said. "Our theme park is 150 acres which makes it the largest LEGOLAND theme park ever built!"
CBS6 got an exclusive tour of the warehouse where the ride vehicles and LEGO decorations are being stored in the meantime. "This is really the toy box of LEGOLAND NY Resort!." Besterman said as we walked around.
The park is designed to fully immerse you in the LEGO world. Almost everything looks like a LEGO piece. And LEGO blocks helped the creative team design the park.
"We design all the buildings, the ride vehicles, the props, the models out of LEGO bricks first. Then we use those designs and scale them up 25x the size of the toy, and that’s kinda the basis of everything you see." Andy Martin, the Creative Lead for LEGOLAND Developments said.
In the park you'll go on a journey through seven themed lands, with 50 rides, shows, and attractions and 15,000 real LEGO models scattered throughout!
There's Brick Street when you enter, Brick-topia, LEGO City, Mini Land, and the well-known themes like Ninjago, Pirates, and the Medieval Castle with the Dragon ride.
The Dragon rollercoaster is LEGOLAND's signature ride. "You start as a slow moving, very mysterious journey through the castle," Martin said. "As the ride goes on it, culminates into this pink-knuckle thrill ride rollercoaster that zooms around the forest of the castle area outside." Martin describes it as the perfect "My First Rollercoaster" for kids.
The Pirate-themed land is full of water rides for the hot summer days. There will be splash battles and jet-skis.
LEGOLAND NY Resort will have a new attraction - the Lego Factory Adventure, that transforms you into a mini figure!
LEGOLAND is designed mainly for kids ages 2-12, but the whole family will have fun. The designers say what makes Legoland special is that it's a theme park that inspires fun and creative learning.
"It’s a great opportunity for the whole family to get together and do something hands on together." Martin said.
"Everything is interactive. You’re building together, you’re riding together, you’re learning together." Besterman said.
LEGOLAND NY Resort Opens on July 4th. The park will be open seasonally from spring through late fall. A LEGOLAND hotel will open in 2021.
Tickets and hotel options are available online. For more information visit: https://www.legoland.com/new-york/
