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Galacticoaster Won Best New Theme Concept at the 2026 Golden Ticket Awards, the Same Prize Epic Universe's Dark Universe Took Last Year
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Galacticoaster Won Best New Theme Concept at the 2026 Golden Ticket Awards, the Same Prize Epic Universe's Dark Universe Took Last Year

Michael Travels
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LEGOLAND Florida's build-your-own-spaceship coaster is now an award winner. At the 2026 Golden Ticket Awards on Saturday, September 12, Amusement Today gave Best New Theme Concept to Galacticoaster.

The win is shared. Coaster101's full list of winners credits the award to "LEGOLAND Florida and LEGOLAND California," and Laughing Place also reported that the prize went to Legoland in both states.

Four riders in a row of Galacticoaster seats with blue harnesses, a woman, a boy, a girl and a man, cheering, the adults pumping their fists and the kids raising their hands, as glowing green, yellow and orange LEGO bricks float against a starry black sky

Riders on Galacticoaster at LEGOLAND Florida. Image: LEGOLAND Florida Resort

Last year, this prize went to Dark Universe

Best New Theme Concept is one of the Golden Ticket categories for new attractions. In 2025, according to Coaster101's list of that year's winners, it went to Dark Universe at Universal's Epic Universe. This year a family coaster from LEGOLAND took the same title.

Amusement Today presented this year's awards in Austin, Texas, with the ceremony held at COTALand, a brand-new theme park on the campus of Circuit of the Americas that was still about two weeks from its grand opening. The magazine said winners in 22 categories were determined by an international poll of "more than 500 ballots sent to knowledgeable people within the industry," with separate Publisher's Picks and Legend awards chosen by its staff.

Galacticoaster was not the only Central Florida winner. Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment at Epic Universe won Best Dark Ride, and Level99 at Disney Springs won Standout Family Entertainment Center.

Amusement Today's full results charts, in its Golden Ticket Awards issue, show Galacticoaster on two more lists: fourth for Best New Attraction Installation and fifth for Best New Roller Coaster. LEGOLAND Florida itself was third for Best Family Park, behind Santa's Village in New Hampshire and Dutch Wonderland in Pennsylvania, up two places from last year's rankings.

LEGOLAND's operator commented in the same issue. "Galacticoaster was engineered to put kids at the center of the adventure by giving them the power to design their own Lego spacecraft," Julie Estrada, communications director for Merlin Entertainments, told Amusement Today. She said families return to try new designs, since the more than 625 combinations include "new ones specifically for the fall season."

Inside Galacticoaster

LEGOLAND Florida describes Galacticoaster as the resort's "first indoor coaster since opening in 2011." Before boarding, riders use touchscreens to design their own spacecraft, customizing the nose, tail, wings and special features to unlock "more than 625 possible combinations." Each design is stored on an RFID wristband, so riders fly through the LEGO Galaxy in the ship they designed.

A glowing cyan wireframe blueprint of a LEGO spacecraft with swept wings and several engines, drawn on a dark blue grid

A LEGO spacecraft blueprint from the November 2025 Galacticoaster announcement, shown on LEGOLAND Florida's Galacticoaster page. Image: LEGOLAND Florida Resort

The queue has its own star. Chief Engineer Biff Dipper briefs recruits before launch, and the resort calls him "the first animatronic Minifigure." LEGOLAND says he is 25 times the scale of a normal Minifigure, stands 3½ feet tall, and has up to 9 body movements and an LED screen with 45 facial animations.

Quick facts: LEGOLAND lists Galacticoaster's top speed as 40 mph. Riders must be at least 36 inches tall with an adult, or 48 inches to ride unaccompanied. LEGOLAND says it takes "10 Minutes from Preshow to Ride!"

A laughing woman and a screaming girl with curly hair in denim overalls ride Galacticoaster, with a smiling boy behind them and blurred green LEGO bricks rushing past overhead

Galacticoaster riders mid-flight. Image: LEGOLAND Florida Resort

Sources

Image credits: All images LEGOLAND Florida Resort.

Mentioned in this story

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Legoland Theme Park Galacticoaster

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