Anac0nda

Liseberg. Not only because my fav coaster Helix is there, but also because the park is very beautiful, operations are fast and customer service is very friendly (and Swedishly beautiful if you're into that kind of thing ) I also voted for Heide Park because we stayed in the Abenteuerhotel, and really liked it! Also an hour of ERT is a good reason to stay at any park hotel.

1. Helix - Liseberg. The layout, the music, the lights... 2. Expedition GeForce - Holiday Park. Dat first drop, plus endless airtime throughout the rest of the layout as well. 3. Schwur des Kärnan - Hansa Park. Beyond awesome theming and great speed in layout. 4. iSpeed - Mirabilandia. Intensity. 5. Junker - PowerPark 6. Flug Der Dämonen - Heide Park 7. Taron - Phantasialand 8. Wildfire - Kolmården 9. Dragon Khan - Port Aventura 10. Piraten - Djurs Sommerland Now that I think of it, nine of these I've ridden between 2014 and 2017. Travelling sure has its advantages!

Mirabilandia 2nd and 3rd May After Gardaland I continued on by train to Cervia, near Mirabilandia. Turns out during off-season, it’s not that simple to get to Mirabilandia using public transports, so I would suggest you don’t even try it. Seriously get a car. I ended up paying 50 euros for a return taxi trip just because a bus driver didn’t feel like picking me up (he even watched me wave while he drove past me on the stop). While it was very busy at Gardaland, Mirabilandia was basically dead. All of the rides ran with minimum trains and employee, and most of the kiosks and stores were closed. But this meant almost everything was walk-on, while the weather continued almost as beautiful! Low crowds also meant a lot of re-rides on iSpeed. Which. Was. Awesome. iSpeed entered my top-10 and is now sitting at place #4! During two days I guess I got around 15 rides on it. The launch has a good kick, is forceful all the way through and lasts a good while! The layout is excellent and the first time you can catch some breath is in the Immelmann, a good way over the halfway point. It’s hard to say what would my favourite element be so I’ll just say everything in the first half, but the ending isn’t bad either. The only bad thing about the ride is that it has OTSR, but even with ejector airtime it didn’t feel too bad. The rally theme is solid and fits the ride, but the queue is just an infernal endless cattlepen. I’m SO glad I only had to wait for a couple of trains. In the best case I exited the ride, re-entered the queue just to board the same train again for the next round. Another big ride at Mirabilandia is Katun. Although big might be a bit understatement, GIGANTIC might be closer to truth. I mean just the lift hill is ridiculously tall, but besides height, Katun makes a surprisingly loud sound while travelling through the track. And I mean seriously LOUD. It’s not just B&M roar anymore, seems almost more like screeching because the pitch goes higher as the trains gather more speed. And while Katun sits at its own corner of the park. I could hear it everywhere in the park, even through other rides’ noises. However, Katun didn’t blow me away after riding it. I wondered quite a while how I would describe it, and I think the best word I have is predictable. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly not a bad ride. It did everything I expected it to do, but I guess that’s it, it did nothing more (unlike iSpeed which blew my socks off). It was a bit shaky in the first drop and the loop, but other than that it was smooth and loaded with positive G’s. I rode Katun around 8 times, mostly in the back, but I also tried front row and left and right sides. My favourite ended up being the left seat in the last car (mostly due to the zero-g roll). The theming and colour scheme of Katun are really beautiful, the Mayan theme is pulled off well. Also something I looked forward to was the stunt car show, this year playing “Grosso Guaio a Stunt City” (big trouble in Stunt City). I had read it’s good but holy mother of awesome it blew my mind! Seriously I think it’s the best show I’ve ever seen! It lasts half an hour and I think my jaw was open for at least ¾ of the time. Even though they narrate it in Italian (a language I don’t speak nor understand), I could follow the plot enough. But you don’t really need any plotline when you have such a good pacing, varying choreography and excellent choice of music constantly blasting through the speakers. They even had it down to details such as scooter-cars (?) playing soccer as a pre-show before the actual act, while people were getting inside and finding a seat! I saw the show twice, and on both times the whole audience gave standing ovations, which lasted for a good couple of minutes. And let me tell you, they really deserve it! Any pictures or