bert425

out of curiosity, I looked up Bolaget (the band that was playing to that huge crowd at Liseberg). . .it's typical "club" music to me but the guys DO seem to have a sense of humor. a couple of the videos I found: this one too is like a mini-movie (the music doesn't start until ~the 3 minute mark)

thanks! LOL. .y'all like to comment while I'm adding commentary so now you have to go back and read!

Day 13: Thursday, June 15th part 2 - 1st of two full days at Liseberg after our rides on the Schwarzkopf we headed over to a back/quiet area of the park, another one we had not been to yet. back here were several restaurants, a bandstand (with a large area for dancing), and the park's haunt. which apparently used to be an upcharge but now is included. we skipped the line and went to the quick pass entrance, which requires one to go up this spiral staircase (oddly, this was also noted as the handicapped entrance, tho I didn't see any obvious elevator, so maybe it's a test? to do the haunt you must be able to navigate these stairs? I mean the haunt is very large, and well done, with lots of uneven areas) it was themed very "creepy" and the ghouls at the gate kept yelling "no cameras!!!" "keep your hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you" - mainly yelling at the folks in the general line, across the entrance from us she was lovely and posed for a picture with me tho. nice view from up here of the dancehall I mentioned, and across the way is the Ferris Wheel near the main entrance to the park. the ghouls that were working the general admission side of the line, were also happy to pose for a picture with me (before I put the phone away) since no pictures allowed in the house (you wouldn't have a free hand to take them anyways, as they make you "conga line" in groups of 8-10 people), I don't have any from inside. but a REALLY well done haunt, with some stunning set-pieces - my favorite being the flooded ballroom that's sinking into the swamp beneath. I enjoyed it so much, that we went thru it again later - this time via the general line, since there was no wait anyways and I wanted to see it - when we came back for our dinner reservation in the "Haunted Restaurant" that the park had added on beneath the Haunt. leaving this area, you can really see the amount of rides just crammed up on that hillside. . and seeing the top of the Screamin Swing reminded us we hadn't ridden it yet. so headed that way. the swing over the pathway is nice, as you come so close to Helix and the other coaster . but that swing over the hillside is terrifying! and while you're in the queue for the Screamin Swing, just look how close you are to the Helix and Lisebergbanan coasters whee! y'all. . Helix is SO good. . . the view from the Screamin Swing QUEUE! ah. .we forgot to ride the flume, as we hadn't been back towards the hotel today, really. . .but we crossed right over it, leaving the Luna Park area. Speaking of Luna. . . but we didn't' ride it again, instead we went and hopped in the line for the flume. LOL.. they sell ponchos in the line - but the machine was broken. it was pretty popular. .and this is probably the longest line we waited in all day (If I recall there was some miscommunication and our reserved time had been cancelled as the ride went down, but when it came back up there were no times left for the day. . so we just got in line). wasn't' too bad a wait tho, maybe 20 minutes? whee! (I bought this as a magnet. .again, why I was able to get a pic of the screen) we were gonna meet back up in a little bit for dinner at the Haunted restaurant. . so the smaller group of guys I was with split off to go ride coasters (Helix again, I think), and Big Mike and I went to try to ride the Carousel. this is my happy face when the operator told us we could ride! LOOK how happy I am.. I don't ,know WHY I love Carousels so much. . I just know that I do. admiring the Nebulaz from my horse. . but my attention was pulled by the operator who came by to tell me I wasn't allowed. what??? he had told us we were allowed to ride. ride, yes. but not on a horse. Horses were for kids ONLY we could ride in the carriage or on the bench if we wanted to. yes, I was sad..but I really wasn't too upset as had already gotten my pics ON the horse anyways. . so I tucked my tail and climbed into the carriage with Big Mike. it didn't even rock. . . boo.. . but at least it had nekkid cherubs on it. see? I can smile thru the mild disappointment. and at the end of the day, I DID get to ride a carousel here. so it counts as a win. Helix doing it's thing. . oh.. a big concert going on tonight.. .it drew a lot of folks to the park, but not really to the rides. we walked all the way up to the main front entrance (I was trying to get my hands on a park map, and had success in getting a few) the front is very nice, and they have a big music hall up here too, but seems they only use it for very special events. park map listing the themed areas, and the attractions within them. click to embiggen. a very nice sculpture garden around the fancy music hall.. as well as those paths up the side of the hill to explore. here was the advertisement for the bands they were hosting over the Summer. I recognized a couple of the names. tho the band tonight - that drew that large crowd - was one I wasn't familiar with: Bolaget apparently they charge a separate ticket to get into this area, hence it being walled off with queues to go in. as it seemed most folks on this side of the park were at the concert, we took advantage to go back into the kiddie section and ride a few things that earlier had fairly long lines. such as the teacup boat ride. . I think one of the mascots is a baker, possibly Berg? so as far as I could tell, this functioned as the mascot's themed ride, until the dark ride went in. I mean. .the mascots DO seem to be represented on this ride. . . even if just in Scarecrow form. ohhh. . . there's an overhead ride I hadn't noticed before? and it's running basically EMPTY??? I know where we're going next. slow moving overhead ride, that let's one get some nice pictures for the win!! and this pic was able to capture the junior coaster, Rabalder in the pic. this funky ferris wheel was so unique.. I was a bit bummed it was down during our visit. really a great overview of the whole Kids area. and a nice, relaxing ride. LOL. . no, I did NOT ride this. but the one that was more like a coaster - the last park on the trip? yeah, that one I did ride (spoiler) it's hard to take a bad picture of this park. . in particular the hillside rides. wow.. got Atmos Fear actually running! (and Helix there too) yeah. .about the only level of spin I was wanting to do at the moment. just a photo op cup. it was time for our dinner reservation. .so we met up with the others and headed into the Haunted pub. the outside menu wasn't in English, but they had translations inside. it was pretty busy too, so I took that as a good sign that the food was good. hey.. another table of TPR folks! Chris, Hawk, Doug, Shane, and Eric and the group I was with was just one table over the English menu. I ended up having the pork belly loaded fries. the atmosphere in here is just great! the lights flickered, there were creaking noises.. etc. . jon got a fru-fru drink (so did I). .but they were really pretty good. my pork belly loaded fries. it was so much food, I don't think I was able to finish it. but I remember it was very tasty. leaving the restaurant. .that deserted dance hall from earlier? yeah, it was busy. and got MORE packed the later it got. letting the food digest a bit, I just wandered around and took some pics. .. like Valkyria on it's drop. . and the wave swinger. there were TONS of games like this, where one could win a giant box filled with candy. but I was more intrigued by the ride behind it - called Mechanica. it frightened me, but i was determined to ride it- tho not so soon after eating, so would save it till tomorrow. but, I mean. . look at what this thing does! it was getting close to our ERT time, so I headed over to near Valkyria and Balder, and checked out some of the games over here. loved this "norse mythology" themed shooting gallery (with crossbows!) and this "Fascination" type game, where you won a dragon by moving your roller-coaster. no.. really. the park was shutting down, and more TPR folks were showing up for our ERT meetup (hi Erik and Brad) but we were starting on Valkyria. . and I used that as an excuse to take this pic - tho really I was just delighted by this man , who was covered in tattoos, and was schlepping around a giant box of Toblerone, while wearing a Peter Pan hat. So I wanted to get a picture, because I really loved he had no shits to give. had to lock up everything, but before I did, snapped a couple of quick pics of Valkyria's station. . *very* "Nordic" and then after a few rides, we were over to Balder for final ERT of the night. I loved this ride so much, that I rode every train dispatched for our ERT. that's a rarity for me, but this ride was SO rerideable, I didn't take any breaks at all. .and just kept riding until they told us they had to close for the night. I loved this one pretty much anywhere, tho the middle/front seemed to give the best floater air. end of night pic, to thank the Crew, the park, and Robb/Elissa for the fantastic day! and we headed back to the hotel thru the now empty park. . one final pic from Robb's rider cam on Balder that got sent to the group. And with that. . I took a shower and crashed hard. (tho I think some of the folks ended up going out to see Metallica this night, or go bar hopping) it had been a really full day, with a TON of walking. and tomorrow was another full day at this fantastic park. . so time for bed for me. (tho we could hear Metallica thru the windows)

