Malaysia first international theme park, Legoland Malaysia finally opens its door to the public today in mid of September. It is the fifth Legoland in the world. Merlin Entertainment, the company behind this chain of theme parks would opens up few more Legoland theme parks in Asia (at Dubai, Japan and South Korea) with Legoland Malaysia to be the first. Legoland Malaysia is located at Nusajaya, Johor under Iskandar Development Region, a multi-billion project proposed many years ago to boost huge-scale development over the region, taking its advantage of being near to Singapore. The parks’ rides are targeted to families with younger children (11 and below) and are all Lego themed; many are made to appear as if they are built out of Lego bricks. The water park and the hotel for Legoland Malaysia are still under construction and would be open somewhere in 2013 or 2014.
(Image above showing the map of the theme park obtained from Legoland Malaysia official website; http://www.legoland.com.my)
Few weeks ago, some have had the privilege to enter the newly-built theme park for a sneak preview over the attractions available in the 510 000 metre square area. I have had also viewed some images taken featuring rides, shops and lego-built miniatures of famous landmarks around the world and I’m quite impressed. Of course, I have no interest over the rides because they are not the extreme ones, and are only targeted for small kids. My attention is towards the many miniature models of famous structures around the world like Taj Mahal, Forbidden City, Angkor Wat, and etc built out of lego-bricks which are really wonderful and appealing. The builders had also paid careful attention to details so that those models would look as cool and as realistic even if viewed closer. I find also that there is a section showing miniatures of Singapore’s famous landmarks too, which are generally built to cater for nearby Singapore tourists.
(Image above showing the crowd waiting near Legoland Malaysia’s main entrance to open. This image is from Legoland Malaysia official Facebook page)
Of course, the unique addition to this Legoland Malaysia would be a complex of models featuring iconic cityscape of Kuala Lumpur (and also Johor) and that miniatures of Petronas Twin Tower and KL Tower are no doubt present. Typical KL old streets having courtyard houses lining the roads are also featured in that complex of lego-built models. Good. Ahh…I have seen most of that in pictures without even having to get there to see it, but I believe it would be much interesting to be there myself to see all that. However, the price seems to be quite expensive. If I am to choose, I still prefer to pick Universal Studio Theme Park in Singapore, rather than this Legoland Malaysia.
Not to say that I’m not supporting Malaysia’s theme parks but Universal Studios is much more suitable and appealing with not-to-be-missed excitement from the thrilling rides and attractions it offers. Anyway, it’s still good to have international theme park over here in Malaysia, not only for Malaysians’ families entertainment but also to boost the country’s tourism and image by inviting more foreign visitors. Hmm..it’s time to plan for another international theme park in Malaysia, and it would be good if it’s to be located at the capital itself, Kuala Lumpur or at its surrounding vicinity in Selangor state. Six Flags? Disneyland? That would be cool… You can check out Legoland Malaysia’s official website to check out more and find out whether you are interested to go or not.
