With the recent opening of THE LEGO® MOVIE™ World, the first and only one in Europe, we went to visit the home of LEGO in Denmark.

For more than 70 years the iconic LEGO brick has inspired generations of children and adults, and visiting the place that it all began is an essential trip for fans from across the world.

We spent three days in Billund, staying at the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel, and visiting the LEGOLAND Billund theme park and the LEGO House attraction.

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THE LEGO® MOVIE™ World

We were due to attend the opening of THE LEGO® MOVIE™ World at LEGOLAND Billund in 2020, but covid-19 came along and the opening had to be postponed.

It opened a year later in 2021, but travel restrictions then kept us away, so it was great to finally experience this new 5,000 square metre themed land.

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The headline attraction is the flying theatre, Emmet’s Flying Adventure - Masters of Flight, which positions riders in front of a giant 180° screen for Scandinavia’s first ride of its kind.

On board the 'Triple Decker Couch' that the hero Emmet Brickowski from THE LEGO® MOVIE™ has built as his entry for the 'Masters of Flight' competition, we join him for the test ride. The colourful CGI visuals are synchronised perfectly with subtle movement of the seats, as the action unfolds before your eyes. It's a fairly simple and fast paced story, with a happy ending!

In the UK, the same ride system has been used for Flight of the Sky Lion in LEGO MYTHICA, which we think is slightly better due to the higher quality visuals and added special effects.

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The next new attraction, Apocalypseburg Sky Battle, took us by surprise. On this thrilling ride, very much so for a LEGOLAND park, you'll be spinning a full 360 degrees over and over again, 14 metres in the air! Using the handles to turn the wings, you can (if desired) generate enough momentum to spiral very wildly, swooping through the sky and diving head first toward the ground a high speeds. It's such a fantastic addition to THE LEGO® MOVIE™ World in Billund and you won't find in any other LEGOLAND park.

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The pair of mini drop tower rides, Unikitty’s Disco Drop, appear at LEGOLAND Windsor with a different theme and are called Fire and Ice Freefall. Here in Billund, the digital screens at the top of each tower show Unikitty's facial expressions as riders fly up and down.

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Benny's Playship is a simple but eye catching play structure, and nearby a selection of drinks and snacks are available from the Benny's Rocket Fuel kiosk.

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THE LEGO® MOVIE™ World at LEGOLAND Billund looks incredible, with huge and highly detailed themed features - it feels like you've stepped into the movie set.

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LEGOLAND Billund 

The original LEGOLAND, that opened in 1968, features many familiar attractions but some unique rides that aren't in any other LEGO theme park.

Polar X-plorer is an exclusive to the Billund park and it's a more thrilling roller coaster than you might expect to find in a LEGOLAND. It includes an outdoor 19-metre first drop and an indoor 5-metre free fall section.

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Ice Pilots School is a thrilling robotic arm attraction. Before rising, guests are able to choice the sequence of manoeuvres that they will experience. This is done via a touch screen and then loaded onto a card that you hand to the ride operator. 

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Ghost - The Haunted House (not to be confused with the Haunted House Monster Party at LEGOLAND Windsor) is a totally different and unique attraction at Billund. The first part is a spooky walkthrough with interactive scenes and a mirror maze, and the second (optional) part is an indoor drop tower ride.

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LEGO Canoe is a brilliant version of the typical log flume, with most of the highly themed ride completely hidden from view until you experience it. We particularly enjoyed the scenery, LEGO animals and music on this ride. Next to this, the Flying Eagle roller coaster is ideal for younger children that aren't quite ready for Polar X-plorer.

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There's a good mix of indoor and outdoor sections on the classic Pirate Boats, with well crafted scenes and impressive LEGO models. 

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For families with young children, DUPLO Land is just perfect, featuring the DUPLO Express, DUPLO Planes, DUPLO Playhouses and LEGONDOL mini Ferris wheel. Nearby, there's also a Monorail with views over DUPLO Land.

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For the slightly older young children, all the classic 'hands on' LEGO attractions are here at LEGOLAND Billund, including the popular Traffic School, Mini Boats and Fire Brigade. However, they aren't located together, and are spread out across the park.

The size and complexity of this particular Miniland makes it the best in the world, with a huge number of moving parts and set in beautifully landscaped surroundings. LEGOTOP is a rotating viewing tower, offering superb views of Miniland, the rest of the park, and nearby Billund Airport.

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The oldest operating ride at the park is the LEGO Train, and it's utterly charming, providing a trip around the original part of LEGO Billund that opened in 1968.

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If you've visited LEGOLAND Windsor, you may be familiar with many of the following, but in some cases the ride experience isn't exactly the same at the Billund park.

Vikings River Splash is far superior to the Windsor version, with much more attractive surroundings and a dramatic 8-metre drop. The Dragon has a longer dark ride section but a shorter roller coaster. LEGO NINJAGO The Ride is exactly the same as at Windsor, but it's well worth taking on Lloyd's Laser Maze next door which is a fun addition that didn't make it to the UK version of LEGO NINJAGO World.

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The Temple is the same ride as Laser Raiders, it's quite basic and might be one to skip if you're short on time. There used to be a version of X-treme Racers at the Windsor park, but as it's no longer there it was great to experience it again in Billund.

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There are only a few restaurants in the park, and we chose the Saloon in LEGOREDO® Town, which serves barbecue spare ribs and chicken. The portions were huge and the food was really tasty. However, we queued for half an hour to be seated, and another half an hour to be served. That's quite a chunk of time, so it may be quicker to opt for a 'grab and go' option, or alternatively the park does allow picnics.

