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Day 10: Mon, June 12th part 2 : Legoland Billund continued the folks I was hanging out with today kept talking about "Ice Piolts School" and how we had to do that before it filled up. I didn't know what they were talking about (not putting two and two together). So we headed back over to Polar X-plorer, and I was even more confused, when they went to the side of the coaster entrance then up a short path into a warehouse. oh. . this thing. yeah.. this is that INSANE "robot arm" ride, where you can program it yourself, and then the robot does what you've asked it to do. You have to pair with someone, as it's teams of two, and I was feeling rather brave (realize that you can't see the actual Robot Arms. .they're behind the walls), so I told David, yeah, I'll ride with you - after everyone else passed on riding with him because he wanted to ride in *extreme* setting. here are the screens where you pic what actions you want the robot arm to do. then it spits out a card, that you take around the corner to give to the operator - who feeds the card into the Robot, and it does what you've programmed it to do for your "ride" oh my! well, that doesn't look too bad! looks like fun. and then I watched someone ride who had apparently chosen "Extreme" as well. . ..seriously, it looked like the Robot Arm was bashing them against rocks, like a cavewoman doing laundry! LOL too late to turn back now! yeah. .there are people on that arm (in that blur) our turn. .here's David an I ! MBSX9787.MOV and I believe I have Elissa to thank for capturing this. . . . can't really remember, but I *think* we hopped on Polar X-plorer, since it's right next door. before heading over to that Egyptian themed ride I had seen earlier. I wasn't exactly sure what this ride was, but I prayed it was more gentle than Ice Pilots School. . .it HAD to be. . lots of littler kids in this queue. Turns out it was a shooting dark ride. i don't recall much about it, so I guess it wasn't a super exciting shooting ride, but was cool to see all the stuff made out of legos. it was almost time for lunch, so we headed back towards the park entrance. That observation tower - while not super tall - was tall enough for my liking and wanted to try it out post lunch, as hadn't been on that side of the park yet. lunch was in the Pizza Buffet. . which had some wonderfully strange pizzas (as Erik pointed out in his report), as well as seafood salad, and that wonderful tasting "Not Butter, Not Chicken" - which actually WAS butter chicken, and was one of the best things I had at any of the parks we visited. the fountains weren't working, so we got bottles with lunch. hmm. .maybe those Lego polar bears on the way into the park WERE Coke cross promotion? David happy with his small cup of Ice Cream, Me pleased with my larger (not as messy cup) and Jason upset he didn't think to use the drinking cup for Ice Cream. Letting the food settle a big, we wandered towards the observation tower, but stopped to browse in the giant Lego Store at the front of the park on the way. so soft!!! Bwaaa-haaaa-haaaa! I'm a rebel! see?? grrrrrr map of the park. . .it seems SO much bigger when you're walking around in it. it's very spread out. LOVED the Lego store. Even if you're not really into the blocks..it's still amazing just to see what they have on display in there! I went back and forth on if I should get Banana or Hot Dog. it was so hard to decide. Luckily no KISS ones. . or would have been schlepping big things back with me! exclusive to this store? after too much $$ spent, was time to head back into the park and up in the observation tower! We'd be heading back this way shortly, because the Aquarium and the NinjaGo section is back there behind Mini-land. on the left is one of the Legoland HOtels, and I believe way back over there is the Lego Campus (with the yellow brick on top) looking down at part of Mini-land as we head up. that's Lego House in the back with the giant window on top. not sure what the castle is. . possibly one of the Legoland hotels? (one is called the Castle Hotel) better view of the spread out park - that's polar X-plorer way back center right. . . and a better view of Lego campus on the left. and catching planes landing in the airport across the street. back at ground level, checking out some of the awesome mini-land as we walked by. i wanted to spend a lot of time here, but there were other things on my list I wanted to knock out first to be sure I did them. these planes taxiied. . and pulled into the terminals! so freaking cool. Safari time! I might be mis-remembering, but I think it was this line where a park goer got into an argument with the operator because the operator wouldn't let him ride without a shirt. So he threatened to put his shorts on over his head so he could ride, because the rules only said "Shirt and shoes must be worn" but nothing about pants. after he stormed off, we laughed with the operator about it. Pretty sure that happened in this queue. myself and Jonathan shared a jeep on this safari. a picture of Jason and David, taking pictures of us as we passed them on the "Savannah" Big Mike scores his own Jeep! we found our way back! and perfect timing too. . the train pulled into the station right next to the Safari ride. it's a rather tiny/cute train tho. . can a bunch of TPR guys fit in it??? you betcha!! a little "snug". . but a nice slow ride, that goes around the park a bit, tho mainly by Miniland. watch out for Robbers!! Traffic School. . . LOL. . loved this, but was for the littler kids. I could have done the Fire Brigade one, as that's for adults/families. . but the line for it was a bit long, and as mentioned, I still had some "must