Photo TR: Divv's Danish Adventure

Divv3k · June 9, 2008

Hello all and welcome to another trip report from yours truly, Divv.

I've spent the last four days in Denmark with Non-German Tom checking out the parks, the rides and the occasional Danish hottie. Be sure to check out Tom's trip report whenever it appears - it's sure to be similar to this one but probably even better!

Update list:

PART ONE: DJURS SOMMERLAND (below)

PART TWO: FARUP SOMMERLAND

PART THREE: KAROLINELUND

PART FOUR: BONBON-LAND

PART FIVE: BAKKEN

PART SIX: TIVOLI GARDENS

PART SEVEN: TOLK-SCHAU

PART EIGHT: SOMMERLAND SYD

PART NINE: LEGOLAND BILLUND

PART TEN: TIVOLI FRIHEDEN

So without any further ado here's park number one of ten...

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PART ONE:

DJURS SOMMERLAND

Pretty much as soon as Piraten was announced last year Tom and I agreed that we would be over to check it out shortly after it opened. Now despite my experience with Intamin hypers being limited to Millennium Force (damn you S:ROS for being closed!) I was excited about this due to the good reputation of similar rides. And deliver Piraten did. Despite its small size it really packs a punch. This is just pure fun - great ejector air on pretty much every hill and super smooth of course. I really can't wait for Goliath and Expedition GeForce now!

But Piraten isn't the only great thing about Djurs Sommerland - the place is filled with loads of great rides and has lots of real charm. The park also has a very "RCT" feel to it. In a good way.

The Gerstlauer Bobsled was a lot of fun. With some pretty insane helixes of death and a nice little airtime hill too. The queue line has some really cool theming to it as well.

Also of note are the off road go-karts. These were a lot of fun and surprisingly not an upcharge attraction. I normally don't bother with upcharge rides so it was great to get to do this.

Oh and if you visit this park you absolutely MUST check out the "Jungle Safari with Chico and the Poachers" (seriously that's what it says on the map. Words can't describe how random that thing is.

We tried out pretty much every ride in the park, although we had to take two goes at getting on the log flume as we got evacuated the first time!

All in all this was a really nice place with a great atmosphere that was a lot of fun for all ages. I can see TPR having a LOT of fun here on the Scandinavian trip next year.

Here's some photos...

Aha! Finally a photo of me! Djurs Sommerland is a fantastic park and well worth a visit. Especially so now that Piraten is there. I know I'll be back here someday.

Farup Sommerland is up next!

Photos don't do this thing justice. I can't wait to try the other Intamin hypers on the Europe trip!

Just look at it!

Mmmm... Piraten...

It may be small. But that doesn't it stop it being amazing!

Here's some more Piraten to drool over.

OK, back over to see these dudes.

If you like fruit or veg Djurs Sommerland is the place for you!

Tom and his "spunk"! I love foreign sweets!

But it was nothing compared to Farup Sommerland's the next day!

Its fun. And we thought it was a little challenging.

Tarzanland is the parks obstacle course.

And there he is! These were great!

Tom's ready to go.

Djurs also has off road go karts!

EVACUATED!

This doesn't look quite right.

Lets give it a go.

This log flume looks fun.

Yay for Wacky Worms!

Yes, we are sad and pathetic.

The ride itself is a little lame but that suited me in this case. I thought it was alright.

Here's the topple tower. Which was incredibly themed for a little flat ride.

If you ever forget where you are just check out the side of the rapids boats!

Oh and there's monkeys humping branches. This is just one of those rides you have to experience. It really took us by surprise!

There's also a cameo from King Kong.

Yes, the ride is this messed up!

OMG! We're on Lost: The Ride!

Yes that is a turtle hanging in front of you.

Tom's not quite sure what he's let himself in for.

According to the map this translate to Chico and the Poachers.

Anyway, fun ride. Go ride it!

"Enter the surface forbidden"! WTF?

No, you are not seeing things!

Yay for pseudo-donkeys in the queue line!

Here's a fun little hill!

Yep, its just a big mess of track!

It's definitely whetted my appetite to try more of these rides!

Lift hill enthusiasts rejoice!

This Gerstlauer Bobsled was good fun.

Such as Thor's Hammer!

Djurs Sommerland does have other rides...

OK enough drooling over Piraten. We'll be back later.

