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Achievement unlocked! Obviously, Blue Train is mostly just a collection of unrelated horror gags. But it makes me wonder: What if there was a ride with the aesthetics of Blue Train, but that had a more consistent theme, and a more cohesive narrative? Hmm, I wonder. (Psst, come back in like 5 updates if you wonder similarly!)

Hey! It's all good! Most of us are passionate about the park too or we wouldn't be on here. I (and I am sure several others) appreciate any information you feel you can pass along.

So many great pictures! On the same cruise that we were on when we went to Liseberg we were docked right across the harbor from Gronalund, but since Joel was only 9 and wouldn't have been tall enough for much AND we only had a day AND no one else wanted to spend it in a amusement park we didn't pay to go in. Walked right by it though. If anyone every gets the chance to sail into Stockhom it's really amazing. You spend about 3 hours going past a million little islands, most of which have summer cabins on them.

I'll play along: "What nonsense are you speaking broom my words you must obey" I love your pictures and actually read your captions

Day 15: Saturday, June 17th part 2 (of 2) - Travel day to Stockholm, surprise ERT at Grona Lund! back on the bus for a few hours, and enjoying the sights to Sweden we took a 45 minute rest stop to grab food, and tho most of the folks went to quicker service (and I think sMisty went to the candy store next door), Erik, myself, Didier, and I think Andrew, went across the intersection to this burger/pub chain in Sweden. they assured us they could get the food out fast, and they did, even tho it was a sit down restaurant. it was quite good too. but . . um. . maybe lost something in the translation? no, I didn't try the "soup of the day" then it was back on the bus, to finish our drive into Stockholm. lots of interesting architecture . . . really liked this sculpture in one of the Roundabouts that are all over Stockholm such a cool city! very futuristic. . . based on the clocks (on the many buildings), we were arriving at our Stockholm hotel at just about 8pm. my first glimpse of Grona Lund. . . I was blown away. the rides really are just piled one on top of each other. our hotel was literally next door to Grona Lund. .so we knew we were close. and here we were. . at the BackStage Hotel. literally across the (narrow) street from Grona Lund. oh. . and also *attached* to the ABBA Museum - with access from the hotel lobby! speaking of the Hotel Lobby. . . very modern, and funky. . . the Cafe in the hotel. and the Bistro attached to the ABBA museum (I stepped out front of the hotel to get these pics) yes, they played ABBA music non-stop. . and yes, I LOVED it. I mean LOVED it. Our room was the corner there on the upper right, with the patio door open. Jonathan was in the room next door to us, and he was also enjoying the music. aww. . a kiddie cut out photo op. one for the adults too. . which hysterically had a sign taped to the back warning not to stick your entire head thru the hole, as it might get stuck. LOL. . you know that has happened, if they need a sign. going back inside, even tho the museum was closed as it was just past 8pm, it's attached to the lobby. So was able to peek in, and get a few pics. I'm stunned by the ABBA around me (yeah yeah. . a terrible pic, but the only one I had of the Kimonos!) Since Grona Lund was right across the street, once I had put all the luggage in the room I ventured out to check it out - from the outside. Tho Backstage was our base hotel for a few nights, our full day at Grona Lund wasn't until two more parks (three days) from now. one of the main gates. . tho this one seemed to enter into the more family friendly, kid friendly ride area but I'll bet this was once THE main gate, as the art deco design and lights were impressive the Grona Lund gift shop, which was open for anyone to go in and look around - so I took a quick peek, but was warned they were closing in an hour, so if I saw anything I wanted, I had to get it before then. By a sweet little old lady - who watched me like a HAWK the moment I stepped into the store. . LOL we were missing the Chicks (ie: the Dixie Chicks) at the park by just a week or so. . . SO much art deco glass and artistic design here. . . one of Grona Lund's multiple Drop Towers/Tower Rides. look closely on the right side.. yup, that's a STAND UP option for one side of the tower! (spoiler, it scared the shit out of me, but I did the stand up option when we went to the park. and that camera on that side up there? yup, takes a photo you can buy). what seems to be getting used as the "main" entrance now. . as it had the