LEGOLAND Windsor’s talented team of special Model Makers and Animators have spent a mammoth 2,541 hours creating some of Europe’s most iconic landmarks, including a 4 metre tall Eiffel Tower, as the famous Miniland gets a new Paris.
Installed when the park opened 18 years ago, the original Paris scene was in need of a makeover, so the buildings and boulevards were taken out at the end of the 2013 season to be replaced by resplendent new LEGO creations. As well as the Eiffel Tower, the scene features an incredibly detailed Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre and The Moulin Rouge with lights and animations. All of the structures are amazingly intricate recreations and the Model Makers have spent hours examining photographs and footage of the real buildings to ensure maximum accuracy.
The entire scene is comprised of more than 650,000 LEGO bricks with 230,000 of those making up the Eiffel Tower. The buildings weigh a staggering 389kg (that’s more than 62 stone!) and most of them were carefully maneuvered into place last week. The 150kg Eiffel Tower is the final piece of the Paris landscape to be installed and the top of the Tower was placed into position with military precision by Model Makers today.
Miniland is one of the park’s most popular areas where no detail is too small to be captured. The area recreates international landmarks in over 40 million LEGO bricks – from the major sites of London to the Angel of the North to Paris and the Presidents of Mount Rushmore. Canary Wharf is the tallest building standing an impressive 5.2 metres tall.
Miniland Paris – The Brick Stats
- Sacre Coeur – comprises 210,000 bricks
- The Louvre – weighs in at 150kg, comprises 135,000 bricks and took 513.5 hours to build
- Arc de Triomphe – weighs in at 69kg, comprises 62,100 bricks and took 328 hours to build
- Moulin Rouge – weighs in at 20kg, comprises 18,000 and took 143.5 hours to build
- The Eiffel Tower – weighs 150kg, comprises 230,000 bricks and took 512 hours to build