Who's been to Billund (Legoland)?

[StillWantingADog]

Hello
so am off next week with two DS aged 10 and 8. Very excited, wanted to go since I was their age, never made it. Trying to work out what to do each day and book tickets so as to save a bit of money and hopefully avoid issues/queueing. Time is tight with not quite three full days

General plan is
Day 0 travel - getting in quite late (c 10pm)
Day 1 Lego House. We may not manage a super early start but it is almost opposite our hotel which should be easy peasy.
Day 2 Legoland - we will be there when the gates open
Day 3 Aquadome at Lalandia plus milling around in Billund a bit (?) and early dinner before heading back to airport, flight at 9.30pm.

Thoughts on the above? Main issue is is Lalandia enough to amuse for at least most of the afternoon? Or should I consider getting a 2 day pass for legoland and spending at least a bit of time there on day 3. Can't get a feel for how big lalandia is but it's bloody expensive so hopefully worth the money (my sons LOVE waterparks so will be happy even if I'm bored). Also not sure if legoland is worthy of more than one full day. Am hopeful that there will not be too bad queues as the Danish kids have gone back to school etc so hopefully we can cover it in one day.

No possibility of adding a fourth day unfortunately but would consider going back if we enjoy it, probably combining with Copenhagen next time

Advice welcome, I'm already exhausted thinking about it.

I don't know if anyone will tell you off, but the posters are very clear about the expectation.

There are outlines of stick people with shaded areas (pits and bits and hair and feet IIRC) that should be washed with soap before putting your cossie on and entering the pool.

Of course, as the typical body concious slightly podgy British woman I felt a bit uncomfortable about this, but I reasoned that no-one was looking at me, I would never see these people again and I would be more noticeable not washing properly or hiding in a towel than I would if I just did what everyone else did, so I just got on with it.

I suggest that you do the same

For the first few years in Denmark I showered with my bathing suit on and it never got commented on. One day I just thought, fuck it, and did as the danes do. Needless to say, it was totally fine.
On holiday, so why not try something different. If you don't like it I think it is fine to shower with cossie on. It's a bit shocking, and like all things shocking the DC might comment on it in a hilarious way. My DC grew up like this and in fact, showering together with classmates and other strangers is really valued as they think it encourages a feeling of same-ness, but also 'vaccinates' the mind against unrealistic body images. It's unimaginable to Brits but danish teens are perfectly comfortable being nude with same-sex family and friends. It could be a great learning opportunity - I do understand if it could be too much though.
It absolutely won't make any difference what you body type is. You get all sorts and they are totally free with it.

If Denmark is like Iceland, which it is in a lot of ways - no, do not try to get around the requirement to shower naked. It is considered very rude and disgusting because you cannot wash yourself properly if you are wearing a swimming costume. Perhaps nobody will say anything (in Iceland somebody probably would) but you will offend. It's like if you went out to the pool and spat in it. Maybe the Danes don't consider it such a sacred duty as the Icelanders do, though!

We were in Billund this summer and our kids absolutely had the time of their lives! Enjoy!

Your itinerary sounds great.

It’s worth getting to the Lego house early as it gets very busy after the first hour. Loads and loads to do. We thought it was the best part of the whole trip so if I was to advise any change, I’d suggest leaving it til last. Definitely book the mini chef - that’s a lot of fun, and was a highlight of our trip.

Legoland was ok, smaller than Windsor, but a lot of queuing. Be aware that the shop there is not an official lego store - it’s owned by Merlin and the prices can be a bit high. Easy to miss with the conversion. Better to shop at the Lego house, especially if the kids want their Lego passport stamps!

Mine loved Lalandia. If you have earplugs I’d bring them because everything echoes inside. The fake sky is unsettling too. I think a day there is about right. If you need to stock up on supplies the supermarket in Lalandia is good. The Legoland campsite shop is very highly priced.

I’m sure you know about the free shuttle bus?

I was concerned about the shower expectations but actually it was fine. It’s worse thinking about it. When you’re in the situation, and everyone else is doing it without batting an eyelid, it’s not a big deal.

Don’t worry too much about trying to learn Danish beyond the courtesies. It’s a tourist town and hard to meet anyone who doesn’t have amazing english - even little kids.

