CARLSBAD, Calif. (December 18) –Get ready for LEGOLAND California’s 5^th birthday. To celebrate, the 128-acre theme park in northern San Diego county is unveiling five new attractions in 2004. Featuring something for everyone in the family -- there will be a new area to the famed Miniland area, a roller coaster, a celebrity walk-of-fame, a sand excavation attraction and an interactive fire fighter racing ride.

"The development represents our largest capital investment since LEGOLAND opened in 1999," said President and General Manager John Jakobsen. "It’s a five-million dollar investment in expanding our business, and we’re confident we’ll continue to build the momentum and loyal customer base we’ve been growing for four successful years."

In the classic LEGOLAND style of blending education and entertainment, the new attractions will combine history, classic art, archeology and geography with interactive fun geared towards youngsters ages two through 12.

"Van Gogh’s Sun Flowers, NASCAR, George Washington, dinosaurs and the Kennedy Space Center will be just some of the new things on the block next year at LEGOLAND," said Jakobsen. "We strive to continuously raise the bar for family entertainment by offering more attractions, more interactivity and all at an incredible value to our guests."

 The first phase of the expansion will be unveiled during President’s Day Weekend February 14-16^th, 2004. Starting at the bottom of the hill by the Model Shop in the Miniland area of LEGOLAND, the Block of Fame will transform a winding, tree-lined walk way into a fun and educational 3-dimensional gallery. A collection of busts on pedestals will flank the path leading up to a scenic lookout point, with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare, Beethoven and Marilyn Monroe, along with many other luminaries through the centuries, depicted in LEGO bricks. The new attraction will put guests literally face-to-face with historical and popular personalities who figure prominently in American culture.

At the lookout point, The Art of LEGO attraction will be a whimsical and fascinating LEGO version of world-renown art. Rodan’s The Thinker sculpture, Van Gogh’s Sun Flowers and Grant Wood’s American Gothic are among the classic selections which will be recreated in regulation LEGO bricks.

To mark the opening of the attraction, over President’s Day Weekend LEGOLAND guests will be able to help build the world’s largest LEGO brick tower for entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. The existing record of 89.3 feet, with 500,000 LEGO bricks, was established this past June at LEGOLAND Billund in Denmark.

Just in time for Spring Break, Dino Island thunders into existence at LEGOLAND April 1st with a brand new junior coaster, interactive photo opportunities and a chance to dig for buried "fossils." Under construction in the Village Green area of the park across the walkway from Safari Trek, Dino Island has as its centerpiece the "Coastersaurus" roller coaster. Nestled in a naturalistic setting of prehistoric-looking ferns and bamboo, the coaster will reach speeds of 18 m.p.h. as it climbs, curves and dips in and around a Jurassic jumble of animated and life-sized LEGO brick dinosaurs.

A brachiosaurus peers at guests from its vantage point in a "bog," while a parasolophus and triceratops guard their young and forage for food in the lush landscape. A winding path will take brave explorers from one hands-on adventure to the next.

Besides encountering the "living" life-sized and scale model dinosaurs, young guests will get to test their archeological skills at the Dino Island Dig Those Dinos. Claws, teeth and bones – the "skeletal remains" of two dinosaurs, are buried in a sandy dig site, waiting to be unearthed by the junior excavators. Guests will turn in their finds to receive a prize.

Memorial Day sparks new family fun with The Fun Town Fire Academy. Families compete by piling into a "fire truck" and powering it, by pumping levers, across a paved straightaway. When they reach their destination, they leap out of the truck, pick up a fire hose, and pump another lever to send water surging through the hose and towards the target – a "burning" building. When the stream of water hits the mark, the family piles into the truck and powers it across the straightaway again, back to the starting point. Each race will be timed, and up to five fire trucks can compete in any single contest. The elaborate "action stage" has two separate sets, allowing a total of 10 trucks to be engaged at a time. The hilarious workout will test a family’s fitness, fastness and funny bone. The attraction will expand on the fire-safety awareness generated by the popular "The Big Test" interactive song and dance show, which has been performed in the open-air arena in Fun Town since the park opened.

To mark Father’s Day, Dads will get to drive in a Daytona Beach NASCAR race – LEGOLAND style. Miniland Florida, complete with the famous racetrack, debuts June 18th in the Miniland section of the park. Miniland depicts geographical regions of the country created with 20 million LEGO bricks in astonishingly accurate detail. The new section is being created adjacent to the New England region, which is also being renovated. When it’s complete, the new attraction will include a diminutive Cape Canaveral and Miami Beach along with the Daytona Beach racetrack, where guests will actually be able to remotely race LEGO brick cars.

During 2003, guests enjoyed two new attractions at LEGOLAND. BIONICLE Blaster, an interactive spinning ride based on the popular BIONICLE toy line, allows guests to control the speed of their vehicle, going from mild to wild with the turn of a wheel. The interactive ride is quickly becoming a family favorite.

Meanwhile, The LEGO Sports Center also opened in 2003 and put guests in the middle of the sporting action with interactive football, soccer and basketball related activities for the whole family. For the second year in a row, LEGOLAND was named one of the best theme parks in the world by Forbes.com. LEGOLAND was honored for innovative and interactive rides and its wide range of shows and attractions for the whole family, making it a new family tradition kids of all ages want to experience again and again.

LEGOLAND California is a 128-acre family theme park dedicated to Families with children between the ages of 2 and 12. Just like with LEGO toys, kids are the ones who make things happen at the Park. They drive, pedal, squirt, climb, jump, stomp, slide, steer, pull, click, push, gallop, laugh, build and program their way through more than 50 rides and attractions.

There are three other LEGOLAND parks in the world -- LEGOLAND® Billund in Denmark, LEGOLAND® Windsor outside of London and LEGOLAND® Deutschland near Günzburg, Germany. For the most current information, log on to www.LEGOLAND.com or call (760) 918-LEGO.