Day 13: Thursday, June 15th part 1 - 1st of two full days at Liseberg 1st full day at this bucket-list park for me, and I was super excited. We had gotten to sleep in, as the park didn't open until noon (if I'm recalling correctly), although we were meeting our park guide at the gates at 10:30 for some ERT and other fun stuff this morning. while waiting to meet up with others I was gonna share breakfast with, I went outside and a few steps over to the Hotel Entrance gates of the park. I LOVE peeking into an empty park. . it's so cool. In this pic you can see the Disk-o (themed to Asian stuff. . I didn't ride), the top of Atmosfear, the top of of the "rolling planes" ride, the log flume (straight ahead), and Valkryia on the right (the park's dive coaster) even tho it was still well before park open, the Disk-O had started testing. a peek back at the hotel from the front gate - up those steps was the Carousel (I wasn't allowed to ride) and the breakfast buffet/restaurant. and out towards the street was this great sign, which I had somehow missed the prior night, even tho we clearly walked right by it going to and from the place we got the sandwiches. this MUST be the Brunch buffet options. . as I have this pic of food mixed in, and that's the meal I had this morning. looks good, doesn't it? and then it was time to meet our guide at the gate, Pontus - whom many in the group knew from prior visits. he was a genuinely nice guy and seemed to be thrilled to show the group around, and hang out with Robb the uniquely named "Flume Ride". . . tho actually, it's pretty unique on how it uses the terrain of the park, with multiple lifts and the finale being a drop, followed by a drop, and then another drop. it was really good. we'd come back to this area in a little bit. . but Luna Park is the new section they have re-done to place as the centerpiece a Vekoma family boomerang. this is the "stairs" entrance to climb up to that area. . looking overhead at the parks dive coaster, Valkyria as we headed towards our 1st ride in the park. . . so much twisted track. . . this is where we were headed: Helix! a 7 inversion, launched Mack coaster. but how to get to it?? the track is all over the side of the hilled area, interacting with multiple other rides. . . so we kept walking. . . loved this Bumper Car sign. . absolutely gorgeous park. . you'd really never know that it's in the middle of a city. it truly is pretty immersive once you enter the gates (tho with so many tall rides, you frequently are high enough to see the boarders of the park) on the left is the station for the park's classic Schwarzkopf - and what he considered one of his best designs, Lisebergbanan going towards the bottom of the biggest hill in the park, and behind me is Helix, and that tower is Atmos-Fear - the parks drop tower. and the entrance to the kid's area (and it's a very large kids area, with some fun family rides too). the park's mascots are bunnies (green bunnies). .and there are a LOT of them. I really couldn't keep track of them, and in the dark ride where they are all present? was totally confused as who is who. but - the kids seemed to know exactly who did what, and who the bad guy was. . so maybe I'm just too old to retain that info? LOL. . regardless. . lots of mascots! ah. .the entrance! wait.. for both rides? actually it's an escalator..that gets you up to the level of several rides. and it's a long escalator... and at the top? wait. .this isn't the top. . this is a MID level. . which if you exit and go to the right there are tons of paths and walkways, and if you go to the left, is the newish Luna Park area as well as a terrifyingly placed Screamin Swing (which runs a very short program, but it's on the edge of the hill. . so you are REALLY high up) looking towards the Screamin Swing, and Luna Park area. . but we kept going forward into ANOTHER set of Escalators to get to the top. . I really enjoyed that the park put tons of historic pictures, so one can see the history of the park, and older attractions, as taking the long ride up the hill. and you exit out the top right at Atmos Fear. (apparently there was a shooting ride, Desperados, here as well.. but I never even saw it, and so missed it despite two days in the park!. . .). but we went to the right for the Helix line which , by the way, is INSANE. . . the main line wraps in and out, and around itself. . proudly looking like an MC Escher drawing. tho I did walk the queue once, just to experience it? luckily we had this parks version of flash pass, so we were able to use the quick entrance on many rides how about some pics from our 1st ERT session at Liseberg? think these are mostly courtesy of Elissa Pontus and Robb (and me not realizing a pic was being taken. . LOL) Myself & sMisty in front, and Doug & Hawk behind Jason & Big Mike. . and behind, is Chris, Steve, and Barry Chuck & Jere in front, Jason & Big Mike in back. myself chatting with Pontus during a quick break - this ride is INTENSE, and tho I loved it.. I didn't ride every cycle, taking a 1 train break after every couple of rides. he really is quite nice and I enjoyed talking to him. taking another break. . Jon getting a Zen ride, all alone on the train Daniel and Andy in front row. . . (and Sarah behind them) ' after a good while on Helix, Pontus walked us down the side path over towards Luna Park. . . where they have a Nebulaz but we were here for this. . the park's newest coaster - Luna that white track is part of Luna. . and again, love how hilly this park is, and the attention to detail , with the playground to the right of the queue, made to look like Victorian birdcages. looking at some of Luna's layout.. tho I think SOME of that white track might also be Lisebergbanan - as I mentioned, many of the rides here interact with each other. the Luna Station is beautiful. and the trains are retro-awesome-ness! whee!!! Kristen doesn't look too thrilled with her ride (Neither does Brad, or sMisty), but Jason and AJ liked it. my thoughts? it's a nice family coaster. . . it certainly wasn't may favorite new Vekoma I have ridden on a TPR tour, but it was nice. (I never went back to ride it again, only riding it during this stop in two days at the park. . so that just tells you there were other things I liked better. . . but it's a nice fit, and a good family ride) the Luna Park area also has a two - tiered Carousel. . .would I be allowed to ride this one?? and this "flying cycle/side car" ride I had seen at several parks last year in Europe and also "EroSpin". . a "flipping plane" type ride, that didn't seem to get a lot of speed and made it difficult to flip. BUT it gives fantastic views of the park from 1/2 way up the hill. some really nice theming in this new area. . but time to go back down to head over to our next stop. . as the park was about to open. someone certainly cheered up now that giant pendulum is called Loke (as in Loki, Thor's brother) you get up close to many of the rides here. . . and it's just lovely. . this is part of Valkrie. . but we were headed straight ahead. . .to Balder the gates had been opened, and some park goers were hovering around waiting for the rides to open. . . we headed thru the main entrance to Blader, but then Pontus unlocked a gate on the left, and brought us inside the coaster! he handed out markers, and invited us to sign the coaster, which is apparently a tradition. But as it was my 1st time ever at the park, I just thought it was rather cool. I was thinking about how much my late Spouse loved wooden coasters, so of course, I namechecked him in my addition) here was Robb's addition. . . what's that noise?? aha. . coaster is open to the public! we were cut loose to enjoy the park, and told when to meet back for evening ERT (which would be on Balder and Valkyria). .and the group split up to go explore. I can't recall if any of us went to Valkyria. . but I DO know many of us went right up the stairs to Balder. . . I'd heard for so long how this is a top ranked coaster in the world, and boy did the reports undersell it. yes, it meanders a bit (repeating some of it's "tricks"). .but it is PACKED full of floater air. and I love floater air. this knocked Wodan out of my top spot, and dropped it down to 3 (Mystic Timbers is still #2 for woodies for me). I loved this coaster. the TPR gang I was hanging with for most of the day: clockwise from back Left: Big Mike, Jonathan, Jason, Jon, Ryan, David. and was still there, when the next train came back with Sara and Robb, so got a nice pic of them too. close to Balder was Loke. . . it's no Thor's Hammer . . it's Loke. . and it had an Axe in the queue. But the Thor's Hammer we rode the prior day at Tusenfryd had a Sword in the queue. . so why not an Axe? hmmmmm? gets quite a bit of height, and I recall liking this, tho SpinSpider the prior day was a bit more intense. but Loke has "gentleman tickler" seats. . . so I guess it gets/loses points for that - depending on your preference. next door to Loke is the park's whitewater rapids ride. It didnt' get me too wet, but it did do things that I've only seen in overseas parks - namely push out multiple rafts one after the other, so there's a "bumper car" effect when lots of rafts end up in a wider section of the ride. it's a fairly long ride, I recall. . and there was a lot of it "hidden" from the pathways. thanks Big Mike for the pic. . let's go check out other areas of the park we haven't been to yet. . . again, it's easy to forget you're in a theme park in some places here. what's this?? we stumbled across a Hall of Mirrors! Now you see Ryan. . . . now you don't hey. . it makes me look like i feel sometimes but many of us still got quite the amusement out of this attraction. . Oompa-Oompa-Oompa-De-Do. . . . crossing back underneath Valkyria's drop/1st inversion. . ooo. .an Octopus themed to Americana Jukebox? sure... it ran pretty intense program. . . I enjoyed it and think I ended up riding it a few times the next day too. I am NOT a Bumper Car person - I'm always concerned it will cause issues with my bad back. So I avoid them. but I had no issue taking pictures while the other TPR folks I was with bashed the hell out of each other (and kids!) during the long cycle. just look at the glee on Jonathan's face as he targets someone. . . getting aggression out, there was this calming view. ..that's our hotel back there, and Valkyria's train going up the lift hill. we had heard a new dark ride had opened in the kid section, so we headed over there and searched for it. It was kind of hidden. . way back in the corner, next to a couple of carnival games. but we eventually found it. very well themed pre-show - involving an elevator where you head underground. . . I think this might have been a pic from the 2nd or 3rd time I rode this. . . I LOVED this stupid thing. .and not just because it made no sense to me. something about a bad (*but not evil, just bad) magician who wants to do . . . SOMETHING. . to the bunnies that are the mascots? but not sure what or why. oh, and there's pooping. a LOT of pooping. . . . outhouses with pooping bunnies, and a pooping magician, all thruout the ride. why? I dunno. . but it made me giggle. is it a coaster? it's got a track. and a lift hill? and lots of animatronics. why was he licking the pipe? and why does he have a frog tongue if he's a bunny? that's ok. .because there's giant ice cream cones... for some reason. take the tunnel! no!!! you turned the wrong way. . . Trick Track. . ok, I'm gonna count this as a coaster! said evil magician guy. . and some of the pooping!! look at all them outhouses! More pooping!!! well. . if they're eating THAT much cake? maybe that's why they are pooping? who is the white rabbit? I dunno. the mascots all SEEMED to be green. and one of them got the magic! speaking of magic?? of COURSE I got to meet one of the mascots this is one of the two smaller coasters in the kiddie area. I think this was the true "kiddie" one tho. I had no interest in riding it. but some I was with had no shame. . so I documented it for them: Other than Valkyria, there was only one other "coaster" left to hit - and that was the Schwarzkopf - Lisebergbanan so we headed there. . . lovely art deco station here too ' tho I still am not quite sure why the trains are themed to "trains". . . but regardless. . it's a great ride, really smooth and tho no inversions? it "loops" around the hillside in big, sweeping loops, that makes it quite a fun ride. day 1 to be continued. . .

