bert425

Day 8: Sat, June 10th part 2 (of 2): Djurs Sommerland we headed over to "Vikingeland" section of the park, for the next coaster on our hitlist: Thor's Hammer - a Gerstlauer Bobsled coaster some nice ride theming here, but this was one of the sections where the operators were wearing kahkis (I was hoping for heavy fur vests. . LOL) Don't forget. . Thor died on the cross for you. . . or something. .what do I know? I'm Jewish | as mentioned. . great theming thruout the park. . . even if the trains scream "traveling carnival" (and you can catch the bottom half of an operator's Viking Khakis in this pic) a really fun bobsled tho. . with some of it over the water - and thru a house! in the lake there on the left, one can go around the island in either a canoe or a paddle boat. it was hilarious, because they apparently just put the people in them and let them go - regardless if they know how to paddle (or steer). there was a canoe with four little kids in it, stuck on this turn here for a good 15 minutes as we watched them panic and try to paddle with their hands to move (someone finally came along in a boat and helped them) a self operating "pulley" ride that are "poles with helmets on them". . that's ALL they are. get your minds out of the gutter! here's the station where you can get either a canoe or paddleboat. Didier and I sat on a bench and watched as brave folks decided they wanted to paddle the lake. no shade, but I think David paddled for all. . . it wasn't quite time for lunch yet, so we passed back thru DinosaurLand (where lunch was to be) hence another pic of the Disc-O (the park also has a decent sized waterpark area called "VandLand". . but I'm not sure if any of the folks on the trip went to the waterpark here) and back into Westernland. .the theming on the outside of the Bumper Cars building I didn't actually look at them to see if the cars themselves were themed to Buffalo or not.. .but thought it was rather cool that the kiddie version is in the same building as the adult version. not a Bumper Cars rider. . but a Pony Espressen? Yes please! whee! the park also has a wave swinger called "Wild West Carousel". . . I don't typically ride these, but this one ran forwards, and then backwards, which looked like a unique ride experience (and it was). oh, it also shoots water up at you to try and get you wet. heading back for lunch, some I was with wanted to ride the Disc-O. these always make me a bit nauseous, and I certainly didn't want that right before lunch. .so I passed. tho managed to get pics of them on it. Can you tell which pic is before they noticed me with the phone up, and which is after? Lunch was a PACKED Pizza buffet. I recall it had some really weird stuff on it - such as corn pizza ?? but it certainly wasn't the worst pizza I had, and I recall enjoying it. the table I saw with. at first I thought I had misfiled this, as I don't recall them having one of these (at all). . but I see the dino in the background, so it must still be at Djurs Sommerland, and I just don't remember. this style of ride seems to have gotten popular tho, as I saw it at many parks in Scandinavia on this trip. Universal Denmark? after eating way too much pizza (as you can probably tell from the belly in this pic), needed something calming. So I suggested we ride the train. it's not a full size train like you'd see in USA.. but similar to a lot of the trains in the parks I'd been to in Europe. a lovely route, and gave a great view of the park. Thor's Hammer Juvelen Piraten playground full of ways to injure oneself. . . more playgrounds and trampolines. all really full too! Jonathan and David were eager to try out the King of the Mountain and made it up easily. I watched. oh. .there was plenty to look at. . . . while they attempted to make a hospital visit in a foreign country. . . yeah. . getting up was easy. do you want me to call the fire department to get down now? all played out, we headed into the "kiddie" area, which did have some adult rides. we were ready to ride: Vilde Hønsejagt (the wild chicken hunt) - another Zierer family coaster with lots of chicken theming. . and a fox at the front of the train trying to eat said chicken (I think?) hey. . TPR folks here too! Howdy! Pic courtesy of Didier I believe this was absolutely adorable. . a frog hopper, but themed to pigs in slop. I didn't ride it, but I really wanted to just to say I did I DID ride the classic carousel type ride tho (of course). . with Big Mike and Jonathan and I can't recall if we rode the tractors or not, but I think we did ride a couple of things over here in this section. a wet/dry slide. . . for some reason called Speedy Gonzales. . .hmmmmm. . there was a band playing music, that some folks were hanging out listening to. and we headed over to the one big section of the park we hadn't been in yet: Piratland this was a kiddie flume ride, Piratefisken, but it looked like there were adults riding with their kids, so got in line to ask. gaaa. . . lots of photo ops where you can get bitten here and a great view of Skatteøen (Treasure Island), the park's Mack Water Coaster from the kiddie flume queue the "boats" (or more realistically, barrels) are tiny, but after bonding with the operator over ABBA (I caught him singing along to "gimme gimme gimme" and joined in with him), he said OF COURSE you can ride, and let us each take a barrel. Said operator. . in a section that is participating in "full immersive costume" he he even let me hold his sword (get your mind out of the gutter!!) for a pic and them offered to take a pic of those of us who were riding before sending us on our way. . . whee!!! (pic courtesy of Andy, I think?) no. . I'm not embarrassed at all. . this was a fun flume! and got me a bit wet too. they also have this really weird "Sword ride over here called Sablen (the Saber) that's kind of a drop ride, but it also sways back and forth kinda like a topple tower. regardless, we got on it and it kinda broke, and we got stuck on it for a good 15 minutes while it kept cycling over and over. . . . it was funny, and I'm glad it wasn't anything too extreme. they had to call maintenance to come get it to stop cycling. but yeah, when it finally stopped, I was ready to get off. after we got off. . but smiling happily before we started our ride. . . and then we headed over to Skatteøen a Skull! theming love this pic because it caught a bird in it. . . from the Skatteøen line, you can see Piraten cycling (that's the park's incredible Intamin Mega-Lite). . we had ERT on it after park close, so hadn't been over to that yet. Treasure Island theming in the station. an onride pic snapped by Big Mike as we left the station and the official onride pic, that I loved, so bought for the memory. I think we headed over to Piraten to get a ride on it (just in case. . ya never know what might happen before end of day). I don't remember doing that, but these pics seem to be from Piraten's queue line, so we must have. we still had an hour or so before the park closed, so we went back to hit things we still wanted to ride, or just to wander. i went back over to Wild Asia to grab some pics of DrageKongen and Tigeren. . . dang. . look at the height this thing gets to! sadly, the bread/smores place was out of packets, and so we weren't able to cook our own over the fire. but I got to sit on a horse and pretend I did! and then hit some souvenir shops for Magnets, and, of course, ice cream! while enjoying our ice cream towards the front of the park, we watched the kiddos play in the water play area up here. . . and I spotted the park Mascots, Karlo & Karoline. . . (and Karoline's pet duck Anden Palle (Second Pallet??)). . so of course got in line for a pic it was close to end of day for the park, so we made our way over to Piraten square. . . and discovered Soulken (the Soul?). . a pretty intense octopus flat. . so we took a spin on that - it was great! and in the shadow of Piraten one of the many reasons I love TPR trips. . the ERT. Look at this (lack of) line. . as they were cycling thru the remaining guests for us. ok. .I took this pic so I would remember where we were.. . see??? a reminder. . ok, ok. . maybe that wasn't the ONLY reason I wanted to remember. . . .. (hey, I'm single, and looking is just fine) after several wonderful rides on Piraten. . whee!!!! It was decided that it was time to play "Pass the Sword" !!! we did great, and didn't lose it even once. . . what a great time, everyone just had a blast on this coaster and then we all posed with the fantastic crew at Djurs Sommerland for ending on a great day with us! and with that, we said goodnight to Djurs Sommerland, and headed back to the hotel. what a fantastic day!

