Legoland Germany
With or without kids, make the time & effort
When our attorney said he’d used his one vacation in four years to hit Legoland in California, we were skeptical. Yes, we loved Legos as a kid, but nothing like our second daughter, who sits for ours bringing to life imaginary worlds and peoples. Still, we were unsure until Rog informed me the first rental he’d chosen in Germany is 6 minutes away from Legoland Deutschland. It’s also close to Stuttgart and Frankfurt, so the average tourist to Germany doesn’t really have an excuse not to go!
Today, we arrived at noon, fearing the worst of crowds. As you can see, it was basically empty. The car lot wasn’t even half full, only one of the seven, entry booths were open, and once inside, the lines were about ten minutes long—if there was a line. Message to you: if you are ever going to travel to Europe, go in June or July, as we have done the last few times. August is high season, not early July.
Have you ever seen a happier sign?? From the exit, you see these 2-story high legos jutting from the hill. I want one on my hill as an ode to my childhood.
Fluency
As we walked around, we heard at least a dozen languages. All the signs and communication are in German and English, but the staff goes back in forth in about six (we periodically asked the staff). While my basic German is improving, my accent is laughable—and yes, they laugh at/with me.
Everyone needs a picture with a life-size adopted Lego family, and have you ever seen a happier bathroom? In fact, everything is joyful and triumphant in Legoland, including the music pumped out around the park.
Size and rides
Two, moderately adult roller coaster rides exist, and I use that phrase because the thrill is intense but short, the rides about 1 minute after the initial journey, in one case, through a Lego castle—which I took a video and it’s on my Instagram feed. The waterlog ride is fun, and cameras are everywhere, so beware or you’ll get scolded like Rog did, when he took out his Wi phone, and immediately, a woman’s voice came over a loudspeaker in the middle of the river and told him to put it away (in German). The other locals on the log ride with us laughed, and he got the message. He put it away.
One great design of this park is that the designers constructed massive shaded areas for long lines. In the case of the rollercoaster, the lines snake through a mini lego castle, which really isn’t that mini!
The park isn’t massive, is well shaded and laid out, the three gift shops mixed between sections—think Safari, Aquarium, Egypt, China etc. I’d say the predominant rides and attractions are for age 6 and under, which makes sense, but that didn’t preclude the adults from loving or going on the rides where they’d fit (leg length is an issue). On the log ride, I needed to switch with Rog, even though he was boiling and it was his turn to sit in the front with a child, because his legs were too long and didn’t fit.
The line for the second rollercoaster was non-existent. Every ride has an real-time visual of the wait based upon where you are in line so you can make a decision if you want to continue waiting or bail. Love a choice! The bottom lego castle is where we go tomorrow!
Food etc.
Great fair all over the park, and actually rather inexpensive. The dollar is strong right now against the Euro, and everywhere we go, the quantities are overly large (e.g. we can’t finish a single plate), so I’ve taken to not ordering more than an app or salad, and taking bites from everyone else.
My favorite replica. Enormous, intricate and tens of thousands of lego pieces comprise this football stadium.
Cost
For our family of two adults and two kids (in Europe, they have a middle-range, teen cost), it was $185 with parking fees of $6. Both were less than had we shown up at the park, because we purchased on line that morning. A veritable bargain compared to Disneyland, but then again, the size is fractional.
What I liked
My favorite part/area was the cities built by Legos. It was a lot like mini-Europe in Brussels, but because these mini-city replicas were constructed of Legos, it was much more impressive to me. To this I’d add the life-size giraffes and elephants—can you even calculate the cost of that? Both girls liked the dragon roller coaster where she screamed the entire time as I laughed. Oh! The gift shops were insane—they have soooo many more projects than are available even on-line it was silly. Rog’s fav? A Bugatti race car with a working engine for about $300. You should have seen the men drooling over this endcap shelf.
What I disliked
Nothing! It was all good, and the lack of crowds divine.
Definite, absolute recommendation to go with kids.