bert425

^ 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.

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.

the naming agreements expired in December, from what I saw. so a cost saving thing probably.. .

hmmmm. . .so are they moving the Peter Pan ride from over in DisneyLand? that description certainly sounds like the Peter Pan Flight ride there.

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)

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.

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. . . .

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?

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.

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.

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)

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.

oh, forgot to post this. . new walk around character meet and greets coming to the park. (and Jeffrey specifically mentioned this is Harley's "Winter" outfit, and she has a version with shorts).

eh, in the grand scheme of things, it's a first world problem. so really nothing major to complain about.

.. . . BGT has announced the Skyride reopens Friday. but there is now a $5 (each way) charge for it. free for pass members.

Back at the Hotel, I realized I didn't have anything to help with allergies packed. so Matthew looked up the nearest drugstore (which was still open and he and I hopped in a cab - to make sure we got there as they were closing shortly, and I got to shop in a Swedish Supermarket. Wasnt' sure quite what to purchase, but the checkout lady spoke English very well and helped translate the nose sprays for me and I picked up a couple. then we walked back to the hotel. . grabbed some dinner in the hotel restaurant with a few other folks we saw were eating there, and I headed up to the room to sleep. Pics walking back from the drugstore: and dinner: then up to shower and relax in room/crash. since it's a short final group of pics, will put the Furuvik swag here too: sweatshirt with happy cotton candy: an magnet:

Day 16: Sunday, June 18th part 2 (of 2) - Furuvik - and a surprise bonus on the way back to the hotel! continued. . . if I'm not mistaken, this was a lovely boardwalk/elevated pathway that went out onto the edge of the water, and around the goats & Red Panda enclosure. we didn't get to see the Red Panda - I do believe Dexter told us that the enclosure was getting ready for them, but the actual animals had not been moved into the enclosure yet? but I do know that he drew our attention to that land mass way off in the distance, and I'm pretty sure he said that was Finland we were seeing from Sweden. the post Indian food group that was being shown around by Dexter (that's him on the far right) yo Llama is SOOO fat. when she sits around the enclosure? she sits a ROUND the enclosure! hey. .it's not fat.. it's just fur. . . so Dexter was all excited about the Camels, and he actually called them by name and they came *running* over to him. now, did they come running over because they recognized and love him? or because he had handfulls of food to feed them? the world may never know. . . . but it was still wonderful to see, and get pics of. nothin to see here. . just some goats on a big rock. we had heard folks talking about a dark ride/ boat ride. . but hadn't been able to locate it. when asked Dexter about it, he brought us right to the entrance. (I dont' think we'd ever have found it otherwise). it looked like a fun little river raft ride, tho the boats were very small. there was some chatter about 4 per boat, but I recall protesting, and we ended up 3, 2, and 1 . . and what a correct call THAT was. that boat in front with 3 seems a little low to the water! um. . . . big Mike isn't looking too steady on his own either. . I'm concerned. . but at least Jonathan and I seem to be a little steady. um. . the heavier boat in the front seems to be causing a little bit of a traffic jam. . . I look worried, but the operators were laughing hysterically. . . and "luckily" we had someone off ride walking by at JUST the right moment to capture the chaos. ( think this is courtesy of Andy ? ) this guy's face cracks me up: I mean. . . we're laughing and horrified at the same time. ohhhh. . here comes the "Dark ride" part Realistic!! Sharks AND a Kracken? what kind of jungle is this???? but once you safely disembark, you are walking thru a monkey house. . .which makes the boat ride so worth it! turtles too. . you can get so close to them! Achievement unlocked!!! I found the 5th mascot. or did I? he was hanging around with his twin, and I wasn't sure which one of them I had met earlier. so better safe, than sorry. . . at least now I know i met all five of them. around this point, I was starting to feel pretty bad. I was getting cold, and was starting to cough a lot. . . I didn't think I was sick, and it SEEMED to be allergies. as that was affecting some others right at this point. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything with me to help with the congestion. . . . but I COULD buy a nice warm sweatshirt in a giftshop, so I did that. tho I didnt' buy this freaky octo-duck thing. . . nice to see that at least the mini carousel was getting some riders. . . speaking of horses? we had met up with everyone else to head out, and as we were walking towards the entrance we passed this Hobby Horse race track the park had as an attraction. so why not? Several of us grabbed hobby horses, and off to the races! this is a big part of why I absolutely *love* taking trips with TPR. . there really is no such thing as looking too stupid! it was hella fun, and kudos to my fellow racers! Pic courtesy of Robb, I believe. passing that theater we had seen on the way in. ah. .that's why only the two mascots were out. the others are here on stage. and have at least a bit of a crowd. and Elissa, Sarah, and TPR were awarded giant boxes of Chocolates from our guides at the park. we all piled back on the bus, as the sky started to darken and a bit of rain drops started to fall, and the candy got passed around to everyone for a taste. Robb & Elissa had a surprise for us on the way back. . we weren't going straight back to the hotel. . we were stopping here, at SkiStar Stockholm Hammarbybacken ! they have a lot of activities here at this place, that seems to be open year round. . . tho we were here for this: the only mountain coaster in Stockholm as you can see from the ground, it had started to drizzle, and we weren't sure they would keep it open for us.. but they did! here's some of the other activities that can be done here - this is the Tube sliding tracks (it was late in the afternoon, and the weather was kinda icky. . so that would be why it was mostly empty) you get in the individual cars, and they hook you up and pull you up to the top of the Mountain. here's Joey getting ready to head up. and I BELIEVE this is a pic I took of the screens showing how to control the mountain coaster as you descend. . .but gives a good view of the track/city. here's me coming down. . pic courtesy of, I think, Elissa (or could have been Jason) this thing was FLYING because the track was wet. pretty terrifying, but it was SO much fun. after riding in the rain tho, I was so congested and hacking that no one wanted to sit by me on the short bus ride back to the hotel. There was something going on in town tonight - a concert of some kind, I think. . and several in the group bought last minute tickets and were headed to it. all I wanted to do was find someplace to get some decongestant. . .

