On July 5, 2025, Shanghai officially opened the doors of the world's largest Legoland Resort to visitors, marking China's first entry into the global Lego theme park network. Situated in Fengjing Town in the city's Jinshan district, the enormous resort brings together interactive play, cultural storytelling and cutting-edge design across a vast 318,000 sq m of area. Designed to captivate children and adults alike, the park is well poised to turn into a major attraction in China's circuits of tourist sites expanding the family tourism market in particular.
The Shanghai Legoland Resort is a marvel built from over 85 million Lego bricks and is divided into eight themed zones. The favourites among these include Lego City, Ninjago, Friends, Monkie Kid and Lego Castle, each packed to the bone with rides, interactive experiences and intricate displays. The centre attraction of the spot is "Miniland", which showcases famous Chinese landmarks like the Temple of Heaven and the Bund, all recreated in astonishing detail using more than 20 million Lego bricks. The scale and craftsmanship, of truly epic proportions, required over 168,000 hours of labour to come to fruition.
Standing tall at the park’s entrance is a 26-metre Lego figure named “Dada”, symbolising the park’s creative spirit. Among the most innovative attractions is the debut of artificial intelligence-powered Lego Minifigures that can interact with visitors through real-time conversation.
The resort also offers the first-ever boat excursion with a Lego theme through a water-town replica, fusing Lego's unique appeal with traditional Chinese aspects. A 60-meter-tall observation tower offers panoramic views, and thrill-seekers can ride the "Mega Lego Coaster." Visitors will see the biggest Lego Minifigure ever in Creative World.
With the tag ‘resort’ in its name, the place naturally has much more to it than just rides. Among other things, there are 250 family-friendly Lego-themed rooms at the Legoland Hotel, complete with character encounters, immersive décor, and kid-friendly facilities. With six full-service restaurants, ten food vendors, and a large number of retail stores offering Lego memorabilia and themed gifts, the park offers a variety of dining and shopping options.
The resort was developed in partnership with UK-based Merlin Entertainments and the Shanghai Jinshan District government as part of a USD 550 million investment to boost both local and foreign tourism. Merlin, a firm that operates Legoland parks all around the world, views this resort in Shanghai as its flagship location.
The park, which is expected to get over 2.4 million visitors annually, will add a new family-friendly dimension to Shanghai's already flourishing tourism sector, which also includes other popular tourist attractions like Disneyland and Haichang Ocean Park. The project began in 2017 and was finished this year after overcoming several pandemic-related obstacles.
On the opening day alone, thousands of visitors gathered and queued up for hours under the summer sun to get a glimpse of the amusement in store at the resort. Initial reactions ranged from overwhelmingly positive to ceaseless praises from families owing to the thumping atmosphere, interactive zones, and the attention to details in its models and attractions. While some noted that the park is likely to appeal to the younger children and Lego enthusiasts, others left plaudits for its immersive storytelling and family-centric design.
Shanghai is already one of the world’s top theme park markets, and Legoland’s arrival further strengthens its position as a global leisure destination. Merlin Entertainments has additional projects planned in cities like Shenzhen, Beijing, and Sichuan, signalling a larger strategic push into China’s rapidly growing theme park sector.
(With inputs from various sources.)