videos don’t do justice how awesome it is to see in real life. Definitely a must see in Mirabilandia! DiVertical was just as wet as I had heard. It felt like a bucket was dumped on top of my head and lap. My reaction on the station though, when they don’t allow you to leave your bag, but you have to take it with you… Luckily my camera and phone are waterproof but still… I don’t get it, why would you do that? Sadly no airtime, but the layout is still more than just a lift and a drop, so it’s alright. The funky lift didn’t feel as tilted as I thought, but man it was still tall! DiVertical wasn’t the wettest ride however, El Dorado Falls takes the title. If DiVertical felt like two buckets of water, El Dorado Falls is just like walking into a shower with your clothes on. The splash is actually so strong that the (although padded) lapbar feels like a punch to your stomach. Even though it was sunny and warm, it took a couple of hours for my _black_ t-shirt to dry. Besides the stunt car show, Mirabilandia has multiple shows during the day throughout the park. Some of the shows are on special arenas or stages, but a couple take place in the middle of walkways! I saw a Mayan show at Katun’s entrance and a Wild West duel literally in the middle of a street. They were both excellent and the duel even had guest interaction! I really have to congratulate the director, because once again everything was in Italian, but I could still follow the plot with ease. Most of the shows had only one show during the day (could be due to off-season), so having two days to spend let me see more of these. I really like seeing special stuff like this at parks. You can always buy the same rides and all, but to have good shows takes a bit more. The VR-experience at Gardaland was not operational, but in Mirabilandia it was in use. And it had the longest queue time of 25 minutes even though every other ride in the park was a walk-on. Master Thai is a möbius track with dual station and a total of 6 trains. They were running 3 trains without and 3 with VR, having separate queues. Whichever side you choose, you ride through the whole track, meaning you just pass through the station on you first go, which is good I think. Otherwise it would be a very short ride. I tried first without VR, so I could learn the track and if I need to brace in some of the curves. Turned out I do need to brace. I admit, having VR did improve the ride, but is it enough to get a score of 2,1 instead of 2,0, if the capacity is just abysmal? I calculated around 120 pph, with 10 minutes between dispatches. The loading took a good while, during which I just had to look at a static image of a jungle. I had the headset as tight as I could, but it still felt like it shook around. Having ridden this and the VR at Linnanmäki, I think yes the VR can add to the experience, but the ride should NOT have any sudden laterals, or high G’s. It’s just too uncomfortable not being able to prepare for any sudden movements. Btw Mirabilandia sells not only onride photos, but onride videos as well! You can buy a reverse-POV of yourself riding iSpeed and Katun. Didn’t go for it though. All in all Mirabilandia has iSpeed and the stunt car show which are worthy of a visit themselves, but somehow it didn’t feel like as complete as a park as Gardaland. Mirabilandia is a bit more difficult to navigate through, and has some empty areas that you just have to walk by (especially to reach Reset). If I’d have to choose either of the parks to visit, I couldn’t decide. So I’ll recommend visiting them both (with a car)! Entrance. Not that many people. I suggest looking at the shows before entering the park and deciding which you want to see. I also recommend seeing as many as possible! Well hello there Intamin gorgeous Top-10 material indeed Tophats are photogenic Ascending riders Katun. So huge. Srsly. Massive. Massive splooosh! Result of said massive splooosh. Also, Wildfire shirt. VR on coasters... still not quite into it. Reset! I really like the theme, and the song they play in the area! Your S&S drop towers. These had different seats and restraints didn't have belt. Rexplorer, the Blauer Enzian made a weird high-pitch noise... El Dorado Falls. Yeah there's a boat somewhere Absolutely soakd. Nice rapids. Didn't ride the Zamperla flat rides. Pre-show soccer! Stunt show! Incredible! Mayan show After every show you can take a photo with the actors. I kinda regret not taking one with the stunt show drivers, but I didn't want to be the only adult among the little kids. Steampunks. Once again great choice of music, and clothing. Themed restaurant. I took this photo and only afterwards realized this is actually a maintenance entrance! Owned. This one has a nice and fresh selection of recent songs. Thanks for reading!