Not a lot of Swag from TusenFryd. . they just don't have a lot of branded material avail. for sale. but I did pick up these: my non-branded fan from Thor's Hammer Gift Shop my super soft "Storm" t-shirt wearing park bear (with a park logo tag) and a photo magnet from Speed Monster (which is how I had permission to snap the pic of the photo screen in my update above, as I bought a magnet version of the pic)

Day 12: Wednesday, June 14th Evening - arriving in Gothenburg Sweden (checking into the FABULOUS Grand Curiousa Hotel at Liseberg) crossing over into Sweden.. huh.. looks a lot like Norway with more cows! ah. . we're coming into a more modern city area. . . (Gothenburg) this is the stadium, nearby to the park, where Metallica would be performing on our 2nd night here. They were so loud, and it was so close, we could hear songs clearly from our hotel rooms. it was pretty damn cool, and some in our group even scored day of tix and went to the show. other side of the arena and coming into view, the front gates of Liseberg, with the iconic drop tower, and the ferris wheel. a Dinosaur? what the heck? turns out this building (and the one in the next pic with the geometric wooden shape) are part of an incredible interactive science museum called the Universeum - that Big Mike and I would visit in two days, as it opened up a couple of hours before the park opened, so we had time for a visit). you can see under the "T" shaped building - a new addition to the Universeum it turned out - the tracks for the Funicular, which sadly only has the tracks left, as they removed it when the built the new building. so elevators now get you up to that wooden shaped area (which is being converted to a Planetarium) but they left the tracks as they thought they were cool looking feature on the outside of the building (I asked and was told) I spot a coaster. . that would be Valkyria, the park's dive coaster. and across the tracks on the other side of the street, there is the brand new Hotel "Grand Curiousa" - where we would be staying for 3 nights. it's not only an amazing hotel, but it's basically attached to the park. unfortunately there was a LOT of construction going on near the Hotel (some of it the Liseberg indoor waterpark which is right next door to the hotel), and some of it a car accident. . . which caused our bus to get stuck in traffic and have to do a bit of a detour. it added some extra time on the bus, but gave us some wonderful "backstage" views of the park that probably aren't often seen. . so enjoy these pics taken from the bus: train is actually on the track in this one - going into the final brake run. Looking up from underneath Balder and Balder cresting the lift hill. eventually we made our way to the front of the hotel, and were ready to check in. even the sign is interesting. . couldn't wait to see inside the hotel, with it's themed / old-timey but very modern floors, and playful rooms. I said the hotel was basically in the park, right? Here was the view from AJ and my room: Valkryia & Balder views and Thor's Hammer pendulum swinging into view occasionally too. let's check out the room! Cheeky coathanger hands and fingers, along with regular pegs. a large bathroom with a HUGE shower. a separate area (that could be closed off with heavy drapes) that included two bunk beds - AJ claimed this space which gave him lots of privacy and some quiet from my snoring - to work on his pictures. he took/takes some damn nice photos! and I got the main "bed" in the room with the window. putting the bathroom and a long hallway between my snoring and my roomie, so hopefully he got some good sleep here out in the hallway - I think all of us on the TPR trip were on Floor 4, where the rooms seemed to have a Vintage Amusement Park theme. but the hallways on the floors were wonderfully quirky, and if you didn't particularly want to stay in your room? there were tons of places to sit, and things to explore. amazing chandelier of "vintage junk" suspended all the way down the main atrium. deciding to take the steps down from 4th floor (mainly because there's a really cool slide from the 2nd floor). some of the decor around the 3rd floor. . .still very "vintage quirky" a "Birdcage" loveseat between the 2nd floor and the main lobby. the side entrance - that will be facing the indoor waterpark.. with a lovely Chandelier. some decor in the lobby. . . including a full size Carousel in the buffet/restaurant area! sadly was for children, and ONLY children.. so not able to ride, even if I had a child volunteer to go with me. it was ok tho, as I enjoyed myself immensely just taking way too many pictures of it (only gonna share a couple here tho, you're welcome) back into the lobby/main bar. . you can see the "quirky" decorating continues thruout the lobby area around this time, some of us were starting to get munchies, so while some ate in the restaurant in the hotel, some of us headed out to find food, and we managed to find a place that served Greek/Mediterranean Poboys. but we enjoyed the walk and I loved the area around the park. when we got back, we sat in the bar - which sadly shut down right when we got there (think it might have been 11pm when it closed?).. but the staff didnt' mind if we hung out in there (tho I think Jason and Jonathan went up to the rooftop bar, but I felt underdressed for that so stayed in the lobby and got to see these freaky robot busboys. they were SO freaky, and polite, and spoke if you got in front of them, and asked you to move out of the way. . LOL the hotel also has, attached to the front desk, a 24 hour gift shop. Which sold all kinds of snacks, and souvenirs from the park. note: if the front desk clerk tells you "SURE!! go ahead and ring the bell". . . dont' believe them. that bell is so loud, it reverberated thru the whole lobby for a good 45 seconds, and remember it was after 11pm. I was a bit horrified, but the Desk Clerk was very amused. an example of what you can get in the giftshop. oh. . we HAVE to go up the steps now. . because it's late enough, there aren't a lot of kiddos around. .and we can get access to . . . the SLIDE !!! yup.. my fat ass is gonna try it! graceful! but wheeeeeee!!! even talked Jason into giving it a go one last wander around the lobby area, as it's quiet so can get decent pics. . . back up to the room to crash. . . the view from the room was so nice at night! and with that, it was off to bed. . .as tomorrow was our first of two full days at the amazing Liseberg ! oh, a bonus pic, taken by, I think, Jason. while we were waiting for the counter guy to make our sandwiches - this little tattooed Swede started flirting HARD with me. we talked about his duck (laying on the seat behind him) that he had won, and was a little embarrassed about, and he told me he was waiting for his bus to head home. but made it VERY clear he was ok to stay if I wanted to invite him to hang out. . . . LOL.. . it was very nice getting flirted with, as I liked his tatts. so it was a perfect capper to a perfect day! (and no, I didn't' know a pic had been taken until it got sent to me later that evening at the hotel).