There's plenty of T-shirts and other random crap available.

The ride exits into a little shop filled with Piraten souvenirs.

Another happy train of riders returns to the station.

...after ejec... You get the picture! Pure awesomeness!

...after ejector airtime hill...

Then its just ejector airtime hill...

...over the twisty hill...

and down the first drop...

Up the super fast lift hill...

OK, enough messing around. Let's go and get eaten by a big skull!

Just in case any of Big Mike's readers are joining us here are the 2008 admission prices.

First stop - Djurs Sommerland. Home of Piraten!

We're in Denmark and here's our rental car for the next four days so let's get going!

coaster_dude2002 · June 9, 2008

Great TR so far Divv!

Djurs Sommerland looks like an awesome park, and those off road go-karts sounds like a ton of fun.

Can't wait to see the rest.

- Andrew

RIP Psyclone · June 9, 2008

I've been to Denmark, and it was my favorite of the Scandinavian countries. Unfortunately, I only visited Tivoli Gardens, so I hope to see that park in this report. I hope to do the TPR Scandinavia trip since in my summer 2005 trip I was definately "doing it wrong." By that I mean not visiting theme parks, of course.

Steffen_Dk · June 10, 2008

Great pics!

Looks like you had lots of fun; and an evacuation - I've never experienced that out there, and I'm coming there so often.... And what about the go karts - you weren't getting choked over the extreme durst they produce?

Shockwave · June 10, 2008

^I wouldn't call the dust extreme, and I'm one of the worst allergy sufferers out there!

Djurs was a nice little park with some quirky stuff and a great coaster in Piraten.

The best bit was how much responsibility people took over there, a lot of the stuff in Demark would never be allowed in the US or even Britain because of the way things are.

cobra_roll06 · June 10, 2008

Great start Divv! Looks like an awesome little place. Looking forward to the the rest!

Divv3k · June 10, 2008

PART TWO

FARUP SOMMERLAND

Wow, what a park! I absolutely loved this place. Right up there with places like Kennywood and Liseberg IMO. It just has a really great atmosphere and some really great fun rides.

Obviously the big attraction is Lynet which just opened the day before our visit. Thankfully the park wasn't too busy so we got to ride a few times. It's a lot of fun, especially in the front. The back has some bumpy spots after the MCBR. There's good airtime and some good laterals too. Plus its themed really well. I can see this ride being a big success for the park. Hopefully more of these rides will start to pop up around the world soon.

The other big coaster in the park is Falken. What a fantastic ride! I'll be honest I didn't think it looked that amazing in video but that just shows that you should never judge a ride by a video. It's really great. fantastic airtime on every hill and just generally a lot of fun. It's a little rough on the final turnaround but apart from that it's all pretty good.

Other things worth mentioning:

- The speed boats! Yeah they have speed boats in which you can do a lap round their little lake which is a LOT of fun. Again, this isn't an upcharge which makes it even better!

- The obstacle course! OMG, this was like something out of Gladiators. It's really long with loads of cool different things to try. We were both pretty exhausted by the end of it. Especially Tom - who actually made it across the monkey bars!

- Trampolines and bouncy castle things. These were great fun and yet again another way in which to exhaust yourself silly!

All in all I have to say that this place really exceeded my expectations. I'm really looking forward to visiting this place again some day!

Here's some pictures...

Words can't express how cool Farup Sommerland is. Definitely one of my favourite parks. Get over to Denmark and check it out!

Karolinelund will be up next!

It has some real nice airtime on this hill.

Definitely a great addition to Denmark's coaster collection.

Here's another look at Lynet before we leave.

If you go to this park you won't be able to buy any merchandise. That's because Tom bought it all.

Here's some gun POV.

Yes, the park let you shoot guns!

I don't know how we did it but we somehow made it through the obstacle course alive!

Here's Tom entering Anita's back door.

Here's Tom moments before his momentous completion of the monkey bars.

I was convinced I was gonna die here.

Slide POV!

Time to take on the obstacle course!

Here's Tom - presenting TPR slush!

Tom mastered the art of bouncing on his head.

And succeeds. (Although I did it first)

Tom takes on the triangle.

I love Denmark!

Although we managed to get through this one without getting evacuated.

The log flume here has the same layout as the one at Djurs.

He just kept bouncing around for hours. In fact he might well still be there bouncing away.

