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The 2019 trip ended in Stockholm, allowing us to spend a couple of extra days in the city afterward, and I absolutely fell in love with the place. Not a ton of extra time to explore this time around, but at least we got to go back to my all-time second favorite park, Gröna Lund. 20: Blue Train The main entrance (I guess). This one takes you into the smaller, more kid-oriented section of the park. The other main entrance. Just over a bit. But we don't want to go in here! No, no, no. I don't think I rode Tuff-Tuff Tåget on the previous trip. Which I shouldn't have mentioned to Goldballs, because he then insisted that we ride it. So now I have that credit. Yay. I thought Tivoli Gardens was the first time I'd seen a carousel with a ladder up to an animal, but now I'm questioning everything. Note the sign in the back left for "Pettson Findus Varld." I missed this last time. (I think it opens late and closes early.) Sebastian here was quite happy to see me visiting his little corner of the park. I don't think they let him out much. It's a walk-through farmhouse from a series of Swedish children's books about Pettson the farmer and his cat, Findus. I imagine that a lot of the fun comes from finding things you recognize from the books, all of which was lost on me. But it was weird, so I still liked it (in sort of a minor way). This section of the park is very nice, but everything you actually care about is on the other side. So, yes, I've been wasting your time. The covered bridge over an access road that connects to the main area of the park. Why, hello! Who's your new friend? Was that creepy? I was going for creepy. Vilda Musen is an excellent "Wild Mouse." And the quotes are entirely called for, because it's only really a wild mouse in much the same way that bats are really birds. I can say whatever I want in these updates. No one really reads them or wants to argue anymore. I did not participate in the water cup challenge. Though I did participate in getting wet from other people participating in the water cup challenge. As I recall, Ryan did excellently well. At least until one second after I distracted him with this photo when he hit the station brakes and lost most of what was in his cup. Vilda Musen is probably my favorite coaster at Gröna Lund and also exits into a candy store, which is a weird coincidence. House of Nightmares is a Sally walk-through haunted house, which doesn't even seem like it would be a thing, but it is and it's fun. I think it's also an upcharge...? Honestly, and perhaps unwisely, money is the first thing I stop paying attention to on these trips, so who knows. God, I have to walk through this thing? With my feet?! How about you put in a little cart to carry me around? That would really save you some money on painted arrows. Inspired by the murder house, I requested something sharp. It's one of the more subtle cultural things, but they don't cut your pizza for you in Scandinavia. You have to do it yourself, like a peasant. Actually, come to think of it, they don't cut your pizza for you in the US either. They just make little lines on it as though they've cut it, and then don't give you anything sharp. This coaster is called, "Kvasten," which means "Broom." I assume as in, "Witch's Broom," but I kind of like the idea that it could just as easily have been called "Bucket" or something. Blå Tåget is amazing and basically the only thing Goldballs and I talk about no matter where we are or what we're doing. The name translates literally to "Blue Train," but is culturally more like "Crazy Train," because the blue line went to the insane asylum or something? We rode Blue Train multiple times, of course. But on one of our rides, right at the beginning, it broke down. Possibly because of us, and possibly because we're fat. But whatever. The maintenance guy came out, messed around with our lapbar, and then the ride started up again. Except the lights stayed on the whole ride. Which might've been bad if this had been our first or only ride. But was amazing as it was. So enjoy a couple of 'lights on' photos of Blå Tåget. Um, on second thought. One of the great things about Gröna Lund is how rides are built over and through one another. Twister, their weird little wooden coaster, was down for an extended refurb. But that's okay, we rode it last time. Unlike Smisty, I can take or leave spinning. But this is a Schwarzkopf, so I'm in. And also, it's adorable. Just look at it! Gröna Lund is also a seaside park, because why give other parks a chance? I'm not sure why this particular pathway is super Art Deco--but I like it, obviously. I also like Jetline quite a bit, which had been the park's signature coaster until Monster opened. This is my jam. This is not my jam. But Smisty and Goldballs seem to be "enjoying" it. No, wait, this is my jam. Gröna Lund has the best fun house I've ever been in. But maybe there's a better one somewhere. Quick, somebody tell me where it is so I can plan a trip there. Not so much a slide as a conveyor belt. And also weird stairs. A view of one of