Lego Inside Tour 2019

The_Rancor · May 2019

Will be interesting to hear more about the castle hotel - when I was in Billund in Spring last year it was only about 1/4 complete. Good luck with all your travels!

truck730 · May 2019

This is a holiday I'd love to go on, the giddiness is infectious, have a great time

PJ76uk · May 2019

How easy is it to just go to Billund and visit the Lego house without trying for tickets to the inside tour? Anyone from the UK done this and have any tips on tickets etc?

dmcc0 · May 2019

@PJ76uk As easy as buying a ticket and getting yourself there! We were going to go this summer but will have to wait til next year now due to other stuff coming up. Check out the website at https://www.legohouse.com/ where you can see what's on and ticket prices etc. There are a few UK airports that fly direct too (can't remember which ones though)

The_Rancor · May 2019

^Heathrow and Stanstead do, I don't know about further up North

keithsimpson · May 2019

@PJ76uk Went last Saturday for £15.00 return with Ryanair out at 7.30 back at 23.30 just went to the Lego house shop and had a meal at the chef after 5 which gives you 15% off

nicholassmom · May 2019

MeganL said:

@ravendragonwing and @Russell844 I've found that Jelly Bellys are extraordinarily popular whenever I go over there.

I can't believe it. Krispy Crème Donuts are a REALLY BIG THING here in Virginia. Just ordered a case of Krispy Crème Donut Flovered Jelly Bellys !!! Perfect. Thanks so much for the tip.

nicholassmom · May 2019

Can't believe the first tour started today. Hope everybody has the time of their lives. We are next !! Getting very excited !!

Shropshire · May 2019

BA from Manchester, Heathrow and London city, Ryanair from Manchester. Not sure which airline but one also flights from stanstead as mentioned above

DeMontes · May 2019

From waaaay up North I get the Tees Valley - Amsterdam - Billund flight operated by KLM as it is a super efficient transfer. It leaves from a small UK airport so actually more efficient than it may sound as check-in a breeze and no queues.

PJ76uk · May 2019

Thank everyone for the replies...

keithsimpson said:
@PJ76uk Went last Saturday for £15.00 return with Ryanair out at 7.30 back at 23.30 just went to the Lego house shop and had a meal at the chef after 5 which gives you 15% off

I like the idea of a day trip! Will have to look into cheap Ryanair flights.

The_Rancor · May 2019

It’s currently around half past midnight in the UK - which means some Inside Tourers are probably still ‘busy’ into the night in Billund right now. Well, I know I was because I didn’t go to my room until 2am at the end of the first tour day. Fortunately fizzy drinks and the idea of 2 more days of tour itself keep you going!

I’m quite envious of people able to go for a day trip to Billund - I certainly wouldn’t want to fly back at 23:30 because it’d take at least 2 hours to get back from the airport after my flight came in and not keen on driving at that time of night - but there might be opportunities slightly earlier perhaps. Otherwise a one-night trip is quite tempting.

khmellymel · May 2019

Ryanair has flights direct from Edinburgh as well (unsure of how often) but I'm flying to Copenhagen for a long weekend... And back via Billund because it was ridiculously cheap. I mean, if we HAVE to, I guess we could do a day in the Lego House...

ravendragonwing · May 2019

Omg, I just won a trophy for my build....

pxchris · May 2019

ravendragonwing said:

Omg, I just won a trophy for my build....

Congratulations!!

Aanchir · May 2019

Congrats! Loving the name of that award by the way. And it's neat that the trophies are more unique this year than the more standard trophy design they had when I went in 2015.

The_Rancor · May 2019

Fantastic achievement to get a trophy at an Inside Tour Ravendragonwing, it’s quite an exclusive club, even more so than Inside Tour participants! I love the idea of a picnic and tree with the roots of the tree coming out of the trophy itself - do you know who designed the trophy?