dos" on my list. some lovely picnic areas sprinkled about the park too. off the train, and we headed across the walkway for one of the most classic Legoland rides (at least one I'd always heard about) the boats! a nice slow moving ride, that you don't actually have to steer, that brings you among the world's greatest wonders. all made out of Lego of course. I recall you COULD sorta "steer". . but it really didn't make much difference where you went. hey, I know that!! I've been referring the Sphinx as "Sfinx" ever since I saw this. . . it's rotted my brain and stuck in it. . LOL I imagine it's what a cat sneezing and farting at the same time sounds like: Sfinx ("bless you") ta-daaaa! what can I say? it's a classic. next up? the Haunted Mansion. . I mean. . . . "Ghost" the Haunted House. which, I will admit up front. .I absolutely loved. doggie ghost? uh-oh. . Frankie's on the Juice again! parts of the walkthru are interactive - say you pick up a flashlight and shine it on something, and the figure moves. or pull a book out of the book case, and a fart noise happens. same thing if you step in the wrong spot on the steps - loud fart sound. yes, juvenile, but funny. and there's a mirror maze in the center of the house! with some mirrors hiding ghosts that appear out of nowhere. but the biggest "whaaaa?" is at the end of the house, when they move you into a room and load you into a small drop tower (think mini version of Mystery Castle at Phantasialand). . where you face across from another row of guests, also about to be dropped. not a huge drop, but fun and had us laughing. and the operator was kind enough to take this picture for us before the lap bar came down over our heads. creepy ass giant spider made of Lego greets you at the exit. to be concluded. . .

taken me a bit of time to get back to this, but hopefully worth the wait. my first EVER Legoland, and it's the biggie. . so took a LOT of pics, and will have to split this report up. Day 10: Mon, June 12th part 1 : Legoland Billund so we got up fairly early from the Zleep in and piled onto the bus for the drive. where were we headed? oh my. . .getting giddy! strangely located across the street from a functioning airport - tho it didn't seem to be a commercial airport, so must be mainly for freight (tho I'd guess used for executives coming to Lego headquarters?) - is the biggest and best Legoland (so I've heard. . this is my first one ever) even across the street in the parking lot, there's some theming going on. . . but this was nothing compared to what we'd see when we got to the actual park. it really is a full assault on your senses, with sounds and things to look at EVERYWHERE. this is still outside the front gates! Lego flag of Denmark? Modern Art? I dunno. . but I liked it. the lil Lego guys n gals hard at work building over the actual main gate. TPR Group Pic (courtesy of Robb) before heading into the park with out guide. and because he had on this AWESOME shirt, a pic (also courtesy of Robb) with Erik as the *STAR* - may we all burn so brightly some day! ah. . a bit more like it- as we're heading into the park. a more themed Trash can. wow. .this place is a lot bigger than it looks like on the maps! and that we were in before it officially opened, meant I could get lots of clear pics of many of the amazing Lego art all around the park as we headed to our first ride of the day: a ride on one of the park's 4 family coasters: Flying Eagle. Pizza pizza! . . and now I want a Coke! dang, this park is absolutely beautiful. I'd always heard and seen pics of some of the Legoland "Minilands". . but I was super impressed with how immersive this is! and so many of the parts are moving parts! cars, trucks, planes, trains, ships, even drawbridges. . . all work with the push of a button. a famous Legoland attraction - the boats. Oh yes, I was coming back for this once park opened. and the Lego safari. I didn't ever get to ride the Lego Catipillar. . and I'm wondering since in the pic I took, there's a maintenance guy there working on it, if it ever actually opened on the day we were there? but look how ADORABLE it is !!! and what's this? "Ghost". . . this Legoland has a haunted house walk thru? yup. . . + a surprise ending. naked hairy-chested Lego man in the Western section is making me have "feelings" that I'm not quite sure what to make of them. and adorbs Carousel. . . that I figured wasn't going to be allowed to ride, since it's so tiny (and I was correct.. . don't recall riding it, so must have been told no). ooo. . a log flume too over here. but this is what we had trekked back over here for.. Flying Eagle. since in the Western section, lots of "old West" Lego animals about.. such as this Buffalo and this Bald Eagle. some nice "Lego" theming on the coaster train itself tho the front car had a nice Lego Eagle piece attached. Here's Robb filming in the front row. whee!! the workers in this section were really getting into character. I loved his painted nails, so asked for a pic. whee!!! this wasn't operating yet (remember, we were there, I think, a good hour before park open), but this seemed to be a "Pirates" themed boat Dark Ride. Princess Garden? hmmmmmm. . . we bypassed Dragen (a Mack powered coaster) on our way to the next coaster. . .but I think everyone made a note to come back to this as soon as morning ride time is over, since apparently Dragen at all the Legoland Parks tends to be a slow mover. (wasn't the case here, as not only were they running two trains on this powered coaster / Dark Ride - having never been before I had no idea what to expect, but I LOVED the dark ride section it starts out with - but also because it was a Monday, so never really got super crowded). and outdoor theater for, I