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bert425

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Everything posted by bert425

  1. he wasn't mentioned (or shown). . but since they are naming a ride after him (it's a Nebulaz). . .and all other "named" rides have statues of the characters in front of them (even Kid Flash). . . I'd expect we'll get a statue, and a character meet opportunity. (pic from yesterday)
  2. I REALLY think this is a Generic GL ride. why I think this? Here's the slide Jeffery shared in Jan. at Winterfest for the new Character interactions in the DC Universe when the new sections open: Jessica Cruz, Hal Jordan, and John Stewart are all walk around GL's
  3. ^ I think the GL ride is not specific to WHICH GL. . . so that will count to cover all. (unless they slap a giant Hal Jordan on top - currently it's just the pole, so I'm assuming a big GL Logo symbol will go there)
  4. SFFT is currently spending a huge amount of $$ retheming the Kid's area into a huge expansion of the "DC Universe" including naming the new dueling racing coaster, Kid Flash. Repainting (awesomely, by the way, it looks AMAZING) zoom jets, into Green Lantern. And Skyscreamer into "Supergirl" and the new area will have the "Metropolis Railway" monorail. the DC characters are not going anywhere.
  5. so. . I just got an alert thru the Six Flags app. . the Speedy Parking is now FREE for my level pass (Diamond). all I had to do was sign up for it, and I have it for free for the rest of the year (thru Jan 1st 2025). I have to assume that the upcharge pricing for it was a big flop. . . but hey, I'll take it! was super easy to sign up, just need to give them your license plate, and good to go. tho it means less folks at the booths when coming in. . .
  6. and here's Swag from Grona Lund & ABBA museum Magnets from Grona Lund: Magnets from ABBA museum (and I bought sets for a friend too) stuffed monkey gift from Matthew and T-shirts from ABBA museum:
  7. Day 18: Tuesday, June 20th part 3 (of 3) - back to finish off the night at the fantastic Grona Lund On the way back in, stopping to snap a pic of the park map. it LOOKS way smaller than it is, because things are just piled up on top of each other. the big green area in the bottom right, is the parking lot the park announced plans in 2023 to expand into. of course, my first stop on the way in was the Carousel. . . Big Mike had other plans tho, he was missing the kiddie credit, "Tuff-Tuff TÃ¥get" (Choo-Choo Train). So while he went to do that. . . Didier and I rode the Carousel. my happy place. his too, apparently for such a small carousel, it's just lovely, and appears hand painted. after my Carousel ride, I went over to the coaster to get proof of Big Mike riding it, in talking to the ride op - who was a total hoot! - she said it's a ride that's way more fun than it looks, as the sharp turns give a "whip" effect. She encouraged us all to ride it. sooooooo. . . (and she was right, it was way more fun that I had looked. and she let us ring the bell as we exited the station). back over to Vilda Musen for a "water free" ride, and we bumped into Hans and Matthew walking along the outside of the park, to get a different view of Twister and a crane across the lake, painted like a Giraffe. for some reason. Sweden! by going around the outside, we were gonna end up in the "haunted" section. . . and had also bumped into Andrew, sMisty, and Erik. . so we all headed that way together. that's Kvasten ahead of us, the Vekoma suspended coaster. whee. . . in the SPOOKY section now.. had to stop for a photo op, tho apparently we were boiling nothing for dinner. the flying carpet ride (not operating today) is over here for some reason. . . maybe they are tying in the Genie in the center of it with the spook/magic vibe of the area? Gotta ride Blue Train. . this thing is SO messed up. insanely silly, and with some needless nudity, and scary pop ups. . I adored it. rode this sucker at least 4 times on our trip. the name is brilliant. it's BLUE. . and it's a Train. see???? ooo. .scary! that creature has got "lady parts" !!! Scary!!!! so silly, and so much fun. every park should have a ride like this. and Grona Lund has several! the Starflyer doing it's thing from underneath Kvasten. we were in line for the very well done walk thru Haunt. I do believe that this is an upcharge attraction, but Elissa had arranged for us to all get admission (hence most of the group showing up here at a certain time). they send you thru in groups of 6-8, and said pictures were ok, as long as it didn't hold up the flow. it's got an outdoor section. . that's a group going thru the house up there on the balcony. fly, bird, fly !!!! now that bird knows what Fabio felt like, I suppose. my group's turn. . . howdy! ready to be a scared. . . nice mix of props, and live actors in here. great effect. . . choose your door carefully! he's coming to get you, Barbara. . . time for a birds eye view of the park on the starflyer. they are VERY serious about no loose objects on this ride. so only got pics from the queue, and before the ride started (with permission) it really is in the middle