Poles are getting greased at Legoland Discovery Center’s Philly scene, thanks to a Super Bowl wager
The miniature pole greasers are part of a special Eagles-themed display at the Plymouth Meeting attraction, which has thrown down a low-stakes wager against its Kansas City counterpart.
At the Legoland Discovery Center in Plymouth Meeting, miniature city workers are already greasing poles up and down Broad Street.
The scene is part of the Discovery Center’s Super Bowl LVII celebration, which has added an extra dose of Kelly green to the attraction’s block-by-block replica of Philadelphia.
Through this weekend only, 10 pole greasers are hidden among tiny pedestrians in the model city, and the scaled-down Lincoln Financial Field is sold out. There, Lego Eagles face off against the Lego Kansas City Chiefs, as they will IRL — and yes, the pocket-size Birds are frozen at the goal line, forever on the precipice of a touchdown.
The scene is the pet project of Stephanie Weaver, the marketing manager of the Plymouth Meeting Discovery Center. She likened viewing the Eagled-up scene to a visual scavenger hunt and encouraged spectators to try to find each miniature greaser.
“It’s very subtle,” Weaver said. “Greased poles are so unique to Philly, so we thought it would be fun for our guests to take in.”
» READ MORE: Greased pole climbing in Philly: Why we do it and why we love it
Also on deck is a friendly wager with Kansas City’s Legoland location. The stakes: Lego builders at the losing city’s Discovery Center have to construct a themed build — chosen by Lego enthusiasts in the winning city — to display in their Lego football stadium.
Fans will be able to submit suggestions via Facebook and Instagram on Thursday, but Weaver has a hunch fan favorites will coalesce around Philly signatures: Lego-fied soft pretzels, cheesesteaks, and various versions of Gritty and other local mascots.
Weaver said she approached the Kansas City Discovery Center with the wager. The locations went back and forth on betting terms and conditions; one of the first iterations involved tasking each center’s “master builders” with constructing and shipping a trophy to the winner.
Though Weaver was adamant this was not the sort of bet that inspires trash talk, she did have some choice words for K.C.
“I’m pretty confident the Eagles are going to win,” said Weaver. “Kansas City better start preparing to build something for Philadelphia.”
The greater Legoland universe isn’t the only group getting in on the action. Novelty wagers are a favorite of city governments and attractions looking to capitalize on the momentum of a victory.
Case in point: When the Phillies faced off against the Houston Astros in the World Series in November, Mayor Jim Kenney had to send Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner a Triple Bottom Brewing six-pack and a spread from South Philly Barbacoa after the Phils lost.
This time around, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry will have to send Pennsylvania’s economic chamber cases of Budweiser and something called a Cherry Mash if the Birds win the Super Bowl, while the Philadelphia Zoo will have to dress its elephant statue in Chiefs jerseys if the Eagles lose.