Meets Darth Vader and friends at Legoland
STARING up at a floor-to-ceiling Death Star made entirely of Lego, I question, if not my own existence, then at least my building skills.
At 10ft across it’s one of the new wonders of the universe, its creation involving 500,000 bricks.
As the giant grey globe glowed menacingly, my sons Harry, eight and James, four, looked on, open mouthed. “That must have taken ages to build,” said Harry.
He’s not wrong. The enormous model – the crowning glory of the new Star Wars Miniland Model Display at Legoland – took a team of modelmakers three months.
And it’s only one part of this fantastic new exhibit at the family fun park in Windsor that is a must-see for Star Wars fans.
As a mother of two boys I live in a house full of Lego and lightsabers, so it’s fair to say excitement levels were at an all-time high as we set off with my husband Alasdair to experience Star Wars Day, the first of a string of themed events at the park.
Designed for fans (young and old) of the much-loved film series, there were costume competitions, meet and greets with characters and, of course, the official opening of the new Miniland exhibition.
As we walked into the exhibit, we were met by a full-size Darth Vader, C-3PO and R2-D2, all built entirely from Lego.
Up next were scenes from the films including famous battles, all recreated in intricate detail.
There is a clever interactive element where, at the touch of a button, the scenes come to life and James could not contain his delight at being able to make the Millennium Falcon “take off”.
The Death Star is truly impressive and just at the end of the exhibit is another Darth Vader where the young – and young at heart – can pose with a lightsaber and take on the evil Sith Lord.
After the exhibition we headed to the park for the meet and greet and were immediately surrounded by different characters, from heroic Jedi knights and Boba Fett, to a Darth Maul with such a realistic scowl that only my elder son would go anywhere near him.
The characters patrolled the park all day and Harry and James spent a lot of time chasing the stormtroopers as they marched around the park in their distinctive white uniforms.
As well as the Star Wars fun, the rest of the park has lots on offer for children and adults alike.
We headed to the new 4D cinema experience, which is a fun spin-off from the popular Lego Movie film complete with wind, rain and even fire-based special effects, before setting off to find some proper rides.
One thing that worked well for my family was the range of rides aimed at different ages.
While Harry was delighted to whizz around The Dragon roller coaster with his dad, James and I headed for the Dragon’s Apprentice, a mini roller coaster that provided plenty of excitement without being too terrifying.
Lego City was a big hit, too, especially the Fire Academy where we joined forces to race our engine to the fire and pump water to put out the flames.
By the end of the day we were all happily exhausted – and no wonder. My Fitbit informed me we had walked nearly 10 miles.
Legoland is a star attraction – Star Wars only makes it more so.
Tickets from £37; under 3s free (0845 373 2640/legoland.co.uk)