Tom has a go on the embedded bouncy castle thing.

The weather was really hot today so the rapids were a welcome cool down.

Did I mention that Denmark has hotties wherever you look?

Tom invites you to play his game.

This is the ride where every photo is "through the trees"!

Everyone loves the Vekoma ride.

This one's just for you Erik!

Tom enjoys his banana. There's a much better caption in this photo I'm sure.

Another fruit stall. This isn't something you'd see in a UK park.

Again there was a only a small line for these despite not being an upcharge. Needless to say we had a couple of goes.

There goes Tom speeding along.

Ah, the speed boats. These were bloody amazing.

This really is a great ride. S&S are two for two with great woodies for me.

Another happy train of Falken riders come back into the station.

Tom's looking for people. It's like our own little ERT session. The funny thing is the car park was really packed today. But most rides were like this!

It has great airtime over every hill.

This woodie really packs a punch!

I liked this ride a lot!

Falken is the other big draw at Farup Sommerland.

This one wasn't too Divv-unfriendly.

I don't know how they did it but they managed to make a spinning mouse look semi decent!

Flagermusen is the park's spinning mouse.

It really is a solid addition to the park. And just one of many reasons to visit Farup Sommerland.

This is one of those rides that can really appeal to everyone.

Although I would NOT like to wait in all that queue line! Thankfully the queue was only about 20 minutes or so all day.

The whole area around the ride is really nice.

See - flips like this.

Then its all bends and flips and stuff.

And over the airtime hill.

Up the top hat you go.

That's right. There's finally a ride named after a Desperate Housewife.

They call it Lynet!

As soon as we got into the park we followed the masses towards this big wacky shack type thing!

Park number two of the trip - Farup Sommerland!

downunder · June 11, 2008

Divv, you should be the recruitment manager for the TPR 2009 Scandanavia trip, I'm sold. Those parks look like they have so much character and detail, rather a lump of concrete with coasters on it.

Steffen_Dk · June 11, 2008

Great TR again

I still have Lynet coming to one, and these pics really draw me! I've only seen POV's of it, and it looks like it's going over the tophat with a pretty decent speed - am I right?

Lynet's theming must be Europe's answer to Mystery Mine. I'm actually quite impressed over the Lynet theming, since the rest of the park is a little blaah.. with the theming.

Shockwave · June 11, 2008

^The theming is not super amazing, but they've made a good effort with it. The ride has got some great airtime over the tophat and the hills. It's a bit of the Gerstlauer shakes through the turns, but it's a good little ride that fits in really well with the park.

Fårup Sommerland was without doubt my favourite park of the whole trip. There was just so much fun to be had, and even the spinning mouse (almost all of which I hate with a passion) didn't fail to bring a smile to my face. The whole atmosphere is just incredible.

Divv3k · June 11, 2008

PART THREE

KAROLINELUND

After the day in Farup Sommerland we ventured out to Karolinelund which wasn't very far from our hotel in Aalborg. This park used to be called Tivoli World but for some reason its not called that anymore.

It's a nice little park for what it is. It was very quiet when we were there and so it did lack a bit of the atmosphere that the other Danish parks had. We still had fun there but it's not a place you need more than an hour or two at.

The most amazing thing of note at Karolinelund is the Wacky Worm. Or should I say Wackiest Worm! Not only did this Wacky Worm have tunnels and more pronounced humps it also had TWO TRAINS!!! I kid you not. OK, so the other one was just sitting there looking like it had been unused for a long time but it did seem that this ride actually functioned with two trains at one point. I've never seen anything like it.

The other coasters are death machines from Pinfari and Vekoma so needless to say we only rode them once. The ghost train had boobs so naturally Tom went for a second ride on that.

Here's some pictures...

It's a small park but its close enough to Farup Sommerland that it can be done in a few hours in the evening.

This was one of the most surprising things of the trip. Definitely my favourite Wacky Worm. The Wackiest Worm.

It was indeed themed better than any other Wacky Worm.

The humps seemed a bit bigger on this one compared to the three million other wacky worms that we'd rode. We wondered if this was in fact the original Wacky Worm.

Yet another ride that seeks to make X2 jealous.

You better believe it!

WOW!! What the hell is this? A Wacky Worm with TWO TRAINS?

OMG!!! They were horrifying!

