Carlsbad, Friday, 7 November 2025.
Merlin announced yesterday Thursday a dual‑coast rollout of LEGO® Galaxy—a more than $90 million investment across LEGOLAND® California and Florida—anchored by Galacticoaster, billed as the first indoor, space‑themed family coaster, opening in early 2026. For retail and park ops professionals this is notable both as a synchronized product deployment and as a staged experiential marketing play: a nationwide “Junior Galaxy Explorers” contest invites kids aged 6–12 to submit LEGO spacecraft creations by 31 December 2025, generating earned media and testing guest interest pre‑opening. Operational implications include indoor coaster throughput and AV‑driven storytelling integration, cross‑resort marketing coordination, and clear upside for F&B and retail capture through themed merchandise, limited‑edition builds and stay packages. Expect opportunities to influence repeat visitation windows, seasonal programming, and loyalty offers tied to annual passes. The contest also serves as a soft‑launch mechanism to validate guest flow and messaging ahead of commercial operations.
Immediate context: Merlin’s announcement and scope
Merlin Entertainments announced yesterday Thursday a coordinated, dual‑coast rollout called LEGO® Galaxy: a program described by Merlin as a combined investment of more than $90 million across LEGOLAND® California (Carlsbad) and LEGOLAND® Florida (Winter Haven), anchored by a headline attraction named Galacticoaster and supported by immersive LEGO® space environments and guest‑experience elements [1]. The public-facing launch includes a nationwide search for a team of “Junior Galaxy Explorers,” a family engagement contest for children aged 6–12 to submit LEGO spacecraft creations by 31 December 2025, which Merlin positions as part of the pre‑opening program for early‑2026 openings at both resorts [1].
The headline asset: Galacticoaster as a product play
Merlin markets Galacticoaster as the first indoor, space‑themed family coaster intended to transport families into a LEGO imagination‑based universe — language used repeatedly in the company’s release describing the ride as a central, experiential anchor for LEGO® Galaxy [1]. For product planners this signals a family‑centric coaster concept focused on storytelling and indoor environmental control (lighting, sound, AV and set dressing) rather than pure thrill metrics, which aligns with Merlin’s stated creative positioning for the land [1][GPT].
Operational implications: throughput, AV integration and soft‑launch testing
A synchronized, indoor coaster rollout at two resorts creates immediate operational tasks: indoor coaster throughput planning, tight integration of show AV with ride control for immersive narrative beats, and verification of guest circulation in enclosed lands — all elements implicitly underscored by Merlin’s emphasis on an indoor, story‑led coaster and supporting space environments [1][GPT]. The Junior Galaxy Explorers contest functions as a staged experiential marketing tool and a soft‑launch mechanism that can produce early guest flow data, test signage and pre‑show messaging, and surface bottlenecks in queuing and entry that are more difficult to simulate in purely internal tests [1][GPT].
Commercial levers: retail, F&B and packages
A themed land tied to an owned IP rollout like LEGO® Galaxy typically expands per‑cap spend opportunities: limited‑edition LEGO builds, Galacticoaster‑branded apparel, collectible retail lines and themed F&B offer clear upside, while resort‑level packaging (hotel stays, early‑entry or annual‑pass tie‑ins) leverages the opening to lengthen stays and lift ancillary revenue — observations that follow directly from the program design Merlin announced and from prevailing industry revenue models for IP‑led attractions [1][GPT].
Merlin’s nationwide contest invites entrants in the continental U.S. to submit creations in‑person at specified children’s museums or digitally by the 31 December 2025 deadline; winners will be the first to ride Galacticoaster at the nearest park and receive travel accommodations (for digital winners), hotel stays, annual passes and commemorative LEGO builds as described in the release — an activation designed to generate earned media, family‑oriented social content and early storytelling assets ahead of commercial operations [1].
What this means for cross‑resort strategy and scheduling
Deploying a synchronized attraction rollout on both U.S. coasts tightens demands on Merlin’s cross‑resort marketing coordination, supply‑chain timing for specialized retail SKUs, and synchronization of opening‑week experiences; Merlin’s announcement that both resorts will open LEGO® Galaxy in early 2026 frames this as a planned, time‑bound rollout rather than staggered test openings, with implied needs for unified messaging and parallel operational readiness [1][GPT].
Uncertainties and metrics industry professionals should watch
Key unknowns remain in public materials: projected attendance uplifts, target throughput for the Galacticoaster, and detailed SKU counts for retail or the scale of themed F&B operations — these figures were not provided in Merlin’s announcement and will be material for revenue and staffing forecasts [alert! ‘Merlin’s press release does not disclose attendance or per‑cap projections, nor detailed ride throughput or SKU counts’] [1].
Bronnen