of everything. . surrounded by Coaster track on all sides that's Icarus doing it's thing back there. . Jetstream ,the Bobsled, AND Insane, all with cars on the tracks in one pic. that's a huge win for me, as I usually end up with no trains on the tracks hard to see in this pic, but Icarus has now tilted at the top, and the riders are hanging face down. a stage for musical performances. . . but we next headed over to the dual drop tower: Frit Fall & Tilt Hans & Matthew (and a very intense man who was wondering why I was taking his picture) chose to ride the "tilt" seated sides. while Big Mike and I (and a terrified girl), chose the stand up "Fritt Fall" side. it truly IS rather terrifying. and of course they have a camera on this side to capture it. I bought a magnet version, that came with a digital copy. glad I did it, but never again. walk around entertainment as well in this park. Not a LOT of it, but we were there on a weekday. in addition to lunch, snack, and dinner coupons, the park had gone all out and also gave us booklets of game coupons. the games were mostly hard, but there were some easier ones, and I think most everyone won some sort of prize. while they played that ping-pong game, I went into the bathroom next to it. . .and made a discovery. down a dark, bricked pathway/tunnel. . . there's this. just lovely. and when you go to wash your hands? yup. . a haunted toidy! gah! different mirrors have different creatures. . . LOL I had waited long enough, I was ready for Ikaros - the face first drop tower. again, some lovely art deco designs all around it. all the way up to the top. . . then, tilt forward. . so you will be hurtling face first towards the ground! gahhhhhhhh. . . . .it truly is a terrifying experience. and I absolutely LOVED it. we got some ERT on it at the end of the night - along with the operator making us sing ABBA and other disco songs as we ascended - and I think I rode every cycle I was able to get in on. scary, but THAT good. and you get pretty close to the ground before the seats swing back out to "normal" position even tho I know I'm a klutz, and the funhouse is a disaster waiting to happen for klutz'. . .I went ahead and did it. it's a really good funhouse. .and really ways to hurt oneself. I didn't get a pic of the entrance, but it's a "moving" ladder, that you have to climb up. . potential for injury right from the start! but it's full of whimsical, and fun obstacles. . that one really can't go around. you MUST go thru. bouncing walkways. . pitch black infinity rooms. . . truly confusing mirror mazes. . . yeah, all in one funhouse! and this is how you exit (the only option). . . you get a mat. sit on the mat, on the platform. . and the platform tilts, and shoots your ass down the slide! um.. . . . whee ? the view from the bottom. . . and yes, that IS an airtime hill at the bottom of the slide. I told you, it's trying to kill you! some of the prizes offered at the games. . . .I sucked at most of them. but lots of people won. here are some of them. and Matthew ended up gifting me that pink monkey, and he hangs out in the comic room now I used a snack coupon for this ice cream. . but I was so full from lunch still (earlier I had sushi and Chinese food from a floating barge/restaurant on the side of the park). oh remember that rooftop Himalaya across from Jetline? yup, I did go back and ride it. very loud music, and fun. with some nice, views of the Twister refurb going on. ok then. not sorry I missed THIS boat. I mentioned some rides were on floating platforms connected to the park? the octopus is one of them. Blackfisken ? LOVE that name. and it looked amazing. . very steam punk. that it "rocked" along with the waves as the pier moved made it that much more fun. Erik & sMisty, goldballs, myself, and John say "wheeee!" I think this pic is courtesy of Big Mike perhaps? but he doesn't ride spinny stuff. . so maybe Matthew? a better view of Icarus doing it's tilt thing from the side and an offride pic of Fritt Fall / Tilt heading up with folks in the standing position. and yes, we did go back for the indoor Breakdance. not the most intense cycle on one of these I've ever been on (that would be the carnival in Belgium last year). . but inside, with loud music? it sure felt intense and fun. oooo..caught a "parade". . . at least rainbow mermaid bubble cart guy looks to be having fun! and was happy to see me this isn't the star flyer, but rather the flying Carousel that was on a floating pier. (see that fun ticket booth in the background). it's a nice pic, one of my faves from the trip. the dinner was also excellent, in a restaurant built next to / into Monster - the supports for Monster go thru the restaurant and the train zooms really closeby outside. wasn't super hungry, but what I had was good. couldn't finish it tho. after dinner another couple of rides on the relaxing "Blue Train" and the Tunnel of Love. . . or "Karleks Tunneln" freaky. . I imagine this is what a camera doing a Colonoscopy sees. . . . still naked. . still blurry. . LOL. .. you'll just have to imagine! hey..I found Gene Simmons in a stairwell. I guess KISS played the park at some