I can not imagine a world with out LEGO. That is the case because as many others around the world, I have grown up surrounded by them. This amazing colored bricks that let you build anything. Every single world you can possibly imagine, every scenario, is a possibility.
So, naturally, after becoming a mom I decided that passing on this love for a fantasy world was a must.
When I began buying lego sets again, I thought I did it for my little one. I found my self playing side by side with her. Always wanting more, always craving more.
Lego and Legoland
Before diving into what Legoland is, we must first talk about Lego. Lego was created in Denmark in 1949. They are colourful plastic bricks accompanying an array of gears, figurines called minifigures, and various other parts. You can assemble anything.
The name LEGO is an abbreviation of the two Danish words “leg godt, meaning “play well”. Amazing play on words, right?
The LEGO Group was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen family. The company has passed from generation to generation and is currently owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, a grandchild of the founder.
I found this fact, it fascinated me: In February 2015, Lego replaced Ferrari as Brand Finance’s “world’s most powerful brand”.
It began in a small carpenter’s workshop and it became a modern, global enterprise.
So, after they became a world wide phenomenon, they had the great idea of creating a theme park about the amazing brick. This resulted in Legoland. They are a chain of family theme parks, which has its main focus on Lego.
Anyway, there are several Legoland theme parks in Denmark, Japan, California, Florida, England, Dubai, Japan, Malaysia and Germany.
The way things seem to be going, I guess they will expand even more.
Legoland Deutschland is a theme park located in Günzburg (southern Germany). We rented a car for the weekend, traveled from Munich and stayed in Günzburg.
Legoland Deutschland was opened by Merlin Entertainments Group on May 17, 2002. It is 43.5 hectares (107 acres) and it is one of the four most popular theme parks in Germany.
What to do
When visiting the theme park, I would say that there are two possibilities: buying the tickets online or at the box office. How ever, for some reason, you always have to do the line. Let me tell you the when the season opens, the lines of people are massive.
Another things, according to my experience, is that since Legoland offers so many things to do, I would advice to get there early.
We are a small family but I found out that if you are a family of four or five, you will save a bundle by buying the family ticket. This provides you with a pass for your family and usually saves you around 40 Euro.
So, what to do? Anything is possible. The park features Lego explore centers, roller coasters, water attractions and shows.
When it opened in 2002, it contained 40 attractions, 7 themed lands and was made out of 50 million Lego bricks. A decade later, the park expanded to eight “adventure worlds” with 50 attractions and 55 million Lego bricks. So, really, your imagination is the limit!
Although the attractions include a number of roller coasters, they are not as numerous or as extreme as those in other parks, and there is a greater emphasis on rides suitable for younger children.
Legoland parks are split into various areas, which are consistent among the chain’s parks.
For example, all six of the parks include a Lego miniland, a model village which includes models of landmarks and scenes from around the world, made from millions of genuine Lego bricks.
Legoland Deutschland is home to the world’s largest Lego building, representing Munich’s Allianz Arena and weighing 1.5 tons with dimensions of 5 meters in width and 1 meter in height.
Legoland Deutschland also contains many other world records such as the largest Lego flower bed (2007), largest amount of energy generated through cycling underwater (2010), highest Lego tower (2010), largest Lego mosaic (2011), longest Lego millipede (2002), and the largest Lego brick (2005).
I love the fact that the Duplo World was a reality. It was a small village, with duplo created spaces. Here, smaller children and their parents could relax, go at a slower pace. And an amazing find for me, was the hipp station because it provided a perfect changing diaper place, in door chairs, you could warm a bottle, buy food, etc.
Educational value
I believe that an important aspect of Lego and Legoland is the educational part. I mean, they open a word of possibilities, they give you the tools and your imagination makes a universe with it.
Playing with anything is great for development. Playing with a toy that allows you to create an entire universe is beyond amazing. That is why 93% of parents believe hands-on learning helps children retain knowledge for the future.
In Legoland, the educational possibilities are also present. There are interactive musical instruments, such as musical fountains, and the Aquatune hydraulophone, which is an underwater pipe organ in the shape of a giant Lego block.
A Lego Mindstorms centre for fun-based learning and Duplo Gardens (for smaller children).