Day 8: Sat, June 10th part 1 (of 2): Djurs Sommerland Elissa had mentioned this one was among her favorite parks, and I totally understand! a wonderful combination of park, playground, and Amusement park, I absolutely loved this park (and the next Sommerland, Farup, we went to the next day for similar reasons) It really did feel a bit like we were out in the Countryside in Denmark. . but before I knew it, we were turning off the main road into Djurs Sommerland parking lot. walking up to the main gate from the lot we parked in, really felt like we were at Summer Camp group photo before we start off our day (courtesy of Robb) soon enough we were met by the park rep, and they brought us in for a walk back to the first of two coasters we were going to have ERT on before the park opened: Juvelen the park is just beautiful. . and i was very impressed with the theming in and around the kids area (or at least one of them - where many kids rides were centered) Park Map large open areas of park, for picnics, and yes, those are all trampolines! dozens of them all over this park. I believe this coaster we passed is Vilde Hønsejagt (Wild Chicken Hunt). . one of a couple of Junior/kiddie coasters in the park. and before we knew it (tho it was a bit of a walk - this is a very large park), we were standing in "MexicoLand" in front of Juvelen (Jewel) my impression of the logo. . . LOL for some reason, I don't seem to have ANY pics of this coaster itself - hopefully either Chuck or Erik got some of the ride itself - which is an Intamin multi-launch "straddle" coaster, where you're riding on 4x4's low and fast to the ground. it also had a pre-ride / dark ride show section before the first launch with some tribal chiefs sending you off on the search thru the jungle for the jewel (if I'm remembering correctly). I rode this multiple times during ERT this morning, but don't think I ever went back to ride it again - regardless of how good it was, as there is just too much to do at this park to do a lot of re-rides during the day. That might be why I never got a pic of the coaster itself? anyways. .here's a jewel from the queue line. . and the group picture (courtesy of Robb - tho yay, he's in this one, so the park rep must have taken it) before we moved on to the next coaster. before we headed across the park for the other morning ride, I snapped a pic of this "flying carpet" type flat in front of Juvelen I didn't ride this today, because - yes, those "idols" on the sides? got everyone wet! ah. .here, in this pic you can see SOME of Juvelen's green track. .. walking back across the park to the "Wild Asia" section. . . snapping pics as we walked. that's the giant pendulum type ride that replaced the Topple Tower this park used to have.. it's HUGE. . . Never in America. . no crossing arms, just a sign noting to look out for the train. this is where we were headed in "Wild Asia": DrageKongen (Dragon King), and Intamin suspended coaster tons of really cool theming over here in this section of the park. on the right here, is another Junior/Kiddie coaster, Jungle Rally (a Zierer) even the queue line here in the "Wild Asia" is heavily themed. . a fun ride, but not the most exciting in the park. I did enjoy it tho, and rode it a couple of times. a "Crazy Bus" type ride with Asian theming. . our two morning ERTs done, we were about to get cut loose in the park, when the rep offered to walk us over to "TIgeren" - the giant pendulum for a couple of rides if we wanted. of course! so most of us went to ride it - while the "non swinging/spinning" ride folks watched or took pics. the detailed theming continued over here, and I loved it. these pics are courtesy of Elissa (who stood under one side of the pendulum and took pictures straight up, while the group rode twice) man. .the arc of this is REALLY extreme. . nearly upside-down! LOVED this. on our 2nd cycle, the park had been opened, and so there were park guests joining us on the ride. cut loose to enjoy the park until lunch time, a good chunk of folks headed right next door to the log flume, called "Long Cun Expedition" oh. . did I mention I have a VERY juvenile sense of humor? tee-hee. Caroline & Barry Myself & Big Mike Daniel, Barry & Collin Didier - who was driving the TPR bus. . he had a blast too! Andy & Steve these pics, I think are courtesy of AJ ? (really appreciate that he captured these, it's great) the group I was walking around with then headed back a little bit to get a ride on Jungle Rally. . and found some other happy TPR-ers had also made that call hey. . no judgement! we rode it too since we were already "moist" from the flume - well. . most of us were. . .we decided to go ahead and ride the park's rapids ride, which is located in "WesternLand" not too wet for a rapids ride, but pretty heavily themed which was adorable.. little playgrounds litter this park too. . . the loading station is full of "animatronics" . . .so it's sorta a "dark ride" ? and they wore cute little "western" outfits. . . .(the staff styling was a little weird. .some sections of the park? the uniforms fit that section and were full on "costume". . but in other parts? the employees wore khakis and polos. . as noted, it was a little weird. Maybe in the middle of switching things up). he was thrilled I asked if I could take a pic of his outfit a bit young, but wow, look at the size of that gun!. . .LOL he was having a blast staying in "western" character. . .made the interaction with him so much more fun than just "how many?" and being seated. um. . ok. . only slightly ethnically insensitive. . . (and from what I understand, a pretty big improvement over some of the attractions that used to be in the park section called "AfricaLand") as you can tell. . we had fun riding . . staying in WesternLand. .they have this little set up where you can buy supplies, and either buy bread balls or makings of a Smore, and sit on the little horses around the campfire and cook them! We made note of this to come back later when it was opened. the section of the park that used to be called "AfricaLand" is now redone into "Dinosaurland"! home to several flats, and a new powered family coaster by Mack - "T-Rex Family Coaster" the Disc-O rides along the back of a Dinosaur skeleton. . . great theming. a large kiddie playground here too the T-Rex Coaster has a really long train, and although not exactly "thrilling". . it was fun, and it goes around twice. the queue line is pretty heavily themed with Animatronic Dinosaurs too. . so that was pretty neat. and next to it is Dino X-pedition - which looks like just a powered jeep ride, but has a dark ride section, and lots of animatronics too, and is worth a ride. queue line for the T-rex coaster and then next door the queue and some onride pics from Dino Xpedition oh look. . I managed to get a pic of the T-rex coaster train. . LOL. . . SPOILER!!! ---- . Kong shows up in the DinosaurLand Jeep ride. . . I was told he was leftover from the "problematic" dark ride they used to have here when this area was AfricaLand. heh. . .got a pic of Robb filming on T-Rex Family coaster. Dino Eggs. . ready to hatch! to be continued. . .