yeah. . the aquarium was under the Observation tower/restaurant. we ate lunch at the restaurant on top of the tower, and were chatting with the hostess up there, and I BELIEVE she said the dolphin tank had been "filled in" and they were going to be using it as a theater for children's shows.

Day 12: Wednesday, June 14th part 2: more from our day at TusenFryd in Norway seems my recollection was correct in that the group met over by Thundercoaster next, to let us get some rides in. based on our faces? I'd say I took this pic at the entrance sign AFTER we rode. yup. .this is a Vekoma woodie, with Timberliner trains. and if you think that *sounds* like it would be a jackhammering not comfortable ride? yup, you'd win that prize. ^ here's a look at the trains and here's a look at one of the games that was set up across from the entrance to the coaster - where several of us after riding 2-3 times, went out to take pics or just wait for the Masochists in the group to finish riding during the ERT the park gave us. and no, I never really did understand what the point of this was, or why the "mazes" are set up in ways that look like they are numbers. (and I asked the operator and she had no idea eitehr. . she said you just shoot the ball with water to make it move). as noted, it really is just a lovely park. tho very hilly. the coaster LOOKS great. . as shame it's so rough. check out those gritted teeth on this turn! in particular Hawk (2nd from left on bottom) after our time on Thundercoaster, we only had a few hours left, so we split up again, and a bunch of us headed over to the park's flume ride. it uses the terrain pretty well, and has lots of neat little WTF? touches. ^WTF? ^adorable. . but WTF? and then it was time for lunch. I think most of our group - along with most of the other folks in the park today (mainly High Schoolers it seemed) went to the sit down Italian place for lunch. i actually remembered to take a pic of my meal - Lasagna - and I recall it being pretty decent. As I mentioned in responding to Erik's stop at this park tho, they seemed a bit overwhelmed by having so many folks in at the same time, and the ordering system was just an absolute cluster. from what I could tell: in theory you chose a numbered table, then went up to the "food court" area, and chose what you wanted, gave the cashier your table number, paid and then they bring it to your table. in reality, they had people ordering form every open register, not really in order, and when the food came up no one brought it out, and you had to go up and ask if something was sitting for a certain table (which the chefs didn't know) so you just had to ask what things were, and assuming you remembered what you ordered then you could say "oh that's mine, and take it" I'm sure myself as a dumb American made it even more confusing for them. . but I will say Kudos to the staff here, and the park, who tried their best to serve everyone correctly, and again the food was decent and out front of the restaurant? a lifesize FRYD I could hug. then it was onward to hit the sections of the park we had not been in yet, and the remaining 3 coasters. HuriHuri apparently means "SpinAround" in Maori. . . and it's a Zamperla Spinner. the lady running this was absolutely adorable, and gave us the spiel as if we were little children riding our first roller coaster (and I'm not being sarcastic. .it was awesome and she was fantastic) she even sent us around a 2nd time when the kids riding in another car asked if we could go again. and then it was downhill on the other side of the park.. where there used to be a section that seemed to be themed (or was in the middle of getting themed) to Americana/Route 66. that's Loopen, a Vekoma Tornado in the background Bumper cars what appeared to be a "driving school" attraction for the little ones. . but didn't seem to have any operators, or vehicles. and the building in the back USED to be the main store for the park, but was now closed and being converted into something (but can't recall what) Looking out towards the Highway/front of Park from Loopen's queue, nice view of Speed Monster again from the Loopen queue. Nice overview of the section, and the queue line for Speed Monster is over there next to the white fence. . it wraps around the outside of the flying carousel/wave swinger not very busy over here.. . the whole park was pretty empty, tho we were here on a Weekday. the two exceptions were really SpinSpider, and Speed Monster - which had short lines most of the day. since not much queue, Johnathan and I waited for back row. and then headed over to the park's main attraction - at least for me - Speed Monster; an Intamin launched coaster with 3 inversions. I adored this, and for my $$ best coaster in the park, and 2nd best ride (only beaten by how much I loved Ragnarok rapids ride) Flying Carousel, from the Speed Monster line. so smooth, and super-re-rideable. Big Mike and Jason in front row! Jon & Ryan in front row! Bert & Jason in back row! and Bert & Jonathan in front row! (yeah, we rode a few times while here, as line was moving really fast. even tho we had some end of day ERT on it in a couple of hours) going back towards the main entrance - I wanted to get a park map, which I hadn't seen in any shops, so it was suggested I go back down to the front gate to pick one up - we stopped for a Carousel ride, on the parks nice two level carousel. and I guess I'm rubbing off on folks, as several who I'd been hanging out with today were game to ride with me. as usual. . in my happy place Jason looking down on me tho. . . due to it's placement, one can get some just lovely views from the Carousel ^ the front Escalators heading down Big Mike loves his horsie too headed down to the front gate to find a park map souvenier it's really cool how Speed Monster goes overhead when you're on the Escalator Map in hand, we wandered and enjoyed the last hour in the park and rerode things we wanted to. SUPER DIG!!! but soon enough, it was getting time for park close, and we all headed back up to Dragonville for end of day ERT on Storm (followed by some ERT on Speed Monster) having ridden Storm this morning - and not really caring for it - I chose to take pics, and shop in the gift store while the rest of the group rode. why yes, I'll have a "nude exotic" please. I also finally found something with the park branding. . this adorable (and soft) bear that's wearing a TusenFryd shirt. still no luck getting the sword from the stone. Mr Bear failed at it too. there IS another attraction in Dragonville - this Haunted walkthru, called "the Dungeon". . but it wasn't open today. Only staffed on weekends apparently. no worries tho.. . the group having had their fill of Storm, Robb led us down to Speed Monster for our final ERT at the park. look at these happy faces! these pics are either from Robb, Elissa, Brad, AJ, or Andy. . . I know they aren't mine, because I rode every single train during ERT on this. as noted, I loved this coaster. and then we said our goodbyes to the park staff, and we headed down the Escalator and back to the bus. . where we proceeded to continue heading to Sweden for the hotel for the evening - the brand new: the Grand Curiousa! while someone helpfully "fixed" pictures and shared with us all. . I loved this one so snagged it. . wish I could recall who did this. . LOL. . . probably Robb. playing on Facebook during the evening drive, it was noticed that TusenFryd had posted about the stop by TPR to the park. rather cool. . . I'm part of a gang

