Volume 1, No. 6. April 20, 2001
It’s a wild mouse!
LEGOLAND California in Carlsbad announces the arrival of the LEGO TECHNIC Coaster, April 7, 2001 (42-foot drop, 1,340 feet long). Delivered by Mack.
Say one thing about LEGO building blocks: it is a great indoor toy when it rains. And it rained hard the day LEGOLAND officially unveiled its new ride based on the company’s line of build-your-own machines and race cars. "I’ve never seen it rain so hard in Southern California," said Kina Paegert, the park’s senior communications specialist and a long-time resident of San Diego.
However, Paegert and her colleagues had planned the perfect press event for such a day: local media outlets were invited to build their own TECHNIC cars that they would race in competition at the park. Two weeks before the event, LEGOLAND sent the media teams a bucket of bricks with no instructions. "They had to build what they thought a coaster car would look like that they then would use in a race," Paegert said. The stunt was intended to highlight the custom-made coaster cars built by LEGOLAND and Mack designers.
The competition resulted in two winners: fastest car and most creative design, with winners awarded a $500 check to a children’s charity of their choice. The San Diego Business Journal won for speed, and, in what surely could be considered an unfair advantage, the team from Aviara Oaks Television—fifth graders from Aviara Oaks Elementary School—won for design.
Then it was out into the deluge to carry out the ribbon cutting by park GM Mark Germyn and the first ride by TECHNIC television commercial star Adam Hicks. Some 400 other LEGO fans followed him. "I was amazed at their dedication," Paegert said of the rain-pelted riders.
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