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We have news out of Destination D23 for all sorts of new stuff coming to Magic Kingdom! https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2023/09/new-country-bear-disney-songs-pirates-lounge-hatbox-ghost-coming-to-magic-kingdom/ Country Bear Jamboree will be getting new songs and the bears will be performing a new act! Disney Imagineer Chris Beatty told the Destination D23 audience that when the show debuts, the bears will be reinterpreting favorite Disney songs in different genres of country music – like rockabilly, bluegrass, pop-country and other styles. Imagineers are envisioning the new take as a homage to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and they’re working with Nashville musicians to get the authentic country sound. The popular attraction will continue to have the fun and friendly tone and same characters. In late November, the legendary Hatbox Ghost will be materializing in the Haunted Mansion attraction in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. The iconic grim grinning ghost will appear in the Haunted Mansion attraction as you pass the Endless Hallway, welcoming himself inside from the swinging wake in the cemetery and grinning at passing Doom Buggies. Imagineer Daniel Joseph joined Josh on the Destination D23 stage over the weekend for the announcement and shared details about the arrival of Hatbox Ghost. Also, a new Pirates of the Caribbean-themed lounge is coming to Adventureland at Magic Kingdom Park in Florida. This first-of-its-kind experience will extend the story of Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. Imagineers are currently in the design process and more details will be coming.

We have news out of Destination D23 for all sorts of new stuff coming to EPCOT! https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2023/09/opening-dates-revealed-for-new-epcot-fireworks-show-figment-moana-and-more/ A new nighttime spectacular called “Luminous The Symphony of Us” will debut at EPCOT on Dec. 5, 2023! “Luminous The Symphony of Us” will feature fireworks, fountains, lasers, lighting effects and music and continue Disney’s long tradition of amazing nighttime entertainment at the park. Fan-favorite Figment will begin greeting guests at EPCOT on Sept. 10! Beginning tomorrow, the iconic purple dragon will be at the Imagination Pavilion at EPCOT sparking your creativity and helping your imagination soar. Check out our new five fun Figment facts story featuring some new must-have fashion items. The World Celebration neighborhood at EPCOT will begin welcoming guests this December! World Celebration will unite the front of the park, tying together the other two new EPCOT neighborhoods, World Discovery and World Nature. The completion of the last of the park’s three neighborhoods is the latest major milestone in EPCOT’s multi-year transformation. Also, the popular Test Track attraction at EPCOT is being reimagined! Imagineers along with teams from corporate alliance partner Chevrolet are reaching back into history for inspiration – from the original World of Motion – and bringing that spirit of optimism to the next iteration of Test Track! More to come in the future. And Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana will open on Oct. 16, 2023! Journey of Water is a new walk-through experience located within World Nature – the EPCOT neighborhood dedicated to understanding and preserving the beauty and balance of the natural world. Also on Oct. 16 – Moana will arrive in World Nature and make her first appearance in her own dedicated space near Journey of Water.

And now for Tivoli Gardens proper! This is probably the park that I was most looking forward to before the trip, and while it didn't end up being my favorite, it still has quite a lot to offer. 07: The Flying Trunk Of course we'd already walked around, took photos, and sampled some of the food here while staying across the street these last few days--but now we're actually going to ride stuff! It's a hotel. Disney really did get all their ideas from this place! (Actually, whilst the building itself is quite old, it's only been a hotel for like 20 years.) This park is absolutely charming and wonderful. But...there's only like 2 good rides (in my estimation). And this is one of them. Rutschebanen. Okay, remember the seemingly-pointless story about my internet-friend who did a recreation of BobBon-Land in OpenRCT2? Well, that's him. He's the brakeman. So now we're real friends. WHETHER HE LIKES IT OR NOT Behind the scenes tour. Because, you know, TPR. Also, nudity. Because, you know, TPR. Obviously, with the brakeman controlling the speed, there will be some variation from ride to ride. None of my rides were extreme or anything, but it's smooth, there was some airtime and laterals, and the brakemen really put on a show. Super fun and reridable. (Yeah, I know "reridable" isn't actually a word. But maybe it will be someday.) This certainly feels like the oldest section of the park, so I'll just assume that it is. The Fun House Unlike most other fun houses I've been in, this is not a continuous path with gags along it, but more an open space where you can choose what to explore. Which, to be honest, I didn't like as much. Still, as an American, any fun house is a good fun house (because we really don't have them). Hey, it's me! The middle one, with the ice cream cones and the similar screen name. ICE CREAM CONES (you hush) Hey, it's also me. Except on a Ferris wheel. And for some reason without an ice cream cone. So, a rare photo indeed. Minen, Rutschebanen, the fun house, and a bunch of other little things, all occupy the same "building." Which very much pleases me. Minen is an old mill type ride with a small drop and a weird switch-track that just turns you a little bit (in a way that could have been just as easily achieved with a turn). It's also equipped with very noisy flashlight guns that you use to annoy me. Er...I mean, that you use to shoot at randomly-placed static reflectors. This is cool, though. We really don't need the shooting part. Get off my lawn. This is a Smisty and Bert ride. Powered coaster on your right, restaurant on your left. Guess what the next photo will be. If you want your pizzas cut, ask for our "pizzaslicer" Bert was otherwise engaged. Photo by AJ, I'm pretty sure. But don't worry, I found something else to do. Note my pocket napkin technique. This ain't my first ice rodeo. Cute kids ride that I never saw running. Smisty likes spinning. I like ice cream. We both like candy stores. Flyvende Kuffert is the other great ride at Tivoli Gardens. Shown here prior to park open. (Because, you know, TPR.) What is this, a toilet? That would be a great joke if I'd put these photos in a different order.) Anyway, that previous photo was just the facade. The ride itself is mostly underground. Yes, it's a whirlwind tour of Hans Christian Andersen's most famous stories! Complete with narration in either Danish or English (your choice). AJ giving the international signal for "couldn't they have at least put a cover over the hole?" A truly unique and wonderful dark ride! Daemonen is the park's other full-size coaster. And while the layout is compact and interesting, the ride itself didn't really do much for me. I'm not usually a big demand-er of consistency. Different rides are designed differently and that means that what might work at one ride won't necessarily work at another. No sense trying to make one set of rules that everything has to fit into. That, in my opinion, ultimately just ends up making operations less safe. Having said that, it was quite jarring to go from Rutschebanen, where guests can jump on and off moving trains, to Deamoeneaon, where you can't even wear glasses with a strap. Daeameaoneaonea's exit path is barely even in the park. Few survive eating this burger? Is it on the other side of Chuck Norris Avenue? A small but charming car ride. Everyone was excited about the two outward facing vehicles, but I had never been on a condor-type ride at all, so even just the regular cars were interesting to me. I love the ladder. Tivoli is oddly laid out--at least as an amusement park--as there are large areas that don't contain rides at all. But I don't know why I'm mentioning that here, because there's clearly a ride in this photo. Misty, you're going the wrong way. Humans to the left. Tivoli also has a small aquarium. That's maybe mostly exists as a waiting area for a show venue...? A kids area, and behind that, a building with offices (I think) and a haunted walk-through. A statue of Reed Copenhagen, founder of Denmark. Wait, does that say, "Cakenhagen"? It does indeed. This park may only have two good rides, but it does also have some pretty good food options. Most bathrooms in this park--and in Copenhagen--and in Denmark--are in the basement. In fact, it was so common that I just started saying that I had to go to the basement whenever nature called. Yeah, I really should've put this photo before that earlier one. That is a sad clown. Tivoli was good. Maybe not quite great, but good. Erik's score: 8 I'm too lazy to explain the scale again. If you love this park, then just pretend it's on a scale of 1 to 8. And, I guess if you hate the place, assume it's on a scale of 1 to 100. Crap, it would've been way less typing to just tell you what my scale actually is. That's it, I'm

