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Supernovae Productions on a theme park road trip to Sweden Summer vacation 2025 was all about a trip with the final destination: Liseberg in Sweden. To prepare, we used coast2coaster to plan out a route hitting several parks along the way. We kicked things off in Rotterdam and headed through Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and then back to the Netherlands. If you want to watch a vlog full of random nonsense, click this link: Let’s start with Day 1. Monday, August 11th First stop: Tier- und Freizeitpark Thüle, about a 4-hour drive from home. The park is a mix of a small zoo and an amusement park, mostly known for its Heege rides. None of us had been there before, so it felt like the perfect little stop on our way. We arrived around early afternoon, and first things first: food. No lunch yet, so obviously we went for currywurst – the ultimate German snack that you just have to try at least once when visiting our eastern neighbors. After filling up, time to check out the park. We started with the zoo section – nice, but nothing too special. On to the rides! First coaster: Lost World – a dinosaur-themed powered coaster by Wiegand. Cute little layout, fun theming, and you can tell the park really put some effort into it. Dinosaurs along the track, tunnels, and the tiny 2-person cars actually have a decent speed. Opened in 2022, it’s a solid addition for a park this size. We already decided we’d reride this one later in the day. Next up: Drachen-Achterbahn by Zierer. Honestly, nothing groundbreaking, but hey – if you’ve got a YouTube channel and need onrides, you’ve gotta ride these too. Been there, done that. Then Storchenturm, basically the same ride as Wirbelbaum in Toverland. Of course the teenager had to test how fast we could spin… let’s just say, we saw some beautiful stripes afterwards. Time for “slip ‘n slide” on the Rundbootrutsche, a round boat water slide with a helix in the layout. You never know if you’ll come out forwards or backwards since you spin the whole way down. On the way to the next ride we saw this random building – no clue what was inside. Funhouse? Haunted house? Walkthrough? The capacity was terrible, only four people at a time with a long pause in between groups. So we waited. And waited. Finally our turn! First part was a walkthrough with some guy on a screen talking about… well, no idea what. Then a room full of glowing special effects – cool, but we still didn’t know what the main attraction was. Finally, we got into a 4-person bench hanging from a track. Surprise! It turned out to be a dark ride + flying theater hybrid called Tiki-Tahiti Adventure. We “flew” past a bunch of screens with movement effects – nothing too wild, but if you’ve got a weak stomach, maybe skip it. Some masked dude was the main character, no clue what the story was, but it was funny. And hey, there was even a mine train coaster in the film. Does that secretly count as another coaster credit? When we got out, we all agreed it wasn’t worth the insane wait, but hey, sometimes you’ve just got to try things as a theme park fan. Plenty more flat rides and Heege attractions to hit, so we moved on. Wildwasserondell – basically a jetski ride – always fun. Supernovaejunior wanted to try the Nautic Jet, so he did that while the rest of us filmed some offrides nearby. Then the Kontiki swing boat by Zierer, followed by the Sindbad Schaukelschiff – a classic pirate ship, pretty much the same as the one in Toverland. After that, we hopped on Eiertanz, where you sit in half eggs swinging around on spinning arms. Fun ride, but it took forever to stop spinning afterwards – longer than the ride itself. Guess they forgot the brakes? Next door was Airboat, a Huss flat ride, but we had to wait since the same operator also ran Eiertanz. Not great for capacity, but hey, that’s just how the park rolls. We wrapped things up with another ride on Lost World and some of the typical Heege rides: Sailbahn, Schmetterling and Komet Schaukel. After that it was time to head out to our first overnight stop in Bad Oeynhausen. Final thoughts on Tier- und Freizeitpark Thüle Cute little park with a nice atmosphere. The addition of Lost World and Tiki-Tahiti Adventure are good steps toward becoming a “more serious” theme park. It’s not big enough to spend a full day (unless you’ve got small kids), but as a half-day stop on the way to bigger parks, it’s perfect. On to Day 2: Potts Park!

