Miniland
Legoland is located in the city of Billund, near the first Lego factory. It is a themed amusement park, what means that the attractions are loosely based upon Lego´s bricks and sets.
Miniland is the world in miniature build of 20 million Lego bricks. It was the first attraction when the park was created in 1968.
The other rides and attractions are Legoredo Town, Imagination Zone, Adventure Land, Knights´ Kingdom, Duplo Land, Pirate Land and Lego City.
For a Park Map, click here.
On Legoland´s website you can find a good map with its opening hours, prices (where you can buy your ticket online) and how to get there. It is also possible to sleep at the park; check for its accommodations.
Lego History
The word Lego is the abbreviation for the Danish “play well” (leg godt), and it was created in 1934, a few years after the carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen started to manufacture miniature versions of his products – a way of minimalizing costs during the Great Depression in the beginning of the 20th century. From there came the inspiration to start producing toys, first made of wood, and later, in the 1940ies, of plastic. The Lego bricks resembled traditional wooden blocks that could be stacked upon one another, but the difference was that Ole Kirk´s plastic bricks could also be locked together.
The three generations: Ole Kirk Christiansen, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen and Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen (at Ole Kirk's 60th birthday 7th April 1951).
In the 1950ies, Ole Kirk´s son, Godtfred, became the junior managing director of the company and in 1977 Godtfred´s son, Kjeld Kirk, also joined the Lego Group Management, at the time when his father was the president of the company.
It was Godtfred´s interaction with other countries that gave him the idea of the “Lego System of Play”, which was released for the first time in 1955 with 28 sets and 8 vehicles plus additional elements.
In the same year, Lego started exporting to Sweden – the first country outside Denmark to import the Lego toys; in 1956 the first foreign sales company was established in Germany.
Today Lego products are on sale in more than 130 countries and approx. 400 billion LEGO elements have been manufactured since 1949. For other facts, check the company profile on the Lego website.
It was in 1968 that the first Legoland Park opened in Billund.
You can find more information about Lego timeline on the Lego website.
If you can´t make it to Legoland in Billund, you can visit the other Lego themed parks: Legoland Windsor in England, Legoland Deutschland in Germany and Legoland California in the USA.
Lego
Leg godt!
Source of the pictures: Legoland Press Archieve.
(A list with the 50 most visited Danish attractions in 2008 can be found at visitdenmark.com)
[...] a series of posts where we write about the most visited tourist attractions in Denmark. Here is a link to another post. Den Gamle By was the 14th most visited Danish attraction is 2008* – to see [...]
My own boy is actually loco about lego along with star wars lego – thanks for the advice!
When we was visiting Legoland, we stayed at very nice apartments not far from Legoland. The apartments was placed on a little island named Fanø – right about Esbjerg. From here it was easy to drive to Legoland in Billund. We had a really nice holiday in Denmark.