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Legoland Shanghai

Fengjing, Shanghai, China

“China’s take on a Legoland park”

A Lego brick looks exactly the same in Denmark as it does in China. And the sets you buy in the Lego Store in Dubai are most likely also available in shops on the other side of the planet. Unfortunately, the same could also be said about Lego theme parks in recent years. The group regularly opened new parks (including in South Korea, Japan and the United States), but they never really came up with anything innovative. As a visitor, you always noticed the same themed lands and a series of simple attractions that were mostly aimed at families with young children. Due to their small scale and predictability, these parks couldn’t convince me to travel halfway across the globe. Fortunately, designers had a more ambitious vision for Legoland Shanghai, which opened in 2025. The new resort is larger than those previously mentioned parks, and visitors are welcomed by the world’s tallest Lego minifigure. That’s cool, right?

Legoland is at the start of a period of major expansion in China. In the near future, new resorts will open in major cities such as Shenzhen, Beijing and Chengdu, but the Chinese Lego story begins near Shanghai. The park opened in the Jinshan District, about 50 kilometres southwest of downtown Shanghai. That may seem quite far, but China’s fantastic train network makes it is super-easy to get there. From Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, you can take a high-speed train directly to Jinshan North Station. The journey takes just 20 minutes and tickets are incredibly cheap. From Jinshan North, you can then take a shuttle bus to Legoland or simply walk the last two kilometres to the park. We tested it and the total walking time was no more than 25 minutes.

LEGOLAND SHANGHAI RESORT

The first thing you’ll notice when approaching Legoland Shanghai Resort, is Aegean Bingo, a retail and dining zone. To be clear: this is an unremarkable mall without the slightest form of theming. Given the name, I might have expected a few references to Greece or the Aegean Sea, but I didn’t find any. Besides, Aegean Bingo was virtually empty during our visit, which made it feel like a rather boring place. Fortunately, the adjacent Legoland Shanghai Hotel looked considerably more cheerful. This colourful hotel has 250 rooms and it also serves as the entrance to the theme park. We didn’t stay there ourselves, but I can imagine that the bedrooms on the eastern side offer some very nice views of the park.

ROLLER COASTERS

Meet Dada. That’s the name of the 85-feet-tall (26 metres) Minifigure that can be considered as the icon of Legoland Shanghai. This huge mascot stands in the middle of the park and it forms an integral part of The Big Lego Coaster. In its hands, Dada holds the rails of a B&M Family Inverted Coaster. Its central location and colourful train make Big Lego Coaster a pleasant ride to look at, but its appearance turned out to be more impressive than the actual experience. Firstly, we witnessed poor operations. Only one train was running and safety checks were slow, which meant we ended up queuing for approximately 70 minutes. Secondly, the coaster ride was characterised by an unpleasant rattle. How is it possible that B&M has been able to producte ultra-smooth roller coasters for decades, while its newer installations tend to be so shaky?

The other – noticeably more comfortable – roller coasters are placed in the Lego Castle zone. This medieval-themed land is an indispensable part of every Legoland and the Shanghai version offers few surprises. The eye-catcher of this castle kingdom is Dragon, a ride that can be found in eleven different Lego parks at the time I’m writing this article. Legoland Shanghai got the most common version of the model: a so-called Force Five built by German manufacturer Zierer. It’s nothing new, but I think it’s an excellent choice. The initial dark ride section looks great and the actual roller coaster section is quite powerful. In short… Dragon is an excellent family roller coaster and one of the best rides at Legoland Shanghai. By the way… there’s another dragon roller coaster in the Castle area, but this one’s really only interesting for the little ones. Dragon’s Apprentice is a tiny Zamperla kiddie coaster. I don’t know if adult credit hunters are allowed to ride it, but I wouldn’t recommend it anyway.

DARK RIDES

The indoor ride lineup consists of two 3D theatres and Ninjago The Ride, another staple at the Legoland parks. My sincere compliments to the designers of Legoland Shanghai, as the theming of the Japanese area is stunningly beautiful. Behind the temple facade, however, we encountered the exact same interactive dark ride as in Billund and Windsor. This means that the shooting game isn’t triggered by classic laser guns, but by the hand gestures of passengers. Unfortunately, I have the impression that the sensors don’t always work as they should, which makes it difficult to aim accurately. Besides, I really missed some real dark ride scenes between all the screens.

MINILAND

Legoland Creative World can be found in the centre of Legoland Shanghai. This area is home to Legoland Lookout, a 200-feet-tall (60 metres) observation tower that offers magnificent views of the park and the surrounding area. From up there, riders get a particularly impressive look at the enormous size of the Miniland building. This is the place where Lego’s creative geniuses recreated dozens of landmarks in Lego bricks. Visitors are able to see reproductions of the world-famous skyscrapers of Shanghai’s business district, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and so much more. And of course, this Chinese Miniland wouldn’t feel complete without a Lego version of the Great Wall.

Miniland is a visual gem packed with amusing details. Furthermore, the fact that it’s an indoor land is cleverly used by playing with the lighting. That’s why you can admire the landscapes, city districts and monuments both in (simulated) daylight and in the dark. Nevertheless, as a European, I must admit that this version of Miniland doesn’t appeal to me as much as its namesakes in other Legoland resorts. I believe this is mainly due to a certain lack of recognisability. I am obviously familiar with the famous Oriental Pearl Tower, the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, but there are also a number of areas that I don’t recognise at all. Don’t get me wrong… Legoland Shanghai’s Miniland is beautiful, but personally I prefer visiting Miniland in Dubai or Windsor.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

Legoland Shanghai is home to a unique area themed to Monkie Kid. The eye-catcher of this zone is a shoot-the-chutes that has been integrated into a huge rock formation. However, the development of this attraction was running a little behind schedule, which meant that we were unable to ride the Monkie Kid Flower Fruit Mountain Adventure (quite a name, I must say). Nevertheless, we still experienced soms water-based fun thanks to Water Race Challenge (a jet ski ride) and the Legoland Boat Tour. Would it be weird if I considered the latter as my favourite attraction of the park? These boats sail in a large circle around Miniland and there are lots of cool things to see along the way. We witnessed a jungle scene, we glided through an authentic Chinese river town and we once again saw The Bund and the impressive Shanghai skyline. The Legoland Boat Tour is an attraction that creates a moment of peace and quiet. And that’s always appreciated in a theme park that’s filled with school groups…

WORTH A VISIT?

Legoland Shanghai is an excellent amusement park for families with children up to the age of twelve. Thanks to the large number of family rides and Lego activities, they’ll certainly be able to spend a full day inside the park. For slightly older visitors, however, the options are limited. The current collection of roller coasters is relatively unmemorable and the dark ride department doesn’t manage to impress either. Legoland offers a number of good rides, but you won’t find any fantastic ones. That’s where Legoland differs greatly from the nearby Shanghai Disneyland, as Disney’s Imagineers clearly dared to step away from tried and tested ideas when designing their Chinese park. Disney also performs a lot better when it comes to operations. Lines at Shanghai Disneyland keep moving at a steady pace, while operations at Legoland Shanghai are downright slow. We visited the park during a quiet period and even then we experienced some considerable queues. I wouldn’t want to imagine the lines in this park during peak season…

I have to conclude that a visit to Legoland Shanghai is only recommended if you are bringing young children, or if you consider yourself a huge Lego enthusiast. In all other cases, I would say: spend your time and money at Shanghai Disneyland or Happy Valley Shanghai instead, because these parks offer significantly better value for money.

This article reflects my personal experience at Legoland Shanghai during a visit in November 2025.