Water flow channels in which participants can construct dams from Lego blocks to understand laminar and turbulent fluid flows.
In the Build & Test Centre you can test your creativity by constructing your own buildings and racing cars. And for those of you who dreamt of being a captain of a ship, there is the Harbour Cruise, where every visitor gets to steer his own boat.
On the other hand, if you want to research, construct and play to your heart’s content, then this is the place for you. Because here is something special to discover: namely, your own imagination!
The imagination area of the park provides no boundaries. For example: in the Lego City Police Station you go on a criminal hunt.
The Lego Academy is great! People can choose from various LEGO sets that fit your age and assemble them as described in the instructions. When you’re done, you can test if it works and expand your knowledge of technique and math by playing and trying it out. For each functioning model, there is the end of the LEGO Academy diploma.
One of my favorite moments was when we got to see the production of the Lego bricks.
Before you actually see the process there is a short video. In it they explain every minute detail and then they open the doors and you get to see the magic happened.
So, you step into this mini version of what the production factory looks like. They let you walk around and see the entire thing.
You get to experience from the injection molding and printing machine to assembly to packaging.
At the end of the visit, there is a freshly poured LEGO stone to take away.
A world full of fun and adventure
Want to give your child an opportunity to become a pilot, or a knight, or an explorer?
In this magic place children can slip into the roles of their heroes.
But, in all honesty, I know I was surrounded by families and I must say that parents seemed to be having as much fun or even more than the kids.
The rides are all Lego themed. As a matter of fact, many are made to appear as if they are built out of Lego bricks. They tend to be based on one particular line of Lego.
Other highlights among attractions, that require active participation are the Kids Power Tower, where visitors pull themselves up by their own strength, and the Pedal-A-Car, an overhead railway where you go as fast as you pedal.
In Lego X-TREME everything area everything is higher, faster and more action-packed. There are a lot of water fun promises the ride with the surfers. You could also build and program your own robot.
Miniland and Star Wars
Faithful replicas of buildings, figures and animals leave all visitors amazed. Legoland Miniland, a world in miniature, in which famous buildings and cities have been recreated to the smallest detail.
In Berlin, I visited the Legoland Discovery Center. The discovery center is like an indoor play centre full of Lego. In the entrence of the discovery center there are thousands of Lego bricks faithfully recreating many parts of Berlin.
At the Legoland Park they took this to an entirely new level. Miniland, the area right in the centre of the theme park. It is filled with recreations of places near and far, and it is truly incredible.
It is made up of more than 25 million Lego bricks and there are sections depicting Venice, Berlin, Frankfurt, the Netherlands, a German village, the Munich airport, and most impressively, the Allianz Arena football stadium.
You will be surrounded by famous German, European and international buildings. The mainland is the center.
You can stay there for hours because there are always new parts to discover. In this fantastical scenarios there are also moving parts.
So, the possibility of seeing a Lego train set off down the track, or see a dump truck, the tram, the busses or fire trucks is not out of the question.
Something else that I loved was that several Star Wars scenes were made with lego bricks. The amount of detail, you could feel the love. It gave me a chance to be closer to this amazing George Lucas fictional world in which I was now the giant.
Just to explain this I should say that people will find some of the most famous scenes from the first seven Star Wars films to admire.
They are faithfully reconstructed from over 1.5 million LEGO bricks. Some of the impressive LEGO models are even more than two meters high!
There are over 140 square meters dedicated to the Star Wars experience. I loved to see iconic figures such as Master Yoda, Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker, as well as the new characters Kylo Ren, Rey and BB-8 in their adventures.
The little ones play with a world that they are currently discovering. The grown ups step into a world that they grew up in.
Attention to details
If, like me, you are the parent then you probably know the pain of standing barefoot on a Lego piece as you walk.
But, when visiting Legoland that doesn’t happen. What happens is that you step into a fantastic world, where all type of creations are possible.
If you’re travelling with kids I would suggest you seriously consider visiting. Your kid will experience extreme joy and you will be so happy to see that.
I was amazed at this theme park. I am a huge lego fan. There are no limits. I loved seeing miniature worlds and huge constructions. The attention to detail is one of a kind. I would go there every time I had the opportunity.