Gardaland: 29th and 30th April For Gardaland I had a friend to join me so I didn´t need to be alone, which was great because the queue times were quite long, probably because May 1st being a holiday and weather being as perfect as it can. And it helped to have a car, although there is a shuttle bus running from the nearest train station to the park. Due to crowds we ended up buying a fast-pass for the water rides on the second day (it was a good call). I rode my 100th credit in Gardaland! I chose Raptor to be The One, and it was the perfect choice! It was clearly the best coaster in the park, and though the waiting times were up to 45 minutes, I believe we rode it a total of 5 times during two days. My favourite seat ended up being the last car on the right side – the same as on Flug der Dämonen. Coincidende? Maybe, who knows The whole layout is just pure fun and has magnificent flow to it. The first drop gives nice airtime in the back, the inversions are great and the theming fits the area very well. Comparing to Flug der Dämonen, I’d have to say Raptor loses, but only by a hair. Flug has the diving drop and the demonic knot, while Raptor has an airtime drop and more hand-/leg-choppers. So it’s not easy to compare (but I guess I did so anyway… ). But yeah easily the best coaster at Gardaland. Oblivion: the Black Hole is the second biggest coaster in Gardaland. It’s a Dive Machine and after riding Krake I wasn’t too excited to ride this, because Krake was a disappointment for me. This was better than Krake, though, with the added heartline roll and a helix. Somehow the drop was better too, I wonder how that can be, they look very similar… The indoor part of the queue is fun and adds a lot to the experience, and the warped theming around the dive is even more impressive to look in person! The level of detail is just incredible, even the smallest pavement bricks and grates are warped! But after riding all the rides at Gardaland I have to say, Merlin really seems to like this theme of “let’s begin an expedition to unknown... aaand something goes wrong, lots of warning lights, signs and alerts”. It’s certainly not a bad theme and rather simple to pull off as well, but having multiple rides in the same park sharing the same idea, it kinda gets old. Another thing is the endless spieling in stations and queuelines. Is it just me or does no-one else actually pay no attention to them? In my opinion they are just boring soundwaste and seem more like a disclaimer than theming. Blue Tornado was my second SLC, a one and done for me to avoid any brain damage. Luckily two out of my three SLC rides I have survived with quite minimal headbanging. They have also been the times I sat in the very last row, so could it be that I have found the magic seat? I’m certainly going to keep testing this theory whenever I shall stumble upon any SLC’s. So yeah, it’s surprisingly forceful ride, and the layout is long and fun, it’s just the execution that is questionable. Blue Tornado runs with three trains, stacking one train at all times in the final brake run so I’m really not sure if adding a train adds to the capacity. Maybe it does. Shaman was not running the VR due to “unforeseen technical difficulties”, but queueing for 10 minutes for a Vekoma double loop and cork sounds A LOT better than queueing for 55 minutes for the same but with blindfolds so you can’t prepare yourself for the G’s. Shaman luckily has new Vekoma trains with these vests, which are great. I just don’t get why would you want to add VR to such a forceful ride? The loops pull at least 4G’s (I think) and the transitions between curves is just horrible to think how it would slam you if unprepared… Without VR, a decent thrilling ride, happy to ride it. I’m also happy that Shaman has got some new paint and general care with the VR adaptation, it’s good to see a classic receive some attention. Mammut had a bit more speed and forces in the helix than I expected! The theming is very well done and with the layout always twisting around itself it’s hard to know where you’re heading next. Kung Fu Panda academy was better than its clone at Power Park, but had individual lapbars. But only one of them actually touches your lap, one of them your thighs, one your stomach and mine touched my ribcage. Riding a Fabbri spinner with a restraint on your ribcage was definitely not something on my to-do-list, but hey I survived. Theming in the queue looked great. Also Ortobruco Tour was interesting. Basically a Big Apple but with long layout and multiple lifts. Yes, we credit-whored a bit, but only because we had the fast-passes. Then there’s Sequoia Adventure… I was really looking forward to riding this! But man it was so horrible for me. The loading system is basically a joke and the track has like 10 cars while only able to run 2 on the course. The rest just stack on the brake run. The technical aspects… I’m studying engineering, and seeing some of this stuff up close is – let’s say – interesting, or even a bit sketchy. But it seems to run fine, so that’s given. The first time going over the edge was very intense (and fun). I can handle hangtime fine, and the seats and restraints weren’t too uncomfortable, until in one of the brakes I hit my head so hard that the padding gave way and hard plastic was there to greet the back of my head. And then it happened again on the next set of brakes. Because of this and the other stuff mentioned before, I’m really not a fan of this ride. Yes, the first dive/drop/saxophone/whatever was fun and intense, but everything else is just not appealing to me, at all. 2/10, not looking forward to having this kind of experience again, sadly. Dark rides I Corsari and Ramses II: Il Risveglio. Wow! I had heard they were good but just the scale alone was unbelievable! I wouldn’t want to spoil them, so I’ll just say my jaw dropped multiple times on both of the rides. Definitely a must in Gardaland! Great job! Overall Gardaland feels very complete as a park, with multiple well-themed areas and plenty of rides, restaurants and shows to easily fill two days! Entrance. Lots of people. Trippy entrance walkway. Raptor! I think the first inversion is my favourite The 100th credit! A very nice station Oblivion: the Black Hole Inceridbly detailed theming I just love Intamin 2nd gen drop towers. Even though it's small, Space Vertigo is still a great drop, with an interesting queue! I think fighter jets always look cool. Even with an SLC. Looks bizarre Rides even more bizarre. Yes, we were a bit dirty credit-courtesans... Rapids ride looking good Decent theming The log flume Colorado Boat. We had the fast-pass but still waited for 25 minutes. Fuga da Atlantide. What surprised me is that is has cable lifts! Definitely an Intamin trademark. They had this kind of bag system outside many rides. I guess it works... but wouldn't want to trust it too many times. I Corsari. Even the queue is just wow. Ramses II: Il Risveglio. One of the most iconic entrances I've ever seen. Pretty lazer effects. An interesting and funny way to fill up your bottles!

