As Red is growing older, it’s fascinating to watch his development and interests change. Although he’s not quite 4, he’s starting to notice the next “age level” of toys and becoming interested in different aspects of them. Naturally, we’ve been keeping smaller toys and LEGOs out of our toy stash for some time since he’s been so little (hello, toys-in-mouth!), but with his budding maturity comes a little more trust on our part. Nana and Pop have a bucket of Chase’s LEGOs from when he was a kid, and this past Christmas, Red took an interest in those little connecting bricks and “building” whatever he could click together. Just a couple of short months later, and he knows how to press together the blocks with expert tightness and has a lot of fun making towers and things he conceives as vehicles. I look forward to the day when he starts amassing a little collection of his own!
In the meantime, we play with LEGOs whenever we get the chance, and our entire family (all 3.5 of us!) was thrilled to be invited to the Legoland Discovery Center to tour their newest exhibit: LEGO Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace Miniland Display. While Red is just learning about Star Wars and outer space, we jumped at the chance to tour the new Miniland. The limited time walk-through exhibit officially debuted at LEGOLAND Discovery Center March 21, and the center promises lots of LEGO Star Wars excitement like a meet and greet with the 501st Legion, a Stormtrooper takeover in Miniland, a Build Like a Jedi contest and more!
While I thought the exhibit itself was very small, it was incredibly detailed. Three giant tables with miniature scenes in LEGO are dramatically lit, and even have interactive elements that let you control some vehicles! I was in awe of how many pieces there were. And, if the small tour isn’t enough LEGO Star Wars to whet your whistle, the stormtroopers and Star Wars vehicles have taken over Miniland, too! You can see the Tie Fighter ship sitting on top of the King Building? That’s just one of the awesome surprises that you’ll see in the replica Atlanta city scape… when you visit, see if you can find them all!
If you’ve not been to the Discovery Center before, there are lots of things to do there besides checking out Miniland. Be sure to visit the Racer Build and Test Tracks. You can use hundreds of Lego pieces to build yourself a dream car and then test it out on three race tracks (one of them is fun to crash on!). While Red was testing out his car with me, I noticed Chase was missing… where was he, but intricately concentrating on building vehicle of his own (yes, Legoland does have adult only nights!!) to race with Red. Super sweet, and Red was overjoyed that Daddy was going to race with him. I wonder which one of my guys had more fun with this part of the center?!
There’s also a full-scale amusement park ride that encourages you to bike-pedal; the faster you pedal, the higher your sorcerer cart climbs into the air. Red loved the chance to try something new and soar above all the master builders below. I enjoyed all the large full-scale LEGO details that were everywhere.
Make sure to visit the LEGOLAND Discovery Center online and in person! You’ll have tons of fun!
LEGOLAND® Discovery Center Atlanta: Third Floor, Phipps Plaza | 3500 Peachtree Road in Buckhead
I love legos. I don’t have kids yet but I do have a 6 year old nephew who would love this. I’ll have to pass it on to my sister 🙂
I really want to go here with or without my kids. It looks like all day fun! I really wish we had one that was local.
It’s worth a trip over… come visit! 🙂
What fun! I still love LEGOs…I can’t wait to introduce them to my kids!
This is totally something my husband would love! He’s been asking for Legos for a few years for Christmas, haha!
ha! If you have a Legoland near you, check out the adult nights!