Posted By Adam White on Oct 5, 2018 | 2 comments

This past weekend we sent a brave team of LEGO® explorers to the LEGO House in Billund, which just happened to coincide with the 1st birthday celebration of the Billund attraction. The gang who visited LEGO House just so happen to be from one of the UK’s most unique visitors attractions – the National Space Centre in Leicester. Malika and her team are the ones who think up all their awesome special events including the much loved annual LEGO event, the Brickish Weekend. Malika has been kind enough to write up her thoughts about her time in LEGO House, and due to her background working in the same sort of industry, her report offers a unique view of the Home of the Brick.

I have been lucky enough to have visited hundreds of visitor attractions and museums all over the world, but I have to say that the LEGO House sets a new standard that all of them should take note from.

We visited on their first birthday and were surprised at the lack of fanfare, pomp and ceremony, however, for a brand that is this credible, clean and professional, it was perfect for them.

Before we got our tickets, we were invited to make a piece of red and white LEGO that a team from the LEGO House, under the supervision of cake creator Annemette Voss, would then take inspiration from to decorate the cakes. This was a fantastic idea and really included the visitors in the process.

The ticketing system was quick and efficient, something we quickly realised was a theme for the country, with your details being captured to ensure a completely personalised experience. Our wristbands contained small chips, so we could scan them in each zone to save photos, movie clips and scores.

We arrived as the House opened and enjoyed a very quiet few hours, unlike the UK the visitor arrival seemed to peak around 12:30, so arrive early to explore in near isolation.

The central atrium houses a simple café where you can enjoy a really healthy array of smoothies, salads, freshly made paninis and drinks, there is also a gourmet restaurant and the amazing Mini Chef bento box style café, more about that later!

The hall is light, clean and welcoming, with a huge LEGO tree at the centre. There are staff milling around to help, who all speak multiple languages for the cultural mix of visitors. That said, the majority of the visitors seemed to be Danish families.

Throughout the visit we noticed the difference in the way families interact with the LEGO House and attractions in the UK. At this point in time we are seeing a huge rise in complaints from families visiting my own attraction regarding the behaviour of other families, children and schools. It is something that has definitely changed in the UK sector, but whilst at the LEGO House we only encountered one incident of rude pushy behaviour and that was from a non-Danish family. The remainder were engaged, spending time enjoying the attraction as a family unit, discussing and working together. Maybe this says more about the LEGO brand and the design of all the different elements, but without spending more time in the country, the jury is out… either way, I had a lot of respect for the parenting skills on display!

There were huge lockers for our cases and lots of well signed toilets, so we could get ready for the day and be free of all our “stuff”. We didn’t have children with us, but there are lots of different sized changing rooms and a really comfy nursing spaces.

We decided to start at the top and work our way down, so took the staircase to the top of the house, stopping at regular intervals to see the little quirky added elements to the giant LEGO tree. It is obvious that LEGO have embraced the inner geek in their development teams, there are little hints of it everywhere (I loved it!)

The LEGO House uses the top floor, the Masterpiece Gallery, to celebrate the imagination and talents of makers from all over the globe. Cases are filled with amazing creations, some from names you might recognise, that use LEGO to make the obvious, not so obvious and damn right bizarre. We also found our first LEGO birthday cake here, so started our treasure hunt to win a special birthday prize.

Highlighting the Duplo, LEGO and Technic ranges, are three full size dinosaurs, who, for today, were all wearing their LEGO party hats with pride. I stood and watched a family with a young child discover all the animals hidden on the Duplo dinosaur, whilst a family with an older teenage child stood and discussed the parts on the Technics dinosaur… well done LEGO, you clearly understand your very different market segments in this space, in all of them in fact.

From the Masterpiece Gallery we headed down the staircase to the Green Zone, where we spent a LOT of time looking for all the hidden gems! Coming down the stairs I spotted Darth Vader using lightsabres as ski poles and I was instantly transfixed. From Weeping Angels, to Santa on holiday, this zone is geek heaven in LEGO. Again, it was great to see the AFOL alongside families being equally engaged looking for all other Easter eggs.

Another thing that shone out, was the trust and freedom around all the LEGO. I mean, yes, they obviously have a lot of bricks at cost that they can “lose”, but people were all making structures to be part of the House, so allowing them to leave them behind, without feeling the need to take home a memento. I made a mini me Minifig, that I took with me to make a movie, but she stayed at the LEGO House and I have some cool memories thanks to the interactive pods and my wristband.

After green and a LEGO mini movie that shall remain a closely guarded secret (it had an alien abduction, surfing and crocodile racing in it) we headed to the Blue Zone and built part of an interactive city, made and raced cars (mine was pink with six wheels, so a little bit girly, but a lot about winning) we headed to my favourite part of the exhibition, the Robo Lab.

We have had Mindstorm sets at work for over 6 years, but they have never really been an integral part of the Centre, or the education provision. The Arctic Explorer scenario was perfection. The idea of groups and families working together to use coding on an ecological scenario ticks all the boxes, plus we had loads of fun. Some people decided to work in isolation, whilst others worked in groups to free people, mammoths and each other. It looked cool and showed what the Mindstorm sets can do, given the correct environment and focus. I would love to see something similar developed at the National Space Centre and think it would be a huge success for our educational mission.

Here we HAD to have a break, as we were slightly wobbly at all the fun we had been having. We headed for café BRICKACCINO, where I wanted to cry at the simplicity and perfection of the offering. We topped up on fresh fruit and veg smoothies, coffee and water. It also gave us a moment to sit and plan our remaining 5 hours at the House, yes, we arrived as they opened, and they locked the doors behind us when they closed.

After a break we headed back up the stairs to create LEGO critters, backward swimming fish, flowers, flags and everything our imagination could come up with in gold, white and red. We played with bouncing LEGO, racing LEGO, all colours, shapes and types of LEGO and then realised this was not only a visitor attraction, but the biggest market research facility ever created.

When we arrived they had taken some basic details from us to personalise our experience. They knew my name, that I was English, that I was in an all adult group, my general age and, by the time I had visited the shop, that I spend a LOT on LEGO. They could now see my journey through the House, where I stopped, my dwell time in specific zones, the bricks, colours and ranges I was drawn to etc. I sat and watched the people picking bricks from the rainbow cascade in the Red Zone and thought about the market research being carried out on new colour options, it was a marketeers dream.

Throughout the day the level of customer service was exemplary. I have had issues with the overly keen staff in LEGO shops recently, who really cannot gauge the visitor so end up stalking you around the store, but this was perfect… everything you think LEGO should be. Helpful, but not stifling, informative, but not patronising, and always friendly, to all segments of their audience.

The day before we had visited LEGOLAND and discovered that it was a disappointing as the one in the UK. It is all about selling the product, not the ethos. The LEGO builds looked old, tired, drained of colour and dirty. It was definitely a theme park that could have been any brand, I just wish LEGO would either bring them back “in-house” to replicate their brand ideals shown at the LEGO House, or walk away from them.

Our final part of the house was the history collection in the basement. This was another area where it screamed “we understand our customers”. There was a vaults feel to the exhibition, very different from all the other very colourful zones. It was gloss black and lit like a fantastic stage production, so you knew you were walking into something very special. A fascinating story and an opportunity to drool over those sets you wish you had MIB in the attic. The simplicity of the projections and replaying of the message regarding the core brand values made me want to cry. Many companies have mission statements and values, but not many of them make it so integral to the message and the focus of the business, LEGO not only say it, they do it… the LEGO House is a customer facing statement with play throughout it… I LOVED it!

We couldn’t leave without trying the MINI CHEF family restaurant. I wish I could have afforded to try the Gourmet restaurant, as the food looked amazing, but what we did have was a LEGO experience in food.

I wasn’t sure what the food would be like, we have tried the Rollercoaster Restaurant at Alton Towers, where the menu held great promise, but what came down the chute was mass produced fried mulch, so had already had the quirky over quality experience. This could not be further from the truth with LEGO. The menu is simple and healthy, with the ability to choose fried chicken and chips, but to partner it with salad and chips. Alongside these simple family friendly options there are hints at the Bento Box background, with uncomplicated flavours and choices that you build into your own meal selection… with added LEGO!

Great bit of theatre and a really nice meal finished off our visit. Staff, who remembered my name (!) ordered us a taxi to the airport and we spent our last 20 minutes buying all the essentials.

Without doubt one of the best days out I have ever had… I have since told all my colleagues, friends, family and anybody who will listen (including you!)

Go visit the LEGO House. Ryanair does cheap early morning and late evening flights out of Stansted, with a taxi costing around £15 to the House from Billund airport. So, it will probably cost you less than a UK based family day out.

You can visit the LEGO House for around as little as £29 per person. Some aspects of the attraction are completely free to visit, such as the public square and LEGO store. The LEGO House also holds numerous special events and exhibitions throughout the year. Both British Airways and Ryanair provide regular flights to Billund from both Heathrow and Stansted Airport. To learn more about the LEGO House and book tickets to visit, please visit the LEGO House website.

Big thanks to Jan, Trine and the LEGO H0use team for accommodating the visit to LEGO House. The opinions with in the review are that of Malika and BricksFanz and do not express the opinions of the LEGO Group or the LEGO House.