TPR's Scandinavia 2009 Trip!

All the parks were very unique and fun in their own respect and it should be said that they all treated us very, very well. There are always stand outs like Grona Lund and Liseberg, which went above and beyond with their hospitality in combination with all that they had to offer.

But really, it was hard not to feel like a VIP at each park that we visited. Tivoli, Bakken, Hansa, Djurs and Power Park also stood out from memory. Even for the other parks to run ERT for us in the rain was really appreciated and made from some memorable, if wet, moments.

Great TR! Makes me wanna visit Gröna Lund this year. unfortunately I won't afford it; because I'm moving to Göteborg and I'll be living like 400 m from Liseberg

But now I really like to know: Which park is better, Liseberg or Gröna Lund? I've been wrestling with this question for some time but I can't make up my mind about it...

I know what you all are going to say: "Both of them has their own charm" etc. etc.

But some of you have to have a favorite! (?)

^I think Liseberg is the winner because it succeeds on every level (rides, landscaping, food, atmosphere, theming), but Gröna Lund was a very close second. To me, these two parks were far and away the best of the trip and I can't wait to go back to them both.

However, if Gröna Lund's expansion plans go very well, then they might be able to catch up with Liseberg or even beat them. Gröna Lund has that amazing waterfront setting. A very well-executed expansion could make this already great park that much better.

Any POV footage of Insane for the DVD's or did they not allow it?

Great update looks like an awesome little park!

^We got some awesome HD footage of the ride. Forwards, backwards, lots of flipping, not a lot of flipping.

Mmmmm Insane....

Sounds like you just made a guarenteed DVD sale

That's a beatiful park. Looks like a little town.

All these PTR's are making me kick myself for not attempting to go on this trip. Each park looks like such a blast. I have to 2nd that you will be getting another DVD sale just to see the footage of Insane. It looks and sounds insane~

Hey guys, whats with that concept art of the BM invert looking coaster? Was that from a while ago? Looks interesting...i have to get this park sometime soon, great pics!

Hey guys, whats with that concept art of the BM invert looking coaster? Was that from a while ago? Looks interesting...i have to get this park sometime soon, great pics!

They told us that was the "future plans" but the future may be as many as 5 years away.

--Robb

Since the park backs on to a residential area, the biggest opposition to the expansion, as expected, is coming from the residents. That could potentially delay things a bit but they seemed very confident that they can work through any issues. As an example, the drop tower has only 3 gondolas that do not face the residential apartments to help deal with noise. From the presentation we did find out that everyone else (such as city officials) are on board. Like Robb said, it could still be as far as 5 or more years out.

The artwork was great! All that was said about the artwork is that it was meant to show that a major roller coaster is in the plan, so no confirmation of what type of coaster or who will be designing it.

Should be amazing when it's all done! I'm having a bit of trouble picturing a Starflyer that is planned to be taller than that at Tivoli simply because of how much more terrifying that would be lol.

I'm having a bit of trouble picturing a Starflyer that is planned to be taller than that at Tivoli simply because of how much more terrifying that would be lol.

You did so well with all of the other drop towers (and upshot towers and observation towers) we did on the tour, Jason...

We'll coax ya onto this one too, no problem!

^hahah don't I know it!

I actually really like the Starflyers assuming that I Just look up or straight ahead. Now, if they just decided to suddenly drop a few feet at a time, then we'd have a problem. Hey, not a bad idea though?

I'm sooo bummed that I couldn't join you guys on this trip, even for the Finland-part of the trip, not with the income I get as a student... meh. I guess I'll just have to wait a few more years. Although, I did visit Linnanmäki today. I hope you all have a great time in Finland!

Maybe its just me, but stand-up drop towers just look too painful to be enjoyable (especially for guys). And the concept for that B&M Invert looks a little like Talon. Should be interesting.

Maybe its just me, but stand-up drop towers just look too painful to be enjoyable (especially for guys).

They really are not. Especially with the newer Intamin seats where it's more of a "butt rest" and less of a "bicycle seat."

It IS fun and enjoyable...just also terrifying! There is something about being 200+ feet in the air, standing, and then dropping at a rapid pace that still scares the crap out of me each time!

--Robb

I hope you all have a great time in Finland!

I think I can safely say for the majority of us on the tour, that we loved the parks in Finland (and Finland too!), and really want to come back to all three of them (Power Park, Sarkanniemi, Linnanmaki) in the future.

Yeah, the Intamin drop towers really are the best ones out there. We may joke about our junk getting messed up by them but really they are second to none. Especially the one one at Grona Lund which offered one of the most kickass views I've ever had on a drop tower!

Not to mention a little matter of bloody noses and burst blood vessels in eyes...

Did Insane beat the blood out of a lot of people?

^^ Yup!

I was honoured to be one one of the most insane rides! I was sitting next to Erik and on the other side to Tom on his own, so basically two big guys on one side and one small guy on the other. The second the holding brakes released at the start of the lift, the car swing down so that me and Erik were facing the floor. I couldn't count how many spins we did during the ride but I have it on good authority that we did eight!

Dave "and yes, Erik got a nose bleed!" Wilson

^Only one or two people had real issues...and it's important to note that they were not riding it 'normally'.

The ops and management were encouraging us to really put the ride to the test and see what we could do with it. During normal operation they load it pretty balanced which results in a great ride. They were letting us put two big guys on one side and empty on the other which resulted in amazingly scary awesome rides!

