Speaker 1: A new high tech ride at Legoland, California. What's going on.
Speaker 1: I'm rich Demiro. This is Rich on Tech, and I
Speaker 1: am here at Legolands, California, on the scene of a
Speaker 1: brand new ride that is just about to open. It's
Speaker 1: called Lego City Deep Sea Adventure submarine ride, and it's
Speaker 1: pretty cool. I just got a behind the scenes tour
Speaker 1: and here to talk about it with me is Julia Strada.
Speaker 1: She heads up pr for all of North America for
Speaker 1: Merlin Entertainments. By the way, that's entertainments with an S.
Speaker 2: It is Merlin Entertainments Plurals, the large attractions operator in
Speaker 2: the world, second largest in the United States. We have
Speaker 2: more than one hundred and twenty attractions now in twenty
Speaker 2: four different countries and four continents.
Speaker 1: Okay, so you have Lego Land. What else do you
Speaker 1: guys do?
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have Legoland Parks, Lego Land, Discovery Centers, Sea Life,
Speaker 2: aquariums and dungeons, Madame Tussau, the London Eye, and then
Speaker 2: in Europe there's Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Gardland. I mean,
Speaker 2: we're everywhere, so.
Speaker 1: London I too. Okay, so tell me about Lego City
Speaker 1: Deep Sea Adventure submarine and we just got a little tour.
Speaker 1: So basically, tell me the premise of this ride.
Speaker 2: I am so excited about this ride for many reasons.
Speaker 2: One is the first of it's kind of North America.
Speaker 2: We actually pride ourselves in being the first for everybody. Right,
Speaker 2: So we come to Lego in California. You're the first
Speaker 2: to drive a car. So the kid's first car ride,
Speaker 2: it's their first boat ride, it's their first roller coaster,
Speaker 2: it's their first time down a water slide, and this
Speaker 2: will be their first trip on a submarine. I mean,
Speaker 2: how many kids can say they've been on a real submarine.
Speaker 2: So families will go into the submarine. You boord in
Speaker 2: and as you get into the sub you go underwater
Speaker 2: and it's three hundred thousand, three hundred thousand gallon tank.
Speaker 2: And inside this tank you'll see more than two thousand
Speaker 2: real live sharks and tropical fish and rays. And as
Speaker 2: you're underwater, you're looking for Lego treasure.
Speaker 1: That's what really struck me is the amount of fish
Speaker 1: in this exhibit. And right now, I hear you only
Speaker 1: have about half of what you're eventually going.
Speaker 2: To have, right, so we're slowly acclimating a man. I mean,
Speaker 2: this is the first time we've done this, so Marie Collins,
Speaker 2: who is our curator for Sea Life Aquariums, fortunately has
Speaker 2: some experience in this kind of thing. We do have
Speaker 2: this ride and three of our other parks in Dubai
Speaker 2: and the UK and in Japan they don't have the
Speaker 2: Lego City element, so there's a lot of first to ours,
Speaker 2: which is really exciting. We have the Lego City element.
Speaker 2: We have the talking minifigure. As you're in the pre show,
Speaker 2: so you're looking at this minifigure and as a kid,
Speaker 2: imagine this. You play with the dolls, you play with toys,
Speaker 2: and you pretend that they're talking to you, but this
Speaker 2: one really is talking. There's a projector that goes on
Speaker 2: his face and is talking to the kids, giving them
Speaker 2: instructions on how they bore the ride.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it kind of reminds me of almost like the
Speaker 1: Lego movies where you see the little minifigures come to
Speaker 1: life and that's it's the first time you've ever done
Speaker 1: that technology. Okay, so we saw the ride. I think
Speaker 1: people are really gonna you almost get immersed in this
Speaker 1: world of this deep sea adventure because there's so many
Speaker 1: amazing lights in there. The subs are big. The fish,
Speaker 1: I mean, I really just can't believe how amazing the
Speaker 1: fish are. The colors and the types you have in there.
Speaker 1: I mean from big giant sharks that are going to
Speaker 1: get bigger to little tiny fish. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And these subs, I mean, these are twenty two thousand pounds.