Also interested to hear or see what you created to get the award if you have time to share at some point. I saw some fantastic creations from my fellow fans (adult or kid) and in my tour the awards were about 50:50 between kids and grown-ups. I distinctly remember one kid doing a Weathertop-style medieval hill hideout and another doing a 4x4 with functioning Technic suspension and they both won awards. Of those one trophy had 2 delicate dragons twisted around it (bet they didn’t make it through customs) and the other had a microscale medieval valley with mountains and dozens of loose 1x1 trans blue round plates as a lake in the cup (also bet some of those pieces got lost). I might try and dust mine off (literally) to share at some point, but I’m still envious of yours!

I’m with Aanchir loving your award’s name - does it mean anything special like best constraction creation or fantastic IP/story perhaps? We didn’t have that award on my tour 2 years ago.

nicholassmom · May 2019

@ravendragonwimg. Congrats !! Hoping we come home with one.

nicholassmom · May 2019

The Legends of Mata Nui are from Bionicle - "The Legend of Mata Nui, also known as the Legend of the Bionicle, was a story told by the Turaga to the Matoran on Mata Nui."

minifigman · May 2019

The Legends of Mata Nui award was for the best story to accompany your build. The evening was great. All the designers had lots of fun with us and among each other. I'm really jealous I didn't win (deservedly so), because all of the trophies where such beautiful builds.

Lego_Lord_Mayorca · May 2019

That's awesome, @ravendragonwing! Welcome to the club! And that's a good set to give out as a prize along with the trophy (I got the IDEAS Maze with my 3rd place trophy back in 2016). The tree growing on top of the trophy cup really makes it distinct. Congratulations again!

ravendragonwing · May 2019

Thanks everyone!

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5015319/uploads/editor/nw/wjq7n7vjg2nq.jpeg

This is my MOC I built, I did not expect to win anything....but there you go. This is not a good picture, but sadly the original was destroyed coming home.

The base of the trophy was glued and I had to do some rebuilding of the top part.

For those who are going this year, the exclusive set is large, about the size of 2 Dinosaur sets (or Creative Trees). So make sure you have enough room to bring it home. LEGO spoils the attendees with a lot of LEGO in the form of sets or loose elements, so plan wisely.

Also, LEGO will say that the hotel will ship a box home for you for $100, not true. It would have cost almost $300 to ship a box to the states.

Tour was lots of fun and well worth the price I paid.

Rancor-Ricardo built my trophy, funny story, at the awards ceremony, he sat next to me not knowing who I was.

Shropshire · May 2019

We're all probably back home by now... to all those on the tour, thank you, you were all amazing. I don't think my idea to Lego of a 5 year reunion will be taken up of course but had to ask haha.

Flying home with so much Lego was a challenge... honestly i'd have preferred to have shopped there on a smaller basis for the "interesting" items, and to have been given say a promo code for [email protected] to just buy online in-country on my return for the items that are current (and big)... and by buying in-country no issues on tax etc for either party. Just a thought.

But I did manage to get it all home, and nothing squashed at all. Special thank you to three people who helped in particular, you know who you are.

nicholassmom · May 2019

@ravendragonwing Thanks for the heads up on the exclusive set. Guess I am going shopping for a couple of bigger suitcases. The 30-day countdown has begun !!!

Shropshire · May 2019

for reference for anyone interested..... a standard large suitcase eg. around 79 x 52 x 30cm with volume of 111 litres... even stuffed full with boxes of lego - still only weighed 17.5Kg at check in (the empty case is lightweight around 4.1kg).... a box the same as the one used in the employee shop but used to check in on the plane stuffed to the rafters - also weighed 17kg... as BA (for example) allows oversize (max is a massive 190cm x 75cm x 65cm).. I was able to duct tape a couple of smaller boxes to the top and still was only 23kg...... you are able to check in plastic or cardboard boxes in lieu of a case but of course that carries increased risk of impact damage - mine survived 100% intact but that was just one shorthaul flight. there is an oversize luggage belt at the airport and was super easy. And you need to get it to the airport and of course home at the other end... I duct taped together at the airport after they had weighed the main box first.

one word of warning, the supermarket in Billund (behind LegoHouse) appears to be aimed at smaller shoppers / those there for a week in Lalandia etc.. so for example their rolls of duct tape were half the width of normal ones and only 9m long... so do take your own if planning a big shop.

