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^ wow. . glad you're ok!

Ah, but you would've known exactly what it was if you'd read my 2019 trip report! Also, that plastic was workmanlike, at best.

^ Indeed. And congrats on finishing your trip report ahead of me this time!

Yep--exactly! That weird boat ride could be an effective "haunt," too. It was pretty creepy.

As previously mentioned, but just forget about that so it doesn't seem like I'm repeating myself, no one in our group had ever been to Furuvik. Not even Robb or Elissa, who've both been to Antarctica, Mars, and Narnia. But now we all have. Meh. 18: Science Gun Where Skara Sommerland is mostly a waterpark with a rides area, Furuvik is mostly a zoo with a ride section. Which sounds way better to me and it is. The park is most famous for killing chimpanzees. And, before that, for having a chimpanzee that wanted to harm humans. It's actually a pretty sad story. The first one I mentioned, that is. The second one is hilarious. The Chain Flyer, which I'm pretty sure is my new favorite name for a ride of this type. Ferris wheel could be a bit bigger, though. Lightning is the park's newest and biggest coaster. And it's fun and smooth and family and new Vekoma. But the park lacks a true thrill coaster. Which is probably the main reason none of our group had ever been here before. It kind of felt like it should be weaving in and out of a big man-made mountain or something. Smisty decided to go on their Mondial Top Scan with a bunch of other TPR folks, who all hopped right off at the end of the ride and abandoned her. I would've helped but I was otherwise engaged. Ladies and gentlemen, Spökjakten--Sweden's only shooting dark ride. Science guy animatronic in the queue. This was actually quite good. But I daresay I like dark rides better than roller coasters. At least in the sense that some roller coasters are good and some are bad, but even a bad dark ride is still good. The park's other family Vekoma, Fireball. Fireball is a family boomerang. Spökjakten is by Sally. And God is H Julet. Circus-themed fast food restaurant. It was...okay-ish. I don't know what's going on here. Bees with butt-faces? Smisty living her best life. A lot of the park looks like this. And while they don't have a lot of your fancy-pants A-list animals (lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes, zebras, hippos, bears, etc.), they do have...um...chimps. I mean, not as many as they use to, obviously. But still. They do have a reptile house, though. So that's good. Danger noodle! Across the bay, you can allegedly see Finland. I'm not exactly sure what the cross is about. But let's just assume that the Swedes are defending against Finnish vampires. Low bridge. A couple of people in our group mentioned this cracked-out boat ride, but we couldn't even find it on the map! I was starting to think we were being pranked. A wild Goldballs appears, to make this even more of a bad idea! Joking aside, this kind of thing is the reason I travel to Europe (or anywhere) to visit theme parks. It certainly isn't to ride SLC's. Camel backs. Jason basking in the shame of having just participated in whatever was happening here. Furuvik Final Score: 4 Apparently there was a whole weird cold war era military base section that I missed entirely. The bus needed to stop on the way back to Stockholm. Apparently, this was once some sort of Swedish-Chinese cultural center slash tourist attraction. Now it's a gas station. And a final stop at Hammarbybacken for quick ride on their single-rail alpine coaster. Do people who count coasters count these? Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!! And then I died. The end.

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.

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!

So, I happened to drive by the park last Friday. Had to go west on the outer road and up Allenton right past the employee entrance. There is a new sign directing people to the right for guest entry and the left for various things like employee parking, human resources, etc. I think there was new signage going toward the tollbooths too, probably directing people to the proper lanes for pre-paid versus not parking as they switch over to automated parking entry. I also think I saw something new in the parking lot up in/near the preferred parking that MIGHT have been some new EV chargers, but to be fair I only got a quick glance before the berm hid it and I was driving so couldn't get a good look. Also, while I certainly don't haunt FB, I have noticed that there have been some regular posts trying to get engage people. Things like list your favorite ride or where was your favorite place to eat or who remembers what was in Batman's location before it was Batman; that sort of thing. I do wish they would post some things about what they do during the off season so the GP understands a little better how much maintenance must be done, but at least its not just crickets or 50 posts about passes. Small things but at least something is happening that is new.

On Thursday night, my leg got trapped under 200 lbs of falling material at work. Nothing was broken on me and my leg is just sore with some minor swelling (now gone). I still took the rest of the shift off to go put my leg up. If I wasn't wearing steel toed-shoes, I likely would have lost something.