martinb Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 So there was another add-on trip on top of the add-on trip?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imdrunk Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Does the trip ever end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 After Linnanmaki, we headed back up to Tampere to stay at a very nice Scandin hotel with an awesome restaurant with tapas and stuff. The next morning, it was a quick drive to Sarkanniemi, another park located in a city. This one was newer, and was more of a resort/city park, with an aquarium, observatory, petting zoo, and amusements section. The location couldn't be beat, right on the lake. Â The park had lots of rides and boasted 6 coasters, including a Volare, a Vekoma whirlwind corkscrew (that make the same lift noise and kerchunk that Knoebels did!), and Tornado, the Intamin invert with a heartline roll through the station. The park was very cool and was also fairly lively, but there weren't long waits for anything. It was definitely a nice park that I look forward to returning to. The tower was a great way to "Finnish" to our day at Sarkanniemi =D I'm trying to take the day glow red train home with me Here you can see most of the layout of Tornado You can see how the rides park is located on a peninsula Like this exclusive layout shot of the corkscrew. How it got to be smooth, I have no idea! Then we headed up the 400 foot tower to take some pictures of the park from up there The final coaster to ride, and my #600, was the Volare, Trombi (which means mini-tornado in Finnish) A Huss Take-Off was the newest ride. It did a fair amount of spinning at first, but then kinda died out. Still, not Elissa-friendly There's also a Jet Star right on the lakeside. These are always fun coasters...unless you ride tandem with Jeff, then you fear for your life All the operators were hot, which helped our longest wait of the day (4 train wait on the kiddie coaster) worth our while Next up was the Corkscrew, just like Whirlwind at Knoebels...complete with lift noises and kerchunk. Surprisingly though...IT WAS SMOOTH! WTF?! There was even airtime down the first drop if you sat in the back! Even cooler than Volcano I wish more Intamin inverts were made, because it was really cool and different. And flying thru the station upside down is really neat. Much better than Thunderhead's fly-thru Threading the vertical loop, how can I not love this ride Our next stop was Tornado, for some more Intamin goodness The rapids ride looked pretty cool, but we had coasters to ride. Notice how the 400 foot observation tower can be seen from anywhere! A lot cooler than disk-o, but that may be because of the extra verticalness of the spikes Our first stop was Half Pipe, the original Intamin halfpipe coaster It was a quick 10 minute city drive to get to Sarkanniemi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollermonkey Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Ah! Now the jealousy sets in! Â Keep 'em coming, Derek! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niiicolaaah Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Â Damn, you're cute! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted July 1, 2006 Author Share Posted July 1, 2006 The final park on the agenda was also the home of the northern-most woodie. PowerPark in Alaharma, Finland is the home of the newly constructed GCI and the last GCI credit, Thunderbird. I feel lucky enough to have gotten up here, because honestly, the park is in the middle of nowhere! Lots of people compare it to Beech Bend, but in all honesty, its much nicer than BB is. First off, pretty much everything has some signs of theming, like they're trying to form themed sections. The park is also home to many permanent footered rides, like the boomerang. We got to talk with the park owner, who told us of his plans for the next couple of seasons. This small park in the middle of nowhere should continue to open its arms and grab more and more people each year. PowerPark was a really nice way to "Finnish" off our trip with its nice new woodie. Even Robb enjoyed the darkride, because it had boobs! And the park has a darkride for people like Bret and Dave Here's the western section of the park Tommi thought the drop tower was pretty cool You are not allowed to bring dogs, alcohol, cars, radioactive materials or elephants on skateboards into the park. What a downer. Sorry, Pinky, you and your skateboard need to stay in the car Powerland (the rides section) has a very RCT-like entrance PowerPark also has indoor gocarts, again which require you to wear helmets and fire suits Here's a model of Thunderbird, for those of you who want to see the whole layout but cannot find any other websites besides TPR As well as a Crazy Barn The park had some "Finnished" areas with flowers and ponds and such As seen here! Some of us enjoyed the Booster Someone wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel, but after its 27 minute long 1 rotation, that person never fessed up to wanting to ride it The ride actually went thru the house! This was the coolest thing of the trip! An "indoor" Frisbee! Joyride is the L&T built, Stengel designed, Intamin track configured final coaster at the park It was really smooth, and though the new restraints were reminiscient of the tightness of the X-car, they weren't bad But its also got these new trains! and magnetic braking Its still got the vertical loop! Last year the park got a new Vekoma boomerang And the trains are very vintage, just like the rest of the newer GCIs You know its definitely a GCI with its tight compact layout And the entrance has very elaborate theming While not as extreme as OzCat or Thunderhead, its still lots of fun, and really well constructed and smooth We got ultra-exclusive ERT on the newest GCI The coaster was ordered after the owner rode Thunderhead at Dollywood, so I'm told But this is the main reason we came to the middle of nowhere Finland, Thunderbird The only bad thing about visiting this place in late June is that this is what it looks like outside at midnight The park started off with some go-carts that go like 40mph! You gotta wear helmets and fire suits to ride them Robb was only too happy with the hotel restaurants and the "Green Monster" The bathrooms were ultra swanky too And were built so solid, even old man Johnson couldn't hear us yelling next door The rooms were really nice Our hotel was right at the park Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USRoadTripper Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Agreed...Powerpark looks much nicer than Beech Bend. Which would you say you liked better, Thunderbird or Kentucky Rumbler? Â -Julie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 I'm not Derek, but I know that Robb and I liked Rumbler better than Thunderbird. Â Thunderbird reminded us more of the Roars (but better) but not as good as OzCat, Rumbler, or Thunderhead. Â Awesome pix Derek...it was good seeing the ass spray device again! Wonder if Dan is dry yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinb Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Even more great photos of a great little park. Â Them new Vekoma trains look uuuugly! But if it makes the ride smooth, they can't be bad. Â Maybe we'll see more of these trains appear on some old Vekoma's? Â -Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hicko Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Great pics. Thanks for posting them. Every year I see these parks in mainland Europe/Scandanavia and they are getting better and better. World class even. Our parks here in the UK are getting worse and starting to "fall beind". Cheap air travel here in Europe though is starting to make even the general public go for weekends away at places like Europa Park instead of Alton Towers. They need to stop thinking that were an isolated island and the custom will not go anywhere else and start thinking or realising that people are now starting to go elsewhere. Â PS Just consumed a couple of Stella Artois. Hence the passionate post lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 That was a cool Photo TR Derek, thanks for posting those. So when are you are Niiico coming down to Florida? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudtheWeiser Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Those finish parks look fun That Booster looks good they,ve just installed one down here on Brighton pier at the end 100 ft up and spinning towards the sea it always freaks me out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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