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Polin have opened another new for them waterside. It's their first dueling Turbolance slide. It's very similar to the King Cobra slide, but for some reason I like this more, it looks more classy, plus I love the little speed bump most boomerango's have. I wanted to show this ride for almost a year now, but there haven't been many quality photos of it available. Here's some photos, notice how the whole ride shines like a new car, no one else in the industry can build that! The photo's are high res, just open them in another window for bigger size. Source

1. Mack is an expensive manufacturer of very high quality. They have a reputation of being a cheap manufacturer because they have mostly built smaller rides, but something like Blue Fire will set you back around €15 million / $20 million. 2. The terrain where Helix is built is some of the most challenging to build at in the world, with lot's of hard rock that needed to be blasted. 3. In general rides are more expensive to build here in Europe, especially in Scandinavia, due to higher taxes and wages. The price was raised to 240 million SEK, due to difficulties with the foundations. And no, as you guss Mack isn't really a budget friendly manufacturer. None of the German manufacturers really are, it just depends on what size of a project you are asking for.

Everything looks awesome! The new Looping Rockets being built in Croatia impressed me with how tight Helix they had, but it looks like yours have one that is just as tight!

As I said earlier the ride looks awesome, but we all know why.

Actually, a tower from Intamin dosen't have to be that expensive, remember that they offer the 215 feet tower in collaboration with Fabbri. The small ones are totally awesome, so I think the big one i just as awesome. The only big one is at Gyeongju World in Korea, I believe a few people on here have ridden it.

I can't believe the Fly Away is still offered by HUSS, reintroduce the Enterprise would be a good move for them IMO.

I will guess it's definitely a 2016 opening.

I kinda felt the same way

Lol, I actually noticed that, but I thought it was a random construction worker!

Dollywood looks awesome!

Intamin now have the ride up on their website

They sure do!

A great new flyover, did I mentioned earlier that this guy is awesome!? It can't be to long now until the Surf Safari ride starts to go up. And here's some new photos, a few days older than the video For toddlers This will most likely look a loot nicer in a couple of weeks! Something I don't like with Polin's straight mat racers is the lack of slope, they have to much straight section on the downhill parts, this one do however look really awesome Source

^ It is undergoing theming at the moment. The HUSS Pirateboat is almost done Source

In a bit of a surprise Polin actually opened their first Aqualoop summer 2013. I'm not really sure how this slipped by me... [vimeo] [/vimeo]

That's a good point, I don't think there is any other park with 3 big drop rides. Add the two small Zierer drop towers to that and you probably have a world record!

Do you mean they way they look, or the way they ride (the restraints?) ? I actually really like the look of them, but I'm not to found of the restraints. I wrote to (well, my wife did) Sascha at intamin and asked about the inverted train. He said that they could not incorporate the new lap bars to them with the newest safety norms, but that they are looking into using the Storm Runner type of OTSR on them. For a family version they could most likely use it without the shoulder straps. (like how they originally planned on Tornado at Bakken, before they opted for the full OTSR because of the lower height limit) I really hope somebody builds an Intamin invert soon. Intamin have learned so much since the last one was built in the early 2000's

That car looks great!

I suspect they will get problems with overcrowding! I really like the look of the family slide. Source

lol!

Looks like you had an awesome, delicious time Chuck!

Awesome photos! Parks looks in great shape, hopefully more landscaping will follow. Lightning Run looks awesome, and I LOVE the colors of the drop tower! But seriously, what the h**l is that McDonalds water play structure???

Great photos! Gonna visit Hansa for the first time next spring for the opening of Kärnan.

Lol, didn't notice that before, how funny! I'm not visiting Liseberg so often, so I don't really have a favorite dinner time place. Nowadays I usually eat something like Burger King, so I know what I get. I have eaten two times in the harbor, and been disappointed both times. Perhaps Loefet can chip in here? For lunch I absolutely recommend to eat at Plättlagat. It's smaller pancakes, and they are awesome with jam and whipped cream along with milk to drink