Day 12: Wednesday, June 14th part 1: a full day starting off at TusenFryd in Norway, and ending in Sweden (checking into the FABULOUS Grand Curiousa Hotel at Liseberg) pulling up into the parking lot (which oddly seems to be just off the freeway. . like in the center of the freeway), you can spot the main entrance. .and the long escalators to get up into the park. carefully crossing the road, and seeing parts of Speed Monster peeking out thru the trees/grass/hills halfway up to the main gates, looking back at the parking lot and the freeway/roads we just came from. still more uphill to get to the main gate, but peeking thru the trees ahead is "Thundercoaster" - a Vekoma woodie (yeah) at the main gates now, and looking up at the just incredible entrance - yes, the escalators take you up, under & thru Speed Monster - the park's Intamin Launched coaster. while waiting for our park guides to meet us, I wandered a little and took some pics of the entrance gates this little guy is the park's mascot. I asked and he's supposed to be a Centipede. . .but I never did get a clear answer why in this ticket booth chachki s/he looks like a beaver with bear paws. . .LOL. . .is it the Centipede wearing a bear costume for Halloween? TPR group pic before going thru the main gates and starting off our day at the park. and here we go. . . . I kinda felt like Porky Pig walking into the Looney Tunes logo. . . . in other words, I LOVED this. (and I'll bet it's amazing at night) looking down as we're going up. .with Speed Monster track above us. as Robb says: "TWISTYYYYYY" and top of the entrance Escalators? a Double Decker Carousel (as it should be). this coaster is fairly new (2022) and is called "HuriHuri" - a Zamperla spinning coaster. a pic of the park map - click to embiggen - showing off the new section "Dragonville", and the new Roller Coaster they were excited to show off for us: Storm: the Dragon Legend. what the park does NOT show, are the elevation changes - which are pretty extreme within the park, as you'll see in the pics. a better look at ThunderCoaster as we head up to DragonVille and HuriHuri's track '' thruout the park are little playgrounds / rest areas. it's a strange park - you can tell it was just a plopped down collection of rides at some point, but they seem to be making an effort to create themed areas, and become a more Theme Park rather than an amusement park. even if some of the theming doesn't really make sense (example: this area was close to HuriHuri - which is themed to Polynesian Islands. . .but right next to it - you can see in the background - is "SpinSpider" a giant Pendulum. . themed to. . . a spider? ok. but, I mean, they seem to be moving towards a more immersive "theme park" experience. and the setting of the park is absolutely gorgeous - even if the hills will wear you out! more views of ThunderCoaster weird little gnome/troll guy (on the right. . that's me on the left ) at the head of a fun little walk thru area. and as we come around the corner to the very top section of the park? peeking out are some of the tracks for Storm. The brand new coaster that had just officially opened just weeks before our visit. just a little bit further up was the top section of the park - the new area "Dragonville" . . . .as Storm is a brand new coaster, they were having a bit of issue getting the kinks worked out for us (as explained the coaster typically does two full cycles, but for us they were going to adjust it to run 3 cycles). . so they weren't quite ready for us and asked us to hang about for a little bit. no problem, plenty of stuff to look at while waiting. like this drop tower - which seemed much higher than it was, due to it's placement in a higher section of the park. and this Adorbs little seal fountain. speaking of adorbs - this area appeared to be fairly new as well, and I have to think that it's to give the kiddos something to do while the Adults are in the DragonVille section on the thrill rides. it's a section featuring the Park's mascot (whos name I never did get, or at least can't recall). . with some kiddie rides there as well. we had some time, so I decided to check the area out! not creepy at all! I still wanted to hug him oh.. maybe his name is "FRYD". . . as the sign does say, Welcome to Fryd's house. so that's it. . his name was Fryd! and this is how he lives. honestly, this is pretty amazing for a kids section. We didn't really see any littler children at the park today (mainly High School groups), but I could see the kids just being in awe of this. we got the "good to go" signal from our park guides and the group headed up to the newly opened Dragonville section of the park. Storm just towers over this area. .and it looks pretty impressive. there's also an interactive (very Disney-like) Sword in the Stone attraction / photo-op. so I mean. . of course! let's get some shots of Storm: the Dragon Legend testing. It's a launched Gerstlauer suspended coaster with 3 inversions (meaning on a regular cycle, you invert 6 times, as it goes twice) the design on the train is lovely. . . really liked it. one maintenance cycle for clearance, and we were good to go! Look at these smiles! I have to guess this was the 1st ride, and we hadn't experienced it yet. my take? well. . I liked it, but it was rough. as in "thank goodness it doesn't have over the shoulder restraints" or it would be a major headbanger. it was really shaky. . . almost like it had been operating for years and hadn't been maintained, and nothing like a brand new coaster that I was expecting to be rather smooth. to be fair, the park seemed to be having issues with it for months after we rode, and it probably just took them a while to work out/ adjust the kinks, as I've heard it's been running much much better. But for us, after this morning ERT, I didn't ride it again this day. but it IS a good fit for the park to give them another thrill coaster, and seemed to be drawing the teens to this section once the park officially opened today. I believe I have Elissa to thank for this pic. and I'm glad I rode it a few times. ^big smile. . it actually WAS smoother in the front. if I recall, the group was going to head over to Thundercoaster next, but since the park had opened up while we were riding Storm, instead we all split up and made plans to ride ThunderCoaster a bit later in the day. I had heard from chatting with one of our guides, that the park's most popular ride was SpinSpider - the giant pendulum, and we should head there. so we did. and yup..it really did seem that almost everyone who had come into the park went right over to that line. so some of us hopped in the line to get a ride. not Big Mike tho - he doesn't like "spinny rides". . . . so I can thank him for this picture (that's my "I just rode Storm 3 times" face.. . LOL) we then backtracked past Dragonville into the Western Section (every park must have one!) mainly just Stores and bathrooms over here in this smaller area. . but some photo ops yee-haw!!! and one of the best settings for a Vekoma Jr coaster that I've personally seen. this is "Western-Expressen" a powered coaster. . .and yes, if it looks like it's on the side of a mountain? well, because it kinda is. Since I hadn't been allowed on the Legoland Carousel (and since no one yelled not to) I hopped on this for a quick pic. a better look at Western-Expressen. . . it appears to be a portable version that maybe was for Carnivals? tho it's pretty set in place here at TusenFryd Pic courtesy of the ride operator. . . it's a mini-TPR takeover! and at the bottom of the hill were Western-Expressen is located? (where also is the entrance to the parks small waterpark section - not open today) is one of the things that enthusiasts MUST do if they come to this park: Den aller minste AKA: Teeny-Weeny the smallest roller-coaster in the world (at least it bills itself that way) Adults ARE allowed to ride, tho only two per train. but I mean. . you HAVE to, right? whee!!! that path behind in this pic? leads back up to where the Western Express coaster was.. don't look that steep does it? not until you're walking it! LOL From Teeny-Weeny there's this path, that goes WAY down to the Norse section (I'm guessing that's what it's called) where there are 3 rides. it's very kind of the park to put times on the sign, so one doesn't make the trek only to find things closed! about that trek. yeah. oh. . dont' get me wrong.. it's SO worth it. I'd say this was easily my favorite section of the whole park, and all three rides down here are great. but wow.. what a walk back up . .so we stayed down here for a bit and rode things multiple times. Thor's Hammer is the park's dark ride. .and tho the sign at the top of the path said it opened at Noon, a sign down here said it opened at 11 with the rest of the area. mechanical issues were going on tho, so we couldn't ride it just yet. the turnaround from the super-splash has a sea-monster in it. and the 3rd ride down here is called Ragnarok. . . a whitewater rapids. I absolutely LOVED that they had a "layout map" of the ride to help you get into the theming of it. oh, and they are *not* messing around. . . this ride rivaled RiverQuest at Phantasialand as the wettest rapids ride I've ever been on ready to get wet! and so are they! and so we did. . . and once we were wet? we got right back inline and rode it again. Yes, it was that good! I think this pic is thanks to Brad or maybe Chuck? Jason got some cold water down the back of his pants, I would guess from his expression here already wet? why not, let's hit the SuperSplash Absolutely no idea. . . I blame it on Nordic water from Ragnarok made us nuts. a boat full of confused Nordic boys, wondering why I'm taking their picture (was to get the Nessie on the front of the boat). . . checking back in on Thor's Hammer. . it was now operating so we got in line. a dark ride with a minimum age suggested??? YES PLEASE!! they would not allow any photography on the ride, tho I had permission to snap a few pics in the queue. So at least can see the ride vehicles. and based on Jon's headgear, I'm guessing this was in 3D, tho I don't recall that. I do remember I liked it and think we rode a few times while down here. for some reason, when you exit thru the giftshop from Thor's Hammer. . there's a giant Sword. so maybe the hammer head fell off, and now it's a sword? I dunno. my souvenir I bought at the Thor's Hammer Gift Shop. .. nope, ALSO not a hammer. but a fan. and not a TusenFryd branded fan. . just a fan. but it kept me cool, so was worth it (and thanks to seeing sMisty with a fan, I had the idea to get one too). . . . to be continued. . .

