Legoland Windsor is a child-oriented theme park in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego toy system. The park opened in 1996 on the site of what was the Windsor Safari Park, as the second Lego Group Legoland (the first was Legoland Billund in Denmark). The park is located within close distance of Windsor Castle and about 8 miles west of London Heathrow Airport. In common with the other Legolands across the world, the park's attractions consist of a mixture of Lego-themed rides, Lego models, and Lego building workshops. The park was acquired by the Blackstone Group in 2005,[1][2] with the Lego Group retaining part ownership (30%), and is now operated by Merlin Entertainments. The facilities are mainly targeted at children between two and twelve, although the park is open to all. In 2007, the park had 1.65 million visitors, making it the fourth most visited theme park in the United Kingdom (after Pleasure Beach Blackpool, Alton Towers and Thorpe Park), and 15th most visited in Europe. Pleasure Beach Blackpool is a family owned amusement park situated along the Fylde coast in Blackpool, England. It is currently the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom, exceeding more than six million visitors a year. The park is a privately funded business and is owned, managed and directed by the Thompson family. It was formerly known as Blackpool Pleasure Beach. PortAventura is a theme park in the resort of Portaventura, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, on the Costa Daurada ("Golden Coast"), approximately an hour south of Barcelona. It was conceived and built as a joint effort by the Tussauds group (Alton Towers), Anheuser-Busch (Busch Entertainment Corporation) and Universal Studios. In 1997, Universal bought up most shares in the park and the park was rebranded as 'Universal's Port Aventura'. In 2000, two hotels and a water park were constructed, and the place was further rebranded as 'Universal Mediteranea'. In 2004, NBC Universal (Universal Studios' parent) sold all interest in PortAventura. It is now owned and operated by the Caixa banking group's investment vehicleCriteria, but as of 2005 the Universal name has been dropped from the branding, and the resort was once again named 'PortAventura' (the space in the name is deliberately left out for trademark reasons). It is the biggest resort in the south of Europe. It has 2 airports within 30 minutes of it, including Reus Airport. There is a train station for Port Aventura which has connections to Barcelona and Salou. Oakwood Theme Park (formerly Oakwood Leisure Park or Oakwood Coaster Country) is a theme park in Pembrokeshire, Waleswhich attracts 400,000 visitors each year. Oakwood opened in the late 1980s as a very small family park with BMXs, a wooden fort, a 3D-style cinema experience show, go-kartsand a water chute ride. The park has in recent years acquired a reputation for innovation and now incorporates five large thrill rides: Megafobia (1996), Vertigo (1997), The Bounce (1999), Hydro (2002) and Speed (2006). In 2006 Oakwood opened its latest ride to the public: "Speed", a Gerstlauer Euro Fighter roller coaster with a 97-degree drop. This was the first Gerstlauer Euro Fighter in the UK and was at that time the steepest roller coaster in the United Kingdom, only being overtaken by the opening of Thorpe Park's Eurofighter Saw: The Ride in 2009. The 85ft-tall CCI-built wooden roller coaster "Megafobia" has been rated among the best in Europe by enthusiasts |
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