LEGOLAND Windsor Resort in the UK has been closed to guests for its seasonal break over the past several weeks. However, it will soon be opening its doors again in the middle of March. The staff is looking forward to a surge of visitors who may have been inspired to drop by because of the recently released “LEGO Movie 2.”
And what a treat LEGOLAND Windsor will have in store for them at the start of the new season! On their official website they have announced that they will be offering a “LEGO Movie 2” experience in line with their special “LEGO Movie Days” event during the latter half of March after their post-break reopening.
One major attraction during this period will be a brick-perfect recreation of the locations from “LEGO Movie 2.” As spoiled in the first film, the 3D-animated setting of Bricksburg/Apocalypseburg is actually a real-world LEGO diorama worked on by a family portrayed by several real actors. Therefore, LEGOLAND Windsor guests will be treated to accurate replicas of Apocalypseburg and its environs, done in the same exact scale as how the real-world movie characters might view it.
The Apocalypseburg diorama was realized by LEGOLAND Windsor model-makers with input from Warner Bros. Consumer Products and “LEGO Movie 2” set designers to get every detail right. The whole setup boasts being made up of 62,254 individual LEGO pieces in 31 colors and 628 shapes.
While guests ooh and ah at the display, LEGOLAND Windsor will also have minifigure mascots of Emmet, Wyldstyle and Sweet Mayhem ready for meet and greets. The Miniland area will host a scavenger hunt event; a “LEGO Movie” mosaic build will also be open for participant builders to help complete the project. It’s shaping up to be plenty of fun weekends at LEGOLAND Windsor Resort.
The LEGO Movie 2 experience, which has already opened in other LEGOLAND resorts such as California, will be around throughout this new season in Windsor. LEGO Movie Days in the meantime will take place across the third, fourth and fifth weekends of March (16-17, 23-24 and 30-31) in LEGOLAND Windsor.
LEGO fans in the UK and tourists travelling there by next month can book their theme park tickets and hotel stays at their official website here.
For LEGO fans, the various LEGOLAND Resort theme parks are already places where everything is great. But in LEGOLAND Florida in particular, it’ll soon be getting an expansion section where, like the movies it is based on, “Everything is Awesome.”
Just to remind everyone, the LEGO Movie World area in LEGOLAND Florida is opening next month on March 27, as revealed by their sneak peek announcement last January. Fans will get to explore and have fun on this park section, based on the “LEGO Movie” city of Bricksburg, where they can go on new rides and eat at new restaurants.
While the expansion is only for the Florida resort, all LEGOLAND theme parks are expecting to be making awesome business at this part of the year. As Merlin Entertainments puts it, they certainly have “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” helping to drive ticket sales for all their resorts.
For instance, while LEGOLAND Windsor in the UK has no LEGO Movie World yet, they’ve still got a grand event planned that ties in to the “LEGO Movie” sequel that premiered early this February. LEGO Movie Days will run for two-day periods over three weeks of March in LEGOLAND Windsor.
Back to LEGOLAND Florida, aside from the aforementioned LEGO Movie World itself, the Resort Hotel will also have several of its rooms re-themed after the films, with decorated walls and amenities like a Unikitty shower.
All in all, Merlin Entertainments looks to report strong profits of £271 million (before taxation) when the theme park company makes its latest full-year financial report this Thursday, February 28. And part of it is thanks to the ticket sale boost from “LEGO Movie 2.”
When LEGO fans first saw the special set Minifigure Factory (5005356), made to commemorate 40 years of the LEGO minifigure, some might have wondered if “making” one’s own official minifigures as shown here was possible. LEGO answered that question when it began tests of an actual Minifigure Factory, a custom printing service in the vein of their earlier Mosaic Maker.
Over eight months have passed since the LEGO Minifigure Factory was first tested in Copenhagen, Denmark, the home nation of The LEGO Group. Following this intensive trail period, the Minifigure Factory will be made available for the first time in a commercial capacity, in London’s primary LEGO Store: Leicester Square.
As Promo Bricks tells us, the LEGO branded store at Leicester Square shall be the first in the world with a Minifigure Factory for making custom minifigs. This is another “first” honor for that particular retail location, which has seen set unveilings and other events in the past. They also got the first LEGO Mosaic Maker system in the world.
How does the commercial version of the LEGO Minifigure Factory work? First a customer of the Leicester Square LEGO Store must buy a £10.99 Minifigure Factory Pack. This pack is canned at the Factory machine, along with the customer’s name entry, to open a minifigure design interface. They get to choose figure parts to assemble then do a custom design on the torso (only the torso for now). Lastly, they select their custom minifig’s other accessories while it’s being printed.
