"Merlin Entertainments has a gift for attractions that combine fun and learning for children and families," says Larry Siegel, president of Meadowlands Development.
"We are currently opening five or six new attractions every year around the world," says Nick Varney, CEO of the London-based Merlin. "The attractions at Meadowlands Xanadu will be important additions to our portfolio."
The new location, Merlin's second and largest Legoland Discovery Centre in the US--the other is in Carlsbad, CA--will feature a central structure fashioned out of the iconic interlocking colored bricks. Also part of the plan are rides, an adventure trail, a cinema, play area, party rooms, café and a room for rotating exhibitions.
Also as part of the deal, Merlin will operate Meadowlands Xanadu's Pepsi Globe, a 287-foot-high Ferris wheel. Meadowlands Development and Pepsi revealed the wheel's naming rights deal, said to be valued at $100 million, in February.
"Merlin Entertainments marked the centennial for the world with the opening of the London Eye," Siegel says. "They will make their mark here operating the Pepsi Globe and the Legoland Discovery Centre."
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