point in the past? as evening set in, the dancehall started filling up. I swear this seemed to have the most people anywhere in the park this evening. another bathroom with theme. . this one seems to be people who played the park. seems someone tried to peel off Marilyn Manson, tho without much success hey! I finally won something!! I found a game that was relatively easy - guns shooting corks at targets. if you got a high enough score, you won a prize. Barry, Didier, and Big Mike also trying out the cork guns. makes sense, if Bert can win this one, must be fairly easy! see? LOL. . .Didier really wanted an animal to bring home, and was having no luck, so I gifted him my bear. (I think that's why Matthew offered me his pink monkey later). . . I didn't mind tho, as I didn't really need another bear stuffie, I already had one from this trip from Tusenfryd awwww. . . Barry and his bear. (totally should be his profile pic) and then it was time to meet up for evening ERT over at Jetline. (interesting, in this pic you can see the one drop tower I didnt' go on, operating. it was the shortest of the park's offerings, so I didnt' mind skipping it, but it hadn't been running earlier when I went by it). this made me laugh - especially since the "Knight Butt" painting was "backstage" earlier. this is a lenticular, and depending on where you stood, Adam & Eve were more or less naked. yup. .just on a wall in the middle of the park. would have bought this in a second if on a magnet. but made sure to snap a pic so I could print it out and make one. ending ERT on Jetline . . got another group pic (thanks Robb).. then we headed over to Ikaros for some ERT. (since I rode so much, my phone stayed put away in my bag. . so no pics) then on the way out of the now closed park, we stopped for a group pic in front of Monster. all in all, an EXCELLENT day. I was wiped out tho, in the morning we had to get up and would be traveling all day - including a flight to Finland. so we took the short walk across the street, and I showered and crashed hard.
  8. Day 18: Tuesday, June 20th part 2 (of 3) - Voulez-Vous; off to the ABBA museum! getting to the front of the museum, we were met with this sign. sadly a pipe had burst overnight and flooded a lot of the museum (kudos to the clever wordplay and how quickly they got the sign up. . .tho it does make me wonder if this happens a lot??). So probably 2/3rds of the Museum were closed to the public, as they did clean up and repairs. as this was our only time to visit - and as they were offering a pretty substantial discount to enter (and I really mainly wanted the gift shop access anyways), we went ahead and decided to do it. Tho with so much closed, what would have taken probably 2-3 hours, only took us about 40 minutes to do. still. . worth it for the ABBA nerd in me. one exhibit hall that was open was the whole section about the VR ABBA "the Voyage" show in England. with lots of props, and info about how they scanned the band members in for the holographic performances. yes, the fashion nerd in me (it's the gay gene) was all verklempt over these. .the sketches and the finished costumes. Then downstairs to the main museum. . tho really all that was open were the final two rooms: the "after ABBA" sections, really. the stage sign from the final tour. . . only half lit, due to the water damage issue that took out power for much of the museum. at least the B is lit. . . B is for Bert! assorted licensed ABBA merch display. and then it was onto the Post-ABBA rooms. . . starting with a photo op from the Land Rover from "Mamma Mia!". . no, really. no other option than to be Benny here. . but oh well. . . wall of gold/platinum records a wedding dress from the film. . scale model of the main film set. . Meryl Streep's ass sat here! it was roped off, but could peek into the prior room of the museum, that was all about the breakup and reason's why. then onward to the separate sections about what each of the members did once the band split. Pretty large, and interactive sections. so this was quite interesting. (tho only one minor mention of the big hit from this show "One Night in Bangkok" which was surprising to me) Agnetha's "Grammi" she won in 92 for a solo album More Mamma Mia! stuff. . including the dress in the poster. the layout of the full museum. . basically only the left 3rd of the map was open. so I didn't get the Arrival Helicopter photo op. oh well. . when I next go back to Grona Lund (and I WILL at some point, I hope), I'll do the rest of the museum. a Potty break before heading back to the park, revealed rock n roll restrooms - themed to the backstage dressing rooms. baby, I'm a STAR! heh. . covid signs.. better than singing Happy Birthday. up into the gift shop. . where I would spend way too much money! But at least could run right upstairs and drop it in the room and not have to carry around the park. not gonna lie. . I TOTALLY wanted this Mumu dress. . but it was silk, and they wanted way too much for it. dressing room, again forcing you to be Bjorn. . . and with a quick stop to the room to drop off purchases, we headed back over to Grona Lund! to be concluded.