^ I've heard that here in Austin as well. SFOT is gonna have a PR nightmare on their hands, if it turns out it's really cancelled.

I'm not too familiar with the parks. . . will this station go where Sand Serpent was? trying to figure out where the layout would be and still go over the Serengeti Plain. . .as doesn't Cobra's Curse also overlook that?

Made a trip to SeaWorld San Antonio yesterday to experience this year's "Howl-O-Scream" event. pretty crowded (wonder if that had to do with SW parks winning best Halloween event in a recent poll?). Regardless, superbly well run. With lines moving thru the 6 (free) houses fairly well, TONS of walkway actors/spooks in the fright zones, bar service pretty well staffed, and lots of entertainment. I also noticed (not tons, but enough to note their presence, which I appreciated greatly, some police officers sprinkled thruout the event, keeping watchful eyes on things. I had a wonderful time, and highly recommend. y'all wanna see some pictures and read some commentary? sure you do! I wore my "bat hat" all day. . kept my bald spot from sunburn. . . .LOL. .tho I got a lot of "I like your costume" comments, and kept saying, this is just from my closet! Even tho the house lines move pretty well? it's SO worth the $$ to pick up some version of the Fright Pass to use the "skip the line" option. With six houses, it's really the only way to get to do everything in one night (I mean, including shows, scare-zones, etc). we got the version that was one trip thru each house, but there are multiple options avail - that also include show seating, ride skip as well as houses, and one with multiple visits to houses. since SeaWorld insists on using these dang paper tickets tho? do what I did - take a pic of it. That way they can just scan it on your phone each time, and you'll probably have your phone out for pictures anyways (yes, phone and video filming IS allowed.. just not flash photography). even before the bars opened (at 5, tho some opened a bit earlier), or the houses opened (at 7), there were street performers out. lol. .and this is why I take so many selfies instead of asking folks to take pics of me. . sorry about that finger. . SWSA does have the Offrenda set up. . .it's just in a different location, around the corner from where it used to be, on the stage area. i think it looks SO much better over here. . and love the tables full of fruit and sugar skulls on the sides. a bar that opened a little early? (Bloodthirsty in the vampire scare zone area)? 1st drinks of the afternoon in hand. . and drinks from Bloodthirsty come with gummy worms and glow in the dark fangs! walking the "Howl o Scream" area, to check out the decorations, even tho the creatures don't really come out until 6:30. At SWSA, the Howl O Scream area is basically all around the lagoon. From Beluga Stadium to the Sesame Street kids area. stopping to take a peek over the construction walls at Catapult Falls. they'd added a ton of signage and some slight theming. The ride does look ready to go. . it must simply be delayed due to some minor issue, or delay getting the inspections done. But I can't wait to ride this. some of the flume vehicles are in the station. . so they HAVE been testing it, even if the flume itself is drained at the moment. we stopped in at the Voodoo Lounge bar for another drink. . this is the Texas Tea frozen drink. as we were sitting directly across from "the Swamp" house, we just decided to join the forming line while we were drinking (and would come back and use the skip the line to go thru again later). so we were in a great position when the denizens of the Swamp scare-zone started coming out: the Swamp |this was the new house two years ago, and tho I enjoyed it, it was pretty lame (I thought), last year as it hadn't aged well. But I had heard rumors that all the houses had made some changes, so was eager to check out. my take on it this year? 1000% improvement over last year. I love that SWSA basically has a "total dark" house now. I know some complained it was too dark, but so what. . I LOVED it. when I say it's dark in there? I mean PITCH BLACK, CANNOT SEE WHERE YOU ARE GOING. They have someone with a light standing over a large prop on the floor as folks kept tripping on it. and the few sections that are a little lighter? yup, fog. . . so it's basically a blackout house. my phone/camera takes excellent night photos, that's the only reason you can make out some of these images. some of the Swamp scare actors on the walkways (we compared ears) we decided to walk back to the front of the Howl-o-Scream area and start at the Atlantis house (over by Journey to Atlantis). . so here's some pics along the way as we headed over there and it started to get darker. this is the "Sindustry" area, in front of Penguin encounters. it was a bit more "family friendly" this year, but still has the DJ, the acrobat, and the Trampoline troupe. and of course, the DO have a bar there for the adults. my favorite area of the park is over near the brand new haunt this year. . .Bunny Bradley's Ice Cream Parlor. . with so many street scarers out. . all as evil clowns. tho I loved this ringmaster outfit too. full 360 creepy as hell costume we'll hit this when we come back this way. . . but here's the queue line (already pretty long, and it was only ~8pm) SWSA was firing on all cylinders yesterday. . .every ride (but Sea Rescue troika) was open, and lines were almost non existent. Note if you're going: the water rides DO close when the houses open (Atlantis uses part of Journey's queue). . so if you want to ride Rio Loco, or Journey to Atlantis? come early enough to get them in before the Howl-O-Scream event starts. but even during the event, all the coasters kept running. We got two walk on rides on Texas Stingray (day & night), and a walk on ride on Journey earlier in the day. we absolutely COULD have done ton more rides, but we were here for the houses. as usual, the only thing with even close to a line was WaveBreaker, which kept a steady 30+ minute or so line the entire day/night. Paid photo op with a werewolf if you wanted to wait in line for that. . . Bloodthirsty was busy when we walked back by. . Atlantis - unfortunately, the weakest house, and a big reason is that it's just so bright in there. The props, and effects are great, and so I get why it's SO bright in there - show up the props and makeups. But it's just not scary. Maybe they should promote this house as the "non-scary" one for kids? (even tho there are some gore mannequins in here) again, it LOOKS great, and it's a fun walk thru with great effects. . . but it's just not a scary house. The inflatable starfish actually made me giggle when we came around the corner great animatronic this year's improvement for the house. . and it's a fun one (not scary tho). you get eaten by the "whale" and it "squishes" you thru it's digestive track. really. . we were giggling. . . fun. (but not scary) next we headed over to the outdoor Haunt: Zombie Horde Zombie Horde - remains an excellent "walk at your own pace" outdoor adventure. The makeups on the actors don't do much - but they don't really have to, as it's so dark it's effective. the only real "light" comes from the UVs that light up the "radioactive" waste splattered across some props. the "out in the woods" setting just really works on this . . and it's a really creepy experience. won't spoil the ending here, but will say that the adjustment they made for this year? really makes the haunt end on a high ,and terrifying, note. bumped into friends all day/night today, so that was a ton of fun too! these are my friends Andrea and Belinda! Milton Creek Manor - this is the "permanent" house that is around all year (tho not open except during the Halloween event). As such, it has some fantastic animatronics and Props that you would see in a very high end Haunted House, such as Netherworld in Atlanta. Because the props are so intricate, they do tend to need a lot of love and the line can get very long due to many "fixes needed" during the event. I did like the new room in the center (they added a kitchen/freezer since last year). . but the flow was a little confusing - needing several attendants to direct the traffic at that piont. it didn't help that we were being rushed thru, so missed some of the triggered effects (I get it tho. .SW needs to keep the line moving, and as noted, this one IS one of the most popular houses). apologies for some of the blurry ones (and I had to toss many, because just moving too quickly to get a decent pic. . but it's a good house) Bunny Bradley's Ice Cream shoppe - the new house for this year. that replaced that "doll" one. BRAVO. . . excellent new house. and fantastic use of the cool spot that is used as the Coca-Cola lounge the rest of the year. The cast in here makes this house. Best cast of every house. . and that "syringe ceiling". . yes, the lights are made of Syringes. . . it just looks incredible. I unfortunately blocked the gag. . but the arm she's holding? is holding an ice cream cone, and she's licking the cone the severed arm is holding that syringe ceiling I mentioned. it's really cold in here. . .brrrrr some new areas had popped up as we made out way back towards the Swamp. all kinds of creepy fun! a dance party was going on over in the Sindustry area. . . Disassembly Line - was one of the two new houses last year (the other was Atlantis). still fantastic. still creepy. still SUPER gory. Disassembly line has tons of live actors mixed in with the mannequins. my favorite effect of the whole event. that's a live actor in the meat grinder. He's pleading for help, and then the machine revs up and he acts accordingly. it's brilliant all in all, an EXCELLENT event, and worth the time to make a visit (yes, the drinks are a bit expensive, but if you're a passholder, you get a discount on alcohol (really!). . and they also offer for an extra $5 a light up skull glass (that holds 20oz instead of 12oz, and refills are cheaper than a regular 12oz drink). my ranking of the houses, from best to worst (keeping in mind, even "worst" isn't terrible, it's just not scary: 1) Bunny Bradley's Ice Cream Shoppe (barely edging out Disassembly line for 1st) 2) Disassembly Line 3) Milton Creek Manor 4) the Swamp 5) Zombie Horde 6) Atlantis go enjoy this event. .it's great!

hey, I'm in shape (round is a shape)

probably a really good choice to skip Batman. .it's one of THE most intense versions. . .very snappy too. So if you weren't feeling fantastic, was a good choice to skip. did you miss the mine train? that one is quite fun too, and didn't see it on your list.

