Becoming a kid - LEGO Adventure

-



You’ve definitely heard of Disneyland. But have you heard of Legoland? We visited it — and what fun we had! It was like getting our childhood back.

A Flashback to 2011

Way back in 2011, I first came across Billund, Denmark. I was there on a work trip, visiting my customer Vestas (I was in the wind energy industry back then).

At the tiny Billund airport, I noticed a lot of kids around and wondered why. My colleague laughed and said, “Of course! This is the home of LEGO.” That’s when I first learned that Billund is where LEGO was born and still headquartered.

I wasn’t a stranger to LEGO, though. In our Belgium office, we had a large working wind turbine model made entirely of LEGO bricks — a reminder of just how versatile those little plastic blocks could be.

A model of Wind turbine


The Plan

Fast forward to today. My wife and I needed to be in Denmark to attend a family function, and I thought, “Why not use the chance to finally visit Billund?”

A bit of online research later, we booked our stay at Hotel Refborg (a great choice, by the way!) and ticket for Legoland. Thought it was common for LEGOLAND  and LEGO House. (Tip: they’re separate tickets, so plan to buy  both in advance.)

Hotel Refborg - Quaint and friendly place.


First Stop: Legoland

We drove from Copenhagen to Billund, checked in, and hopped on the free shuttle to the park. Even before we stepped inside, the excitement started to build. We had a short “must-see” list and stuck to it:



Anita, Renu and I in front of LEGOLAND


A Canal with varying heights for navigation

A LEGO Eifel tower

Model of the LEGO House

An entire town along with canals

Model of an airport

Mini Land – Famous landmarks and cities recreated in LEGO. The level of detail was mind-blowing: airports, waterways, windmills, even a NASA rocket launch.
The Toy LEGO train
LEGO Train Ride – Sounds simple, but sitting inside those toy-like compartments brought back pure childhood joy. We laughed as much as the little kids around us.

Atlantis by SEA LIFE – An aquarium where LEGO models blend with live marine life. A clever, fun mix.

LEGO Gallery – Giant builds by master LEGO designers.

4D Cinema – Not the highlight, but a fun little break.


Pieces kept for the visitors to build anything that they want.

Forthe Engine heads

A large Tarantula spider model

Can't miss a Taj Mahal

A helmet

A model of Ferrai


LEGO House

The next day was all about LEGO House — and this was where things got even more interesting.

LEGO Museum – The word LEGO was coined in 1934 by Ole Kirk Christiansen, the founder of the company.
It is derived from the Danish phrase “Leg Godt”, which means “play well.”
    Later, the company realized (by coincidence) that in Latin, lego can also mean “I put together” or “I assemble.”

      LEGO has stayed within the Christiansen/Kirk Kristiansen family for four generations — which is quite rare for a global brand of its size.

      A walk through LEGO’s history, from its humble wooden toy beginnings to its global success. For me, it wasn’t just about toys — it was also a story of resilience, family business challenges, and reinvention in the digital era.




      Some key takeaways for a student of Management.

      Tree of Creativity

      One of the largest LEGO builds in the world, with fascinating little scenes tucked into it.





      Playing around seriously.



      Experience Zones – Each colour-themed:
        • Yellow Zone: creative building challenges
        • Green Zone: storytelling and stop-motion films
        • Blue Zone: robotics and problem-solving
        • Red Zone: pure free-play building
      Masterpiece Gallery
      Stunning creations by Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOLs).


      And then came the real show-stopper…

      The Mini Chef Restaurant

      This was the highlight of the entire trip. Here, you “order” your meal using LEGO bricks, and it’s served by robots on a conveyor belt. Even the most serious adults couldn’t hide their smiles when the LEGO-themed lunch box slid across the counter.

      (Pro tip: book this restaurant well in advance when planning your trip. It’s very popular.)

      Click on this short video to see how we ordered food

      LEGO Isn’t Just for Kids

      One of the things I realized is that LEGO isn’t only about play. It’s also about passion. I’ve seen serious (and seriously expensive!) LEGO builds:

      • A working wind turbine model at Hansen Transmissions
      • A warehouse mock-up in Luxembourg
      • And most recently, a large LEGO Concorde at my son’s home in Hamburg. (Turns out, he’s a LEGO fan too!)

      A model of Concorde assembled by my son.



