Orange Carpet Interviews at Kids Choice Sports 2016

By Zach Camerino

Earlier this month, we covered the Orange Carpet arrivals at the third annual Nickelodeon Kids Choice Sports Awards. Held at the UCLA Pauley Pavilion, the show was hosted by NFL quarterback Russell Wilson.

Before the stars made it into the venue, each of them walked down the Orange Carpet, which featured many fun activities.

 

Zendaya walks the orange carpet.

Raini Rodriguez and Rico Rodriguez walk the orange carpet.

Check out our playlist of celebrity arrivals and interviews.

One World Trade Center & New York Miniland Unveiled at LEGOLAND California

By Zach

LEGOLAND California Resort kicked off the Fourth of July weekend with the unveiling of their newly renovated New York Miniland, including a 26-foot model of the One World Trade Center.





Weighing more than 1,000 pounds, the One World Trade Center took Master Model Builders 1,200 hours to build.





With the power of technology, guests can look through a unique LEGO tower viewer. It shows them a video live feed from the top of the LEGO Freedom Tower.







At night, the structure is illuminated by red, white and blue.

Aside from the One World Trade Center, also new is the 9/11 reflecting pools. 

Universal's Volcano Bay Water Theme Park Revealed

By Jonathan Van Tassel

Universal Studios just announced their third park in their lineup for their Orlando resort. Meet Volcano Bay, a tropical oasis with multiple water attractions like huge slides, lazy rivers, beaches, and multiple pools. It is the perfect place to relax and have fun in, with two story cabanas surrounding the pools. In the middle of all this is a colossal volcano that rises up to touch the sky. It boasts waterfalls by day and blazing orange lava by night. 

Volcano Bay also makes the experience of the guest easier than most water parks, Guests do not have to carry their own rafts up the stairs to the top of the slide. There will be 18 unique attractions ranging from daring to serene. They will be divided into the 4 areas of the park. The attractions will include a wave pool with a multi-directional system of wave making and sandy beaches. Peaceful lazy rivers and exciting raft rides made for multiple people provide great family experiences. Racing slides that go for 100 feet or more make a race more exciting for anyone. Also, a state of the art marquee attraction will be revealed at a later date. 

There will be multiple themed restaurants and bars throughout the park for guests who need some refreshment. All of the attractions, restaurants, and bars will have at least some view of the volcano. 

Stay tuned for Geek Central Blog for more updates on this in the future.

LEGOLAND Florida Unveils New Miniland Daytona Speedway with NASCAR Veteran Casey Mears

By Jonathan Van Tassel

LEGOLAND Florida just unveiled their newest Miniland USA model, the Daytona International speedway. Sounds of roaring engines and cheering fans greet guests as they look at the massive model. The model is 1/20th the scale of the actual track. Created by Merlin Magic, it is made of 300,000 bricks and stretches 31 feet across, making it the largest model in Miniland USA.

 

 

Veteran NASCAR Racer Casey Mears came to the park to celebrate the grand opening of this model. He also raced against Layla Popoff, whose dream race with this Nacaar legend was fulfilled by The Make-a-Wish foundation. As a crowd of fans gathered around the Miniland 400 racetrack, Mears climbed into his vehicle, a car resembling his No. 13 Geico race car.

 

 

 

With the wave of a green flag, the race was off to a "fast" start, with Mears and Layla zipping past LEGO monuments like the Statue of Liberty and the U.S. Capitol. They stayed neck and neck as they rode through the New York skyline and the Las Vegas Strip. Mears suddenly crashed into a wall of LEGO bricks while Layla zoomed past and across the finish line.

 

 

Posing next to Mears, she accepted a giant LEGO trophy. After the race, Mears greeted eager fans in the park's Imagination Zone, where kids use their imaginations in a variety of building activities. Mears helped kids build Lego cars before they sent them down timed ramps in the racing-themed Wheels Zone.





NINJAGO World Opens at LEGOLAND California Resort

By Zach

LEGOLAND California Resort is one of the fastest expanding theme parks in all of Southern California. Especially in the last couple of years, expansion has been immense. They opened up North's Americas first LEGOLAND Hotel in 2013, the Legends of Chima Water Park in 2014, and Heartlake City in 2015. This year is no different. NINJAGO World opened up to the public on May 5th.

Based off of the popular series of "LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitsu," this new area covers an area of three acres of space inside LEGOLAND California. With 5 attractions, a shopping venue and dining, you can step into the world of Ninjago!


The entire area is themed as if you were inside the Ninjago universe. 4 smaller attractions allow you to test your balance, speed, agility and creativity. Once you master those, you can begin your training on NINJAGO The Ride, which is center of the entire new land.

NINJAGO The Ride was created in partnership with Triotech. LEGOLAND has been able to eliminate the use of "guns," replacing it with hand gestures. With this, you are able to throw elements of fire, ice and lighting to defeat the invaders. Heat, wind and smoke are used in this ride.

For NINJAGO The Ride, LEGOLAND thought farther outside the box than ever before. The technology built into this ride is changing the industry of attraction making.

"We've really taken LEGOLAND California's principle of 'hands on, minds on' to a whole new level," said General Manager of LEGOLAND California Resort Peter Ronchetti. "We're firing the imagination to another degree taking the idea of using gestures to propel fire, ice, etc... it hs never been done before and its bridging the gap between the old way of using physical props, bricks and the like, with the new world of virtual technology."

This is the idea. With originality at its finest, NINJAGO The Ride has the highest price tag than any other attraction in the park.


LEGOLAND California debuted NINJAGO World on May 5th, perfect timing for summer. Be sure to visit our YouTube channel for videos on the new area.

NINJAGO World Hard Hat Tour- Opens May 5 at LEGOLAND California

By Zach
The Ninja's are almost ready for the public to experience NINJAGO! LEGOLAND California announced their opening date of NINJAGO World during a hard hat tour for members of the media.

General Manager Peter Ronchetti broke the news that May 5th, 2016 will be the official opening date for the park's highest priced land.

Master Model Builder Rob McCarthy showcased several models for NINJAGO World. This is only a small fraction of the 22 models going into the new land. The largest model is of ninjas Nya and Zane and is made out of more than 73,00 LEGO bricks. It took four master model builders 550 hours to construct.

 

Led by Project Manager Chris Brzezicki, media were toured inside the show building of NINJAGO The Ride, a technology innovative attraction. 

At you make your way through the temple, Master Wu teaches guests how to shoot fire balls, shockwaves, lighting and ice using the power of their hands. 

To make this attraction a reality, LEGOLAND Parks brought on popular theme-park attraction manufacturer Triotech. 

Through a number of different scenes your powers are tested as you fight villains.

The attraction ends with an epic battle involving numerous ride vehicles. 

 

NINJAGO World opens May 5, 2016 at LEGOLAND California Resort. Subscribe to our YouTube for high quality videos. 

The Walking Dead Attraction Announced for Universal Studios Hollywood!

By Adam Carver

Since the beginning of the "The Walking Dead, " the AMC series have been somewhat of a pop culture icon. Now 6 years after the original premiere, Universal Studios Hollywood will be opening a new year-round attraction based on the walking walkers walking walks while walking walkers walking walkers' walks...

...I mean Walking Dead.

All jokes aside, The Walking Dead Attraction is coming Summer 2016 which is amazing considering that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is opening a few months prior  in April of 2016.


*Video and Information courtesy of Universal Studios Hollywood.