We Speak Attractions & Activities

LEGOLAND Florida’s First New Coaster in 15 Years Lets Riders Build Their Own Spaceship

Published

8 months ago

March 2, 2026

LEGOLAND Florida Resort has its first new roller coaster in 15 years — and riders help build it. Galacticoaster officially launched on February 27, 2026, in the new LEGO Galaxy land in Winter Haven: the first indoor roller coaster built at the park since it opened in 2011, and described in announcement coverage as the most technologically advanced attraction ever built at the Florida resort.

The twist is in the queue. Before boarding, guests use touchscreens and RFID-enabled wristbands to design their own digital LEGO spacecraft across four build phases — Nose, Tail, Wings and Special Features — with more than 625 unique customization options. Each creation is stored on the rider’s wristband, recognized by the ride’s systems and displayed digitally throughout the journey, so the ship a guest designs is the ship that flies.

The mission starts in a Briefing Room, where Chief Engineer Biff Dipper — described by the resort as a larger-than-life robotic minifigure and the world’s first-ever animatronic LEGO Minifigure — delivers mission instructions before guests move on to the Customization Bay.

From there, the coaster reaches speeds up to 40 mph through an intergalactic LEGO solar system, with special effects, synchronized lighting and surprise appearances from classic LEGO Space characters. Height requirements on the official ride page are a minimum of 36 inches with an adult and 48 inches unaccompanied.

LEGO Galaxy also includes the Orbital Outpost shop and a Junior Astronaut Training Zone soft-play area for tiny astronauts ages 1–4. Theme Parks US reported the coaster as the centerpiece of a $94 million investment by Merlin Entertainments — and the concept is already traveling: a California version followed at LEGOLAND California Resort on March 6, 2026. For a park built around families with young children, a coaster fifteen years in the making lands differently: this one hands every rider a spaceship of their own design before the ride even launches.

We Speak Attractions & Activities

The Call Me Mother Experience Brings Immersive Art and Maternal Health Stories to Houston’s Health Museum

Published

4 days ago

October 22, 2026

Royal Jones

Artwork from The Call Me Mother Experience at The Health Museum in Houston

The Call Me Mother Experience, an immersive multi-site art exhibit dedicated to the stories of the Black maternal health crisis, is now open at The Health Museum, 1515 Hermann Drive in Houston. The exhibition runs through February 28, 2027, and tickets range from $12 to $15.

Visitors should prepare for an immersive experience that includes poetry, film, performance, 3D sculptures, and original paintings created by a collective of nationally and internationally recognized artists, including D.E.E.P., Omari Maynard, Stacey Allen, Keda Sharber, and many others.

The exhibit walks visitors toward an opening question and into a reimagined waiting room, showing perspectives that range from father to mother and from despair to healing. Each site displays familial love and the grief that comes with the Black maternal health crisis in America, ending in a call to action.

“After two years working in the community to amplify local stories, I hope people see this exhibit as a celebration of our collective voices in the fight for maternal equity,” says D.E.E.P. “Every artist in the collective has had their own personal experience, be it infant death, fibroids, or birth complications. We have lived through these losses. We are using our art to demand better maternal healthcare practices in our lifetime.”

The stakes behind the exhibit are stark. As of 2024, Black women are three times more likely to die a pregnancy-related death than white women, and more than 80% of these deaths are preventable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Call Me Mother Experience is a Deep Ink project, fiscally sponsored by Fresh Arts, a Houston-based 501(c)(3) arts service organization, with generous support from H-E-B and several other philanthropic organizations. Additional satellite activations are planned at community sites and faith-based organizations throughout the Greater Houston area.

Learn more at callmemotherexperience.com.

Follow The Call Me Mother Experience on Instagram: @callmemotherexperience