Knights' Tournament (Ritter-Turnier) soll der Name einer neu zu installierenden Robocoaster-Attraktion im kalifornischen Legoland in Carlsbad sein.
Mehr über Besucherzahlen, über die geplanten Verkaufsabsichten und die geplanten Projekte gibt es hier:

Zitat

Legoland California says visitors, revenues up sharply in 2004


By: EDMOND JACOBY - Staff Writer

CARLSBAD ---- Legoland California reversed the trend of recent years and posted sharply increased revenues for 2004, the amusement park's general manager said Thursday. "Last year, our attendance was up more than 9 percent, from 1.3 million visitors to 1.42 million," said General Manager John Jakobsen after a press briefing, at which the park's performance and expansion plans were outlined.

"Our revenues rose even more; they were up 11 percent from 2003 to 2004," he said.

The Lego Co., the family-owned Danish parent of Legoland amusement parks in Denmark, Germany, England and Carlsbad, announced last fall that it was seeking potential investors, either to own the parks or to own shares in park holding companies. Jakobsen had no information, he said, about the potential for an ownership change at the park before summer.

"There has been a very long list of companies that have expressed interest," Jakobsen said, "but no negotiations have taken place yet."

According to Jakobsen, whatever ownership changes do take place, "our guests will not see any difference. This is a very healthy business; all of that will go on behind closed doors."

According to Legoland California spokeswoman Kimberly Clark, revenues rose faster than attendance because visitors to the park spent more money on food and other items.

"Our ticket prices have not changed in a couple of years," Clark said.

Adult admission to the park costs $45. Children between ages 3 and 12 and seniors older than 60 pay $38 to enter the park.

In addition, Clark said, for the first time in 2004, Legoland members ---- subscribers to annual passes ---- were given an opportunity to buy discontinued Legoland goods at a "Tent Sale" at discounted prices.

"That alone can account for quite a bit of our added revenues," Clark said.

"We've also added new food services, including dinner options," she said.

Jakobsen attributed the growth of both attendance and revenues to the addition of five attractions last year and said they plan to open three more this year.

The most elaborate will be the Knights' Tournament, which is slated to open on Memorial Day.

Accounting for a big slice of the coming year's $5.8 million capital expansion budget, Knights' Tournament looks like it was borrowed from NASA's astronaut training facility.

Expansion details


Legoland says its 2005 expansion will include:

# Knights' Tournament, an articulated robotic arm with two passenger seats attached at the arm's free end. The arm turns, spins, extends, retracts and bobbles while the seats, moving together, rise, fall, spin and shake. Six of the arms will make up the attraction, which is similar to rides now in use at Legoland parks in Germany and Denmark.

# Miniland New York, a relaunching of the New York skyline exhibit made of Lego bricks, featuring a Lego reproduction of the as-yet-unbuilt Freedom Tower that will be the tallest Lego structure in the world. It is set to open March 11.

# Wildwoods Golf, a miniature golf course opening in summer.

nctimes.com 12_02_461_27_05.txt

Et voilá, Kings Tournament ist da.
signonsandiego.com 20050527-9999-1mi27lego.html

Zitat

By James Steinberg
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

May 27, 2005


SANDY HUFFAKER
Christine Nixon and her son Jacob, 4, won an auction to be among the first riders of Legoland's new attraction. Son Christopher got his chance later in the day.
CARLSBAD – Legoland California unveiled its newest attraction yesterday, and among its first riders was the family of a local Marine who is a husband and father on his third tour of duty in Iraq.

Christine Nixon and her son Jacob, 4, joined 10 other people to twirl around at the end of one of the ride's six robotic arms after winning first-ride honors in an online auction.

Nixon's husband, Master Sgt. Derrick Nixon, is with the 1st Intelligence Battalion, based at Camp Pendleton, and she said the family, which also includes son Christopher, 5, visits Legoland regularly.

"They love this place, and their daddy used to bring them here all the time," she said. "They were just dying to come."

The new ride, called Knights' Tournament, puts a dozen riders at a time through a series of gyrations. Each of its rotating robotic arms has a seat for two, and riders can choose one of five activity levels, from gentle to extreme. The arms swing in circles, go up and down, and even turn riders upside-down if they want.

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But while Jacob got to sit next to mom as the ride went through its paces, Christopher had to stand by and watch.

"I couldn't leave Jacob by himself while I was on the ride," Nixon said, explaining why the younger one rode first.

Christopher would get his chance later in the day, she said, and part of her auction package was the right to go to the head of any line for any attraction.

The auction was sponsored by Legoland, and the six winning bids to be first on Knights' Tournament averaged about $200 each, said park spokeswoman Kimberly Clark. Legoland is donating the $1,200 to the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association, which sponsors therapeutic riding programs.

One of the beneficiaries is a program at the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, Clark said.

Knights' Tournament is one of eight rides to open at the 126-acre Legoland in a 17-month period that began last year with the addition of Coastersaurus, Funtown Fire Academy and four others.

Wild Woods Golf will open in five weeks, and one more attraction will follow later in the year.

Though Knights' Tournament is new to Legoland California, the ride was already operating at the Legoland parks in Denmark and Germany, Clark said.

Riders choose one of five levels of intensity before they board, said ride operator Mike Pastor of Vista.

"I've been on all five levels, and I'd have to go with Four. It's got some really cool moves," he said. "Five is a lot more upside-down."

Legoland rides are aimed primarily at children 2 to 12 and their families and are gentler than many at other amusement parks. Some rides have height requirements of 34 inches or more, and riders must be at least 40 inches for Knights' Tournament.

Nixon and son Jacob experienced a mandatory Level One on their first ride. She judged it too tame. Jacob said it was "fun."

"Maybe we'll go for a Two or Three later," his mother said after watching the next group of riders get spun and gyrated at Levels Two through Five.

Cheering the riders on were 170 7th-graders and their teachers from Calavera Hills Middle School in Carlsbad, who were Legoland's guests for the day.

Knights' Tournaments' robotic arms are computer-driven and were developed for automotive assembly lines, where they are programmed to assemble and weld vehicles, Clark said.

"They have 1.4 million possible movement combinations, and we could script five new ones next year," she said.

Clark didn't have an exact cost of the new ride but said Legoland California's capital expenditure budget this year is $6 million and Knights' Tournament took most of it.