• Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, November 7, 2007 12:15 PM

Legoland--the least-visited amusement park in Southern California but the fastest-growing amusement venue in North America--will undergo a $20 million expansion that includes a new 36,000-square-foot aquarium. Legoland also will add a Land of Adventure, to open in March, that will include four attractions: Lost Kingdom Adventure dark ride, Beetle Bounce drop ride, Cargo Ace plane ride and Pharaoh's Revenge foam ball pit.

Park owners Merlin Entertainments Group--which in 2005 purchased the four Legoland parks in California, Germany, Denmark and Britain--says it plans to add four or five attractions a year at Legoland California, and ultimately, a themed hotel. A 350-room Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa--with an entrance to the park--is also in the works, fitting into a larger strategy to extend the time guests spend at the park.

Attendance increased 16% last year at Legoland California to more than 1.6 million visitors--a sharp rise at a time when most parks saw modest growth or a decline, according to InPark Magazine.

Read the whole story at Los Angeles Times »