Flying Eagle

On 25 March 2018, Looopings reported that Flying Eagle had officially opened at Legoland Billund. That gave Romesh Popelier's unusual design story its public payoff. The Dutch theme park fan, now 25 years old, had been allowed to shape the family coaster during and after his internship with a representative of Zierer. The footprint and track length were fixed, but within those limits he was given considerable freedom. At the opening, the project was no longer a paper dream but a real attraction that families could board. Flying Eagle is eleven metres high, 281 metres long and reaches 46 kilometres per hour. Images of the first rides appeared on social media, with Popelier himself present for the occasion. For visitors, the opening added a new accessible coaster to Legoland Billund: exciting enough to feel like a real roller coaster, yet clearly aimed at families. For theme park fans, the ride carried extra meaning because its designer came from the fan community rather than a conventional design office. Flying Eagle therefore became a small but memorable chapter in the park's modern coaster history.

In September 2017, Flying Eagle already had an unusual story before a single guest had ridden it. Looopings reported that Legoland Billund's new family coaster had been designed by Romesh Popelier, a 24-year-old theme park fan from Meijel in the Netherlands. During an internship with Jeroen Nijpels, a representative of German ride manufacturer Zierer, Popelier had researched the use of the NoLimits coaster simulator in the development of new roller coasters. After that internship, he was asked whether he wanted to design a Zierer family coaster for Legoland. The main boundaries were fixed: the available footprint and the track length. Within those limits, he could shape the ride himself. The result was Flying Eagle, a 281-metre coaster reaching eleven metres in height and 46 kilometres per hour. For fans, that background made the attraction stand out. Flying Eagle was not simply a new child-friendly family coaster in LEGOREDO Town; it was a rare example of a theme park enthusiast's dream project becoming a real ride in a major international park.