It had been so long since Tom had seen any boobs he immediately rode again!

Ah the ghost train!

This one succeeds in making X2 jealous by having tunnels. Now if only we could some fire to melt the thing!

Another death machine! Woohoo!

The big drop tower looms over Aalborg.

Yay - a stacker! I tried it once. I sucked. Where's Steve when you need him?

Although coasters with green and white colour schemes always get extra points from me.

This was my fourth Vekoma Boomerang. How many do I have to go Erik?

Oh joy, a Vekoma Boomerang!

If any of Big Mike's readers speak Danish here's a 2008 price list for you.

OK, onto the park! This time Karolinelund. Or make that Tivoli Karolinelund?

I tried out some local variations of my favourite snacks.

Enter the sex shop through the newsagents! I love Denmark!

Right next to the hotel its reassuring to know that our sex shop needs will be catered for.

It was very nice. It even offered partial Vekoma boomerang views!

This is the hotel in Aalborg where we stayed for a couple of nights.

Tom proclaimed that this was the most Scottish he'd ever seen me so lets finish this one on that note.

BonBon-Land will be up next!

Steffen_Dk · June 11, 2008

The park changed it name because it was in bad financial circumstances; then it was sold to a man who runs some stalls and rides at Bakken - he changed the name from Tivoliland to Tivoli Karolinelund. Tivoli Karolinelund was the park's former name, so he thought that the name change could might have a positive influence on the park, but it didn't!

The he sold it to the municipality, which is now the owner of the park - they've made some changes, for example FREE ENTRANCE, and I'm pretty sure that the park now is back on track again..

That was a little back ground history

chmilo24 · June 11, 2008

Pussykat Sex Shop!?!? That hella funny.

I can't wait untill I go on my Europe trip. Though I just may have to miss KAROLINELUND.

thecoasterkid · June 12, 2008

I already wanted to go on the Scandanavia trip next year, and now I want to go even more! Great start to your report, I can't wait to see the rest.

Divv, you continue to make me more and more jealous. How you have the time/money to do these trips is beyond me. Can you hook a friend up with a job!? Haha.

Divv3k · June 12, 2008

^ Well I get 25 days holiday a year at my job and this year every single one of them is set side for some kind of trip! On the money thing I really do just try and save wherever I can in other areas so that I can afford the trips.

It's well worth noting though that Scandinavia is very expensive - even for someone from the UK. That said, I tend to feel its worth that bit of extra money since the places are so cool!

I'm doing the BonBon-Land update now so it should be up in a bit.

TheRapidsNerd · June 12, 2008

Enjoyed this one thus far and thank you kindly for the rapids shots. Always great to see those.

Love the themeing in Djurs and Farup. I'll second that love of country regarding the log flume pic too. Gives one a swelling of pride.

Divv3k · June 12, 2008

PART FOUR

BONBON-LAND

Originally we had only planned only doing Tivoli Friheden on the third day of our trip. However after finding out that the new Ride Tek coaster wouldn't be open yet we figured we'd be able to squeeze Tivoli Friheden onto our last day of the trip and free up an entire day to visit some other parks.

So after a night of scrambling around the internet in the hotel we came up with a plan of hitting three parks on the Saturday. This is the first of those three.

BonBon-Land is awesome! Yes, it's a lot of off the shelf rides but they've all got that extra touch to make them really look really cool. Of course there's also the whole "bodily function" aspect too which is endlessly amusing.

I also rode my 250th coaster here. When I realised that I'd be hitting this milestone Tom and I agreed that it really should be the dog fart coaster.

The Eurofighter wasn't the best. Maybe Speed has just spoiled me for those rides but I did really like the effort BonBon-Land put into this ride.

All in all this just another great park made special by the park's unique sense of humour.

Here's some photos.

Well I look a bit constipated in this one so I'm sure Nadia will approve.

BonBon-Land is just a really cool place to spend some time. I don't think there's a park anywhere with more laugh out loud rides!

Bakken is up next!

Boobs!

The cowboy section was a bit sparse. But it was still great for one reason...

Any ride involving monkey's gets the thumbs up from me!

Oh dear.

Is that TPR members making their way to the airport for the Europe trip?

Octopus humping? Check!

This is just another one of those "only in Europe" type things.

They like to poke fun at other countries.

This is BonBon-Land's answer to Chico and the Poachers.

