Merlin Entertainments is building a third North American Legoland theme park in New York state with an investment of $350m.
The park will be built in Goshen, Orange County, 60 miles northwest of New York City and serving a catchment area of 23 million people. Opening is planned for 2020 and will be built alongside a 250-room Legoland hotel, open all year and decorated with hundreds of Lego models made from its toy building blocks.
“Legoland New York is the first new major theme park in the North East of the U.S. for several decades, and is perfectly located for visitors from New York, Boston and Philadelphia and beyond,” Merlin chief executive, Nick Varney said.
“At $350 million it is our largest investment in a single park to date, and our third Legoland Park in North America, the world’s largest market for theme parks and the Lego brand.”
The firm recently released its third quarter trading update in which it said trading had been “mixed” in recent weeks and predicted flat like-for-like revenue growth over the year ahead. It also revealed plans to open the first Bear Grylls Adventure attraction at the NEC next year and has also signed a multi-territory deal for the Peppa Pig license.