What are the characteristics of "Miniland" scale?
Mini style {used in LEGO sets and by collectors, not Miniland}

Mini scale/style is typically much smaller than normal LEGO. In Mini scale/style, figures are formed with 2-3 blocks.

Mini scale/style {if I remember correctly} didn't gain popularity until recently. It's so far been popularly used in the LEGO Architecture sets, and in a few others of common landmarks.

It's also common to see three-to-five-dollar packages that contain buildable models {sold in the LEGO stores} in the Mini scale/style.

Examples of Mini sets include:


4837 Mini Trains
5761 Mini Digger
5864 Mini Helicopter


Miniland style {used by Legoland amusement parks and a few LEGO sets}

I believe that the LEGO amusement parks use something close to miniland scale. It is, however, much different than normal Mini style/scale. One notable fact is that the people have larger heads. I know this is true for the one in Billund, but I'm not sure about the one in California.

Here and here are the pages of Minilands Billund and California, respectively. The Billund miniland doesn't have its' own page, but it's on the interactive map at the link provided.

A Miniland Flickr group is here if you want to see what Miniland style/scale is.

EDIT! As Zhaph-Ben Duguid pointed out, the Legoland amusement parks are called Miniland, but do not use the Mini scale/style. They use a strange hybrid between DUPLO and LEGO Mini scale/style. It is actually not the more common Mini style/scale used in sets. I've updated this answer to reflect that.