I was SO glad I wouldn't let them talk me into all getting into ONE boat. we for sure would have died. and that poor family in the back. .they were trying so hard not to be embarrassed for us, as we were all laughing like loons and trying not to tip over.

that building - WAY back when - used to be the roof for the carousel. back when I visited this Fun Spot - in 2018 with TPR (!) - that space was blocked off and being used to store Go Karts (that were not being used). as to that rock formation? that used to be part of the GORGEOUS Mini-Golf that Fun Spot used to have and ripped out for Aire Force One - yet oddly, seem to have left many of the gold course lights there! yeah. . that tracks with how fucked up ambiance Fun Spots tend to have.

Hawk and Doug had split off to find food, and Big Mike was wandering, so I headed down to 3 where there was a lecture about LGBTQ (didn't stay to listen to it, but there were some exhibits on the topic sprinkled around this floor. the exhibits on floor 1 are exhibitions from the artist: Annette Messager - called "Desirs desordonnes" (Disordered desires) creepy! in the trip chat, some of the others had posted not to miss the basement because it was very strange (I think perhaps that was Andy or Steve). . and I had thought they were talking about this exhibit, which was rather Fv@ked up. . . imagine my surprise when I went down to the zero level for a winding batch of rooms in a Permanent Installation that would give Meow Wolf a run for it's money! very retro room. . a fully stocked dorm/apartment. . . complete with a stocked mini-mart and down another hallway, this creepy very Japanese room. . that had a perpetual rainstorm going on. . .complete with lightning, rain falling on the windows, and dripping water into buckets. So freaking cool. and an endless stairwell. . .reflecting into infinity. another retro room.. . complete with accessories one could interact with. and a room that just had a giant, glowing, vibrator in the center of it. which, honestly, was a bit mesmerizing! a quick perusal of the gift shop. . where I picked up this magnet: and then we were on our way. I stopped and asked a guard the directions to Aarhus Domkirke (the well known Cathedral), and she assured us it's an easy walk, up some of the beautiful canals. . . so with her directions, big Mike and I headed out on foot to check out the Cathedral (and the close to it Viking Museum, and Museum of Gender - if either were still open). to her credit, it WAS a lovely walk. . and past the university and entertainment area. . . so lots and lots of folks out and about (we even passed Doug & Hawk eating in a cafe and said hello as we walked by) so many interesting stores here! ' is it a clothing store? or a shoe store? or a nudist colony money laundering front? I'm confused! around the corner was the Cathedral. . . it really is beautiful. . especially in the late afternoon. didn't stick around to take too many pics of this statue, as behind it, there were probably 5 guys pissing on those trees. so . . yeah. . .kept to this side of the statue a look around the "square" where the Cathedral is in the center. . I thought this was the Viking Museum. . . sadly was closed (they closed at 6 I think).. but looking at the pics, perhaps it's a theater? they seem to be advertising some shows (King Lear) the Gender Studies museum was also closed. . but they had this interactive display out front encouraging you to see if you fit in the gender shape. for "Male". . check! for Female: Also "Check". . if I tuck shame they were closed, but we decided to wander up the side streets to the port area, and just enjoy the scenery. Charlie Brown in Lucy's dress. . . awesome! a big building by the port. . perhaps an amphitheater for music/shows? and I had seen this graffiti on flyers around town. . . so I think it might be a well known one (or artist). . but it was kinda neat, so snapped a pic of it. and at this point, my feet were hurting. . so I said to Big Mike, "I'm gonna flag down a cab, and cab it back to the hotel". . . so we did, and had a nice driver who told us all about the city while taking us back to the zleep in. . . where I crashed hard from a full day. but was excited, as tomorrow was Djurs Sommerland. . . a park I had very much been looking forwards to. I was worried I wouldn't be able to sleep due to the excitement, but I was out immediately (and probably kept AJ up with snoring, since I was so exhausted). hope you've enjoyed this update!