      A model of a warehouse

      Vestas wind turbine DIY kit from LEGO

      A ChatGPT suggested build up of Ganesha

      Will the LEGO bug bite me?

      I’m not sure if I’ll dive deep into LEGO building myself, but this trip definitely rekindled a sense of wonder.

      Will the LEGO bug bite you? Or has it already? Let me know in the comments — I’d love to hear your LEGO stories.

      Comments

      1. Doreswamy Srinidhi27 August 2025 at 17:41

        Lovely pictures. Exhaustive coverage. Glad you took time to see practically the whole place. Enjoyed the visit with you. By the way what makes you think you are not a kid anymore!?

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. NSM27 August 2025 at 18:27

          Thanks Nodhi uncle. Yes - you are right. I am still a kid at “heart”. Pun intended.

          Delete
      2. Anonymous27 August 2025 at 19:16

        Wow fantastic information Mohana

        ReplyDelete
      3. Anonymous28 August 2025 at 01:12

        Lovely capture of the whole experience. Must plan during my next visit :)

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. NSM28 August 2025 at 03:20

          A definite recommendation. Buy tickets online for all key areas in advance.

          Delete
      4. Anonymous28 August 2025 at 02:18

        Wish I was there too! The child in us lives forever, we just don’t know it, but when put in environments like this, they come out without any inhibitions!

        ReplyDelete
      5. Sunil Pahilajani28 August 2025 at 05:02

        Wonderful experience Mohan. You are always innovative !! Enjoy your journey

        ReplyDelete
      6. Shankar28 August 2025 at 09:54

        Fantastic too say the least sir! You have the mind to search for such places. Real kids game. High level of technology in ordering food. Very nice. Wish we had some such places in India.
        Thank you for sharing 🙏

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. NSM28 August 2025 at 11:53

          A must visit for your daughter with grand daughter (including you naturally) Shankaranna

          Delete
      7. Anonymous28 August 2025 at 12:11

        What a trip and what a recap! Honestly, at first I thought, “why a theme park?”but it turned out to be such a fun and inspiring experience. It took me back to my agency days of launching Lego in India, reminded me of Channapatna wooden toys, and made me reflect on what vision can do—from carpentry to toys to this ingenious building system.
        Truly a must-do for all creative folks!

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. NSM28 August 2025 at 15:42

          Yes Renu. Vision followed by rigorous implementation makes a lot of difference. A great management lesson for me.

          Delete
      8. Anantha Prasad30 August 2025 at 00:23

        Informative, gave a full tour with guidance 😉

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. NSM30 August 2025 at 09:04

          Thanks Anantha. Do plan a visit with grandkids.

          Delete
      9. Uday Kumar K30 August 2025 at 06:55

        This is a wonderfully engaging and heartfelt review that does far more than just list attractions. Mohana you masterfully weave personal history with practical tips, taking the reader on a journey from a serendipitous discovery in 2011 to a full-fledged family adventure. Stunning photos and clever details—like the innovative Mini Chef restaurant and the fascinating management insights—make it an incredibly useful guide. It’s not just a travel log; it’s a persuasive and nostalgic love letter to the timeless magic of LEGO. Thanks for this blog. BTW you should read this book “ Brick by Brick” by David Robertson on how this company made a turnaround after going thru a bad patch. A good managment lesson.

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. NSM30 August 2025 at 09:05

          Thanks Uday. Did not know of this book. Will add to my reading list.

          Delete
      10. Srikrishnan31 August 2025 at 20:10

        Wow ! Lovely place, will plan a visit. Getting back to childhood is a gift !! Wonderfully covered Mohan

        ReplyDelete

      Post a Comment

      What is your opinion please comment here

      Popular posts from this blog

      Those Three months in 2022

      -
      Image
      Have you heard of the phrase “being Blind-sided”?  If there is a way that I can describe, it is that - “I was Blind-sided”.  Blindsided means “Getting an unpleasant surprise from a most unexpected or least expected side” I did (and still do) believe in maintaining one’s health through good exercise and reasonable dietary restrictions (Not overdoing anything and be moderate, even though it sounds a bit boring). Overall, I have had an interesting life with a lot of physical activities built into it. The Day I was Blind-sided. 21st June, International yoga day. At Eagleton, the resident’s association had decided to celebrate it on 19th (Sunday) followed by breakfast. I had planned to go on a breakfast bike ride that morning and changed the plan to attend this. While my wife’s incentive was yoga, mine happened to be purely the nice breakfast that would be served post the yoga session. 19 th June Morning Generally, I’m an early riser (3.45AM) and on that day reluctantly,...
      Read more

      Those months after ...