Hit Dollywood yesterday. I had been there once before in summer 2020 (Covid time). I forget how pretty the park is: they have done a great job preserving so many trees and greenery (except for by Big Bear Mountain - see below!). It's just lovely to walk through those hills and among those trees and not really be able to see what's around the bend. Super friendly customer service, but slow ops, especially on Mystery Mine (the one ride that could use quick ops!). They could take a lesson or two from Holiday World. Very solid, diverse coaster line-up. Couple observations: Thunderhead. Wow! I don't remember being as impressed by first trip, but I friggin' LOVED this ride. It was mostly a walk-on and so I got about 7-8 rides on it. Not a bad seat to be found, although I preferred the front end (and I am normally a back of the train rider.). Fantastic layout. It sustains speed the whole time, with great curves and transition. Tons of air, including a glorious sustained floater moment on a low profile speed bump near the end (after the station fly-by and left turn). And it was running GREAT. Super smooth, but still forceable. Don't know what Dollywood or the designer has done, but this thing runs gloriously. My favorite ride at the park. Mystery Mine. Horrific operations. 3 people to check 8 shoulder harnesses and they still stacked 5 trains repeatedly -- because they were having conversations, not running the ride. Love the theme. Love the song. Really enjoyed the ride, even though Gerst stuff feels "junky" to me -- I can't believe they spent $17.5M on it in 2006(?), even if the theming? But very effective drop and ending. Fun. Keep your head back. Lightning Rod. Had it's unusual downtime, but got about 6 rides in when it opened. It's a great ride, and I can't remember the changes in the track - felt the same to me. It's a great layout, I always love dropping into that valley and seeing the track in there, and the quad down and ending is just epic, out of control greatness. There IS a big of kink after the second drop, but not terrible. But, as good and relentless as it is, I found myself enjoying Thunderhead more. That surprises me. The Arrow Looper whose name I forget. Oh wait, Ten. Tornado! I thought it was excellent. Love the drop into the tunnel and that MASSIVE loop. A bit short, but very smooth, and had that Arrow charm from my youth. Big smiles for that one. Big Bear Mountain. Really fun, but I think my expectations were too high. Fun, great addition to make the line-up diverse, but didn't blow me away, although the second half was especially fun. Although the interior is well themed, I am really surprised that a park with such great beauty around everything, let this entire coaster sit on an open plot of grass and dirt -- it just looked open and barren. The ride would look amazing if they surrounded it with trees, which would really increase the sense of speed and surprise. Puzzling. BTW, the building for next year's attraction looks HUGE.

Well, I FINALLY made my first visit to Holiday World. WOW. I will join the chorus of people singing its praises. What a charming, well-kept, well-run park. As I entered the park, I was greeted by all the team members in a super friendly way. And as I made my around the park, its cleanliness, fun themes, and overall operations were stunning for a such a small, family-run park. I was stunned they were running 2 trains on Voyage and Legend, despite minimal lines. AND the Voyage had like 6 team members checking the train -- although they still somehow managed to stack trains frequently, the operations were mostly smooth. I focused on the coasters. Sure wish I could have done night rides! The Voyage. I actually wasn't terribly impressed on my first ride. I was in the very front of the very first train and although I was impressed by relatively smooth it was, I just wasn't blown away: not a lot of air. Definitely partly the product of sky-high expectations. AND THEN I rode the back and THEN the coaster warmed up. Holy crap! To me, this is more a backseat ride (although there is no "bad" seat that I can find in 8 rides.). The spaghetti bowl turnaround at the back is one of the most out-of-control feelings I have ever experienced in a coaster. It's up there with the quadruple down on Lightning run and the end turns on El Toro, as great mayhem. Each ride I appreciated The Voyage more, focusing more on its unrelenting speed, floater (and pops) of air, and its incredible length and design. It's a top 5 for me now. And kudos for the loving care Holiday World shows this ride -- they spend a ton of time taking care of it, and it shows. Legend. As a sign of my old age, the back seat was just a little too uncomfortable for me, but I loved how raw and rough this coaster is (in the good way, as designed vs. rough b/c of crappy maintenance.). Enjoyed it much more in the front seat, especially the second half. But I didn't love it. My bias is more towards airtime machines than laterals and I still found myself having to ride a little more defensively than I'd like. Still, a very good ride. Love the backstory and the bell ringing. Raven. Man, I had waited for this coaster for a while, given its legendary status. Again, my expectations sorta messed with me, and having ridden it third, it was a hard comparison to the mighty Voyage. I imagine it is stunning at night. I loved the layout, especially the third drop into the woods (massive air in the back, but sadly I kept thinking about the enthusiast who fell). I see they have retracked big sections, but they didn't quite yet reach that final right hand turn before the final turn -- that thing is BRUTAL: literally flying into and out of a pothole. I only did 2 rides on Raven because the pothole was nearly a chiropractic spinal cracking everytime. Loved the station and it's a fun, excellent ride. Thunderbird. This was the surprise hit! Yes, the value of low expectations-- AND it's a great design! yes, I was one of the idiots on here complaining when this ride was announced 10 years ago, saying it was not a great fit for the park: too much money for a gimmicky ride. Happily I was wrong: the theming is great, the launch packs a bunch, and the layout is superb. Probably the best wing coaster I have been on, possibly except for Gatekeeper ( I have also done Wild Eagle and X Flight). Love the use of the valley and the woods. Really super fun and re-rideable. Overall, just loved the park and how it's run. I know Paula is long-gone and they went through some family drama, but I still found everything excellent

I’ve spoken to 15 ppl both at corporate and local parks, including a response from Park Manager of the Texas parks. Legacy dinning and benefits will be valid at all parks including the cedar side.

Assuming it is operational by then.