This was my first time visiting LEGOLAND and I was not sure what to expect. LEGOLAND Chicago (Schaumburg) is a multi-level family oriented activity center that features over 3 million LEGO bricks. This weekend was the grand opening of their brand new exhibit for Star Wars: A New Hope. My wife and I, along with our nephew, decided we must attend this event.
Entering the building we were greeted with all different sized characters built out of LEGOS. The first exhibit was titled MINILAND Chicago and was a replica of the most famous buildings around the city. Most of the buildings had lights, and some like the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel, moved. Right away I started to notice Imperial Guards mixed in with all the other little citizens. As the exhibit went on, more and more Star Wars items started to pop up. Hanging from the ceiling X-wings and TIE fighters were engaged in a space battle over the city. The Willis Tower (formally Sear Tower) must have been taken over by the Galactic Empire because a giant Imperial Cog was placed up on the roof.
The next exhibit was a Jungle Expedition that featured giant bugs, monkeys and reptiles. Hidden within the jungle were more Imperial Cogs and the Rebel Insignia. My favorite part of the Jungle was the life size replica of the greatest explorer known to man.
Next up, the Star Wars Exhibit. At this point my nephew and I were very excited! In the center of the room was a huge replica of Mos Elsley. The replica included famous scenes such as Luke and Obi-Won looking upon the city, the interrogation by the Stormtroopers, the Cantina and the Millenium Falcon escaping the space port. Most of the scenes were controlled by a button that would cue music, sound effects, or the Falcon to lift up and spin around. In the far corner of the room stood life size replicas of R2-D2 and Darth Vader. These where a huge hit among kids and adults. Everyone lined up to take their picture with the two iconic characters. In the other corner of the room was a six foot replica of the Death Star. This replica had little windows built in so you could see scenes that took place inside, including Obi-Wan shutting down the tracker beam, the gang stuck inside the garbage compactor and the Lightsaber fight between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi. One end of the Death Star held an arcade type game space battle of a LEGO X-wing fighting off TIE fighters. The detail that was put into this entire exhibit (and all others) was top notch; even the “do not touch” signs were themed. The signs would say “Don’t let the villainy of Tatooine overtake you please do not touch”, “These are not the droids you are looking for please do not touch”, and my favorite “Just witness the power of this station please do not touch the lasers”.
The other parts to LEGOLAND included a very fun dragon ride, a 4D movie theater and a Master Builder Academy that taught you how to build little projects. In the café there were plenty of LEGO stations for kids to build items. They were holding a Star Wars building competition that challenged kids to create Star Wars related items with the LEGOs around the room.
Because this was a Star Wars event, members of the Rebel Legion, Mandalioran Mercs, R2-D2 Builders Club and the 501st Midwest Garrison were there. I’m sure so many of you have seen these members at conventions, but to see them at a kid’s event was fantastic. I hold a huge amount of respect for the men and women of these clubs, but after today I’m ready to enlist myself. They added so much to this event. Kids were swarming every one of them to take their picture. With kids running around and screaming, the members of these clubs acted with so much class to take picture after picture so the kids could go home and say they met a real Star Wars character. As an adult, every time I see an R2-D2 unit I still get excited and just have to stare and admire. I can’t even begin to describe what it was like for kids to see R2 rolling around the halls beeping. It’s great to hear kids ask a trooper if they can take a picture with them, but to hear kids ask R2-D2 to take a picture with them is a wonderful thing. You could just see the magic that the droid brings to kids. I interacted with so many members of these clubs today and just wanted to say thank you for all that you guys do!
Just as you would expect, LEGOLAND exits to a gift shop that has more LEGOs then I have ever seen, including a lot of Star Wars LEGOS. If you are ever in the Chicagoland area, I strongly suggest you check this place out. I’m not sure if other LEGOLANDS have Star Wars exhibits, but if you’re a LEGO fan in any way, they are a must visit in my book.
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