5 SANAD VILLAGE CHILDREN OF DETERMINATION BEAT MERLIN ENTERTAINMENT’S CEO IN AN EPIC CHALLENGE AT LEGOLAND® DUBAI

As part of his world tour and marking his first visit to Dubai and the Middle East, Scott O’Neil, the new CEO of Merlin Entertainments, accepted the challenge of 5 students of Sanad Village, the region’s largest rehabilitation centre dedicated to understanding autism and other related disorders – to build Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, using LEGO^® bricks with the colours of the UAE flag (white, red, green and black) at LEGOLAND^® Dubai theme park – in less than 10 minutes.

To support this outstanding event and to cheer to the 5 Sanad Village students, many LEGOLAND^® Dubai Resort guests as well as team members attended the challenge that took place at LEGOLAND Dubai’s MINILAND – the home of 15,000 LEGO^® Models made of 20 million LEGO bricks,  between Ahmed, Eissa, Saif, Buhaisa and Jose – 5 children of ‘Sanad Village’ aged 3-11 years and Scott O’Neil, CEO of Merlin Entertainments, the global leader in family entertainment, operating more than 140 global attractions, theme parks, hotels, and resorts (including LEGOLAND^®) across 24 countries.

In less than 10 minutes, Ahmed, Eissa, Saif, Buhaisa and Jose, successfully built the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa using white, red, green and black LEGO bricks – and were awarded with an awesome LEGO^® Trophy by Scott O’Neil, CEO, Merlin Entertainments, who accepted his defeat gracefully and congratulated the 5 kids for their remarkable efforts and teamwork. The winners, together with their teachers and fellow students who attended the event, were later invited to celebrate their victory by spending the day at the family-friendly LEGOLAND Water Park with its 20 water attractions and slides.

This event is part of the ongoing collaboration between LEGOLAND Dubai Resort and Sanad Village, which was initiated in the year 2022 to support the Sanad Village vision – being one of the largest institutions for the rehabilitation and education of kids and adults of determination in the region. It is dedicated to understanding autism and other related disorders and uses creative programs, innovative strategies, training and rehabilitation services to help those of determination, overcome the many obstacles they face and integrate them into society.

This CSR initiative is one of several collaborations to take place between LEGOLAND Dubai Resort and local and regional organisations, as part of its commitment to giving back to the local community.