  9. Day 18: Tuesday, June 20th part 1 (of 3) - the magic place that is Grona Lund woke up a bit giddy today, as today was the full day we'd be spending at Grona Lund! (after seeing it every day from our hotel across the street, and getting just a taste on the night we arrived in Stockholm, with that surprise ERT on Monster). we were met before park open at the front gates by one of the park owners (a SUPER nice guy), and handed off to a couple of guides who would be with us this morning for a while, walking us to certain things to get some rides in before park open. we went in via, what I assume, was the original main gate to the park. Over in the section with the smaller family/kiddie rides, and lots of games. the original ticket booths for the park, I believe. . . just inside the main gate. classic carousel. . small, but with some lovely carved animals. seeing this pic, I realize, I never came back to ride this. . LOL. . I totally forgot it was i the park, as there are SO many other things to ride. a mini drop tower. . if we count this one? Grona Lund has a staggering FIVE drop tower rides. a flying elephant ride. . this area really is lovely. but we were headed up the stairs (a clever "bridge" that goes over a street) into the much bigger section of the park. . with all the thrill rides! and "Mexican" food.. which sadly, I didn't try. I was SO full from the snacking, and the wonderful dinner we were served, I just never got back to it. but I do love the added touch of the painted grate, so the place looks open even when it's sealed up tight. our first stop was going to be some morning rides on Monster! (we hadn't ridden it in the daytime yet, so a wonderful first stop). thru the Jetpass line, of course, even tho the park wouldn't open for a couple of hours yet. whee! I mentioned the other day, what's so amazing about Grona Lund is how the rides are all built seemingly on top of each other. there are four different coasters in this pic. . main track is Monster, the white track is Insane, the blue track is Jetline, and the yellow track at the bottom of the pic is Vilda Munsen after a few rides, I stepped out to take pics while others continued to ride. Rarrrghh. . I'm a monster Insane. . the tunnel of love ride at the park. . that ended up being SO bizarre (one of several strange and bizzare rides at the park), that I rode it multiple times today. the exit to the "it really WILL try to kill you" / "NEVER in America" funhouse. looks harmless! in this pic you can see two of the drop towers on the right, and the Starflyer on the left. and Jetline's 1st drop. Funhouse on the left, tunnel of love on the right. and Insane lurking on the upper right. play with Grona Lund's famous Woody? oh My! the Monster station is underground. . and I absolutely adore how they themed it to a subway stop. even doing some great tilework on the part of the ride the General Public can see, as the train comes back into the underground station. Morning ERT on Monster done, our guides walked us over to Insane. . . lovely scenery around this coaster. it looks like an S&S freespin on steroids (oh, it's much, much worse). I rode it twice, only. the first time I really disliked it. so rode again to make sure. . and yup, I did not like that much flipping that's not sustained. I mean, I LOVED Arashi at Nagashima Spaland (an S&S Freespin), but that's pretty consistent spinning. Insane does a lot of spinning, with a bunch of rocking back and forth in between the spins. and the forces due to the design simply weren't comfortable for me. glad I rode it, but yeah, not for me! random theming viewable from the Insane station. very pretty park! all smiles - prior to my 1st ride. stepping out to get my "land legs" back after my 1st ride.. snapped a few pics of others riding. it really IS pretty photographic are they having fun or screaming in agony? as noted, the setting for the park is just lovely. . . turning my back to the ride, and enjoying the view some rides at the park are built out onto piers - that seem to move