wonderful pictures, Garet! I've enjoyed following along, and these locations are truly stunning. really makes me want to attempt to get to these places at some point in the future! thanks so much for sharing.

I sorted pics for Tusenfryd today. . took over an hour, and have over 200 pics, even culling them down! but I'll try to get it up in the next few days

THANK you for not including a pic of the "Splinter"! (and no, I won't be including it either when I get to this park) hell. . I might just point to your report here, as you summed up EXACTLY my thoughts on Tranan - and I thought it was just me. I couldn't enjoy the weirdness of it, because I felt so unsafe with the low sides and just a seat belt).

great update. and I may have shared on the trip, but the Supervisor (who was working the flume when we rode) got to talking a bit and he told me it's absolutely a rehab, and not a removal. I trust him more than a dippin dots guy

^ ouch! can you put any weight on it? if you can, it's probably not a BAD tear. . but still. . ouch.

agreed. . it's almost imperative to visit Pearl Harbor/USS Arizona Memorial if you're on Oahu. did you get a chance to go to Punchbowl Cemetery. . that one is also a really moving experience, and offers possibly the best view of Waikiki beach/Diamondhead from anywhere on the Island.

the setting really sold this park for me (I get to it on my next update too ) . . . but those hills were killers to walk. I thought Thundercoaster was by far the most painful ride in the park - yeah, even the Vekoma was smoother! and I recall being shocked how shaky Storm was for a brand new ride! agree 100% everything down in the Viking section makes it TOTALLY worth the walk back up from there. as to the food, I think I recall liking the food in the sit down Italian place . . I think I had the lasagna. tho the ordering/ serving was a mess, and you could tell that they were not used to having so many people in at once, as they were mixing up the orders. but I remember the food was decent. edit: confirmed I had the lasagna here, as I took a pic of it great update.

Day 11: Tues, June 13th, evening. Sightseeing in Oslo! (PG-13 rated) a slight warning (for those that may be looking at this on a work computer) - a large part of this update was a stop at Frogner Park, the largest Park in Oslo. the central area of this park, contains a very large installation by Gustav Vigeland (a Norwegian sculptor likely best known worldwide for his design of the Nobel Peace Prize). the installation is called "the Circle of Life" and includes over 212 Bronze & Granite figures - all of them nude. if you'd like to find out way more about this park/sculptures. . check out Wikipedia's entry for "Frogner Park" ok. . . onwards to pics after settling into the room, many of us headed right back down into the lobby where some folks stayed in a group to do stuff, and some of us broke off on our own. . as noted above, I was very curious - and interested - in going to the Vigeland sculpture installation, and Jon & Jason were gonna join with. But before we grabbed a taxi (could have figured out more public transportation to get there, but we only had so much time this evening after a full day of Travel, and I was willing to pay just to get there direct via taxi). in the square, just outside the hotel, were Pride flags. (we were there during Pride Month) a better look at Thor's Hammer yes, not only was our hotel attached to the Grand Central train station, but the Mall of Oslo was right next door too. what's that big sculpture tho? ahhhhh. Glad there's a sign! (and hey, I know how to say "Tiger" in Norwegian now ! interesting clocktower in the plaza. . . so looks like it's about 7:30 pm a better view of our hotel from the plaza out front. (and yep, per the clock in the center, it was ~7:30) a large fountain out on the size plaza, and I was confused why the guy had a flame on his head. but moving closer? it was a Pigeon. HA.. . those birds crap on statues world wide. crossing over towards the bay, you get a fantastic view of the Oslo opera house. and this thing - one of many. What, exactly, is it? ahhhh. . . a Sauna. and there were lots of options available. never did get the name of this piece of artwork, but it did light up at night, and looked lovely. because we were connected to the train station, all it took was a short walk up some stairs for the Taxi station, and we were on our way for a shortish ride to Frogner Park. he didn't drop us off at the main gates, but just to the left, near the Vigeland Museum. as you can see from this map, it's a very large park, with the whole "central" area (numbers 1-4 & 9/10 being the Vigeland installation) but there are bronze casts of some of his sculptures all thruout the park - although not part of the main installation, still in similar theme. as could tell from the map. . very large park. We made our way towards the front gates. coming up the side, and near the entrance to the area of the installation called "the Bridge" one of the coffehouses dotting the park. standing with my back to "the Bridge" and the whole Vingland installation, and looking towards the main gate to the park. looking towards the installation over the Bridge (the sun was in this direction and wasn't my friend, but tried to get around it) in this pic beyond the statues on the Bridge, you can see "the Fountain", & "the Monolith" ("the sundial" and "the wheel of Life" - where the installation "circle of life" is supposed to start - are back behind the monolith and can't be seen in this pic) Starting at the main exit sculptures for the installation . . one of the rare, few, clothed figures. I walked the bridge and took pics of most of the sculptures. which seem to follow the "storyline" of a family and the generations within. (honestly, the images don't really carry the "weight" of seeing them live..they are stunning). here's the famous "Angry Child". . . pretty much center of the bridge. hmmmm. . . . if I post this on Facebook will I get thrown back in jail under promoting pornography again? looking ahead pas the main axis, in this pic you can just make out the sundial behind the monolith. the whole area is just so beautiful going back down the other side of the bridge to snap pics of the sculptures on that side. moving on from the bridge, and into the Fountain area. . but not before looking back, as from this side, the sun is lighting it up beautifully. Jon and I enjoying the park, in the Fountain area. . . not sure where Jason ran off to. (think he was still taking pics on the bridge) damn. . even the Fountain is covered with intricate sculptures. . stunning. I didn't realize there would be STAIRS involved. . oy. . . but I wanted to go to the Monolith and beyond. . so deep breath. (spoiler, I'm so glad I did, as at the Monolith is where the sculptures mostly go from bronze to Granite, and they are just incredible up close) a couple more pics of the Fountain area, showing off the lovely inlaid pattern in the bricks. and .. up the stairs we go. these cast iron gates were just amazing (the gate with women is on the opposite side of the plaza as you exit to the Sundial) from up at the base of the Monolith. . just an incredible view. and turning around. . managed to get a pretty people free pic of the actual piece. hard to do, as this area is where many of the Oslo jogging clubs meet up, and there were a lot of sweaty folks finishing up runs here - along with a handful of tourists. that main pillar? is sculpted from one massive piece of granite! amazing. Absolutely worth the effort to go see in person if ever in the area. I mean. . . what's not to appreciate??? the "Women's gate" entrance to the Monolith area looking forward, that's "the Sundial" mid picture, and on top of the hill is "the Wheel of Life" using my "finger magic" to hide a runner in a neon orange sweatsuit. . who sat on the stairs, and even tho saw I was waiting to take a pic, just chose not to move. so I "fingered" him out of my picture some of these at the base of the Monolith are just breathtaking. while others are a bit more "what/huh?" Jon checking his phone, while I get an amazing pic of Oslo and the park/installation. I mean. . . .I HAD to. . .right? headed up to "the Sundial". . the Astrological symbols are etched in the base. I'm a Taurus, so grabbed a pic ' headed to the Wheel of Life, and looking back at where we've come from the Wheel of Life (from the sunny side) and attempting to get the whole installation into one pic.. (but you can't see the fountain due to the elevations) LOVE this pic. and yeah. .I do believe he was peeing.. . didn't notice that until AFTER I took the pic. (and then discovered they charge to use the toilets in the park - i paid, but I guess that's why he's not the only person we saw peeing in a bush) headed back towards where we were dropped off - hoping to get a coffee, but the cafe in the park was closed. so instead took some more pics as we headed back to call our cab drive (who had given me his card and told us to call when we wanted to head back) this trail here, at the end of the bridge, leads down to an area called "the Children's Playground". . so of course we had to check it out. looking up at the bridge from the path down there are 8 more bronze statues down in this area. . most of them looking more fetal than children able to play. . .but interesting area. and the animals in the lake came right over to see if we had any food to give them. back at the parking lot where we were dropped off, I called the driver and then wandered across the street to check out the sculptures in front of the Vigeland museum (which was closed for the day) our driver showed up, and he took us the "scenic" way back. . which I didn't mind, as got to see more of Oslo. he also brought us by a Gay Bar that he said had recently been firebombed - and then finished off the ride on a nice offensive tirade about gay people and "why do they have to flaunt it". . while we sat quiet and Jason & Jon glanced at me uncomfortably, wondering if I was going to say anything. I actually did NOT..stayed quiet, let him rant, and took pictures while he drove. back at the hotel, I had to run up to the room as my phone was at less than 2% (it had been a long day and had drained it and the backup battery) so I needed to charge it and would do that while we decided where to grab something to eat as late as it was (I believe close to 10) Pic of the terminal station mostly shut down this late, as I headed to the room. Plugged in my phone, invited AJ to join us - and bumped into David on way back out and he joined us, and we found a great Mediterranean restaurant closeby the hotel. the food was really good, and there was a lot of is, and we appreciated that the owner stayed open for us to eat and didn't really rush us out. oh, we also saw a bunch of police cars and police tape, and an ambulance (heard someone whispering about a murder).. . first actual police I'd seen the whole trip. no pics of the food (or the police action) because my phone was in the room. but Jason did take the following pic for me, as I decided I REALLY needed a pic of me tickling her armpits and that's my day in Oslo! tomorrow? up early, and out, as our park is Tusenfryd . . to check out the newest coaster, Storm-the Dragon Legend, and the famous Speed Monster!

