The Abandoned Lego Factory

So there's this Danish company that uses American movies to sell Chinese plastic all over the world and they have 6 theme parks that are actually owned by the British. Our first visit to Legoland was 21 years ago during our Danish countryside honeymoon. We've been there lots, the kids have been there lots but it is still fun and not as chaotic as you would expect. The place is designed for younger kids (12 and under) but Steen still gets a charge out of it due to his delayed mental development.

We took a couple of days from school because they just go on field trips every day anyhow and it's a good way to beat the lineups at the rides. Legoland is on the mainland (Jylland) so to get there we need to leave our island (Sjælland) by crossing the world's third longest suspension bridge (1.6 km span) across about 7 km of water to get to the next island of Fyn. Once on Fyn, you head towards Middlefart and cross another bridge to the mainland. Legoland is plunked down in the middle of farmland in the middle of Jylland in the middle of nowhere because the original Lego factory was here in the town of Billund. It's a 3 hour drive, which is a very long distance to travel in Europe so we need to stop a few times to get coffee and stretch our legs.

Storebæltsbroen (The Great Belt bridge). Photo not by author.

Driving across at 110 km/hr. Photo by passenger in car - not the driver - she was texting.

Our first stop is at the Hostel we are staying at. When you add an 's' to the middle of 'hotel', you get to pay for bedding (or bring your own), make your own beds, strip them down when you are done, sleep in bunk beds, clean the kitchen, fix the broken pool table and watch Swedish TV with a group of Germans in the evening. Our hostel is right by the Givskud Safari Zoo which is about 30 minutes from Billund. At the zoo we saw a lion eating a horse and a gorilla eating her own vomit. Sorry, but no giraffes were on the menu today.

On our first day in the park, we have almost free run of the place. If you like a ride, go on it 10 or 14 times until you get bored. If you get thirsty, pay your $5 Canadian for a half liter of bottled water; there is only one fountain on the 35 acres and the employees at the concessions are not allowed to give you tap water. Grrrrr.  

An informal survey and data count shows that more than 100% of all Danish kids under the age of 10 are blonde! If you have a long blonde-haired daughter dressed in bright pink or peach clothing, you will NOT find her in the crowd. She will be completely camouflaged.

The highlight for most of us is the Pirate ride where you can shoot water cannons at the spectators and they can shoot back at the boats. We drenched a boatload of Chinese teens all decked out in their special lime green tour jackets. We didn't stop until they agreed to accept a shipping container of spare plastic Lego pieces from our house!