XII

Orkanens Øje - Tivoli Friheden

Disappear on the 2nd ring. I really don't want to die in an explosion and would way rather lose my cell phone. Would you rather live in outer space or live on the bottom of the ocean?

"Candy" - Cameo

I'll go over what I've seen within the past week. Ikiru - GREAT movie! I'd call it one of my favorite Kurosawa films, except I say that about all of them. Easily one of the most depressing films I've seen, and it just drips with emotion. Watanabe is just an ordinary man who hasn’t done much and BAM!! Stomach Cancer. 5 months to live. GO!!! And within that time, he builds a playground. It’s not an amazing huge feat. But it really moves you. It’s not that this is a great story with a big climax, but it’s a journey for Watanabe. A journey to find himself and give back on his way out. It’s the kind of action you might see a real person do with the last months of their life. It’s not amazing or going to change the world, but it will make some people happy and serve as a nice deed on his way out the door. Big Hero 6 - After all the hype and seeing several of my friends orgasm for this movie, I finally saw it, and I really liked. True, it's not that great as a Superhero Movie and not even the best Disney Superhero Movie (The Incredibles did it better), but it's still a great movie for one main reason. Baymax. This is easily one of my favorite Disney characters. I know it’s weird because he’s a robot and he doesn’t get out of his programming or want to be human or change. He literally only does what he was programmed to do. He was designed as a health care robot, and that’s what he does. Focusing on both physical and mental health. And Baymax does a damn good job. He is very soothing, very calming, and goes beyond the screen to comfort you (or at least he did with me). I can think of many times where I was depressed and could've used Baymax in my life. 127 Hours - Despite it being about a dude who is literally just trapped by a boulder for 127 hours and forced to amputate his arm in the end, it's still a well made and very suspenseful. It's very hallucinogenic as the film focuses a lot on how he imagines freeing himself, his family, his past relationships, all the things that he did wrong with his life, and about the hikers he met up with. I particularly like how he's still a hiker and mountaineer despite the incident and he didn't let the experience traumatize him and force him into a safe hermit life. I know I do a lot of outdoor activities including hiking and I'm not sure how I'd react if forced into that situation (and hopefully will never discover what it's like). So it was interesting in that regard as well.

Kennywood

"Careful with that Axe Eugene" - Pink Floyd

^ Fired

So many to choose from, but ultimately, I'm going to have to go with the Apple Fritter.

I'd put in a vote for New Texas Giant. Now don't get me wrong. I still really like the ride and it does have some strong airtime. But this did not seem to be on the same level as El Toro and Balder as it was hyped up to be. I know it hadn't have warmed up when I rode, so I'm hoping that it'll be running better later in the day.

Outlaw - Adventureland

"My Soul" - Johnny Winter

Canobie Lake Park

"What I Like About You" - The Romantics

Your Region

All right. It's 2015 and I want to wrap up this Photo TR and complete TPR's Scandi Trip again. So let's move on to the next park on the trip. Djurs Summerland. This is a really fun park. Granted, it's not like your typical major park in America with a bunch of roller coasters and not much else. It's more like if a summer camp greatly expanded and added a bunch of rides, including some really great coasters. Piraten - This was my first Intamin Mega-Lite and I LOVED it. There's only one hill on the ride that doesn't produce airtime. Everything else is jam-packed. The ending is particularly aggressive with not only strong airtime, but also a couple moments of strong laterals. Juvalen - Easily my favorite of the Motorbike Coasters I've ridden. This ride sort of reminds me of Manta @ Sea World San Diego. It's a family coaster, but it's a damn good family coaster with two fun launches, and actually some strong laterals in the 2nd half and it's just an overall really good ride. And yeah. It's still a fun park outside the coasters. While it doesn't have anything too amazing or special outside the Intamin Mega-Lite, it does have a couple unique things to it. It's the only place I know that still has a functioning Topple Tower, and while it's not exactly unique, all the other trampolines, swings, and random attractions do make for a fun atmosphere to just have a good time. Definetly make sure you check out Djurs Sommerland, and not just for the Mega-Lite (though that really is the best thing here). Onto the photos. All right. Time for our next park. Today, we're at the world of Djurs Sommerland, which was one of the highly anticipated parks on the trip. And of course, the park is extremely happy to see us. First things first, let's start out ERT on Djurs Sommerland's newest coaster. Juvelen. It may not be the star attraction of the park, but Juvelen is a damn good coaster. It's very much like Manta @ Sea World San Diego. So that's a really good sign. These turns in the 2nd half are GOOD!!! Really good!!! Do not understimate this ride. It really does kick ass. Juvelen may be fun and all, but it's time we moved onto the star attraction of the park. Best line theming ever. Yep. We now have 90 minutes of ERT on Piraten, also known as... AN INTAMIN MEGA-LITE!!! Yep, I finally got on an Intamin Mega-Lite today!!! And yes, it is an airtime machine. That's the only part of the ride that doesn't have any airtime. YOINK!!! EJECTOR AIR!!! The first half may be really good with some ejector air, but this is the moment on the ride where it really starts to get crazy. Ass, say goodbye to your seat. As if ERT on a ride like this wasn't good enough, we got to play crazy games such as Pass the Sword (Don't drop it Doug)!!! And of course, we had a TV crew come and film us because, apparently we're interesting enough to be in Danish News. After giving up on Peter Pan, Captain Hook has decided to retire at Djurs Sommerland for easy access to the Mega-Lite. Well, the park is open. So let's get the low capacity rides out of the way. Unlike many water coasters, this one actually counts as a credit, so ride it we must. Ignore the 55 degree F (13 degree C) weather and just enjoy the ride. Ok. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "Ugh. Now I'm all wet. Dammit Kevin!!!" "Ever felt down because you lack Spunk? Well fear no more. Spunk is avaliable for purchase at Djurs Sommerland for only 50 kr." Continuing on with the credits, we move onto Thor's Hammer. While technically not my first Gerstlauter Bobsled, it was my first Bobsled that wasn't an indoor lateral-fest. I must admit. It was a fun little ride. Warning. Rain may randomly fall on you on this ride. Really hope more bobsleds like this end up being built. This path better lead us straight back to the Mega-Lite. "This is the only exercise we're gonna get all day!!!" "Ooh!! Kenyan Cuisine!!! How authentic!!!" If you thought the treatment of Animatronic Hippos was bad at Disneyland, wait till you take a look at how the stuffed lions are treated at Djurs Sommerland *sniff*. =( Not even movie star, King Kong is safe from harm at Djurs Sommerland. =( "Something terrible has happened!!!" Just like at Nickelodeon Universe, they run their chairswings here backwards. Sweet!!! I'm not gonna make that same mistake this time. Well...I learned that they only run backwards for part of the day, and they returned forewards when I came back. =( Stop it!! This is not good for the buffalo!! All right. Time for lunch, and Djurs Sommerland put out a good spread for us. Why can I only get Diet Fanta here? While this may look similar to the bake-your-own bread at Hansa Park and Legoland Billund, this one just straight out gives you raw dough that's inedible and you have to completely cook it yourself!! I love Europe. Hey Neil!! How's El Toro? "All right. We're gonna ride Ornen. Why is this such a big deal?" "Because to my knowledge, Ornen is the only Topple Tower still running in the world!!! I thought they had all gone extinct, but nope. The one at Djurs Sommerland still works. Sorry about the lack of a photo of it in motion. I could either ride the Topple Tower or get offride shots of the Topple Tower, and I'm sure you know what choice I made. But hey, it was open and...all the stuff said about them are true. They're fun, but not nearly as cool as they look. So while it's not anywhere near the best flat ride ever, I'm glad I rode it just for its sheer uniqueness. "Sh*t!! What happened to that seat I was supposed to put up here!!?" BROOKE IS DOWN!!! I REPEAT!!! BROOKE IS DOWN!!! I love how all the parks around here have these awesome bouncing pillows. Oh look. How many of those places have we been to so far? Come on lads!! Let's all go become pirates!! And of course, we had to get more rides on the Mega-Lite. Don't be fooled by it's looks. It's one of the best coasters out there. After pushing down the bar for so many overweight Americans, I'm grateful that my job is now so much easier. I kind of regret not riding this tilting drop tower. It looked like a fun, or at least interesting, ride. Oh Crap!! We still have one last credit I nearly forgot about!! Yes, what day would be complete without a ride on the classic Wacky Worm. Screw the Mega-Lite!! Best ride in the park!! Come on everyone!! Climb up the triangle of death!! Get your ass down that slide Garbles. Neil has apparently given up on the triangle and is sliding on down. They also have these spider-webs (or at least that's what I've been calling them) for you to climb on. And of course, we just had to end the visit with a ride on Piraten. Mmm. Mega-Lite Goodness *drools*. Good-bye Djurs Sommerland. You're an awesome park and (provided I play my cards right) I'm really looking foreword to riding another Mega-Lite in 2015. Thanks for reading and please leave any comments you may have. Tivoli Friheden Photos will be up soon.

