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hey!! Pipe Scream spins. . and at last official count, it's still a "coaster"

We also spent some time at Ba Na Hills theme park. You could probably do a full day there if you wanted to really explore, but a lot of the rides there were copies of films we'd seen in Korea, so we didn't buy any buffet tickets and opted to leave after half a day since Korea has some of the busiest water parks in the world, we wanted to maximize our hotel water park time. The park is supposedly one of Vietnam's busiest tourist places, a theme park on top of the mountain and home to the Golden Hand Bridge aka 'The World's Most Instagrammmable Bridge', this park features in 100s of reels and YouTube videos on the topic of Instagram/Reality. So how bad was it really? Off to Ba Na Hills we go. Like most Vietnamese theme parks and the one In my previous TR, this one is owned by Sun World. We'd been warned that Ba Na Hills has it's own climate and heard many horror stories of terrible views and shut down cable cars. This was the only time we ever saw the resort all the way from our hotel, and with only that one cloud in the whole sky we chose to go that day. Being a Saturday and the best weather day in rainy season we knew we'd probably be in for the worst. Despite it being only a 30 minute taxi drive from the hotel clouds quickly formed. Instagram Vs Reality 1: We'd seen people recording hour-long queues for the cable car and tons of tour buses. We had an early breakfast and were at this entrance by 8:30.... ... and were not only on instantly but it was quiet enough even small groups weren't made to share gondolas yet. If you look to the right of the picture you can also see they're installing a 4th cable car line to reduce the lines. Despite the blue sky at the bottom, we entered the clouds after 15 minutes, at over 20 minutes long this is, I think, the world record holder for longest cable car journey. The famous bridge appeared out of the clouds. It's mostly there to connect the two cable car stations. Instagram Vs Reality 2: This bridge is known for being horribly crowded, but at 9am it wasn't bad at all. A lot of the crowds moved on because of the clouds wanting to come back when it was clearer but I kind of enjoyed the mist and clouds as a back-drop. Personally, if you just want to enjoy the view and don't care too much about getting the perfect shot on the bridge, head to the back side of the park. 99% of the crowds will be on the bridge and you can enjoy looking down the mountain without being jostled. Later in the day the bridge was starting to look more like the videos, and only got busier from there as guided tour groups packed in. The gardens are also in this area. At the other end of the bridge is the cable car to the theme park area. Note all the different lines that go to the other areas or back down the mountain. The twin alpine coasters, the parks signature attraction. Normally even on quiet days these rides can have an hour queue and shut down easily from weather. We'd been told the track in this picture, and the one you'll come across first from the cable car is the quieter one of the two, but this information is now outdated. Operations have now changed That one is now the free alpine coaster, and the other is fast-pass only. A fast-pass ticket was about $3 a person so skip the free one and just buy for the ticketed one. Also, tell the staff if you want a fast ride. They were great and would always check the car ahead was almost done before dispatching us. We saw many cars stuck behind slow riders but every time we asked the staff for a fast ride they obliged and we had brakeless runs whenever we wanted. Between the alpine coasters is the main indoor theme park, home to some kids rides like this ferris wheel, SBF Airborne Shot (closed for maintenance), single rail horse ride, and bumper cars. Also home to a 4D cinema, Desperados shooter, and a 360 screen. We've rode this many times at Seoul Land but it's always funny watching people jump out of their chairs on this when the dinosaur head closes around them. The main attraction indoor is the drop tower that goes and gives you a view outside. Like a lot of Vietnam, the arcade games scattered around were set to free play. There was also a dark ride but the line was long and a Youtube search suggested not worth the time. Link The outdoor area is mostly full of buffet restaurants and photo ops. But there is a chair ride and Merry go round here. The rides outside go down at the tiniest bit of rain which is pretty common even on sunny days. On the other end of the park, is the newest area,this empty castle, where there are 2 more movie rides. One a 4D cinema for 300 people showing Monster Family every 30 minutes. We'd seen it at Everland so we skipped it for the other ride. A 20-seater ride as you fly across the world feeling heat rain and wind. It felt like it was designed for a Flying Theater ride but they budget cut it back to a regular simulator. Before heading out we decided to sample Vietnam's coffees: Coconut coffee and egg coffee. We wanted to grab some swimming pool time so we left early but it started to pour, my son was saddened he might miss out on the outdoor pool but we would hit up the indoor one instead. However as we descended it became clear, Ba Na Hills really does get different weather than the rest of the city.... the rain disappeared.... ... and the journey back was sunny with a slight chance of cow. So we abandoned the rest of the day at Ba Na Hills for a indoor water park Plus a public clothed onsen (and gender-specific private areas for the more adventurous) Outdoor water park And Vietnam's 2nd? biggest lazy river. And the infinity pool, however unlike the rest of the water park above, where day tickets can be bought, you needed a hotel room key for here. This ends the Vietnam Parks TR. We had originally planned to hit the 3rd Sun World park, a zoo/water park/theme park combination,Link, but with 2 theme parks done and a water park-inclusive hotel booked due to the rainy season (as well as not being able to see which attractions were actually running at that park), we used the rest of the good weather days to experience the cultural sites and other tourist places like the famous lantern and basket boats instead. Bad coaster enthusiasts but good tourists.

Part 1 Is It a Fever Dream . . . or BonBon Land? Ever woke up drenched in sweat and not quite sure of where you are or what happened? If so, you just might be in BonBon Land. Or is that “Bon Bon-Land”? “Bon Bon Land?” At this point, I have no idea. Let’s stick with BonBon Land, as that what the sign says out front. What can one say about a theme park that was started by a candy company that catered to a child’s infatuation with bodily orifices and functions? That is home not only to the world’s oldest Eurofighter but also to a kiddie coaster celebrating canine flatulence? Where outrageous caricatures and stereotypes are the rule, sensibilities be damned? All you can do is throw up your hands (and maybe your Danish/Mexican lunch) and say, “See for yourself.” Just go to Denmark and don’t be fooled by what first appears to be a rather old industrial park--there’s parking, roller coasters, and disturbing statues back there, I promise you. Although the park has changed hands since 2009 and become a trifle less outrageous, you should still be ready to ask this question after your visit: “What in the hell just happened?” “Ya wanna lick my ice cream bar? It will cost you about 5 percent of your sanity and a bit of your soul!” This is Vild-Svinet (or “Wild Boar”). It was the first Eurofighter ever built back in 2003. Yes, it’s themed to a pig race . . . . . . as envisioned by the legendary Big Daddy Roth. (I have no evidence that the creator of Rat Fink had anything to do with this ride. But this looks pretty “Roth-like.”) While not exactly smooth as glass . . . . . . it’s not as painful as you might think. I think this cat was embarrassed to be seen in public with me. Or maybe because he’s a cat with a spinning mouse coaster. Behold the legendary Henry, Lord of the Dog Fart Coaster! Yes, I’m sure that Vikings in Valhalla sing lusty drinking songs in praise of his mighty name. Yes, Henry might have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Whew! Henry feels much better now. “Yay! We’ve learned so much about the canine colon today! BonBon Land is so educational.” Now here is a coaster train . . . . . . of truly epic length. Some strong-stomached souls took on this challenge. I raise my flagon to them. They conquered not only the Giant Frisbee . . . . . . but also a Danish/Mexican lunch. (They had these tortilla-wrap sandwiches that were pretty decent.) Can your heart stand BonBon Land’s provocative take on “It’s a Small World”? Is Italy full of depressed dogs in chef’s hats playing the guitar or mandolin? If so, do they suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome? BonBon Land is not afraid to ask the tough questions! Oh, this ought to be good. Yep--there’s the American experience, alright. Who will save us from this post-apocalyptic hell space? Thank you, heroic Australian postal kangaroo! You’ve saved us . . . but for what? Whew! Good to be back in the ol’ USA, again. Er, I think it’s good. This certainly took a dark turn. “Nymph in thy orisons . . . . . . be all my sins remembered.” A flume ride themed to rats, cheese, and a sewer? Eric and I said, “Well, why not?” “Hi there! I’m smiling, but please remember that I’m still vermin and aid the process of decomposition. It’s the Circle of Life, baby!” “Like the bug said. But if you get too close to our cheese, you’ll be part of the Circle of Life pretty damn quick--got it?” Even the bacteria swimming in this water have a role to play in the Circle of Life. Did all this happen, or was it just one strange dream? Nah--it happened. BonBon Land will do that to you. Henry double dog dares you to eat his “candy.” That’s it for BonBon Land.

Weird update not involving Kingda Ka but I’m me so you should expect this… The park removed the Skyway from the map in the update that came out today, but the parachutes are still there. They then proceeded to put all of the cabins that were off the ride and presumably in the boneyard back on to the transfer tracks. Source Nothing this park does makes sense. Also, speaking of the new map… RIP to all of these people.

Hej! Erik & Smisty here. You may remember us from such trip reports as Erik & Smisty & TPR do Holland, Poland, and Swedeland and Erik & Smisty & TPR do Germany, Belgium, and France. Well, it's time to complete the trilogy! To make it easier on myself this time, I'm going to break this up into much smaller parts than those previous ones. In fact, I'm basically just going to post one day at a time. So let's get started with a nice short Day 1, in which we left Seattle at 11:57am on Tuesday, 5/30/23 and arrived in Copenhagen at 11:40am on Wednesday, 5/31/23. Right, so this is Day 2 actually. Or, um, Days 1 & 2? Whatever, it doesn't matter. Lazy Links 01: Fragile Days 02: Drunk Elephants with Regret 03: Copenhagen's Most Instagrammable Courtyards 04: Enjoying Penis 05: Down This Toilet 06: Authentic Taco Toast 07: The Flying Trunk 08: Braking off the Chain 09: Frog Frog Frog 10: My Sense of Your Sense of Language 11: Hammer & Sword 12: Hooked on Fønix 13: Today in the Dog 14: Norway Jose 15: You Can't Put Shoes on a Shark 16: Godiscupcake 17: How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything 18: Science Gun 19: Another Way to Stimulate Lions 20: Blue Train 21: Delicious Nut Cheese 22: The Happiest People in the World 23: Mixed Blueberry Feelings 24: Born To Boom 25: Sampo Circus 26: Cork Is Sorry 01: Fragile Days Yes, we begin at the world famous Tivoli Gardens where we've apparently stumbled onto some sort of race. But no, that's not where we start! We start with planning. Endless, endless planning. Because that's who we are. And then of course there's the flight. During which your boy turned on the charm in order to score himself two desserts. Or maybe I just stole Smisty's. It's hard to remember. Then a quick train ride from the airport and a short walk to the hotel for a nap. Then we wandered through the streets of Copenhagen. And then to Tivoli Gardens! But mostly just to look around, soak in the atmosphere, and get some food. Rides will happen later, with TPR. But first we have like four days to do Erik & Smisty things. Coming soon! Or, you know, soon-ish-ly. Fine. Eventually. Look, it'll happen when it happens, okay? Next up, Day 2! Or, um, 3, depending on how you count.

I took this picture on Saturday. We were hoping for a soft opening later in the day but sadly it never happened. Maybe next weekend…

Love the communication here and how open they are with what has to be done.

Howdy all, so I had the Privilege and the Honor to participate in the TPR 2023 Scandi tour - an almost 3 week trip that would visit 5 Countries and 17 Theme Parks (+ a mountain coaster!) It was such an amazing assortment of people, and was so great to see friends from past trips, and to meet some folks who I've seen here on Theme Park Review over the years, but have never actually met in person - such as Big Mike, Shane (of Shane's Amusement Attic), Matthew Martin, among others (spoiler, all of em are awesome folks). If you read my Trip Report from Europe 2022, you're aware that my Spouse passed shortly after I got back from the trip. . so I really made this year's adventure an excuse to force myself to a) be social again , and b) force myself to face some fears and do things I'd be terrified to do (such as a 300 foot free fall, a stand up drop tower, a single rail mountain coaster (in the rain!). yes, I had some very emotional moments on the trip - especially after doing something that I was scared to do, and then realizing I had no one to call home and tell about it. But all in all? I had an incredible time and I'm looking forward to sharing my adventure and pics. --> I know there's a couple of folks already posting Trip Reports as well (go read em, Chuck's (CFC) & Erik's are both starting out as wonderful reads with great pictures). But since we all didn't hang out together the whole time, tho the pics from some parks/places/cities might be the same? the photos should be different, and hopefully enjoyable. let's get this adventure started! Day 1, June 2nd-3rd. I had my flight out of Austin scheduled for Noon, and tho I had two connections, I was supposed to get into Copenhagen by Noon on Sat, giving me a full evening of sightseeing as well as the full next day before the trip officially started on Monday 6/5. I dropped my car off at my Best Friend's house (he rightly argued that I should leave my car there since he lives 10 minutes from the airport, instead of paying for long term parking for 3 weeks) and he dropped me off. TSA pre-check saved me a ton of time at Security. .. .which then got eaten right back up as I was "randomly selected" to have further check, so off came the boots, the belt, the hoodie. . .etc while they swabbed everything. Oh well, still had plenty of time, and before long it was time to board. I had paid for upgrades to enjoy the flight, and so the flight from Austin to Chicago wasn't too bad. rare window seat. . so took a pic. No idea what State this is. . LOL Since was in 1st, we got a nice meal on this ~2 1/2 hour flight: It doesn't look too tasty, but it actually was pretty good. upon landing in Chicago, I took my phone out of Airplane Mode and immediately got the update that the long, International Flight was delayed by an hour. i was concerned and spoke to the gate agents, about what that would do to my much shorter connection in Brussels. I was *assured* that the plane would "make up the time" in the air, and that I shouldn't change anything, just leave it alone, and if we were late, United would take care of me. They made me feel quite stupid and were very dismissive of me for even being concerned that I might miss my connection out of Brussels. (and no, I will never believe the gate agents or customer service again. . if I'm worried about a connection? I'm going to change it myself despite what they try to tell me) anyways, so I got on the plane, and had a really nice flight, once we actually left - about an hour late. they served us a very nice Dinner: as well as a lovely Breakfast (I had Crepes), and I watched a couple of really stinker films: "Antman & Wasp: Quantummania" - long and boring, and I just don't understand why Kang is a "bad" guy???? & "65" which was so stupid. . and then you get to the twist, and it's even MORE stupid. and even at just 80 minutes still felt too long, and too short at the same time, like a lot of stuff got cut out, and they just ended the film when they realized what a dud it was. So we land in Brussels and lo and behold. . .. I've missed my connection as we did NOT make up any time in the air. Myself and dozens of other passengers had been re-assigned new flights and we were to go see the gate agents. the agent I spoke to was very cheery, and could not understand why I did *not* want to take 3 additional flights to get to Copenhagen. I wanted a replacement direct flight from Brussels to Copenhagen, that I had SEEN while at the counter in Chicago, and could still see. . but was told that "United doesn't partner with discount airlines" (nevermind the flight that I missed was on, you guessed it, Finnair, which they called a "discount airline" she assured me: "we do this all the time! don't worry, and this gets you into Copenhagen earlier". . . with a smile of course, and handed me my tickets (yup) for three flights on Lufthansa. . . .but no seat assignments, so I should go over there right away and check in. "over there" was in a different terminal which took me 42 minutes to get to (yes, I timed it and I remember it was 42 from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, thanks Douglas Adams!). Because the airport in Brussels is huge, and by changing terminals I had to go thru passport control - where of course, only 1 person was working and all the auto readers were closed. whee. . . oh, extra bonus.. the 1st flight I was supposed to go on with Lufthansa was delayed. So they gave me a coupon for 17 Euro to use in the airport for my "inconvenience" ugh.. oh well, at least there was a cheery photo op. Eventually my flight took off and I began my tour of Germany's airports via Lufthansa, as the planes got smaller and smaller. here's Frankfort: and Munich and Berlin eventually. . I *DID* get to Copenhagen. Exhausted from flying all day, but at least was there. . in the happiest place on the planet (surveys have shown, no really). and it was "only" ~7pm. . so ok, I had lost most of my day, but still kind of early, so had been chatting with Colin about going to sightsee a bit once I landed anyways. but then the luggage came out. . .well. . most of the luggage came out. not mine. took about an hour filling out forms (once somebody was able to help me find someone to talk to at the Baggage claim area, as I couldn't leave the area to talk to the airline and there was no one representing them there). . but eventually someone from Lufthansa came down and spoke with me. Thank goodness I had purchased Apple Airtag that was in my bag, so once out of Airplane Mode, I could clearly see that United had left my bag in Brussels and never even put it on the Lufthansa plane. nice partnering. . huh. but I will say that Lufthansa was very pleasant to work with, and helpful (they gave me a "we're sorry we lost your luggage, here's some necessities" kit - which included a 2XL undershirt and paper underwear (I'll attach a pic of that in a moment). Luckily I had arrived more than a day early, and we were at the 1st hotel for a few days - so there was time for them to get the luggage to the hotel for me if they could find it. exhausted from the travel day, I didn't even mess with the buses or the trains, and instead just hopped in a taxi that took me directly to the 1st hotel: "The Square" I got there around 9pm . .messaged Colin that I still wanted to go out, but needed to freshen up just a bit, and checked into the room (after letting the hotel know about the luggage situation) nice size room. My roomie, AJ, wasn't coming until tomorrow, so the room looked really large - especially without my big bag in it then went down to the lobby and met Colin and we decided to walk to find a place to get drinks. . and I REALLY wanted to go see the Little Mermaid Statue that Copenhagen is famous for. so we decided to walk. . I was, shockingly, full of energy by this point. . so off we went. the view from the lobby of the hotel - overlooking "the Square". . with the Train Station right across the street. (and Tivoli Gardens right around the corner) no sleep, and look like it. . but I VERY quickly learned how much the folks in Denmark love their bikes, and to really be careful and look out for the Bike Lanes! the folks in the bike lanes have right of way, and they WILL take your ass out if you're not paying attention. Colin and I just wandering sorta towards where the Little Mermaid Statue is. . .checking out bars and deciding if we wanted to stop in at any of em. they were mostly a bit fancy, but we did stumble across a Tiki Bar and went in there and enjoyed Pina Coladas and Daqueries. . and some weird interactions with locals (along the lines of "s'up?" "nuthin, s'Up with u") strangely I have no pics of the Tiki bar. . LOL. . I thought i had taken one. The drinks were decent tho, and big. we continued our trek after the drinks and I snapped pics of the architecture (it was almost 10pm here) as we walked and walked.. (and decided we were taking the trains back, LOL) it finally started to get a bit darker as it closed in on 11pm. the docks you need to go to for the famous statue is a small entertainment area.. that was really quiet on this Saturday night. but there are some other interesting things over here. . including some pretty cool "junk" sculptures. and a "SeaPlane Museum". . .closed at this hour, but I snapped the pic as we walked by. and eventually, we were here at the famous statue. it was very cool to see it up close, and as it was just after 11pm, it was really just us and 1 other small group there. So was able to really get up close and admire it. so I'd recommend going really late to avoid the crowds, but do note, the statue has NO lighting on it. so if your phone doesn't have decent night photos, it might be worth it to go earlier in the day. One of the folks in the other group told me that since people kept stealing the statue's head (you really can get quite close to it in the harbor), they've now filled the head with concrete to help prevent theft. my clumsy ass took a spill going down the rocks and landed hard on my bum. . . but still.. worth it for the picture statue seen, we started our walk back towards the hotel - or at least a train station that would take us to the hotel. it's a LOVELY city. .tho fairly quiet for a Saturday nite, I thought. exiting the train station back at our hotel, we caught a glimpse of one of Tivoli Garden's gates. .and wandered over that way to take a look at it all lit up I like the modern architecture here too. and the Irish Pub near the hotel was hopping still.. with a photo op! ooooo. . we were late enough that caught the Tivoli Garden's Saturday fireworks! the lights at night are absolutely gorgeous here . . . and with that. . I was wiped, and tomorrow was gonna be a full day as I was gonna cram in all the sightseeing I could before the welcome dinner at Wagamama. so I said my goodnight to Colin, and headed up to the room. . where I crashed hard. and dreamed of lost luggage (tho the pic of Nick I had in the carry on. . so THAT I had, thank goodness)