Hello all, Hereby our first trip report of our summer holiday 2023. We take you to Skylinepark, an amusement park in the German town of Rammingen Our final destination would be the town of Längenfeld in Austria, so this fun amusement park was a nice stopover. The night before we had an overnight stay in Stuttgart, so that we could visit Skylinepark fresh and fruity. It was the first time for all three of us, so a lot to discover! We decided to take it easy that morning and enjoyed the hotel's extensive breakfast buffet before we got into the car towards the park. After all, it was a weekday and the schools didn't have a holiday yet, so we didn't expect a lot of crowds. Before we get started I have 3 choices for you: Choice 1 is the full Vlog of the day for those who don't like to read. Choice 2 is a compilation video accompanied by music (William Orbit), for those who don't like endless talking. Choice 3 is a nice read below with the loose onrides in between to view. Somewhere around 11.00 am we arrived and it was immediately noticeable that it was a very nice park with a few special attractions. Of course we knew about the 'Skywheel' a Skyloop rollercoaster from Maurer Rides. We therefore decided to choose this new type of roller coaster for all three of us as the first attraction of the day. Take some photos and videos along the way and then enter the queue. After waiting a few rides, it was time. Unfortunately not yet front seat, which came the rides afterwards. Yup, we did indeed do several rides, what a great fun job! The only nasty thing was the brake when the train stopped for a moment at the top, that gave you a slap in the back, but as a seasoned coaster fan we are used to something, right? Supernovae Productions Crew: Supernovae78, Supernovae Jr. and Coaster Iris. After this we decided to go in the 'Sky Twister' this is a nice Huss Condor, nice speed, high, but no different from the other condors we had done. So... one Huss attraction later, time for a roller coaster again and now just found one next to the 'Sky Wheel'! The 'Kids Spin'. Yes you guessed it: a spinning coaster more aimed at children. Later in the day there was also the somewhat more intense spinning coaster (with the emphasis on intense…), but more about that later. We went in with the motto, Just for the coaster bingo, but during the ride we found out that it really was a nice ride, it spun nicely. As it had a short track we got 3 laps for the price of 1 which is always fun! It was very hot that day, so something with water was certainly welcome, so looking for a water attraction. Soon we saw the 'Sky Rafting', a (as CoasterIris always says) water slide that got out of hand. It first traveled through the German fairgrounds from 2005-2010, but eventually found its permanent place in this park. We entered the round boat and with a vertical lift we were hoisted high and then started the descent. It soon became clear that you really had to hold on tight, because he was fast and had quite a few corners. As always you end up with a splash at the bottom, this one was good but we weren't soaked. After a refreshing 'dive' in the Sky Rafting, we decided to view the park in a higher atmosphere by going into the Allgäuflieger; a starflyer that, at 142 m high, is the tallest starflyer in the world. Well, not all three of us were in those higher spheres as one of us would have liked to put his feet back on the ground as soon as possible (see our vlog and or onride). But how beautiful it is to view the park from this perspective. Earlier in the day we had already spotted a haunted house and of course we couldn't skip it, so we boarded the Geisterbahn designed by Mack. Like most haunted houses we've done, this one was laughable and wrong rather than actually startling you. So we were rather laughing than we wet our pants with fear . But it sure was fun. Well, time for a roller coaster again and what I told you earlier in this trip report, there was also another Spinning coaster in addition to the Kids Spin, ladies and gentlemen I present to you: the 'Sky Spin'! A torture device from Maurer Rides…. First you are hoisted up via the lift hill, you don't know what to expect yet. A nice spinning coaster you think… none of this is true as soon as you start spinning it soon turns out to be more of a torture device than a fun spinning coaster. You will be thrown in all directions and the word 'smooth' is not in the dictionary of this attraction. As we wanted to keep our Youtube Channel family friendly, we are very conscious not to swear in rides, but trust us we had to do our best not to use words that are not in the Bible When all our guts were back in the right place, we agreed: this once, but never again! Let's relax in the 'Wildwasserbahn' a Log Flume from Mack with a nice theme and the highest mobile wild water course in the world (30 m). Fun fact: there has been another Wildwasserbahn here before, but this one eventually went to Eifelpark. Fun ride with fun elements and, like every Log Flume, ends with a high drop and a big splash. Compared to the previous Sky Rafting, we got a bit wetter in this, but this was also doable. In the park was also the Sky Dragster, a Powered Coaster from Maurer Rides. The two of you sit behind each other on the motorcycle and you can