But trust me.... shopping is not the highlight of the tour, it comes way down the list near the bottom, see it as a bonus.. you'll be far more rewarded by all the engagement with Lego people.

minifigman · May 2019

I agree. Don't emphasise the shopping too much. It's all about the experience.

Since phones/camera's weren't allowed for most of the tour (factories, innovation house etc) you were really paying attention instead of shooting pics all the time. Which for me made the experience all the more relaxed.

Roebuck · May 2019

Nice trophy, congratulations :)
Do you get to bring what you have built home as well, regardless if you win or not?
I will for sure not win, but if I can build something with animal moulds like those 2 horses and bring them home that would be a bonus :P

minifigman · May 2019

Yes, you can keep what you build. I thought about pieces I didn't have at first, but later I got too competitive and just wanted to build the best possible moc (which wasn't very good).

ravendragonwing · May 2019

I forgot to talk about the Castle Hotel. First off, have the taxi driver drop you off at the Castle hotel, not the Legoland hotel, the Legoland hotel will direct you to the Castle hotel and you will have to walk over to the Castle hotel with your luggage and there are no shortcuts.

The Castle hotel was lovely, I really loved it. It still smelled new. The double bed was comfy, the bunk beds were hard (so I was told). The room was a good size for being in Europe, small compared to US rooms. Had a fridge and hot water kettle. Good water pressure in the shower. Above the double bed was a "stained glass" artwork that lit up.

If Melanie at the front desk helps you out, you will be in excellent hands, she is so nice and really goes out of her way to help. She is also bribeable with chocolate, LOL. She really was great and I could go on gushing about her, but I will stop.

Their breakfast buffet was nothing to sneeze at. Cheese and meat, veggies, soft boiled eggs, bacon, cereal, tea or coffee, juices (orange, apple, or cranberry) and they had a station where a cook would cook your eggs any way you wanted.

Overall a good stay.

nicholassmom · May 2019

@ravendragonwing. Question, did you notice if there were laundry facilities at the Castle Hotel? I know there is at the Legoland Hotel. Trying to schedule out where we can do some laundry since we will be traveling for 20 days !!!

ravendragonwing · May 2019

I did not, but I did not have a need.

The_Rancor · May 2019

minifigman said:

Yes, you can keep what you build. I thought about pieces I didn't have at first, but later I got too competitive and just wanted to build the best possible moc (which wasn't very good).

There were definitely a few guilty parties on my tour that built something decent enough but you could tell they were trying to cram in as many rare elements as possible to bring home. We had the pleasure of seeing one attendee build a small mechanism he used to propose to his fiancée - it looked like a red wrapped present on the outside (brick built) but a special switch revealed the wedding ring inside - very clever and didn’t use any rare elements :) He didn’t win any awards but she said yes so that was probably reward enough!

In our creative challenge some of the minifigs provided were essentially white monofigs with yellow hands and I made 3 of them part of my build which I’m pleased I kept.

Thanks for the Castle Hotel review - very detailed and thorough. Not surprised the rooms might be slightly smaller - the park view rooms in the main hotel are probably the largest ones there.

ravendragonwing · May 2019

okay, for those who have won a trophy, what did you do with it?

Lego_Lord_Mayorca · May 2019

ravendragonwing said:

okay, for those who have won a trophy, what did you do with it?

It's one of my most prized possessions, so it sits in a display case in my Lego room along with the MOC I built that won me the trophy, the 2016 Inside Tour set, and a sealed copy of the first Lego set I ever owned. I'll see if I can upload a picture later.

nicholassmom · May 2019

I just found out that the Billund Airport set can only be purchased past the security gates at the airport. Unfortunately, we are flying in and out of Copenhagen. Anyone out there who will be attending the June tour willing to help us out in getting a couple?? Willing to gift a "Bean There, Donut That" set (40358) as a THANK YOU.

thepell · May 2019

An earlier post asked about recommendations for sightseeing in Denmark - my wife and I are on the June tour and are spending a few days in Copenhagen before going to Billund.