      -
      Image
        Preface A sequel to a blog? It did not sound like a good idea. After all, any sequel never lives up to expectation especially after the reception of the first part. But then again, there have been sequels that have seen success like the movie “Bahubali”, "KGF" or the classic “Godfather”! So, why not, I asked myself. At the end, I decided that I’m writing to chronicle what I went through and to reminiscence and read it in my "Old age". While I do hope that it helps others who read it, I’m doing this to satisfy my writing urge. With this justification, I used my blogger friend and mentor, Sri Srinidhi as a sounding board and asked his opinion off a “sequel blog” He immediately said, “Good idea”. So here it is, sequel to my earlier blog   Those three months in 2022 Any blog needs a title and the first one that I wrote was called “Those three months in 2022” or “TTM 22” Without any further ado, “Those months after..” or “TMA 22” Those months after… Now, was I st...
      Read more

      My Brother’s friend

      -
      Image
      Long time back, my brother had a very close friend. Being so, he was also like an elder brother to me.  We lost touch with him many years back and even though we had made some feeble attempts to get back in touch, it did not work. Perhaps, more due to lack of intensity of getting back in touch from us and also from him.  He was a very genial and down to earth person. He had many an advice for me as I grew up.  When my brother attended his schoolmates 50th year get-together, he had hoped to see his old friend there and was disappointed not to see him. Enquiries with other classmates lead to an information that one of the classmates spoke to him about two plus years back and this old friend was sounding very sick with a feeble voice. Apparently, he had lost his job and was having health issues. The classmate gave a telephone number of the friend and it was not reachable. The “True caller” app suggested this was in the name of that old friend.  My brother spoke to me ab...
      Read more

      A trip down the memory lane

      -
      Image
         Srinath’s Art-deco fashioned house (PC: Srinath) For people from Bengaluru (Earlier days Bangalore) south, Lalbagh and Gandhi bazar holds a special place in their hearts. My friend Amarnath kept telling me to come for a walk in Lalbagh on Sundays. Sundays are reserved for my Motorbike rides and hence hadn’t been able to join him for a long time. This time, I decided that I will ride till Lalbagh and have a morning walk in Lalbagh with him and other two close friends Sheshanarayana and Mohan (We missed him on this walk). Post Lalbagh walk - Mandatory idli breakfast  While bike can be parked easily, the idea of lugging the helmet (A Schubert) and not leaving it hanging to the bike was not a great option. I needed a place to keep it safely. Since, I grew up (While not necessarily living there) at Surveyor street near Lalbagh West Gate, I reached out to an other friend Srinath (Srinathi – for old times sake) and requested, if I could park the bike and leave helmet at h...
      Read more

      Sixty - retired?

      -
      Image
      Like many in my friend’s circle, I too turned 60 a few years back. So, the children born in sixties, are turning sixty.  When    young (still think    I am) and had entered into professional life in MICO (now Bosch India), we organised and attended “Retirement parties” for our seniors. The retirement age being 58. I used to think that “they” were old and perhaps many of them thought the same.  Not many of them took up an active role and would be happy with a consulting role, if it came across or accept    a more domesticated role as go-getters, getting milk, vegetables, helping in the kitchen, hang out with friends, go to temple, turn more philosophical and sometimes ritualistic.   I am now in this specific group and haven’t retired. Also having seen many of my friends leading an “active life”, set me thinking whether the 'old age' definition has changed? Do the current generations have a “longer life” as the life expectancy has gone up?...
      Read more