decide how fast you go after you have been 'launched'. We soon noticed that this was not capacity attraction. After about 15 minutes of waiting, maybe 2 bikes had left and we still had quite a few rides ahead of us before it was our turn. What do we do? Keep waiting? But then we can hardly do any other attractions, after all, it was already after 3 p.m. After some deliberation, we decided to ignore the attraction, so that we could focus on the rest. At the beginning of the day we already walked past the 'Sky Rider', a gyroflyer from manufacturer Caripro, the same builder of the Batflyer in Duinrell (which never came) and Batfly from Plopsaland de Panne. Still a roller coaster with a Dutch touch because this company comes from the Dutch town of Weert. With an elevator you go up and via a single track you make the descent down. Nice job and for Supernovae JR and Supernovae the first they have done. CoasterIris had already done the Bat once (in the video she says this was her first Gyroflyer, but she forgot about the Bat). Time to test our 'race skills' in 'Formel 1' a go-kart track. Could we surpass Max Verstappen ? No, unfortunately that is not possible on such a small track, oh well, it's just as fun for in between, let's say. During the day we also saw the 'Krinoline' a Hully Gully from Schwarzkopf, one we wanted to do, because we didn't come across it very often in amusement parks. Fun little thing, but not one you want to queue up for. We decided to make some movies from the 'Riesenrad' (ferriswheel) and then go wild in the 'High Fly' an inverting frisbee. As often, these things seem more intense when you're looking at it from the ground than when you're in it, so this time too. Supernovae Jr decided to take a second ride, he had never done such an attraction before (height restrictions) so he took his chance. End of the day time to eat (or so we thought). Earlier in the day we had already seen that there was a catering point with delicious Gyros sandwiches and we had set our minds on that. Mouth watering we arrived and what did we see: the shutters were closed? What? Close around dinner time? That is very bad! We were advised by the staff to go to another catering point, which also appears to be closing its shutters. Quite wondering why the catering points were closed so early (do they not want to make money ???) we walked to the exit assuming that we had to eat somewhere outside the park. At the exit we saw that the restaurant was open there and so a little later we were enjoying a Schnitzel with fries. After the stomach was filled, it was time to drive to Längenfeld in Austria, where the rest of our adventures of this beautiful holiday would begin and we also ended this holiday with another amusement park, but that is another story . All in all it is a nice park in the category of small parks. Not a full day park unless you really want to do the 'Sky Dragster'. Because they closed the restaurants, we unanimously decided to give the park 4 stars. If there were more eating options around dinner time, they would have gain the full 5 stars in our opinion. In the hope that it has entertained you and until the next trip report!

Hello fellow theme park enthusiasts! After our holiday in Austria we wanted to make a stopover in Tripsdrill. An amusement park in the town of Cleebronn in Germany that is best known for its great German theme style. Before we start, I have 3 choices for you: Choice 1 is the complete Vlog of the day for those who don't like reading. Choice 2 is a compilation video accompanied by music, for those who don't like endless talking. Option 3 can be read below with the individual onrides in between for viewing. If you have an Efteling annual pass, you can enter this park once a year for free, so we of course gratefully took advantage of this. We decided to immediately grab the two newest additions to the park, which are intertwined. So we started with the Vekoma Family Boomerang Volldampf, put on the harness, put the Action Cam on the harness and go! We thought. It turned out that we first had to go to the information desk to get written permission, which you will then have to hand in at each ride. Oh well, no problem, we'll just stand in line again, it wasn't very busy in the park that day. So fill out the form and return! After the boomerang ride, which was actualy longer than we thought, it was time for the gem of the park: Hals-uber-Kopf, a Suspended Thrillcoaster from Vekoma Rides. We enjoyed the smoothness of this track and then wanted to continue our way to the next attraction. When we were at the photo sale, the seller noticed that Supernovae JR. had the Action-cam on his harness. In broken English the man tried to say something about this, while gesturing to the Action-cam. Supernovae JR. said it was turned off and I indicated that we had received written permission. This turned out not to be enough for this man