Last week I visited the only amusement park in Switzerland: Conny-Land – home of the legendary Cobra. I have to say, I was a bit skeptical to ride it, but I was positively surprised not only about Cobra, but the whole park as well! You remember playing early Rollercoaster Tycoons, and building a tiny park with all the rides just squeezed next to, and even above each other? Well, that’s Conny-Land. The park is tiny in area, but manages to pull off surprisingly many attractions. Rides, simulators, animal shows AND a decent coaster! Kudos to Conny-Land. I guess most of you are most curious about Cobra (and to confess, so was I) so here we go: In short, it’s very, very on par with a good Vekoma boomerang. I say good because I’ve only ridden the one at Power Park with new trains and no headbanging. From technical point of view, Cobra’s restraints and seats are quite comfortable, nothing shakes or vibrates, wheels are running smooth and overall it isn’t as sketchy in person as it looks in the pictures IMO. The only sketchy part is when the train latches on to the lifting mechanism and the whole train jerks back and forth. The riding experience is actually much better than I thought, only the return hills back to the station are boring. The beyond vertical lift is great fun as is the drop, both of the airtime hills deliver, the loop is filled with positives and the hangtime in the reversing spike is plenty. Riding the front row provides a bonus thrill when you see the end of the track nearing. But I still preferred riding in the back to maximize the freefall in the so called ‘first drop’. All in all, a very solid 7/10 ride, provides enough thrill to amuse even an adrenaline junkie like me! Comparing with a boomerang: Cobra has a better first drop, has actual airtime and doesn’t have any headbanging, but the return trip is where boomerangs have an advantage. Mammut is probably the other famous ride at Conny-Land. It is one of those rides which are _so_ much better if you don’t know what to expect beforehand. That’s why I’m not going to spoil what happens inside the tree, but I’ll just say my jaw dropped! Also the swinging action on the outside part is fun as well. Another positive surprise was their XD moving platform simulator. There was a sign in the queue saying that if you open your seatbelt the ride e-stops That’s when I knew this was going to be fun, but I had no idea I was going to have actual airtime! The film changes every hour but because of the long queue time I saw the same film twice on that day. It didn’t matter though, because the movements were crazy as I told, and I also liked the soundtrack. You can search for the film on Youtube (called Cosmic Coaster). It’s your basic fantasy rollercoaster but with the soundtrack and aggressive movements, I’d say it’s the best a more-than-3D-theater can get. Conny-Land also has animal shows, with sealions and parrots. Most of the day the sealions are in their separate pool, but they perform on a separate arena. How do they get to that arena then? They literally just walk the same walkways as people. As a result, let’s say I was a bit surprised when suddenly two sealions with their trainers just walk by me, with only half a meter between us! Show itself also had interaction with the crowd, e.g. resulting in a pyramid made of both humans and sealions!   One of the more interesting experiences was Dino Attack, a shooting dark ride. Let’s just say it was as campy as it can get! I mean no disrespect, I just thought that some aspects were so bad it was hilarious! For example check out this film that plays on a CRT screen in the queue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymDQmO5ugY. But this is the kind of stuff that makes small parks so charming and different from corporate park chains. And it made my experience better, even though maybe in a different way than originally meant Even though the park was somewhat filled, the queue times were non-existent, excluding Mammut and the XD simulator (both have long cycles and small capacities). However the queueing culture in Switzerland may be still a bit underdeveloped. Cobra has separate queueing gates for each row, but in the total of I guess 8 times I rode it, every time someone went to a different row than what they queued for, sometimes blocking me, sometimes blocking someone else resulting in confusion that the operators had to settle. I also saw adults telling their children to stay seated for another ride even though there were people queueing for all the rows for the next train. But is seemed they didn’t do it to be mean, they just didn’t seem to know how queueing works. Most of the time the waiting time for Cobra was only one train so this really didn’t bother me. It’s just an interesting perception I made, and wanted to share. In total I spent around 4 hours in the park, mostly riding Cobra and taking pictures. I wouldn’t recommend it as a target for a whole day of fun, but if you are nearby and have a couple of hours so spare, I say definitely go check Conny-Land! I had a good visit and I’m glad I decided to visit Conny-Land and ride Cobra. Now some pictures: Conny-Land and it's skyline You know a park is small when the park map doesn't have a list of attractions, rather everything just written on top Looming over Beyond vertical Cobra's station Cobra's entrance Outward bound for airtime Taking a peek underneath Hi-tech. Very. For those of us interested in the mechanical details Weeee! Going over the parking lot. A clever solution for lack of space Foliage was nice throughout the park Mammut is a unique ride, indeed! #whatsinthetree I'll tell, it doesn't disappoint Real flamingos Real sealions Hello Doing the show I decided to skip the more generic flat rides and instead focus on the more unique rides I also skipped the splash battle and the ropes course. Thanks for reading