Day 7, June 9th part 2 (of 3): afternoon/evening: How about some Culture? the group I had ended up closing out Tivoli Friedhen with wasn't he only group that also wanted to check out some of the stuff in Aarhus - in particular the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum (which was open until 9pm). but i think we might be the only group that looked at a map, said "nope, that's too far to walk" and Uber-ed it not exactly sure what this building was across the street from the museum, but I thought the architecture was interesting, and so snapped a couple of pics. here is the main entrance to ARoS. . . with a glimpse of the permanent installation on the roof, that made this a "must stop" when I was in town: "Your Rainbow Panorama" by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. once up the long steps into the main entrance to the museum, one is greeted by this stunning circular staircase - very reminiscent of the Guggenheim in Manhattan. I didn't check, but would venture a guess that this museum is by the same designer. In addition to the "rainbow bridge" installation, what sold the museum for me, was this special exhibit that took the entire 5th floor. basically Propaganda Images as seen thru the lens of Pop Art. as a huge fan of Pop Art, I was very excited for this (and as a comics fan, seeing characters I know in the art is a huge burst of excitement). but first we were headed to the roof (at the recommendation of the security guard by the elevator, who VERY RIGHTLY pointed out that the "Your Rainbow Panorama" gets very humid as it absorbs the sun, so do that one first and then enjoy the rest of the cooler museum. up on the top floor, this installation is very, very cool. it's a 150 metre long circular walkway that gives fantastic views of the city, thru panels that are shaded in the colors of the rainbow. looking out thru the one clear panel, at the walkway around the roof. this is construction for a new wing of the museum. . I believe they said it's going to be a planetarium. this pic is courtesy of Andy - who had walked to the museum with his group and was out on the roof itself taking pictures of the city and the port. He saw me in the exhibit and waved and took a pic it really was rather hot in the artwork, so I stepped down to the roof, proper, to get some pics of the city. and some birds, just hanging out. it really is a lovely city. . with lots and lots of really neat architecture. I really love how with the correct angle of the sun, the rainbow from the installation shows up on the surrounding buildings. floor 10 done, we went to Floor 8, for the "Human Nature" works from the museum collection: very very interesting. . a tree made from leaves pressed between panes of glass then hung as a mobile. that this neon is in a museum made me giggle. . .I think most everyone snapped a pic of this. we then headed down to floor 6, titled "Far From Home II" more works from the museum collection - including the piece that the museum is most well known for: Boy - by Australian artist Ron Mueck this is a huge, and VERY realistic sculpture, and has an entire space (mirrored) in the gallery to itself. down on this floor was more my type of "pop art" stuff, and I started taking more pictures - tho not as many as I'd take of the actual Propoganda as Pop Art on level 5 regardless, I didn't understand this one at all. . but I found it beautiful and disturbing at the same time. and I just adored this 5 pic sculpture progression of "Melt" they even had one piece of Proper "Pop Art" on display up here, using Jack Kirby Panels from Captain America. not quite as successful as what Lichetenstein was doing with the comic panels. . but I do like it. . . then going down to the main Exhibit I was interested in, the very first thing greeted by is a huge canvas titled "Fucky-Strike Bureau of propoganda". .and I already knew I was gonna love this exhibit, and spend more time here than Doug, Hawk, or Big Mike cared to (I was correct. . eventually Doug and Hawk split off to get food and Big Mike hung in there with me to finish the museum and do a few other things). this multimedia piece against stark walls, in a dead end - was very much like watching a classic Nine Inch Nails video. fantastic. . as a temporary exhibition they didn't really have any magnets avail with these (only some prints). lucky me, as I saved a ton of $$. (no wall space for prints unless I simply MUST have them. . and was able to pass on these, as much a I loved some of them) hey. . I recognize that Chipmunk with Santa! seriously. . all of these are just amazing. (and full of easter eggs for a comic book/ comic strip nerd like myself) this was one of my favorite pieces, mixing war with the Kama Sutra. . . I have the original pic, but for sharing here, I've edited. HUGE multi panel mural. . featuring many comic book character likenesses blended in I'll say again. . luckily I dont' have much wall space (and wasn't gonna spend a bunch of $$ on prints to schlep around for the rest of the trip). . so I just enjoyed here and took lots of pics heavy R. Crumb influence/borrowing in these. . . even the Powerpuff Girls showed up! to be concluded. . .

hahaha. .and forgot I had this video too! XRWU2498.MOV

I might be in the minority, but I found the launch on Lightning Rod to be a big nothing. the rest of the ride is great tho, once you crest that lift hill. . . so I have ZERO issue with this change.

unfortunately, Tivoli Friheden did not offer really anything in terms of branded souvenirs. . certainly not magnets. but I did pick up this (they also had a hat, but I tend not to wear many hats, and have a ton of them that I inherited from Nick. . so went with the pin). I'm proud of myself for doing it. . . so I'm glad I got the pin, and might make it a magnet, as I'm doing with the Bakken keychain.