and he turned the action camera downwards. We were quite surprised and quite annoyed (what gives anyone the right to touch someone's stuff without asking?). We asked if he was afraid that we would take a photo of our onride photo on the screen and he confirmed this. After explaining that the quality of our own camera is a lot better than that he offers, we continued our way laughing out loud. In the meantime we started to get hungry: time to get something to eat. The search for something decent to eat turned out to be quite a challenge: we mainly came across catering outlets with popcorn, cotton candy and donuts. Since we didn't feel like having wasps around us, this quickly fell through. Maybe it was just us, but we couldn't find almost anything for a simple snack. Eventually we arrived at a stall selling pizza slices. Fine! We were finally able to eat something and sit for a while. Unfortunately, some wasp meeting was just next to us so we needed to re-locate. Far away from the wasps, we still enjoyed our pizza and then got back to doing what we came for: the attractions. Time for the 3rd roller coaster and this time we went back a few bars... to the Rasender Tausendfüssler, or: the Caterpillar Track. Not very special, one in the 'as usual' category. What was very nice was the interaction with the operator who stirred up the visitors on the train to cheer as soon as the train came through the station for the 2nd round. So we could cross this off too, where should we go next? It became Karacho: an Infinity Coaster from Gerstlauer. Supernovae and CoasterIris had already done this once before in 2015, but we could no longer remember whether it was 'smooth' or not. During the ride we discovered that we had experienced smoother tracks. The layout is nice, but it is not a nice relaxing coaster. The humor at the exit was wonderfully typical of Tripsdrill. 2 more coasters to go! Since Mammut's neighbor was Karacho, we decided to take this one as the next ride, we are close to it now, right? This woodie from Cordes Holzbau goes up the lift hill at a good speed and is quite smooth for a wooden roller coaster. The last roller coaster in front of us. G'sengte Sau is a Gerstlauer Bobsled Coaster. It's remains a fun lay-out, especially because it is part of the theming around the Jungbrunnen castle, the logg flume ride that has a very 'special' theme. We immediately took this log-flume after G'sengte Sau and we discovered that we had an extra passenger with us. A large green grasshopper. Now I (CoasterIris) am not really afraid of insects, but since I was wearing shorts, I didn't feel very comfortable when we got to the darker part of the rides. I hoped he didn't jump into my pants. Luckily that didn't happen hahaha. Now that we had covered all the main attractions, we could go for the smaller stuff. We started with the Suppenschüsselfahrt, which was still quite similar to the one we did next: the Weinkübelfahrt. What you should definitely not miss when you are in this park is the soapbox race or the Seifenkisten-Rennen, a (in my opinion) unique attraction and if you have not done this then you have not been to Tripsdrill . The Gugelhup-Gaudi-Tour is a very nice waltzer, Supernovae and CoasterIris remembered, unfortunately it was closed due to a maintanence, so we decided to go to, the Schklaptour. Time is ticking, also in Tripsdrill and so we came to the end of the day. We walked past some staged animatronics play and decided to take a look. We had no idea what it was about…. On to the hotel! Unfortunately we had to skip the Wildlife Park. Who knows next time It remains a very nice park with a unique theme, which sets it apart from other German parks. Unfortunately it is too far away from us to hit and run it for a day, but who knows, see you in a few years?

This just posted on other sites! And the photo of everything in and around Arendelle looks gorgeous! ....With just a bit of a glimpse of Oaken's Slidin' Sleighs' track, at the right, there. It all looks wonderful!

I thought this was the Worlds of Fun thread for a minute.

Part 10 At Last, with a Clear Head: Liseberg What was the best thing about TPR’s 2023 visit to Liseberg? For me, it was finally visiting the park with a clear head. I’ve been to this classic Swedish park with TPR on three other occasions, and each time, I caught some sort of Euro crud that left me with a hacking cough, a runny nose, and a head that felt like it was stuffed with cotton. But, even so, a nice ride on Balder, the park’s Intamin wooden coaster, made me feel ten times better. And even with an annoying virus fighting for my attention, I liked Liseberg--a lot. And this year I liked what they were doing with the place. For years, Liseberg has been an urban regional park along the lines of Tivoli Gardens, only on a bigger scale. But its appeal is much larger than that, with much larger rides, such as Balder and