Media Day: A Sneak Peek at the Loch Ness Monster & More The steep plunge, interlocking loops, and dark cavern helix of Busch Gardens’ Loch Ness Monster have been thrilling riders since 1978. For many Virginia locals, it was the first “big” coaster their kids could ride, and the park takes a lot of pride in it. But age, metal fatigue, and maintenance issues can catch up with any coaster, and the Monster was no exception. But anyone worried about the ride’s future can relax when the Loch Ness Monster: The Legend Lives On opens this May. The park shutdown the ride last year and started a major renovation project. The coaster’s classic profile now boasts 900 feet of shiny new track fabricated by Premier in Utah--this includes the signature loops. But the track isn’t the only part getting some love. New thematic elements are being added to the queue and station, along with a new sound system, to help tell the story of the hunt for the legendary sea serpent. New special effects, especially in the cavern, will give riders the chance to see the Loch Ness Monster “very vividly,” according to Kevin Lembke, the park president--but that’s a story for another day (I presume next month). Busch Gardens invited Theme Park Review for a first look at the Loch Ness Monster Sighting Center and the refreshed queue and station. They also shared what they’ve been doing to bring the 50-year-old Squire’s Grill restaurant up-to-date and let us sample a bit of the new fare for this year’s Food and Wine Festival. I didn’t see the Monster today--maybe I should’ve brought binoculars--but I can give you a look at the queue, station, and some other things. Come on in. Theme Park Review thanks Busch Gardens Williamsburg for inviting us to their media event. See you in May! EDIT: May 10 is the official opening date. Platinum and Premier members will have exclusive early ride time on May 2. All members have early ride time May 3-5. Welcome to Scotland! Nessie's entrance is looking quite spiffy. Kevin Lembke, park president, and Suzy Cheely, vice president, design and engineering, fill us in on how the legend will be living on. OK, adventurers--follow Suzy! The station now looks more like an old castle than it used to--complete with with rather medieval looking winches. They've added more "texture" to the walls and floors, too--along with a new Quick Queue entrance. I like that the transfer track is covered now. A little shade will help on hot, sunny days. They added an office to the queue, with plenty of high-tech (well, for the early 1900s) gadgetry. Photograph the Monster of Loch Ness! Win money, money money! (Well, if they allow you to take your camera on the ride.) Richard Smith, of Guernsey Tingle Architects in Williamsburg, tells us a bit about the coaster's back story: Nessie has finally been seen again after a long absence, and guests now have a chance to join the expedition searching for her. They're still adding thematic elements to the queue, as well. About 50% of the contractors working on the ride are local, and companies from Orlando and elsewhere are also involved in the Loch Ness Monster renovation. Here's the lower queue installed for the ride's 40th anniversary. It's pretty much the same. Look at those shiny new loops. Who wants to dine at the new Squire's Grill? They're upgrading the menu, too. Plans call for some seasonal burgers, with a chili-cheese burger to start. Hmm--I wonder what sorts of burgers they have planned for Howl-o-Scream and Christmas Town. Hungry guests will enter through this door and order and pay for their food. Guests pick up their food in here--under the watchful lords of the House of Spork. Here's what interior will look like. Seating will be outdoors, and there's a new covered seating area off to the left as you face the restaurant (around the corner). It should be a big improvement over the old facility. Big Ben is getting some love too--including a new motor. The Loch Ness Monster: The Legend Lives On Sighting Center opens "officially" this Friday (April 5). Read all about the history of this classic coaster here . . . . . . and see some classic photos, such as the "Flying Elvi." I think Nessie is related to Mega Shark. Speaking of "chomp," here's a sample of what to expect at this year's Food and Wine Festival: Peri Peri Chicken (Africa), Dalgona Korean Coffee (South Korea), Simit (a savory bread ring from Turkey), Bourbon Chocolate Tart (BarKastle), and Coban Salatasi (Turkey). There will be 85 new food items this year--these are 5 of them. "See you in May--GRRR! ROAR! GROWL!" Thanks for reading.

I'm not Robb, but we're certainly not sucking up to Dollywood. The ride really didn't seem any different to me. That being said, I think a lot of the newer RMC's and other coasters just out do it and it is an older ride now so it's not as crazy as it once was. People have this memory of riding it back in 2016 when it was legit amazing and new and something we hadn't really seen before. Since that time there have been a ton of new coasters that are bigger and faster and have equally crazy elements so I think it's more a memory issue. Oh, and the day we were there it ran two trains all day with a 5 minute wait so there you go. I'll take that thanks!

For the record. In the new Invision board software running here the button to ignore a user is found by hovering over a username for a second or two. A little profile preview pops up and you can ignore there - best I can tell you can't do this from a full profile page.

Skara Sommarland is mostly a waterpark with a handful of amusement rides. So perhaps it's unfair to judge the entire park based on only the dry sections. I'm still going to, though. 17: How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything Skara Sommarland is owned by Parks & Resorts Scandinavia (which itself is entirely owned by the Tidstrand family). Also owned by this group is Kolmården Zoo, Furuvik, and Gröna Lund--all of which we will be visiting on this trip. Fun fact: Skara actually means to cut, slit, carve, or reap. But only if you put that little o-thing above the first A, and your name is Barry. Bad joke, or ominous foreshadowing? Why not both?! On the right is Snake (or something), the ride that was temporarily at Gröna Lund when we were there in 2019, now seemingly in its permanent home. The ride on the left is the reason to visit Skara Sommarland, Tranan (or, "The Crane.") I was quite excited to try this ride. It just looks so weird, and maybe fun? And it is weird. Fun? Well, not especially. I mean, it's okay. It's hard to describe, really. To the point where I'm not able to even declare it good or bad. Let's start with the seating. The sides of the cars are quite low, the seatbacks are quite low, and you're secured by a seatbelt. Now, I'm 100% certain that seatbelt is enough to keep you in, but it sure doesn't feel like it. There's also quite a lot of metal near your knees and legs, giving you both a mental reason and a physical reason to hold on and brace yourself for dear life. Which is work, and distracting, in a way that detracts from the ride--at least, for me. And yet, I'm extremely glad I got to ride it. Because I'm sure if someone had told me that I actually wouldn't like it all that much, I would be skeptical. You don't know me! I'm contrarian! And it looks super-cool! It also only does its big trick (of spinning all the way around the track) one time. I'd be interested in riding a bigger version of this. Something with larger, more graceful elements. Because a lot of the turns are quite crunchy. But, then again, who would pay for a larger one when the prototype is so...unconvincing? Not my photo. Plucked from the group chat. Sorry person I'm failing to credit. Andy, maybe? Or Elissa? Anyway, it's a ride. Which sounds like an insult, but isn't really, except in that I was hoping that it would be really cool, and it's just kind of...strange. This seems like a trap. Unlike the "Taco Loco" in the background, which seems totally legit. Speaking of lunch. Warning: The above image may not be suitable for all audiences. Oh. I probably should've put that before the photo. Anyway. The park was quite eager to show off their new bumpercar ride, BadringsBumpers. Whereas I am surprisingly unashamed to show off Robb's "crotch cam." Most of the smaller, older rides are in this area--which maybe used to be its own thing? Like, a separate gate or something? No idea. Regardless, it's a rides midway. I should've just said that. I call it: Doesn't Work Land! The entrance to the park's powered coaster. It was working here, but I don't have any photos of the train, because when I went back to ride it, it was down. And it stayed down. I think until we left? Definitely for quite awhile, as I checked back a couple of times. A Rockin' Tug. It did not run, that I saw. Closed troika-type ride, with permanently sealed off swinging ship in the background (that had a sign saying that it had failed its inspection for the year, or some such?) Unattended game. I'm sure it's fine. This did open later, but the course was quite short, mostly unthemed, and people were coming soaked, so I passed. Pretty sure the vehicles were the best thing about it. I do love a good bridge. No idea if this is one, as it's permanently blocked off. But my statement still stands. What do you think of this park, Smisty? Go on, Bert, don't be scared. Put it in your mouth. The park had a train, and it was working. However, we were accosted by this street urchin begging for money. No, just kidding. He wanted drugs, actually. Apparently, Barry had gotten a splinter in his foot at the waterpark. A splinter. Part of the waterpark, as seen from the train. Yep. Yep, I'm good. A lone bit of incongruous theming, behind a fence? Outside of the park, maybe? No idea. Did you see how close Daniel got to the train, though? What's the concern with the dinosaur figure?! R-A-D-I-O-B-I-L-A-R-N-A What is this, some kind of bumpercar-lover's park? Is this a ride, or...? The spin mouse had been down all morning, so all the coaster nerds rushed over once it started testing. It ran a few cycles, and then a car got stuck on the block brake. The maintenance guys came out, released the brake, and then sped off. No testing, no empty cars. The very next car got stuck in the same place. Smisty says nope. (For clarity, I am not accusing anyone of unsafe practices. But just assuming everything will be fine after a quick reset does strike me as a bad look.) It's worth noting that for all the rides that were broken down or not operating, the most important one (Tranan) seemed like it ran pretty consistently all day. So that was good. Ooh, a crooked house or something! Wait a minute..."Miniradiobilarna"? Yeah, it's just more bumpercars. The Main Street Janitorial Parade A poncho with a map of the park on it? That's pretty cool. Except they were only for kids. And the image was blurry. But at least they're honestly named. It's probably not a great park if you're that excited to get back on the bus. Erik's Score: 1 Sorry, Skara Sommarland. It's not you, it's me. I'm sure others in our group probably liked you a lot more. Well, maybe not Barry. Arriving at the Backstage Hotel in Stockholm. This is where Misty and I stayed for a few extra nights after the official end of the 2019 trip--except then it was called the Pop House Hotel. We really loved the city, and were quite happy with our choice of accommodation, so it was nice to be back. They may have changed their name, and rearranged the lobby area a bit, but it's still houses the ABBA Museum, and it's still right next door to Gröna Lund. Our room for the next few nights. We might've checked out the ABBA Museum (even though we went last time) or done something else for the evening, but Gröna Lund had a better idea.... Surprise night ERT on Monster! We got to tour this underground station in 2019 while it was under construction. Turned out great! Not my photo, to be sure. Robb's. I will of course share more detailed thoughts about Monster when the proper Gröna Lund update comes around. But this was a great night! Next up: A park that no one in our group had ever been to!

Now we come to the first of three parks that Smisty and I had actually been to before. On our trip to Liseberg with TPR in 2019, I didn't exactly fall in love with the place. There are lots of things I could "blame" for that, some of which were within the park's control, and some of which certainly were not. I'll spare you the full details, but I will say that I was looking forward to going back and reassessing it under (hopefully) better circumstances. Would Liseberg win me over this time? Or will Erik remain steadfast in his grumpy contrariness? Read on to find out.... 16: Godiscupcake To begin with, we had two full days in the park, and three nights at their brand new, very on-site hotel. This meant that we could head back to our room whenever we pleased in between exploring the park and riding stuff, so that's already a pretty big plus--especially if you're old. And what a hotel it is! The Grand Curiosa was fun, beautiful, and weird (in the best way). It was also very American-friendly, with proper in-room air conditioning, and ice machines on multiple floors. Amazing! On a different note, is it more impressive to say that I photoshopped Misty into this picture, or that I didn't? The hotel also features both a children's carousel and a cafe/ice cream parlor in the lobby. Sadly, Bert did not get to ride the carousel. But I did get to eat the ice cream. Multiple times. There's also a buffet, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Pretty sure we had all three at one point or another. The building on the right is the hotel. So, as you can see, it's not exactly a tough walk to Liseberg's newly-redone back entrance. Rather than opening at, like, 10:00am and doing staggered openings for a couple of hours (like the last time we were here), the park opened at noon and closed late. Normally I wouldn't be a big fan of a noon opening, but it seemed to work, with the park not really starting to get busy until after work hours--and I did like that everything opened at the same time. Liseberg doesn't really have themed areas, but the rides grouped together here are all named after Norse mythology. No "Thor's Hammer" though. Instead there's a Max Burger. We like Max Burger. My feelings about Balder haven't changed. It's objectively good, but I just find it repetitive and uninteresting. We're literally the only ones who feel that way, though. These guys were all still riding after we went to bed. Didn't stop me from drawing a penis on it. Kållerado is named after the Norse god of skiing and being proud of your flag. The rapids ride runs ride up alongside the park's walk-through (and upcharge?) haunted house, Gasten Ghost Hotel. These two Swedish girls were scared and wanted us to go with them. Which was fine. Except that we had to do the conga line thing, and they were in back and sort of pulling me backwards while the scare-actors kept yelling at us to go faster. Listen, girls, you need to understand: I am a rule-follower, and you are making me look bad! No notes. Below the Gasten Ghost Hotel is the Gasten Ghost Bar and Restaurant, where you may be eaten by a scary monster if you are a chocolate brownie and pear ice cream dessert. This place proved pretty popular with our group. So it's weird that I also liked it. Parts of this park are very pretty. And by "parts" I mean most of it. Ooh, a car ride! And the award for best terrain goes to Liseberg, in that they're blessed with a long decently wide flat section abutting a long hillside. My favorite part of this photo is the sign portraying a drunk man fighting a forklift. Smisty is all in. While the children are distracted, we sneak by to try out the new dark ride. The indoor queue is well themed and leads to an "elevator" preshow. See, the bunnies make ice cream, but a guy who looks like a magician but isn't doesn't like them for some reason and tries to send their mining carts off course. It's a little weird, but we rode it a lot. Um...okay, it's a lot weird. One of the bunnies is a magician, incidentally. I don't know why. After three trips to Europe (and an entire life of being alive somewhere), I finally found a stuffy worth buying. Of course, it did fit in my backpack. I'm not an idiot. Liseberg doesn't have a proper fun house. But they do have a house-like thing that you can have fun in. I mean, kind of. Really, it's more for kids to just kind of run around in and explore. But I appreciate that they let me check it out. While some people travel the world and never find their name on anything (*cough* Elissa), I only need to go to Sweden. I actually have a disturbing amount of photos from this trip of stuff that has my name on it. We actually spent quite a lot of time in the kids area. I'm sure the dark ride helped. Still didn't ride the kiddie coaster, though. An enchanting game of tossing carrots into buckets in order to both feed and win horses. Mo' bunnies, mo' problems. Stampbanan. Which apparently means, "the stomping ground." Scary stairs down from the, uh...hang on... "Kaninlandsbanan." Also unchanged is my opinion of Lisebergbanana, seen here about to leave the station and head up the long never-too-far-off-the-ground lift hill. It's fast and janky and great! This and the log flume are the park's iconic workhorse attractions. Nude gardens and lush statues await you at the front of the park. Let's head up the hill, shall we? That's not a good caption. How about this: The name "Liseberg" comes from the phrase "Lisas Berg" or "Lisa's Mountain." Some of the pathway's up around here are a bit dicey and feel a little "back of house." There was a concert going on in the park one of the two nights we were there. I have no idea who it was. But here's a view of it from the Ferris wheel! You can also see some construction off to the left. Liseberg was (and is) in full expansion mode. Speaking of which...those who were interested got a construction tour of the new indoor waterpark. Pretty cool. Have you ever climbed to the top of a mountain only to find that you could've just ridden a roller coaster up there instead? Oh, I guess I could've also taken escalators. I wasn't too keen on Helix last time, so I was content to just watch and take photos whilst Smisty rode over and over during ERT. But then the ERT just kept going. And everyone kept talking about how much better the ride was running than in 2019. So I gave it another shot. This time I sat in the middle-back, rather than the front, and rode much more defensively. And...it was pretty good, actually. Never let it be said that I am incapable of changing my mind. Right out of the station. Balder, Valkyria, Lisa Banana, Flume Ride, and Helix. This pathway is an absolute photographic wonderland. And Liseberg's operations keep the kinetic energy buzzing, inviting you to just stick around and see if you can get one more train in the photo. Adding even more movement to the area is the park's new family boomerang, Luna. This area has been rebranded as "Luna Park," and some of the older flat rides have been swapped out for new ones. Sadly, Smisty's favorite tilt-a-whirl was one such victim. I don't mind so much, because now she can't make me ride it. The park even added a new air conditioned bathroom up here, complete with fancy statue-man sink. Liseberg's Flume Ride is unique in terms of both its layout (lift hill, cruise around a bit, lift hill, drop, drop, drop) and in that the park's website claims the logs to be "laughter-impregnated." There are rumors of removal, but I just can't imagine such a crime. Hopefully, it's a rehab instead, if anything. An interesting vantage point for Valkyria as we head back to the hotel. My opinion of this B&M dive coaster hasn't changed either. (It's good!) The hotel also has a full service Chinese restaurant, the Mei Rose Rooftop Bar & Bistro, where you can (and should) have your dessert served to you ON FIRE. Every floor of the hotel has a slightly different sub-theme. We were put on the amusement rides floor, for some reason. The view from our room. One last shot of...whatever this is. So, did I like Liseberg more this time? Decidedly yes. Erik's Score: 10 Tune in next time, when the pendulum swings back hard the other way!