Day 7, June 9th part 1: Tivoli Friheden. getting up early, I took advantage of the nearby Starbucks machine in the gas station and walked over to get coffee, snapping a pic of the front of our hotel. (it looks like an office building outside too. . . . I liked it, very no frills, but comfortable) ok.. NOW I'm ready for the day. I was psyching myself up. why? you'll see. very quiet in the morning in Arhus . . with a lovely church closeby - tho the one time I tried to go take some pics of it, as Big Mike and I got closer to it, we discovered that there was a Casket being unloaded and seemed tacky to take pics during a funeral. (I think I might have some closer shots of it on another day tho). walking back to the Hotel, to get ready for the bus this morning. . we were headed to a smaller park today, Tivoli Friheden, in Arhus Denmark. the "big" reason we were coming here? that tower in the background of the prior pic, and this one below. the last operating SCAD tower in the world. SCAD = Suspended Catch Air Device Tower. and I'm terrified of Heights. yeah. hence the need for coffee this morning. for a smaller park, they do have a lot of rides, tho other than the SCAD tower, nothing really "extreme". . more family thrill stuff. very cute logo tho. Us, along with some school kids (I think?) got entry early and we headed directly for the tower. passing a very nice two tier carousel and a decent ferris wheel. for some reason the Pizza place (called PIT.sa - yeah. .I dunno, but it works, LOL) had Carousel Horses on it's sign. Wasn't super crowded when we went there to eat lunch later. A surprise, as the park was full of school kids. but it made for a nice quiet meal later. Standing at the base of the tower, I started to have some doubts. not everyone was going to ride it.. so there was no shame in backing out. But I had PROMISED myself that I was going to do things I'd be scared to do. My spouse dying suddenly showed me life is short, and there are no guarantees. . so I was determined to ride it - if I could. you see, they have a weight limit - minimum AND a maximum. and they put you on a scale to make sure you fall in that range. I had an out if I was too heavy. . but I actually was a good amount below the top weight. . so I was gonna force myself. tho probably shouldn't have watched the first couple of folks go. . . . when it was my turn, we got suited up - complete with a hard "shell" attached to our backs. here's Steve and I. . . yeah. . look how "confident" I am. (think these pics are courtesy of AJ ?) then they put you into a tiny elevator, and bring you all the way up to the top. here's Jon watching us up there.. he stayed on the ground. smart man. thanks to Elissa (this video) and Robb (the next video). . . my turn is documented from the bottom of the tower, and the top. yes. . I'm quiet. I honestly, was too terrified to scream. I think some folks lost money, if they bet I was gonna be loud. VNSD3606.MOV GEGI8065.MOV but I did it.. my legs were shaky, but I managed to "gracefully" get out of the net at the bottom. and was shocked that I did it. and then immediately broke down crying the moment I had all the gear off. . . . yeah. but I DID it! once i got myself all composed again? I rewarded myself with Ice Cream while watching everyone else who wanted to go, take a turn (the elevator only carries 5-6 people at a time, so it was small groups). and then we were given lunch vouchers, and let loose to do what we wished in the park. as not a huge park, with no really extreme coasters, it was an excellent opportunity to spend just half a day here, and then take in some local sights/museums. . as there are lovely canals and architecture here in the city. this is one of the 3 coasters in the park: Tyfonen - a spinning wild mouse. (or is it called Spiseriet ? I didn't see the Tyfonen naming on the outside of this ride) (the park used to have a Suspended looping coaster - extreme - but after some injuries / deaths, the park removed it last year. . tho the ride pad is still there, now with some "jumping" playground stuff there. and they did just announce a decent sized new coaster will be coming in 2024. . I'd assume in that spot) Here's Jonathan, myself and Ian after we finished spinning. . pic, I think, courtesy of Jon? you are EVIL. . I did you once. . never again. . . . well. . not in the same way, I guess. . . Somehow I didn't get a pic of the outside of this ride, but it just cracked me up. at one point it clearly was a haunted house ride thru. then they apparently decided to make it like Resident Evil with Zombies among the haunted house. . oh, and make it a shooting ride. in 3D - which didn't work that well (think un-maintained Six Flags Level). I mean, if you're going to SHOOT, might as well be fully immersive and make the riders cops. well. . we can slap "Police" on the side of the ride vehicle.. that makes it fully immersive, right? it was so hysterically awful. . with the vast majority of the 4 3D screens being blurry messes, even with the glasses on - that made everything else so dark, so the remaining practical effects that were NOT part of the shooting became really hard to see. and for some reason the "scorboard" at the load station, not at the exit. very pointless. . but funny to ride (once) for the "what the F did I just ride?" quality. I mean. . look at the front of that vehicle. It's a POLICE CAR, I tell ya!!! this is another of the rides I forced myself to get on. . I was terrified of it, and this is really the only other "thrill ride" in the park. heck..it's in the park logo, showing it going almost upside-down with free spinning seats. But I took a deep breath and got on it. and it ran a SUPER gentle program. these pics are really as high as it went, and the seats did not free spin (I asked the op about it when he was uncuffing us, and he said the seats hadn't flipped in a while, they stopped doing that). I have to wonder if it ran a more gentle program because of all the kids here today for the school event? so I rode it, but then was a little embarrassed I had been afraid of it. they also have a smallish drop tower next door. . but I skipped that, having had enough "freefall" today. a low to the ground air-race (not Zamperla tho). . got some of the TPR folks excited. . and David (and Jonathan) had the kids in awe by how much flipping