Legoland: The Great Lego Race VR Coaster (3 Parks)

[Justin]

Merlin Entertainments has revealed plans to introduce a high-adrenaline virtual reality (VR) experience to rollercoasters in three of its parks.

The all-new VR element will be available at Legoland Malaysia Resort, Legoland Florida Resort and Legoland Deutschland Resort, and will be an update to the existing Project X coasters.

Dubbed the Great Lego Race, the immersive family thrill ride will challenge guests to don their VR headsets and “face, race and beat” a line-up of competitors from the world of Lego, including Trendsetter, Pharaoh, Surfer Girl, Wizard and Pirate Captain.

“The Great Lego Race was inspired by the way kids play with Lego toys at home,” said Candy Holland, senior creative director for Merlin Magic Making. “It’s a unique Lego adventure that lets kids enter an epic imaginary world made entirely from Lego bricks, featuring a host of different themes and fun Lego characters, all mixed up together.”



Following a pre-show which explains the concept and VR experience to visitors, guests board the ride and are immediately surrounded by the roar of engines and a view of fellow racers preparing for the starter’s orders. Bluetooth technology ensures every twist and turn of the rollercoaster is synchronised to the Lego-brick world inside the riders’ headsets.

The new attraction, which is suitable for children aged six and over, is scheduled to open in late 2017 at Legoland Malaysia and in 2018 at the brand’s Florida and Deutschland Resorts.

Guests will also have the option to ride without the VR headset.

Source: Attraction Management

[Bert]

I'm assuming the VR was made by Figment Productions? 

I also wouldn't be suprised if we saw extra Lego VR coasters come to other Legoland parks at some point in the future.

 Also the issue here is that the Legoland parks get higher attendence than the Theme Park Resorts and signifigantly larger queues than their Theme Park Resort counterparts, these rides are going to get insanely long queues, and Wild Mouses don't have the highest of throughputs.

[Liam.W]

I'm assuming the VR was made by Figment Productions? 

I highly doubt Merlin would want to work with Figment again.

[theparklifekid]

I'm assuming the VR was made by Figment Productions? 

I highly doubt Merlin would want to work with Figment again.

I think that there is a possiblity that Figment could be used for this, it could be due to a contract agreement or as its the only VR company merlin has worked with. Sure they had issues with Galactica, but they did Kraken Unleashed at Seaworld, which from what I've heard is a vastly superior experience. So it kinda makes sense to use them again. 

[Liam.W]

Why would they want to work with a company they were on the verge of suing due to not meeting expectations by a country mile? I'd be very very surprised if they used Figment again.

[lewis97]

It appears the VR content for The Great LEGO Race is being produced by MackMedia rather than Figment Productions, with it available to preview on the Coastiality app (there's also a video on LEGOLAND Florida's Twitter). I do wonder whether the fact that they're not looking to create a real-world environment in the VR will make it more or less effective.



Obviously, the reasoning behind this choice is unconfirmed, so it could be due to Merlin not wishing to work with Figment again at this time, or perhaps it's because the VR is going onto coasters manufactured by Mack.

[Bert]

Turns out the VR video will be Figment Productions but will be MackMedia in the sense of the other Mack VR coasters where the headset is given to the rider instead of the headset being attached to the train.

Interesting. I wonder how much longer Merlin's VR 'trend' will last.