Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PLASTIC FANTASTIC
A carpenter by trade, Ole Kirk Christiansen turned his tools to making wooden toys in Bil-
lund when business was slow during a Depression-era slump in 1932. Christiansen came
up with the business name Lego, a contraction of leg godt,meaning 'play well' in Danish
(in a beautiful piece of symmetry, legocan mean 'I put together' in Latin). What followed
was a heart-warming story showing that 'from little things big things grow'. By the late
1940s Lego became the first Danish company to acquire a plastics-injection moulding
machine for toy production and began making interlocking plastic blocks called 'binding
bricks' - the forerunner of today's Lego blocks.
In 1960 the wooden-toy warehouse went up in flames, and Lego decided to focus pro-
duction on its plastic toys instead. Lego blocks soon became the most popular children's
toy in Europe - in 2000 Fortunemagazine named the Lego brick 'toy of the century'.
The statistic are incredible: enough Lego has been produced to supply 52 bricks to
every person on the planet. And seven Lego boxes are sold every second.
The company (but not the theme park) is still owned by Ole Kirk's descendants;
primary concept and development work takes place at the Billund headquarters.
Eating
There are offerings within Legoland and inside Lalandia, and restaurants attached to the
hotels, or you can head into the township of Billund itself, which has a big supermarket,
good bakery-cafe, pizzerias and a few other options (priced more for locals than for tour-
ists).
Within Legoland there are picnic spots, plus restaurants and outlets selling the usual
takeaway fare. The names of these simple eateries - Burger House, The Hotdog Company
- should cause no confusion over what they serve. Options for sit-down fare include the
Family Buffet (adult/child Dkr199/119) or Italian Pizza & Pasta (mains Dkr89 to Dkr179),
both near the park entrance. From the park you can also access the Legoland Hotel Res-
taurant.
Legoland Hotel Restaurant
BUFFET
(
75 33 12 44; Aastvej 10; dinner mains Dkr220-295;
lunch & dinner;
)
