New Indoor Family Destination Slated for Streets of Woodfield

CHICAGO -- February 13, 2008 -- LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, a giant indoor LEGO world designed for families with children aged 2 to 12, will open its first location outside of Germany in Schaumburg's Streets of Woodfield shopping center in August. The attraction will feature activities ranging from hands-on LEGO play to life-sized LEGO adventures designed to provide several hours of family entertainment centered around the iconic interlocking colored bricks.

The 30,000-square-foot leisure destination will combine LEGO model building and unusual construction challenges with theme park-like attractions such as a dragon ride, adventure trail, and 4D cinema incorporating fantastical LEGO creatures and LEGO-based special effects. Other highlights will include a DUPLO play area for younger children, birthday party rooms, a LEGO café, a LEGO store, and a special room with rotating exhibitions of work by master LEGO builders.

LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Chicago/Schaumburg will be modeled after a prototype that debuted in Berlin last year and that now attracts more than 500,000 visitors annually. A second German location is scheduled to open in May with the Schaumburg site following three months later, beginning a planned expansion throughout Europe and the U.S.

All locations are run by Merlin Entertainments Group, the world's second biggest visitor attractions operator after Disney with 51 attractions and four hotels in 12 countries including Madame Tussaud's. Merlin is partially owned by The LEGO Group.

"LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is a new concept that has been very successful in Berlin, and we are confident that it will translate well to the U.S. because of the universal appeal of LEGOs as well as the truly inspired design of the activities themselves," said Adrian Jones, General Manager, U.S., for UK-based Merlin Entertainment. "Chicago will be our showcase U.S. site, and the Woodfield area is ideal because of the highway access, easy parking, and family orientation of the area."