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Part 17 Our Revels Now Are (Almost) Ended: Linnanmaki We have reached the most melancholy part of any trip report--the last park. Fortunately, it’s a good one: Linnanmaki in Helsinki. Although it’s not on the scale of Liseberg, Linnanmaki is a solid urban park, with a good assortment of attractions and some very aggressive seagulls (kind of like Liseberg). It’s also the home of my personal favorite “new-to-me” coaster of the trip: Taiga, a multi-launch Intamin creation. Taiga features not only forceful launches, but also a crazy, disorienting layout with equally crazy airtime. I was wondering if any ride could top Farup’s Fønix, but Taiga pulled it off; Taiga is even “Phoenix themed,” too. ERT on this ride was great! But there’s more to Linnanmaki than Taiga. They also have a classic wooden coaster with brake men and brake women; two dark rides--a “haunted hotel” for witches and a goofy circus ride with clowns and elephant feces; an “outer space” indoor coaster; Tulireki, a weird Mack coaster than makes no sense at all; and a ball of fire! Here’s a look at the finale of TPR’s 2023 Scandanavia Trip. My thanks to Robb and Elissa for making it all happen. This fountain is either adorable or frightening. Up to you. I’m having Tivoli Gardens/Bakken flashbacks here. So many serious faces! I guess being in the middle of a classic woodie is serious business. Are you "Oikopolu" or "Taigapolu"? Not to worry. We won't judge you. I'm Taigopolu and I'm proud! Intamin has done it again. With this, VelociCoaster, and Pantheon, I'm a happy man. You don’t know whether you’re coming or going in this layout. "What is happening to us? Save us, Jeebus!" Er, how does this work, exactly? Talk about “twisty.” If Taiga is too much for you, you can always play the Linnanmaki home game. Or perhaps you would rather challenge the Dark Forces? ”Yes, come a play a little game with us, dearie.” ”Roll the dice to see which demon you will invoke!” “You have summoned Tulireki! The most messed up demon of them all!” ”He has the power to cloud your mind and convince you that this is a good ride!” If Grona Lund’s Insane was a bit much for you, try Kirnu. ”Kirnu” is Finnish for “chum.” This ride just wants to be your Kirnu (not to throw you to the sharks). But maybe you’d rather have Ukko, the Finnish God of Thunder, as your Kirnu. Vuoristorata (“roller coaster”) might be a good Kirnu for you. it’s just not the same with computer-operated magnetic brakes. Linnanmaki and Tivoli Gardens are doing it right by sticking with brake men and brake women. Oh, lord--this ride still exists! It’s scarier and smellier than the hotel-for-witches ride! If they break into “Dancin’ Queen,” I’m outta here. When at Linnanmaki, take this sign seriously! Er, heads up, Jere! It’s Linnan-anarchy with these freakin’ birds! What out for your goodies there, guys! The gulls are hungry! Just about time to go. Here’s one last look at a classic from the past . . . . . . and Taiga, the classic of today. I leave you now with an old classic and a ball of fire! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this look back at Scandinavia 2023. Once again, my thanks to Robb and Elissa for another great TPR trip!

that statue of Nekkid guys eating ice cream instantly made this park a favorite of mine but there were SO many great and fun, and insane, rides here. great pics.

This! 100% Exactly, communication is never a bad thing. My experience has been that when you communicate fully with people and are open about what is happening they tend to have a better outlook and it totally shuts down rumors, which are almost always wrong. What you might think is not post worthy is YOUR opinion. If you aren't interested that's fine, don't spend time reading about it, but there is no harm and many may like it. As pointed out one of the best loved parks in the country made information like that public, the President posted a "to do" list at the start of the year with regular updates as to where on the list they were. Many things on that list were mundane items like new benches or the start of a new show or some regular maintenance, a few were bigger. People loved it! Tons of interest. I think even the GP wants to know some sort of care is going on and it helps dispel the idea that the park is just a ghost town with tumbleweeds and a closed sign during the off season.

Day 14: Friday, June 16th part 2 (of 3) - Late Morning at Liseberg Oceana (Waterpark that was under construction) before Liseberg park open won't be a lot of commentary on these pics. . but TPR was offered a tour of the then-under-construction new indoor/outdoor waterpark, that's going to help make Liseberg a more year-round destination. it was very cool to see this thing coming together, and having seen pics now of the completed areas, I feel very special that I got to take a construction tour and learn about how they put this together and connected it to the Park (it's right on the other side of Hotel Grand Curiousa) Pontus all ready to guide us thru the construction everyone must wear a vest, and a hard-hat and glasses of some type NOTED! low ceiling! just like in the park proper. . the slides / rides really do interact with each other, and come very close! myself and Sarah. . she was taking the group pic for our group, so wanted to be sure she's in a pic too!

I am not surprised by this revelation.

And yet you come on here and socialize all the time with people who do actually care about those things.

Personally, I like seeing park updates. I think Six Flags Fiesta Texas does an outstanding job of keeping the public up-to-date. To me it shows the Park cares about it's customers.

For the record two of the best-run seasonal parks in the country with the highest guest satisfaction numbers routinely post updates on what is going on around the parks during the off season. If those kinds of updates diluted the product or signaled desperation they wouldn't be the best. Now maybe those updates don't contribute directly to their quality and their goodwill at all and maybe they'd be even better without them, or maybe they're a huge part of WHY they're so good. Truth rarely lies in the extremes. Some people like behind the scenes content. Others don't. Behind the scenes stuff very rarely ends up being a negative and has nothing at all to do with lowering expectations