box office, the information booth, and the queues set up to handle large lines over here. it also puts you in right be lots of games and some big rides. oooo.. Ice Cream. I hadn't had any at Skara Sommerland. . so I took this as a sign from the universe. tho I wasn't trusting those sprinkles..they looked suspiciously like Licorice to me. so played it safe with a cup and caramel/strawberry syrup topping. I spot a coaster thru the trees. Robb had messaged the group saying he had a surprise for us, and anyone who was interested should meet in the lobby at 9:30. so I finished up my ice cream and headed back across to our hotel. taking a few more pics as I walked. Ian was in the lobby, so I grabbed him and dragged him over to the photo op. I believe Jon took this pic for us. LOL. . neither of us wanted to be the guys. . but I, mean, I HAVE to be Frida of course. turned out the surprise? the owner of the park had reached out to welcome Robb & TPR to Stockholm and offered us some ERT on the park's newest coaster, a B&M Invert called "Monster". .that opened in 2021. I think almost everyone on the trip excitedly lined up to go into Grona Lund as they were about to close for the evening, to get some rides on Monster. the Clock on the wall shows it was about 9:55 pm. . and still so bright out. as you can see, the rides are just stacked on top of each other. . I can imagine how difficult it was to build this coaster in this space! (that white coaster in the background is "Insane", and the drop tower behind it - that drops face first - is "Icarus". . . will talk about them in the Grona Lund update) ah. .finally, the train is visible, right there in the center pic.. . here it comes overhead. . they were flushing the line out for us at the end of night. . . so this empty train told us that they were about ready for us. by the way, the owner we met (who's name I unfortunately cannot remember) was SO damn nice. just an all around nice guy. very much enjoyed chatting with him briefly. crowd headed out. . we're headed in. that's the main entrance to the ride straight ahead. but we weren't going in via the main queue. . . he led us down an alley towards the back of the ride. . . to the JetPass (the park's version of Flashpass) entrance. . which drops you right into the station. I rode this a bunch of times. . the view from the front is just stunning, as it weaves in and out of buildings, with a few near misses. and the drop has just this amazing view of the lake and the ferries as people were leaving the park. it is a bit too intense for me, and so I had to take several breaks. I'd basically do two rides back to back, then a break. . etc. as people started to bow out after many rides, there started to be some open seats - so Ian and I couldn't hold hands while riding but it HAD been a long day. . the adrenaline kept me going tho! one of my "breaks" between rides, in the cool underground station. yup, it starts and ends underground. Eventually we had to bid the park goodbye - for a few days - and we were led past the closed ride entrance and to the gates. LOVE how this ride interacts with the surroundings. . it just looms over everything over here. and then we made our way back across the street to the hotel, where I took a shower, and crashed HARD. it had been a long day, but quite an exciting one. I said a small prayer for the health of our injured companion - who rejoined our group the day after next with his foot bandaged up, but still able to ride stuff), and slept. tomorrow was another day. . and we were going to be headed to Furuvik. . a park no one on the trip (not even Robb & Elissa) had been to prior. . . and it had a lot of animals too. so I was excited. ending with a beautiful shot from Robb's on ride camera, of the Monster first drop, as the sun sets. (and a view of the parking lot across the street that the park has announced will be turned into an expansion, so will have rides on it in the future). thanks for reading along. . hope you've enjoyed!

Awesome! Personally, I love the idea of the Friday updates and it looks like you have gotten a mostly positive response on FB. I would encourage the park to be as transparent as possible (I get there are some things you may not be able to talk about) on the status of things. People are mostly understanding if they are just filled in on the why's and what's, like what is honestly happening with the carousel..........and explain new procedures that are in place, thinking mostly the new parking toll booth procedures. And don't let the haters bother you In the end this particular park thread has a lot of traffic when compared to some others on here and that tells you something about how much people want the park to succeed in the end