as noted, I have no issue with the prices. I DO have an issue with the surcharge added to every purchase. raise the prices if you need to, but don't insult me with that .99 surcharge bullshit.

More from a great day at Tivoli Gardens! “Hello! I’m Hans Christian Anderson! Please join me in my Flying Trunk, and I’ll tell you some of my delightful fairy tales.” “These stories often involve conflicts between the nobility and the working classes.” “Sometimes, there’s a bit of nudity.” “Here’s a charming story about a ‘Little Match Girl’ who freezes to death while a wealthy family enjoys Christmas in their nice, warm house. Happy Holidays, everyone!” “The ‘Snow Queen’ is an enchanting tale involving trolls, mirrors that distort reality, robbery, kidnapping, brainwashing, imprisonment, and forced servitude! It will warm your heart!” Robb mentioned that this street reminded him of Diagon Alley at Universal. Walt Disney saw this and thought, “I want my park to be just like this--only without boobs.” Oh no! My cat, Ligeia, escaped from the kennel and followed me to Copenhagen! She looks crazed! Maybe I can lose her in the Fun House. There’s a nice little aquarium, too--but don’t stick your hand in the piranha tank! The aquarium is available for receptions and other special events. The piranhas would love to have you for dinner. You were warned to watch out for clowns! I’d be hard pressed to find a park that’s more beautiful that Tivoli Gardens. Villa Vendetta is in the building in the background. How many unfortunate souls have lost their hats there? The only way to destroy a clown is to cut off its head with giant pinchers, then stuff the head with garlic and cotton candy. The clown was part of a pantomime they’ve been performing at the park for years. This peacock “curtain” was pretty cool. Some of us enjoyed traditional Danish open-face sandwiches for dinner. This is smoked salmon and a poached egg in a dill sauce--very tasty. “Ride me again! I dare you!” “You’ll keep riding until you promise to eat a Screaming Demon Burger! I get 10 percent of the profits from each burger sold! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!” The sun very gradually sets on Tivoli Gardens. This is my favorite Star Flyer ride--great view and theming. I wish the park stayed open a bit later--the lights would be more effective. But the days are very long in Scandinavia this time of year. Even so, the park still looks nice at twilight. Time to head out. Good night, Tivoli! It’s been a great day. My thanks to TPR and the park staff for making it so.

What's there to do in Copenhagen? Lots of stuff! And we did some of it! 02: Drunk Elephants with Regret See? I really went to a zoo. And how can you tell it's in Denmark? I don't know, the trees or something? Well, you can certainly tell that it's not in America. "Am I boring you, ma'am?" What's you favorite dinosaur? Mine is the brontosaurus, but I don't need to explain myself to you. Not our dino. "Hey, um, could we get a fence or something here? Humans are scary." The Danish word for lion is love. So, yeah, if you're looking for love, maybe try a Danish zoo. Bistro PanPan allows you to enjoy some pretty tasty Asian fare whilst desperately searching the abutting enclosure for some sign of a panda. No really, there's one in there. If you can't see it, it's only because you're not looking hard enough. It's not the photographer's fault. I'd include a photo of the tunnel that goes under the road and over to the giraffes and such, but that would be exactly as interesting as it sounds. Elderly black bear, or world's dirtiest polar bear? You decide! One of the most interesting things about the Copenhagen Zoo is that it contains a 142-foot tall wooden observation tower (as seen here from an aviary). And you can climb it via these luxurious stairs! Pretty nice view of Copenhagen from up here. Maybe we'll just sit down and enjoy the view for a minute. Sorry for my use of the very American "minute." For you Europeans, that translates into roughly 15 "kvaksalvere." Okay, off to the next thing.... Cisternerne is a former underground reservoir now used as a art space. Every year the old exhibition comes out and a new one is installed. Honestly, just the space itself is super cool. And yes, obviously, a bit creepy. I wasn't terribly impressed by the art part of it, though. Looking online at some of the previous years doesn't do much to change my mind either. Still worthwhile though. A quiet Copenhagen street where a Dane might live. That's what they call themselves, Danes. Actually, I don't know for sure that that's true. Maybe it's just what English-speaking people call them. Okay, I looked it up. They call themselves "danskere." Might be a good time to mention that many, many Danes speak fluent English, and just what an embarrassing and humbling gift it is that so much of Europe speaks my home language while requiring me to learn basically nothing. An unquiet Copenhagen street where a Dane might party. Hooray, Smisty's beloved Swedish burger chain has made it to Denmark! Do I like Max Burger because it's actually better than, say, McDonald's, or just because it's more exotic (from my perspective)? Yes. Is this interesting? I can't tell. The Carlsberg (yes, the brewing company) Elephant Gate and Tower. "Larry, when I said we should all get tattoos, I meant like bamboo or something. What the hell, man?" (To be fair, this was way less weird when it was built back in 1901.) Let's end today with something a little more Normal. Yes, there will be more of this nonsense. In fact, we're just getting started.

Andy shared these pics with me. . taken from a more central location for the fireworks. .and as he's a really good photographer? way better than my pics. so sharing these too, from the same showing we saw, tho we were off to the right near Tomorrowland entrance, and he was dead center with a real camera, not an iPhone

At last we come to the final park of the trip, Linnanmäki. The name means Water Castle Hill, but I think they should've included the word "rocky" in there somewhere, personally. 25: Sampo Circus The park was founded, and is still run, by the non-profit Children's Day Foundation. Entry is free, though one must of course pay for the attractions. Can you guess what year it first opened? The first ride of the day was Taiga, an Intamin LSM launch coaster not completely dissimilar in style to VelociCoaster. I think I like this one slightly more, though it does lack the theming of IOA's ride. Both are smooth and aggressive, but VelociCoster's first half feels like it's made up of smaller, more compact elements (which I guess I'm saying is less good). A pretty great ride, in any case. Taken through the window of the gift shop, because I'm artsy. Next door to Taiga is Kyöpelinvuoren Hotelli, the exterior of which is "shown" here, in this shot from the queue for the Ferris wheel--because, again, artsy. I had no idea this dark ride existed, and it was spectacular. It reminded me a lot of Blue Train, except where Blue Train is a celebration of random mix-and-match horror theming, Kyöpelinvuoren Hotelli has a consistent theme throughout--which might sound less interesting, in a way, but isn't because that theme is, "What if witches ran a hotel but a wizard showed up to fight them and got killed almost immediately and they also live in the hotel and there are werewolves too sometimes I guess." "Again!" Yes, the park has a fun house. But, it's a fairground-style trailer-mounted one. Better than not having a fun house though, to be sure! I'm not afraid to punch a seagull. I don't know what this is, but I appear to be having fun. I suppose you could classify it as a powered coaster, but I'm not sure what the point would be since no one should be counting powered coasters anyway. Goldballs modelling the next "what the hell is this?" ride. This dark ride I did know about. I had no idea so many coaster enthusiasts were coulrophobic. I thought it was great! (Giving Linnanmäki the best 1-2 dark ride punch of the trip.) Let me know if you want more pictures of terrifying dark ride clowns! Or witches! Or that one wizard guy who died. "Again"? Next door to the Clown Circus is this walk-through haunted house and mirror maze. Well lit and family-ish, but I really enjoyed it. They give you 3-D glasses, but they feel pretty unnecessary, to be honest. Some cool effects in the mirror maze, like glass that "breaks" to reveal monsters when triggered by passers-by. Some areas of Linnanmäki are themed and some aren't--or I just don't understand what those areas are themed to. Or, to put it another way, Linnanmäki is circus-themed except when it isn't, which is frequently. Don't tell me that doesn't make sense unless you've been there. There is no other theming of this kind in the park. Enjoy your pee! I think this photo was taken from the "sky cabin" style observation tower, Panoraama. Vuoristorata has a similar layout to Bakken's Rutschebanen, but this one is still breakman operated. (Er...brake-person operated?) Unfortunately, this one was rather rough and dull. Of course, I only rode it once (because it was rough and dull), and by its nature, one would expect some variation from ride to ride--but I can only judge by what I experienced. And what I experienced was pointless. RMC it! Bug Why, bug? Linnanmäki, that's why. There's something weirdly interesting about a monorail built through a multi-level park in such a way that it travels directly alongside pathways. In case it wasn't obvious, I fell in love with this park when we walked in. Hot dog, lunch! The train (which has a tiny graphic of a train on the front of it, presumably so that you'll know what it is once you get up close) travels around this water tower that doesn't have water in it, but can't be torn down for historic reasons. It can apparently have a roller coaster built inside of it, though. Linnunrata eXtra Linnunrata means "Milky Way" and eXtra means "stupid VR goggles that you shouldn't use because the inside of this ride is actually really nicely themed!" To space, obviously. Oh, and hey, Barry's back! He's been back for awhile actually. In fact, think he only missed, like, one park. Don't rely on me for news updates is what I'm saying. That looks cool. How do we get down there? For an extra thrill, ride your horsy along the edge of a rocky cliff. It's a walk-around character. Of some sort. Quick, walk around her! Quickly googles "Linnanmaki mascot." Oh, Rolle the Clown. Which, yeah, don't google that. She's not it. She's waaaaay less horrifying. Yes, Smisty and Goldballs are on this thing. Photo by me. Maybe this is more common than I think, but I've never seen a swinging ship ride with restraints that come down over your body and rows that face one another. We rode just because it seemed weird. The park's spinning coaster, Salama, was quite alarming in that the ride was janky and rough leaving the station and all the way to the top of the lift hill. But then it was fine and smooth and enjoyable. It was almost a feature. Like, let's make people think this ride is going to be horrible, but then it's fun actually! This area of the park is largely themed to the Finnish epic, Kalevala. And if you don't know what this, there's a chance you actually do. At least, if you've ever seen the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring the Finnish/Russian film based on that mythology, "The Day the Earth Froze." That's right. The big metal thing shooting water and fire is, in fact, meant to be a Sampo. Wait...MST3K paired that film with a short called, "Here Comes the Circus." Oh. Your. God. That means that Linnanmäki is entirely themed after Episode 422 of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Pikajuna is a Mack powered coaster that was primarily interesting for how it intertwined with some of the park's other coasters. Speaking of Mack, we were warned that there's a reason Tulireki is the world's only Mack E-Motion Coaster. And during the first third, it didn't seem too bad. But oh that second third, the jack-hammering begins! And then the last third is kind of in-between, where it's just a little bit terrible. I am not an engineer, but I have to suspect that the drunken elves that move the seats a bit in relation to the chassis just don't have the magic to maintain their composure at the bottom of the drops. The park also has an upcharge Sea Life Aquarium. Well, not an upcharge, really, as the park is free to enter. So, just a charge, I guess. Maybe it's even weird to say, "the park has," since there's also an entrance from outside the park. Not that having to enter the park would be any great hindrance. Anyway, naked dudes eating ice cream. And one has a bird on his head. Just try that sh!t with me, gull. I'll mess you up. Can verify that the aquarium has an underwater tunnel, making it officially legitimate. It also put a little hat on a sea urchin, making it fun in a way that's kind of dubious. "Just try putting a hat on me, aquarium. I'll mess you up." I like Sea Life Aquariums. Maybe not quite as much as most city-run aquariums, but they'll do! Linnanmäki. It's great. Maybe their overall coaster collection is just okay, on average--but Taiga was really good and Salama and Linnunrata are both fun. Two wonderful dark rides, plus a walk-though and a fun house. An observation tower, monorail, Ferris wheel, aquarium. Some interesting flat rides and lots and lots of weirdness. Yeah, this is an Erik park. Score: 10 And so we say goodbye to TPR (here represented entirely by Robb). But--and I apologize in advance--this is not the last update, as we spent two more full days in Helsinki doing Erik & Smisty stuff. So stay tuned for: The elevator of death! A drab office building full of snakes! A really big store! An observation tower that's part of a stadium! A really tiny power plant! Baby ribs! Um...the airport! And more!

I have a piece of friendly advice. Go to Dollywood, ride it. and decide for yourself. Another piece of friendly advice: Saying "I'm certainly not one to cause problems or throw shade" is just a signal that you plan to do exactly that. If Robb said he "couldn't tell one bit of difference," he's giving you his true opinion.

Part 15 An Identity Crisis and Dueling Infinity Coasters: Power Park Puzzled strangers are nothing new on Theme Park Review trips. Here’s a case in point. We flew to this rather small airport in northern Finland en route to the country’s (and I imagine the world’s) northern-most theme park--Power Park. The group was hanging out at baggage claim when I noticed this, I presume, Finnish gentlemen in a suit and tie staring at us in astonishment. It was as though he couldn’t believe that anyone who wasn’t Finnish would fly here unless they absolutely had to on business. Hey, fun is very serious business. Sometimes, fun requires you to wear a fire suit! So, off we went from the adorably cute little aerodrome to Power Park . . . or was that “Powerland”? The resort and park bear both names. From what I’ve gleaned, “Powerland” started out as the amusement section of the Power Park resort. However, over the years the “Powerland” name was dropped, and the whole place--hotel, go kart tracks, stables, and amusement park--became known as “Power Park.” But I could be mistaken. Power Park boasts two Gerstlaurer Infinity Coasters: Junker and Pitts Special. Junker is a launched ride with a sprawling layout, some inversions, and plenty of airtime. Pitts Special has a vertical chain lift, a twisty layout with no inversions, and some decent airtime. The rides are next-door neighbors. When you see all that green track from the park’s go-kart grandstands, it looks like it’s all one ride. Everyone seemed to love Junker, but were more indifferent to Pitts Special. I look at it this way: Junker is great ride, while Pitts Special is a good one. There was a TPR Gran Prix this year. I drove in the 2009 version and found that I wasn’t a “go-kart guy” (I also had the worst time of anyone on the track that day, as I’m far too cautious). But Power park had plenty of other attractions to offer, such as Thunderbird (an old GCI built in 2006) and a fun Wild West shooting dark ride in a haunted saloon. (Yes, like other Scandinavian parks, Power Park has its own western town.) Start your engines and come on in. The cleverly named “Park Hotel.” It’s actually quite nice. The photo of the photo session of the video session of the TPR Gran Prix. I’m dizzy just from writing that. See all that green, twisty Gerstlaurer track? It's two Infinity Coasters that seem to merge into one! Perhaps Power Park is a portal to the Multiverse! I think the train in the foreground (red stripe) is Pitts, while the train in the background is Junker. But it’s really hard to tell from this vantage point. Is "Powerland" the alternate-universe "Power Park"? We’re not talking “junker” as in your cousin’s old 1980 Chevette. This is “Junker” as in the old WWII German airplane. A dramatic shot of Junker in flight, diving out of the sun, strafing an enemy airfield . . . well, maybe not that. Pitts Special cannot do this. Reactions range from “whee” to “why did I get on this thing?” Put me in the “whee” group. I really liked this ride. Time to unleash the group on an unsuspecting park! (Photo by Robb Alvey.) Neo’s Twister is a ride that exists. The fact of its existence is neither “good” nor “bad.” It simply “is”--and that’s enough. Bill Maher in a cowboy hat doing a set in Vegas--Finnish style. “You gonna flip them flippers or whistle ‘Dixie’”? It’s a truck and a restaurant? O brave new world with such people in it! “I’m Jack Palance. And tonight, you’re going to ride a Vekoma Boomerang that doesn’t actually try to kill you! Believe it . . . or else!” Joyride. It too exists. Like Neo’s Twister. This gives you a good look at Pitts’s weird “treble clef” element, which reminded me of Fury at Carowinds. At least that's how it looks from this angle. Thunderbird runs surprisingly well for a 17-year-old GCI. I like its nice sign and waterfall, too. It does, indeed, have hair time--if you provide the hair. “This here’s the wildest ride in the Finnish wilderness!” OK, this was apparently a somewhat uncomfortable section of track. (Photo probably by AJ or Andy.) I vote for the front row on Thunderbird. (Photo probably by AJ or Andy. Or maybe Elissa. I forget.) So that’s what happened to WDW’s old Tower of Terror billboard. Let’s have another look at Pitts Special. It’s the best Infinity Coaster at Power Park that isn’t Junker. OK, I kid--it’s a fun ride. It’s also endearingly bowlegged. Here’s another ride that happened, but I’m not sure it exists as more than a hallucination. There’s this little indoor mall near the park with a collection of unusual cars--such as James Bond’s Lotus from The Spy Who Loved Me. You get a nice view of the park’s skyline on the walk back from the mall. Before we bid a fond farewell to Power Park . . . . . . here’s one last look at Junker.