Time for part 2! I love the support structure for Helix's pretzel loop! Looking down the midway, Lisebergbanan's station is saying "hi, come ride me!" Looking toward the entrance, nice and green as always in this park How about some Helix photos? How about a pretzel through the trees? This corkscrew is AWESOME, and the drop out of the station is even more AWESOME, it's such a great way to start the ride! Helix contains some VERY strong airtime on the two straight hills, they are on pair with Expedition Geforce's first two hills. Beautiful Immelmann through the trees Dive dive dive! It's something very impressive about standing under the lift of Lisebergbanan when it climbs up, it's hard to explain A masterpiece of engineering, not a single wheel not spinning or spinning freely, it's very impressive for such an old coaster. But on the other hand we also know that Anton was a genius (and massive thumbs up to Zierer for making this one happen!) It's such a great ride, and one of my all time favorites! It really deserves a new paint job as well as magnetic brakes within the next few years Suddenly Helix got jealous that we moved focus over to Lisebergbanan, "Oh look, I can do an Immelmann again, it's no biggie for me, I can do them in my sleep" Standing beneath this AWESOME hill who delivers great ejector air, but what impressed me the most was for how long it sustained it Here's one of the worlds coolest Screamin Swing. The location is pure gold The zero-g-roll was great, not a stand out element, but not a disappointing one as well. It's very nice considering it's Mack's first attempt at a true zero-g-roll. A guy who have ridden both said it is very simliar to the one on Hydra The top hat was pure awesome. It have a great pace through it, and it delivers upside down floater air And I LOVE these supports for the top hat, it's hard for me to explain why though Some posers! Getting launched, the launches is not very strong on Helix (you have probably already read that) but they are still really nice To be honest the only thing I don't like the look of is the extra supports for a possibly future noise screen on the top hat, everything else is very aesthetically pleasing on Helix Take the near collision! Liseberg is one of very few parks who have two ferris wheels, but they both look great so it's cool Balder says "hi, remember me?" S&S Turbo Drop in the sunlight And here's the Space Shot again The Tilt-A-Whirl Here's the flume lurking in the trees As I said both ferris wheels look really great Did you know that some trees are special, and have the ability to grow an S&S ride? You should start looking for one ASAP! Unfortunately the ice cream stand up on the mountain was closed today, I have this tradition of always getting an ice cream here on my visits The flume going up the second lift Diving Immelmanning Ejecting This photo turned out great, Helix, Atmosfear and Uppswinget all in action Did I mention earlier that the top hat is great? Well now I've done it again! Here's the big awesome evil airtime hill again Standing under the corkscrew after the first launch, this is a very great element as well This twisty bit was very fun, but nothing mind blowing Crokscrewing Launching Ejecting This dive into the pretzel loop was pure magic, it's so awesome to follow the ground so closely, I would say it's very similar to Speed Monster's turn around after the loop, only a bit tighter radius Some top hatting And some ejecting I remember you as well, you are such an awesome ride, even though I wish you were Falcon's Fury.. How about a Helix and Atmosfear photo? It didn't turn out so great, but I didn't want to wait for them to time again, so here you are Here's the zero-g-roll from below the mountain I really like this photo, I have one from 2 seconds earlier with the other swing, and also the train, but it turned out a bit blurry The dive into the helix, and the helix as well are some of my favorite elements, I actually had a bit of a grey out in the bottom of it on one ride, it was obviously time to eat and drink something Some thing that surprised me is how good it all fits together with the landscaping and foliage. I thought it was going to look massively out of place, and like a building zone. They have done an amazing job here, and in most places it seems like Helix have been here all along. It's only the area around the second corkscrew on the mountain top that need more work. I would like to see them investing heavy in 5 really big trees they could plant in that area for next season. Kanonen through the chairswing The park also have a roundabout, it lives next to Lisebergbanan's awesome final helix Here's the final drop for the log flume, there is so much foliage that it's hard to get a good photo of it, which is awesome! SKLOOOSH What a nice sight How about a train on top of it as well? Kanonen have new restraints (same as on Insane, or I305 if you live in the states), they really make the ride so much better. i really wish all the Intamin rides who have the Storm Runner restrains would get this treatment. Balder is still one of the star attractions in the park. It, along with Uppswinget, Atmosfear, Helix, Lisebergbanan, Flume Ride & Kållerado, are my personal favorites in the park. Not a single wheel not touching the track. great job from the maintenance crew and the park! Also Kanonen seem to rattle less this season, only in a few selected places I could feel it. Going over the top Getting awesome ejector air! I prefer Balder in the front seat, but the back is also great. Ride in the first or in the last car if you are visiting, the ride is not se great in the middle seats compared to the last or the first seats. Here's the discovery again How strong are you? The river is always looking great This photo turned out great It all fits together so well How about Helix through the trees? Or some S&S rides? Awesome ride! It have the best restraints on any drop tower I've experienced. Would love to try out the ones on Lex Luthor, they look even better! The only downpart with these S&S rides is how much noise they make, at least if you have tinnitus. But it's wort it in the end, it's such awesome rides! Atmosfear and the dive loop Awesome airtime hill! The Immelmann again How about some arial shots from the big wheel? I can blame a lot on my bad camera, but here the photo quality is actually bad because of the dirty glass on the gondolas. Atmosfear coming up from it's cave. Love the steam effects, but they seemed weaker this visit. Atmosfear and Helix doing their things