with the water. . made for some fun ride experiences. I believe this is thanks to Elissa - edit. . it's actually from Chuck! Thanks CFC I don't appear to be in pain, and hell, it kinda looks like I'm having fun. this is my 2nd ride, and I think perhaps Jon and I are laughing because we sat together on one side, and Ryan is by himself on the other. . so we were pretty off balance the entire ride like this. HA!!! wonderful design for the old ticket booth (I guess the park used to be individually ticketed, as several rides had boarded up ticket booths by them). I believe this is Icarus - the face first (no really) drop tower. but here's where we were headed. . . Vilda Musen. (and the Starflyer starting to test behind it). we were gonna have some fun on this Gerstlauer Bobsled. . . TPR was gonna do the "water challenge" a look into a section of the park that would open a bit after the main park opened. that coaster is Kvasten (Broom). . a Vekoma suspended coaster that's themed to Witches flying brooms. That whole section was "scary" with Blue Train, and the Haunted House located there as well. before heading into the queue for the Vild Musen, I snapped a pic of the other drop tower that was across from us. this is "Frit Fall" - a STAND UP drop tower on one side, and "Tilt" a tilting drop tower (think Acrophobia at SFOG for the angle of the tilt) on the other 3 sides. again. . great theming everywhere! and no. . this Queue Line stantion is NOT why I loved Grona Lund so much. . . . but it didn't hurt. . . LOL lots of cool art in the station for the Bobsled tho you really have to be quite slim for this queue (luckily we were there before park open, so bypassed the squeeze). but I love how you can see the cars going up the lift hill via the windows in the station. sure! let's hold open glasses of water while riding this to see how much water is still in the cups after each ride. looks smooth! looks like most of them did well. . . Sarah is smiling, tho Steve looks like he's got an empty cup. looking down the entrance way from the queue. stuff to look at everywhere! I guess Jon lost. . . . not everyone chose to participate. . . tho Jere sitting behind myself and David was a poor choice! LOL. . hey, I never said I'd be good at it. end result of our ride was hella fun, despite my face.. . and every time water hit Jere I was laughing. . . (again, thanks either Elissa or perhaps Andy for this pic) ha! just realized Robb is in this pic. I think I was trying to get the ironwork design of the sign. the park was about to open, but our guides wanted to get us on one more coaster before that. So we headed over towards Jetline, the park's custom Schwarzkopf ooo. . very art deco over here. what is "Rock Jet"? Why it's a rooftop Himalaya with lots of disco lights, of course! I'd come back later for this. . . and yes, it looked AMAZING at night. retro cool Jetline entrance - thru a repurposed Diner car. the woodie in the background here is Twister - it was closed for refurb work during our visit, so I'll have to go back to ride it. Per the TPR Videos Robb has posted, it looks like a really fun coaster. shiny/glittery trains. . .loved it! (wish it showed up as sparkly in the pics) oh.. forgot to mention that Barry has rejoined us! I love the fact that even injured, he was determined (with Doctor's approval) to ride roller coasters. SO MUCH twisted track. whee! Briefly stuck on the brake run. I blame Hanz . . . this really was such a great coaster. I rode it multiple times this morning, and also in the evening when we got a bit more ERT that first drop is pretty steep, hence hanging on - tho I tend to hang on anyways. I guess I should mention, that Jetline has been closed since just after our visit last year, due to a terrible accident where some folks were injured and killed. I feel terrible for the park owners, and workers. they are all such wonderful people, and I'm sure the accident weighs very heavily on them. seeing these pics are a bit of a reminder to me to enjoy every day to it's fullest as you