Star Wars Miniland
Jun. 6th, 2011 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lazypadawanThis past weekend, I got the chance to check out the Star Wars Miniland at Legoland while every Star Wars fan was busy in line to get into Star Tours at the Maus Haus.
I haven't been to Legoland in six years and it remains first and foremost A Little Kid's Park. The most interesting part for the bigger folks is the still-impressive Miniland, which is thankfully where the Star Wars stuff is located.
There are seven displays, most of them featuring a big battle scene from each film plus the Clone Wars flick. You get the Battle of Naboo from TPM, the battle of Christophis from Clone Wars, the battle of Endor from ROTJ, the battle of Hoth from TESB, a split between Mustafar and Kashyyyk from ROTS, Mos Eisely and other Tatooine locales from ANH, and the battle of Geonosis from AOTC. You can push a button for sound effects (from the films) and to see something move.
Considering it's all made from LEGO bricks, the scenes are very impressive. Christophsis wows with a huge skyscraper, a giant spider battle droid with a little Anakin on top, and "smoke" rising from the scene. If you peek inside the Naboo hangar, you can see from two angles Darth Maul battling Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Anakin's yellow fighter appears to rise up to take off. The Tatooine set features the cantina and the Lars homestead. Geonosis has both the big clone battle and the arena. Everything is positioned so that it looks like the movie scenes that inspired them.
My quibbles are minor. It looks like Anakin and Obi-Wan are supposed to move around on the Mustafar set but there was no button or anything to make them work. The snowy wastes of Hoth look like concrete in the bright sun. The Endor tried to take advantage of the plants but I felt that they obscured some of the figures. I get that kids are supposed to bend down and look, but it felt at times like looking at an Easter egg hunt.
There was a stand right next to the Star Wars display selling...Star Wars stuff! I bought some magnets and keychains. I couldn't believe they had Nute Gunray keychains. It's so random, which makes it kind of cool ;).
The best thing though was to hear the excitement of kids who were all very familiar with all of the movies and Clone Wars. I'm convinced kids are still Lucas's best customers.
So, if you happen to get press passes, somebody willing to pay your way, discounted tickets, or kids hounding you into going to Legoland, don't miss Star Wars Miniland.
I haven't been to Legoland in six years and it remains first and foremost A Little Kid's Park. The most interesting part for the bigger folks is the still-impressive Miniland, which is thankfully where the Star Wars stuff is located.
There are seven displays, most of them featuring a big battle scene from each film plus the Clone Wars flick. You get the Battle of Naboo from TPM, the battle of Christophis from Clone Wars, the battle of Endor from ROTJ, the battle of Hoth from TESB, a split between Mustafar and Kashyyyk from ROTS, Mos Eisely and other Tatooine locales from ANH, and the battle of Geonosis from AOTC. You can push a button for sound effects (from the films) and to see something move.
Considering it's all made from LEGO bricks, the scenes are very impressive. Christophsis wows with a huge skyscraper, a giant spider battle droid with a little Anakin on top, and "smoke" rising from the scene. If you peek inside the Naboo hangar, you can see from two angles Darth Maul battling Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Anakin's yellow fighter appears to rise up to take off. The Tatooine set features the cantina and the Lars homestead. Geonosis has both the big clone battle and the arena. Everything is positioned so that it looks like the movie scenes that inspired them.
My quibbles are minor. It looks like Anakin and Obi-Wan are supposed to move around on the Mustafar set but there was no button or anything to make them work. The snowy wastes of Hoth look like concrete in the bright sun. The Endor tried to take advantage of the plants but I felt that they obscured some of the figures. I get that kids are supposed to bend down and look, but it felt at times like looking at an Easter egg hunt.
There was a stand right next to the Star Wars display selling...Star Wars stuff! I bought some magnets and keychains. I couldn't believe they had Nute Gunray keychains. It's so random, which makes it kind of cool ;).
The best thing though was to hear the excitement of kids who were all very familiar with all of the movies and Clone Wars. I'm convinced kids are still Lucas's best customers.
So, if you happen to get press passes, somebody willing to pay your way, discounted tickets, or kids hounding you into going to Legoland, don't miss Star Wars Miniland.