Hey guys! I will be travelling to Gardaland and Mirabilandia on the first week of May. Any tips on rides, shows, food or anything would be greatly appreciated! In Mirabilandia I'm most looking forward to riding iSpeed and Katun (what a surprise!). Hopefully I finally get to cross them from my bucket list. I hope the crowds won't be that bad because it's not yet high season. I will be travelling by train/public transport and staying most likely in the park's own hotels (I loved Heide's Abenteuerhotel!).

Hey guys! I will be travelling to Gardaland and Mirabilandia on the first week of May. Any tips on rides, shows, food or anything would be greatly appreciated! In Garda I'm most looking forward to riding Raptor I hope the crowds won't be that bad because it's not yet high season. I will be travelling by train/public transport and staying most likely in the park's own hotels (I loved Heide's Abenteuerhotel!). At the moment it's one day at Gardaland and two days at Mirabilandia, but I'm also thinking about having an extra day at Garda as well.

I can't say anything about the queue times as on my visit it was very quiet (only the log flume and Anubis drop tower had lines) and Sky Scream was closed. But what I can recommend is to ride Ex-G as much as you can (because let's face it, that's the reason you want to go there)! Ride it at least both in the front and in the back because it's very different (but excellent). Also don't miss the water ski show or Burg Falkenstein! They are definitely worth checking out.