Speaker 2: They're not messing around here. These are real subs. So
Speaker 2: as you get in and you're boarding, you're using these
Speaker 2: interactive touch pads which are high tech and they're correlated
Speaker 2: so that everywhere along the route that the submarine is going,
Speaker 2: we know where the treasure is. And as you're going through,
Speaker 2: kids are looking for gems, they're looking for pearls, they're
Speaker 2: looking for swords, they're looking for all different kinds of treasure.
Speaker 2: And as they see it, they touch it on the
Speaker 2: touch screen. If it's correct, a little diver or lego
Speaker 2: diver will be like, yes, thank you are great. If
Speaker 2: they're just you know, button happy, and they're just pushing
Speaker 2: things like crazy, which some kids do. My kids, Uh huh,
Speaker 2: so I've heard so then it'll tell you. It'll say,
Speaker 2: you know, sorry, try again, or wait till later, or
Speaker 2: maybe look a little harder, and the really the cool
Speaker 2: thing that I love is that you're really getting a
Speaker 2: unique experience every time you ride, depending on where your
Speaker 2: seat is and where you're positioned in the submarine when
Speaker 2: you board, you're going to see something different every time.
Speaker 1: Let's back out a little bit Lego Land Parks in
Speaker 1: general for someone that has not been We first took
Speaker 1: our kids here when they were like, I think three,
Speaker 1: It really is geared towards kids' ages. What and kind
Speaker 1: of what's the theme here? Like what I mean, we
Speaker 1: know the theme is Lego, but kind of what do
Speaker 1: you try to do here? That's different?
Speaker 2: Lego Land Parks are really different because they are really
Speaker 2: geared towards two to twelve year olds and their families.
Speaker 2: So we will never go for the teenagers, will never
Speaker 2: going to be the crazy roller coasters. In fact, all
Speaker 2: of our roller coasters are called pink knuckle roller coasters.
Speaker 2: So when you're gripping tight, you're not gripping so hard
Speaker 2: that your knuckles turn white and you're scared. You're just
Speaker 2: a little bit excited, a little bit enticed, and you're
Speaker 2: thrilled about riding again. And that's what we want to
Speaker 2: make them do. And want to come back again and
Speaker 2: try different things. It's very lego based, obviously, but it's
Speaker 2: very interactive and immersive, and it's designed for the families
Speaker 2: to do things together. We have more than sixty rides,
Speaker 2: shows and attractions. So not only do you have roller coasters,
Speaker 2: you have driving school where you kids get in these
Speaker 2: cars and you're learning how to drive. You're learning the
Speaker 2: rules of the road. And it's not like some other
Speaker 2: theme parks where there are tracks that you have to
Speaker 2: follow and you keeps you on, keeps you going straight
Speaker 2: or back and forth. You're you're really driving. You're their
Speaker 2: pedal is, their foot is controlling the pedal. If they stop,
Speaker 2: they stop, If they go, they go. And it's great
Speaker 2: to see the excitement on their faces when they're handed
Speaker 2: their driver's license at the end of the ride.
Speaker 1: That actually surprised me about that ride the first time
Speaker 1: I took my kid on it. Okay, so do you
Speaker 1: think that guests, I mean, all theme park rides have
Speaker 1: sort of had a little bit of like tech magic
Speaker 1: in them, I think for a long time. Do you
Speaker 1: think that nowadays guests kind of expect that from theme
Speaker 1: park rides?
Speaker 2: I think so. I think you have to merge with
Speaker 2: the times. I mean, I have teenagers and they're constantly
Speaker 2: teaching me new things on their phones and with everything else.
Speaker 2: And with this ride, it's really the benchmark of the
Speaker 2: industry because I'm excited to see when guests ride because
Speaker 2: there's really nothing to compare it to. There are other
Speaker 2: submarines out rides out there, but none of them have
Speaker 2: live animals. None of them have the immediate experience and
Speaker 2: the up close and personal feeling that these kids are
Speaker 2: going to get when they see, you know, a c
Speaker 2: ray with a five foot wingspan. The cool thing about
Speaker 2: this too, is that they become explorers along the way.
