Legoland Billund Resort
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| Location | Billund, Denmark |
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| Coordinates | 55°44′8″N 9°7′34″E / 55.73556°N 9.12611°ECoordinates: 55°44′8″N 9°7′34″E / 55.73556°N 9.12611°E |
| Owner | Merlin Entertainments |
| Opened | June 7, 1958 |
| Operating season | March - October |
| Visitors per annum | 1.9 million (2011) |
| Area | 140,000 m2 (35 acres) |
| Rides | |
| Total | 50 |
| Roller coasters | 4 |
| Water rides | 2 |
| Website | http://www.legoland.dk |
Legoland Billund, the original Legoland park, opened on June 7, 1968 in Billund, Denmark. The park is located next to the original Lego factory and Denmark's second busiest airport Billund Airport. Over 1.9 million guests visited the park in 2011 and since the opening more than 50 million guests have visited the park. This makes Legoland the largest tourist attraction in Denmark outside of Copenhagen. The Legoland parks that have since been built are modelled upon Legoland Billund, most noticeably the Miniland area which is made up of millions of Lego bricks.
The first Legoland was built next door to the Lego factory that was founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1949. His son, Godtfred, took over the family business in 1957 when his father died and just two years later he bought out his three brothers. In 1968 Godtfred decided to open a 14-acre Legoland Park to promote his toy business. The park became an instant success and has over the years added many original rides. The now 45-acre park is divided into nine themed areas: Duplo Land, Imagination Zone, LEGOREDO Town, Adventure Land, Lego City, Knight's Kingdom, Mini Land, Pirate Land, and Polar Land.
Today, Legoland Billund is the most visited tourist attraction in Jylland. Five other Legolands have been built in other parts of the world: Legoland Windsor in 1996, Legoland California in 1999, Legoland Germany in 2002, Legoland Florida in 2011, and Legoland Malaysia in 2012. In 2005 the investment firm Blackstone bought a 70% controlling stake in Legoland, with the remaining 30% still owned by Lego. The parks are operated under the Merlin banner.
Mini Land is the heart of any Legoland park. The 1:20 scale Lego brick models feature landscapes, sights and buildings from all over Denmark as well as famous landmarks from other parts of the world, these include from Denmark: Amalienborg Castle, Nyhavn, Skagen, Klampenborg Station, Ribe, Billund Airport, Dybbøl Mill, Møgeltønder, Lilleby (a fictional Danish village). In addition there are famous landmarks from Sweden, Bergen in Norway, Scotland, Germany, the Netherlands, Kennedy Space Center, Mount Rushmore, Abu Simbel in Egypt, Statue of Liberty, Acropolis of Athens, and Star Wars. The Lego Top offers a nice view of the entire park. The structures were made using more than 25 million Lego bricks.
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Wikipedia