they got during their cycle. . . tho if I recall, the operator cut the cycle a little short to protect the record that someone had on the flips for the year. and yes... with only 3 coasters, I rode all 3. here's Dragen - the park's wacky worm. . that went around, I think, five times? All I recall is the transitions weren't super smooth and I was ready for it to stop, and we kept going!! something that got repeated on the park's 3rd coaster: Bisværmen (Bee Swarm) - a spinning coaster. look at me. .all smiles. Happy we're riding a spinning coaster BEFORE we eat lunch. not super intense..but it spun, a LOT. and we were unbalanced, because of the two kids on the back of our car. who BEGGED the operator to send us thru on another cycle (after it had gone around 4 times in the 1st cycle). . so she did. yeah. .8 laps was a lot of spinning. but was fun, I'll admit. even tho we knew we were having Pizza Buffets at the next two parks.. . the Pizza place really did look to be the best choice - it was quiet, and the food looked decent. so here was lunch: complete with yet another of the same scary clown. I guess he must be a famous "clown type" in Denmark. at least he was in Black and White and not with a blood red mouth this time! right next to the Pizza place was the Ferris Wheel. . so that seemed to be a good place to go next - a calm ride. with an animatronic George Ferris in the queue. do I know why? no, I don't. Was George Ferris Danish? Myself, Hawk, Doug, and Big Mike riding the wheel wait wait wait.. .what is that coming off the tower?? is that a zip line??? Oh, HELL no. but it doesn't LOOK like a zip-line. . it looks like they are riding a bike? and it spins as it goes up? hmmmmmmmm and oh. . look how close we are to the Carousel! I know what I'm doing next overlooking more of the park. . there's a whole other section (more park, with only some smaller rides) on the left - that my pic of came out blurry) I was proud of myself for waiting, but now it was time for carousel. and as I got closer to it, I saw it really was an older carousel that was very well maintained, rather than a newer version with plastic figures. there were no other takers - you can see the operator just hanging out on the horse. he was amused the grown men wanted to ride. of course, we headed upstairs to the upper deck where Hawk and Doug rode in a suspended "balloon" over the lower deck and myself and Big Mike rode in Separate "tubs" some really nice design work up here. . even if the color palate was a bit ugly (too much repainting, I think) but as usual. . in my happy place. and I got to be a 4 year old, giggling at how the flower above me looks kinda like a butt-hole. tee-hee I have ZERO memory of this. . but apparently Tivoli Friheden has a shooting "theater" type attraction and Big Mike won, and was "Legendary!" from our die on "Neon Ninja" I was only "Awesome!" this I DO recall.. it was an "Illusions" house, that also was a fun house. not as good as the ship themed one at Bakken (or the one that tried to kill me later at Grona Lund). . but I liked it. remember that "Zip Line" thing that was attached to the SCAD Tower? well, it turned out it was an upcharge (something insane like only $3.50 per ticket) to ride this spinning "bike" thing up to the top of the tower. you had to have two people to ride, so Hawk volunteered to go with me, and I again - fear of heights and all - headed back up to the top of the tower. here we are looking all Motorcycle-y badass as we're about to launch into space and by "launch". . I mean, slowly get pulleyed up to the top of the tower. they dont' wanna take ANY chances on things (or you) falling off the "bike". . so well secured with belts and chains (oh Daddy!) and NO loose articles allowed. I'm King of the World, Hawk!!!! whee.. . ' tho fear of heights, I really wasn't scared here, because we were so well secured in. in this pic you get a good view of the tiny elevator they bring you to the top of the SCAD tower in. and then I discovered we could spin via the "steering wheel" yeah, we still look like we're sitting on a flying toilet, but at least it made it a bit more fun. whee! after the fun, a few folks wanted to ride the swings, and Big Mike wanted to do bumper cars. I just wanted to sit.. so plopped down for a cycle on "Bench: the Ride" and took some pics of them enjoying. love the look this woman shoots Big Mike when she realizes she's got an American driver right behind her. . .LOL and he's pretty aggressive in the bumper cars.. . going after folks to ram them! oh. .I have to *thank* Big Mike for these pics of me from the Funhouse. whee. . . .? (THIS one is a posed pic. . I wasn't about to go down this damn slide after falling in the barrel) enough rides we decided to head over to the "garden" side of the park. there are a lot of "questionable" art installations over here, and the park was really starting to get crowded as it got into the afternoon. (turns out there's a weekly concert at the park, and they have been getting really big crowds for each concert). I asked who was playing, and was told just someone local, but everyone comes out to enjoy the music and fill the park. one of those art installations: some of the stages set up for the concert (and a playground in the back) a kiddie bumper cars is over here as is a kiddie plane ride. and further back is a lake with swan boats. and oh. . and obstacle course - which didn't open until the afternoon, so I think most of the TPR folks who love this kind of thing, missed it, as it was closed earlier. it's a pretty long course too. . as you can see here, it goes over the lake on rope bridges. it was open. . there's a kid on the platform up top (just behind the grey support on the left) and here's one of the bands that was playing. .they sounded pretty good from what we heard. really loved these deco light fixtures. . after checking the times of the Museum in downtown - and really was excited and wanted to go by the museum tonight - I believe we headed out from Tivoli Friheden around 3:30 pm. . as more and more people poured into the park. a look at the bike parking, as we went around the corner to the Taxi/Lyft/Uber stand.. yah. .was getting busy. and with that, we grabbed an Uber, and headed to the Arhus Museum to check it out, as they were open for a few hours still. to be continued. . .