If anyone else is heading to Copenhagen, I can recommend the "Copenhagen Card" (https://copenhagencard.com/) as it gets you free access to all mass transit in that part of the country (including the Copenhagen airport, and as far north as Elsinore) and free admission to most of the sights of interest (i.e. Kronborg Castle, Amalienborg Palace, Rosenborg Castle, Denmark National Museum, The Round Tower, Tivoli Gardens, etc etc etc).

thepell · May 2019

I read the previous posts about the shopping opportunities in the employee store, and have a question for previous participants if they are willing to weigh in...

How would you say the employee store prices compare to, say, Amazon.com prices as a benchmark? I read that you don't have to pay customs when you receive your box at home, but I'm wondering if that is because you are paying Danish VAT (25%!) on your purchases.

If you come from outside the EU, you can shop in the normal Lego Store in the park tax-free (well, you pay the VAT, but can then claim it back at the airport when you leave the EU), which saves you about 25% in the end. With the LegoLand season pass, I *think* that would be another 20% off in the park store. If I'm right, that means you can shop in the park for ~45% off.

Thus my curiosity, whether it's cheaper to buy kits in the park at a 45% discount and bring them home in my luggage, or buy kits in the employee store and have them sent home in my free box. Depending on how the math works out, it might even be better to pay for an additional checked bag on the flight home and do all the shopping in the park!

I know it's not the focus of the tour, but I'm still hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to stock up - assuming it's more economical... :-)

And I'm already bummed that you're not allowed to buy Lego brand clothing! I've been to Legoland Denmark before (just not the Inside Tour), and the only Lego clothing available was in children's sizes. Was hoping I could find something for the "big kids" at the employee store - but cest la vie!

Counting the days... :-)

The_Rancor · May 2019

I don’t live outside the EU (well, until other people say I do) so I don’t know about the VAT redemption, but otherwise although they give you a season pass for the tour year itself, no one was desperate to use it in my tour to reduce spending in the Legoland store. I’m not sure if that’s because there wasn’t really a good discount or whether it’s because there isn’t a discount attached to it at all, but your assumed reduction seems pretty steep just using a season pass and tax redemption.

I can only speak for myself and other UK tourers, but the box we shipped directly from the Lego employee store had no strings attached - once you’d filled it up ready to send you didn’t have to pay any shipping charges or import and just enjoy getting it later. We can’t say how much discount there is in the store but suffice to say it is far better than anything else you will ever get from TLG direct on a regular basis - and worth a dedicated spend. Particularly as there will be many rare sets there that you won’t find in the Legoland store - like a massive range of polybags, GWPs, retailer exclusives, Education/Serious Play sets, D2Cs and many more.

I can’t be 100% sure on it mathematically, but in terms of value I wouldn’t abandon spending at the employee store in favour of some potential discounts in Legoland. There’s also a certain type of glee at seeing all the sets lined up to buy in the employee store that makes you want of buy when you’re there!

If you want to see what kind of deal you’re getting for certain sets in the employee store, before going, write their RRP in your currency, then the Danish RRP, then translate your currency RRP into DKK to see the difference. You might be surprised at how some sets wildly differ in price from your country whilst others are much closer. At the end of the day it’s down to how much you want and can afford to spend - but remember the experience is always the focus -even in spite of my TLDR post specifically about the shop!

Russell844 · May 2019

The LEGOLAND pass you get does not give you a discount on anything at the park.

minifigman · May 2019

Yes it does.

NEW! 20% discount in the LEGO® Shop
Shop for more than DKK 300 and get 20% discount on your purchase in the LEGO Shop at LEGOLAND. You can get this discount in April, May, June, and September and October. In order to obtain the discount, you must bring along your discount coupons from the Season Pass booklet and show them with your valid Season Pass. From 30 March, you can collect the Season Pass booklet in the LEGOLAND park's Information. We hand out one Season Pass booklet per Season Pass.

