viking86 Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 So about a week ago Liseberg finally opened Valkyria to the public. I booked the trip before the opening date was announced, so I was getting rather nervous the closer it got to my trip with no opening date given. I knew I would have fun at Liseberg anyway, but my main goal for the trip was to ride Valkyria so it would definitely have been dissappointing if the ride was not open by the time I arrived. Fortunately just a few days before my trip Liseberg announced the opening of Valkyria. The official opening was scheduled for Friday 10th, but with a chance of a soft opening earlier in the week. I arrived at the airport on Thursday 9th at noon, and on the bus to the city center I could see Valkyria running, but I could not see if it was running with passengers or not. I decided to gamble and headed to the park, which was a very good decision, because Valkyria was open to the public! Liseberg is located in central Gothenburg. The ferris wheel and Atmosfear can be seen from most of the city. At the entrance the countdown was on for the official opening the next day, but Valkyria was at this point OPEN to the public. Liseberg does not only have some great rides, but it's also a very beautiful park. Looking down the main street at Liseberg. Such a beautiful park! Boobs and rollercoasters, because why not??!! I spy a dive machine at the end of the road... They have definitely done a great job with the whole area around Valkyria. Everything has a 'finished' look, and the station building looks great! The station for Valkyria looks great! Here's a look at the queue line for Valkyria. Station interior. Using the single rider queue I was on the ride in about 10 minutes, while the standby line was spilling out into the paths and was posted at 100-120 minutes. However the single rider line also filled up very quickly when people started to realize this. I was at Heide Park earlier this year, and I felt that the drop on Krake had a bit more 'kick' to it. I don't know if the actual forces are different, or if it's because Krake has the old OTSR which gives you room to float in your seat all the way down, while Valkyria has the vest restraints which are quite snug. But it's still a really good drop, particularly in the third row. Another highlight was the zero-G roll, which provided a good whip in the outer seats. Overall I will say the ride experience on Valkyria is exactly as expected! If you have been on a couple of these rides I don't think there is anything that will surprise you. But it's a solid, fun and extremely rerideable coaster that is guaranteed to be a big hit with both the enthusiasts and the GP. A big congratulations to Liseberg on what I'm 110% sure will be a big success for their park! Is it completely vertical?? Looks pretty vertical to me... Upside down. I love how close the track is to the path below before heading into the turn under the lift. The zero-G roll was the best inversion, providing a nice whip in the outer seats. The final roll. Now, Liseberg has plenty of other rides to offer as well, so let's have a look at those shall we? When Balder opened in 2003 it was quickly hailed as one of the greatest coasters built. It's still a great ride, it has lots of airtime,and the first drop in the backseat is one of my favorite drops on any coaster, but in between the airtime moments the ride does feel a bit sluggish. I don't know if the ride is actually running slower or if it's just the fact that it has become slightly overshadowed by newer, more extreme rides like Helix and Wildfire, but for me I left with the feeling that the ride was supposed to run a little faster than what it did. I still had a ton of fun on it though, and it's still a very good coaster. But with this being my fourth or fifth visit to the park since Balder opened, I completely forgot to take pictures of it... With the construction of Valkyria they had to move the queue line of Balder, so now you go into the center of the structure to enter the queue. One ride that was definitely not running sluggish was Helix. Last time I rode it back in 2015 there was still an insane hype surrounding the ride, and while I loved the ride, I felt that it didn't quite live up to the hype. This year I went on it with an open mind, and HOLY CRAP did it blow me away! Again, I don't really know if the ride was running any different than it was three years ago, or if it was just because I had adjusted my expectations, but on this visit I found the ride to the balls to the wall insane! I could seriously not remember the ride being this good! It was running extremely fast, and I love how the ride doesn't let up until the end. I swear that transition from the zero-G roll into the helix is borderline lethal! Overall a fantastic ride! On a sidenote they have added seatbelts to Helix this year, but I don't think they affected the ride experience in any way. The drop out of the station has some nice surprise air in the backseat. Pretzel loop. How is that for a view?? The final roll... Helix may be the star of Liseberg, but Lisebergbanan is definitely the true gem of Liseberg. All the other coasters at the park can easily be replaced, but not this one. The phrase 'they don't build them like this anymore' is definitely true for this ride. The ride may be 31 years old, but it's running as good as ever! It has a couple of slightly aggressive jolts, but they have always been there and for most of the ride is an extremely smooth, fast and just pure fun ride. I absolutely love this thing, and I sincerely hope that Liseberg plans to keep it running for decades to come! The coasters may be the main draw for the thrill seekers, but Liseberg also has plenty of other thrilling rides to offer. Mechanica doing it's thing. It doesn't look quite as impressive now that it has become overshadowed by Valkyria. Atmosfear is one of my favorite drop towers. With the tower being situated on the top of the hill the views of the park and the city are absolutely stunning. One for the log flume enthusiasts Liseberg is a beautiful park during the day, but it becomes even more beautiful as the sun sets over the park Most of my pictures were taken on the Thursday, but here's a shot from the official opening ceremony on Friday morning. Here's a shot from the official opening ceremony on Friday morning. And I will end the trip report with a final picture showing the awesomeness that is Liseberg! I truly love this park, and I'm super jealous of the people of Gothenburg who has such a magnificent park in their city. 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Canobie Coaster Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Great report! Valravn's drop also wasn't as good as the older dive coasters and I definitely attribute that to the vest restraints. I really like how the coaster looks and it gives them another great coaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JordyC Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Excellent report! Valkyria looks like a great addition to the already fantastic line-up of Liseberg. Can't wait to ride it next week! Fantastic to hear that Helix is still running amazing. I remember that transition after the zero-G into the helix to be the most craziest part of the ride. Oh man, I love that ride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anac0nda Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Nice report and pics, thanks! You were very lucky with your arrival timing to get to ride Valkyria among the first ones Just booked my flights and hotel. Liseberg, see you in a month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillerman1 Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Liseberg is absolutely one of THE best parks on the planet - what a total national treasure that cannot be understated, and I continue saying I had my best ever park visit day there on the TPR trip a decade or so ago (THANK YOU ROBB & ELISSA). The addition of Valkyria, not to be confused with the other Val diver or Kilmer, looks really great - plus that station! WOW. Thanks for sharing and bringing back great memories of my visit. I hope the park's meatballs w/ lingonberry sauce are still as great as ever too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThemeParkJunkie51290 Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Excellent report! Amazing pictures of the new hotness! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted August 17, 2018 Author Share Posted August 17, 2018 Thanks guys! It's great to see that I'm not the only one who loves Liseberg! Fantastic to hear that Helix is still running amazing. I remember that transition after the zero-G into the helix to be the most craziest part of the ride. Oh man, I love that ride Yup, it was running brilliant during my visit. I still don't quite understand how they even managed to pull off that transition without hurting people, it's so quick but oh so smooth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Great photos and report! Liseberg is such a well rounded park. Glad you were able to get on the new ride without waiting too long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted August 17, 2018 Author Share Posted August 17, 2018 Great photos and report! Liseberg is such a well rounded park. Glad you were able to get on the new ride without waiting too long. Thanks! I think it was down to pure luck, I arrived at Liseberg around 1:30 PM and I think if I had arrived any later I would not have been so lucky with the waiting time for my first ride on Valkyria. And yes, Liseberg is an extremely well rounded park. We we're actually talking about it how at the moment you don't feel that there is any particular type of ride that the park is lacking. For the future I think maybe a highly themed dark ride would be a great addition to the park as that is something they don't have, but with their current ride list they have almost everything covered! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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