There is no ground for the FTC to block the merger. There has to be a legal argument that the chain would be anti-competitive and there isn't one like there is with the big tech companies that the FTC is going after. Whether those arguments against the tech companies are strong enough to be legally valid is beyond the purview of a forum like this, but they are easy to understand and follow with a couple minutes research. What argument could they put forth about this being anti-competitive? There are the three well documented markets with arguable competitive crossover, but those markets are still saturated with other competitors. No argument there to block the whole merge. Maybe to divest one of the properties, but with all the other nearby competition that would be a tough argument to make. I think the "nightmare" scenario for the new chain is that they have to pick one each of SFMM/Knotts, SFA/KD, and SFGA/Dorney and sell off the other and I would call even that unlikely. There is nothing to work with in terms of blocking the whole merger.

^ It's actually going to be a new stunt show arena where the cast just rides T3 over and over for twenty minutes seven or eight times a day. Real dangerous stuff, I'm surprised OSHA is allowing it.

Every time we get the cliche "kidz jus don wanna wurk anymorr" argument, I'll always link the post I made a while back outlining all of the statistics about WHY kids aren't working anymore. From the article in the post: If anything, in the years since that post was made, it's only become MORE difficult for kids as the cost of college continues to skyrocket. There were lazy kids back then (I worked along side plenty of them), and there are lazy kids now. But you gotta look at the macro level and step away from the personal anecdotes when trying to assess contributing factors to large-scale issues.

Have you considered that perhaps the problem isn't that "theme park ppl" are paid too much, but rather that entry level "corporate jobs" (along with everyone) aren't paid enough and CEOs and other executives are paid too much?

Went to the park yesterday, actually the only visit we've made to our home park all year; partly because my son no longer works there as he has moved on to his first full-time adult job. FF was just as expected, I think the houses and scare zones were better staffed than last year but that can vary nightly. Crowds not bad on a Sunday night, we managed to get through all the haunt stuff in a couple hours and we didn't even have haunt fast passes. Just wasn't necessary. We did see the main show in the Palace. Cute. Entertaining way to kill and hour (which is what we were doing while waiting for the haunts to open) Probably a little disappointing to us because we were coming off of a weekend at Lagoon where the shows were extremely high quality. In my opinion tame enough for pretty small kids unless you have one that is really really freaked out by monsters, but there were several small kids in there and I didn't see any of them get scared. It's more of a comedy/musical than any scare factor. In fact if you do have little kids Sundays 12-4 would be a good time to go, quiet and all the kids stuff going with minimal waits. They trick or treat trail next to Freeze looked fun for the little ones and they can wear costumes. We did try out the October fest festival food. All of it is at the Mooseburger which has been nicely decorated. And.......I have to say it was fairly tasty and better quality than I expected. There is an outdoor bar, walk up snack stand, and then a different menu that you order inside. Unfortunately none of it is on the dining plan but if you go for sure check it out, it was definitely a cut above the usual offerings. We also had a later meal in Johnny Rockets and it was by far the highest quality I've ever had there. Rookie Racer-Super smooth, nice on board audio, quick load. I never saw a line for more than maybe 15 minutes. We got through the turnstiles about 5 min after rope drop, walked quickly (but not speed walking or anything) right to it and waited maybe 5 min. Just as everyone has said a needed attraction for the park and something grandparents can do with little kids. Train operational until about 5:30 when they shut it down to bring the freaks in. Freeze opened late, about 3:15 Ninja, Spinsanity, Colossus, Supergirl, all down for the entire day. Carousel still down as well of course. Scrambler was sporadic and only seemed to open for a short time in the late afternoon. Of course all three water rides done for the year. Mine Train, Boss, Eagle all started the day on one train ops. I know they added the second train back to Eagle because we caught a night ride but not sure if they others got a second train back or not. Catwoman carried a 2 hour wait all day. I don't get the love for that one. Although it's pretty at night, lol. They have definitely already been working on the site where Joker is going. Almost all vestiges of Dragon's Wing are gone. I did notice on arrival that they are preparing to make the parking lot toll booths automatic without the need for humans. There are scanners installed, but not yet operational where I assume you will scan either your pass or a cc. They had two lanes designated for the speedy pass thing where you buy ahead of time on line. And they have new signage up for preferred parking to use the left two lanes. I'm hoping they make a dedicated lane right into preferred parking from there instead of having you drive all the way around. It would make a ton of sense and then essentially negate the need for security to have to stand all day at the preferred parking entrance. The only thing I'm not sure of is how they will deal with pickup/dropoff, maybe it will also get a dedicated lane? Again they weren't using any of the dedicated lanes yet but I'm guessing they will next season. They will probably still have a security person there and maybe an employee to deal with issues but it should not only cut down on the staff needed at the toll booths but hopefully make it faster to get through and eliminate some of the normal backups.

Part 13 Hey, It's an Old Park for TPR: Kolmarden I've been to Kolmarden a few times with TPR in the past, so I'm not sure how much more I can tell you about it now. It's still a great zoo with Wildfire, one of the RMC's best creations, which careens around natural rock formations and beautiful woods. The park is also mind-numblingly, blister-inducing big. It takes between 30 and 40 minutes to walk from the main entrance to Wildfire on some steep, hilly paths, which provided the biggest challenge to Barry and his comrades after the Skara Sommarland incident. Seriously--you need decent walking shoes for this park. I can't really add much here to what I've previously written about Kolmarden, but here are a few highlights: Wildfire is still amazing, both on the ride and backstage. We got a nice behind-the-scenes tour of Kolmarden's gondola safari, including the big engines that run it and the place where they store the gondolas at night. The park offers a fun opportunity to "camp out " (or perhaps "glamp") next to their wildlife habitats. We got a good look at the campsite when the group went there to feed their giraffes as part of a wildlife tour. The pictures and captions will tell the rest of the story of our great day at Kolmarden. Enjoy! Zombie mastodons can be dangerous--watch yourselves! Happy Halloween! So, their way is the highway? How novel! Who's ready for something you apparently can't do at Busch Gardens Tampa at the moment? Hey! Big-ass body of water! You're distracting from my view of Wildfire! "Whoever splattered me with this white stuff is gonna get the horns, I swear to god!" "I say, Cyril, you didn't spray paint the chap with the horns again, did you?" "Me? Er, why of course not. I'm too busy here, umm, enjoying these . . . sticks." "I'm a real zebra. Not like those phony ones in the old Tarzan flicks." They plunged into the mysterious fog and were never seen again. At least not in this dimension. One must step lively to take a backstage tour of Wildfire. "Welcome to Wildfire! Who's ready to lube a train?" Off they go. Back they come. Here we are at the nerve center of Wildfire. The train gave me permission to take this photo. "You sure you want to let those guys in here, sir? They'll see the BIG BOARD!" Here we have an example of "forced perspective." Is Wildfire's wheel really big, or is Robb's head really small? The only thing better than taking a tour of Wildfire . . . . . . is taking a ride on Wildfire. One of the best rides in Europe.. It's tough to beat this natural setting for a coaster. Who's ready to go behind the scenes at the safari ride? Watch your step. Here's where they store the gondolas after closing. The chords are for recharging the on-ride narration, which is offered in multiple languages. This ladder is even steeper than those stairs. This is like climbing around inside a battleship. "Yep--the lion dragged him down there. Well, half of him, anyway." Looks like something out of a 1970s sci-fi movie. "Captain! We canna maintain this speed much longer!" Is this the best theme-park "safari"? Possibly. It gives Kilimanjaro Safaris at DAK a run for its money. " Just call me 'Skull Loki.'" Aw, this coaster is so adorable! Who doesn't love dolphins . . . except for sharks? And orcas? "Hi. We're chimps and we're ready for some flingin' if you catch my drift." OK, who's up for some bear baiting . . . I mean feeding? Welcome to Camp Crystal Lake. Shot from Jason's point of view. "Oh, I'm so glad you're still alive. Pay no attention to the man in the hockey mask. Now you can give me some of those delicious pellets." "After you've fed us, we really don't care." "Yes, Jason can decapitate or eviscerate you then. It's totally fine." "Yes, you'd better move along. Jason is not known for his patience." Do not let his adorable, dreamy appearance fool you. This is a Satanic Raccoon! Die, panda wanna-be, die! They still have the half-buried bus where the tigers can whiz on you. "Could you toss me a small child? There's a good chap." One last look at Wildfire before we head out.

Fear the Five: Howl-o-Scream 2023 Begins Maniacs, swamp people, chainsaw-wielding clowns, and more took over Busch Gardens during the opening weekend of Howl-o-Scream 2023. Theme Park Review was invited to the Media Night on Friday, September 8 for a reception and a chance to experience this year's fiendish goings on. So, what's new for Howl-o-Scream this year? Lost Mines: The Descent (new maze, Escape from Pompeii building)--a group of miners are possessed with desire for the gems they unearth and become freaky mutants with bad attitudes. The park did a good job redressing last year's somewhat generic Inferno maze with claustrophobic earth-and-rock walls and shored-up tunnels. As usual, some of Howl-o-Scream's best sets are in this building. Fest-Evil (new TERROR-tory, that is, "scare zone," Festa Italia)--this party of fiendish, soul-stealing Mardi Gras revelers ties into the Death Water Bayou maze nearby. Watch out for evil harlequins, gator people, and voodoo masters. The returning four mazes have been "revamped," as Busch Gardens likes to say--that is, they've been tweaked and reworked a bit. Death Water Bayou: Full Moon (Festa Italia near the Roman Rapids)--I don't think this voodoo maze has changed all that much from last year, although that's OK, because it's still the best one. I did notice some more blacklight effects, so this indoor/outdoor maze is best experienced after dark. It's the best haunt they've put in this space since the original Ripper Row maze. KILLarney DIEner: Infested (Ireland, Battle for Eire building)--looks like the cannibal diner has a bug problem, so pest control been called in. But be careful. They're not too picky about who or what they exterminate. Nice sets and creatures, but there's still that long exit walk where nothing happens. Nevermore: Chapter 3 (Germany, old Drachen Fire station)--more creepiness courtesy of the stories of Poe. There are a few slightly different scenes, and I think they made the maze a bit more disorienting than last year (more twists and turns). I'm a fan of Poe, so I always enjoy this one. Witch of the Woods: Scorched (Germany, entrance on the left of the Festhaus)--the local villages tried burning the woods to get rid of the witch with predictable results; that is, they just ticked her off. The maze does have a scorched look and smell to it now, although it really hasn't changed much otherwise. This outdoor maze is best after dark. But be warned--it's a bit of a hike from the Festhaus to the entrance, which is behind Verbolten. You can still run from fiendish childhood characters on Scary Tale Road (Germany); be served up on a platter in the Meat Market (New France); get stoned in Gorgon Gardens (Italy); and survive being harassed or offered a "good time, dearie" by the denizens of London's Whitechapel at Ripper Row (England). The Terror-tories were pretty active last weekend, and there was a roving Hack Pack of chiansaw-carrying clowns. These "scare zones" used to be a weak spot for Howl-o-Scream, but they've been improving over the last few years. All rides, with the exception of water attractions, are running during Howl-o-Scream (including Verbolten, which had been closed for over a month). The kiddie rides and Forest of Fun shut down at 5:00 pm, though. Three Howl-o-Scream shows are currently running all day: Jack Is Back (of course) in Ireland, Phantoms of the Festhaus (Germany), and Skeletones (Italy). Monster Stomp on Ripper Row opens on September 28 in the Globe Theatre. The mazes and TERROR-tories usually open at 6:00 pm. My Media Night experience was disrupted by a thunderstorm. I was waiting for it get darker for the outdoor mazes and ran out of luck, so I went back Sunday night to check out the rest of Howl-o-Scream. Despite the stormy weather, they're off to a good start. My thanks to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for having TPR at this event. I look forward to Howl-o-Scream each year. "Fear the Five" . . . what? There are five mazes and five TERROR-tories, which makes 10. Just pick the five you're most afraid of, I guess. The Virginia Beer Company strikes again! This time, it's a nice cream ale. The park put out a good spread that night. All this terrifying merch can be yours if the price is right! "Oh, I made them some lovely finger food, but was it good enough for their high-toned reception? Bah! They can be yours for a few shillings, dearie." "You! Seen any signs of the Ripper about?" "Ripper? Why no . . . no Ripper here. Why do you ask, officer?" Do I need one of those helmets with a lamp on it? A candle? Maybe a canary to check for poison gas? "Don't go in there! They ain't got no workin' toilets! Why, I barely made it out before . . . well, maybe you don't want to hear the end of that story." "We dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig dig! We did the whole day through!" "Yeah, it's hard work, but you meet all sorts of interesting people . . . who you get to eat!" Whew! After being stuck in that mine all day, I'm ready for something more festive, like Mardi Gras. Yessir, I just want to . . . er . . . let the good times roll? "Hey, you got just the soul I'm lookin' for!" "Yes, you'll hope this party will never end . . . and it won't!" "Helluva a party, eh?" Maybe I can lose them in the fog. "Oh, did you come from the Fest-Evil party? We know how to have a good time here, too. Just remember: . . . . . . Don't look into her eyes!" Busch Gardens has been renovating the Italy/Germany bridge all year. It's looking good. Damn! I am sick of all these @!$%!! phantoms in this @!$%!! festhaus! Shall we ponder a quaint and curious volume of long forgotten lore? "Could someone get me some Neosporin and perhaps a bandage? Thank you," Wow! Tempesto must be a really dangerous ride! "Yeah! When they tell ya to keep your hands, arms, and legs in the ride vehicle at all times. you best pay attention!" I think I would've gone with a closed casket, but maybe that's just me. They're still partying on at Fest-Evil. I think I'll peacefully commune with nature in this fetid, evil swamp. What the hell. Hmm--when pumpkins start dismembering people, the party is getting a bit out of hand. "Gimme a shilling or I'll sic the Ripper on ya!" Somehow, I got out alive. Thanks for reading!

What's this? An actual theme park update?! Indeed so! 06: Authentic Taco Toast That TPR bus life. But to where...?! This isn't really much of a cliffhanger, if you're reading Chuck or Bert's trip reports. Or read my first update where I literally spoil everything. Turns out you have to be a superhero to visit BonBon Land. But that's okay because I can talk to animals. I'm also extremely lactose-tolerant. Fun story. No, wait, what's that other thing? Tedious. Tedious Story. I was somewhat more familiar with this park's layout and history because my internet-friend JazzAnden recreated it on the DKMP OpenRCT2 discord server as park of a timeline park "contest." (I was also part of that contest, though my park was entirely made up, and also not as good.) I am telling you this for a reason, though the payoff won't be until the next update, at which point you'll probably have forgotten. This park is very normal. Founded on/with/because of a candy factory in much the same way Knott's was built around a berry farm or Plopsaland De Panne was founded on honey--except that this candy is gross. Or at least it's themed that way. I've never actually had it. I did buy a bag, and brought it home--but strictly for display. Smisty found her jam. And I found mine. I am among my people. Although, my people are apparently very weird. I'm all for a themed log flume--even if that theme is cheese-making sewer rats--but this one had some rough, clunky transitions (not unlike Diamond River at Legendia). *sigh* ... the dogfart coaster There's a bit of this sort of thing. I think this is supposed to be an albatross. But, thanks to Bert, all I can see now is "transvestite chicken." Have you ever wanted to say that you've ridden the very first Eurofighter? I didn't. On the other hand, this spinning coaster was quite good. With the highlight being that bunny hill on the right, which offered a nice pop of airtime whilst the car was spinning. Smisty and I were able to get a car to ourselves, and sit together, early in the day. (And, baby, you don't know what "imbalanced" is until you've ridden with me!) Oh, Henry. You are one gastrointestinally-distressed doggo. Is this the world's longest coaster train? Let's not do any research and just say that it is. Speaking of gastrointestinally-distressed, it was time for a group lunch at gross-candy-themed Danish theme park Mexican buffet. I'm sorry, "Mexican" should really have quotes around it there. If you're worried that this might prove to be too spicy, a.) don't, and b.) congratulations, you are Danish. I was trying to figure out what the turtle's problem was, and then I realized he was skewered on a spinning pole and had chair swings attached to the bottom of his shell. BonBon Land doesn't have a proper dark ride, but they do have an outdoor boat ride with scenery. Which is the next best thing in my book. It's fun how the unload station is just "get out during the ride and then walk into the actual station even though the boat is moving and you're just impatient but no one will be mad at you because you're in Europe so that's fine." And also there's only one ride op and who even knows if there are rules? Just, the best photo ever. My finest work. Hundreds of young people are gathering for the latest craze An acid house party in a disused warehouse This child thinks his hands are guns. Because he's stupid. Super hidden rapids ride. Which is also smelly according to that goat. But I rode it and it was fine. And not even particularly wet (though there is of course an element of randomness). The theme is beavers. But just kind of regular beavers, not gross candy ones. Newer stuff really does not embrace the whole gross mascots thing. Which is sad, but also...yeah. Listen. y'all, I live in Cowboy Town. *salutes in American* Not a dark ride. Dark. And shooty. But not a ride. Just a room with guns. So, like, America. That skeleton has eyes but no skin. Also, where did that other one get their shirt? Because it looks like it's really held up in a way that mine never do. Also, is he a prisoner, or...? Fun story: When I was a kid, I thought if someone got prison time of "life plus [x number of] years" that they just left them in jail for that long after they died. I also thought all dogs were male and all cats were female. This all really explains a lot, huh? I should shut up. Let's get the hell out of here, Hankatten. On a scale of 0-10, with 0 being a park I have no desire to return to in its current state, and 10 being one of my 10 favorite parks, I give BonBon Land a 3. Which is probably not as bad as it sounds, but yeah this park was just okay.

Part 9 The Day Is Yours, So Enjoy It: Tusenfryd The original entrance sign at Tusenfryd used to day “dagen er din,” which means “the day is yours” in English (or so says Google Translate). I remember hearing someone translate this as “enjoy your day” back in 2006 when I first visited the park with TPR, but I might be misremembering what was said. Whatever it means, Tusenfryd is still a very good park in the beautiful Norwegian mountains. It looks like a ski resort with coasters and other rides. This is my third visit to Tusenfryd, the last being in 2009, and the park has changed since then. Gone is the old “Viking ship simulator,” but the excellent Speed Monster and the cute-as-a-button Teeny Weeny remain. They’ve done some nice work upgrading some sections of the park, too, such as the spruced-up Route 66 and the new Dragonville. Speaking of Dragonville, this is the home of the park’s newest coaster--a Gerstlauer launched suspended ride called Storm. If you like intensity, you’ll like Storm. It also has some rather violent airtime, particularly during the first half. On the “transitional” hill, the airtime was so crazy that it felt like someone was driving spikes into my thighs. The second half of the ride isn’t as intense (and it’s more fun), but my legs were pretty sore that day and the next morning. Then again, I was also the oldest person on the trip. I’ve come to appreciate more “floaty” airtime. Even thought I’ve liked this ride during past visits, the park’s woodie, Thunder Coaster, has not aged particularly well. It now sports Timberliner trains, but I think it could use some re-tracking. It’s very bumpy. But Speed Monster is still excellent. This Intamin launched coaster is smooth as glass and has a great, twisted layout with plenty of airtime. ERT on this coaster was great--I could ride it all day. Oh, and the old Arrow loopscrew, appropriately named Loopen, still exists. My memory of it was evil, so I didn’t ride it this time. Others in the group didn’t think it was all that bad. But you know how coaster enthusiasts love to kid people. We spent the previous night in Oslo, so let’s start the photos there. Sheesh! Thor is sure careless with that hammer. He left it lying around Djurs Sommerland, too. No wonder Odin gets impatient with him. Here we have two naked people on top of what appears to be a giant dildo. You’re welcome. Oh hi, Ligeia! My, how you’ve grown while I’ve been away. TROLL! A beautiful Norwegian sunset. “Nice city you got here. Shame if someone were to poop all over it.” Time for the day to be ours at Tusenfryd. We started the day, which was ours, here. Mike, you’re gonna hurt yourself! Save your strength for Storm. Storm starts with a forward launch, a rollback into a backward launch, then a drop into a stronger forward launch. This seems to be the latest fashion in coasters. I prefer the second half of this ride after you fly by the station. This is the painful transitional airtime hill. But the little dragon head on the front of the train is cute. Look! An Old West-style town! I know you’re all very surprised to see this. (“Will Kane” was the name of Gary Cooper’s character in “High Noon.” I guess the “Morgan” part comes from “Morgan Earp.”) Marshal, I think they’re doing more than just laundry at Kitty’s House if you get my drift. Morgan Kane City is the home of the buck naked version of Big Thunder. Norwegian tacos, anyone? Thunder Coaster is growing older and crankier. Well, don’t we all? Nice setting, though. “Oh, great. We’re on Teeny Weeny. People are taking pictures and shooting video. Life is good.” Livin’ the dream, baby! Based on what I’ve seen at Tusenfryd, . . . . . . Vikings like to get really wet. (I think this is either an AJ or Andy photo.) Thor’s Hammer is a good 3D dark ride--sort of Norway’s answer to Curse of DarKastle. Few are honorable enough to carry the Hammer of Thor. My . . . that’s a big one. Matt has found his soulmate. I guess he’s into really big Viking guys in armor. Who knew? A jungle-themed ride in Norway? Eh--why not? Here’s where you can “get your kicks” . . . oh, gawd, that song’s as old as me. Why Loopen--what a great big new sign you have. Why, this new sign and the fresh paint will make all the difference for this old Vekoma loopscrew. Godspeed, my friends. I salute you . . . from a safe distance. They said it wasn’t that bad . . . or was that the concussion talking? This whole section of the park looks much nicer than it used to. Route 66 is a fitting home for the park’s best ride. There are two ways to ride Speed Monster. Like the little boy . . . . . . or like the little girl. Whatever you decide, this is a great launched coaster. It don’t need no stinkin’ backward launch. I spy with my little eye two familiar faces in the front row. “Whee” is the appropriate response here. Any ERT spent on Speed Monster is well spent, indeed. I see nothing to dislike here. AJ wishes he were on this train. Now there’s a good way to end a ride--well done, Intamin! My thanks to whomever took this photo. Long may Speed Monster run!

for those of you who haven't heard the news yet today out of SFFT (from the FT92 fan event). . . here are the highlights from the "ride" announcements. . tho they also announced the festivals (the International food festival last month - that was SO good, is coming back, and several new shows announced as well). - Kid Flash will be opening in October. Yes, the two tracks will have different names, but they haven't yet decided on them (my question to Jeffrey after event ended) - Wonder Woman phase 1 refurb is almost done, and will be reopening shortly, but with same trains (refurb work has been done on them). Phase 2 will take place in 2024, and will replace all 3 trains with the newer train design -better comfort collar and no seatbelt. -- the new slides in the waterpark, are behind schedule, tho parts are on site, and the opening has officially moved to 2024 -- Skyscreamer is getting a retheme - to Supergirl. - Thrill Seeker Park is no more! Besides the confirmed removal of the Pirate Playscape, and the Looney Tunes Theater (and the moving of Bucking Broncos over to by Iron Rattler). . the whole area will now be part of the DCUniverse! all rides getting rethemed: Rambling Road - will become Penguin themed Sky Searchers - will become Poison Ivy themed Streamliner Coaster - will become Batgirl themed Stunt Pilots - will become Green Lantern Themed PLUS there will be 3 new rides added: a Zamperla Nebulaz - Cyborg themed a 70foot "bounce" tower, with rotating seats - Shazam themed & a Monorail!!! Themed to Superman/Metropolis, that will start in the corner back where the theater was, and will travel overhead out to Batman, and then back around the DCU area. 4 car trains, with 4 passengers per car. . an almost 5 minute ride. I was there here are some pics! it's not quite September yet. . but some of the Fright Fest decorations are already out! let's take a peek at Kid Flash! Track complete, all LED lights affixed, and they are working on the station. As noted above, Jeffrey announced it's opening in October, and we should keep an eye on emails for passholder previews, and sneak peek party information it looks BEAUTIFUL lookie at allll those electrical boxes to control the light package. this is gonna look stunning at night. they have restored a classic figure to the carousel! the bacwards seated clown is now back on the carousel after years and years of being gone! this was the first weekend of Octoberfest, and Spassburg area is all decked out - including this massive Animatronic that turns his head and heaves giant mugs of beer. gotta stop in and say hi to Sweet, sweet, Connie. and costumed cast members out to celebrate Octoberfest - asked for a pic, and they were happy to Oblige. (yes, I'm sweating. .it was 106 today!) ahhh. . into the cool (A/C) Zaragoza theater for FT92, the fan event that everyone is invited to. we got a peek at the entrance to Kid Flash (too slow to catch it, sorry), and the loading station: (and yeah, that really tall guy, stood up on his seat even tho he was in the front row. . so his head is in all my pictures. . sorry. . . don't have energy to crop, so enjoy his head in every pic). the Kid Flash cars for each train. . 2 seats across in each row. some of the signage that will be in the queue. for your train junkies. . here are some pics of the updated Wonder Woman trains. . coming in 2024. we got some updates on Boo Fest (the not so scary fright fest) as well as Frightfest (a new house, a new show, a new scare zone (the WHOLE boardwalk will be an evil carnival scare zone)) and a performance from the cast of Zombie Prom Jeffrey announced a new event coming up in ~6 weeks. . and man does this sound cool and yes, they will be doing fireworks at noon. . during the full eclipse! and it's a Saturday! ok. .here are looks at the ride announcements. bye bye "Thrillseeker Park" - hello part of DC Universe! been saying for MONTHS they were gonna retheme Skyscreamer. . as it made no sense to have a Non-DC ride between Superman & Kid Flash coasters. Really pleased they went with Supergirl! and the 3 new rides: the locations of where the rides will be in relation to the area. so basically back along side Bugs Bunny Rapids flume area. where this structure currently sits. Along that fence (and up some stairs) will be the Metroliner station. as announced, SFFT will now have the largest collection of DC Universe themed rides of any park in North America! Park President Jeffrey Siebert and I after the presentation.

Part 8 Where Even the Apocalypse Is Awesome: LEGOLAND Billund Following its stay at Hansa Park, LEGOLAND set up shop near the LEGO factory in Denmark. This is the oldest of the LEGOLAND parks, and it set the template and standard for all that followed. I’m not the intended audience for these places, but I still like visiting them and noting their differences. Billund has many of the same attractions as the other parks in the chain, such as the Dragon coaster (this version is a powered ride), an observation tower, and, of course, Miniland (with a Scandinavian theme). But it has unique attractions, as well--for example, the Polar X-plorer coaster and Ghost--The Haunted House (a walk-through with a surprise at the end). Emmet’s Flying Adventure is a “Soarin’” type of ride inspired by The LEGO Movie. (I think the California park has this one, too). One funny thing: During the preshow for Emmet’s Flying Adventure (which is in Danish) whenever you expect the word “awesome,” they use “super duper.” According to Google translate, the nearest Danish equivalent to “awesome” is “fantastik.” I guess that didn’t sound quite right, so they went with “super duper”? However, signs in the park say “awesome” in English. So, let’s go where everything is SUPER DUPER--that is, AWESOME or FANTASTIK. If they weren’t stopped by this fence, these drummers would attack and kill you! This is how I imagine all LEGO parks are built. And Erik’s shirt is, indeed, FANTASTIK or SUPER DUPER or AWESOME--as is his trip report. Check it out. This dragon with the block-and-tackle on its head was also crucial to the construction of the park--SUPER DUPER, indeed. Ligeia has found me yet again--and she has a witch with her! They’re proud to be Americans in Denmark? I think this coaster is unique to this park, at least in how it's themed. I did not cover myself in glory with my photos of this ride. But I’m sure Robb got a much better video. Aw, thanks, Emmet! You’re a pal. Emmet invited me over to hang out on his double-decker couch. “I find my lack of an invitation to hang out on Emmet’s couch disturbing.” Polar X-plorer was fun, even though it doesn’t have real penguins anymore. (Photo by . . . Elissa? I think.) Ice Pilots is unique to this park, but it’s not really my thing. But if you like being tortured by an industrial robot, be my guest. Welcome to the cutest Mad Max-style hellscape ever . . . . . . unless you’re a stinkin’ DUPLO! “Yeah, I’m really cute when I run you down with my motorcycle and chop your head off with my flaming ax.” The Apocalypseburg Sky Battle has begun! Kristin and Sarah in a dance of death--in the sky! “You win this round, Crouse. But you task me! You task me, and I shall have you!” We all escaped the colorful hellscape. This show was such a huge hit, it spawned a spin-off series and a Euro western movie. First was the pirate-themed reality show “Wench! Whar Be Me Pantaloons?” This was followed by that classic Italian-Spanish western “When You Meet Sartana, Hold on to Your Pants!” “I . . . SEE . . .YOU!” This part of LEGOLAND aggravates Frodo Baggins’s PTSD. “Look, Sarah! A haunt! You love those!” “See? Just some skeletons, rats foraging for rotten food, flickering lights . . . everything is AWESOME!” I think Sarah would prefer this nice, relaxing boat ride. A Danish model of a French statue that stands in an American harbor! Yay! USA! USA! “Er, I thought we were in Denmark.” Yes, it’s a very relaxing ride--as long as you keep the little boat balanced. (Photo by Elissa.) There’s also a somewhat less relaxing boat ride with pirates and sharks. This guy was taking a shower back in 2009, too. Why doesn’t he give someone else a chance? “No we won’t be playin’ that ‘Yo Ho’ song! We be sick ‘o’ that tune! No requests, sez I.” The clientele be too classy and too rich for my blood, mate. Let’s find us another tavern. OK, what’s this Ninjago stuff all about? It appears to have something to do with spinning a redheaded woman at a high rate of speed. I couldn’t get the hang of this ride. Just not very good at waving my hands around in the right place. I’ll never be a ninja or ninjago or whatever it is. Time for a stroll through Miniland. I’m always impressed with the attention to detail in these displays at the LEGOLAND parks. It’s amazing what they can do with LEGO bricks. Hey, I’ve been there. This is a working canal-and-lock system. You can see Miniland via monorail, too. (Photo by Jere.) Time to go, I guess. Well, maybe after some chocolate LEGO bricks. Thanks, LEGOLAND. You were FANTASTIK or AWESOME or SUPER DUPER!

Having experienced all of the touristy things in Copenhagen that were on our list, and with only the TPR welcome dinner on the agenda for this day, we decided to wander around some different areas of the city and also do something beneath us. 05: Down This Toilet We've been to a lot of Ripley's Believe It or Not Museums. Not because they're good, mind you. Call it a guilty pleasure. This was to be our first international one, though. And it also had an attached Hans Christian Andersen "Experience." These places usually mix about half "standard" stuff that can be found at any of their locations and half "original" exhibits that are unique to that location. Or at least I've heard them claim that. This room featured an extremely squeaky floor. On purpose...? I do like this gate that you have to figure out how to open (if you're too stupid to just go around). Spinning tunnel! In 1919, 29-year-old Robert Ripley married actress Beatrice Roberts, who was 14 at the time. Believe it or not! Smisty looking at nothing. (What an attraction!) Whilst Bert and Chuck are deep into actual amusement park updates in their trip reports, I'm still wasting your time with this nonsense. Robert Ripley died in 1949, live on his own television show. Believe it or not! This guy is kind of a big deal 'round these parts. This scene represents Copenhagen, where Hans Christian Andersen lived. And is also the place this is located in. This scene represents some dumb-ass fairy tale in which a young girl suffers while a prince lives a wonderful life. Probably. Most of them are basically that. Smørrebrød are a staple of Danish cuisine. It's usually described as a fancy open-faced sandwich, but that's kind of selling it short. In Summer, the Danes sunbath along the canals. Which is way better than what the Dutch do along their canals. But we didn't come here to look at scantily-clad Scandinavians, we came here for ice cream! This weird bridge is for bicycles. Copenhagen Mall Oh. Oh, no. Copenhagen, please, you can do better than America's most disgusting food-court chain. A Danish board game store. Not in the mall, even though this trip report may make it seem that way. My name is everywhere in this city. Time to meet up with some friends. And nobody got Covid this time! The TPR welcome dinner was at Tivoli Garden's Wagamama, because Elissa. Quite a few members of the group had only recently arrived and choose to explore Tivoli Gardens after dinner, but having already done that, we headed back out into the city. While we're not quite done with Copenhagen, now seems like a good time to mention that I really enjoyed the city and everything it had to offer. I mean, it's no Stockholm, but it's still pretty great. Maybe the real Copenhagen was the friends we made along the way. And maybe, just maybe, we'll actually visit an amusement park in the next update. Whenever that ends up being.