All in all, the LEGO Minifigure Factory looks to be a popular service for the more discerning LEGO fans with extra cash to spend; after all, almost £11 for a single minifigure does sound steep even if the buyer got to customize and accessorize it. Time will tell when another Minifigure Factory unit is announced, and where in the world it might be located next.
Full-scale LEGO reproductions are a dime a dozen these days, particularly when it comes to automobiles. We’ve seen brick-built Formula One racing cars and camper trailers, and for the umpteenth time we’ll mention the storied 1:1 scale LEGO Bugatti Chiron that drives like a real car, powered by LEGO-set generators.
Now, a trade show in Munich, Germany will serve as a venue for the showcase of another life-sized LEGO vehicle construct. The project was built by LEGO Certified Professional Rene Hoffmeister with help from Pascal Lenhard, and their replicated vehicle, as befits the German setting, is the Volkswagen T2 camper.
Originating from a digital schematic of a real Type 2 van that was converted into a LEGO brick diagram, Hoffmeister and Lenhard led a building team to realize the plan, constructing some 400,000 different LEGO pieces over and around a supporting metal framework for strength.
One hiccup in the project occurred when the delivery of 20,000 transparent LEGO blocks to be formed into the Volkswagen’s windshield and windows was delayed. By having his team do overtime and weekend shifts, Hoffmeister managed to keep their construction timetable to within the six weeks allotted before the f.re.e. outdoor trade show officially opened this Wednesday on February 20.
For trivia purposes, the physical stats of this LEGO 1:1 Volkswagen Type 2 van are: 700 kilos (1,543 lbs.) 400,000 blocks (20,000 transparent), 5 meters (16.4 ft.) long, 3 meters (9.8 ft.) tall, with functional sliding door and Westfalia roof.
This incredible LEGO Volkswagen T2 will be a star attraction at the f.re.e. trade show in Munich, which runs for four days from February 20 to 24. It’ll be located in hall C5, booth 103, along with the actual T2 that it was modeled from.
Art instructor Jeanna Bassett from Concordia Elementary School in San Clemente, Orange County might fit the bill for cool teacher. She had amassed three decades’ worth of LEGO Star Wars sets, many of which were assembled by her sons. In a generous gesture she had donated some sets to her school’s library as exhibits over the years, becoming its own little attraction there.
Then on November last year she experienced a LEGO collector’s worst nightmare: vandalism of the sets on display. The destruction was so significant that Basset lost all hope of seeing her collection put together again. Thank goodness for her local building community, not to mention LEGO itself.
As told by the Orange County Register, over two months since Jeanna Bassett’s LEGO Star Wars set exhibit in the Concordia School in San Clemente was wrecked by still-unidentified suspects, some 90% of the total collection that had been on display has since been either repaired or given newly-built replacements.
With 125 individual LEGO Star Wars sets that were damaged in last year’s vandalism attack on Concordia, repair and replacement of them would have been too daunting. But the local community readily answered the call. Orange County’s Goodwill actually sprung for the fixit job on one of Bassett’s biggest ruined LEGO Star Wars sets, the UCS Millennium Falcon (75192) itself, which they then presented to her at school last December.
Other salvage work on the collection was performed by various LEGO Users Groups from Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego Counties, totaling 40 individual builders that joined hands to restore Bassett’s precious Star Wars sets.
Paul Lee of the LA LEGO User Group put it best for his fellows when he remarked, “To paraphrase Liam Neeson, as AFOLS we ‘do have a very particular set of skills’ that were perfectly suited for solving this problem. We have the building experience and expertise, and we have the resources in terms of replacing damaged or missing pieces.”
The LEGO Group itself also donated more Star Wars sets for assembly worth $2,000. Lastly, “The Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson presented Jeanna Bassett with a signed “Star Wars” poster to go with her mostly-restored library exhibit, as he himself lives in San Clemente and has nephews attending in Concordia.
While she and her husband Donald were reinstalling her LEGO collection in the library Sunday, February 10, Bassett said of her fortune, “It’s really the story of how the community came together. It’s sad it had to happen in the first place but it shows you people really do care.”
LEGOLAND Florida Resort is adding another attraction that will make everything in the theme park more awesome. It will be dedicating a significant portion of the park to what is call as The LEGO Movie World, featuring new attractions based on the first LEGO Movie and its sequel, the LEGO Movie 2. Furthermore, the wait will not be that long since Merlin Entertainment Group has announced a March 27 opening just roughly two months from now.
Read on for the official press release of the opening of the LEGO Movie World, followed by a video announcement from Merlin Entertainment courtesy of BricksFanz.