Day 11: Tues, June 13th : Travel day! From Aarhus, Denmark, all the way to Oslo, Norway! here's the route we'd be taking. . . crossing the Skagerrak (a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the east coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea. (thanks Wikipedia)) via ferry during the trip. a few pics from the bus, as we headed North in Denmark towards the ferry still very pretty, an reminds me of portions of the USA. and coming up on the Ferry terminal, there's a huge Truck Stop. . . so not just in America Color Line is the high speed ferry we would be on. . tho if I'm recalling correctly, the crossing still took ~4 1/2 hours there's our ferry terminal! and there's our ship. the way the Ferry works, is that passengers have to all unload from their vehicles, and go into the Terminal (which works very much like a bus or airport terminal) while the driver of the vehicle (mainly busses or large trucks) pull the vehicle into the bottom level of the ship. a big rock, with an image of a ferry carved into it. no idea, as I didn't bother to get a pic of the plaque that was with it explaining what it is. . . .LOL Into the terminal! where they have a model of their Ferry (ferries, as there are more than 1) on display. we waited in the lobby area until they called our gate. noted! another Ferry.. similar to ours, but not ours. WOW. . this was not what I was expecting. It's a miniature cruise ship!! with artwork a central atrium and lots of places to relax, and some things to do. . . including several gift shops, a duty free area, a large quick serve restaurant, a huge buffet/dining room area, and even a casino. Elissa had reserved us all seats in the dining room, which meant we had access to the buffet for the whole crossing. . . was really good food and I ate way too much. but what a nice experience. from one of our reserved tables in the dining room my seat for the crossing and we're off! getting up to walk around the ship (after eating something of course), this is the back end of the ship - they have deck areas for folks to sit out on - not everyone reserves a seat and so they can sit in any "non-exclusive" area during the journey. and you can see the line of trucks on the decks below us. to the right here, was a Casino that connected via spiral staircase to the bar that's right below me inside. I did play for a little bit, but was so wary about playing with $$ that I wasn't sure exactly what it translated to in American, that I only played slots until I won back slightly over what I had put in, then cashed out and walked away. this area on the top level (close to the casino) are the Voyager Class reserved seating yeah. . basically 1st class. tho it didn't appear very full on this sailing. tho the dining room tables were pretty full - so those are the reserved seats to get. . . of course, with food. a sister ship, heading the opposite direction. checking out the Duty Free store. no, I was not even tempted to try Duck Confit in a can. but I was amused enough to want a pic with it I regret not buying this tho. . .I really should have. tho THIS? I did buy. it's a magnet that has all 4 Scandi countries we were going to. . so figured it's a perfect "overall" souvenir . . even tho I bought plenty of Country specific magnets too. when I asked her, the lady in the shop explained to me what "the ugly screaming baby" was - as that image was on a lot of magnets/postcards/mugs. and she told me it's a famous Sculpture called "the Angry Baby" in a Sculpture Garden in Oslo, and wrote down the address for me (which was great as we'd have some sightseeing time in Oslo tonight). she *didn't* mention to me how Sexual the sculptures in that garden were.. which is funny, as that would have been MORE of a selling point for me to want to go see em. back to the dining room for some more food. . . and a pic of the Lego Ship models they had on display on top of the buffet. this translates as "your Dad". .and was so odd - he's elbowing the woman in the face to hold up the kid! - I just had to snap a pic. what's that in the distance? is that Norway? (actually, I believe that's Sweden. . we're gonna make a hard right to get to Norway) there it is! getting closer, they announce that it's time to re-board your vehicles, and everyone starts streaming down the stairwells to the lower levels. umm. . a bit snug. . . glad I'm not TOO claustrophobic. huh. . Norway looks a lot like Denmark. . go figure Coming into Oslo, proper now. . . the Capital of Norway. the streets are pretty snug, and parking is at premium.. so our driver parked the bus a few blocks and we walked thru the center of Oslo to get to our Hotel. . . which was right in the middle of everything (great planning by Elissa!), including being attached to the main train station depot. hard to get lost, when one just has to follow Shellie Mae ! that's where we're headed: the Comfort Hotel with several statues surrounding it. . such as this one: Thor's Hammer it wasn't even 7pm yet, and plenty of time to do some sightseeing once we were checked in, since the sun wasnt' going to set until well after 11pm. looking across the plaza from in front of the hotel . .that' the famous Oslo Opera House. inside the lobby of this amazing Hotel. . .as mentioned, it's built around the Central Train Station in Olso, so it's attached to a huge mall. and has long corridors and many steps to get to the rooms. . which are very "industrial" and unique. i loved the artwork in the Hotel Lobby. and the minimalist/industrial fixtures in the lobby area room keys handed out, we headed up to our rooms. . . here's the door to our room. and one of the long hallways to get to it. see those windows on the left? they look out into the central train station ! pretty impressive, huh? we were only here for 1 night, but I really liked this funky hotel. bags dropped, it was time to go exploring. . . next update hopefully soon!

