China: Merlin Entertainment Reveals Plans for LEGOLAND® Shanghai Resort

Merlin Entertainments never sleeps. Following the announcment of the development LEGOLAND® Sichuan Resort at the end of September (cf. EAP news 27. Sep 2019), Merlin today announced the creation of LEGOLAND Shanghai Resort. The second LEGO® resort for China will be one the largest in the world and will open including a 250-room fully themed hotel. To fund the development and the construction of the new resort, which is estimated at an investment volume of about 500 million British Pounds (580 million Euro), Merlin Entertainment will form a joint venture with the government of Jinshan District, media and entertainment conglomerate CMC Inc. and investment company KIRKBI. “[…] We are pleased to work together with Jinshan District, Merlin, and KIRKBI to make LEGOLAND Shanghai Resort an exhilarating destination,“ says Li Rui Gang, Chairman and CEO of CMC Inc.

Nick Varney, Chief Executive of Merlin Entertainments, comments: “I’m delighted that we are able to realise the development of a LEGOLAND Resort in Shanghai; one of the most vibrant cities in the world. A gateway city with modern consumers, Shanghai is already the home of many Merlin brands, and it has been our ambition for some time to build a full-scale theme park that offers the people of Shanghai and visitors to the area the opportunity to immerse themselves in a unique LEGOLAND experience.“ The new LEGOLAND Resort will be located in the mentioned Jinshan District in the south west of Shanghai with a two-hour catchment of 55 million people and will not open its gates to visitors until after 2023. Right now Merlin operates 13 different Midway attractions in China, five oft hem in Shanghai. (eap)