Day 16: Sunday, June 18th part 1 (of 2) - a park no one had ever been to, Furuvik - and a surprise bonus on the way back to the hotel! the next morning, we got up from our hotel, and filed onto the bus for a drive out of the city. and pulled up - right off what seemed to be a major highway - to a new park for everyone on the trip (including Robb & Elissa): Furuvik this is similar to Kolmarden in that it is mainly a zoo, but has some amusement rides and rollercoasters. . and it had been in the news fairly recently due to a horrific story regarding the Chimpanzees (that the park was known for - they were a main Chimpanzee research facility in Sweden prior to this) that escaped the enclosure and resulted in several injuries and the deaths of multiple primates. We did not ask about the story, and figured it would not be talked about - but it actually was mentioned by some of the park folks we talked to. and there was this memorial out front of the main entrance. (not sure if it was Furuvik sanctioned, but they were allowing it to be there - with the names of the 4 chimps that had died in Dec 2022). the actual main gates of the park. .and you can see front and center in the logo is a Chimp. . . looking back at the major roadway closeby before we went inside the park. it's a really large park, with some very lush areas. This was a theater we passed by on the way in, with a family show going on here during the day featuring the park's mascots: 5 cats. I never did get all of their names, but I WAS successful in meeting all 5 during our visit today I mentioned it's a large park? yup. .here's the park map oh.. did I mention the park Mascots are cats? yup. .they go ALL IN in places with the kitty cat theming. . a little hard to read, but I appreciate any park that attempts topiary/flower landscaping. Nice job by them. as I said, tho it's mostly a zoo, Furuvik does have an amusement park section (most over here in Scandi are identified by "Tivoli" areas). Based on this entrance area, it does appear that at one point the Amusement rides section was a separate ticket entry? but was all included now. various different rides over here. . some intense, some kiddie, but the majority of them "Family" rides. Sadly, this was the only Carousel on site tho. . . as a group tho, we headed for the Coasters first, as they were new to everyone! Lightning is a retro-looking family Vekoma Launch coaster, that was almost brand new - opening shortly before our visit. (I believe this sits where a Schwarzkopf Jet Star II used to be, named Rocket - that closed in 2021) nothing "EXTREME" here, but lots of twisty, twisty track. and a really fun retro station and train design. it went around twice, if I'm recalling correctly, and the 2nd time thru the station, it really pics up speed with the launch that increases the velocity the train already has going as it flies thru the station really great train design. . and part of the Control Panel for you freaks that like that. . . surprise surprise.. .Bumper Cars. (Swedes seem to LOVE their bumper cars). tho I did appreciate that this one had full "traveling Carnival" light package. . and every light worked. it was impressive when it got overcast how brightly this shined. a Disc-O and several games similar to we saw in Liseberg, where one could win a giant box of treats. next door was this wonderful shooting gallery - which for some reason you could win Octopus' at if you got a high enough score. I really enjoyed the choice of weapons. . tho I let down my Texas family by really sucking at shooting with most of the guns. this looked very similar to the one at Liseberg that had run the fairly tame program. . . simply called "Extreme" here. for sure wanted to ride it, but it required a certain number of riders before they could operate, so we'd have to come back later once the park opened to the public. instead, our guide, Dexter, led us over to the 2nd of the park's 3 roller coasters: Fireball - a Vekoma Family Boomerang. the theming here was quite nice, even if the ride wasn't an EXTREME ride. as a zoo, it's great that the "big" rides they have are mostly things the whole family can ride - even the smaller kids. whee!!! and next to it is a large shooting Dark ride - with some really amazing theming on the outside. but we didn't go to this one yet, there was still one more coaster here to get to as the park was opening up to general guests. Draken - a Zierer kiddie coaster but hey, new credit for everyone! as we got off our ride, and met to be released into the park (getting food vouchers, and being told what time to meet up later for the ride back). . I noticed - what's this? are those. . . mascots riding Draken with the 1st public riders? Yup! two of the 5 mascots found! make that 3 of the 5! and 4 of the 5 ! wow.. good timing to be there, just as the Mascots (well. . most of them) came out to start the day! now the park was open. . EXTREME had started running. we lined up - and tho still had to wait a little bit to get enough riders, were able to get a ride on it. Pretty intense, but I liked it. here's us on the ride - I believe pic courtesy of Erik, as we had to convince sMisty and Goldballs (as Erik calls him) to ride with us so we had enough people for the cycle. Despite my face, I liked it. and at the end of our ride, all the guys hopped off, causing the "arm" to raise up, leaving sMisty stuck in the seat way far off the ground (whoops!!) luckily, they have a step stool there, just for these situations all the big rides done (that I cared to ride), it was time for the spookhouse! fun animatronic in the queue line explaining how the guns work (in Swedish, but we figured it out). AMAZING boarding area. . . so cool. we were starting to get a little hungry, as we hadn't had much for breakfast this morning (I believe the Hotel had given us some pre-made bags, since we left so early, so didn't do the hotel breakfast this day). so we looked at the options for food, and most of the folks I was with agreed that the "Indian"/ Tandoori option sounded good. . . it was off in the middle of the zoo area, so we treked off to find it (with some directions from Dexter). . . passing the Camel enclosure. . . . tho we eventually found it. we were literally the ONLY folks here at this restaurant. so the three guys in the kitchen were joking with us, and chatting about where we were from, and they were very interested in TPR, and folks that took trips to go to theme parks and ride things. they laughed and asked me - since I was first - if I wanted the "American" serving for the add on chicken skewers. I had no idea what the difference was, but said "sure" this is what came out. LOL - you should have seen the eyes bulging out from the others with me. . as everyone pretty quickly ordered the same thing. it was a HUGE amount of food, and it was quite tasty! I posted this pic of it, and several other folks from TPR did come track down the Indian place and eat lunch here (I've heard it was way better than the burger place that some went to) David enjoying his protein! Dexter came by while we were eating and was happy his directions had helped us find the place. he offered to show us around to some of the animals, so of course we said yes, and ended up not having to wander aimlessly (which would have been fine, but nicer to have someone bring us to show the parts of the park that he loves). . . to be continued. . .