never know - the accident happened, I think, just 4 days after our visit. great coaster. . hope it reopens. end of ERT shot courtesy of Robb! but before we were cut loose in the park (which was now opened), our guides asked us if we were interested in a workshop tour of the Insane Maintenance bay. of COURSE most said "yes please!" so we headed back over that way. what is this??? very musical in the windows outside. is it a Rock and Roll store? Nope. . an indoor, disco Breakdance! oh yes.. would be coming back for this too. but first? behind the scenes at Insane I love going "backstage".. we get to see all the cool stuff that the park employees get to see. such as this amazing view. the maintenance bay for Insane is *under* the ride. the sections of track (with a car on them) remove and drop down into the bay so they can maintain the ride, cars, etc. very cool to see. How many TPR group members does it take to tune up an Insane train car? (the world may never know) Ha. . as noted, I love seeing behind the scenes and what the workers like to leave laying around for fun. Noted! "Nermal" in Swedish is "Niemand" ! HA! wonder where this used to be in the park? Knight butt. . . . Moana???? yes, it's time for the Tunnel of Love. . which is themed (I think???) to gnomes/fairies/witches/smurfs? living in harmony. . . or something. it's just fucking weird! and yes, I LOVED it. Hi Didier! me being sad I'm going into Tunnel of Love all alone it's a slow moving log flume, basically. . . with fairy titties. I didn't blur this on purpose. . the log seemed to speed up when I passed it. . . and then suddenly, the fairies are gone, and there are gnomes baking. for some reason. . . and then it gets a bit Greek. .. and Medieval. like I said.. it's fucking weird. see?? what was that??? let's ride again! awww. .a lil fairy house. hi Big Mike!! so we did ride again, but then Big Mike and I had something else on our agenda that we simply had to do while we were in Stockholm. yes, we stepped away from the park, crossed the street back to our Hotel, and visited the ABBA Museum (sorta). coming up next. to be continued. . . .
  10. ^ I'd guess you're not getting the emails because you're a tier well above the minimum they want to charge. . so gonna leave y'all alone. but see? THIS is why I just buy a season pass. pay once, and done with it. yes, the parks do frustrating things - such as right now SFFT is offering buy a pass and get updated to Diamond (all parks) free. . after I paid almost $200 for it late last year. . but whatever, I paid what I thought was a deal, so not really mad about it.
  11. yeah. . not a good look. I would guess a Chaperone Policy is gonna be announced sooner, rather than later, to make the General Public feel "safer" tho not sure how effective that would be regardless as not all Teenagers are the same, so they end up punishing the good kids along with the troublemakers.
  12. that does give them space for a giant pendulum. I notice on the map it shows the Frisbee "Temporarily closed"
  13. ^ 100% the changes to Superman queue is because they are routing the Supergirl exit thru the giftshop. I suspect that the Superman line entrance will be in the gift shop on the far right, and they will deepen the store - getting rid of the lockers in back, and a few rows of queue - which Supes RARELY fills, as that ride is a people eater. What is currently the Superman Entrance will become the Supergirl Exit.
  14. no way was that a wrong decision to do lunch. . it was a FANTASTIC meal. yeah, it cut into the time, but it was a fantastic meal. based on my picture I took of the menu (and i have a similar pic of that dish, so we must have had the same "Finnish Price Fixe" meal). . that was Hazlenut Ice Cream with a Celery topping over hazlenut crumble.
  15. the naming agreements expired in December, from what I saw. so a cost saving thing probably.. .
  16. hmmmm. . .so are they moving the Peter Pan ride from over in DisneyLand? that description certainly sounds like the Peter Pan Flight ride there.