I KNEW we had posed for a picture at Hansa! found it as working on my next update.. it got filed in with the Tivoli Friheden pics. here it is. . . the group of us starting our day at Hansa Park. enjoy! next update coming soon.

I'm SO glad I didn't see this. I would have been horrified as an American THIS is America, bay-bee!

Test Track version 3 ? hmmmmm

it was WAY hidden. . and right next to the "sofa" photo op for the costumed characters. . . if you weren't looking carefully, that queue really did look like it was a queue for the photo op! luckily I found this one (and rode it a bunch). . but I was sad to hear I missed Desperados - which also had a kind of hidden queue, and knew nothing about it until Chuck mentioned it. I was all over this park on the two full days we were there. . not sure how I missed that one!

make sure you ask for the tag tho.. . I don't ever use it, but they don't always offer the tag to me . .so be sure to ask if they don't offer

at the entry/parking gate they'll give you a paper tag when they scan your diamond pass, and then you just go to where the preferred parking is. (it's a marked section of the lot, and there will be signs up). personally, I never use Preferred at my home park (Fiesta Tx). . I've always managed to find closer places to park in the general parking

great update, Erik! bringing back such fun memories! (and I did ride that upside-down plane thing. . as the last ride of the day) !

and Drag Queen Chickens! that I loved so much I bought the magnet, even tho I HATE Disc-O's and didn't ride the ride

OMG. . I'm so far behind. . you're already at Liseberg in your report! but such wonderful memories. a few comments: 1) no, i was not allowed to ride the carousel in the hotel. Was told point blank that even with a child, no adults allowed. (sniff). . but that's OK. .I took a TON of pictures of it. 2) you mentioned we learn more than we ever needed to know about the park's mascots. . but you didn't bring up the toilet scenes? YES! more than 1 of them in the dark ride, including a whole section with multiple (occupied by rabbits) outhouses! Don't you worry, I have pics from the ride of those - because, of course I do. . . LOL & 3) I guess it's more reliable than the dipping dots guy. . but the gentleman working the photo booth on the Flume, did tell me that it is not getting removed. But they are about to close it for a year, and do a major refurbishment on it. great report Chuck. and glad you stayed virus free for this visit (the Trees in Sweden are what tried to kill ME. . and that's when I started to have allergy reactions)

they changed the name on the Troika (went from Crazy Legs, to Harley Quinn, to just Spinsanity after the new Harley Ride opened). then, of course, they decomissioned the Troika. .and now they've also decomissioned the Turbillion Harley Ride too. . . HOPEFULLY the Troika will come back.. it's still in the boneyard, and still painted Red/White/Black in Harley Colors.