A teaser has been published, and it's officially a Sky Rocket II now: "Hype is rising"

A user on the finnish coaster forum uploaded two pictures showing the first pieces of track and supports which have arrived at scene (can't link them directly since they are in Google Drive (?)) Source So this has identical colors to Sky Scream... it makes me think this will be a carbon-copy in other way as well, meaning only one train with two cars; no switch station or third car. Bummer. Let's hope I'm wrong! But hey a red track is always sexy nontheless!

Updated with a new contestant: Taron 1. Helix - Liseberg 2. Expedition GeForce - Holiday Park 3. Schwur des Kärnan - Hansa Park 4. Junker - Power Park 5. Flug der Dämonen - Heide Park 6. Taron - Phantasialand 7. Wildfire - Kolmården 8. Dragon Khan - Port Aventura 9. Piraten - Djurs Sommerland 10. Juvelen - Djurs Sommerland Honors: Fluch von Novgorod – Hansa Park Black Mamba (front) – Phantasialand Lisebergbanan – Liseberg Silver Star – Europa Park Tornado - Bakken

Long story short, I was nearby Köln doing other business and managed to squeeze in a quick visit to Phantasialand. I’m planning to visit Phantasialand again next summer with more time, since I now had only about 4 hours. I skipped Winjas and that whole section of the park, because I didn’t want to rush anything, and besides I was there mainly to ride Taron! That said, the crowds were very light and I managed to squeeze in a total on 10 rides on Taron and 3 on Black Mamba plus a few others. Thank Phantasialand for the single rider queue So how was Taron? Well, since it was about +3 Celsius, my first rides in the morning literally left me a bit cold. However after a couple of hours after opening the track and trains had definitely warmed up and with each ride it was better! When I left the park at 4pm it was a totally different ride than what I rode in the morning: it became the blast everyone has talked about. The trains are very comfortable and I like how fast the restraints open automatically. Also the zero car looks way better in real life than in pictures, at least in my opinion. The layout is just as everyone says: first half is fun, second is intense. The first launch has a nice kick, which to my surprise was lacking in the second. However after the second launch the top speed is insane and totally gives a new energy to the ride. My favourite part of the layout is everything between the second launch and the turn before the only “straight” airtime hills. The transitions and pacing are just off the charts (in a good way)! Regardless of the intensity, the ride is smooth as anything and the trains have no rattling or any unfavorable noises. But I do have some criticism. The layout is no doubt what Phantasialand ordered (and Intamin delivered just that!) but the ride is lacking “sustained” airtime. Taron only gives pops during transitions, but they don’t last like taller parabolic hills. Through nitpicking one could say there are a couple of turns that have uncomfortable laterals, but they aren’t misshapen or shaky, just a design choice I think. Taron also has no inversions. But that’s about all the negatives I can say. As far as I can see, nothing could be technically better, it’s just how I like my rides as a single person. The trains are great, the layout has variation and is _long_ and theming of the whole area is immersively executed. So for execution I applaud Phantasialand, Intamin (and IMAscore, Vekoma and others part of Klugheim)! Taron is no doubt “one of the world’s best coasters” as I have heard quoted. As I said, I rode Taron 10 times so that should also tell that I liked it. Black Mamba was running only one train, but still was a walk-on except for the first row. Needless to say it is a great ride, and the first row was clearly worth the extra wait. I found the legchoppers on Mamba to be even more intimidating than Taron’s headchoppers! Mamba was also my first B&M invert which means I just now got to finally experience the famous flatspins. RAIK was a fun family coaster with surprising speed and forces. It is bigger in real life than in photos. Colorado Adventure was pretty much anything I expected from a Vekoma Mine train but the length of the layout is certainly a bonus. Talocan restored my faith in Top Spins. The program was very long and had awesome flips in both ways, not something I’ve experienced this far! Mystery Castle was another example of how keeping yourself unspoiled has benefits. I only knew it’s a tower ride by Intamin, so I was in for a treat! I seriously suggest anyone who’s heading for Phantasialand, don’t look it up! I have to give it to Phantasialand for making the best of the area you have. The park, while is very beautiful and has immersive theming, can sometimes be maze-like. I took several wrong turns while trying to find a ride’s entrance, even though I had a map (I’m looking at you Talocan). But when the park is as pretty as Phantasialand, I actually don’t mind at all! On the contrary it was actually fun to discover everything! Most personnel were very friendly beginning from the shuttle bus ticket sales person who had to stand in the bus/train platform without any cover or stand (which by the way is awesome and very smart for the park to have a guide person there). Before the pictures, I’ll give you my current top-10, with honorable mentions: 1. Helix - Liseberg 2. Expedition GeForce - Holiday Park 3. Schwur des Kärnan - Hansa Park 4. Junker - Power Park 5. Flug der Dämonen - Heide Park 6. Taron - Phantasialand 7. Wildfire - Kolmården 8. Dragon Khan - Port Aventura 9. Piraten - Djurs Sommerland 10. Juvelen - Djurs Sommerland Honors: Fluch von Novgorod – Hansa Park Black Mamba (front) – Phantasialand Lisebergbanan – Liseberg Silver Star – Europa Park Tornado - Bakken Beautiful (but chilly) morning upon Klugheim Taron! A train! It's running! The launch makes an interesting noise, but they've managed to dampen it with the surroundings, so you can't hear it outside Klugheim. Inside Klugheim it just let's you know who's the boss in the area Raik is there too! Black Mamba first drop It's crazy how close the track you get in the queue! Blurry phone camera photo A nice photo op! Talocan, with water and flames (not pictured here)! They had open flame grilled salmon on sale! Awesome! Just look at the level of theming I can't wait next summer to ride Taron again!