Thanks am not worried about it per se but as a linguist like to make a little effort. And actually enjoy Duolingo.

If you want to change as a family go upstairs they have private family changing and no one will see your wobbly bits.

We found the pool at Lalandia a bit cold (except the hot tubs and the baby pools)
Our 4 year old spent about 6 hours floating round the lazy river and it didn't bother her.

We could have done 2 days at Lego House, we did minichef which was fantastic but I don't think I'd do it more than once.

Lego House cloakrooms are free so use them to drop your bags (but take some water around with you as it's quite hot!)

If you're staying at Lalandia and won't have a car, call them up and ask to be assigned a lodge that's not too much of a walk from the entrance, it's a long way with tired legs!
You can store your luggage at Lalandia in the lockers by the trampolines, it costs 20 Krona and needs a coin (you don't get it back) the help desk can do a contactless payment for this and give you a coin. It was the only cash we used for the whole time we were there, everything else was on card.

@User478 (and everyone else)
mega helpful thanks. We are actually staying in a hotel next to the lego house, should be very convenient. Think we'll stay at lalandia next time (dates didn't work out this time)

Lego House is definitely a full day. It's amazing and so much fun. And we loved the mini chef restaurant - I was utterly charmed

this is def a priority just wondering whether to go when we are there or for tea o the last day. are there other options for food at the lego house do you recall? Or if not eating at mini chef should we grab sandwiches to take in (if this is allowed)

There’s a cafe that does sandwiches & things - no need to book for that. It’s called brickaccino. And a kiosk on the first or second floor that does coffee and snacks. There are also places to eat your own food.

so helpful thank you

There is also a bakery very nearby. We booked mini chef for our day at lego house. But we went to this one on our day walking the sculpture park.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g189531-d3421618-Reviews-Billund_Bageri-Billund_South_Jutland_Jutland.html

fab. Our hotel is opposite the lego house so I suspect we will be regular customers there for a few days!

The Lego House cafe, Brickaccino, has a menu and signs that are full of puns.

For anyone following the thread and looking to add other activities to a Billund holiday, I'd say that Copenhagen is too far away (unless you fly in to Billund and out of Copenhagen - or vice versa) and there is plenty more to do within an hour or 90 mins of Billund.

Vejle is 30 mins away by car or bus. The Økolariet science centre is good fun for kids and adults for a couple of hours, including the sewer tour (say hello to the rats!). There are also nice beaches on the north side of Vejle Fjord, just under the big bridge. Kolding is another 20 mins from Vejle, so could be done on the same day, and has a castle, Koldinghus, an indoor play and learning centre called Nikolai, the best public library you'll ever see and if you need to spend some time shopping (there's not much in the way of shops in Billund) then a trip to the Kolding Storcenter shopping mall is worthwhile.

Aarhus is just under an hour from Billund and is Denmark's second city. There is the "Old Town" museum, Tivoli Friheden, Mosegaard museum and beaches. North of Aarhus is Randers, another older industrial town that has an indoor rainforest "Randers Regnskov" under a number of biospheres. East of Randers is Djursland, where the main attractions are Djurs Sommerland amusement park (at least as big as Legoland and just as popular amongst Danes), the aquarium in Grenaa (Kattegatcenter) and the beautiful town of Ebeltoft, where there is an old wooden ship, "Jylland" for the kids to clamber around on.

Bork Viking Havn is west of Billund, about an hour away by car. Once over on the Jutland west coast you should also visit the huge beaches at places like Henne Strand, Blaavand and Vejers. Further south are towns such as Esbjerg and Ribe, which is one of my favourites.

Then there is Tollund Man and the lake district around Silkeborg - 30 mins north of Billund. Or the old Viking capital at Jelling, also just 30 mins away. Or Givskud Zoo ......

I live in Germany and Legoland Billund is our closest theme park, an hour and a half drive away. We go there often as we are big Lego fans, we stay in the Knights hotel as we like the restaurant. On the main road near the Lego house there is a Teddy Bear art museum, has anyone been there, must try it one day.

Lego house is great fun. Definitely do mini chef if you can book a table. I think you can only buy the lego house lego set from there.

