Wednesday 20 July 2011

Legoland


A few days ago, we took R&S to the true home of the small colourful plastic bricks that have been blessed by parents for keeping children occupied for years (and equally cursed by the parents who have had the misfortune of treading on them with bare feet)! Lego is after all a Danish invention, created by a wooden toy designer in the 40's and and named after a shortening of the words words “lege” meaning “play” and “godt”, meaning “good” or "well" in Danish, so of course (and partially thanks to being worn down by two children under the spell of the power of TV advertising, we had to pay a visit to the original Legoland while still here.

As it's at least a three hour drive to Billund on mainland Denmark (the town where Lego HQ is based), we decided to make a break of it and booked a last minute “luxus chalet” at Ribe Camping nearby. Thanks to overdosing on festivals in my youth, I don't really do tent camping nowadays, so the very smart hut with a spa bath suited me just fine. I might have gotten a little carried away at my excitement of actually having a bath (Denmark is a shower loving country!) by making the mistake of putting bubble bath in it, but through the cloud of bubbles, luckily managed to turn the spa off before the bathroom completely resembled an Ibiza foam party.

We arrived at Legoland bright and early having parked at least a mile up the road (and paying an extra 50DK for the privilege of it!), but the children enjoyed getting a sneak peak at the attractions on the walk there, and I thought that at least the queue would have gone down by the time we got to the gate. Wrong!! I will admit that we English have a penchant for queueing that is often mocked by the rest of the world, but we have good reason for this - it works. People do not often dare push in, it is usually civilised and the queue gradually disappears in an orderly fashion - simple! But not at Legoland DK. Entry was a complete Viking bun fight, which put me off going in to be honest, but we eventually made it inside.

We started off with the rides with the smallest queues for R&S who were hyperventilating with excitement at finally being there. Unfortunately S was a bit too small for quite a few of the rides, but after testing them out, his danger-mouse sister very kindly told him that he wouldn't have liked them anyway (which he actually believed!). As the Rough Guide points out, older children might well be disappointed by the rides, they are quite tame and short to say the least, but our littlies loved them - especially The Dragon, a Harry Potter inspired affair where you are taken through a castle at a leisurely pace whilst passing lots of Lego models on a similar theme, before it finally ramps up a bit and flings you around outside for a few seconds. Also worth the wait, the 4D Cinema experience, and the Pirate Splash Battle which the kids loved, but you do get soaked...

Some rides aren't worth the wait though, and we foolishly made the mistake of waiting for a ride called The Timber Ride (most of which was hidden from view I will point out), where a huge trough of Lego sat in the middle of the queuing system so that children could happily play while the parents waited. This turned out to be quite a bad idea. We were stuck half way down the queue when S stole a few bricks from the roof of R's Lego “Famous Five house”, and soon her little brother was gripped in a strangle hold, and with Lego flying everywhere there wasn't much we could do trapped inside the wooden barrier! Upon wriggling free, he made a bid for freedom, which had me panicking at the thought of him being lost in the vastness of this place. Fortunately my other half managed to climb over the barriers, and found him not far off playing peekaboo with a baby. After this we managed to reclaim our place for a ride that lasted for less than a minute and was quite frankly on a par with those little coin rides that you see in the entrance of supermarkets. Not impressive!

The main reason we were here of course was Lego World which made the visit worthwhile. We were worried that R&S might be a bit small to appreciate it, but they were mesmerised by the miniature cities with their moving cars and boats etc. It soon became apparent that the cities represented were mostly those of the surrounding countries that the park obviously attracts the most visitors from, but they were nice to see none-the-less, and the attention to detail was incredible. Incidentally, my four year old pointed out that the bricks are all actually glued together, so there's no point in trying - just in case you are tempted!!
As theme parks go (and I am not that enthusiastic about most I hasten to add), it was a nice day out. It's great for families with small children, and although the entrance is expensive, you can cut costs by booking on-line which saves quite a bit, and bringing your own food and drinks etc. with you. Finally, don't forget to write your telephone numbers on the arms of any small people you may have with you, just in case!! Let me know what you think if you visit!