^^ Was 8 the record number of spins for the day?

^ And thanks for pointing that out Elissa. So not only did the park treat you guys amazingly, they really let you loose to push the limits on Insane. Which sounds like it made it absolutely Insane. I'm getting really excited to see the video footage that was taken.

Today marked our return trip to Powerpark! We loved this park last time we visited and now it's even BETTER! If you haven't seen the video we posted from last visit, check it out HERE!

Powerpark is really made up of three different sections - the amusement park (Powerland), the race tracks (they have two), and the resort hotel (they have two hotels and a camping village.)

The highlight of the amusement park is Thunderbird, a GCI woodie built in 2006, but there is also a ton of other great rides geared for all ages. In fact, I'd say this park has the perfect collection of rides for kids as young as KidTums (2 years old as of this writing) all the way to teens and adults!

You'll find lots of little play areas for kids, a shooting dark ride, 4 roller coasters, and tons of flat rides from the tame to extreme!

The race track is quite a unique feature as it probably can best be described as a "professional go kart" track. This is NOT the type of karts you see at your typical park. These guys are the REAL DEAL and they have both an indoor track and an outdoor one. (we'll get to the karts later when we do our TPR Grand Prix update!)

And then the hotel is just amazing! Great rooms, great restaurant, and perfect for our group!

If you can handle the fact that it never gets dark during the summer, this is the perfect place to come camping, ride coasters, drink a lot, hide in the sauna, and cut loose!

What can we say? Finland rocks!

Why so serious? You'll find out in our "TPR Grand Prix Update" coming soon!

Thanks again to Power Park, Vellu, and to everyone for yet another AMAZING visit, and of course to Hanno for the great photos!

The next day was the TPR Grand Prix!

Oh yeah, did I mention that it's 20 to one in the MORNING and the sun is still going strong?

The park owner brought us out to this cabin and sauna in the middle of Finland. It was pretty awesome. Lots of random alchol was consumed. We made it back alive!

"Hey Joey & Dave! I finally have my drum set!"

SIGNATURE MOVE!!!!

The Booster is one my personal favorites...

...but it does this to people!

We are not sure what exactly this ride is...

C'mon, let the old man poop in peace!

I love zombie whores with large cleavage!

Oooh! New shooting dark ride credit!

Random coaster credits!

"Do I look like a carnivorous bee to you, genius?"

Did you guys see any sharks or carnivorous bees?

Oh yeah, and KidTums even got a credit!!!

Since our last visit the park has added lots of rides! There's now a Starflyer, two new kids sections, a new kiddie coaster, lots of stuff!

THE SWORD OF POWER! SPEED! POWER!!! GRRRRRR!!!!!

YES! 41.83! We are told this is the FASTEST TIME ever on Thunderbird. Tim told us "I have never seen the ride clock under 42 seconds before!"

Ok, let's put all the heaviest TPR members we can on the train...

How can we break the speed record?

"We at TPR are determined to BREAK THE THUNDERBIRD SPEED RECORD!"

NERD SHOT II: THE SEQUEL!

That's right! Pass the SWORD OF POWER!!!

There is only one thing that can add MORE power to this powerfull coaster at Powerland!

NERD SHOT!!!!

ERT still going strong at close to 9:00pm at night! (And so is the sun!)

Yup, that is Mr. Signature Move himself holding down the back part of the train.

"This coaster is BIG MIKE APPROVED!"

The bunny hops produced some good pops of airtime.

Tim the ride op kept telling us the time it took the train to complete the circuit! Each run we kept getting faster and faster!

Did we mention how crazy Thunderbird was running?

"We love night time ERT in the blazing sun!!!"

Thunderbird ran out of control for us tonight! (And yes, our ERT was at 8 o'clock at night, even though you can't tell by these pictures!)

You guys ready for some GCI woodie goodness?

The real celebrity of the park is still Thunderbird.

Yup, they still have the Boomerang. But all the shops and facades behind it are new! What a nice touch!

They have really expanded the park quite a bit since our last visit!

The rides part of the resort is known as "Powerland"...and that's exactly where we're going! The Land of POWER!

Yay! Finally we make it to the Powerpark hotel! Time to check it, drop off our stuff, and go have some FUN!

And then this came on the screen....uhhhh...at first you may say "HOW CAN YOU SHOW THIS ON THE BUS...OR ON TPR??!?!" but take a good look at this picture! This is NOTHING DIRTY ABOUT THIS PICTURE AT ALL! Can you see it? Do you know what it is? If you know what this is EMAIL DAN! mrt0ad13@aol.com

The drive to Powerpark was a long one (about 5-6 hours) but thankfully we had great stuff like Sifl & Olly to watch!

Good morning everyone! How was your overnight cruise? Didn't get much sleep huh? Well, we'll just have to make a suppliment update for that a bit later!

Great reports from Gröna Lund and all the other parks!

Your t-shirts with the text "I went Insane" are nice! I also have a t-shirt like that. But I have three words more on my t-shirt

Yeah!

Power Park was amazing. The ride ops reaction to the "fat train" was brilliant.

I'm a bit gutted there was no photo of me taking a leak at 20 to 1 in the morning but oh well.

Great update. Cant wait for the Grand Prix one.