The LEGO Movie 2 is set to open in theaters next week, February 8, 2019. Just be sure not to get caught with the LSS-inducing effects of its Catchy Song.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla, Jan. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Opening March 27, LEGOLAND Florida Resort is taking guests from the theater to the theme park with the launch of THE LEGO MOVIE WORLD. Created in partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, this impressive expansion features three new rides and numerous attractions, all inspired by the characters and themes of the worldwide blockbuster THE LEGO MOVIE™ and the exciting new big-screen animated adventure sequel THE LEGO MOVIE™ 2: The Second Part.
The creative masterminds from Merlin Magic Making, the global creative and delivery division of parent company Merlin Entertainments Group, re-created Bricksburg with its lovable characters, creative eating spaces and authentic city scape where guests can experience Emmet’s Super Suite.
“THE LEGO MOVIE WORLD is our largest addition to date and will provide guests around the world with the ultimate movie-to-theme park experience,” said Keith Carr, project director of Merlin Magic Making. “The park just screams fun everywhere you look; kids and families alike can interact with various characters, enjoy ride technology that’s the first of its kind and dine on tasty tacos at Taco Tuesday Everyday. Not to mention, we have a spaceship playground!”
While the Park’s theming and immersion of THE LEGO MOVIE universe will captivate guests of all ages, the three brand-new rides stay true to LEGOLAND Florida’s kid-friendly experience.
“The rides truly capture the whimsical fun and quirky nature of the popular LEGO movies,” said Rex Jackson, general manager of LEGOLAND Florida. “The Masters of Flight ride will be iconic to our park, Unikitty’s ride sings and spins with her ever-changing emotions and the Battle of Bricksburg is themed around huge LEGO DUPLO® aliens. With great partners in Warner Bros. we’ve developed a park that will bring a lot of smiles to children and their families. We’re thrilled to be the only location for fans to experience THE LEGO MOVIE WORLD.”
THE LEGO MOVIE Masters of Flight takes guests on a suspended ride aboard Emmet’s Triple Decker Couch surrounded by a full-dome virtual screen, giving the sensational feeling of flying through a world created completely from LEGO® bricks. The attraction is the first in the world at a major theme park that embeds a 180-degree turn in the ride experience. The ride animation will feature a humorous and magical adventure as guests soar through Cloud Cuckoo Land, dive to Middle Zealand and splash down on the waters of Pirate’s Cove.
Unikitty’s Disco Drop takes guests through a rainbow-filled journey based on Unikitty and her many moods. Once on the ride, guests will swoop to the tiptop of Cloud Cuckoo Land, then drop, spin and bounce back down to earth, creating a thrilling and frenzied experience.
At Battle of Bricksburg, the only water ride in THE LEGO MOVIE WORLD, riders are challenged to stop DUPLO aliens from invading and stealing LEGO bricks by spraying water at targets from their boats. The riders aren’t the only ones who can enjoy playing in the water, outside of the ride will be water cannons for guests to spray and help the riders save the day.
THE LEGO MOVIE WORLD will also feature Taco Tuesday Everyday eatery, The Awesome Shop, filled with take-home collectables and a space-themed playground structure inspired by Benny’s spaceship which will include special photo opportunities and character interactions.
To continue the fun, guests can enjoy the ultimate vacation (or slumber party) just steps away at LEGOLAND® Hotel in the new THE LEGO MOVIE themed rooms. Designed with familiar scenery and beloved characters from the movie, no detail is left untouched. Adults can relax in their own room inspired by Emmet’s apartment, while kids dream of spaceship adventures in a separate children’s room themed after Benny’s Spaceship.
No matter where you stay or how you choose to spend your adventure, awesome awaits at THE LEGO MOVIE WORLD!
Some good things never last, and sometimes the end comes all of a sudden. For the majority of LEGO fans who are looking forward to next year’s LEGOLAND LEGO Star Wars Days, then it might be prudent to consider that there is none to expect any more from Merlin Entertainment (owner of the LEGO Star Wars Days hosting locations). A report from LEGO and Star Wars insider Rebelscum mentions the sad news that the much-anticipated celebrations will no longer take place in all LEGOLAND locations, with the very last of these events held last month at the LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester, NY.
Rebelscum states that they’ve received official word from Lucasfilm that says, “2018 would be the last year they do them”, referring to the highly attended LEGO Star Wars fan event. Word on the streets has it that Lucasfilm and Disney are now focused on preparing to reset the longstanding franchise, with expenditures being rechanneled so as to minimize and limit Star Wars exposure. It seems to be part of a master plan to somehow help the Star Wars faithful move on from the Star Wars that we used to know, towards new and unchartered territories that will somehow reboot the decades-old franchise.
