Loefet

This! Liseberg is very good at what they do, I don't think they would ever let the new development come at cost of the regular park. I wouldn't even be surprised if they continue to make some major investments in the park in the coming years, despite the developing of the new area. Now back to studying! I asked Andreas about it on the live chat, and the reply I got were that they won't "forget" the park in terms of development of the rides, etc. since that's part of their core business. Not much other interesting info have posted, the most interesting parts I have seen are: Green Fire, that later became Helix, was supposed to be 84 meters tall, that's about 30 meters taller than Helix, now when the top-hat is in place then it's easy to see how massive it would have been. Use Uppswinget as a reference it's 19 meter tall over the loading platform. There are plans on renovation work on Lisebergbanan, which will include a new electronics (known on here for some time now), but it will also be repainted, to make it look nice and fresh again. Since there are massive infrastructure projects going on in Gotheburg at the moment, one of which is a big train tunnel underneath the city, there were some questions about how this will change Liseberg, but that we have to wait and see since there are still much to do until that's known really. But some of the things are to reduce the amount of cars in-front of the main gate, how it will damage Liseberg etc.

I was so going to post that just now, I will have a look through the replies to see if there is any info that is worth posting onto here

Home again, at last It's great to see that other people have stepped up to keep the updates coming, awesome work!! First I will start with the now official plans for the future, looks the same as the one we got a sneak peak when they were leaked on here some time ago. It's the most logical step for Liseberg, to develop into more of a resort type affair. I have commented the plan before, so I won't bother again, and in my mind there are some flaws to it. However, there is also logic to much of this as well. I'm pretty sure that Liseberg really wants to get an on-site hotel as soon as possible, since the large open space where the current Liseberg hotel is situated is under planning to be transformed into something else pretty soon, which will mean that the current Hotel won't be able to stay, so since they now have the space for it then adding one connected to the park is given. Waterpark, not a big fan, but also a smart move, the only real contender is 3 hours away by boat, so they will have little competition I really hope that the large brick building from the old SAAB factory that will be saved will turn into a great indoor park with attractions, sure no Lotte World, but still way better than nothing. And as it looks now, then there will be plenty of space to get some other large attractions way further into the future as well. So in essence, not a bad concept, but parts of it can need some work in my view, and who knows, much may change until they finally put earth in motion.. EDIT: Had a better read through the article, and this is just a rough drawing, it may never be realized but changed dramatically. To those that worry about not getting new rides for several years, I would say, don't worry at all, the upgrading of Liseberg won't stop. There are already long going plans on new attractions, sure not in the scale of Helix or similar, but it's still very likely that there will be some new stuff every year, so don't worry about it, this development will be ongoing over several years, but dealt with in parallel compared to the rest of the park. Also to finish this post of with some new images, courtesy from the official Helix web-cam and my brother (as he went to pick me up at the train station ). First up a nice overview, looks so much better than earlier today, when the fog lay thick That thing is enormous!! Also that passage underneath the Lisebergbanan lift looks to deliver some nice angles Prepare to dive!! This thing will be epic once it's done! Also an up to date image on what's done, not much left now

BHS

Nice It's going to be a lot larger than I imagined. Much in the same way as the rest of the elements.

^ Yeah But if the path had been clear when we where there then I could have taken one myself As you can see, there were plenty in the way that blocked our access, maybe some other time

Thanks everyone for all the comments!! That would only work for now, but once the landscaping department have worked their magic, like they have in the first launch area, and also give some time to the new plants/grass to at-least turn green before doing a final judgement, then it will all blend in much more into the hill. Much more so than having darker supports. That really sums up the ride in just a few words, can't wait to experience them all together There are a few things that makes me believe that Helix will be much more intense than Blue Fire. First of all is the announced maximum force between the two, where Helix have a 1 g advantage between them. Then you have all that extra steel beefing connector where the track meets the supports. Speaking of Supports then it seems like there are a lot more of them / length of track. Also the first half of the top hat really looks ludicrously tight given the speed that you will enter it with. And finally the way it will interact with other rides and features at great speeds, makes you really wanting to keep your arms and head inside the train at all costs Since Friday, they have completed the helix and also done the ending half of the zero-g before it. No real action today as of yet, but I'm pretty sure that they are doing final checks before moving to the Pretzel Loop area. I'm sorry to say that I won't be doing any in-depth updates during the coming week, so until I get back, have a nice week!!

