Legacy Entertainment, a leading theme park and resort design company, has reflected on a landmark year and shared details of upcoming major openings, ahead of its attendance at IAAPA Expo 2023 in Orlando.
2023 has been a significant year for the firm for its new project openings, as well as the broad range and scope of the projects in its pipeline.
Significant launches
2023 was an exceptional year for the firm’s theme park, aquarium, and retail projects, most significantly with the launch of the Chimelong Spaceship in Zhuhai, China. When it first debuted, this massive installation captivated the globe’s attention, with Britain’s The Sun describing it as “an out of this world experience.”
The park broke seven Guinness World Records, including the World’s Largest Indoor Theme Park and World’s Largest Aquarium. The attraction covers over 4,000,000 square feet of enclosed space and includes the world’s largest simulator attraction with 304 seats on a single motion base.
Legacy revealed its plan to “revolutionise retail” with its Destination Dining programme in 2021, and the first of these ventures opened to great acclaim in June 2023. BATAVIA at PIK is a pioneering “floating city” shopping mall with over 50 retail and dining outlets overlooking a natural inlet from the Java Sea, and has become “the favourite destination for people of Jakarta,” according to NowJakarta. The Jakarta Post praised the new concept, developed by Indonesia’s ASG, as “their latest masterpiece.”
Growth in Asia
Legacy is a market leader in Asia, where it has already started projects for significant industry players such as Lotte, Chimelong, Haichang, and Vinpearl. In 2023, two entirely new parks are being developed with Vinpearl, as well as mega projects which are at various stages of development for locations in China, South Korea, and Indonesia.
Additionally, Legacy has embarked on its growth strategy for Saudi Arabia, where it is presently collaborating with the country’s leading developers on a number of innovative entertainment attractions.
The most significant Legacy announcement of the year was made in July in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Eric Carnagey, Legacy managing director, represented the company at a signing ceremony which marked the agreement of a major deal to plan and construct a brand-new Water Park resort. The park will highlight regional culture in ways that have never been seen before. The project is now in the middle of the design phase, and construction is scheduled to start in early 2024.
Critical acclaim
November is Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park’s fifth anniversary of opening. Since then, the $730m attraction has received over 3 million visitors annually, cementing its status and placing it among the ranks of Shanghai Disneyland, which is located nearby.
In addition, Lotte World Adventure Busan was chosen by CNN as one of the world’s “Top 8 New Theme Parks,” while the Vinpearl SeaShell Aquarium in Vietnam was rated “The Best Aquarium in the World” by Attractions 360°.
Carnagey was also recently named in the Blooloop 50 list of key industry influencers, which includes talent from Disney, Universal, Merlin, and other companies. This distinction highlights not just Legacy’s continuing development, but also smaller-scale successes such as an exemplary 17,000,000 organic social media impressions this year so far.
