Legoland Galacticoaster - Julie Estrada and Tom Storer

Legoland Florida has rolled out its new LEGO Galaxy and its new ride, the Galacticoaster. We speak with Legoland Ambassador Julie Estrada and Merlin's project director Tom Storer. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News as we move
into spring, its theme park season again for many families.
If you live in Florida and if you are or
have been recently the parent or grandparent of young children,
you've probably taken them to Lego Land Florida in Polk
County and Central Florida. This year they have the new
Lego Galaxy and the Galactic Coaster. We have Lego Land
Ambassador Julia Strada and Tom Storer with us. He's the

(00:22):
project director with Berlin Magic Making and thank you both,
and welcome to Beyond the News.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thank you Garden, good to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Well, first of all, tell us what Lego Galaxy is
and how long that you've been working on that.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
So. Lego Galaxy and the Galacticcoster is a indoor family
themed roller coaster that we've been working on for over
three and a half years at Merlin Magic Making. It
was co created with Lego and is an immersive and
interactive indoor roller coaster where you can customize and build

(00:58):
your own spacecraft before you launched off into Lego Galaxy and.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Of course the Galactic Coaster. What makes that unique.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
This is an amazing coaster in the sense that you're
actually creating your right experience. So the experience begins the
minute you enter the ride queue. You get to see
different kinds of Lego sets from all the past generations,
right underneath a giant Lego model, one of several models
you'll see throughout Lego Galaxy. Then you go inside and
you have the Chief Engineer fifth Differ, who is our
animatronic robot who will guide you and tell you how

(01:28):
to build your spacecraft, to lure it away from the
brick separators and to save yourselves from the asteroid or
probable destruction. And then you'll go into a customization bay.
This is the coolest thing. It's groups of four and
you get an RFID wristband and you get to select
your nose, your tail, the wings, the special element that
you want on each individual spacecraft. So if you want
Hamburger buns for wings, you want disco balls, you want balloons,

(01:52):
you get to choose it.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
There.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
There are actually six hundred and twenty five different combinations,
so essentially you could ride the ride every day for
up to two and get a unique experience every time.
And then when you launch on Galactic Coaster and get
on board your spacecraft. A minute you turn the corner,
you see yourself in that spacecraft that you designed. It's
a really cool experience. It's been fund seeing that families

(02:13):
go through and writing it and the kids coming off
the ride is so excited that they got to build
and ride their own spacecraft through the Lego Universe.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
Now, of course, Lego Land is focused on shared experiences
for families with children, especially younger children. How old or
how big do the children have to be to ride
on Galactic Coaster?

Speaker 3 (02:31):
So what's really cool about the Galactic Coaster is the
minimum rider height is thirty six inches, so you can
be quite young and still get to experience the Galactic Coaster.
And it's a fun ride. That's great for the younger kids,
but it's also so fun that mom, dad, or grandmom
and grandpa also will enjoy the coaster.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
I have a nineteen month old grandson who is he's
about thirty six inches. Would I take them on Galactic Coaster?
Probably not, because it does go up to forty miles
per hour and it's one of our a little bit more.
We usually call our roller coasters pink knuckle roller coasters
where you're squeezing your hands tight, not so tight that
your knuckles turn white, but just enough to excite you
and get you ready for your first experience, which is

(03:13):
what Lego Land resorts are all about.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
And of course any parent or grandparent knows kids have
these bursts of energy and they're running all over the
place and then they need to take a break, you know.
And Lego Land is not as sprawling as a lot
of other Central Florida theme parks, so that helps. But
what are the best ways to manage your family's time
at Lego Land, especially if it's your first time going.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Well, Lego Land Florida Resort is geared towards two to
twelve year olds, and it has the wide pathways. We
know you're gonna have strollers, we know you're gonna be
bringing the family through. Go to the website ahead of
time Lego Land dot Com, download the mobile app puy
on your day out ahead of time. I think that's
the best way to know what rides each family member
wants to go on, what food you want to eat
when you're eating. I would always eat on off times,

(03:55):
off peak times, so that you can ride the rides
during when everybody else is having their lunch. Having their dinner.
That where you're going to get the best experience and
know ahead of time what you want to do. I
think that's the best way to plot out your day.
There's so much to do at Legoland Florida. There's a
water park, there's Sea Life Aquarium, There's have a big
theme park. There are three different hotels to stay at,
so it's definitely a multi day experience right there between

(04:18):
Orlando and Tampa.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Julia Strada, Lego Land Ambassador, and Tom Storer, the project
director with Merlin Magic Making, talking about Lego Land Florida
and the new Lego Galaxy and Galectic coaster. Thank you
both for joining us on Beyond the News.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
Thank you Gordon, thank you