Speaker 2: So there's three different levels. I believe it's beginners, Masters
Speaker 2: or intermediate, and the Masters. So as they're going through,
Speaker 2: they can kind of we go to a different degree.
Speaker 2: So it tracks the percentage of how many treasures you
Speaker 2: found along the way and gives you a title at
Speaker 2: the end. So you may have been a beginner the
Speaker 2: first time through, and then another time you may be
Speaker 2: a master, and it kind of gives them a challenge.
Speaker 2: And everyone likes a game, and everyone likes to be
Speaker 2: a little competitive.
Speaker 1: Okay, so if it's someone's visiting Lego Land for the
Speaker 1: first time. Give me some secrets or tips that they
Speaker 1: should You know, something they should look out for in
Speaker 1: the park, or something that's musty or something they must eat.
Speaker 1: Give me some of those.
Speaker 2: Okay, absolutely, So first and foremost, go online ahead of
Speaker 2: time and look ahead of time. Know what plan it
Speaker 2: out with the kids. Know what they want to do
Speaker 2: and what they don't want to do, because there's nothing
Speaker 2: worse than when you get here and everyone's staring at
Speaker 2: a map, going well, what is this and what is that?
Speaker 2: Research and know what it is. Know what your kid
Speaker 2: is too, what they can ride ahead of time, so
Speaker 2: you don't go up to a ride that's for someone
Speaker 2: of a higher, bigger height than they can't get on.
Speaker 2: The other one is, especially at Lego Land parks, we
Speaker 2: have these minifigures on our name badge is if you
Speaker 2: go up to an MC, which is a Model Citizen,
Speaker 2: which is what all our employees are called, if you
Speaker 2: go up to them and say you want to trade
Speaker 2: your minifigure, I have to give you my minifigure. You're what, yes,
Speaker 2: in trade for another one. So I try not to
Speaker 2: wear my favorite ones out here because I've gotten swapped
Speaker 2: a few times, and it's kind of a bummer when
Speaker 2: you lose your favorite one, but it's one of our rules.
Speaker 2: So we actually have trading stations along the route all
Speaker 2: throughout the park that kids can go build their own
Speaker 2: and then they can go and trade with EMC's.
Speaker 1: Wow, and what's the musty food here in the park?
Speaker 1: What I have to get to eat?
Speaker 2: Okay, So Granny Apple fries are instant favorite. They take
Speaker 2: green apples and they lightly batter them with them little
Speaker 2: powdered dusted sugar and cinnamon, and then they bake them
Speaker 2: and they fry them and then they dip them in
Speaker 2: a vanilla whipped cream sauce. It's a dream. And the
Speaker 2: other one, which is actually my favorite, is in Ninjago World.
Speaker 2: We have these Bowe buns and they make these great
Speaker 2: sandwiches with pork and then there's the steam the smokehouse
Speaker 2: up at the top with ribs and we just started
Speaker 2: out a couple of years ago and they're amazing.
Speaker 1: All right. Julia Strada of Merlin Entertainment, thanks so much
Speaker 1: for joining me. So when can folks actually get on
Speaker 1: the Lego City Deep Sea Adventure Submarine ride?
Speaker 2: July seconds we're doing our ribbon cutting. We're actually doing
Speaker 2: it with Los Angeles and San Diego chapters of the
Speaker 2: Ronald McDonald House Charities, bringing some of the kids up
Speaker 2: here and presenting them with an eighty thousand dollars check.
Speaker 1: Awesome. All right, there you have it. If you want
Speaker 1: to learn more about Lego City Deep Sea Adventure Submarine Ride,
Speaker 1: can go to my website rich on tech dot tv.
Speaker 1: You could see some of my behind the scenes pictures,
Speaker 1: stuff that you probably won't be able to see ever
Speaker 1: again because it's under construction right now and in three
Speaker 1: days it's all going to be done forever. So go
Speaker 1: check that out. Thanks so much for listening. If you
Speaker 1: like what I'm doing here with the podcast, definitely rate
Speaker 1: and review it in Apple Podcasts. I'm Rich Damiro. I'll
Speaker 1: talk to you real soon.