Legoland California Resort’s master model builders add final touches to giant Lego heart kicking off the world’s first Lego Festival for Merlin Entertainments

By | May 2, 2025

CARLSBAD, Calif — Talented Master Model Builders at LEGOLAND® California Resort have taken brick building to the next level today unveiling a giant LEGO® heart, symbolizing the love of play, to kickstart LEGO® Festival – the biggest family celebration of play ever.

The San Diego-themed ‘I Heart Play’ model took 650 hours to create using more than 120,000 bricks and perfectly captures the energy of San Diego. It stars a southern California surfer girl riding a wave on the iconic shores of San Diego—all celebrating the laid back vibes of America’s finest city. The colorful model welcomes guests as they enter the Resort and is one of seven created for LEGOLAND Resorts worldwide to mark the first-ever LEGO Festival experience.

The Hearts have been built to celebrate the love of play, after recent research found that 76% of parents1 believe that kids now have less time and space to play than ever before. LEGO Festival has been created to encourage families to play together on an epic scale, inspiring creativity, confidence and learning in the lead up to World Play Day on June 11.

PJ Catalano, Master Model Builder for LEGOLAND California Resort, said: “For us, every LEGO brick holds potential. This heart is a giant reminder that play isn’t just fun; it’s where you learn to create, to problem-solve, to bring your wildest ideas to life, one brick at a time.”

From building, dancing and rocking, families who visit LEGO Festival at LEGOLAND California Resort can enjoy five different play-zones including the Music Zone, Dance Zone, Creative Zone,Chill Out Zone andGaming Zone to take their playtime to the next level.

  • Gaming Zone:For the first time, LEGO® Fortnite® fans can unleash their inner model builder and create their own extraordinary builds to expand the Lost Isles while also meeting the one and only Adventure Peely–the iconic LEGO Fortnite character.
  • Music Zone: Rock out to the ultimate LEGO Battle of the Bands show. This rocking zone will feature an opportunity to get access all areas and meet the band.
  • Dance Zone: Groove to sweet tunes and show off your best moves as you build the beat at DJ GoodVibes Dance Party.
  • Creative Zone: Join renowned LEGO Master Model Builder, Alec, virtually, as he leads creative LEGO building adventures including the chance to build your own LEGO Minifigure head cookie.
  • Chill Out Zone:Kick back and relax in a secret LEGO garden full of vibrant flower walls! Families can chill out together while building LEGO flowers. Plus, the littlest guests can build along with Hopsy, the friendliest red little bunny during the LEGO® DUPLO® show – perfect for preschoolers. 

On entrance, guests will be able to snap a selfie with the iconic ‘I heart Play’ display to kick off their day before grabbing their Festival lanyard and heading off to enjoy a play-filled adventure.

The iconic Hearts will be on display at six other locations around the world all featuring distinct themes that reflect each location: LEGOLAND Billund, LEGOLAND New York, LEGOLAND Deutschland, LEGOLAND Korea, LEGOLAND Florida and LEGOLAND Windsor. The set of seven bespoke LEGO hearts were designed and built by a global team of model makers who took a staggering 4,500 hours to build and used an astonishing 900,000 bricks to bring the love of play to life.

  • Comments Off on Legoland California Resort’s master model builders add final touches to giant Lego heart kicking off the world’s first Lego Festival for Merlin Entertainments • Extra! Extra!
  • Share on Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Digg, Reddit