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Howdy all, so I had the Privilege and the Honor to participate in the TPR 2023 Scandi tour - an almost 3 week trip that would visit 5 Countries and 17 Theme Parks (+ a mountain coaster!) It was such an amazing assortment of people, and was so great to see friends from past trips, and to meet some folks who I've seen here on Theme Park Review over the years, but have never actually met in person - such as Big Mike, Shane (of Shane's Amusement Attic), Matthew Martin, among others (spoiler, all of em are awesome folks). If you read my Trip Report from Europe 2022, you're aware that my Spouse passed shortly after I got back from the trip. . so I really made this year's adventure an excuse to force myself to a) be social again , and b) force myself to face some fears and do things I'd be terrified to do (such as a 300 foot free fall, a stand up drop tower, a single rail mountain coaster (in the rain!). yes, I had some very emotional moments on the trip - especially after doing something that I was scared to do, and then realizing I had no one to call home and tell about it. But all in all? I had an incredible time and I'm looking forward to sharing my adventure and pics. --> I know there's a couple of folks already posting Trip Reports as well (go read em, Chuck's (CFC) & Erik's are both starting out as wonderful reads with great pictures). But since we all didn't hang out together the whole time, tho the pics from some parks/places/cities might be the same? the photos should be different, and hopefully enjoyable. let's get this adventure started! Day 1, June 2nd-3rd. I had my flight out of Austin scheduled for Noon, and tho I had two connections, I was supposed to get into Copenhagen by Noon on Sat, giving me a full evening of sightseeing as well as the full next day before the trip officially started on Monday 6/5. I dropped my car off at my Best Friend's house (he rightly argued that I should leave my car there since he lives 10 minutes from the airport, instead of paying for long term parking for 3 weeks) and he dropped me off. TSA pre-check saved me a ton of time at Security. .. .which then got eaten right back up as I was "randomly selected" to have further check, so off came the boots, the belt, the hoodie. . .etc while they swabbed everything. Oh well, still had plenty of time, and before long it was time to board. I had paid for upgrades to enjoy the flight, and so the flight from Austin to Chicago wasn't too bad. rare window seat. . so took a pic. No idea what State this is. . LOL Since was in 1st, we got a nice meal on this ~2 1/2 hour flight: It doesn't look too tasty, but it actually was pretty good. upon landing in Chicago, I took my phone out of Airplane Mode and immediately got the update that the long, International Flight was delayed by an hour. i was concerned and spoke to the gate agents, about what that would do to my much shorter connection in Brussels. I was *assured* that the plane would "make up the time" in the air, and that I shouldn't change anything, just leave it alone, and if we were late, United would take care of me. They made me feel quite stupid and were very dismissive of me for even being concerned that I might miss my connection out of Brussels. (and no, I will never believe the gate agents or customer service again. . if I'm worried about a connection? I'm going to change it myself despite what they try to tell me) anyways, so I got on the plane, and had a really nice flight, once we actually left - about an hour late. they served us a very nice Dinner: as well as a lovely Breakfast (I had Crepes), and I watched a couple of really stinker films: "Antman & Wasp: Quantummania" - long and boring, and I just don't understand why Kang is a "bad" guy???? & "65" which was so stupid. . and then you get to the twist, and it's even MORE stupid. and even at just 80 minutes still felt too long, and too short at the same time, like a lot of stuff got cut out, and they just ended the film when they realized what a dud it was. So we land in Brussels and lo and behold. . .. I've missed my connection as we did NOT make up any time in the air. Myself and dozens of other passengers had been re-assigned new flights and we were to go see the gate agents. the agent I spoke to was very cheery, and could not understand why I did *not* want to take 3 additional flights to get to Copenhagen. I wanted a replacement direct flight from Brussels to Copenhagen, that I had SEEN while at the counter in Chicago, and could still see. . but was told that "United doesn't partner with discount airlines" (nevermind the flight that I missed was on, you guessed it, Finnair, which they called a "discount airline" she assured me: "we do this all the time! don't worry, and this gets you into Copenhagen earlier". . . with a smile of course, and handed me my tickets (yup) for three flights on Lufthansa. . . .but no seat assignments, so I should go over there right away and check in. "over there" was in a different terminal which took me 42 minutes to get to (yes, I timed it and I remember it was 42 from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, thanks Douglas Adams!). Because the airport in Brussels is huge, and by changing terminals I had to go thru passport control - where of course, only 1 person was working and all the auto readers were closed. whee. . . oh, extra bonus.. the 1st flight I was supposed to go on with Lufthansa was delayed. So they gave me a coupon for 17 Euro to use in the airport for my "inconvenience" ugh.. oh well, at least there was a cheery photo op. Eventually my flight took off and I began my tour of Germany's airports via Lufthansa, as the planes got smaller and smaller. here's Frankfort: and Munich and Berlin eventually. . I *DID* get to Copenhagen. Exhausted from flying all day, but at least was there. . in the happiest place on the planet (surveys have