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Legoland Belgium in Charleroi

Us3rmane

Us3rmane

Mega Poster
A Belgian newspaper just announced that Merlin Entertainments is interested by a 100 hectares plot of land in Charleroi to build a new Legoland park !

Here is the news
https://www.lecho.be/economie-polit...BREAKING_NEWS&utm_medium=email&utm_source=SIM

I think it's a great news for the Belgian park industry because it's a major group that is about to be in the country and I hope it will boost the competition in Belgium !
 
KristofWB said:
Legoland in one of the ugliest cities in Belgium...
Click to expand...

It’s absolutely the ugliest city in our country by far, and maybe even one of the ugliest cities in western Europe. The good thing is though, that the Caterpillar factory wasn’t located in the city limits (might seem logical, but Charleroi is full of industrial companies and factories). The area is right next to the airport and a highway, so it’s like a 30-40 minute drive from Brussels so the location seems perfect actually...

edit: with legoland I believe you meant Charleroi
 
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Ggolt said:
edit: with legoland I believe you meant Charleroi
Click to expand...
I also read 'is' first :p But then I read it again and the sentence was magically correct.

But interesting. That would make 5 'bigger' parks in Belgium (WAB, Bobbejaanland, Plopsa, Bellewaarde and Legoland), with 2/3 (PHL, Efteling and Toverland) others right across the borders. Imagine Belgium becoming the Orlando of Europe :p (Joking obviously... before people get butt-hurt)
 
KristofWB said:
Legoland in one of the ugliest cities in Belgium...
Click to expand...

Could it be that 1) the land is cheap because of this and 2) try to lure some tourists in and upgrade the city.
Was just thinking about that. Because in my mind within the triangle Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent makes more sense to me. Or near Bruges (Coast) or Liege (Other country borders).


Update: I just read that ceo of Plopsa Steve Van den Kerkhof doesn't believe in the plans. There is no room for a Belgium Legoland. Not too weird he will say this. Every visitor there isn't in one of his parks.
 
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Was just reading in to this again and found this article (2 months old):
www.thebulletin.be

A Belgian Legoland is one step closer, as developers settle on Charleroi

Charleroi is a step closer to hosting a new Legoland amusement park. Should the project come to fruition, it will be the fourth Legoland park in Europe and the 10th in the world.Merlin Entertainments, the British theme park operators behind Legoland, were looking info different sites to cover...
www.thebulletin.be www.thebulletin.be
So except for when the soil seems to be unworkable (due to pollution) or any other irregularity appears, Belgium is officially set to get another Theme park.
 
Any news on this project? It's been some time.

The Caterpillar site seems to be predestined for a LEGOLAND resort. It's the perfect size, provides direct highway access, offers sufficient potential in terms of workforce and Charleroi is in a great location. The Randstad, Île-de-France and Rhine-Ruhr make for an exceptional catchment area for short trips.

The only thing that bothers me (and might bother Merlin, as well) is the potential competition this project may bring to the existing estates in Germany and Denmark. What's a new resort worth when it hurts your other parks?
 
Well, that sounds rather promising. I wonder how many of the innovations that are planned for the Chinese parks will make their way to Belgium.

If you had asked me a year or two ago, I'd have told you that at least five Chinese resorts plus a LEGOLAND in Texas and/or around Lake Michigan would be due before Merlin would even dare to think about adding another park in Europe.
 
Lukas D said:
Any news on this project? It's been some time.

The Caterpillar site seems to be predestined for a LEGOLAND resort. It's the perfect size, provides direct highway access, offers sufficient potential in terms of workforce and Charleroi is in a great location. The Randstad, Île-de-France and Rhine-Ruhr make for an exceptional catchment area for short trips.

The only thing that bothers me (and might bother Merlin, as well) is the potential competition this project may bring to the existing estates in Germany and Denmark. What's a new resort worth when it hurts your other parks?
Click to expand...
Why would it hurt parks that are seven and nine hours drive away from Charleroi respectively? Their clientele overlap is microscopic.
 
LEGOLAND's business model focuses way more on overnight stays than other parks of the respective size. These short trip visitors do indeed have a way larger catchment area. Billund and Germany are especially reliant on both domestic and international tourism.

If you take a look at LEGOLAND Deutschland's parking lots in July, for instance, you will find that a huge chunk of visitors is from the Netherlands and Western Germany. Why would these families still drive to Bavaria when there's a newer and probably better resort available nearby in Belgium?
 
Although this is a paid article which I also don't have access to.
The pictures at the top are viewable.

In the first bit, they talk about it is going to be as big as the Efteling (but I think, Efteling is used as clickbait, I did..).
It will be the biggest Lego Land of Europe. Name will be Lego Land Benelux, I guess. Costs will be more than 400 million euros.

Click for Belgium Newspaper and pictures.

Click here for the location.
 
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Well, I guess that caterpillar site as a whole might be similar in size to Efteling + parking lot. However, I guess no more than half of it will be used for the park, probably even less. There's going to be parking lots, room for hotels, an (indoor?) water park and probably even a Peppa pig Theme Park.
 
Ries said:
Although this is a paid article which I also don't have access to.
The pictures at the top are viewable.

In the first bit, they talk about it is going to be as big as the Efteling (but I think, Efteling is used as clickbait, I did..).
It will be the biggest Lego Land of Europe. Name will be Lego Land Benelux, I guess. Costs will be more than 400 million euros.

Click for Belgium Newspaper and pictures.

Click here for the location.
Click to expand...
More images here: https://www.looopings.nl/weblog/205...r-het-nieuwe-Legoland-pretpark-in-Belgie.html

Though they obviously aren’t very realistic.
 
Lukas D said:
The only thing that bothers me (and might bother Merlin, as well) is the potential competition this project may bring to the existing estates in Germany and Denmark. What's a new resort worth when it hurts your other parks?
Click to expand...

Merlin is now owned by the Christiansen family. They will probably want to expand the Lego brand. Legoland Billund has in the last decade seen massive attendance growth and for such a small park it might be nearing capacity. The Bavaria park might in the future be marketed more towards the Austrian and Eastern European crowd. This leaves plenty of space for a Benelux park to cover that area. I think there is plenty of demand for another European Legoland.
 
So I just came across this article:
Une décision finale était attendue pour la fin 2022. Finalement le ministre wallon de l'économie a indiqué au parlement ce mardi 17 janvier que celle-ci viendra pour la fin du premier trimestre 2023, avec toujours une ouverture du parc estimée pour mars 2027. Il a aussi indiqué que les discussions étaient quasi quotidiennes entre les équipes de Wallonie Entreprendre et de Merlin afin de définir les modalités contractuelles d’une collaboration liante.
Click to expand...
Source

If I get this right from my limited French, the final decision has been postponed to early spring, with a march 2027 opening still targeted. The region's minister of economy has hinted at some intense discussion currently going on between the government and Merlin.
 
The project has sadly been cancelled:

"At the beginning of 2023, a new CEO took the helm at Merlin. He did visit the site in Gosselies last February, but it is now clear that the group has revised its strategy."

"Merlin confirms that it wants to focus on existing parks in Europe and those under construction in China. The group is preparing major investments in those parks to improve their quality."

while a shame it's nice to hear they want to invest more in their current parks, I feel like we have started to see this and I hope it continues.

Source
 
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