^ That or any of the other Schwarzkopf Silver Arrow installations.

I really love the tunnel on Thundercoaster at Tusenfryd. Not as much to ride it, but the noise it makes as the train thunders through it. It's like a dragon is breathing, which really fit's the area perfectly.

To bad that it's not an official one since it was just one run, and not the required two for an official record.

Having a look at Blue Fire on Google earth, then those connectors are in the right location in relation to the village next door, if they were to put a noise shield there then it will cover the trains and everything, so it would look even worse than what Helix may end up looking like if they were to be forced to put up noise screens on the top-hat.

Behind the scenes tour, top-hat, heart-line and more So we were fortunate to do another behind the scenes tour today at Liseberg, and even if we set the date and time nearly two weeks ago then we got it just right, with having the installation of the top-hat freshly installed and looking sharp I asked the questions that have popped up here over the past few days about the purpose of those extra connections at the top of the top-hat and they have the exact same use as those on Blue Fire, they are there to make it easy to install a noise screen if one is ever needed. As some of you already may know, Liseberg have been forced to do work on several attractions in the park due to noise complaints from the people that live around the park, but then again, living next to a theme park did they really expect that there wouldn't be any noise from it at all?? Another question was about a single ride queue or not, and the answer is not. But then again it's not something that exist on any other Liseberg ride and they work just fine without them. The drawback for us will be that we have to wait just as long as everyone else, but the queues isn't really a problem at Liseberg if you plan ahead by looking at the calender (it's now available at: Liseberg.se, only in Swedish though, but I think most of you will understand it any way, and the important bit is that green = short queues). And if you happen to be a single rider then you can easily find an empty spot in the station if you look for it to skip ahead a few trains. What more did we see, yeah, the station is going to be really epic and massive for that matter, it's a huge 3-dimensional maze over 7 meters in height difference between paths, so who would need a "stair master" when you have Helix, it will be a great work out when going through the queue (especially if they get a pretzel stand next to the pretzel loop ) Oh, and we ran into the Liseberg CEO and had a little chat with him as well, great guy Next up in the construction schedule is finishing off the Helix area (just a few pieces left when we left), then it's time for one of the most eagerly awaited element to go up, the mighty Pretzel Loop after that it's just the connection between the two behind the Lisebergbanan station so not much left in terms of steel work. One thing is for certain, they are well on schedule to get the ride done to start testing as soon as the trains arrive, so you shouldn't worry that the ride won't open on opening day. They are working hard to get all the spares in place so that they don't have to shut the ride down in case of minor problems, which is really great news for all of us Panorama.zip Another massive panorama to enjoy. Download, Unzip and Drool This view greeted us soon after we did some cheeky parking on a side street really close to the park Not much further away from the park as most parking garages that charges a fortune, without having to pay anything at all The top-hat looks really massive Not to forget the bit of the layout that have been up for a while now This bit is new since yesterday, I do love the support on the right, the track will look really great side by side there Even though the Kanonen top-hat looks massive from this angle it's just a puny little thing in reality Mostly supports on site now They really need to get more track if they want to get a move on with the rest of the layout More supports The truck is getting more parts for the RCS guys in the park A big pile of stones, all this material was removed for the installation of Helix, and all of it will return into the park as landscaping around the ride itself. They really have loads of material to make Helix look really great There were some guys climbing around on Balder today, they are really pushing on to get the things completed for the opening day, which is less than 2 months away now Another shot of the majestic Top-hat But now for the big highlight, this little door may not look like much, but inside there are many nice people that help an enthusiast as myself to get these epic updates to share with you all. Thank you Lisa, etc!! With added hardhat and other safety equipment we strolled into the park First up we stopped by the recently completed Pretzel loop area, where the last foundations for Helix are just about completed The new footer for Lisebergbanan is now in place waiting the installation of the new support for the lift Just add support and track for massive enjoyment Epic dive into the Pretzel loop This area is just about done, just some small plants and grass to be sorted out and this area will look way better than it did before First launch action Really tight and lovely Safety fence around the first launch is getting installed, it's deliberately placed close to the track among the greenery to reduce it's visual impact It's a while since I walked on this path, lets go an have a look at the station Massive space underneath First drop and corkscrew Mezzanine before entering the station platform, the small hole closest to the camera