Monster's beefy supports from the fun house. Elissa, you know you can ask for your own boat, right? I mean, they gave Misty one. So they clearly have a "weird husband" exception, if nothing else. This husband is so weird they don't even require his wife to be in the same country. I was really trying to tie that in to the previous caption--and, you know, make a whole thing out of this Tunnel of Love attraction--but I can admit when it's just not working. Not that I'm going to change it, mind you. Insane, Monster. Monster, Insane. Sorry, ahem, "Insane!" Wait, how did we get in this coaster's maintenance bay? That's Insane! Apologies to everyone on this train who clearly didn't realize that I was taking a photo. Yes, it's Monster, emerging from its underground station. The very same underground station we toured the construction of back in 2019! And this thing is great. The station, I mean. But also the ride itself. It's all great. This park is great. 10. Gröna Lund is a 10. Wait, I'm not done yet. Sorry. I got excited. Ooh, the back alley challenge! Get your minds out of the gutter! More often than not, I tend not to be super into B&M inverts. In fact, there are really only, like, two that I think are actually properly good. Well, I guess three now. And this is one of them. (Not that anyone asked, but the other two are Afterburn and OzIris.) Can I live here? In the park, I mean. I'll be very quiet. You probably won't even notice me. If you'd like to see more photos of Blue Train with the lights on, just reply with any lyric from "I Am Not Your Broom" by They Might Be Giants. Next up: We say goodby to Sweden and hello to Finland!

Day 15: Saturday, June 17th part 1 (of 2) - Travel day to Stockholm, with stop at Skara Sommarland along the way. We got up this beautiful Sat morning, and checked out of the fabulous Grand Curiousa, and loaded up the bus. we were headed to Stockholm today. . .but with a stop along the way. . . buh-bye Liseberg. . . what a fantastic park! just some pics enjoying the Swedish Countryside as we traveled. it really is lovely here. . . and before too long, we were pulling into the parking lot of Skara SommarLand. it was a Saturday, and so I figured it would be crowded, but Elissa had told us that it's mainly a draw for the Waterpark section. we were getting there before opening anyways for some ERT and because the park wanted to show off their newest ride to Robb and TPR. a map out front, showing you approx where you are when visiting Skara and the group shot, before entering - courtesy of Robb. when we got back on the bus later, we'd be short two people, but happily they caught back up with us in Stockholm the next day look how happy.. this is a wonderful pic, if a bit overexposed. the actual map of the Park itself. . it looks a lot bigger than it seemed, but it's pretty spread out with THREE (I think) Go Kart tracks that aren't really clear on this map, tho they are here. some fairly generic, but nice, theming on the main streets. You can tell it's mostly "sold" as a waterpark but THIS is mainly why we made a stop here, for the park's unique (I think only one of it's kind in the world?) S&S Free-Fly coaster, Tranan each car has it's own unique bird "flying" it. . and I was a bit confused, and amused by the look on this one's face. is the coaster THAT bad??? but getting up above it for loading on each side? you can see what's going on here. . . his scarf, has gotten sucked thru this jetback and is choking him to death. hysterical. (this also gives you a good look at the seats on this thing). they didn't have all 5 cars on the tracks - only 3 - but here's a look at the other two characters that were on the standby trains. in this pic, you can see how truly "exposed" one feels while riding this. the "trains" are very low on the sides, and the only safety is the seat belt. oh. . I'm SURE it's safe enough, and no one has ever fallen out. . . .but I really (I mean seriously) did not feel comfortable on this thing. I felt like I could fall out any minute. Some folks really *love* that feeling. . . not me tho. I only rode it twice (once on each side) then was done and just took pics of it. I'm glad I rode it, as it's SO unique. . . but not something I'd go out of my way to ride if it were in my home park. a look at another bird on the next car. yeah. . I'm smiling. .but it hadn't moved yet. . . (guessing pic courtesy of Elissa) notice my death grip on the bar in front of me, and on the rail on the side. Yeah. . wasn't loving this. again, glad I rode it tho. (next pics are likely courtesy of Andy) my 2nd ride.. other side, this time not in the very front. Felt a bit more "secure" with people both in front of me and behind. . . but still, once on each side was enough for me, and went to take pics. it really is rather cool to watch it do this maneuver. it does it twice during the course, I believe. and it truly IS pretty photogenic. . here's the whole layout in pics. . . while waiting for the ERT to finish up, I wandered around the area a little bit. . this ride apparently used to be at Grona Lund before being relocated here. it looks similar to the Catwoman ride SF StL added. the logo is great, even if the name is a bit generic. the medium sized cart track. the park was getting ready to open, and so they were starting to staff up the rides. LOL. .it worried me that the operator for his testing/set up was wearing a neck collar. . but turned out that was a safety thing for all the versions of the go karts here. it really is a lovely park. . tho it feels like there's a lot of unused space here still. across the lake back in the distance is the main waterpark area here's what the Park folks wanted to show us. . the new ride. I don't think I ever did get the name of this. . but it was air bumper cars. basically ? Air Hockey with you as the puck. you can tell it's really new - I think they said that it had just opened the prior week? (or maybe it hadn't opened to the public yet, and TPR was given a preopening ride on it?) they were still working on the theming, and there was a bunch of construction still going on in the queue. but I'll admit - this was hella fun. and I don't do Bumper Cars. . but this was more akin to Bumper Boats, but without the water. and once you figured out how to control the things? like I said, Hella fun. even if the seating in them is just a bit: "Gynecological Exam" guessing thanks to Elissa or maybe Brad or AJ for the pics with me in em? Whee!!! after this fun, we were cut loose to enjoy the park, until meeting up for lunch. Some went to the waterpark, and some of us shopped, or wandered. this is "Spinner" the park's Maurer Wild Mouse. it wasn't open yet - I believe it was supposed to open at noon? so we noted to come back later, and kept exploring. as noted. . a quite nice, and large park. what's this upside down house thing? a funhouse? Nope. . .junior bumper cars. why the upside-down house? no one I asked knew.. . LOL here's the park's 3rd coaster, Gruvbanan, a Mack powered coaster, with an inside section (mainly a couple of big Helixes) that go around a campground of Trolls - if I'm remembering correctly. the queue line was nicely themed. . . as a mining camp. . and it was a really long train. . so it's basically a people eater. . Big Mike, myself, and Matthew also with Jonathan & Didier whee!. . but ya gotta sit down Big Mike! Glad we got a couple of rides on it before moving on, as it broke down shortly after our rides, and I don't think it came back up before we left. (I don't think it opened back up for the rest of the 2023 season either, from what I saw on RCDB. . so something really must have broken) but it was a fun coaster for what it is - a family powered mine train, basically. this "gate" was randomly in the center of one of the walkways. Someone, I think perhaps Erik, opined that this must be the original "rides" section of the park, when it was mostly just waterpark. and as they grew, they started putting coasters and rides in other areas of the park. it's probably a correct assumption, as the majority of the rides (including the mine train, the flume, the train station, and others) are over here found a coffee shop with OK coffee, but they also had these sprinkled balls. they weren't quite cake balls, and I didn't really care for them. . but hey, I'm juvenile enough that I got them with my coffee just so I could get a picture this was something I just adored. A fountain that had an entrance from the back, so one could stand under it to get a picture, without getting wet. the mist was cooling, and no real wetness. yes.. yes. . it's a "rooster". sometimes I don't NEED to put a double entendre caption Nice playground area looking across the lake for where we were about to meet up for Lunch. and a pic of said lunch. I was impressed that a park served on real plates/bowls/glasses, and with real silverware. not sure if that's their standard thing, or just for us special, but this did seem to be the one sit down restaurant in the park. (tho we sat outside on the deck) the lake is full of fishies who were hungry for leftover french fries. . . look at dem mouths! we headed back over to Spinner after lunch, and tho it had been open, it had gotten stuck. Maintenance worked on it, and many from our group lined up and some (I believe including Robb & Sarah) got on. . and the car they were in got stuck - in the same place the prior one had been. several of us looked at each other and were like. . .um. . nuh-uh. (LOL). . but we had seen the train passing by, so instead decided to take a ride on the train around the park. a good idea anyways to let Lunch settle. walking over to the train, found a photo op. So of COURSE! mini-train. . but I really liked the detail on it. and it gives you a great look at the entire park as it travels around. it doesn't look too crowded, but it really was fairly busy. . I think most were just at the waterpark areas. and look. . started off this report with a smiling sMisty, and now have a smiling Erik ! and a smiling Eric and Shane too Big Mike wasn't on the train with us..but caught him wandering around upright! Spinner. . still not moving. around this time, I had gotten a call asking if I knew where