A news post about the freezing of lake Näsijärvi reveals a recent picture about the construction site: Source: YLE news This should remove all remaining doubts about whether this will or will not be a Sky Rocket II. I'm kinda bummed to see so many trees chopped, but on the other hand I'm happy for Särkänniemi for finally stepping up their game and buying two thrill rides on consecutive years! Hype should also provide a very interesting change into the park's skyline, and overall feeling of the park. The awkward forest in the middle used to split the park into two sections, maybe this will open up the area more so it'll feel more like a single park. I'm also hoping for two transfer stations to cut queue times.

Lisebergbanan - Liseberg Kvasten and Vilda Musen - Gröna Lund Linnunrata - Linnanmäki

You can now pre-order IMAscore's Liseberg soundtrack CD, which includes Helix, Mechanica and Aerospin! I just made the fastest decision of my life! Hopefully it arrives before christmas so I can boost this masterpiece all through the holidays

Maurer released a new Spike coaster video in their Youtube Channel: it's a longer, möbius duelling layout. Maurer really seems to love funky curves

Linnanmäki has now closed, and the season ended in (now traditional) Carnival of Lights. This year there were even more custom lights, and the event has grown a lot in popularity in the last couple of years! I'm bummed that Kieppi is leaving, but I tried to get as many last rides on it as I could. Linnanmäki closing also means the beginning of off-season for me, so it's time to fire up NoLimits again Anyway here are some photos I took. This year I bought a DSLR (used Nikon D5100 for those of you interested) and I have to say; it's a nice leap in quality to finally have a DSLR on a tripod This is what you see upon entering the park Nice ambience Kirnu was closed (hydraulics don't like low temperatures) Kehrä (Enterprise) Probably the most photographed ride in Carnival of Lights, and it's no wonder Artsy stuff made in collaboration with LUX Helsinki Salama had a classic look this year That spiral tho Kieppi doing its thang I'll miss these kinds of photos... Kingi, my favourite ride Vuoristorata literally bathed in light Mustekala (Schwarzkopf Monster) Let's have some more photos of Kieppi Just to give it some final honors Bye bye, I hope your next home will be as good as this was (wherever that will be)! One of the two new rides for this season: Poppis (It's a Gosetto Party Dance) I have to say, RGB LED's do make some beautiful photos! Final photo to end this photo collage and season. See you next year!