forgot a pic i had on my phone

^ yeah .that's it. He said the slides were "new". . so must be for 2024 I can't recall if he said the name. . but you reminded me - he DID show animation, and a drawing of the slide, because he showed it included a conveyor belt to get the 4 person tube to the top so it did not need to be carried up the stairs . . . using the famous couch/PIVOT scene from "Friends" to get a laugh. (same thing happened here in Texas - new slides at SFFT were supposed to be for 2023, and are new this year. . . and Catapult Falls at SWSA - announced for 2023, but opening this year as new.)

Per Steve yesterday. . . he said there was a new Slide installed? or some sort of improvement in the waterpark section?

a bit more detail. . Steve Thomas, the park's new General Manager was who presented at Winterfest - he's well known in Texas, as until recently, he ran the Arlington Trader's Village rides area. and is the main man responsible for bringing Prairie Screamer to that location (Prairie Playland) from Scandia. In Arlington they fully refurbed and reprofiled parts of it, and made it terrifyingly fun to ride. We'll miss him in Texas, but our loss is Alabama Adventure's gain. he told us that he walked the entire track earlier this month, and that Rampage is really in such bad shape, that the refurb is going to take an estimated 5 years. . tho they do plan on opening it during the refurb once the major issues are dealt with first. And that is why the coaster will be closed for all of 2024. But hopes it will be running in some capacity in 2025, and they will continue doing the refurb work on it every off season. they have put out for bids to multiple contractors, but they have not chosen one yet. his vision for the park is great, and sounds like it includes really building up the "dry" areas of the park with new flats as future improvements. (and refurb or clean up of current unusable attractions - he pointed out the overgrown & unused rapids ride as a major eyesore right now that he'd like to address sooner rather than later. And he teased another new coaster is on the table in the next 5 years as well, as they have identified a large, flat open space that is "just perfect for another coaster"

