Interactive museum dedicated to these tiny children’s building blocks is generating big excitement in the Chicago area.
By Dennis R. Heinze

Chicago is known for its skyscrapers and larger-than-life personalities, but something tiny is generating excitement in the city, especially among its youngest visitors–the new LEGOLAND Discovery Center.

Above: It took more than 1 million LEGOS to create the model of the Chicago skyline at the center. Below: The center features a build and test area which children can create cars, buildings and more. Dennis R. Heinze photos

The indoor center, located in Schaumburg northwest of downtown Chicago, is the first of its kind in the United States and features two floors of hands-on LEGO fun. It’s a fun side trip for a Chicago family vacation. Opened in the summer of 2008, the museum offers an array of LEGO highlights, including a movie, ride, workshop and enough building blocks to construct an entire city–literally.

Indeed, the first thing you see when you enter the center, which is located in the Streets of Woodfield shopping center near Woodfield Mall, is an amazing model of Chicago built entirely of LEGOs. Landmarks like the Chicago Water Tower, Navy Pier, Buckingham Fountain and the Hancock Tower are interspersed among streets, elevated trains and sidewalk scenes complete with little LEGO people.

As visitors are gazing at all the intricate features of the model, which took more than 1 million building blocks to create, the lights in the room will occasionally dim as lights inside the buildings and the streetlights in the model are illuminated, giving the city an ethereal glow. The scaled skyline truly is a sight to behold, but the remarkable models don’t end there.

Throughout the center, visitors will find various lifelike creations of jungle animals, cartoon characters, superheros and more made of the little interlocking plastic bricks. In the Hall of Fame, you can get up close to full-size versions of Batman, Indiana Jones, Darth Vader and characters from Harry Potter, including Hagrid and Harry himself. And the Dragon Ride takes visitors on a journey through a medieval castle full of more amazing models.

There’s also a 4-D movie that features Bob the Builder and his crew making a roller coaster. And in the LEGO Factory, visitors can see how the little bricks are manufactured. Each year, approximately 19 billion LEGO elements are made every year.

After seeing all the models, there’s also a chance to put your own imagination to work in the Build and Test Center. A mountain of LEGOs is spread among a number of work tables where children can their own buildings, cars and more. There are speed ramps for the builders to race their wheeled creations, and there’s even an earthquake table that puts the best building designs to the test to see if they can withstand some shaking.

If all that building makes you hungry, there’s a cafe in the Build and Test Center that serves sandwiches and kid-friendly cuisine.

The center, which is located at 601 N. Martingale Road not far from the intersection of Interstates 90 and 290, opens daily at 10 a.m. and the last ticket sold is at 5 p.m. with the site closing at 7 p.m. Admission to the center is pricey at $15 for children and $19 for adults, but if you’re looking for a fun way to spend the afternoon and wear your kids out, it’s worth it. For more information, call (866) 929-8111 or visit www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com.

Dennis R. Heinze is regional editor of AAA Midwest Traveler magazine.