Let's have a look at the obstacle course, shall we? More Vekoma goodness is on the way, too. I was content to watch the younger set risk serious injury on the obstacle course. After all, someone must be healthy enough to provide assistance when necessary. Besides, you know my motto. Dignity. Always dignity. (Photo by Elissa.) “Whaddaya mean there are leeches in that water?” TPR’s intrepid campers soldier on. I did traverse this rope successfully. Uh, that’s OK. I’ll wait for the next one. Lynet, the park’s launched Eurofighter, is rougher than it was in 2009. But it still has some good moments. I think any park worth its salt needs a nice train ride. This one had enough stops to be useful as transportation, too. Farup has a mini-golf island. I didn't play a round, but maybe I'll get back there someday. This is Orkanen (Danish for “hurricane”). Shades of Cosmoworld and Kings Dominion! Orkanen has an “underwater” drop. Now this is a Vekoma Suspended Family Coaster, unlike the ride at Djurs. There’s so much to unpack in this photo of Fønix. The boy in the second row is howling like a banshee. The two boys behind him are probably thinking, “What’s his deal, anyway?” The two girls in front and the man in the back are thinking, “Great--we’re going to have to put up with this for the entire ride, aren’t we?” I think the boy in the third row may have broken his neck. And now a brief spot of nature. You’re welcome. So much for nature. Time for ERT! Fønix has caused Andy and Daniel to sprout multiple arms! They are now gods! This is the part where everybody yells “wh-o-o-o-o-o-o-a!” There is nothing to hate, or even mildly dislike, about this ride. Vekoma has triumphed again. “I am the Zen Rider! Fønix and I are as one!” “Sell all my earthly possessions. I’m not coming back.” Despite my expression, I love this coaster. (Photo from Robb’s rider cam.) Aw, time to go. Can we take the Club Car back to the bus?

Day 5, June 7th part 2: Ferry to Germany, bus ride, the incredibly odd Hotel Gremersdorf, and forced Schnitzel! after a very fun day at Bakken, we settled in on the bus as we headed towards the Ferry, where I believe we were going to cross the Baltic Sea? it wasn't a terribly long crossing (I think a little over an hour?). . . but passengers are not allowed to stay on the vehicles, so we had to leave the bus down in the hold, and relax on the ferry as we made the crossing. some folks ate, or had coffee - but most of us were still full from lunch, so just browsed the ship or the store onboard. Many also stocked up on snacks, as the hotel we were headed to didn't have a lot of food options nearby, and as we were arriving ~9:00pm it was going to be close as to getting food later. bye-bye Denmark a ferry coming the other way, from Germany to Denmark a mirror of our ship. . if you were curious what ours looked like. . soon, the announcements were made, and we funneled back down into the hold and onto the bus. hello Germany! shortly after getting on the road tho, we hit some major construction going on - on the bridge from the ferry!. . that pretty much brought us to a standstill for over an hour + but at least we got to see a beautiful sunset from the bus on the bridge: tho eventually we did get moving and made our way to the hotel Welcome to Hotel Gremersdorf. . .a very funky/odd hotel. the rooms all are slightly different. .and some in different buildings. It's kinda like an odd little self built commune, crossed with Winchester house. Some rooms had windows that opened into nowhere, some had slanted walls that you had to be careful not to bump your head when getting into bed. .and some had doors that you couldnt' open if a drawer was pulled out, or if the bathroom door wasn't completely closed (no space for the main door to swing open). It was so weird.. . I loved it! maybe has some of "the Overlook" from the Shining mixed in too! I took all of these pics after dinner. . . dinner? yup. . . the very, VERY kind folks who run the hotel? when we arrived so late due the construction, they kept open the dinner/buffet for us, and would not check us in until after they had fed us, because they felt bad we had arrived so late. so instead of checking in, we were directed to dump all our luggage into a dark corner of the lobby, and led into the restaurant. Where we were seated and they insisted on feeding us. yup. . forced schnitzel! (no shade.. was really good, even tho most of us ween't that hungry, we all ate. . . because. . . such kindness!) I had to take a quick potty break (while they were setting up the buffet for us), and this amused me: but on the way back remembered to take a pic of the offerings they had stayed open late (and awake) for us: as noted. .was really good! and that it was such a kind gesture made it taste all the better! once we had all eaten, room keys were handed out, and we were able to go into our rooms to crash for the night. as noted, pretty much every room is slightly different in this Hotel, but AJ and I lucked out with a very nice room: that had a "sleeper sofa" included. . . since I had been snoring, I figured I might be able to get some space so he could sleep better, so I took the sofa: large bathroom here too.. tho you had to be careful what you had open, otherwise you couldn't open the door to get in. . LOL I recall having a pretty good night's sleep here, even tho the window right behind where I was sleeping (which when slanted open gave a great cool breeze), opened up into a weird little courtyard that despite not seeing any way to get INTO the courtyard. . I still heard noises of people/things out there all night. LOL. . like I said. . funky hotel. i really did like it. soon enough tho it was time to get up for breakfast, and I got a good look at the lobby in the daytime: quirky! breakfast was great: and then we checked out, loaded back onto the bus, and headed off to what was once the original LegoLand. . know known as Hansa Park! (to be continued on Day 6 with Hansa Park)

We were originally going to visit the aquarium on day 5, but doing the math on our 4-day rail pass and the fact that the aquarium was kind of down near the airport, we decided to move it up to day 3. Is that an interesting introduction? No. But it's the best I've got and I already showed you the whiteboard plan, which this varies from. Which makes this is an absolutely necessary explanation if you're paying a frankly disturbing amount of attention to this trip report. 03: Copenhagen's Most Instagrammable Courtyards Aquariums are like zoos but with air conditioning. They're also mind-bending human hubris. We want to look at these fish but on land and not dead. Hey, I know, let's building a big tank full of ocean a thousand miles inland! Actually, the ocean is right outside of the National Aquarium Denmark. Except they call it the Baltic Sea for some reason. I guess because people didn't realize how far it stretched when they first named it? Common Octopus I'm not being judgmental, the person that named it is. You're special to me, dude. This was supposed to be a photo of undersea plant life. Sorry about the fish in the way. Love an aquarium tunnel. Speaking of human hubris. Looking at food all morning makes me hungry. See, because you can eat fish. And we were looking at fish all morning. Is the joke there. As far as Misty could get from me whilst still technically being at the aquarium. Because of the joke from the previous photo. Is the joke there. She was unhappy with it. So she went over there. To get away from me. But the joke's on her, because she'll never find me now! Damn gravity. Near the aquarium. At first I thought they were little hotel cabins. But nope. Saunas. And we're not even in Finland yet. One of Copenhagen's most instagrammable benches! And now off to the University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden. Leave it to Smisty to take a photo that looks like a renaissance painting. And hey, you can climb stairs to an upper walkway around this green house! On an 80+ degree day. I did not think this through. Honestly, the botanical garden was just okay. A lot of the grounds were blocked off for construction also, so that probably didn't help much. Still better than the associated Natural History Museum though. It's a real combo ticket of yawn! Also, this building not only doesn't have air conditioning, it doesn't even have bathrooms...? So that's weird. What it does have is a large exhibition of award-winning photographs. Which maybe sounds interesting for a second, if you've never been on the internet or heard of magazines. In the gift shop, you can buy rocks. Okay, so for those of you planning a trip to Copenhagen, I hope this has been helpful. As a pallet cleanser, we strolled casually through the King's Garden. (Which should really be renamed the Peoples' Garden, I should think.) The Round Tower was probably my favorite attraction in Copenhagen. (Other than Tivoli Gardens, of course.) Mostly just because it was so weird and interesting. So, basically, instead of stairs, the inside is a big circular ramp, so that horses and carts could travel up it, in order to move big heavy telescopes and such. That's right, it was an observatory. And then there's this adjacent connected building with a church and some other stuff that really messes with your sense of scale as you climb up this "tower." Hey, where are those people going? Oh, to look up and down the hollow core of the tower. Where they've now conveniently installed plexiglass to prevent anyone else from plunging to their death. Nice. Wait, but there are stairs now. Harrumph. Caged Copenhagen. To go up the last little bit, and back down, there's a one-way only staircase with "traffic lights" on a timer. And that works...? It would not work in America. Like, at all. There's also a "one person at a time" set of stairs that goes up just a little higher so that you can get a look at the observatory itself. But my picture of it was kind of meh, so let's just pretend that room doesn't exist. A big history exhibit/classroom/gift shop that's above the church...? Even though the church has a vaulted ceiling, I think? I don't know, this building makes no sense to me. I love it though. Having said that...how is this their magnet? Like, did the photographer miss, and they just went, "Well, can't take it again. Just a one use camera, I reckon. What can you do?" Seriously, this is shite. Okay, I'm good now. My first proper old fashioned Danish ice cream cone. No. Nyhavn. Which is Danish for "Gentrified Amsterdam." Angry signage is the best signage. Why? Because they weren't just angry, they stayed angry. They come in every day, and see this signage they put up, and go, "Yep, perfect." Still Nyhavn, I guess? Or at the very least, still Copenhagen. Okay, that's it for day 3. And while Chuck and Bert are ahead of me in Denmark with their trip reports, we're about to jump to Sweden! Ta-ta!

Part 3 Welcome to Danish Knoebels?: Bakken Denmark is home to the two oldest operating amusement parks in the world. Tivoli Gardens is the second oldest, but Bakken is the oldest. Bakken opened in 1583, and it reminds one a bit of Knoebels--a bunch of rides, games, and restaurants plunked down in the woods. Aside from some of its permanent big rides, Bakken looks like a traveling European fun fair that just decided to settle in one place. Although the park has some clearly defined pathways, the layout seems pretty random, rather than planned. This isn’t a criticism--I like Bakken. To my mind, the park has two signature attractions. The first is Rutschebanen (or “roller coaster”). When I last visited Bakken with TPR in 2009, this ride still had its old trains and brake men (like its cousin at Tivoli Gardens). But the ride has different trains now and a magnetic braking system--no brake men. The ERT session on this coaster was fun, but not as wild as back in 2009. It still delivers some nice airtime. along with a bit of nudity. Speaking of wild, the park’s other signature ride is the only Intamin spinning coaster ever built: Tornado. We were the first to ride it that day, and park ran it in “high-speed” mode. This made the ride’s chain lift into more of a launch, and the cars tore through the track, spinning like crazy! I like this ride, but I can only handle the “high-speed” version once. Some of us tried riding the “normal” version later that day, but the ride ops recognized members of the group and always tripped the “high-speed” setting when they rode. Throw in a wide array of flat rides, a fun haunted house, and a fun house themed to a boat, and that’s Bakken. It’s not a “showplace” like Tivoli Gardens, but it’s still a good park to wile away a day or afternoon. One thing that both parks share, as you may have noticed from the entrance sign--that clown! Are we here for the Pink Floyd Project or the Bryan Adams Tribute? “I’m here for Dodo and the Dodos.” Are you ready for some ERT? Daniel and Andy look ready. Everybody’s ready here! (Photo by Andy Hatzos.) Shane (second row) doesn’t look that ready. Contrast this with Caroline, who looks rather regal as she rides: “From this throne, I shall rule my kingdom.” “We were born ready! Now where’s that tunnel with the nekkid woman?” “Yoo hoo! Over here! But are you guys really ready . . ." . . . for the splendor that is me?” (Facebook would probably not allow this photo.) Oh, you think you’re “vilde”? I’ll show you “vilde”! Seriously, I thought our car would never stop spinning at the end of Tornado. The Danes have the U.S. figured out. WHEEL . . . OF . . . BOXING? “Hi, kids! Count Floyd here with another really scary episode of Monster Chiller Horror Theatre!” “Oh, this guy scares me! He scares me so much!” “So, you think clowns are scary? Try blurry GHOST CLOWNS! They scared themselves, they're so scary!” Yay! Bakken still has Desperadoes! “Yup--gonna clean up this here town with ol’Bessie.” “Real men shoot their guns upside down!” “Shoot off your guns, not your mouths.” So, Bakken has a fun house that’s really a “boat”? Why not? The boat has its own lighthouse? Now we just have to find some rocks not to crash into. I bet this is still better than Golden Corral. OK, who broke the boat? As captain, I’m getting increasingly annoyed with the lack of discipline on this vessel. These look more like circus peanuts than churros to me. “Vun Dracula! Two Draculas! Ah, ah, ah!” This ride is fairly crazy for a family mine-train coaster. It whips around at insane speed. Sometimes, tree branches slap your face! But Mine Train Ulven has its own cat, so it's cute. The American Experience as seen in Denmark. This fellow used to be the park’s ambassador in days past. He had interesting taste in neckwear. He was a fairly creepy Santa Claus, too. Do not disturb Robb while he's making art. “Who dares to challenge me for this pretzel remnant?” What? I missed the clown show? Darn it. No, I don’t need to go that badly, thank you. Spot Robb in this photo. Maybe you’ll win a kewpie doll (most likely not). My thanks to TPR and the Bakken staff for such an enjoyable day. I like these old prints.

Photo by Robb Alvey. Part 2 The Old Meets the New at Tivoli Gardens Disney lore says that Tivoli Gardens was part of the inspiration for Disneyland. I don’t doubt it. It’s easy to see how this urban park with its beautiful grounds and attractions meant for the entire family may have influenced Walt Disney to develop a park of his own--and spawn a new form of entertainment in the bargain. I first visited Tivoli Gardens in 2009 with TPR and immediately became a fan of the place. While it doesn’t have as many attractions as more modern theme parks do, what it has is very good indeed. Throw in Tivoli’s beautiful grounds and good restaurants, and you have a great place to just hang out and relax. As for the park’s attractions, their old-school wooden coaster, with its brake men and “mountain” setting, is still a classic. Daemonen is still the cutest little ‘ol B&M floorless coaster you’ve ever seen. If you’re a fan a crazy flat rides, Tivoli has you covered. They also have a very entertaining walk-through haunt: Villa Vendetta. The haunt’s story involves a forgotten noble family that used to work in the gardens--but now they’re crazy! I won’t give any surprises away, but the scare actors WILL touch you and steal your hat (I got mine back)--and you better be comfortable walking through in a “conga line” (like Liseberg’s Hotel Gasten). In short, Tivoli Gardens is an excellent example of the transition from traditional amusement parks to theme parks--and of an outstanding European urban park. It still has the “random” quality of old amusement parks, but also boasts some nicely themed sections. All theme-park enthusiasts should visit Tivoli. Let’s walk around, shall we? “Welcome to Tivoli! I shall be happy to walk you over the roller coaster and share some of our park’s history. But first, a friendly word of warning." "You may encounter clowns!” (Pierrot the clown seems to be a very popular figure at Danish theme parks.) The park’s classic woodie gives off a bit of a Matterhorn vibe. They had done a lot of work restoring the ride’s original theming since 2009, and it looks great. Who wants to go backstage? The roller-coaster ops have a tradition of collecting old signs and props from the park and hanging them in their work area. You can see a lot of Tivoli’s history in here. I think this guy may have been working here too long. Deep inside the mountain itself! Yep--that’s the track. It’s the job of the brake man to keep the train on it while delivering the best ride possible. This is one of the oldest operating roller coasters in the world. A closer look at the mountain’s peak. You need Sherpa guides to climb any higher. Looks like there’s a nice bit of airtime here. It takes a special type of ride op to be a brake man . . . . . . as you can tell. This is the best Uber ever. How many backstage tours let you ride down from halfway? (My apologies for not remembering who took this picture--my best guess is Robb or Elissa.) “Yes, I may look like an adorable little B&M floorless coaster, but I am still a DEMON! FEAR ME!” It may not be the biggest B&M ride ever built . . . . . . but it’s a helluva lot of fun. (Photo from Robb Alvey’s rider cam.) You survived the ride, but the burger might kill you! Scream as the Demon Burger tortures your digestive system in ways you could never imagine! Yet you'll enjoy every second of it! Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Be careful--even the trash can will try to seduce you to eat a Demon Burger. “Once upon a time, . . . . . . a Frisbee and a Condor loved each other very much and made a baby.” I think Bert really loves camels. Must be the humps. Make way! Maharajah Big Mike is going on safari. One more set of photos to come.

Hey Everyone! I've been meaning to post this report for a while...lol... I visited KI last summer, and went to Knott's and Disney in the fall with every intent of doing full TR's for them. However...due to some work and life stuff...I never got around to it. So, with my impending trip to texas next week I decided I might as well play catchup and try and get these things done before I forget again! It's not gonna be as long as normal but we'll see what I can whip up! Kings Island was...great. I think that's the best summation of this park...great. Not perfect, not good, not "the best", but great. It felt like a park where no matter what you could come and have a guaranteed great time, and that was something I really enjoyed. It might be a little controversial, but Orion just stole the show for me. It was huge, fast, and fun, albeit a bit short but not offensively short. I do feel like some more length (and not a hilariously debatable height status...) would have benefited the ride, but hey it's a B&M Giga/Hyper. I could think of plenty of parks that would beg to have Orion if KI fans really don't want it... Not my favorite coaster but definitely a top 10 Earlier on the trip I was able to ride Prowler at WoF, which instantly took the crown of my favorite wooden coaster. Knowing the relative similarities between Prowler and Mystic Timbers, I was excited to experience a more modern, refined (and arguably better maintained) version of my new favorite. And while Mystic did edge out Prowler as my favorite, it did so barely. It was mostly the theming and reality of being in the legendary shed that did it though I think. I thought Prowler was more aggressive, and had the stronger layout so if KI's wooden coaster crews could just take a field trip to WoF please that be great! The Beast was, well the Beast. It was fun to say I've ridden the world's longest wooden coaster, but I thought it was kinda rough and not all that interesting of a ride. We were in line for a night ride when they announced that the ride would have to close for the 50th Anniversary drone show (Side note: The show was great! More regional parks need something like that!), so we choose to watch the drone show and go back to the hotel after a long day of fun instead. Something for next time I guess! Speaking of things for next time, I missed the Backlot Stunt Coaster, Woodstock Express, and Invertigo credits so as soon as KI replaces Vortex I got a good reason to go back! Banshee and Diamondback are really a nice pair for this park. I wasn't a huge fan of banshee, not liking the vest restraints all that much, and finding the layout after the first drop and loop being a little "meh" but enjoyed it nonetheless. Favorite for invert for sure...though with my invert count (Banshee, Aftershock, and Patriot) that's not saying much... Diamondback was fun though! A nice solid B&M hyper, love the splashdown! We eat at the Coney BBQ which we all agreed was just ok. We had had awesome BBQ in Kansas City a few days earlier though, so that probably didn't help KI's cause. Wrapping things up as far as coasters go: - The Bat: Fun and interesting but short. Loved the not quite removed Top Gun/Flight Deck theming and the view of Son of Beast's station. I wish someone would make a modern version of this swinging suspended coaster model. - Racer: Only road the blue side (I think, can't remember now). Weak first half and just a rough return. I think the red side opened later but I wasn't too inclined to try again... - Adventure Express: Easily my favorite mine train so far! Pretty smooth, funny theming, I hope they don't ruin it too much with the renovations this year. - KI&MV RR: Nice little train ride! Like how it serves as a transport option to the waterpark. Overall, I really enjoyed KI and like I said I do have reasons to go back. That being said, I don't think I'll race back unless I pair it with Cedar Point, or they have something cool for the Vortex plot. Just don't have a burning desire to return...not yet at least! Whew, one down, two to go! See you all next time!

Hersheypark has announced that Wildcat's Revenge will be opening on June 2nd! https://stories.hersheypa.com/wildcats-revenge-hybrid-coaster-to-open-june-2-at-hersheypark/ WOOD AND STEEL COASTER FEATURES FOUR INVERSIONS WITH WORLD’S LARGEST UNDERFLIP Hersheypark amusement park today announced that Wildcat’s Revenge hybrid coaster will open to the public on June 2, 2023, as part of a historic summer in The Sweetest Place On The Earth. The wood and steel hybrid will be the first at Hersheypark as part of an impressive 15-coaster collection. With the debut of Wildcat’s Revenge, Pennsylvania’s largest amusement park is now home to the most coasters in the Northeast. Hersheypark will be open daily starting Thursday, May 25, with the 11-acre Boardwalk At Hersheypark water park opening Saturday, May 27. Hersheypark summer tickets include three parks in one featuring 70 rides and thrilling coasters, a full water park and a zoo, with summer getaways and entertainment throughout the destination. UNIQUE HYBRID COASTER EXPERIENCE The first hybrid manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) in Pennsylvania, Wildcat’s Revenge adds an all-new steel track with unique elements to the wooden framework for a one-of-a-kind thrilling ride experience found only at Hersheypark. The debut of Wildcat’s Revenge comes 100 years after the first Wild Cat ride opened at the Park, the first coaster purchased by founder Milton S. Hershey. The 2-minute and 36-second experience begins as riders climb a 140-foot hill, plunge into an 82-degree drop and hit a maximum speed of 62 miles per hour along 3,510 feet of red track on a black steel and wood structure. The pursuit continues as riders stalk their prey through four inversions, including the World’s Largest Underflip, an inversion that begins with an upward climb, followed by a counterclockwise 270° roll and a dive down towards the side. Located in the Midway America region of Hersheypark, Wildcat's Revenge features a fully renovated coaster station with a design that harkens back to the iconic 1923 Wild Cat station, with low-pitched gables around the roof's perimeter. Guests of Hershey’s height requirement and taller (48 inches and above) will sit in one of three custom trains, showcasing fully-dimensional black, charcoal and silver wild cats exacting revenge on their wooden predecessor.

I don't really do trip reports but here's what I got... The last week in April I made my first Florida trip since November 2006. I visited both Universal Parks on Tuesday 4/25 and Thursday 4/27 (I went to Busch Gardens Tampa on 4/26 and Sea World on 4/28). I had purchased a Power Pass on the fall 2022 and intended to go sometime in November-January but life got in the way, including the passing of my dad. So this trip was just what I needed after a hectic fall and winter. VelociCoaster may be my new number 1. It definitely overtook Intimidator 305 as my favorite steel but, given I haven't ridden El Toro since 2008, I think I have to claim it as my current favorite. The combination of theming, inversions, ejector, sense of speed, and just all-around fun make it the most complete roller coaster experience, in my opinion. I was probably anticipating Iron Gwazi a little bit more (it was over-hyped in my mind by a certain other YouTuber) on this trip but VC just blew me away. Other highlights... I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan but in the spirit of the trip, I watched all 8 movies leading up to the trip. All the HP stuff is wonderfully executed and it was fun to watch the die-hard fans enjoy themselves. My main regret is that I only rode Hagrid's once. The wait in line was over 2 hours and I just couldn't bring myself to go through that again. So, instead, I just waited for three more weeks to get in line for Darkoaster for 3 hours. Incredible Hulk with the new track seemed... about the same as 2006. (Kumba, on the other hand, still kicks all types of ass) I ate lunch at Mythos which was really good. Did Poseidon's one last time. Mummy was still fun as hell. I ate at Hard Rock and Chocolate Emporium and had a good time in those places. Also fun to learn that even though I bought the Annual Pass last fall, the pass time frame starts with my first time using it so I have another year to use it. Some random pictures...

Pipeline - The Surf Coaster Media Day today! Check out our multi-angle video of the ride... I actually thought the 'gimmick' of the bouncing worked way better than I thought it would. I will say, the ride was not 'fluffy' friendly as we saw quite a few people getting kicked off.

The park has a crap ton of coasters and this is the first spinning coaster. I don’t get how it doesn’t fit in. It also has a low height requirement (for Cedar Fair). It’s different for them, so it’s a perfect fit. Realistically this entire thing is also a budget cut. They can operate a small lift driven Zamperla rather than an Intamin Inpulse that used a ton of power, required more ride ops and required more expensive parts and more maintenance. Still though… I’m fine with it.

Nothing gets me hyped like a video of a logo!

Something about calling this coaster the "All-American" after it was made in Germany, and then operated in Germany, England, Malaysia, and Mexico just makes me laugh! Glad they are getting it going though!

Day 12: Wednesday, June 14th Evening - arriving in Gothenburg Sweden (checking into the FABULOUS Grand Curiousa Hotel at Liseberg) crossing over into Sweden.. huh.. looks a lot like Norway with more cows! ah. . we're coming into a more modern city area. . . (Gothenburg) this is the stadium, nearby to the park, where Metallica would be performing on our 2nd night here. They were so loud, and it was so close, we could hear songs clearly from our hotel rooms. it was pretty damn cool, and some in our group even scored day of tix and went to the show. other side of the arena and coming into view, the front gates of Liseberg, with the iconic drop tower, and the ferris wheel. a Dinosaur? what the heck? turns out this building (and the one in the next pic with the geometric wooden shape) are part of an incredible interactive science museum called the Universeum - that Big Mike and I would visit in two days, as it opened up a couple of hours before the park opened, so we had time for a visit). you can see under the "T" shaped building - a new addition to the Universeum it turned out - the tracks for the Funicular, which sadly only has the tracks left, as they removed it when the built the new building. so elevators now get you up to that wooden shaped area (which is being converted to a Planetarium) but they left the tracks as they thought they were cool looking feature on the outside of the building (I asked and was told) I spot a coaster. . that would be Valkyria, the park's dive coaster. and across the tracks on the other side of the street, there is the brand new Hotel "Grand Curiousa" - where we would be staying for 3 nights. it's not only an amazing hotel, but it's basically attached to the park. unfortunately there was a LOT of construction going on near the Hotel (some of it the Liseberg indoor waterpark which is right next door to the hotel), and some of it a car accident. . . which caused our bus to get stuck in traffic and have to do a bit of a detour. it added some extra time on the bus, but gave us some wonderful "backstage" views of the park that probably aren't often seen. . so enjoy these pics taken from the bus: train is actually on the track in this one - going into the final brake run. Looking up from underneath Balder and Balder cresting the lift hill. eventually we made our way to the front of the hotel, and were ready to check in. even the sign is interesting. . couldn't wait to see inside the hotel, with it's themed / old-timey but very modern floors, and playful rooms. I said the hotel was basically in the park, right? Here was the view from AJ and my room: Valkryia & Balder views and Thor's Hammer pendulum swinging into view occasionally too. let's check out the room! Cheeky coathanger hands and fingers, along with regular pegs. a large bathroom with a HUGE shower. a separate area (that could be closed off with heavy drapes) that included two bunk beds - AJ claimed this space which gave him lots of privacy and some quiet from my snoring - to work on his pictures. he took/takes some damn nice photos! and I got the main "bed" in the room with the window. putting the bathroom and a long hallway between my snoring and my roomie, so hopefully he got some good sleep here out in the hallway - I think all of us on the TPR trip were on Floor 4, where the rooms seemed to have a Vintage Amusement Park theme. but the hallways on the floors were wonderfully quirky, and if you didn't particularly want to stay in your room? there were tons of places to sit, and things to explore. amazing chandelier of "vintage junk" suspended all the way down the main atrium. deciding to take the steps down from 4th floor (mainly because there's a really cool slide from the 2nd floor). some of the decor around the 3rd floor. . .still very "vintage quirky" a "Birdcage" loveseat between the 2nd floor and the main lobby. the side entrance - that will be facing the indoor waterpark.. with a lovely Chandelier. some decor in the lobby. . . including a full size Carousel in the buffet/restaurant area! sadly was for children, and ONLY children.. so not able to ride, even if I had a child volunteer to go with me. it was ok tho, as I enjoyed myself immensely just taking way too many pictures of it (only gonna share a couple here tho, you're welcome) back into the lobby/main bar. . you can see the "quirky" decorating continues thruout the lobby area around this time, some of us were starting to get munchies, so while some ate in the restaurant in the hotel, some of us headed out to find food, and we managed to find a place that served Greek/Mediterranean Poboys. but we enjoyed the walk and I loved the area around the park. when we got back, we sat in the bar - which sadly shut down right when we got there (think it might have been 11pm when it closed?).. but the staff didnt' mind if we hung out in there (tho I think Jason and Jonathan went up to the rooftop bar, but I felt underdressed for that so stayed in the lobby and got to see these freaky robot busboys. they were SO freaky, and polite, and spoke if you got in front of them, and asked you to move out of the way. . LOL the hotel also has, attached to the front desk, a 24 hour gift shop. Which sold all kinds of snacks, and souvenirs from the park. note: if the front desk clerk tells you "SURE!! go ahead and ring the bell". . . dont' believe them. that bell is so loud, it reverberated thru the whole lobby for a good 45 seconds, and remember it was after 11pm. I was a bit horrified, but the Desk Clerk was very amused. an example of what you can get in the giftshop. oh. . we HAVE to go up the steps now. . because it's late enough, there aren't a lot of kiddos around. .and we can get access to . . . the SLIDE !!! yup.. my fat ass is gonna try it! graceful! but wheeeeeee!!! even talked Jason into giving it a go one last wander around the lobby area, as it's quiet so can get decent pics. . . back up to the room to crash. . . the view from the room was so nice at night! and with that, it was off to bed. . .as tomorrow was our first of two full days at the amazing Liseberg ! oh, a bonus pic, taken by, I think, Jason. while we were waiting for the counter guy to make our sandwiches - this little tattooed Swede started flirting HARD with me. we talked about his duck (laying on the seat behind him) that he had won, and was a little embarrassed about, and he told me he was waiting for his bus to head home. but made it VERY clear he was ok to stay if I wanted to invite him to hang out. . . . LOL.. . it was very nice getting flirted with, as I liked his tatts. so it was a perfect capper to a perfect day! (and no, I didn't' know a pic had been taken until it got sent to me later that evening at the hotel).

Well, we're about halfway through the trip, and it's time to leave Denmark for good and head to Norway. So it'll just be a short "travel day" update. 14: Norway Jose And how does one get from Denmark to Norway? Well, I suppose one could fly, but where's the fun in that? This ferry was a bit different, in that we had to get off the bus and board individually. Here's most of our group mixed with a bunch of randos, while I watch from the heavens like a god. Everyone on the ferry gets an assigned seat. Ours were in the buffet. Thanks, Elissa. You really know us. Apparently, Robb wasn't allowed to buy any more stuffed animals. So Smisty ran off and bought one for him...? I don't know. I don't get involved in such things. I was too busy with the 4-hour buffet. I've been on plenty of ferries--I live in Seattle. But I daresay this is the biggest ferry I've ever been on. We boarded on foot, but we leave on the bus. After a bit of a tight squeeze to get back on, mind you. I don't know what bridge this is, but...welcome to Norway! In front of our hotel is this lovely statue of Fry and Frya, twin babies who were raised by halibut and founded Oslo, according to Norwegian mythology. So, our hotel was two stories tall but quite long, with elevators only on one side and stairs that were emergency use only. As a result, the shortest path to our particular room was a bit of a trek. PXL_20230613_190317639.mp4 If this is impossible to watch--or just painfully unfunny--my apologies. I don't normally do video. The view from our room made the long walk worth it, though. Also, we could walk right from the hotel lobby into this mall/transportation hub. Now where have I seen this before? We had a couple hours left in the day for sightseeing in Oslo. Some people went much farther than us, and stayed out much later--but we're old and need our sleep, so we kept pretty close to the hotel. Luckily, there was some good stuff nearby. I mean, I say "luckily," but I guess I really should say, "Elissaly," as the hotel being near good stuff was certainly no accident. The Oslo Opera House is designed to be walked up, serving as a sort of public park/observation deck, and giving some pretty nice views of the harbor. A bit of the view, and a bit of the inside. Mexican food is a big deal for both Smisty and I, and because we're weird, we can't help but to keep trying Northern Europe's weird takes on Mexican food. But Oslo was different. El Camino was analogous to Chipotle. Now, sure, Chipotle isn't exactly authentic, per se--but it is closer to real Mexican food than the pickled onions and taco toast we'd been "enjoying" everywhere else in the region. Which is less an actual endorsement of El Camino, I suppose, and more just something I found interesting. I wouldn't say that we really saw everything that Oslo had to offer, but I did very much enjoy what we were able to explore. Thor's Hammer. But not the roller coaster at Djurs Sommerland. I must say it's quite interesting that Scandinavia wants to keep naming things "Thor's Hammer," when I as an American know the actual name of the thing. But nope, no Mjolnir round these parts, just "Thor's Hammer." Goodbye, Oslo. I can't imagine that I'll ever be back--but I'd certainly welcome returning. Next time: Thor's Hammer!

Part 11 A Most Unusual Day: Skara Sommarland This may be the strangest day of the TPR Scandinavia Trip for two reasons: One of the group, Barry, had to spend some time in a Swedish hospital after getting an enormous splinter in his foot at the park's wake-boarding attraction. Tranan, a notoriously unreliable S&S Free Fly coaster, ran pretty much all day while other, simpler attractions broke down frequently. Did I say "splinter"? From what I understand, Barry impaled his foot on a huge piece of the wake-boarding pier. He rode in an ambulance to a hospital in another town, accompanied by Colin, one of his trip mates, and caught up with the group in Stockholm by train after being released. Barry and Colin were both real troupers during and after this incident; Barry was able to get around the rest on the trip using crutches and wheelchairs and the help of other TPR folks. As for Tranan, it's fun but very weird as you cruise over, under, and beside the track. ERT on this ride, and on the park's bizarrely named new bumper cars, Badrings Bumpers (the park's webiste also refers to them as "Swimming Ring Bumpers"), went well. But other rides were having issues. For example, Robb and some of the group got stuck midcourse on the park's spinning mouse. A technician rode up on a bicycle, reset the ride (which resumed operating), then rode off again. The ops sent the next car full of riders, which got stuck in exactly the same place. Newton, the park's flume ride with cute little whale-shaped boats, also kept breaking down. Even the deck outside the restaurant where the group had lunch had some technical issues. Seating inside was limited, and it was a rather hot day (especially for Sweden). Fortunately, awnings provided shade for many of the tables. The staff extended the awnings, which work with electric motors controlled inside the building. At the table where I and some others were waiting, the awning extended, then slowly retracted, leaving us in the blazing sun. They tried three or four times to get the awning to stay in place; each time, it retracted. Finally, they let us eat inside. Good lunch, as I recall. Well, we did grab some ice cream before we left--yay! On to Stockholm! Skara is a popular campground with a surfing-beach-themed water park. So maybe this should be "Valkommen-a-bunga." Would you trust these birds on Tranan? Looks like they may have smoked some weed this morning. "Er, these birds look a little stoned. Is this a good idea?" "I'm sure it will be . . . fine." Lord, what the hell is happening? The bird is upside-down? How is this even possible? This ride provides a different sensation than any other coaster I've ever ridden. It is, indeed, unique. You feel really exposed on these very open trains, and you're held in by nothing more than a rather funky seatbelt. I think it's fun but just really weird. What has this bird been drinking, and where can we get some? Tranan can have strange effects on people. (I think this is an Andy or AJ photo.) The theming of the new bumper cars is rather . . . interesting. Lots of manspreading here. "I can see everyone's crotch, which fills me with joy." Thank god my shorts held up! (Photo by Elissa, I think.) Time for a manly lunch on a Manly Beach. This weird snake ride used to be at Grona Lund (the same people own Skara). I'm sure Robb got some interesting footage. "We broke the ride! I can't wait to post the POV!" This is as close as Eric and I got to riding Newton. I know there's some ice cream around here somewhere. But where could it be? Goodbye, Tranan! See ya around, Snake! Catch you later, Karp Pond!

