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Collect them both! Stockholm is my favorite city--at least of those I've visited thus far.

I appreciate you coming on here to post whatever news you can give. You don't come off as an official anything, just someone with some knowledge sharing info.

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!

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 got to take a spin on this coaster last Summer. First time there, I stopped by for a couple quick hours, which I liked (compared to a full-day's commitment seemingly needed for SFOG). Particularly hot day, so I didn't do many laps, but wowee this thing was an absolute beast. Likely the most intense RMC I've ridden. 4 front laps and 1 in back, and basically walk-on waits, sending mostly empty trains. I must also add, the other major coaster in the park, Hurricane. That was... quite an experience itself. Really fun lil bunny hill hops on that, but oh my goodness those turns were so violent, lol. Made me giggle, but that was a one and done.

This now piece of history has been added to my collection.

*Edited with 2025 Doing a 2025 Season Update on this, primarily for myself: (Prices 2001, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 via Wayback Machine); Inflation is $1 in 2001 = $1.81 today. Phoenix: $1.50 $2, $2, $2.50, $3, $3, $3.50, $4, $4.50, $5, $5 Flyers: $0.80, $1, $1.20, $1.50, $1.75, $2.50, $2.50, $3, $3.50, $3.50, $4 Carousel: $0.70 $0.80 $0.90, $1, $1.50, $1.75, $2, $2.50, $2.50, $3, $3 Red Baron: $0.60, $0.70 $0.80, $1, $1.25, $1.50, $1.75, $2, $2, $2, $2.50 Adult Wristband w/ Coasters: (not available yet for 2024), $31, $37, $39.50, $47, $50, $53, $55, $56, $58 Other notes- Black Diamond is $4.50, Phoenix, Twister, Impulse, Flying Turns- $5.00 Haunted Mansion increased from $2.50 to $3 to $3.50 from 2021 to 2023, still $3.50 in 2025. All flats are $3-$4 now. From 2024 to 2025, they increased many of the $3.50 flats to $4. Skyway remains $5 Kiddie rides are $2-2.50 (Kozmo's Kurves = $3.50). Campground rates went up from like $56/58 to $62/66 to $65/70 to $69/74 the last four years. Prices increased again, of course. from 2024. I would say about a third of the rides saw a price increase of 50 cents. If you buy tickets, like they require on weekend, and do all five coasters plus some of the more unique rides (Bumper Cars, Carousel, Flyers, Train, Haunted Mansion, Looper, Skyway, Whip, Giant Wheel , Giant Flume), you'll be sitting at $61.50. For 15 rides, that seems like a lot. You can save 15% at Weis, so ~$52. It seems like they're pretty clearly trying to push people toward wristbands more and more. I know people are going to come and defend the park. And I love Knoebels. But, the average person living near that park makes less $$$ than people coming from surrounding cities and the price to actually ride things is getting quite high, in my opinion. It's no Mall of America, Atlantic City, Morey's Pier, Coney Island, etc.