For legoland, my tip when you arrive is to quickly head straight for the opposite end of the park, as far away as you can get from entrance, then work back. There are a lot of rides there and we got on them all without queuing, they were definitely busier later in the day (and it was a danish school day).

Your DC will love it.

Should have said - we were done and dusted by 2pm with that approach at legoland, but we only did the main rides (older DC so we weren't fussed about driving school or some of the stuff aimed at younger children).

We're in Billund now. We came last year for a week (two families) and loved it enough to come back again for 10 days.
We have stayed in Lalandia as the accommodation is clean, comfortable and a good price. We buy the Gold wristbands which means all the activities are then free, as the costs for bowling, mini golf, skating etc soon build up.
We found that it is much busier than this time last year, with more British families, but you will hear all kinds of languages. You will also find lots of women don't get naked in the showers, and there are no staff patrolling the change rooms. However, they do sometimes stand by the pool entrance and turn back people who are not wet/showered. They have a new outdoor area this year which is a bit quieter and has lots of sun beds. As my kids are older now, they can go off and do their own thing while I sunbathe or relax in the saunas (steam & infrared) or hot tubs.
Last year we had a day in Legoland and a day in The Lego House. This year we opted for 2 days in the Lego House for the older children and the younger ones (8 & 6) going to Legoland.
You need to get there early for both to have the best experience, and book in advance as they do sell out.
If you are buying Lego, we found that prices were very similar to home and certainly no cheaper than Amazon. The only exception is the Lego shop in the airport which can have discounts but has a limited range (and you have to carry it on the plane!)
Can't really comment on the Lego food as we ate at other places. Do check out the bakery mentioned above, there are a couple of good pizza/burger places with kids meals, and a great little hotdog shop for traditional Danish polser that is tucked between the Lego House and the Lav Pris supermarket.
Highly recommend the Sculpture Trail, and they are developing a great play trail called the Playline along a similar route.
We also took the 43 bus to Vejle which was good value as two children travel free with a paying adult, and takes about 30 minutes. I'd highly recommend the local museum which has lots of interactive exhibits and a (non-interactive) 2000 year old bog body.
We hope to get a day at Wow Park as we have heard great things. It is a 2km walk, or the shuttle bus goes there and collects pretty much hourly.
Everything in Billund is flat and very walkable - I've been averaging 15-20k steps because walking here is fun!

This basically sums up what I was going to type out. We went in 2019 when kids were 8 and 6. Stayed in Lalandia but can't get excited about it to be honest.

The Lego house on the other hand was absolutely bloody amazing. We ended up going back there for a second day as we all loved it so much and had so much more to see.

So helpful thank you all. Already got my eye on a second trip to include a proper drive around and visit to Copenhagen.

If you do, you must go to the Forest Tower on Zealand. It's amazing!

www.campadventure.dk/en/skovtaarnet/

I tested the voucher which def works - thanks again - but I've realised the best value if you want to do legoland and lego house is the combined ticket, suggested by a helpful poster
https://legohouse.com/en-gb/buy-ticket/combi/
for this you basically pick a day for lego house but then you choose any day up to 6 days either side for legoland

We went to Denmark in 2019 and started off with 3 nights in Copenhagen, including a day trip on the train to Malmo in Sweden. Loved it. Went to Tivoli Gardens, a boat trip and particularly liked Nyhaven.

We then hired a car and drove to Billund. 2 nights at Lalandia were good. One day at Legoland, where we had done all the main rides by early afternoon! Lego House was the highlight in Billund though, so much to do. Make sure you go on the roof too - playgrounds up there.

Lalandia was fine. Not as smart or clean as Center Parcs but the water park was fun. I didn't shower naked or walk around naked, but it was the norm amongst the Danish to do so. Wasn't too impressed at having to make our beds up when we got there, not sure if they still make you do that!

We've not been to Billund since they finished the Lego House, but they certainly used to let people into Legoland free for the last 90 minutes or so.

With a bit of planning we could usually get on a couple of rides and then walk round mini world with a drink when they started closing the rides.

It might be worth asking a local/your hotel.

For a longer trip, I'll also throw Odessa and Ribe into the mix (the latter has a decent little Youth Hostel).

It's a shame they had to stop the Harwich - Esbjerg ferry.