Helix, than its Danish cousin. Liseberg is now branding itself as more of a “destination” park. The first stage of this rebranding is done. Liseberg now boasts its very own resort hotel--the Grand Curiosa. This hotel, which just opened last spring, is very good, with fairly large rooms, whimsical theming (such as a carousel and and two-story slide curling down to the lobby), a good family-style buffet, and a rooftop bar and restaurant with beautiful views of the park and city. Liseberg is also building an indoor water park named Oceana, which should give the resort more year-round appeal. You’ll see some photos of it later from our hard-hat tour. This year’s visit was everything you’d expect from a TPR trip--ERT on Helix and Balder (along with the traditional signing of this classic wooden coaster) and an early ride on Luna (their new Vekoma Family Boomerang). The park’s excellent haunt, Hotel Gasten, is no longer an upcharge, and it now has its own “haunted” pub--a fun place to grab a beer or cocktail and a snack with good, creepy atmosphere. Shall we go in? I hope you have good walking shoes, as the park is very hilly (with escalators, thankfully). It’s a lot of exercise to get around Liseberg. In the past, TPR has stayed at a more modest (but nice) hotel a few blocks away. But it wasn’t as grand or as curious at this one. The carousel was for kids only. But did Bert find a way to ride it? Too lazy to walk but not lazy enough to take the elevator? Just slide down to the lobby. “Hmm--we need some more whimsy here. Add a blimp and a Ferris wheel. Those are pretty whimsical. Maybe a big ship’s wheel, too, just to be sure.” The group meets with Pontus, who will be taking us around the park and the still under-construction water park. Time for the traditional signing of Balder. Deep into the Belly of Balder we went--like true Vikings! I stole this from General MacArthur, but I’m sure he won’t mind--being dead and all. Balder has always been great, and it recently had some retracking done. I also believe that it eases a head cold (at least it did during my previous three visits). They need to sell a line of Balder cough drops or decongestants. Luna was a nice family ride. I liked the Jules Verne-like observatory in the station. Are they moving backward or forward? Liseberg does Farup one better by putting their Vekoma Faily Boomerang on top of a large hill. I enjoyed Helix more this visit. I think my head cold kept me from enjoying this ride completely a few years ago. Helix is much more enjoyable without a virus trying to kill you cell by cell. One minor knock against Liseberg used to be its lack of a memorable dark ride. Well, it’s got a good one now--about bunnies in a bunny-themed land of their own. You learn more about the life and times of the park’s mascot, a green and pink bunny rabbit, then you ever expected. He leads a “steampunkish” existence laden with existential dread--and carrots. Nice cottage, though, His arch nemesis is, apparently, an evil magician (or maybe not--hard to say) with a tall silk hat. In truth, he’s more an annoyance that a nemesis. He and Elmer Fudd would not like this bunny-themed world that Liseberg built. I can picture Elmer wandering around, holding his head, and muttering “wabbits, wabbits, wabbits!” Hi, Valkyria. You know you’re much better than Valravn. Just thought I’d mention that. Who needs a drink . . . a really scary drink? Terrifying tables with real, creepy candles! Can you heart stand a beastly beer . . . . . . with some frightening fiends, er, friends? Be careful when you order a “Bloody Mary.” The park’s flume ride is shutting down for (I think) an extensive rehab after this season. Or is it being removed? I forget. At any rate, it was fairly wet. (Photo by Jere.) But the rapids just gave us a good spritzing. (Photo by Jere.) Speaking of the future possibility of getting wet, put on your vest and hard hat, folks. We’re visiting Oceana. No worries about getting doused with water--yet. They’re installing one of these crazy water coasters. You know, there just might be a bit of airtime on this ride. Nice chance for some ride interaction here. Low bridge! (Photo by Robb.) Meanwhile, back at the park, let’s not forget to pay homage to Lisebergbanan--aka, “Banana Coaster.” I think this is Schwarzkopf’s best creation. It interacts with other rides quite a bit (especially Helix). But not Balder, who just stopped in to say “hi.” I see some familiar faces on AtmosFear. (Finally got to ride this thing. It was broken the last time I was here with TPR.) “Catch you later. I gotta go harass some people. By harass I mean ‘poop on them.’” If it weren’t for the Balder and Valkyria being in the shot, you’d swear this was just a quaint European village. Any ERT session on Balder . . . . . . is a great ERT session! (Photos by Elissa and Robb.) Good night, Liseberg. Like General MacArthur, "I shall return"--someday.