is where the "chicken out" stairs will be so people could exit the station if they feel like it, the big hole further back (behind the steel structure) is where the main queue will enter the station Area underneath the maintenance building, all this will be covered with a nice roof to make it all look slick Looking back towards the underside of the station YAY, switch track action Into the maintenance shed we go, I do love these small track pieces They look even funkier from the other side, this is the Mack way to engage the free hanging wheel clusters as the train goes from the maintenance area to the switch track It will be really spacious to work on these trains, both from below.. .. and above. This must be a maintenance guy wet dream to work in a building like this one A little sneak peak into the operating booth Chicken out stairs from above Main loading area WOOHOOOO!!!! Looking towards the rear of the station Unfortunately we had to turn back here, instead of getting some great shots from the brake run catwalk There isn't much work that needs to be done here, it will be pretty bare but it will still look really great The stairs going down in the back is the exit from the ride, but the other walks are just a complete mess Did I say that this thing is really tall inside I mean, really tall!!! Must count all stair steps in the queue at some point Out the back we go, as you can see they have already put in the overflow queue area in place, it will be really great to have a completely covered queue, really nice when it's raining as it do pretty often here in Sweden. Also nice with shade for all days it don't as well, it's really a win-win situation This was one of the highlight of this trip Heart-line roll <3 They have been forced to cut down another tree (I mean it was growing into the track itself) and cut down some branches on the tree next to it. I have to say that it will really look epic once the spring starts properly Helix turn around inside the Lisebergbanan turnaround I do love this angle, also some new fencing in place The delicious S-turns I really hope that this path will be saved, since it's in a really great location, there will be some kind of covering over it to stop people below beeing hit with objects from the ride, I mean the train will zip by here at around 90-100 km/h Massive airtime hill with a seemingly small top-hat behind it Some sensors waiting to be connected into the main computer This is really going to be a close call, with the train and the swings going at full tilt Looks way bigger from underneath It may be located way above the ground at this point due to the way that nature is shaped in this section of the park, but it will still look great once they get all the trees and other plants in place to hide some of this gap, the Liseberg landscaping department haven't even reached this place Looks way bigger from this direction Wonder how hard it will be to get the trains/boats of Lisebergbanan, Flume Ride, Helix and Kanonen in one shot here The super tight squeeze, here you will need the piece that is shown at the end of this update Kanonen will feel a bit left out once Helix opens New pieces going in Another part for the Helix helix (BTW, wonder if Helix Helix is the Latin name for Helix, the same way that the Lynx is called Lynx Lynx??) This will give the exact same feel as the Lisebergbanan Helix which is located right next to it, just with more POWER!! This support really baffled us, but we think that it may go where these unmarked drains for Flume Ride were found. Most likely be the support that will hold the entrance the the dive into the Helix Not many pieces left here, before moving on to the Pretzel loop <3 Here is the piece I was talking about, the clearance envelope, a really important bit to see if the landscaping/rides/other things that may stick out around helix will work or not Image courtesy from Liseberg This was the image I was hoping to get myself, but we couldn't access the brake run cat-walk this time. And even if it was taken with a phone in severe Contre-jour, it do look really great!! The person that sent me this wanted to be unnamed (heck I could even taken the credit myself) due to that it looked really bad on the phone it was taken with, but here on my computer it looks really great!! Still thank you for this image!! So as it stands today, RCS and Liseberg have come a long way in installing Helix, just bottom bit to go now. I really doubt that it will take more than 2 weeks or so before it will all be finished!! Oh, yeah Pink = installed track, as always. To finish of this update I post this image of the majestic looking top-hat. Another big thank you to Lisa and the other people at Liseberg that have made this update reality, I can't wait to see this ride complete and see it test-run. Don't forget the massive panorama at the top, it will really give a great overview of the whole construction site, this one must be the best one yet Until next time!! Peter

I'm sure that the beam and 2 cables that connect the two big supports were installed after it's first season to reduce the swaying of the top-hat as the train goes over it. I got confirmation earlier today, it's for a noise screen, so they serve the same function as the one on the Blue Fire stall turn. I really hope that they won't be needed since it may look really hideous if one is installed on that nice structure. Most people around Liseberg don't live on the northern side, it's the convention centre, hotel, stadiums, etc in that direction, so it sort of make sense to have them where they are now. Great job Olov posting that video!! I was in her office as she published it and I couldn't be bothered to post it on here with my phone Massive image update is uploading...

