It's not commonly known, but Denmark is actually home to at least 3 of the most important historical theme parks in the world. These three parks have amazing history, and two of them are considered part of the reason theme parks are the way they are today. As we all known, theme park food has become very trendy these days, with many theme parks hosting world class restaurants and snack stands. On a recent trip to Denmark, Allison and I visit these three theme parks and sampled some of the delights. There were some highs and some lows with the food, but there were also some interesting trends well worth mentioning.
The 3 theme parks in question are Tivoli Gardens, Bakken, and Legoland. Tivoli Gardens is one of the oldest theme parks in the world, and it's said that it is the theme park that inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland. Bakken is actually the oldest theme park in the world opening in 1583, the current mascot (a creepy white clown) came about over 200 years ago. Legoland might arguably not belong on this list, however it is the first Legoland to ever open, and might be one of the earliest single theme, theme parks ever.
While each one of these parks had some unique foods and snacks, there were a few things that really seemed to happen across all boards. Beer and coffee was one thing that seems to loom large at all of these parks. All of them had places where you could buy both of these drinks, and all of the places selling these drinks had huge lines all day long. I felt like the Danish way to enjoy theme parks is to balance your coffee and beer intake to allow for the perfect buzz all day long.
Another thing that seemed to be very popular at all of these theme parks is betting for candy/chocolate. Each of these parks offered the opportunity to place a bet in various games, and first prize would be a giant (and I mean giant) chocolate bar or candy. We're talking Toblerone or Daim bars that weighed several pounds. While they did have a few games offering classic carnival stuffed toys, I saw many people walking around with giant candy prizes too.
All of these parks also offered mostly classic theme park food. There was lots of popcorn, cotton candy, and ice cream available at every single park. There were sit down restaurants as well at each park, and at least one buffet available as well. I feel like Denmark really likes buffets a lot. While these are some of the similarities, it's time to look at some of the highlights from each park, starting with Tivoli Gardens.
The theming at Tivoli Gardens was pretty amazing, particularly when you realize how small this theme park actually is. We happened to be visiting during the 180th anniversary of the park, and I picked up their special limited edition ice cream treat to celebrate this anniversary. One thing I'll say about the theme park food at Tivoli Gardens is that they make it with such care, almost all of the snacks are a piece of art.
Meal wise we made two stops, for lunch we ate a place called Gasoline Grill. It wasn't really themed to anything except minimalist trendy burger shop. I believe that they're a chain with more locations in Denmark. This was a bit of a theme with many restaurants in Tivoli, including their adjacent food court that's exclusively trendy foods and chain restaurants.
For dinner we ate at a more traditional Denmark theme park style restaurant, it was their German beer garden. The thing we noticed about beer gardens in almost all the theme parks is that the point was not just to sell you beer, but sell you amazing German food to eat with your beer. Most beer gardens in North America are just fenced off bars, but here it's a German culinary experience, with beer.
Our next theme park is Bakken. I should note that we didn't spend nearly as much time in Bakken as we did at Tivoli and Legoland. Frankly there just isn't as much to do at this park. Most of the rides are your standard state fair or carnival rides. Our ultimate goal was to check out the oldest theme park in the world, and ride one ride. It also rained for a good deal of the time we were at Bakken. Food wise the choice was kind of slim.
There are several restaurants located in one section of the park. We considered getting a buffet meal while at Bakken, but we checked out the buffet and it was kind of disappointing. Most of the snacks were just things like ice cream, cotton candy and popcorn. While the setting was pretty fun, the snacks themselves did not impress too much.
The final stop was Legoland. This was obviously the most unique of these parks, and also the newest. I was actually surprised at how much of the food at Legoland was similar to that of the other two theme parks. Both of our meals at Legoland were buffets. The first was the most important stop for me food wise, as it had the "famous" Lego french fries. They were fun, but they did highlight one thing about this park that surprised me.
There were very few food options themed to Lego itself. In our entire time at the park I found two treats that were themed to Lego. There was the french fries, and one coffee shop offered Lego shaped chocolates for around 10 dollars each block. We even stopped in the candy store, and they did not offer one candy in the shape of a Lego brick. They would use Lego characters to promote treats, but the lack of Lego themed food was a little disappointing.
We did make one more stop, and while not technically a theme park, it is theme park adjacent (almost literally). Lego House is a museum located a few minutes walk from Legoland. While they also lacked any food that looked like Lego, they did offer a few fun treats. My favourite being the overpriced coffee from the Lego movie (all proceeds went to charity). The museum also offered a look at how food was represented in Lego, as well as some amazing pieces of Lego art with food themes.
Being a theme park fan, I really enjoyed all our adventures in Denmark. I had never thought about Denmark's relation to theme park history, but it's truly an important place. While they haven't really adapted to the amazing food selections available at some of the more modern theme parks around the world, there are some amazing examples of classic carnival food done right.
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