same to you, my friend

went up to SFFT Saturday for the annual "Feliz Fiesta" event, and had a wonderful time. unfortunately, Kid Flash *is* down, but we got first rides of the day on Superman, a really great Holiday Meal, and night time ERT after park close on Roadrunner, Dr. Diabolical's Cliffhanger, and Iron Rattler - and the ERT started with a "twice around the park to enjoy the lights" train ride! we also got sneak peeks at the logos for the new rides in DCUniverse, and special seating for the new (and EXCELLENT) show "Charles Dikens' Christmas Carol" the surprise hot chocolate and cookies after the train were an added bonus . . a highly recommended event, if you're in the area. (I had friends come down from St. Louis, and Atlanta areas just for this event). some pics: meeting up at front gate, and grabbing a pic with Jason Knutson (regional rep for ACE south central region) and Jeff Filicko (Marketing Mgr for SFFT) Park President Jeffrey Siebert, shouting out "BERT" and giving me a big bear hug, as we entered the park (with a wonderful photo bomb from Kim (TeacherKim here on TPR) and her son Joel - who flew from St Louis for the event). LOVED this photo op. .and didn't have much of a line! as opposed to Bugs, Sylvester, and Tax in PJs - that had too long of a line to wait in, so I just snapped pic as walked by. can't go to SFFT without a stop in to see Sweet Connie in Sangerfest Halle - and we all used our dining passes to have Chicken Schnitzel (for my $$ the BEST food option in the park). our badges for the event work as Flash Passes today, so we rode a bunch of things too. . but on the way to Wonder Woman coaster, we passed a show going on in front of the big tree in Rockville. I believe the ladies used to be known as the "Jingle Belles". . but they've changed it slightly, so they're now known as the "Tinker Belles" the show ends with a Rocketts-like kickline that includes Bugs & Babs walking back to the front to visit the VIP lounge, we came across another photo op. . this one had shorter line, so hopped in it. SO nice to see Pepe has been let out of the "me too" doghouse. . . and Marvin was out too! a peek at the menu in the VIP lounge. i had the Merry Christmas Morning. . which was VERY good. . tho I think it might have been served in the wrong cup size. it was mostly Baileys, but a bit costly for the amount. Jeffrey greeted us it he Picnic grove for dinner, all dapper in his festive Feliz Fiesta suit. and they unveiled ride signs for the re-vamped DC Universe (and new) rides! the updated fountain with new sign, and the 3 new rides^ the Monorail layout, and the new Supergirl (rethemed Skyscreamer) sign ^ the rethemed Poison Ivy (Up Up and Away) and Penguin (Convoy) ride signs ^ the rethemed Green Lantern (Zoom Jets) & Batgirl (Starliner coaster) ride signs ^ the design of the station for the new monorail revealed! ^ and the layout of the area now! after a great meal.. we were led backstage over to the Rockville High theater and brought into a side door for special seating of the new show. even if you've seen "A Christmas Carol" a million times? do NOT miss this show. newly songs, all written in house, and with some really impressive performers. *this* is why the Park is known as a show park. Absolutely, highly recommended. . I'd put this way up there with the level of the Dollywood Christmas Show. pics from the show (it's about 45 minutes, and as it's in the smaller theater - the bigger one, Zaragoza, is used for the big Majesty of Christmas show - the performances of this DO fill up. . so get there early). the show ends with the cast asking the audience to Sing along to "We wish you a Merry Christmas" . . . and once the show cleared, the people attending Feliz Fiesta were invited up on stage for a group picture: taking advantage of being on the stage to snap a few selfies exiting the show to the gorgeous Rockville Christmas tree. . and bumped into Bugs and Babs Kim and I also caught a performance of "the Singing Saps" and also saw (clockwise from my right): Renee, Katie, Belinda, Amanda, and Erika passing by. . so grabbed a pic with them too! the park really does look amazing. I think SeaWorld has more lights. . .but SFFT certainly wins out for entertainment for me. back up to the VIP lounge to grab a drink (SFFT has the biggest and nicest VIP lounge in the chain from what I've heard. I have a Diamond pass, so have access, but on Sat, everyone with an event lanyard had access). GREAT views of the plaza and the lights from up here. not very crowded, as most were in Zaragoza theater for the big Christmas show at the moment. more pics from the lounge ^ it was quieting down, so we decided to walk the park and look at lights. and we finally got a mostly "bacground people" free pic in front of the main photo op. oh. . but I had forgotten. . Santa is over here on Candy Cane lane. . . his elves were out front (handing out candy.. which I asked if was leftover from Halloween, and was told it was. . LOL. . but it had been in a freezer, so was cold. Loved it tho. and Santa didn't have much of a line at the moment (remember, everyone was in the big show). . so I got a pic with him here comes Miss Kitty, all decked out for the holidays! blurry, but pretty crowded. . the luminarias over in CrackAxle really do make the area look fantastic another of the Holiday "shows". . this one is every 5 minutes or so: H2Ho Ho Ho. . . funny. beautiful. . . leading into DC Universe and I LOVE the lights they put on Rattler. . hope those stay up year round. sadly, not even the Lights on Kid Flash were operating but I really do love the theming they've put up on it.. .the "Flash" symbols on the fence look great. hopefully can get this fixed - was told the company is working on it, and they hope to have it back up operating by end of year . .. . fingers crossed. Um. . . I don't think this looks like, what they THINK it looks like #whyisSantapooping? FIRE!!!! another friend who came from out of town, this is Jennifer and some of the group I was hanging with on the train with me (two cycles around the park) to kick off ERT as the park was shutting down. clockwise from left: John Chen, Russell, Kim, Joel, and Jennifer. very full train of happy Event attendees, and Jeffrey joined us on the back car, to play carols, and talk during the ride. and that's a wrap. a really good event, and absolutely worth going to the new show (and the classic Christmas show is good too)

great update! in particular, this line: The photo of the photo session of the video session of the TPR Gran Prix.

^ that trailer certainly implies a very unique "Coaster-like" ride. very exciting, and can't wait to check it out at some point in the future if I ever make it back to Japan!

quickie follow up before we went to bed. . as in the morning we'd be leaving Denmark, on our way to Norway via ferry. .. but when we got back from Legoland, it was still fairly early (I think perhaps 7:30 or so). . . .and some of the folks were hungry. although I'd had a big lunch, I'm always up for hanging out, so I joined Jon & Jason for a walk around the neighborhood to see what was avail. we ended up finding a mostly deserted (I guess 8pm was late on a Monday) Sushi Place that was still open. The proprietor spoke no English at all - and seemingly no Danish either. Luckily, I knew a small bit of Japanese . . . oh let's be honest, we were successful because the place had pictures of all the Sushi on the wall for a menu, and one only had to point at what one wanted. I'd assume that's how they got around the language barrier for any customer it was SO good. after eating we headed back to the Zleep Hotel for our last night in Aarhus, and I spotted a "Pride" bench. a Photo op? yes please: I made Daniel proud, and I even did "the Method" on the bench: and then it was back to the hotel, where I believe we joined in the lobby to share some wine with folks saying goodbye to Caroline - who was heading home in the morning. and then off to bed. big travel day tomorrow!

and here is the swag from Legoland (minus a few gifts I had bought for people, which I gave out before I took pics) Magnet: T-shirt: and. . . Bananaman!!!

I'm wearing it in some pics. . but I can't believe I forgot to show my crown among my Farup swag: