2Heads partner with Legoland New York and Legoland South Korea to create the iconic Fire Academy ride.

When Merlin Entertainments announced the opening of two new theme parks, 2Heads were thrilled to partner with Legoland on the creation of a series of new rides for guests, including the flagship Fire Academy attraction.

The ninth and tenth Legoland’s consecutively, New York and South Korea boost the accolades of the largest and 2nd largest Legolands in the world with a combined 220 acres of themepark and over 5 million visitors every year. Launching in 2021 and 2022, 2Heads spent the last three years working on this important activation, from digital touchpoints to event technology.

The Brief | Reimagine a classic

The Legoland Fire Academy is a unique ride that’s become a Legoland classic. It allows families to race against each other in their own fire engines, aiming their fire hoses at a burning building to put out the flames.

Pumping a lever up and down, guests power their engine down a track towards the “burning” building, racing against the other fire engines. Once at the end of the track they disembark their engine, then the adults turn handles to pump water from their fire hydrants while the children aim water jets toward the building.

Historically guests pump water into a hole until a siren sounds. For their new theme parks, Legoland briefed 2Heads to create a more sensory immersion that brought togther the best in event technology from the experiential marketing world and repurposed for the enjoyment of Legoland’s younger clientele.

The Solution | Save the Lego family

Legoland Fire Academy is one of the more physical activities at Legoland, with the family working together to put the fire out and pump their fire engine back and forth from the Lego houses. But how to galvanise the families to race each other? A ‘burning building’ to put out and a family to save!

2Heads designed a series of digital windows for each house that depicts a happy Lego family at home. With storytelling at the heart of the immersion, we designed a system that billow smoke from the houses, the scent and sight urging guests to get there as quickly as possible.

Instead of firing hoses into a hole, children then aim at the protected digital screens, putting out the flames showing there, flames made of little lego blocks. Then the sirens sound and off they race.

As part of the experience design process, 2Heads experts worked collaboratively with the ride contractors on the best ways to showcase the content. The inspiration for the ride is to give children the chance to ride on their own fire engines and put out a blaze. We wanted to enhance this as much as possible to give families the thrill they deserve!

The Results | A Beating Heart of Content

Legoland New York and Legoland South Korea have opened to huge success with Fire Academy at the heart of LegoCity. Welcoming thousands of visitors a day, the Fire Academy has charmed parents and children alike as they save the Lego family!