— LEGO Galaxy, the new addition to LEGOLAND California, is a celebration of space history — LEGO Space history, that is.

LEGO Galaxy opened to the public on Friday (March 6) with a roller coaster, two more space-themed rides, a state-of-the-art LEGO rocket building zone, an astronaut-themed play area for young kids, three restaurants and an outpost (gift shop) with exclusive LEGO Galaxy souvenirs.

For the park's target audience — children between the ages of 2 and 12 — LEGO Galaxy taps directly into their excitement about all-things space and brings some of their favorite LEGO astronaut and alien minifigures to life, standing 25 times as tall as their toy versions or just about as tall as the children at the resort.

For parents or LEGO enthusiasts old enough to remember, LEGO Galaxy also is a tribute to the LEGO space-themes that have spanned 1978 to today.

"There are five decades of space models represented from LEGO," Tom Storer, project director for North America at Merlin Entertainments, which developed the new land with the LEGO Group, said in an interview with collectSPACE."So we have 1978 represented, when space was first introduced into the LEGO line. We also have nods to the sets in the 80s, 90s, 2000's, 2010's and all the way through to the 2024 Interstellar Spaceship that is shown in the foyer."

"We tried to catch a full gamut of the history of LEGO sets," Storer said.

For example, as part of the the indoor, in-the-dark Galacticoaster, the first roller coaster to be added to LEGOLAND California in more than 20 years, riders are invited to customize their spacecraft by digitally selecting the style of the nose, tail and wings, as well as add a special feature, resulting in more than 625 unique vehicle combinations to choose from. Then, by scanning their "spacecraft key" (an RFID wristband) they can see themselves "riding" in the spacecraft they designed.

Some of the spacecraft parts they can use to customize their ride are directly from vintage LEGO space sets.

"I think my favorite is the M-Tron parts, which are the red classic LEGO spacecraft from the 90s," said Storer. "You have those in there, as well as some of the newer sets. The nose and wings of the 2024 Interstellar Spaceship are also built into that opportunity."

Other nods to LEGO Space history include:

LEGO Galaxy also expands LEGO Space with a new astronaut minifigure created specifically for the land.

"Biff Dipper is the star of the show," Storer told collectSPACE. "He is our chief engineer, so when our cadets come into the briefing room [of the Galacticoaster], Biff, as our first 25:1-scale animatronic minifigure, comes to life with over 40 hand-drawn facial expressions and lots of body movement. It's a real wow moment."

"As guests enter Spaceport 886, they get to meet Biff. Then they get to talk to him again when it's time to customize their spacecraft," he said.

"I think he is going to become the unsaid spokesperson for the land," added Julie Estrada, Merlin Entertainments' public relations director for North America. "We have a costume character of Biff Dipper that we're introducing this week, which we have never done before with this new character."

While LEGO Galaxy is an all-new land at LEGOLAND California Resort, some of its same attractions, including the Galacticoaster, also recently debuted at LEGOLAND Florida. Both parks' additions reflect an on going interest in space by the public, and reflects the enthusiasm being driven by NASA's Artemis program returning astronauts to the moon after more than 50 years.

"It's something that's been popular through generations," Estrada said. "Some topics just come and go, but space is always an interest to kids, and to adults."

"I think it's so cool," added Storer. "In the early 70s, we were in this lunar exploration phase and then LEGO rolled out their space sets at the end of the 70s. Well, here we are in 2026 and we're launching LEGO Galaxy, the first LEGO space roller coaster and as a society, we're taking that next step, we're going back to the moon with Artemis. So I think it's really cool timing in regards to how it has all come together."