WINTER HAVEN, FL — April 5, 2018 — Captain Phasma and Darth Vader preview for LEGO Star Wars Miniland display. (PHOTO / LOCK + LAND, Edward Linsmier for LEGOLAND Florida Resort)
It is also possible that Disney is now consolidating all of its Star Wars related properties and theme parks in order to bring them under one roof. Only time can tell if this will be the path that Disney and Lucasfilm have chosen. But what is sure right now is that fans of the LEGOLAND LEGO Star Wars Days is better off not to look forward to another event like this, that yielded so many attractions such as a large-scale LEGO Millennium Falcon made out of 250,000 bricks, and several hard-to-find minifigure promos.
In the same manner, perhaps, as the exponential increase of branded LEGO Stores, so too has been the pace of opening new LEGOLAND Discovery Centers – small indoor attractions that offer guests an experience of what can be had in the larger LEGOLAND Resort theme parks. One such LEGOLAND Discovery Center is expected to open in San Antonio, Texas by next year. But just because it’s not yet now it doesn’t mean they can’t show off a few things to drum up interest in future visitors. The Miniland area, while not a huge as can be in a LEGOLAND theme park, is sure to draw the city’s attention thanks to its predominant theme.
That’s because the LEGOLAND Discovery Center Miniland will include choice buildings from the San Antonio skyline. These include the Alamo, Alamodome and the Tower Life Building. That last one is scaled at 6 feet 6 inches, or as tall as Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs.
LDC San Antonio general manager Jeremy Aguillen even shared some statistics on the Miniland model buildings’ construction: 24,000 LEGO bricks for the Tower Life Building, assembled in over 300 hours; 180 hours for the LEGO Alamo; and 2,000 minifigures put inside the Alamodome, for starters.
While LEGOLAND Discovery Center San Antonio won’t be welcoming guests until 2019, these Miniland models will be displayed on Wednesday, December 12, in front of The Shops at Rivercenter where the LDC will be located.
They also plan to hold a building competition from January 12-13 next year to select their resident LEGO Master Builder.
In the shadow of a certain mega-complex of theme parks in Anaheim, California there’s a smaller but no less popular destination in Carlsbad, for families who are fans of one of the world’s biggest toy brands, operating for almost two decades. Come 2019, LEGOLAND California Resort will be turning 20.
So while the bigger theme park complexes are celebrating the birth of the world’s most famous animated mouse (something LEGO also has a hand in), LEGOLAND California Resort for its part is gearing for a most enjoyable promo next year to celebrate their opening back in 1999. What they have in mind will blow guests’ minds.
Considering the topic is “birthdays”, on 2019 LEGOLAND California will allow free admission to children age 3-12 if they visit the theme park on their birthdays. To quote LCR general manager Peter Ronchetti, “2019 is our 20th birthday and we’re proud to announce that all year in 2019, children of 12 and under will come in free on their birthday.”
This promo is effective in LEGOLAND California Resort from January 1 to December 31, 2019. Parents can avail this for their birthday celebrant children by presenting a document to prove birthdate (original birth certificate, passport or government ID). The free admission tickets are for Sea Life aquarium, LEGOLAND + Sea Life Aquarium, and LEGOLAND + Sea Life + Water Park.
Of course, in the event that a child’s birthday falls on a day when LEGOLAND is closed, there are two options available: the celebrant can go to Sea Life Aquarium for free instead, or they can come back on the closest date to the birthday when LEGOLAND California Resort is operating.
These free admission tickets for children under 12 are non-transferable, though the terms and conditions may change without notice throughout the year. As for children age 2 and under, they’ve always been admitted free to LEGOLAND, and that won’t change.
It’s become quite the acceptable medium to honor some famous person or other who has earned an achievement in his or her career by having a life-sized statue of them made out of LEGO bricks. It’s simply a natural development from building LEGO figuresoffavorite characters from any franchise.
Quite recently, the Dallas Cowboys also commissioned a LEGO statue to be put in front of their team headquarters at The Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas. Said figure is none other than their former player and now-ESPN color analyst for Monday Night Football, tight end Jason Witten.
Twitter first became aware of the LEGO Witten statue the week before, when the first posts came up November 23. Needless to say, it’s become an additional tourist attraction and selfie magnet in the Cowboys HQ. No info was shared as to who built the figure for The Star, but its construction fits the styling of past sporting-figure LEGO constructs.
LEGO or otherwise, having such an honor done for Jason Witten is well-earned. He spent all 15 years of his NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys after all, from 2007 to 2017. In that time he established himself as one of the best tight ends in the league with 68 TDs and 1,152 receptions over the span of 239 games.
Nobody knows if the real Witten has gone on to see his LEGO rendition yet, but the brick-built statue remains at Cowboys HQ in the Star for all future visits.