More here: https://www.legoland.dk/en/tickets/season-pass/

Huw · May 2019

Any arrangement for claiming back the tax on purchases will also apply for employee store purchases, since they are still taxed at the normal rate.

Forget buying in the park, the prices are astronomical in comparison, even with 20% off.

Russell844 · May 2019

But not without the coupons. At LEGOLAND California you can just scan your pass and get a discount. I think we tried that here and it wouldn't work. I thought this is what they were talking about.

dmcc0 · May 2019

If you come from outside the EU, you can shop in the normal Lego Store in the park tax-free (well, you pay the VAT, but can then claim it back at the airport when you leave the EU), which saves you about 25% in the end. With the LegoLand season pass, I *think* that would be another 20% off in the park store. If I'm right, that means you can shop in the park for ~45% off.

You're only paying VAT on the reduced price rather than the original, so actually 40% discount overall. I guess they'll take an "admin" charge at the airport too which will further eat into your discount.

ravendragonwing · May 2019

Also, any licensed things are not able to be put into the box for shipping home, things like t-shirts, lunch boxes, water bottles, and the like. Also just found out that we are not earning any VIP points on the tour purchase :( Also, no LIT t-shirts. Shipping to the US is not $100 (this is what we were told), it is closer to $300. It was only $95 to make the box a 2nd checked bag. We bought too much and needed the extra K8. LOL

The_Rancor · May 2019

^ Regarding VIP points, important to note that attendees should receive points equivalent to the price of the inside tour for making their payment - which offsets the no VIP in the employee store.

Russell844 · May 2019

The_Rancor said:

^ Regarding VIP points, important to note that attendees should receive points equivalent to the price of the inside tour for making their payment - which offsets the no VIP in the employee store.

Not anymore. I asked the tour staff via email and there are no more VIP points for the tour.

Shropshire · May 2019

No spoilers here.... when you've been on the tour you appreciate how much time and effort TLG put into it, not just what you see (your hosts and others who spend time with you such as designers) but all the pre-meetings / briefings / planning sessions etc that have gone into it as well as Lego you're given during and at the end.

If you say 140 people a year - that's a total tour income of £238k per year.. less direct spend on accommodation / food / transport /shipping your boxes etc... you can ignore income/profit from the employee shop spending as it won't be massively different from selling to retailers on a wholesale basis so no real upside as such.

Anyone can see for a ~£4bn per annum turnover company, the tour from a direct commercial aspect of ~£250k per annum is a distraction or at least wipes its face.. The indirect benefits however such as the outreach to community engagement and feedback / interaction is what will make it something they are so committed to and is the real value to TLG. There'll be a small cash upside for LEGOhouse, but when you account for all time invested it's entirely something done for the indirect benefits.

So reason for the post.... to get VIP points on the tour fee would be like getting a cherry on another cake balanced on top of the cherry already on the cake you already had.. i.e. it would be just giving you "money" for the sake of it.. so, personal opinion, I think to give VIP points would be way beyond what's considered reasonable and maybe that's why they stopped doing it.

Anyway. My "shipped" box arrived yesterday and it's school holidays this week - so we are metaphorically up to our knobs* in Lego being built as am typing this. Saturn V today... yay ! (*knobs - inside joke from inside tour - you'll know when you go, maybe more a Brit thing....)

nicholassmom · May 2019

Just got SUPER excited with the release coming of the NASA Luna Lander and being on the tour right after it's release !!! My Dad actually worked for Grumman and was part of the Apollo project. What a great additional to all the Apollo memorabilia we have (even pieces of the foil they used). What a special gift for Dad especially if we can get the designers to sign !!!

Tomong · June 2019

In a week's time I will be there for the June session!

The_Rancor · June 2019

I always felt like we were lucky to be on the first June (overlapping) tour because you get to see and buy all the very latest releases, plus hopefully you will get good weather for when you're outside - it's particularly good exploring the Lego House when it's warm and sunny because you can get the most out of the top steps and terraces

Lego Inside Tour 2019

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