Didier was - since I had been hanging out with him. They were looking for him, because there had been an accident (what was referred to as a splinter) and needed to get into the bus. Didier was on the train with us. . . so told them that we'd meet them at the front gate - but as the train had just pulled out, it might be a good 20 minutes. Daniel got the phone and asked me if I had my meds with me - I always carry a bunch of painkillers, antacids, muscle relaxers. . all over the counter stuff. . which of course I did. only problem was the same - we were on the train. BUT, someone had the brilliant idea to notice that the train tracks passed right by where the group was with the injured person, so we made a plan on the spot to drop off pain meds as we passed by. a look at the largest of the go kart tracks here as Skara Sommerland. they also have one of these "never in America" bouncy things in the playground. this is a bizzaro ride - it's a water ski thing. .where you grab a handle, and the wires overhead pull you around the lake here. it doesn't reflect in the pics, but the lake was this weird greenish/yellow color. . that looked kinda toxic - if I'm being honest. . . I certainly wouldn't want to fall into that water. but folks could "waterski" on it. this was also the reason for the medical issue. no, the person hadn't gotten hurt riding it. . .they had gotten a splinter in their foot when they took their shoes off and walked on the wooden deck/station to got to the start of the ride. oh. . but "splinter" is underselling it. I will NOT be sharing the picture, but this was a "splinter" in name only. . it was a big stick, that basically impaled the foot. i'm glad I had some meds that perhaps helped with the pain, but this was a "need to go to the hospital to have it removed" type of thing. (tho we didn't know that just yet. . we only knew a request for pain meds and I was happy to help out) here's Daniel waiting by the train tracks for his dealer. . . (these pics are from Andy who had been hanging with the group doing the waterski thing to get pics) just a taste for free. . the next one you pay! (Shane, who wasn't aware of what was going on, looks very confused) and Erik behind me was making sure all angles were covered. . . after that excitement, there was more excitement on the train when we passed a dinosaur (?). why? I dunno. . but a dinosaur! and going thru the tunnel, there's a huge ad for Wildfire and Kolmarden (I understood this later, when I found out the same owners run all 4 of the next parks we'd be visiting) passing by Gruvbanan, which was still down. and ANOTHER set of Bumper Cars. . . wow. .those are really popular here at Skara. the flume was busy, even tho it was a fairly short, out and back type. Typically what you'd see at a traveling fair. . but this one had permanent troughs. (and adorable cars) a mini-troika - themed to swamp buggies (not operating today. . multiple things seemed to be down today. . but not an issue, the amount of crowds on the "dry" areas had plenty to do. and the kiddie stuff was mostly running. . keeping the families there happy. what I think, perhaps, used to be the main entrance to the "dry/ride" side of the park? it appeared there was a parking lot back over here. Tho everyone in the park came thru the main gates, as we did. Maybe it's only used on super busy days? I was interested in doing a little shopping, but nothing really was catching my eye. Tho this sign did: "Bad Poncho" it doesn't look too awful. . . until you get close and realize it's all blurry and looked like they printed them out on a fax machine from the early 80s oh well. . truth in Advertising, gotta give em that! Senor Frogs? I wasn't in the mood to get wet, so avoided the waterpark - tho I think some in our group did go and say it was fun. But I wanted to get pics of the flume, mainly because of the adorable boats the park was using. I'm not certain why the flume is called "Newton". . couldn't find any translation. maybe the Whale's name is "Newton" ? OMG!!! Adorbs!! ' hahahahaha. . . LOVE it and with that, it was almost time to head out to Stockholm. while we waited for everyone, many folks got Ice Cream, and I posed with the surfboards outside the store. no comment. LOL and with that, we loaded back onto the bus - minus the two who had gone to Hospital to deal with the foot injury and would meet us in Stockholm (seriously. . what a great friend that someone went with to make sure the injured party wasn't' there alone). day to be continued. . .

I used to work at the park as well. I don't think making an account trying to pass it off as an official representative for the park is a smart idea.

Poseidon's Fury was one of those experiences that you can really only get at a theme park. I remember wandering into it on my first visit and being totally blown away, and the cheesy story line not even mattering. It was so grand, so unique, and so unexpected. As much as I love rides and coasters, I'm a firm believer that theme parks need to include these kind of alternative attractions to give guests a more complete experience.