Legoland Introduces Racers 4-D Attraction

The LegoManaic helps launch the new attraction.

Legoland California joined its three sister parks in Denmark, England, and Germany, on Thursday, May 23 when it opened its newest attraction, Racers 4-D.

Racers 4-D is a 3-D theater experience similar to Disneyland's "Honey I Shrunk the Audience," or "Muppets 3-D" in Disney's California Adventure and Walt Disney World's Disney Studios parks. The seats in Racer 4-D are concrete benches, however, so they do not provide as intense an experience as the Disney park attractions.

Visitors entering the Showplace Theater to experience Racers 4-D receive 3-D glasses by Legoland employees, who are called model citizens. A computer-animated tale based on the Lego Racers toy line, Racers 4-D centers around the Drome. In the Lego world, Drome is over 100 miles in diameter and contains nearly 400 miles of roads, which traverse through seven different environment zones such as the Jungle Racing Zone and the Ice Racing Zone.

Photo © 2002 The LEGO Group

In Racers 4-D, the terrain and climate changes are made by the push of a button from Dromulus, "owner and CEO of Dromulus Industries." Lego fans who have never seen the mysterious Dromulus have a chance to see what he looks like, at least in this attraction: he looks like cross between Colonel Klink and Sergeant Schultz from TV's Hogan's Heroes.

When Dromulus changes the dynamics of a race, the audience experiences special effects such as wind, smoke, even snow.

The main plot of Racers 4-D involves Max Axel, the attraction's hero driver for the Bullet Team, as he races against Sever, the Shadow Team's sinister driver.

Logo © 2002 The LEGO Group

The effects of Racers 4-D, in my opinion, are not as dramatic as those of similar attractions, such as "It's Tough to be a Bug." This may due to budget constraints, since Racers 4-D was built in an existing theater with a budget that was a fraction of other such attractions. For the duration of the 12-minute show, however, I was comfortable enough on the concrete benches and they are staggered so that families can see well from any location in the theater.

There are slight variations in the attraction at the four Legoland Parks. Legoland Germany is brand new, so they built their theater from scratch, while the other three parks had to fit the attraction into existing structures. In England, Racers 4-D takes on a unique intimacy where it plays in a tent! The movie itself includes no dialog, but depends on character actions to tell the story.

Photo © 2002 The LEGO Group

Finding entertainment that can meet the needs of both Americans and Europeans has proven challenging to Legoland in the past. The previous Showplace attraction, Mission to Mars, did not appeal to the American audience, and behind the scenes, Legoland employees were shaking their heads wondering, "What is this?" Based on audience reaction at Legoland and discussions in our MousePad message boards, Racers 4-D seems to be well-received so far.

Racers 4-D is a good fit for the primary audience of this park: Children 6 to 13 years old. In addition, Racers 4-D should prove popular with adults who like computer animation.

Parents with younger children should consider how their children may react to loud and bright effects, and whether they would keep the 3-D glasses on for the duration of the show. Legoland posts warnings about the effects but there is no age nor height restriction on Racers 4-D.

On the left is Brian Edwards of Edwards Technologies. (Edwards designed and installed the Digital projection system.) Next is Martin Zurauskas, Executive Producer of the Racers 4-D attractions for the Lego Company. The gentleman with his arms crossed is Adam Bezark, writer and director of Racers 4-D. Next to him, in the coat and tie is Bill Haviluk, President of Legoland California.

Racer 4-D was written and directed by Adam Bezark of the Bezark Company. Bezark, creator of Terminator 3D at Universal Studios, says Racers 4-D was really an opportunity to create an attraction from scratch.

Bezark and Lego started the Racers 4-D project last July. Unlike larger theme parks with many steps to their ride development process, Bezark found that Legoland's process was much more streamlined, allowing them to "crank out Racers 4-D in a fraction of the time." While Lego had created the Racers toy line and the Drome concept, it was Bezark, with some help from his 10-year-old son John, who created the characters and storyline for the Racers 4-D attraction.

Bezark credits his childhood experience at Disneyland as sparking his lifelong career in the attraction industry. Look for a special "Parenting in the Park" article featuring Bezark in the near future.

You can write to Adrienne at AdrienneK@mouseplanet.com

Popular LEGO¨ Racers Toy Line Roars to Life In 4-D movie

CARLSBAD, Calif. ö Just in time for summer, LEGOLAND¨ California announces the family theme parkâs new attraction for 2002. The LEGO¨ RACERS 4-D movie is a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art attraction that will debut at all four LEGOLAND theme parks worldwide during the month of May. The Carlsbad property will officially open LEGO RACERS 4-D during Memorial Day weekend while simultaneously opening for daily summer operation.

In the new multi- dimensional movie experience, a brash, young new hero roars into town and onto the worldâs largest 3-D digital theater screen in the LEGO Show Place at LEGOLAND California. Animated racecar driver Max Axel brings with him a whole new dimension of fun in a total sensory movie experience. Based on the popular LEGO Racers toy line, the 12-minute feature pulls guests wearing 3-D glasses into the action as the adventure unfolds in front of them on the 36-foot screen, and literally fills the 400-seat theater. An elaborate facade has transformed the Show Place stage into a race day extravaganza, and colored lights race around white panels stretched throughout the theater.

Through the magic of imagination and animation, during the movie the racetrack ãterraformsä into challenging terrains, ranging from mountains to ice caves to a sprawling city. As the daredevil young hero and his sinister opponent roar through the changing landscape, the audience experiences the thrills and chills of the race right along with them. Guests will dodge flying tires, feel the icy tingle of a flurry of snowflakes and see tire smoke waft up from the screen and out into the audience as the race cars tear around the ever-changing track.

Each time Max and his pit crew find themselves in a tough spot, teamwork, creativity and imagination save the day, and reinforce the LEGO theme of experimentation, rebuilding and empowerment.

The LEGO brand is about stimulating the imagination," said Martin Zurauskas, executive producer with the LEGO company. "The newly revamped LEGO Show Place Theater will combine 3-D digital imaging with special effects like wind and water to create a guest experience that goes beyond the imagination."

Because the innovative film will be shown at all four LEGOLAND parks in four different countries, instead of dialogue, dramatic music tells the story. British-born composer/producer Eddie Jobson created the score. A professional musician since the age of 17, he has composed more than 100 original advertising scores, winning most major advertising music awards. He starred in, and co-produced, the first MTV video with computer- generated images. Jobson also wrote music for more than 100 TV drama episodes, including Robert DeNiroâs "Tribecca" and four seasons of Don Johnsonâs ã"Nash Bridges."

Adam Bezark of The Bezark Company, the award- winning writer and director who created world-class attractions like Terminator 3D for Universal Studios and FANTASMIC! for Disney, wrote and co-directed the LEGO Racers 4-D feature with Allen Yamashita of SimEx Digital Studios. SimEx produced the film in conjunction with Edwards Technologies, Inc., who designed and installed a high- definition digital projection system and custom audio system in the Show Place theater at LEGOLAND. All three innovative companies are based in Southern California.

Bezark said ideas for the script really started flowing after he received prototype LEGO Racers cars from the LEGO product group. "My 10-year-old son John was pretty much the co-writer of the script," Bezark said. The message they deliver is that thereâs more then just running a race and winning it. Real winners are totally hip and innovative, they rely on teamwork and they never give up. Itâs how you win at racing, and at life, Bezark said.

Table of Contents
Overview
Rides
Shows
Food
Families
Birthdays
When You're Two
Tips

-TOP | MOUSEPLANET MAIN PAGE

-Copyright © MousePlanetú Inc. | Really Scary Legal Page & Privacy Policy