2018 is the 50th Birthday of LEGOLAND® Billund and their month of celebration in June culminated in the park breaking a world record by building the tallest LEGO® Tower – with a little help from their visitors!
LEGOLAND Billund beat the previous record by building a tower over 4 days that was 36.26 metres high, using over 500,000 bricks. The tower contained surprise elements including the Danish flag, the park name and year.
The idea for LEGOLAND Billund came in the 1960s, when many visitors were travelling to the LEGO® factory in Billund to see the amazing LEGO models. The owner, Godtfred Kirk Kristiansen, had the idea of combining the exhibition of models with a play area for children, and this was what became LEGOLAND. Today you can still see the models in Miniland.
In 1968, Denmark became one country richer: On 7 June 1968, LEGOLAND opened its doors for the first time. At that time, LEGOLAND consisted of Miniland, the Indian village, the Traffic School and the LEGO Train. The park took up 38,000 m2, and the rails of the LEGO train framed the entire LEGOLAND.
The park did greater than expected during its first season - they had expected 200,000 visitors and 625,000 visitors came. Since LEGOLAND opened its doors for the first time in 1968, children could get their very first driver's license in the Traffic school – mind you, if they follow the traffic regulations. The first years the kids could ride a bike through the Traffic School. Since then, millions of children have proudly shown their driver’s licenses.
The LEGO Train was originally built for the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen where it was taking guests around. The world's largest department store, Macy's in New York, heard about the nice, little train and borrowed it for their Christmas display. In 1968, the train came back to Denmark, in time for the opening of LEGOLAND.