  17. since the only Swag I got from Kolmården were these magnets, I'll share some stealth pics I got of Colin testing out one of those silly pacifier lollipops we kept getting as treats. hopefully he won't kill me. . but c'mon. .these are great! (I think he liked it? I gave mine away as gifts)
  18. Day 17: Monday, June 19th part 2 (of 2) - Kolmården had to be careful, as the ride was in operation. . but we were guided between the moving Gondolas and to the transfer track area. . and it was explained that at the end of each day, this is where the Gondolas go to "sleep". .and they perform maintenance on any needing some TLC. it wasn't a big building, just a small shed. . so I was a little confused. . . until we rounded the corner and saw the massive staircase, that leads to the huge underground area empty, because all the Gondolas are currently on the ride Q&A session down in the underground area. . . they offered anyone who wanted to, could climb up on the walkway into the main control booth and take a look. .. but as I'm not a fan of tiny walkways high off the ground? I opted for another ride on the Safari while many in the group took turns going up to the control room. this time I got my own car, and so was able to move back and forth to get some good pics. my Gondola was Giraffe themed. . again, such a beautiful park/zoo I spy Erik taking a picture in the gondola before me wait. .are those people over there in the distance with the Giraffes? (answer. . yes, those are. . as we were to find out shortly) the Bears were up and about this time. . and using tree as a scratching post. the Lions were also mostly up and prowling around their enclosure on this trip. safari over, we were sent off on our own to enjoy the zoo. . . but first, they wanted to offer us another unique opportunity, if we were interested. passing by the Chimps enclosure. . . where were we going? Safari Camp? yes, you can actually camp out here at the zoo (on the grounds) as an option. well. . hello there! these were our guides at the Safari Camp area. . . where not only can you pay to camp out, in pretty nice tents / campground. . but you also get to get up close and personal with the animals we had seen from the Gondolas. including feeding them. i have an inkling, these Giraffes know that if there are people here? they are gonna get food, as they all came up to the fence right away. Ryan feeding a Giraffe! a baby!!! I fed the baby looking back at the campground (the Giraffes are behind me). . it's a nice set up, and would be fun to spend a night here for nature lovers. our group that fed the Giraffes. seems there's not all of us tho. . . what happened? oh.. we split the group because half went to go see the Bears up close, while we did Giraffes, and then we swapped. dawwwwwww !!!!! yeah. . we didn't go feed this lady. . .LOL. . but we saw her thru the fence watching us. then we headed over to the Bears. . . Kristen told us all kinds of neat facts about Bears, while this guy sat there and ate non stop. (I can relate). hug a tree, save a cowboy.. . or something like that? then we were cut loose to enjoy the rest of the day at the zoo, until it was time to meet up for ERT later on Wildfire. it's a large zoo, with lots of animals, and some really nice enclosures. in particular? the Tiger enclosure really impressed me. perhaps my favorite "warning" sign at Kolmården - as you head down to the "sunken bus" one would think they didn't NEED this sign. . but since they have it? some fool clearly got too close to the bars the tigers are everywhere! every time I thought I had seen them all? I spotted another one. towards the end of the afternoon, it was time to meet back up at Wildfire. Didier and myself enjoying "Bench: the ride" - it's a very large park, with lots of hills. it was a LOT of walking today remaining general public thru the line, and time for ERT for TPR! I really liked this ride, but could only ride it so many times. The forces on this, combined with the restraints? hit me just perfect on my bladder. and literally every time I rode, I had to get off, and run to the toilet to pee. LOL after the 4th time in a row it happened, I started taking breaks between laps but I did ride it, and I loved it, as prooved by Robb's rider cam! all in all, a fantastic day, and the mask I wore most of the day really did seem to help the allergic reaction I was having to whatever is in the air in Sweden's wilderness. after a great and exhausting day, we headed back to the bus for the drive back to Stockholm.
  19. Day 17: Monday, June 19th part 1 (of 2) - Kolmården - and the insane amazement of Wildfire! getting up this morning, I was feeling much better, but still pretty congested. I realized there is something in the air in Sweeden that was trying to kill me (and several others, who were also having extreme allergic reactions). as today was going to be another full day spent out, basically, in the woods? I not only drugged the hell out of myself, but decided to wear a facemask today to see if it helped (it actually DID help quite a bit, tho I still hacked and coughed thruout the day - tho nowhere near as much as I had the prior day). anyways. . onto the bus and headed out to Kolmården - a huge zoo, likely best known by coaster fans for the amazing RMC coaster, Widfire. the Country continues to be absolutely gorgeous, even tho it was a bit overcast today. passing by the main parking lot for Kolmården. . . .it was already starting to fill up, but as the zoo is SO big, it never really felt crowded. in fact, the zoo is SO big, we were directed around back to the 2ndary parking