Franklin Avenue: A Day at Legoland, Including First Look: The New Star Wars Miniland

Blogger Kid's definitely in the Legoland sweet spot at the moment -- He's 6, after all, so it's all-Legos-all-the-time at our house (which is kinda cool by me). So as we pulled up to the Legoland amusement park in Carlsbad this weekend, the BK couldn't contain his excitement.

"YES. YES. LOVE IT. LOVE. IT."

I'm not sure when Evan started talking like a 16 year-old girl, but hey, I could appreciate the enthusiasm. It was our second trip to the park, and this time was extra exciting for Blogger Kid and Blogger Toddler 2.0: We had made the trip with their two cousins (and their parents). (Read all about our first trip here.)

The eight of us arrived, unfortunately, just days before Legoland's new Star Wars miniland opened to the public... but with most of the work already done, we were able to sneak some peeks:

Here's more info:

Guests can enjoy seven of the most famous scenes from the six live-action STAR WARS movies, as well as a scene from the animated series STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS™ all made out of 1.5 million LEGO® bricks built in 1:20 scale.

Guests will be further immersed into the STAR WARS experience as they pose with life-size LEGO models of Chewbacca, R2-D2 and Darth Vader.

Following a chronological path through the STAR WARS timeline, LEGOLAND guests retrace the major events of the beloved Saga. Some of the 2,000 LEGO models will be more than 6-feet-tall. Interactive buttons will allow children to activate animations throughout the scenes.

The individual film scenes were selected after careful consultation with Lucasfilm Ltd. Pictures and drawings of the figures, spacecraft, vehicles, landscapes, etc. were taken as the basis for the detailed construction blueprints. The model designers used a special LEGO drawing paper for this, on which one square is equivalent to one LEGO knob. In the next step, they calculated how many bricks and which colors and forms would be needed for the models. For particularly difficult model parts, prototypes are first built, before the model is constructed brick by brick. To help the LEGO models last longer, all of the bricks are glued together and then sprayed with a special UV coating.

Of course, Blogger Kid and his cousins enjoyed the rides -- particularly the Volvo Cars, which (unlike Disneyland's Autopia) run without a track. Evan may only be 6, but he's a stickler for rules -- and obeyed the rules of the road while driving. It was a treat to watch -- he stopped at the proper points, stayed in his lane and drove cautiously.

But Blogger Kid's favorite part of the park remains the Minilands. New York City, New Orleans, Washington, San Francisco, Vegas and more -- all built with Legos. Some shots of the Lego creations found there and throughout the park: