Legoland Korea, a decade in the making, opens on Children's Day

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Legoland Korea, a decade in the making, opens on Children's Day

Merlin Entertainments Managing Director John Jakobsen, left in second row, poses with Legoland Korea Resort Divisional Director Phil Royle, right in second row, at the opening ceremony of Legoland Korea on Thursday. [NEWS1]

Merlin Entertainments Managing Director John Jakobsen, left in second row, poses with Legoland Korea Resort Divisional Director Phil Royle, right in second row, at the opening ceremony of Legoland Korea on Thursday. [NEWS1]

 
Legoland Korea Resort opened on Thursday to laughter and shouts of joy, and also to the sounds of protest.  
 
A total of 10,000 people visited the amusement park, located on Jungdo Island in Chuncheon, Gangwon, on the first day. Legoland Korea Resort held an opening ceremony at 10 a.m., welcoming visitors with a parade of various Lego figures.  
 
The 280,000-square-meter (30-million-square-foot) amusement park has seven clusters with different themes. It has about 40 attractions.  
 
Korea is the second Legoland out of the 10 around the world to offer the Lego Factory Adventure Ride. The attraction is located on Brick Street, one of the seven sections, and visitors can take the ride to tour a Lego factory mock-up.  
 
In Miniland, Lego bricks are stacked to look like famous Korean landmarks, such as Gyeongbok Palace and Haeundae beach in Busan in miniature size.  
 
The Lego City section lets visitors buckle up for rides on various vehicles. They can drive a Lego car around a race track at the Driving School attraction, with those 3 to 5 allowed to enjoy the same experience at a separate track at the Junior Driving School. People can get on a speed boat at the Coast Guard Academy to motor around a water canal or get on a fire truck at the Fire Academy and shoot water cannon at miniature houses.
 
Visitors drive cars around a race track at Legoland Korea Resort's Driving School. [NEWS1]

Visitors drive cars around a race track at Legoland Korea Resort's Driving School. [NEWS1]

 
Legoland Korea Resort mostly offers kid-friendly attractions, but also has rides for thrill-seekers. The Dragon is a roller coaster located in the Lego Castle section. It winds through a medieval-themed castle and shoots up into the sky at a speed of 60 kilometers (37 miles) per hour.  
 
Visitors can ride Anchors Away at the Pirate Shores section, a pirate ship that rocks people side to side.
 
Only a set number of visitors are allowed per day, and reservations are required. Tickets for the opening day were all sold out, as well as those for Friday.
 
Tickets are 50,000 won per person, and 40,000 won for children under 13.  
 
The journey to open Legoland Korea Resort started in 2011 when Merlin Entertainments signed a deal with Gangwon Province.  
 
In 2013, ancient artifacts, including dolmen megalithic tombs, were excavated at the site where Legoland was being built. The artifacts were removed and temporarily kept in a greenhouse near the site and left unattended.  
 
Gangwon Jungdo Development (GJD), 44.02 percent owned by Gangwon Province and the builder of Legoland Resort Korea, promised to construct a relics park to preserve the artifacts. The promise has yet to be fulfilled due to the construction company struggling to raise the money needed to build the park, which will cost around 28 billion won.
 
Civic groups against the opening of Legoland Korea Resort gathered near the amusement park on Thursday and held banners in protest, demanding the company build a relics park.  
 
Poole, Britain-based Merlin is licensed to operate theme parks globally. The Lego Group sold its theme park operation to Merlin when it ran into financial trouble in the early 2000s, though the family that owns The Lego Group owns half of Merlin.
 
 

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]
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