Updated Aug. 24, 2017 at 5:48 p.m.
The next big attraction at Legoland California will be a high-tech submarine ride, park officials announced Thursday.
Lego City Deep Sea Adventure is scheduled to open at the North County theme park next July.
“During the course of their trip around, our guests will interact with touch screens and identify treasure that’s hidden within the tanks,” park general manager Peter Ronchetti told reporters.
“Not only will they see fish — sharks, etc. — they also will be looking out to where the treasure is buried and each time they see something they’ll identify it on the touch screen,” Ronchetti said. “We’ll find out who is best at capturing treasure.”
He said the 12-passenger submarines will travel inside the tank for four minutes.
Legoland officials said Deep Sea Adventure will be the company’s largest investment in a ride.
Separately, they said the Legoland Castle Hotel, under construction since January, will open in the spring next year.
The hotel, the second on Legoland grounds, will offer rooms with themes of knights, princesses, dragons and wizards; a pool area with fountains, slides and play features; and a restaurant consistent with the castle theme.
In the knight rooms, guests will be surrounded by decor of dragons and knights as they prepare to go into battle to defend the king’s castle and protect his treasure, executives said.
In the princess rooms, woodland animals such as butterflies, squirrels, owls and songbirds — all made of Lego bricks — will be found. In the wizard rooms, guests will discover how magic is used to protect the king’s treasure with the use of giggling potions and spells. The current hotel at the park opened four years ago with a Lego brick theme. It has 250 rooms, the same number as the new hotel.
Ronchetti said hiring is underway for 30 leadership positions like head chef, front office manager, and food and beverage manager. Hiring for other jobs, like cooks, valet, housekeepers and entertainers will begin in December, he said.
Prospective applicants can go online to jobs.Legoland.com.
Legoland California, owned by Merlin Entertainment of London, opened in 1999 and is one of two theme parks of its kind in the United States. The other is near Orlando.
Merlin also operates Legoland parks in Denmark, England, Germany and Malaysia.
— City News Service