ok. . so it's been a long time. . with not a lot of movement. *but* there has been some land clearing going on recently!! and per Matt's major update yesterday at Winterfest? red-tape has been cleared and vertical construction on Palindrome to start shortly. . with expected completion in late April. *however* the ride will not open to the public immediately, and might wait until the park officially opens in 2025. (but there is a *really* good chance that people will be able to start riding the coaster prior to full COTAland park launch, as they need to get the required number of hours operating in for approval to open.. . so there's a good chance if Palindrome is complete in April, that we may get to start getting rides on it in 2024 still). all rides are either on-site, or in transit. and YES, that includes the Tilt Coaster, Circuit Breaker! in fact, Matt invited all of us at Winterfest yesterday, to come visit COTA for a couple of hours this morning to see the Circuit Breaker track in person. (sadly, I had other plans already and couldn't make it.. but Matt kindly told me I was welcome to share his pics). So here ya go. so big takeaways: 1) Red tape issues resolved, and vertical construction starting on Palindrome shortly 2) followed by construction on the main park, and Circuit Breaker - track all on site already - 1st train fully manufactured and in transit to COTA 3) toward end of 2024, move main entrance rides (current coasters & rides) over into COTAland 4) for opening in 2025 of full park.

mainly recaps of what's coming in the new DCU - with some animations of the new Cyborg Nebulaz, Shazam spinning drop tower, and the Metropolis Monorail. and also the new slides for the kiddos in Whitewater Bay (or whatever they are calling the Waterpark section now) he also confirmed that the retheme of Supergirl started today with the park working to strip the ride bare, and therefore Skyscreamer is down while it becomes Supergirl. one major thing he revealed is that the kiddie truck ride, that is being rethemed to Penguin, will become basically an outdoors dark ride - with lots of sets and scenes of Penguin vs Batgirl (makes total sense, since the Batgirl coaster will be right next door to it). it sounds amazing, and I fully trust this park. Kid Flash is back up and running, and interestingly, the light package is set to only 30% brightness. . .so it COULD be run much brighter, but they don't want to cause discomfort. . LOL Wonder Woman's 3 new trains are being built now, and they expect them to arrive and go on the tracks some time in April. what else. . hmmm. . new Menu options in the VIP Lounge (they all looked good). all festivals/events they ran in 2023 are coming back in 2024, including the new Food Festival they introduced last year. they are opening up for an Eclipse Party on April 8th (I think that's the day of the Eclipse. . . SWSA is opening up that day too). . . and SFFT will have a 180 degree Fireworks display during the actual Ec;ipse. that's what I recall off the top of my head. . .it was a very long day, and just got home