think, a Pirate vs Medieval Knights show? not 100% sure, as didn't make time to go see it. the castle that Dragen is located in really is a looming centerpiece here, and it's very cool how they keep the theming all the way around it. with lots of nooks and crannies to explore in. this is where we were headed tho: X-treme Racers (a Mack wild mouse) they weren't quite ready for us, and were testing to get it up and going, so I explored the area a bit. further down this way is the 4th coaster in the park - Polar X-plorer - we'd head there next. aw. . a cute lil dragon for checking heights me being a child.. . put your empty bottles in da butthole. it's a Llego Llama! this was intriguing. . . turns out it's a shooting dark ride. and peeking in the side of a gaming area. . all kinds of large stuffed toys one can win. the blue Koala looks kinda like Stitch to me (and the pink? kinda like Elmo) . . never noticed that. got the call back that it was time to ride X-treme Racers, so headed back that way. being in the front row means Elissa & Robb won, right? they beat those in the 2nd row? Big Mike and Bert going Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (I think this pic is from Andy. . thanks!) Big Mike and Caroline are ready to race. . . but what I think makes this pic? is how thrilled Kristen looks that she's next on and then we headed over to Polar X-Plorer. . . the parks other "big" coaster. It's still a mostly mild family coaster, but this one has a very surprising center section! You break thru the "Ice" when you stop in a show building. . you hear all the ice cracking around you, and then suddenly? a drop track! absolutely thrilling for those few seconds, and the adrenaline keeps you tingling for the remainder of the ride. Someone told me there used to be live penguins around the coaster - or maybe you just ended up in a penguin encounter area? But I only recall seeing Lego Penguins (and Walruses) on this, and I rode it a few times. I think this tied with Dragen as my favorite coaster here, as both had elements that make them a bit more thrilling than just a family coaster. which is NOT to say that Legoland doesn't have rides for thrillseeking adults - oh, they most certainly DO. But the coasters are targeted towards those that prefer rides with no inversions or "extreme" elements. I don't seem to have any pics on Polar X-lorer. . but it was fun. before cutting us loose, our park guides asked Robb if the group would like to head into Movie World and get an opening ride on Emmet's Flying Couch. . . so we followed them next door into Lego Movie World I LOVED this area. . and not just because of the photo ops. but of COURSE I had to be "Banana Man" and Bunny. Kitty had two smaller drop towers. . group pic before going into Flying Couch. . which is a "Soarin" type ride with three stacked couches in each section instead of three rows of "seats" it's actually some pretty perfect synergy, and makes total sense! i did get a little bit motion sick from it - but that could have been as I hadn't really eaten yet that day, or maybe was just too close to the side of the screen. regardless, it was Awesome!! (or as they say in Denmark: "Super Duper!") getting instructions on where to meet for lunch, and planned leaving time. . and then cut loose to enjoy the park on our own, as it was now open. not everything opens at park open, so tho they have a "flipping Plane" type ride, it wasn't open yet. Iit was by a different manufacturer that typically makes air-race, and the folks that were going to be operating it told us the number of flips they have as the record is hard to beat (tho it was fairly low). we knew some in the TPR group could probably beat the flip record, so made plans to come back once open but for now, most of the group headed to Dragen. everything that would be breathing in this pic, is actually Lego.. even the ducks! lovely attention to detail in the large ride queue inside the castle gates. and many of these vignettes sprinkled thruout the queue-line. you pushed a button and they activated, causing song, and some movement. LOL.. I noticed the measuring system for the kiddos here on Dragen for the first time. LOVE it. the outfits for the workers here were cute too - and again with the foam sword. this operator was very into it as well, when I asked for a pic taken *with* permission from the photo booth person, as the machine was down and they couldn't print it out (otherwise would have bought it for a magnet) what is this? let's check it out! hmm. . looks like it's supposed to "mist" or "squirt". . . no harm that it didn't on us. . LOL ooooooohhhhhh. . it's this thing! I saw these last year at Klotten - where it seemed the point was to swing out under a waterfall and get soaked. tho here it didn't seem quite as wet. . and the riders were getting quite a bit of "whip" motion. so we stayed in line (pic courtesy of Big Mike) it was more fun than I had been expecting, and didn't end up wet at all. don't think I rode this again. . . probably just snagging pics as we walked back over to Movie World for the planes. but interesting they are launching the cars much closer together than would be done in the USA. hi David! this is who we figured would beat the flip record here. . and I'm pretty sure he did. actually, I'm positive he did. . even tho the ride plays dirty, and if you flip too many times, it slows you down so you can't get yourself too dizzy (at least that's what the ride op told me). and Jason and Jon giving it a go as well. me too. .tho I'm not really good at getting these things to flip. but whatdda ya know? on this version, I was pretty able to do it. oh, not a LOT of flips, but at least proof I did it a couple of times. to be continued. . .