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Visitors from all over the world travel to Billund for the original LEGOLAND, and we can certainly see why. It's not only that it's the park where it all began (there are now LEGOLAND parks in 8 countries), but the array of unique attractions that can only be found here. During school holidays and at weekends prepare for it to be very busy, and with so many nationalities visiting, that's not just the Denmark or UK dates.

The park opens at 10am, and that includes the entrance area (so no food & drink outlets, shops or even the ticket booths are accessible until then) so you may well be left waiting quite a while with crowds in the plaza outside the park if you arrive for opening time. All rides close a whole hour before the park does, so don't be caught out and leave anything important to the end of the day.

LEGOLAND Castle Hotel

The newest hotel at LEGOLAND Billund, which opened in 2019, features two buildings; the Knight's Castle (where the main reception and other facilities can be found) and the Wizard's Castle. There are a total of 142 rooms across both, split over 3 floors within each.

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We stayed in a Dragon Knight room, a lavishly themed 32 square metre space with separate sleeping areas for adults and children, and a large ensuite bathroom. Highlights of the design included a large LEGO dragon model perched beside the bed, a huge stained glass effect window with oversized LEGO flags on each side, and colourful curtains, carpets and wall coverings. It was a room fit for a king or queen!

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With a large double bed, a set of bunk beds and a further pull out bed, this could sleep up to 5 people. All the essentials you would expect were there, such as a TV/radio and tea/coffee facilities, but the was even a second TV in the children's sleeping area along with a bucket of LEGO to play with. The welcome booklet for the hotel (make sure you pick one up at reception) includes a treasure hunt around the hotel, which when solved provides a combination to access a locked cabinet within the room that contains a free LEGO toy for each child.

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For dinner, the Knights Tavern offers 'all you can eat and drink' for 369 DKK (€50 per person) which isn't cheap, but nothing in Denmark is! However, the quality far surpassed our expectations. There was an excellent range of starters and mains, but less so for desserts, and an extensive wine buffet where you can simply help yourself. Breakfast is also served here, and was equally plentiful and delicious. Make sure to reserve your tables for dinner and breakfast in advance through the website, as many of the most popular slots may be unavailable by the time you arrive. 

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There is a small play/games room within the restaurant, and outside there are are multiple play areas available. The lounge area within the the reception doubles up as a little bar in the evenings. Guests of the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel enjoy free car parking and free WiFi throughout their stay. The entrance to LEGOLAND Billund is opposite the hotel, so getting to and from the park takes just a few moments, although there is unfortunately no dedicated admission gate to bypass the queues to get in.

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The hotel still looks brand new, with a level of theming on par with the park itself. If you're visiting LEGOLAND Billund with children, this is absolutely the place to stay.

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LEGO House

LEGO House opened in 2017 and offers LEGO fans a completely unique and very special opportunity to learn, create and play in a state-of-the-art environment.

Located just a short walk from LEGOLAND and the resort hotels, in the centre of Billund, this imposing 12,000 square metre building is filled with 25 million LEGO bricks. From above, the 21 blocks that make up the building look like gigantic bricks.

LEGO House is suitable for adults and children, as there are aspects that can be enjoyed by everyone. Across four interactive digital experience zones, we built fish with LEGO and released them in to a digital aquarium, made our very own short LEGO movie, helped to create a flower meadow by programming a robot to plant seeds and water them, contributed a building to a futuristic city and created a magazine cover with our own personalised LEGO minifigure. We also explored the impressive LEGO worlds, a bit like an indoor Miniland, which change from day to night. Our favourite part was the fictional theme park Fabuland!

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Technology plays a key part in making the attraction come together so brilliantly. Upon arrival, all guests are provided with a special NFC-enabled wristband that is used to operate everything from the entrance gates and complimentary lockers, to the various activities and games throughout the building. Every time you take part in an activity, you simply scan your wristband and your name appears on screen, it saves a record and often a photo or video, which all gets sent to a digital memory bank that can be downloaded after your visit, or when you get home.

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In addition to all of that, LEGO House also features a remarkable 15 metre tall Tree of Creativity built from 6.3 million LEGO bricks, a Masterpiece Gallery with top models and artworks made by adult LEGO fans, plus the History Collection (the official LEGO Museum) where you can discover the entire history of LEGO and explore a digital vault with every LEGO set ever made and save your memories within a virtual display. It's as amazing as it sounds!

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At the end of your visit, you see how LEGO is made and then collect a free set of bricks produced by the machine. When you scan your wristband a unique LEGO brick combination is generated just for you (there are billions of possibilities) and this is printed on a special card with your name on it. What a memorable way to finish!

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The innovative MINI CHEF restaurant was a real highlight for us, offering a totally different kind of dining experience. Using a selection of LEGO bricks to represent the items in your meals, you use a 'foodinator' to send your orders to the kitchen, and when they are ready you collect them from Robert and Roberta, the robot servers. It's not just the novelty of the ordering and collection system that makes this an essential part of visiting LEGO House, the quality of the food is also excellent. 199 DKK for adults and 99 DKK for children, plus drinks.

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We weren't sure what to expect from LEGO House, and were totally blown away by the range of things to see and do, and the innovative way in which it has all been brought together. If you're visiting LEGOLAND Billund, adding on an extra day to visit LEGO House is a must.

Find out more!

We were guests of the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel, LEGOLAND Billund and LEGO House for the purposes of this review, and we would like to thank everyone at LEGO for making it such a wonderful experience.

Find out more and book your stay at legoland.dk