Day 15: Saturday, June 17th part 2 (of 2) - Travel day to Stockholm, surprise ERT at Grona Lund! back on the bus for a few hours, and enjoying the sights to Sweden we took a 45 minute rest stop to grab food, and tho most of the folks went to quicker service (and I think sMisty went to the candy store next door), Erik, myself, Didier, and I think Andrew, went across the intersection to this burger/pub chain in Sweden. they assured us they could get the food out fast, and they did, even tho it was a sit down restaurant. it was quite good too. but . . um. . maybe lost something in the translation? no, I didn't try the "soup of the day" then it was back on the bus, to finish our drive into Stockholm. lots of interesting architecture . . . really liked this sculpture in one of the Roundabouts that are all over Stockholm such a cool city! very futuristic. . . based on the clocks (on the many buildings), we were arriving at our Stockholm hotel at just about 8pm. my first glimpse of Grona Lund. . . I was blown away. the rides really are just piled one on top of each other. our hotel was literally next door to Grona Lund. .so we knew we were close. and here we were. . at the BackStage Hotel. literally across the (narrow) street from Grona Lund. oh. . and also *attached* to the ABBA Museum - with access from the hotel lobby! speaking of the Hotel Lobby. . . very modern, and funky. . . the Cafe in the hotel. and the Bistro attached to the ABBA museum (I stepped out front of the hotel to get these pics) yes, they played ABBA music non-stop. . and yes, I LOVED it. I mean LOVED it. Our room was the corner there on the upper right, with the patio door open. Jonathan was in the room next door to us, and he was also enjoying the music. aww. . a kiddie cut out photo op. one for the adults too. . which hysterically had a sign taped to the back warning not to stick your entire head thru the hole, as it might get stuck. LOL. . you know that has happened, if they need a sign. going back inside, even tho the museum was closed as it was just past 8pm, it's attached to the lobby. So was able to peek in, and get a few pics. I'm stunned by the ABBA around me (yeah yeah. . a terrible pic, but the only one I had of the Kimonos!) Since Grona Lund was right across the street, once I had put all the luggage in the room I ventured out to check it out - from the outside. Tho Backstage was our base hotel for a few nights, our full day at Grona Lund wasn't until two more parks (three days) from now. one of the main gates. . tho this one seemed to enter into the more family friendly, kid friendly ride area but I'll bet this was once THE main gate, as the art deco design and lights were impressive the Grona Lund gift shop, which was open for anyone to go in and look around - so I took a quick peek, but was warned they were closing in an hour, so if I saw anything I wanted, I had to get it before then. By a sweet little old lady - who watched me like a HAWK the moment I stepped into the store. . LOL we were missing the Chicks (ie: the Dixie Chicks) at the park by just a week or so. . . SO much art deco glass and artistic design here. . . one of Grona Lund's multiple Drop Towers/Tower Rides. look closely on the right side.. yup, that's a STAND UP option for one side of the tower! (spoiler, it scared the shit out of me, but I did the stand up option when we went to the park. and that camera on that side up there? yup, takes a photo you can buy). what seems to be getting used as the "main" entrance now. . as it had the box office, the information booth, and the queues set up to handle large lines over here. it also puts you in right be lots of games and some big rides. oooo.. Ice Cream. I hadn't had any at Skara Sommerland. . so I took this as a sign from the universe. tho I wasn't trusting those sprinkles..they looked suspiciously like Licorice to me. so played it safe with a cup and caramel/strawberry syrup topping. I spot a coaster thru the trees. Robb had messaged the group saying he had a surprise for us, and anyone who was interested should meet in the lobby at 9:30. so I finished up my ice cream and headed back across to our hotel. taking a few more pics as I walked. Ian was in the lobby, so I grabbed him and dragged him over to the photo op. I believe Jon took this pic for us. LOL. . neither of us wanted to be the guys. . but I, mean, I HAVE to be Frida of course. turned out the surprise? the owner of the park had reached out to welcome Robb & TPR to Stockholm and offered us some ERT on the park's newest coaster, a B&M Invert called "Monster". .that opened in 2021. I think almost everyone on the trip excitedly lined up to go into Grona Lund as they were about to close for the evening, to get some rides on Monster. the Clock on the wall shows it was about 9:55 pm. . and still so bright out. as you can see, the rides are just stacked on top of each other. . I can imagine how difficult it was to build this coaster in this space! (that white coaster in the background is "Insane", and the drop tower behind it - that drops face first - is "Icarus". . . will talk about them in the Grona Lund update) ah. .finally, the train is visible, right there in the center pic.. . here it comes overhead. . they were flushing the line out for us at the end of night. . . so this empty train told us that they were about ready for us. by the way, the owner we met (who's name I unfortunately cannot remember) was SO damn nice. just an all around nice guy. very much enjoyed chatting with him briefly. crowd headed out. . we're headed in. that's the main entrance to the ride straight ahead. but we weren't going in via the main queue. . . he led us down an alley towards the back of the ride. . . to the JetPass (the park's version of Flashpass) entrance. . which drops you right into the station. I rode this a bunch of times. . the view from the front is just stunning, as it weaves in and out of buildings, with a few near misses. and the drop has just this amazing view of the lake and the ferries as people were leaving the park. it is a bit too intense for me, and so I had to take several breaks. I'd basically do two rides back to back, then a break. . etc. as people started to bow out after many rides, there started to be some open seats - so Ian and I couldn't hold hands while riding but it HAD been a long day. . the adrenaline kept me going tho! one of my "breaks" between rides, in the cool underground station. yup, it starts and ends underground. Eventually we had to bid the park goodbye - for a few days - and we were led past the closed ride entrance and to the gates. LOVE how this ride interacts with the surroundings. . it just looms over everything over here. and then we made our way back across the street to the hotel, where I took a shower, and crashed HARD. it had been a long day, but quite an exciting one. I said a small prayer for the health of our injured companion - who rejoined our group the day after next with his foot bandaged up, but still able to ride stuff), and slept. tomorrow was another day. . and we were going to be headed to Furuvik. . a park no one on the trip (not even Robb & Elissa) had been to prior. . . and it had a lot of animals too. so I was excited. ending with a beautiful shot from Robb's on ride camera, of the Monster first drop, as the sun sets. (and a view of the parking lot across the street that the park has announced will be turned into an expansion, so will have rides on it in the future). thanks for reading along. . hope you've enjoyed!