Ukko - Linnemaki

"Jack and Diane" - John Mellencamp

Haven't been on all the coasters listed, but here's my take on the ones that I have ridden. Silver Star - Currently my least favorite B&M Hyper. It's still a fun ride and all, but it's nothing special. Blue Fire - Really fun ride. The beginning is kind of floaty, but the final inline twist is pretty damn good. Katun - GREAT ride. One of my favorite B&M Inverts. Very fast, very forceful, it never lets up. Ispeed - LOVE Ispeed. This ride has everything. Strong Ejector Air, great laterals, by far the most whip on any inline twist. It's fast, it's aggressive, it's mean, and I love every second of it. Still in my Top 5 to this day. Desert Race - I keep forgetting this ride exists. Colossos - It's an Intamin Pre-Fab Woodie, and I love them all. Granted, I do prefer the other two I've ridden (El Toro and Balder), but this is still among the best wooden coasters in the world. Tonnerre De Zeus - This is one of those rides that's good, but you could totally tell it used to be much better and I missed out on its glory days. Goudurix - Worst Coaster Ever. The hatred for this ride is not exaggerated and all criticism of it is totally deserved.

Money doesn't buy happiness. The lack of money causes depression. There's a difference.

A: American Thunder B: Balder C: Coaster (PNE Playland) D: Dueling Dragons (Fire) E: El Toro F: Fluch Von Novgorod G: Goliath (La Ronde) H: Helix I: Ispeed J: Jetline K: Kumba L: Lynet M: Maverick N: New Texas Giant O: Outlaw Run P: Phoenix Q: N/A R: Raven S: Storm Runner T: Tornado (Bakken) U: Ukko V: Voyage W: Winjas X: X2 Y: Yankee Cannonball Z: Zoomerang

Kraken I've been on Superman: Krypton Coaster, but not Kraken, so new credit and experience. One way trip (no coming back) to the Past or Future?

Ain't It Fun - Paramore

The Simpsons

I voted neutral as I felt that my thoughts on how Six Flags operated their parks was a roller coaster ride. The operations and way the park operated seemed average at the start of the year. But during the summer, they really did not run SFMM well. Operations seemed worse than normal, and everything just seemed much worse than in previous years. So this would be a vote for "Worse than in previous years". However, SFMM really seemed to significantly improve when Colossus closed and construction on Twisted Colossus began. Construction on TC is hauling ass and seems far faster than their previous new coasters like Full Throttle, and I was really impressed with everything they did for Holiday in the Park. They completely went above and beyond for everything they did in that event and really turned around, doing a better job than I've seen the park do in years. So with that "Better than in previous years" end of the year and "Worse than previous years" summer, I canceled the two out and voted average. However, if SFMM keeps the entire park run the way it was run for "Holiday in the Park" for all of 2015, then I'm predicting that this is going to be a really good year for the park.