Two new testing videos have been uploaded: one by the park's fan website, and an official marketing video by Maurer (which re-uses some of the same material, but with slight speed manipulations). They say in german forums that the speed control wasn't yet in use. I guess that means it was either remotely controlled by another guy, or this is the pre-programmed speed in which the car runs if you leave the speed control untouched. I am still not quite sold with this. I mean it does look a bit fun, but the abrupt stops is what irritates me. You can't really prepare for them anyway, and the seating position/lack of harnesses seems to put a lot stress to the body during braking. I hope this is still due to this being a new project undergoing its test phase, and they get the braking smoothed until public opening. But I like the fast acceleration and funky layout!

So it IS a Giant Frisbee, I'm so excited! But the Dive Machine... doesn't somehow connect to me personally that much. I would've rather had a next-gen invert with forceful layout or a flyer but hey a coaster is a coaster, I'll take it! Granted I've only ridden Krake, but somehow it felt like a "one-trick pony". Don't get me wrong Krake is flawless in execution, but I guess I like my rides more versatile than just a drop. However, prove me wrong and provide a solid layout and I'm sold! GP will surely love Valkyria and it is a solid add to Liseberg's already wide catalogue of kick-ass rides. GG Liseberg. Not to bash but haven't we been through this, like, everytime a coaster is announced? Concept art is only concept art. Details may change, and to consider this will probably open in 2018, which is two years from now, it is also likely that not all the things remain as first advertised. However what I've heard about Valravn, I'm also hoping for old-style restraints rather than vest. 6x3 could be reasoned with small space they have which requires smaller turns. My favourite on Krake was (surprisingly) the last row, so it's a good thing this isn't a two-row-er. The only thing I'm a bit worried about though, is the capacity. Krake had the longest/slowest line in whole Heide Park with 2 trains in operation, so I hope Liseberg will have enough blocks and length in layout to push through with high capacity. Although this has now been leaked, I'm still going to watch the announcement tomorrow to enjoy the show!

IMO duelling is what this new coaster type is supposed to do. Motorbike-like cars with rider controlling the speed, it only makes sense to build a duelling layout! It also helps with capacity, and as the track cross-section is simple and layout keeps low to the ground, it shouldn't be that more costly to build two tracks. Although it could also be that other expenses than the track is what bring the price up, in this case all the hardware that makes the cars run forward (gears and electric stuff). It will be very interesting to finally see Sky Dragster run, I can't wait! The test version was interesting to see as well, thank you for the picture!

September 27th Liseberg will announce the new ride for 2017 live via Facebook. In the teaser video, you can hear powerful cellos playing another masterpiece by IMAscore (not official but hey who else could it be)! Text in the video translates to "Giant awakens": https://www.facebook.com/liseberg.se/videos/1400419853320910/ If this is going to be a Giant Frisbee, I can easily say that Sweden has their ride game on point because Helix, Wildfire, Ikaros and this in only a couple of years...

Wildfire (Kolmården)!

I'm back from riding Wildfire and I have to say: Kolmården really nailed it with this! It could have been the chilly weather, but it wasn't as balls-to-the-walls intense as I expected. However it was endless fun and very comfortable, meaning I could ride it all day! I later realized that if Wildfire would've been too intense, it wouldn't belong to Kolmården as much. After all, Kolmården is a family-oriented park with a focus on wildlife. Wildfire has just the right amount of scare-factor with an _awesome_ first drop and massive speed, but it is kinda gentle to anyone brave enough to ride it to make them come back for re-rides. Wildfire is by far the best wooden coaster I've ridden, and it now sits in my top-10 at #6.

This is kind of a short notice but I'll be at Gröna Lund tomorrow and at Kolmården on Sunday. I'm traveling solo so if anyone wants to meet up, I'm all up for it! Any tips are welcome as well, especially about where to eat, as it tends to be a bit of a gamble when eating in a foreign park.

This is kind of a short notice but I'll be at Gröna Lund tomorrow and at Kolmården on Sunday. I'm traveling solo so if anyone wants to meet up, I'm all up for it!