Just come back from a 2 day break at Legoland in Billund, Denmark, including an overnight stay at the Legoland hotel, which put us conveniently close to the theme park, as well as direct tickets into the park, with no queues.
While I so far sound like an unpaid affiliate link, its worth noting that not everything was rosy. For starters, the theme park is much smaller than I expected, although I guess that is due to the fame and cachet of the LEGO branding more than inadequacies in the park itself.
What surprised me mostly, going on a Sunday and Monday, was the shortness of the queues to get on the rides. The weather both days was sweltering hot, so I'm not sure that had much to do with it, but the theme park, with signs for approx minutes wait times, etc. is obviously built to do much brisker trade than it got. while this could be a forbinger of the credit crunch and less free cash in consumer wallets, maybe LEGO is losing its trendiness? Either way, if this is an indicator of regular trade levels, it seems like an excellent time to consider a trip. Overall, I can honestly say, all our kids loved it, and they range from 7 to 20 months, so there is plenty of range there to test the rides available to all ages. Especially great is the pirate ship, where you can fire water gun broadsides with competing ships, and also at innocent passers-by who happen to get in range.
Anyhow, so far the good bits. Not so good is one my bugbears, a captive audience theme park that also charges you for parking, in this case 49 kroner. We stayed at the hotel, which offers free parking, and this leads onto my tip, which is to park at, or near to, the hotel, which has plentiful free parking and also a nearby swimming baths with extended free parking, then walk to the theme park itself (I guess if the wife complains, you could drop them off at the gate then park up for free and walk back)
The second bugbear is that the food inside the theme park is awful. Yes, I don't expect Egon Ronay standard at these places, but even a basic chicken salad contained only reconstituted mush passed off as barbecue chicken pieces, and the family buffet at the pizza restaurant was pathetic. Fries generally tended to be laced with dangerous levels of added salt, which even our kids refused to eat. The safest option, therefore, is a Danish hotdog, since at least these were made to a decent enough level. Be prepared for the higher prices you find at theme parks, which also makes the awful standard stand out even more. As a comparison, Djurssommerland in Northern Jutland does similar catering, but much better quality, funnily enough.
By the way, my food criticisms do not extend to the morning breakfast buffet at the hotel. This is really good, and a highly recommended part of the trip.
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