The Tussauds Group is now part of Merlin Entertainments, the world's second largest leisure group, second only to Disney. It is based in Poole, Dorset from where it manages a portfolio of brands and over 50 attractions including the famous Madame Tussauds waxworks, Legoland Parks, Sealife Centres, Gardaland in Italy, The Dungeons and the highly successful London Eye, Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, and Chessington World of Adventures in the UK.
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The Tussauds Group is now part of Merlin Entertainments, the world's second largest leisure group, second only to Disney. It is based in Poole, Dorset from where it manages a portfolio of brands and over 50 attractions including the famous Madame Tussauds waxworks, Legoland Parks, Sealife Centres, Gardaland in Italy, The Dungeons and the highly successful London Eye, Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, and Chessington World of Adventures in the UK.
Between 1900 and 1977, Madame Tussauds was the main asset for the Tussauds group. This changed in 1978 when the business was acquired by S. Pearson and Son, now Pearson PLC. Chessington Zoo was already owned by Pearson and became a Tussauds attraction. In the same year Warwick Castle was acquired. Rock Circus opened in the London Pavilion in 1989. Several small acquisitions were made before 1990, when Alton Towers was bought for £60 million.
In 1995, PortAventura in Spain opened, in which Tussauds had a 40% stake and managed the theme park. The...
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