Day 3, June 5th (and the official start of the TPR trip) part 1: BonBon Land BonBon Land is a weird - I mean REALLY weird - park. Think of it as the Denmark version of HersheyPark , only in that it is run/themed by/to a candy company. In this case, a company that makes lots of weird hard (and licorice) candies that are themed to body functions, and weird / nasty messed up animals! it's also hidden behind what looks like an industrial area, in the middle of fields. But then suddenly there are Rollercoasters and all kinds of weird rides. Apparently they've WAY toned down some of the more offensive/freaky mascots - and many of the rides seemed to be missing theming that we were told was there in prior years. So they've absolutely "cleaned it up". . tho much of the WTF-ness of it does remain, hidden in some areas. Seriously, this park is beyond fucked up. . .so of COURSE I loved it. tho it's probably most infamous for Henry the pooping dog, who is the mascot of the infamous Dog-Fart coaster. let's have some fun, shall we? coming up to the front gate. We were getting in early for some ERT, but the park was also hosting a "heroes" race for parents and kids, where they got to wear masks and capes and run a course thru the park. Not gonna lie, I was envious of the capes and really wanted one but that's why you might notice some tape blocking paths in some pics. hurm. . here was an advertisement for our included lunch for today - the park was going to open up it's Mexican Buffet for us *usually only open on certain days. Danish "Mexican" food. . what could go wrong? LOL. . cautiously optimistic . . . but hey, they had rainbow flags everywhere! for the race? for Pride? not sure. . but was still happy to see em. right near the front of the park - as you pass all the photo ops (would go back for those later) as you get to the actual rides section. .there's a statue of Henry. already with leg up interesting figures all thuout the park, just spaced out among the rides. most of these are on the labels for the candies (also sold in the park). . but as noted, they seem to have way toned down the "over the top" ones. . and gone more towards the cute or "slightly racially offensive" ones. loved this take on the caterpillar ride. . . tho he looked a little scary. . . the turtle just looked a bit stoned. or maybe he was upset at all the weight hanging from the underside of his shell. such odd, and yet amazingly funky and fun rides here! fairly large space too.. this looked like it was a boat ride of some sort that had been pulled out. not really sure, but it's lush back here and we were walked over to our first coaster of the day: Vild Svinet (which is Danish for Wild Boar) not really sure WHY this has a hog racing theme. . but it is historic, as it's the worlds first Eurofighter it did have a little bit of a rattle. . but in the front row, it was not bad at all. (not a fan of Eurofighters). note: any pic that I'm in is courtesy of Elissa, Robb (tho he's in this pic), AJ (ditto), Andy, or Brad. after we got a ride or two on the Eurofighter, we went next door for Han-Katten (Tom-Cat). this is a Gerstlaur spinner, and man, did it spin. the mascot was out, to greet the racers, and tho he could barely walk in the giant feet, and seemed very confused by who all the people were on the other side of the race course with him. . he still posed for a pic. and then posed with the group. . a nice view of the two coasters next door to each other. . they actually look quite good together. whoever took this pic, managed to catch Robb filming, and the lift hill. note that we're riding in the "Pussy" car. no really . . . the cars each have names, and my first ride was with the guys in the Pussy car. and man did we spin. wanna see? here's the video Robb posted it was so good, I went back around and rode again - this time in the Felix car. But we still spun a TON the 3rd coaster we were going to before the park opened was the one the place is most well known for: Hundeprut - which really does, translate from the Danish to "Dog Fart" so yup. . we got to ride the famous Dog Fart coaster. ..where, when the train goes thru the house, there are loud fart noises played. oh. .and the statue of Henry in the middle of the coaster field, also has poop around him. yup. I loved this messed up park. look at those happy faces! even I was laughing and enjoying this thing. TPR got farted on by Henry! me enjoying the back row. we had a little time before the park opened to the general public, so we headed over to wait close to the 4th coaster in the park, Viktor Vandorm. . a really long (I think 20 rows) zierer family coaster. while we waited we hung out in the playground underneath the raised coaster - where Henry is also represented. NEVER IN AMERICA.. but you can climb into Henry in multiple ways, then get pooped out via a metal slide from his butt. no.. really: Bwaa-haaa-haaaaa soon enough the park opened to all (tho most of the TPR folks had stayed together to ride this one) so we took over the whole train to go around a few times in a surprisingly fun family coaster. cut loose to enjoy the rest of the day on our own - until time to meet for lunch. . many of us headed over to the giant frisbee. along the way we passed the small - and heavily themed - drop tower. Very similar to one I rode last year at Tripsdrill. . and no, I won't spoil the surprise, but yes, it scares the crap out of you before dropping. it wasn't open just yet, so snapped a pic as I passed. here's the frisbee. . themed to a giant spider. . but most all of the actual "spider" theming was gone. didn't matter tho. .it was still an amazing ride, with very high & fast swings, and a really long cycle (perhaps just a wee bit too long. . once was enough. . LOL) we explored a bit and found where we needed to meet for lunch later. perhaps a little humping occurred on this "is it racist or not?" figure. but I had spotted this. No Carousel any longer (the park had an infamous one with lots of the offensive characters, but it had been pulled out). . so this was as close as I was gonna get to a Carousel here. But that's ok, as I love these pony rides. which at one point has a chicken animatronic that turns to show you it's butthole. again, no, really. Andy took this pic after I told him that it's on the ride, so he rode just to get this picture for me (thanks Andy!) whee! (you pull the cord to send yourself off). hurm. . a little of the 'older' theming seems to remain on this ride tho. . . the pigs were "tits out" and Mexican robber rats. I think the Disk-o is supposed to be themed to an albatross. . but I kept calling it a Drag Chicken (and that's the first Magnet I bought here.. the drag chicken magnet). Didn't ride the Disk-o tho, as I don't care for them. I had heard whispers about this ride too. .it's basically an outdoor dark ride. . where your boat passes lots of scenes, full of some "questionable" content. it to had been cleaned up a bit, but the underbelly of weirdness was still there, and I really loved this. (tho I didn't love the operators with water pistols on the water rides that squirt you before you even leave the station. . something that happened at many parks thruout the trip). USA. . .cracked and bent.. but ok.. seems reasonable is that Bullwinkle? So "Sitting Bull". . . . .LOL hard to see in the pic, but the crock animatronic was chewing on a disembodied leg.. LOL oh my! the characters all have such big feet, it's hard for them to walk.. so they get pushed around in carts! the small surprise drop tower opened, so we headed over there. . and all of us got the crap scared out of us by what it does. . even tho some of us KNEW what it was gonna do damn that frisbee goes high. getting close to lunch time. . but first, we had to go on the flume. which is themed to Rats, and rotten cheese. yup! Colin enjoying squeezing in with Barry. . . Andy looks comfy tho the rest of the group I hung around with today did 2 per raft one of the "pissing ants" that is a character on some candies, and used to be featured on the Carousel. (tho this one wasn't pissing. .it had been sanded off). I chose not to ride this "Swinging ship" which seems to be themed to a fish? but those that did said it was an oddly boring cycle. it looked great tho. several of the parks on this trip were going to have Obstacle Courses. . I'm a big ol kluts, and wasn't gonna do most of em. but this one at BonBon Land I did, as the steps were wide enough I wasn't worried about slipping, and the snakes spit water, and I didn't care if I got a little wet. whee! and then it was time for lunch. how was it. . . ummm. . . . well.. if this is a representation of Danish Mexican food? I guess it's OK i mean, it didn't give me the shits. . but it was most certainly very bland. and the best things I got was the Corn (not really Mexican) and the Chicken on a Stick (also not really Mexican).. but those two had the most flavor and are what I went back for. wanna see the buffet options? sure, I took pics! there were three types of "Taco Toast" - two with meat and a veggie version. . and they all tasted the same. LOL this was boiled chicken (as near as I could tell). Even dumping guac and salsa on it didn't help much. the beef was better tho. only slightly, but better. here are the chips and cheese to make nachos. the Tortilla chips? they tore open bags of Doritos and poured them in the bowls. Hysterical. but hey. . can't go wrong with Doritos! the corn and build your own tacos (with the chicken or beef in prior pics) after lunch we still had a couple of hours in the park, so off we all went until it was time to meet up at the bus to head back to Copenhagen. this slide i was told was very fun (I didnt' ride it). . . it used to be themed to (I think I was told) a giant shrimp? and used to have a giant sexy shrimp laying across the top of the launch area? what I find most interesting is how it interacts with the long family coaster, that dives thru it (you can see the elevated tracks here) Bever Rafting? ok then. . . BWAAA-HAAA-HAAAA this was a fun river raft ride, that didn't have a lot of "rapids" that I recall, but had lots of scenes with Beaver characters on the shores doing things. I think we did get a little bit wet tho. We're all smiling in the pics. we then headed over to the "Western" section.. which most parks seem to have. no real "rides" over here - it's a small section - tho they do have a shooting gallery, and this great photo op. I think maybe the shooting gallery at one point WAS a ride? the saddles you sit on look like they are supposed to move (think Plants vs Zombies at Kings Island or Carowinds). .but they were just static seats while we shot at the screens. we SUCKED at it. . LOL. . but didn't stop us from trying to do a Charlies Angels pose.. sorta. I had spotted this earlier, and it seemed like a kiddie ride. But watching it cycle just once? oh no, this crazy thing not only spun super fast, but also went backwards just as fast. NOT a kiddie ride. . . and the design of it is fantastic. all smiles before it starts. and then bigger smiles as we hung on for dear life, as the ride op got it going faster and faster and we tried not to fly out. a couple more pics of the worlds first Eurofighter. . as I walked the park to see what else I might want to ride. this one was a mistake.. you HAVE to pedal. HAHAHAHAHA. . it sucked. I think Big Mike was ready to kill me when we got half way and realized how much more pedaling there was to do. i think thanks to Andy for this pic. another pic of Henry as I made my way towards a gift shop to get some more magnets. . I wanted one that said BonBon Land. Erik and Misty had been getting ice cream at most stops, and it sounded like a really good idea. and once I saw you could get a souvenir Henry head full of ice cream? SOLD watching Dragon cycle (and Robb film) as I enjoyed the ice cream. Success on magnets. . . but none of them said BonBon Land. . had to keep looking. . . (spoiler, I did find some. .thinking I'll save Swag posts till the end, or at least until I organize enough to get pics of everything) in the front gift shop, hidden high on the upper level above the registers. . they had some carved figures of the characters they had quietly removed from the park but will my zoom on my camera, was able to capture them. um. . some I DO understand why they pulled them . . .LOL as heading to the bus.. had to stop for those photo ops I had passed on earlier. but also realized I never got a pic of the park map: awwwwww after a fun filled day, we met at the bus and headed back to Copenhagen. while on the bus, Robb shared the pic he had taken that morning: I really liked this park. . supremely funky, and odd. . and really my cuppa, even if they didn't have a Carousel. there were a few things we didn't do.. and just didn't have time for the 5D movie part of the park.. but overall, I really liked it. hope you enjoyed the pics! on the drive back it was pointed out that we were getting back fairly early and Tivoli Gardens was open until 10.. . so it was quickly decided that some of us were going to take advantage of an "evening ticket" and just go in to walk the grounds and get the lay of the land for the next day. so with that plan in my head, I relaxed for the ride back to the hotel. Day to be continued. . . .

And I thought I did a lot of complaining about the park. Old man yells at Carousel progress.

cont. . .Part III I had heard of fantastic things within the Castle, but we hadn't made it over that way yet. so that was the next stop.. if we could navigate the weird pathways in the park, after we left Adventureland . . LOL pretty tho! (and NO ONE back here) ah. .we came out along side the castle. .. One of my favorite pics from this day (and one I sent home to Nick) some of the kinetic metal sculptures over here that I hadn't seen yet: and down this path. . not really marked, but it SEEMS to be leading somewhere. . ahhhh. . . I had heard there was something evil living in the basement of the castle! a bit hard to see in the pics, but an INCREDIBLE animatronic dragon Malificent that moves and puffs smoke at those who dare come to look at it. as they say in the infomericals tho. . . .BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!!! upstairs? you can actually enter the castle, where the story of Sleeping Beauty is told via a walkthru filled with Tapestries and Stained Glass Windows. this is probably the most stunning walkthru at the park, and highly recommended. *and* the walkthru allows you to go outside on the Castle walkways, to get some lovely views of not just Fantastyland, and the castle itself, but also other areas of the park: (I see you Lancelot's Carousel. . .. and I hear you calling my name) yeah. the Carousel is huge, and can seat a lot of people. but there's also a lot of people in line. but you bet your butt I waited to ride it. beautiful! I have absolutely NO idea what this is from. My gut says "Snow White" and I do recall we rode it again at some point, as it had just come back up from downtime, so it was basically a walk on as it opened as we were passing. but that's too many folks in front of me - do they stack ride vehicles at the end? maybe that's what this is? and I spotted Cinderella's chariot! off by itself with no one around. this park has so many "hidden" things all over. . you just have to really pay attention to the details. it was almost time to head over to Studios. . tho we had a bit of time before dinner. this appears to be Star Tours. . tho I can't recall if we rode it in DLP before heading over to Studios? or if it's actually in Studios? I just know we rode it. ok..Star Tours must have been in DLP. . because here we are going back into Studios. . . not super busy over here today! (it was a Sunday if I recall). . but DLP was pretty crowded. my camera says we took a ride on Tower of Terror and then Ratatouille awwwww. . how CUTE!!! the Ratatouille ride exits with glass walls that let you peek into Remy's Restaurant! hi TPR folks enjoying a meal our reservation still wasn't for about 30 minutes. . so we just relaxed in the area. the lobby of the restaurant - which is themed as if you're a mouse, so everything is giant. the attention to detail is pure Disney level. .tho still not exactly sure what this is! (tho we took guesses.. LOL) the Menu. . looking thru the other side of the glass.. into the Ride exit. wanna see the food? sure you do! (and yes, it was all very good) this was the Duck Pate en crute (with fig jam). my main was the roast Cod and desert was the lava cake. Not quite "lava-y" enough, but still pretty good. as noted earlier, meals in DLP complex are "take your time, sloooooow" so I think this meal took about 1:45. .and by the time we were done, the park was closed. At least allowed me to get some good pics on the way out: Mickey waving goodbye on the balcony on the way out. back over to DLP. .which is open a good 3 hours past Studios. and folks had already staked out places for fireworks. good.. we saw them the prior two nights. . . .we're gonna do other stuff! Like buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and Hyperspace Mountain and why not? Autopia and I'm so glad we did. . Autopia was SO much fun. .and absolutely beautiful as it got darker. Don't miss this one if at DLP they had this Star Wars meet and Greet (think it was Darth Vader). . but the hours were so weird, we were never by there when it was open. we went the back way around to Fantasyland (no Small World for us, as it was down for refurb during our visit) but I'm pretty sure we rode the teacups (under this lovely covering) and based on her uniform, we swung by Pirates too. and most likely a night ride on Big Thunder Mountain. ooooo. . pretty. I'm pretty sure we were wiped out, so left just before the fireworks started. . .so we beat the crowd out. which would be why everyone is coming towards us, as exiting here. back at the hotel. . I did some wandering and found a Chip & Dale themed "event" area. . basically a scavenger hunt around the property, if I'm recalling. with video clues. if you noticed me carrying a big vinyl DLP 30 bag in some pics? it's because when we rode Tower of Terror earlier in the day, I got talked into purchasing a picture as they were running a special where a lovely (heavy) cardboard frame comes with. they DIDN'T tell me that the hugely awkwardly shaped thing was *not* one of the items that you could buy and have sent back to the hotel to hold for you. Tho they gladly sold me the bag to carry it around in all day. yeah.. . .still. . it IS a great picture, and it survived the whole trip home! and that ends Day 3. thanks for following along!