16 comments:

  1. You were in my neck of the woods! I work for a large company in Billund ;)

    I feel ya on the bathtub. I tried so hard to buy a place with a tub, but to no avail. Eventually, I was happy to find a place that had an actual tiled shower with a door, not just a hose and a curtain in the middle of the bathroom.

    Bubble baths are some of the highlights of my travels. Who woulda thought?

    ReplyDelete
  2. no way!!! lego land!!! my son would go mad for this!!! i am so showing him this blog after lunch...and i just managed to put you, your blog, and twitter together...if that makes sense!!

    see u soon, tamsyn x

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Sage - How funny! I like that part of Denmark, you have such beautiful places close by too! A bath is the first thing I have when we travel too... My lovely Danish neighbour has a bath and has said I am welcome to use it at any time, but I haven't taken her up on the offer yet!

    @Manic Mum - He would indeed love it, I imagine he is even big enough for the special lego cars that are set out like a mini driving school - very cool! Emma :) x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks brilliant.. we have promised to take our boys to the one out by Windsor... Hmmm....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Now I would never have thought of writing my telephone number on my son's arm when he was little - that's ingenious!
    We visited Legoland Windsor many moons ago and used our Tesco vouchers but the queues were lengthy then.
    I think the mini Nyhavn in your photo is just too cute. Were there mini people sitting on the harbour wall with a six pack too?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Frankie - you should go! I hear the Windsor one is very good, at least you will have proper queues and some cities that the boys will recognise!! ;)

    Trish, apparently I am not the only one to think of doing this judging by the amount of ink covered children we saw that day! There are indeed mini people on the wall with tiny green cans, you can just about see them if you double click on the pic! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Legoland is a place I would like to visit so can't wait for the girls to grow up a bit and really appreciate it as I will :)
    Nice tip about the phone number - I've filed that one away for future ref

    ReplyDelete
  8. That sounds like a fun day out. We're thinking of taking our little one to Windsor this summer but I'm a bit worried he'll be too young for it (he's 19 months - very steady on his feet etc but still very much a tiddly toddler). Love the sound of your bath!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mari, thank you! It's a good day out! :)

    Primrose - they do have a duplo world section which he might enjoy?? Emma :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I looked at the photo at the top and thought aha don't Scandinavian towns look like Legoland? Then I realised it was legoland. I went when I was about 7 and got in trouble for driving my lego car on the wrong side of the road in the driving school. It was awesome though. Brings back lovely memories!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi. Just moved to Greater Copenhagen too (also with 2 small people) and been following your blog since 3 months before we left the uk. LOVE it!! V amusing. Really helped me understand Denmark and settle in. Just had to write as Legoland info extremely useful as we plan a trip, but only been here 6 weeks and am literally CRAVING a bubble bath!!! You lucky girl!!! Lucy x

    ReplyDelete
  12. Alexander Residence... How funny! I stood watching the car driving thing, thinking what an absolute nightmare it looked, and how I would probably go wrong on it now at the age of 35! So pleased it brought back some good memories for you! :)

    Hey Lucy, lovely to "meet" you! How are you finding things so far? So pleased I have been able to help you understand Denmark a little. If you fancy a chat or want any pointers on anything, please feel free to drop me a line scandinaviansojourn@gmail.com Emma :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. At last I have discovered how to comment! And twitter as well!

    Wonder if the new Lego Land opening here will be as good? Never got to see the original. Looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yey, well done! Now you just need to work out how to follow it (just click on the join this site button and add your gmail address!) :) xx

    ReplyDelete
  15. Honestly, I'm a bit too old for Legoland, but since DK is my second home country and Legoland is a part of my childhood memories, I'm going there next week (probably for the 1000th time)! And I know I'll love it :)
    x

    ReplyDelete
  16. I don't think you are ever too old Pernille! Have a great time (you have been warned about the queue for the Timber Ride!! Emma :)

    ReplyDelete

I love your comments - thank you :)

 
Free Hit Counter