Yeah a connection might happen like on Xcelerator. But those connectors on Blue Fire are there to quickly be able to install a noise screen if the neighbouring town starts to complain about excessive noise from Blue Fire, if I remember correctly. Similar to what have been installed on the Silver Star lift hill. But as I said, I will get an answer to that question in a few hours

Just a guess...maybe it's for a sign or banner of some sort? Yeah I thought about them myself, will ask tomorrow when I'm there Would be pretty epic with a massive Liseberg sign

^ LOL, I was so going to post that image, saved it down to my computer and everything Oh well, here it is just needing to be bolted into place. Will post images from the blog, because I bet that Lisa is out taking a load of images right now. Still there will be a big update coming your way tomorrow Wiiii Looks way bigger then I first imagined it to be when I saw the renderings of it. And there it is, a completed inverted top-hat <3

^ I'm not aware of Helix having a single rider line, if it have then it will be first ride to have one at Liseberg, so in that aspect then I don't expect one. The only ride that I know of where Liseberg ride-ops are usually calling out for single rides is Kanonen, but that's to improve the capacity somewhat. Since the stations at Liseberg is pretty open and there are usually a good number of people in them, you are never given a designated seat/row, then it's not really hard to find a slot if you are a single rider. So to implement at single rider queue would require them to make up a new system that might make the situation worse, since a badly managed single rider queue is way worse than none at all. I will forward this question to Liseberg to see what's what with a single rider. About the one on Blue Fire, then sure I would easily recommend it, if the normal queue is way to long. But also here it depends a lot of who is managing the the queue up front. Last time I was there they had two people alternating designating the rows on Blue Fire, one managed to keep the single rider flowing good where as the other one didn't, he was instead trying to match up the people in the queue to keep the single slots full without single riders

Helix Blog Update - "Viritual tour" Since there were several people that had shown interest for the IRL walk earlier, then Liseberg decided to make a "virtual" version of the walk, and made an interview with the people that were on site and made the presentations at each location so that everyone that want to can have a look and hear what they had to say. Unfortunately for most of you here, then it's all in Swedish, but it still gives you some great views of the constructions going on at the moment. Ride experience Station area Technology and safety Landscaping Source: http://projekthelix.se/virtuell-rundtur-av-helix/

Two images from the official web-cam and one image from the unofficial FB page. Not much to go now, I bet that they will complete it tomorrow as planned. Judging by the first image below then it looks like there will be some more support piece that will attach to the big support that is currently supporting the track end going down (EDIT, now when they have completed the other big supports, then it looks like there is a connection on the top of that one as well, so there might be some beam going across between he two maybe, will have to see tomorrow). So a part from that there is just 4-5 track pieces to go until it's done. This massive structure is a very big contrast to the rest of the ride, I would almost say that it sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of Helix. The rest have a small and sleek support structure that blends in well with the hill, this however is just enormous and complex. Hopefully it will look better once the greenery turns green in the spring. It will on the other hand give a new dimension to Lisebergbanan, not to forget all the interesting head/arm choppers you will experience when riding Helix. (This time I'm happy to post an image from the Unofficial FB page since it's clearly taken from outside the park so no worry about being allowed to or not). It's MASSIVE!! Cropped image for a closer look. Not really much to go now, just the piece hanging from the big green crane. After that it's more or less just a few pieces of track until this puppy is done Overview of the construction site, so even if they use a lot of manpower and extra cranes for the Top-Hat, the smaller RCS crane is still installing small supports to be able to get going on the next segment to be installed. Done for today!!