      Being bald

      -
      Image
      Yours truly.. It has been a few years since I decided to go completely bald. I mean shave off those tufts of hair that sticks around and in the front like that of Tin Tin (Incidentally, TinTin is called Kuifje in Flemish meaning a tuft of hair. Pronounced as Ku-if- ye) Herge was a Belgian. TinTin (Copy rights to the concerned acknowledged here) The joke around that time which I used to crack (much to the discomfort of my children who had not yet come to terms with my “Dad jokes”) was ..” Prime Minister Modi ji asked us to go Keshless and hence I shaved off, little understanding the fact that he wanted us to go Cashless, undoubtedly pronounced with a Gujarati accent ”. Yes, that was the time of introduction of UPI… Since then, I have heard interesting anecdotes about baldness, heard nice poems about it, saw a satire movie called “ಒಂದು ಮೊಟ್ಟೆಯ ಕಥೆ” (Story of an egg) and have written a poem too about it too. Ondu Motteya Kathe (Copy rights to the concerned acknowledged here) 👴ಬೊಕ್ಕ ತಲೆ ...
      Read more

      REML Himalayan Bike

      -
      Image
       The Himalayan A rider’s dream The first ever Motor bike that I bought was at a very young age of 57 (Yes, Fifty seven). It was a “now or never” moment for me and I wanted to go for it or as Nike says “Just Do it”  Before this, I had, in a  show of bravado, ridden my cousin Balaji’s Rajdoot motorcycle during my college days. Later on, after a gap of nearly forty years, I started tentatively to ride different bikes and get used to the feel. I used a rental agency called “Wicked Rides” #wickedrides . I tried out Harley Davidson and Royal Enfield. I also got a few bike rides from friends and known people who had these brands. That was when REML had launched the Himalayan and it had got mixed reviews. While many praised it performance and how it looked, few had issues with its build quality. I decided to wait for all the initial de-bugging to be done. That is when they launched the “Himalayan Sleet”. I snapped it up. This being my first ever bike that I owned, it was a moment...
      Read more

      My first long Motorbike ride

      -
      Image
      A Rider’s dream South India Ride   Being a South Indian myself, why this “South India ride”, you may ask! Well, I did that to myself too.  It all began when I wanted to have a short ride in Leh and had rented a Himalayan there. This was during the “Landrover Defender Journey from Leh to Chandigarh” ( https://nsmcyberdude-thoughts.blogspot.com/2024/07/journey-in-himalayas-leh-chandigarh.html ) I met a distinguished young gentleman (for me young or old is nothing to do with biological ageing) name Mr. S Bhat who was from Hyderabad. He had just then finished the Landrover journey, as we were to begin. Seeing me in a riding gear, he enquired and later mentioned that I must do a ride in South Africa and a ride in Alps. He recommended a group called Goodwind Moto Tours.( https://goodwindmototours.com/ )  Now, you know how it works, the seed was sown! I reached out to Mr. Amit Desai of GMT. I always believe that we should go from the “known to the unknown”. The known places (eve...
      Read more

      Confessions of a father

      -
      Image
      PC: Google   It was “Father’s day” and there were wishes pouring out on the media platforms. I have never believed in these and that this is a western influence (and nothing wrong or right about it).   My children have never wished me on that day, perhaps respecting my beliefs and understanding me better. I am happy about it and am not sentimental about it. While I do not watch much of TV shows, I happened to watch a music competition involving children. Their fathers were invited to the show. I could see so much of emotions (the rona - dhona stuff) and I could not relate much to it. I wondered why? That set me to think about fatherhood, relationships between father - son and father - daughter.  My father My Dad I have heard that my father was a fine gentleman albeit with a short temper. He wished the best for us and decided to get us educated well.  Why am I talking so distant of my “Daddy” as my brother and I used to call him and I so vaguely remember of him? I los...
      Read more

      Graduation ceremony

      -
      Image
        A traditional “Graduation Cap” My Son graduated in his Masters (2023) had his graduation ceremony at Aachen, Germany in September 2024. He had done his Undergrad earlier and was in the class of 2020 and that being a COVID year, there was no such an event at Purdue University that year.  We have had the privilege of watching the graduation ceremonies of our daughter, one from Christ university and later another from Azim Premji University as a part of her undergrad and masters study completion.  The traditional tossing of the cap Each of these, were a moment to cherish for them as they “Walked, wore the cap, tossed in tradition”. The ceremony at Premji university, however was more ethnic with a shawl and not a sash and without that famous head gear to toss. Graduation ceremony at Azim Premji University with a shawl and without a cap Rite of Passage All cultures and societies have the “Rite of passage”. In hunting tribes, it could have been to hunt a lion or make their fi...
      Read more