shown, no really). and it was "only" ~7pm. . so ok, I had lost most of my day, but still kind of early, so had been chatting with Colin about going to sightsee a bit once I landed anyways. but then the luggage came out. . .well. . most of the luggage came out. not mine. took about an hour filling out forms (once somebody was able to help me find someone to talk to at the Baggage claim area, as I couldn't leave the area to talk to the airline and there was no one representing them there). . but eventually someone from Lufthansa came down and spoke with me. Thank goodness I had purchased Apple Airtag that was in my bag, so once out of Airplane Mode, I could clearly see that United had left my bag in Brussels and never even put it on the Lufthansa plane. nice partnering. . huh. but I will say that Lufthansa was very pleasant to work with, and helpful (they gave me a "we're sorry we lost your luggage, here's some necessities" kit - which included a 2XL undershirt and paper underwear (I'll attach a pic of that in a moment). Luckily I had arrived more than a day early, and we were at the 1st hotel for a few days - so there was time for them to get the luggage to the hotel for me if they could find it. exhausted from the travel day, I didn't even mess with the buses or the trains, and instead just hopped in a taxi that took me directly to the 1st hotel: "The Square" I got there around 9pm . .messaged Colin that I still wanted to go out, but needed to freshen up just a bit, and checked into the room (after letting the hotel know about the luggage situation) nice size room. My roomie, AJ, wasn't coming until tomorrow, so the room looked really large - especially without my big bag in it then went down to the lobby and met Colin and we decided to walk to find a place to get drinks. . and I REALLY wanted to go see the Little Mermaid Statue that Copenhagen is famous for. so we decided to walk. . I was, shockingly, full of energy by this point. . so off we went. the view from the lobby of the hotel - overlooking "the Square". . with the Train Station right across the street. (and Tivoli Gardens right around the corner) no sleep, and look like it. . but I VERY quickly learned how much the folks in Denmark love their bikes, and to really be careful and look out for the Bike Lanes! the folks in the bike lanes have right of way, and they WILL take your ass out if you're not paying attention. Colin and I just wandering sorta towards where the Little Mermaid Statue is. . .checking out bars and deciding if we wanted to stop in at any of em. they were mostly a bit fancy, but we did stumble across a Tiki Bar and went in there and enjoyed Pina Coladas and Daqueries. . and some weird interactions with locals (along the lines of "s'up?" "nuthin, s'Up with u") strangely I have no pics of the Tiki bar. . LOL. . I thought i had taken one. The drinks were decent tho, and big. we continued our trek after the drinks and I snapped pics of the architecture (it was almost 10pm here) as we walked and walked.. (and decided we were taking the trains back, LOL) it finally started to get a bit darker as it closed in on 11pm. the docks you need to go to for the famous statue is a small entertainment area.. that was really quiet on this Saturday night. but there are some other interesting things over here. . including some pretty cool "junk" sculptures. and a "SeaPlane Museum". . .closed at this hour, but I snapped the pic as we walked by. and eventually, we were here at the famous statue. it was very cool to see it up close, and as it was just after 11pm, it was really just us and 1 other small group there. So was able to really get up close and admire it. so I'd recommend going really late to avoid the crowds, but do note, the statue has NO lighting on it. so if your phone doesn't have decent night photos, it might be worth it to go earlier in the day. One of the folks in the other group told me that since people kept stealing the statue's head (you really can get quite close to it in the harbor), they've now filled the head with concrete to help prevent theft. my clumsy ass took a spill going down the rocks and landed hard on my bum. . . but still.. worth it for the picture statue seen, we started our walk back towards the hotel - or at least a train station that would take us to the hotel. it's a LOVELY city. .tho fairly quiet for a Saturday nite, I thought. exiting the train station back at our hotel, we caught a glimpse of one of Tivoli Garden's gates. .and wandered over that way to take a look at it all lit up I like the modern architecture here too. and the Irish Pub near the hotel was hopping still.. with a photo op! ooooo. . we were late enough that caught the Tivoli Garden's Saturday fireworks! the lights at night are absolutely gorgeous here . . . and with that. . I was wiped, and tomorrow was gonna be a full day as I was gonna cram in all the sightseeing I could before the welcome dinner at Wagamama. so I said my goodnight to Colin, and headed up to the room. . where I crashed hard. and dreamed of lost luggage (tho the pic of Nick I had in the carry on. . so THAT I had, thank goodness)

About time. I remember when CF's all-season, all-park Fast Lane was that cheap. Ah, the good ol' days.

In addition to the good advice already given; do NOT miss the cave. It is included in your ticket, you line up for the entrance just like a ride in the hospitality house that you will walk through to enter the park. It is incredible and the whole reason the park exists in the first place. As far as food, there are decent bbq options at Rivertown Smokehouse by the raft ride, a buffet of mostly home cooking type food near the entrance called Molly's Mill and a skillet stand (or maybe two) that is unique to the park.

I don't know how I feel about it from the computer generated pov. I feel like I guess I'll just have to go ride it next summer with a bunch of TPR Friends to figure it out!