lot, and allowed to enter thru that back gate. this way we were much closer to the "rides" portion of the zoo, than if we had started at the actual front gates. (very hilly, and quite the walk, really, so it was greatly appreciated!) I spot Wildfire thru the trees! Park Map from where we actually entered. . we were in the lot on the right - that you can see the path they let us use, that walks into the back of the park. a better look at Wildfire's lift and turnaround before drop, from inside the zoo grounds. my masked self - since outdoors. on the right is the entrance to the zoo's famous "safari" gondola ride. and that's where we were going to head to first. I believe the zoo had already opened (hence the family ahead of us in this pic). . but I was just blown away from the theming over here. VERY much reminded me of a Disney-esque queueline. this is a fairly long - if recalling correctly, it was about 25 minutes - lovely gondola ride that covers the large area in the zoo that I guess would be called the Serengeti if were at Animal Kingdom or BGT parks. Lots of interacting animals - tho several predators too, in sectioned off areas, and the gondola "tracks" criss cross each other several times. so it's a long ride, and really does give some incredible views. and it has narration in 3 languages, so you can get descriptions of the animals as you pass over those areas. starting off with Wildfire, as you leave the station. the group I rode with: me, Doug, Hans, Ryan, David, and Hawk. I mean. . . just stunning views from the Gondolas Bears attempting to sun themselves on this overcast day zebras! yeah. . these folks are in their own area. . . tho this early in the morning, most were sleeping. but good lord, what an amazing view you get from the Gondola! as we were crossing over the "track". .snapped this pic to show some of the criss crossing the ride does. you get a bit high up in some spots too. could be a postcard. amazing that it's just a pic on an iPhone and coming back into the station. we were headed to Wildfire, but first, I believe, it was almost lunch time, and the Park guide wanted to bring us down to eat, before we did any further things. so we passed by Wildfire for the moment, and headed down to the food area, that's over by the "big" rides - the park also has a very large "kids rides" area. I don't think we had the "Mexican". . . I didn't' take a pic, but I THINK it was burgers? But this Mexican pirate amused me, so snapped a pic of the sign. the view while we ate. one of the two other Roller Coasters in the park, a Vekoma Junior coaster. (the other being a Zierer kiddie coaster) themed to a Dolphin! so cute. and then we headed over to Wildfire, to check it out, and get some rides. loved the theming in the station. no axes allowed? Noted! lovely train design, tho it has those RMC restraints that I just don't really care for (I always feel so uneasy in these restraints). LtR: Didier, Eric, Shane, Jon whee!! Jason and Big Mike in front row! but they had a surprise for us, if anyone was interested (we were!). . we got to go into the Maintenance and get up close and personal with the ride and trains! so cool! and the ride watches you thru the windows in the workshop. . . wonder what THIS does? (and yes, jokey picture taken with permission to touch the sledge hammer) the coaster's layout on the board in the Maint. shed. the group on the shed tour. . . we really did get to get really up close to the ride, while it was operating! I mean. . really close! getting a few more rides in before moving on. . . here's more of the TPR group enjoying Wildfire. and this is Tomas, who was the main guide walking us around Kolmården today, and showing us the zoo's shining gems. they had another surprise for us - if we were interested - we could go under the Gondola ride and see the Maint. area for that if we wanted. So we headed over that way to be continued. . . .
  20. I'm seeing reports that the fire has flared up again, and they are struggling to get it under control I can't find a corroborating story tho . . . but if so, how did it flare back up 16 hours later?
  21. Pigeon Forge has multiple Mountain Coasters. and personally. . I'd say Dollywood is way more than a 1 day park. I'd do two days, and get in a couple (or few) of the mountain coasters - Goats on the Roof is the one I liked best.
  22. With the successful re-theme in Norway to incorporate Frozen really bringing in so many more people to that pavilion (I'm assuming the Frozen ride would be considered a "success" by Disney). I wonder if the imagineers have floated the idea of re-doing the Three Caballeros ride in Mexico pavilion to incorporate "Coco" ? While I personally would be sad to see Donald and friends go from one ride he's really tied to. . . I'd thing the more modern crowd would be much more pulled towards a Coco themed attraction? and it wouldn't need much more than a lay-over rather than a full redesign of the ride. just a thought.
  23. that's so awful! The park had put so much work into it, and even 6 months ago on our construction tour, it looked amazing inside. terrible loss after so much time and effort had been spent. . (luckily no deaths tho. . . so there's that to look to, and that it did not spread to Grand Curiosa - right next door - is a blessing)
  24. GREAT update. . and so happy to see pics from the mini golf. somehow you missed the guy on the toilet outside the shooting dark ride? (dont' worry, I got a pic or two of it. . LOL). and yeah, they wouldn't let me take pics on the cars either. . very strange.
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