^ I knew it from this image posted on the unofficial FB page. I'm pretty sure it's not as unusual as you might think, maybe not on such a large scale, but it still beats waiting for parts, or you can more easily change the order of installation if necessary without waiting for the different part to arrive. I usually don't post images from this page since I'm not a fan of his way of getting these images (at least some of them).

If you look now instead, you can see that they have moved it to near it's final destination. Where you see it in the image you posted is where it was lifted from the staging area where they have moved all the supports (and track?) neccesary for the lifts for the top-hat, so that they are in easy reach for the construction. Go here to browse the web-cams for large image sizes: ftp://213.115.150.61/ In other areas: Friction brakes in the station were installed yesterday, the final footers nears getting poured (just the final piece of the form left) and there have been more supports put up around the helix area, some of them are for the exit of the Zero-g roll. Many big cranes today.

^ And that's just half the twist, so it will be a bit taller still According to Lisa on the Helix blog, then they need a larger crane to continue, and as it stands today then the top-out will be done on Tuesday

Thanks for all the comments!! Just a quick look at the web-cam today. First track piece for the Helix is in place, also more supports for and the entry into the Top-Hat have been put in place. Also the scaffolding that surrounded the second launch is coming down fast. Cropped and Highlighted to make it easier to spot them.

Helix Update Roundup Today we have a large combination update from 3 different sources. First batch of images are some I took as I went past the park today, so only the usual stuff, but still a lot better than the view from the web cams. Especially over the last few days when there have been some really crazy fog at times that completely blocks the view. To recap what have happened on the days since the last update, then they have finally poured the last big slab in the Pretzel area (just the footers to go), it seems like they have finished the LSM install on the second launch since the weather shielding is on its way down and they are finally working on connecting up the two track segments, or at least they are installing some massive looking supports for the inverted top-hat. Second batch of images are the ones that were posted on the Helix blog today and they cover the work that is going into the trains, and also a bit of bad news. The trains have been delayed until the 19:th of March, that was the day when they were supposed to start testing, so it will be delayed somewhat. But there is still plenty of time left until the grand opening so Liseberg are certain that they will have the ride complete on time. Source: Helix Blog - Ett tåg blir till Last batch were posted on the Liseberg Facebook page earlier today, they were taken by ECC founder Justin Garvanovic during the Helix IRL day, just sit back and enjoy Source: Liseberg FB page First up a look at the staging area. A fresh load of track Some really massive looking supports that I think will be going to the top-hat Pieces that are ready to go A great deal left Some tiny ones Some funky looking piece, must be part of the pretzel supports, or maybe at the top of the top-hat?? Now the tight squeeze between Lisebergbanan and Flume Ride is more apparent, it's going to be epic It's getting more and more complete by each day Finish of the first batch with an image of the future top-hat. The supports for this thing it going to be massive!! Foam mould for the lead car Foam mould for the side edges Finishing of the final side edges A batch ready to be painted Car ends Chassis Restraints being made A batch of restraints waiting further processing Seats ready to go A sneak peak of the final product Now onto the Last batch of today. Drop out of the station First corkscrew Reverse POV of the first corkscrew Overview of Helix from the Atmosfear catch car Another image from the first drop Another reverse POV of the first corkscrew Lovely S-turns Looking down toward the Pretzel loop Dive into the Pretzel loop First Launch Another angle Overview of the first part Another first corkscrew image This is going to be really epic A really great image The airtime looks great here Reverse POV of the S-turns First drop again Exit of the first Corkscrew, and with this it's the end of this update. Until next time!!

You can't really compare Kanonen with Helix, especially the launches, since they will offer a completely different experience. Kanonen launches from a standstill where as the Helix trains carry quite a bit of speed into it's launches. I wouldn't really classify the Helix launches as launches, they will work more as a block/booster section to keep the trains going through the circuit, not give anyway near the launch sensation that many other launch coasters have. in terms of the rest of the layout then Kanonen is tight and twisty, where as Helix is long and flowing. So by just looking at the basic statistics then they seems to be pretty similar, but they are actually very different. As for the other dual attractions then they also offers different feelings compared to each other (OK maybe not the wheels, but one of them is on the way out eventually). It also looks like RCS have started to assemble the massive support tubes for the Inverted Top-Hat, or the thing that will bring a massive change to the Liseberg skyline.