LEGOLAND - DENMARK

A PLASTIC WONDERLAND WITH SOMETHING FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES

For someone who can suffer from sea sickness on a canal barge, the prospect of a 21 hour ferry crossing from Newcastle to Hamburg with two lively children was understandably a little daunting, so it was with great apprehension that our journey to Legoland - Denmark began. It was however a pleasant cruise, the cabin accommodation was basic but good, the atmosphere on board was child friendly with lots of entertainment, there was good food available to suit all tastes, and we had a smooth crossing!

We arrived at Legoland to be greeted by the inevitable long queues, but here it was almost a pleasure to join the waiting masses. The atmosphere was like carnival time as visitors happily sang and jigged along with the live band that plays continuously during the peak entrance times. Once inside, my first impressions of Legoland were that it was exactly like walking into one of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale books. Given that the buildings illustrated in his stories were based on genuine Danish-style buildings, this is not surprising, but when you see these constructed in miniature, it feels as though you are part of some make believe scenario. Not all areas are constructed in Danish style, there are also models of famous landmarks such as The Statue of Liberty and the Taj Mahal and a section called Miniland, which is accurately modeled on areas in other countries such as the Rhine in Germany and Amsterdam in The Netherlands.

The Power Builder robot is the year's hottest news in Legoland, and the first of its kind in the whole world! You program exactly the ride you want, and Power Builder takes you up, down and around in all kinds of crazy ways. You are the builder, and you decide, if you want your ride to be wild, wilder or wildest! This is one cool experience - if you dare! Miniland is the original Legoland Park and is still the favourite outdoor area to visit for many visitors, my family included. It has miniature models of famous buildings, monuments and settings from many different countries, designed and built using hundreds of thousands of Lego bricks from the 45 million used in constructing the park. All the settings are animated by means of sound, light and motion, with computer controlled Lego cars, buses and lorries maneuvering around the narrow streets of model villages. Boats, barges and ferries operate on the many waterways and trains shunt wagons and carriages into stations and onto turntables to change lines. The whole scene is fascinating and you often see entire families mesmerised for long periods by the continuous action. This year's new Miniland attraction has been inspired by the old Copenhagen Fire Station. See busy Lego firemen at work in the Lego town. The fire engines move, their blue lights blink, and sirens wail in the streets. It's a fantastic fun with lots of action!

If you can drag yourselves away from Miniland there are many other attractions to visit such as the Eagle’s Nest, a large and exciting energetic play area where older children can dispose of their excess energy. Then there’s the electrically-powered duplo cars, boats, train and planes that provide fun for the 3 to 8-year olds. There’s also an excellent amalgamation of magical Lego building combined with an all action ride. A unique Dragon Ride takes visitors leisurely through the depths of the king’s castle into a medieval fairy-tale world full of humour, spookiness and mystery, created with the aid of special effects and over one million Lego bricks. When the dragon exits from the cave it accelerates into daylight from 3km/h to 40km/h for a 330 metre all action, roller coaster ride. (only for children over 5 years) The Lego train and monorail provide an ideal means of touring and seeing the park, and there’s lots of live entertainment to see at the children’s theatre and Circus Duploni.

We found the queues for the most popular rides not too long, with a waiting time of up to 30 minutes at peak times. The approximate waiting time was always posted and the queuing was almost enjoyable thanks to a wonderful jazz band and pianist providing live entertainment when the queues where at there longest.

Many attractions are designed to be child controlled and there are interactive and construction areas to interest the children. The first Lego ‘Mindstorms’ centre was opened here in 1998 where families with children aged 10-15 years can attend workshops to use a combination of Lego bricks and computers to construct robots. There’s also a ‘Technicland’ workshop where children and parents, (this is the place for dad’s on a rainy day!), can solve tasks and construct models.

There are lots of restaurants and cafe’s providing a wide variety of food and drink, although we found these to be quite expensive. The park has lots of very nice picnic areas, particularly by the lakes, and although it can be inconvenient carrying food around I would certainly recommend taking a picnic lunch to enjoy a nice break from the action. If you have young children there are buggies available at the park and an excellent babycare centre with changing facilities and a kitchen where babyfood can be heated.

Some useful tips:

If your staying in the area and have time, there is a very nice swimming pool next door to Legoland which is well worth a visit. I never saw it crowded and it’s an ideal way to end the day after a long trek around the theme park.

Hotel Legoland is very good, child friendly, convenient with it’s own access to Legoland Park. They do offer a good deal with entrance tickets for guests who can buy a pass which gives unlimited entry to the park during their stay.

The roads in Denmark are very quite and it is very easy to get around this beautiful country. There is much to see and visit in the area around Billund, so it is well worth staying in one of the pretty villages nearby. I can recommend a traditional Danish coaching inn in the village of Hovborg, about 20kms south of Legoland. An organisation called Dansk Kroferie-Danish Inns and Hotels, have a list of 84 associated hotels and traditional inns throughout Denmark, all providing excellent family rooms, food and hospitality.

It is possible to travel by ferry from the UK to the Danish port of Esbjerg, from where you can travel the 40 – 50 minutes by car to Billund. However, the best alternative is to fly to Billund International Airport, which is within walking distance of Legoland.

The currency in Denmark is Danish Kroner (DKK) which is divided into 100 oere.
The approximate exchange rate is DKK 7 to USD 1.
Denmark is not part of the EURO monetary system, but major shops will probably give prices both in Danish and in EURO. Most major credit cards are accepted in Denmark.

USEFUL INFORMATION:

LEGOLAND
www.lego.com

Click on links for opening times, prices, travel info etc

DANISH TOURIST BOARD
www.visitdenmark.com

DANSK KROFERIE - DANISH HOTELS AND INNS
www.dansk-kroferie.dk

HOVBORG KRO INN
www.hovborg-kro.dk

HOTEL LEGOLAND
Hotel LEGOLAND is a hotel for the whole family. We take as much care of our small guests as we do of their parents. Here, play and discovery are indeed key words.
www.hotellegoland.dk

email: info@gowithkids.com