We’re about a month away from the opening of Galacticoaster at LEGOLAND Florida and LEGOLAND California. Galacticoaster is an indoor launch roller coaster and these projects represent a $90 million investment by Merlin Entertainment. It was only April of last year that we were reporting on the ride building in Florida being enclosed and now we are less than a month away from opening day. Merlin Entertainment has recently begun to tease more of the details of the rides now both with media construction tours, website updates and advertisements in their LEGO magazine for kids. LEGOLAND is still finishing construction, but from what they’ve released this “family” attraction has some pretty cool specs and features that will appeal to guests of all ages.

The recently released ride specs are quite a bit more than expected. The ride contains about 1,500 feet of track and reaches speeds of up to 40 mph. Don’t let that speed fool you, Disney’s Space Mountain has a top speed of 26 mph, so when you’re in the dark speed feels different. Even with a 40 mph speed it still has only a 36″ height requirement which is great. The ride building is over 30,000 square feet and stands over 50 feet high, big enough to hold 10 basketball courts, so this is a seriously large structure. The coaster is manufactured by ART Engineering GmbH, which may not be a household name for most enthusiasts, but the German firm has built several great family coasters such as Snoopy’s Racing Railway at Carowinds and Canada’s Wonderland as well as some thrill coasters for Lagoon. The ride cars also appear to have controlled rotation (similar to Guardians of the Galaxy) which could add a fun element. There’s no POV available yet other than a few brief seconds showing the initial launch down a lighted tunnel like the beginning of the video below.

To experience the ride you’ll head to SPACEPORT 886 and the theming here seems excellent t. The ride pre-show also houses the largest animatronic minifigure LEGOLAND has ever built. Biff Dipper, chief engineer for the new Galacticoaster, is a 25x scale animatronic LEGO minifigure standing 3.5 feet tall. Biff features over 45 facial expressions and nine body movements and will brief riders on their mission to save the LEGO Galaxy. In addition, the line queue features a bunch of Easter eggs in the form of classic space themed LEGO sets.

In the queue and pre-show area is where you also experience some of the ride’s interactive features where you can customize your spacecraft. You’ll have the option to personalize your craft including the Nose, Tail, Wings, and Special Features for a total of 625+ Unique Customization Options. The ride vehicle itself appears to be a bit of a blank canvas with the customization being added digitally on a screen in something akin to a modern version of the hitchhiker ghosts on the Haunted Mansion. The video the park released below appears to contain actual pre-show footage showing parts of this process. Watching your spacecraft being digitally built on a screen in front of you may also be part of what stretches 1,500 feet of track into a reported 2.5-3 minute ride experience.

These coasters should perform well for LEGOLAND and perfectly hit their key family demographic. For Florida it provides a much needed additional indoor attraction (speaking from experience having visited on a rainy day). If you’re in California you also get 2 additional flat rides and a restaurant as part of a themed land and both Florida and California will have a store and toddler play area. We can’t wait to get to LEGOLAND and check out these new “out of this world” attractions created by the Merlin Magic Makers.