The barrel roll, this photo however can be blamed on the camera. but it's the only good one I got of the train and the barrel roll because for some reason the wheel kept rotating.. Overview with focus on Helix only Love this one! Don't think I forgot about the barrel roll! It's a great element, but also the only thing that *slightly* (very slightly!) disappointed me. I excepted a bit more of a "whip" around it, like on Blue Fire. It's still a very great element, but I would have liked to see it a bit faster. Some reviews I have read compares it to the one on Kanonen, but I don't think that is correct at all. The first half ot the roll actually have a similar "whip" to the one on BF (a little bit weaker) but but then the second half it not as quick and gives some great hang time, but it is definitely not as slow as on Kanonen IMO. Barrel roll through the trees! As I said in the first part, there was people everywhere Time to leave, the park closes at 23, but unfortunately I don't have my beloved Saab anymore, so the last train home leaves at 20:40 (and it cost us about 150 dollars for train tickets, so in this case I REALLY miss my car!) I'm not one for selfies but in this case I make an exception, I really love Helix! It was actually not as easy as it might look to get up there. Oh, I also ripped the sleeve on my shirt all open later on, taking picture above the fence at the pretzel loop, so there would be no squares in the photo. It's no biggie, I just wish I had worn a shirt I didn't like so much.. And one last shot to finish up the report, hope you enjoyed it! So my overall review of Helix is that it’s the best ride to open in Europe in quite a few years. I have ever since it was annouced excpected it to be Blue Fire 2.0, in other words a not so intense ride, and this have even been more implemented in my thoughts when the park have said during the last two years that the ride would appeal to everybody. Therefore I don’t feel the slightest dissapointment about this ride, as some other reviews I have read. I am truly blown away by Helix. It is everything an amazing coaster should be. The ride is a bit forceless in some areas like the launches, the corkscreews and the zero-groll. These elements are still very great however, as the first corkscrew have awesome hangtime, the second corkscrew have some great floater and the zero-g-roll is still a good element. The launches we always knew they were going to be weak, but they are still great. It is nothing like a modern B&M! In some other areas hovever the ride is very intense. The dive into the helix is AWESOME and the helix itself pull some really high G’s, and the same thing can be said about the bottom of the Pretzl loop. The pretzel loop is also very awesome, the pacing through is great, it dosent slow down or ”drag” anything. The transitions dosen’t have the same ”snap” as the Intamin version, but it really dosen’t need them, it’s such a great element. The dive into the loop is awesome as well, following the groud and being burrid within the folliage makes it an awesome part of the ride. The dive out of the station is a very good elemtent, and especially awesome if your in the back of the train. It surprised me how fast the ride travelled between the first corkscrew until the first launch, great start to the ride! The 3 airimte hills are awesome, the two later ones have great ejector air sustained for very long (as I wrote earlier, I can compare the airtime to the first two hills on Expedition Gefore). The first airtime hill, after the second corkscrew, is also very good. Not as strong airtime (I’d rather call it weak ejector than strong floater) but it also have the twisty part, so it’s still a great and very fun element. The turn after the helix into the second launch is also very great becuse of the near misses with the flume and the Schwarzkopf. The top hat is very awesome, as I said earlier, as it delievers a great pace through, combined with some great upside down floater. When you have passed the awesome airtime hill after the top hat comes the pullout of it, which gives some very strong G’s, and it just awesome. The trick-track rail up until the barrel roll is very fun, but nothing spectacular, and the roll is as I described it earlier, a very fun ending to the ride. There is only some slight rattle in a few selected places, nothing to mention really, the only reasone I’m doing so is that I didn’t find it on Blue Fire. But also Mack have never built anything of Helix’s size before, they are probably going to experiment a bit more with the wheels after it’s trimmed in, so I excpect it to be glass smoth all over for next year. My favorite elements would be the drop out of the station along with the corkscrew, the pretzel loop, the dive into, and the helix as well as the top hat. We all know how awesome the Mack restrains and train are, so I don't think I have to write anything about them. The station is very cool, and the quene is exceptionally well done, even though it lacks any themeing. Everybody who love Cristopher Nolan’s Batman movies will LOVE the soundtrack! From what I have written I will give Helix 10 out of 10 possible points, it really blew my mind with what excpectations I had, and I would rather ride it tan Expedition Geforce. I place it second on my coaster rankings for now, only Piraten is higher, BUT I leave it open for Helix to take the number one spot away from the megalite, I just need to ride it more. No, its not a joke, you read it correctly, I’m thinking of taking away the megalite from my no.1 spot!! I do have a feeling that next year, when I have ridden I305, Skyrush, Maverick and El Toro, Helix will go down a few positions in my ranking. Piraten is much more intense, and the elements comes quicker, but this is just so overall well done, and the ride is spectacular. I also can not resist comparing it to the other double launcher in Scandinavia, Juvelen. I would say Helix is a better ride, but I will also say that Juvelen is not a worse ride. They are both really great rides, and I could never chose between them. They are also so very different. I predict that many enthusiasts will make HELIX their No.1 coaster. The operations on Helix, and the other rides as well, leaves a bit for improvement. Hopefully they will get it going for when summer hits for real. And with that I leave you. For you who are going on the SCANDI trip, you should really long for HELIX (but keep in mind what I wrote about my personal expectations for the ride, it is not Skyrush combined with Maverick!)