Legoland

Most of Legoland is intended for children under the age of 10. Most of the rides, for instance, were pretty lame. The themed "lands" weren't well enough differentiated to be worth most of the effort. What was really supremely cool about Legoland, though, were the Legos! Miniland, "the heart of Legoland," is definitely worth seeing if you can get a discount on the admission (my mother got us a substantial one through that Teachers' Union that Republicans hate so much). Miniland is amazing. It consists of large replicas of US cities in miniature. In Legos. Billions and billions of Legos. It is truly incredible how something can be made of Legos and yet instantaneously recognizable. New York, San Francisco, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Washington, DC and other sites are rendered in remarkable detail.

Here, for instance, is the US Capitol.


Note in particular the way the dome is rendered in Legos.


Here are Bourbon Street,


Chinatown,


Alamo Square,


the Chrysler Building,


the Empire State Building, and


the Guggenheim Museum, in Legos.


Legoland has been faster about building the new Freedom Tower than the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.


You can also see the footprints of the original Twin Towers.


But they also have more minor buildings, again rendered in incredibly recognizable Lego detail. Here is the Dakota Inn, famous for the shooting of John Lennon,


as well as the memorial to him in Central Park.


And look, the fountain in the Justin Herman Plaza, right near my office. It's unmistakable.


Some of the things even moved. Washington, DC, for instance, has a presidential motorcade.


Also spectacular are the little details of individual people. Here, for instance, is a guy with a Mohawk being bitten by a dog on the New York City streets.


Every time I thought there should be something to make it more authentic, we would see that thing. In New Orleans, I said to Eric, "There should be someone doing voodoo," and he found a vendor selling voodoo supplies.


I said, "There should be somebody getting mugged," and he said, "Well, there's a guy getting arrested.


There were also busts of famous people, in Legos, like Lincoln.


It was marvelous. Breathtaking, even. We took many pictures.

Last updated: 09/23/2008 by Eric and Beth Zuckerman