Part 9 The Day Is Yours, So Enjoy It: Tusenfryd The original entrance sign at Tusenfryd used to day “dagen er din,” which means “the day is yours” in English (or so says Google Translate). I remember hearing someone translate this as “enjoy your day” back in 2006 when I first visited the park with TPR, but I might be misremembering what was said. Whatever it means, Tusenfryd is still a very good park in the beautiful Norwegian mountains. It looks like a ski resort with coasters and other rides. This is my third visit to Tusenfryd, the last being in 2009, and the park has changed since then. Gone is the old “Viking ship simulator,” but the excellent Speed Monster and the cute-as-a-button Teeny Weeny remain. They’ve done some nice work upgrading some sections of the park, too, such as the spruced-up Route 66 and the new Dragonville. Speaking of Dragonville, this is the home of the park’s newest coaster--a Gerstlauer launched suspended ride called Storm. If you like intensity, you’ll like Storm. It also has some rather violent airtime, particularly during the first half. On the “transitional” hill, the airtime was so crazy that it felt like someone was driving spikes into my thighs. The second half of the ride isn’t as intense (and it’s more fun), but my legs were pretty sore that day and the next morning. Then again, I was also the oldest person on the trip. I’ve come to appreciate more “floaty” airtime. Even thought I’ve liked this ride during past visits, the park’s woodie, Thunder Coaster, has not aged particularly well. It now sports Timberliner trains, but I think it could use some re-tracking. It’s very bumpy. But Speed Monster is still excellent. This Intamin launched coaster is smooth as glass and has a great, twisted layout with plenty of airtime. ERT on this coaster was great--I could ride it all day. Oh, and the old Arrow loopscrew, appropriately named Loopen, still exists. My memory of it was evil, so I didn’t ride it this time. Others in the group didn’t think it was all that bad. But you know how coaster enthusiasts love to kid people. We spent the previous night in Oslo, so let’s start the photos there. Sheesh! Thor is sure careless with that hammer. He left it lying around Djurs Sommerland, too. No wonder Odin gets impatient with him. Here we have two naked people on top of what appears to be a giant dildo. You’re welcome. Oh hi, Ligeia! My, how you’ve grown while I’ve been away. TROLL! A beautiful Norwegian sunset. “Nice city you got here. Shame if someone were to poop all over it.” Time for the day to be ours at Tusenfryd. We started the day, which was ours, here. Mike, you’re gonna hurt yourself! Save your strength for Storm. Storm starts with a forward launch, a rollback into a backward launch, then a drop into a stronger forward launch. This seems to be the latest fashion in coasters. I prefer the second half of this ride after you fly by the station. This is the painful transitional airtime hill. But the little dragon head on the front of the train is cute. Look! An Old West-style town! I know you’re all very surprised to see this. (“Will Kane” was the name of Gary Cooper’s character in “High Noon.” I guess the “Morgan” part comes from “Morgan Earp.”) Marshal, I think they’re doing more than just laundry at Kitty’s House if you get my drift. Morgan Kane City is the home of the buck naked version of Big Thunder. Norwegian tacos, anyone? Thunder Coaster is growing older and crankier. Well, don’t we all? Nice setting, though. “Oh, great. We’re on Teeny Weeny. People are taking pictures and shooting video. Life is good.” Livin’ the dream, baby! Based on what I’ve seen at Tusenfryd, . . . . . . Vikings like to get really wet. (I think this is either an AJ or Andy photo.) Thor’s Hammer is a good 3D dark ride--sort of Norway’s answer to Curse of DarKastle. Few are honorable enough to carry the Hammer of Thor. My . . . that’s a big one. Matt has found his soulmate. I guess he’s into really big Viking guys in armor. Who knew? A jungle-themed ride in Norway? Eh--why not? Here’s where you can “get your kicks” . . . oh, gawd, that song’s as old as me. Why Loopen--what a great big new sign you have. Why, this new sign and the fresh paint will make all the difference for this old Vekoma loopscrew. Godspeed, my friends. I salute you . . . from a safe distance. They said it wasn’t that bad . . . or was that the concussion talking? This whole section of the park looks much nicer than it used to. Route 66 is a fitting home for the park’s best ride. There are two ways to ride Speed Monster. Like the little boy . . . . . . or like the little girl. Whatever you decide, this is a great launched coaster. It don’t need no stinkin’ backward launch. I spy with my little eye two familiar faces in the front row. “Whee” is the appropriate response here. Any ERT spent on Speed Monster is well spent, indeed. I see nothing to dislike here. AJ wishes he were on this train. Now there’s a good way to end a ride--well done, Intamin! My thanks to whomever took this photo. Long may Speed Monster run!