Guest Post: Disney-LEGO Studios?

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I’ve been working on a personal project for the past couple of years, a labor (literally) of love that combines two of my favorite passions, Walt Disney World and LEGO. For years now, LEGO has been developing building sets based off of popular franchises, the longest of these collaborations being Star Wars. In 2008, with the introduction of Indiana Jones LEGO sets I had a thought, what if I could build my own Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or a variation of, out of LEGOs?With the spark in my heart and mind I set out to create a park brick by brick. Early on I made the decision that while I could cannibalize various sets and Pick-A-Bricks (LEGO’s online service that allows you to purchase only the bricks you want) to construction spots such as the Hollywood Tower Hotel or Chinese Theatre, that I really wanted to stick to sets everyone could pick up. After years of collecting and assembling, here is the current, though I doubt final, version of LEGO Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Should I dare to call it Disney-LEGO Studios?).

The Main Street Gazette edition of LEGO Studios!

While I may have purchased and built the entire sets, I did not always include the entire set, occasionally this was due to the fact that the entire set couldn’t be seen inside the Studios. So, what do we have? Representing Star Tours We have the Endor bunker, speeder bike and AT-AT Walker, hosted by R2-D2 and C-3PO (I will admit, Threepio came from a set not listed here, but it felt wrong not to include him). Pixar is embodied by meet and greets for Buzz and Woody, their ship and sheriff’s office respectively, the Green Army Men, and Mater and Lightning. While several scenes from Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular could be utilized, I picked the Cairo scene, for its charm and for the fact that it is the scene that extras (like myself) get to jump into the action. Last, but not least, I’ve included the Pirates of the Caribbean cannibal cage, which can be seen along the Studio Backlot Tour.There are additions or substitutions that could be made. For instance either the Indiana Jones Temple Escape or Flying Wing could be used in place of the Cairo set. Similarly, Jabba’s Sail Barge comes complete with a skiff that could also be used for the Studio Backlot Tour. Also, LEGO has just released an Ewok Attack set whose Endor trees could be used to shelter the AT-AT Walker.

Is it perfect? No. Is it a complete picture of Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Absolutely not. Does it make me smile to have found a way to combine two of my favorite things? You’d better believe it! And yes, yes I am the boy who never grew up.

Sets Utilized:
Pirates of the Caribbean The Cannibal Escape 4182
Indiana Jones Ambush in Cairo 7195
Toy Story Buzz’s Star Command Spaceship 7593
Toy Story Woody’s Round-Up 7594
Toy Story Army Men on Patrol 7595
Star Wars The Battle of Endor 8038
Star Wars AT-AT Walker 8129
Cars Classic Mater 8201
Cars Radiator Springs Lightning McQueen 8200

Supplemental Sets:
Indiana Jones Fight on the Flying Wing 7683
Indiana Jones Temple Escape 7623
Star Wars Ewok Attack 7956
Star Wars Jabba’s Sail Barge 6210