I HAD only nipped down to reception to get another room key.
But I’d been mobbed by a 6ft-tall cuddly dragon and found myself sitting in a pile of Lego, competing against other parents to build the best model robot.
With three young boys to entertain, we needed a holiday to amaze, delight and wear them out.
Step forward Danish town Billund — a modest place with world-beating attractions.
Dubbed The World Capital for Children, where else could you find Viking combat lessons, wartime bunkers, wild-river rides — and endless Lego?
Of course, Billund is the Lego global HQ.
As we came into land, the boys picked out the resort, nestling among the pine forests. We also spotted Europe’s largest indoor water park sitting right next door.
But the biggest whoop was for our lodgings — the newly opened 142-bedroom Legoland Castle Hotel. Here, huge troughs of plastic bricks entertain the kids as mum and dad sort the room keys.
Our themed room proved a hit, too, with its Lego dragons breathing Lego fire on us in bed. The restaurant meanwhile, has a Lego and video game playroom attached.
Unlike at home, though, parents do not have to clear up — someone else risks the notorious “Lego foot”.
All this is just the warm-up for Legoland itself. With its 50 rides, shows and attractions, the Danish theme park has been charming families since 1968.
Making a big splash is Pirate Lagoon, an 8,000sqm lake where you can soak up the fun of a naval water cannon battle.
Add rollercoasters, knight re-enactments, a Ninjago ride and more for endless days of fun.
Also scheduled to open this year is the Lego Movie World, with rides themed around the hit films.
With passes, you can come and go as you please. So if all that brightly coloured plastic causes headaches, across the road is Lalandia, a huge aquadome and entertainment complex.
Prepare for a torrent of fun with features such as the Tornado, a humongously long wild-river ride, plus a tower with water cannons to soak your kids.
It is not all wet and wild, though, with an indoor ski slope and ice-skating too.
An hour’s drive from Billund is Ribe, Denmark’s oldest city. At the nearby Viking Centre, my boys could not wait for combat lessons so their defenceless dad could be given a proper Viking duffing-up.
The coast here features gentle dunes and, at Blavand, Denmark’s largest World War Two bunker, the Tirpitz, which has been converted into a hands-
on museum. And so we found ourselves immersed in bunker life for a few hours.
Having spent the morning under wartime concrete, it was a relief to then bask in sunshine at the Wadden Sea National Park Visitor Centre or Vadehavscentret — Denmark’s largest, flattest and wettest national park, it offers fun including seal-watching and playing DJ with different bird calls.
Wilder still is Givskud Zoo, a 300-acre safari park. Try driving through the lion enclosure where feeding time makes you feel like David Attenborough’s cameraman.
So head for the Lego town where, in the words of the song, everything is awesome.
GO: DENMARK
GETTING THERE: BA flies daily from Heathrow to Billund, fares from £47pp one way. See ba.com/billund
STAYING THERE: Legoland Hotel has pirate-themed rooms from £265 per nigh B&B, based on four sharing. A wizard room at the new Legoland Castle Hotel is from £345 per night B&B, based on four sharing. See legoland.dk/en
Legoland tickets from £49 for both adults and kids (over-threes), see legoland.dk/en. Lalandia tickets from £35, child £28 (3-11 years), see lalandia.dk/en. Wadden Sea Centre tickets from £12 per adult, child £6 (4-14 years), see vadehavscentret.dk/forside. Viking Centre, Ribe tickets from £16 per adult, child £8 (3-13), see ribevikingcenter.dk/en. Tirpitz Museum & Bunker tickets from £15 per adult, under-18s free, see vardemuseerne.dk/en. See visitdenmark.co.uk.
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