Although Hibs lost on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate score, the experience was one Laidlaw had not dared dream of.
He last played in a 5-4 loss to Annan Athletic in April 2015 while on loan at Elgin City from Raith Rovers.
"It's a big difference playing at Borough Briggs compared to playing away to Brondby," said the 24-year-old.
Having returned to Raith, where he failed to dislodge first-choice keeper Kevin Cuthbert, he suffered a torn kidney in an innocuous training ground incident last December.
"There was a concern that, with the severity of the injury, I might never get back to play football," acknowledged Laidlaw.
"It took six months to get back and I'm just delighted that I'm fit again.
"My main aim was to get back to training but obviously I'm delighted I got the chance to play and I think I did myself justice."
Laidlaw's inclusion came at the expense of Otso Virtanen, whose first-minute mistake in the first leg led to the costly loss of an away goal to Brondby.
"I feel for Otso," added Laidlaw. "I've been there myself many a time when I've made a mistake and dropped out the team. But I know he's a really good goalkeeper.
"I see him in training every day and I really rate him. He's not in the Finnish under-21 team for nothing so he'll bounce back from it, definitely."
Laidlaw produced two outstanding saves against Brondby to help his team take the Danes to penalties.
And though that should be enough to ensure he keeps the number one jersey in the short term at least, it's not something he's had a chance to reflect upon.
"I'm not really looking into that," he stressed. "I'm just glad I played and did really well.
"I'm not looking at the next few games or the start of the [league] season. I'm just concentrating on doing well in training and taking it from there."

Established in honour of playwright Harold Pinter, it is given to a writer who casts an "unflinching, unswerving" gaze upon the world.
Organisers English Pen praised Fenton as "one of the finest poets of his generation".
He will receive his award at a ceremony on 6 October at the British Library.
The prize will be jointly awarded to an international writer who has faced persecution.
The second winner - who will be chosen jointly by Fenton and English Pen - will be announced at the October ceremony.
'Spoken truth to power'
Fenton, who held the chair of Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1994-1999, has written several collections of poetry and opera librettos.
As a former war correspondent, many of his poems deal with the experience of war and its impact.
One of Fenton's most acclaimed works, The Memory of War (1982), is a collection of poems that drew on his time as a reporter in Vietnam and Cambodia in the 1970s.
Antonia Fraser, Harold Pinter's widow, said Fenton was "a worthy winner" of the prize.
"James Fenton is a writer who Harold Pinter much admired for all his work, but particularly for his ability to write brilliant political poetry, she said.
"This is an art which was very important to Harold not only for the poetry but also as part of the essential process of speaking up fearlessly: Which is the basis on which the Pen Pinter Prize is founded."
Maureen Freely, president of English Pen, added: "Throughout his long and distinguished career, James Fenton has spoken truth to power - forcefully, fearlessly, and beautifully."
Fenton said he felt greatly honoured to be awarded the prize: "In particular, I am happy to be connected in this way with Harold Pinter, whose writings I have long admired."
Previous winners of the Pinter Prize include Tom Stoppard, Carol Ann Duffy, Hanif Kureishi and last year's winner, Salman Rushdie.
Ross Laidlaw admits he had to pinch himself as he made his Hibs debut in their Europa League second qualifying round second leg win over Brondby.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
British poet and journalist James Fenton has won the Pen Pinter Prize, which celebrates champions of free speech.