Legoland Deutschland Resort

Lego theme park in Bavaria, Germany

Legoland Deutschland Resort is a Legoland park located in Günzburg in southern Germany, roughly halfway from Munich to Stuttgart, which opened in 2002. It is 43.5 hectares (107 acres) in area, and it is one of the four most popular theme parks in Germany. The Miniland contains Lego reproductions of various German cities and rural landscapes.

Legoland Deutschland was opened by the LEGO Group on May 17, 2002, in Günzburg, Germany, nine months earlier than planned. During the initial operating year, the park welcomed 1.35 million visitors. In 2005 the four Legoland parks were sold to Merlin Entertainments in a 375 million Euro deal. Although generally credited as the fourth Legoland park to open and the first in Germany, an earlier theme park (now Hansa Park) in Sierksdorf used the Legoland branding under licence from the Lego Group from 1973 to 1976. All of the lighting for the park was done by Gallegos Lighting Design which had done the lighting for Legoland California Resort and the sound and video production for the park was done by Edward Technologies Inc. When it opened in 2002, it contained 40 attractions, 7 themed lands and was made out of 50 million Lego bricks. Legoland Deutschland also contains many other world records such as the largest Lego flower bed (2007), largest amount of energy generated through cycling underwater (2010), highest Lego tower (2010), largest Lego mosaic (2011), longest Lego millipede (2002), and the largest Lego brick (2005). The park celebrated its ten year anniversary in 2012: in that occasion, the attraction Flying Ninjago debuted, and six scenes in Miniland based on the Lego Ninjago toy series were added. On April 22, 2013, Merlin Entertainments Group introduced an app entitled “LEGOLAND Deutschland” available for Android and Apple devices. The app features an interactive park map, ticket purchasing, a “Find my car” feature, and a day planner that has all of the day's events listed for visitors. In 2013, the CEO of the park, Aksel Pedersen, announced the largest expansion in the history of Legoland Deutschland and consisted of 86,000 Lego bricks. The park expanded by building the “Kingdom of the Pharaohs” themed land within Adventure Land which added the ride "Temple X pedition". Also Legoland introduced the new Königsburg hotel with 68 rooms. On March 28, 2015, Martin Kring, the then new general manager of Legoland, introduced the LEGO City Polizeistation, a walkthrough maze with special effects. The attraction was built into an existing building in the Imagination themed area. In 2016 High Five in Miniland and the new Drachenburg at Holiday Village were opened. In 2017 Ninjago World was opened based on the Lego Ninjago theme. The area includes LEGO Ninjago: The Ride and Lloyd’s Spinjitzu Spinner (opened in 2020). The new area ist the biggest investment since the opening in 2002. The following year, Legoland opened its next hotel. The Pirateninsel Hotel (Pirate Island Hotel) is based on a pirate theme and costed 26,6 million Euros. The building offers place for up to 594 guests. On May 10, 2019, Manuela Stone, the former F&B director, took over the position as general manager from Martin Kring. In 2020, because of the COVID 19 pandemic, the park opened late on May 30 with only half of the normal capacity. On August 11, 2022, two roller coasters at the theme park collided with one another, causing more than thirty injuries. On June 30, 2023, it was announced that a second park would open in the resort in 2024, based on the animated television series Peppa Pig called Peppa Pig Park. It will be located next to the Legoland Deutschland theme park, and is the second Legoland resort to receive a non Lego attraction and Peppa Pig theme park after Florida.

The entrance area is where the guests first enter the park through one of twenty entrance gates. There are three shops and one food outlet in this area, and it is also where guests can purchase an Express Pass and visit tourist information booths. At the reception outside of the park, guests are able to check in the Holiday Village.

Miniland contains 1:20 scale recreations of various European cities and landscapes such as Berlin, Frankfurt, Venice, Swabian Village, The Netherlands, Hamburg Harbour, the Neuschwanstein Castle and several tall buildings from around the world including Legoland's own observation tower which is also to scale. These Star Wars models were removed after the 2019 season.

Airport (Flughafen): Riders will ride in rotating Lego airplanes that move in a circular motion and riders control how high they go. Hyundai Legoland Junior Driving School (Hyundai LEGOLAND Junior Fahschule): The Hyundai Legoland Driving School made for children under 7. This attraction has an additional fee. Legoland Express: A train ride around Legoland Deutschland. Power Builder: Riders get on a modified industrial robot and get a wild or mild ride. The ride is a modified Kuka robot. Shipyard Playground (Die Werft): Children can climb and crawl around a playground designed to look like a pirate ship. This ride was the first sky fly tower built by Gerstlauer

In 2008, Legoland opened the first ever Legoland Holiday Village directly across from the Legoland Deutschland theme park.

In 2011 and 2012, Legoland Deutschland won the Parkscout Award of "Germany's Most Child Friendly Theme Park". Additionally in 2013, Legoland Deutschland received the Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice 2013 Award.