More boobs!

I love Denmark!

It's things like this that make this place so great.

Here's another example of the awesomeness that is BonBon-Land!

Did I mention that it was HOT! The rapids entrance was quite hidden away. But well worth the search.

This drop ride was fun. Though I won't ruin the surprise at the end. You'll have to ride it for yourself!

We rounded out the BonBon-Land credits with a ride on Kaninus. The park's kiddie coaster.

This is just the greatest thing ever!

Yay for the dog fart coaster!

And what better coaster to do it on at BonBon-Land?

Time for me to hit another coaster milestone. #250

Furries are out in force in BonBon-Land.

This is about as RCT as you can get!

This one didn't make me ill so it instantly gets extra points for that.

Down the first drop you go.

It's good fun. But again I think Dragon's Fury has spoiled me for spinning coasters.

Han-Katten is the park's newest coaster.

Thankfully it seems that Euro Fighters have only gotten better since this one opened.

Vertical loops are always fun.

This one was alright. But it was a bit rough around the edges.

This was the very first Euro Fighter.

The ride's station kinda shows off the sense of humour throughout the park.

Vild-Svinet is the park's Eurofighter.

Park number one of the day - BonBon-Land!

This is the Great Belt Bridge. It connects up a few of the Scandinavian islands. It's quite an impressive sight.

There's one!

It's Saturday morning and it's early. Lets go find some bridges!

Steffen_Dk · June 13, 2008

It nice to see all the weirdness and pervertedness gathered in one park - I miss Bonbonland; I must go there this year!

thecoasterkid · June 13, 2008

BonBonLand looks like a really wacky park that you can just have an amazing time in. Dogfart coaster is definitely a unique choice for #250!

Divv, great stuff as usual. I'll continue to live vicariously through you with the rest of this PTR and the Europe trip!

TheRapidsNerd · June 14, 2008

BonBon Land is soooo messed up. I like it! Good TR too.

Divv3k · June 14, 2008

Thanks for the comments!

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PART FIVE

BAKKEN

After spending a few hours at BonBon-Land we planned on hitting the two Copenhagen parks. We knew we wouldn't have much time at them but thought it was worth it since we were so close and it meant credits!

Bakken is the oldest amusement park in the world. I really liked it! It's got a very cool atmosphere which was probably accentuated due to the sheer number of people in the place. Although despite the vast number of people there was hardly any waits for the rides. This was due in part to some fantastic operations by the staff and in part due to the fact a lot of people were just relaxing and enjoying the bars and restaurants.

The Scenic Railway at Bakken was probably the best of the four Ive rode. There' air time on that thing in places you don't expect airtime.

The Mine Train had one of the best ride crews I've ever seen. Despite only having one train they couldn't have pushed through people any faster. Plus they were doing cool things like jumping onto the back of the train while it was moving and rocking out to the awesome music that was playing in the station!

There's also a really cool Ghost Train at Bakken with one really surprsing moment. I won;t ruin it but if you've been on the inverted monorail thing at Tibidabo you might have an idea of what it is!

Anyway, we didn't spend too long but we got to ride all the coasters, the ghost train and the shot tower. I really liked Bakken. A bit different from the other places we'd been to so far.

I didn't take too many pictures here but here are a few...

That'll do it from Bakken. I really liked this place. Although you don't need more than a few hours there they are a fun few hours!

Tivoli Gardens is next!

The parks mine train was really good. It had one of the most insane first drops I've ever seen on a mine train.

They hold the train on the lift hill to allow parents take photos of their kids.

Marie Honen is the sad and pathetic credit here.

Man these Splash Battles sure are showing up EVERYWHERE!

Tom rides wacky flat ride of death.

The double shot was good. Parts of it are enclosed to keep the noise down.

It's lots of fun!

Here's another of the coasters - Racing.

This is the ghost train. It's very dark and has quite a surprising moment!

and here's the green train! Did I mention the operations here were amazing?

So you just saw the red train. Here's the blue train...

Just a great fun ride. It's amazing to think it was built in 1932!

Despite the park being packed you could still got onto the rides in minutes.

Rutschebanen. A fantastic Scenic Railway.

Park number two of the day - Bakken!

HighExtreme · June 14, 2008

Fantastic TR, just returned from Liseberg/Farup/Djurs myself really impressed by those parks, as you've mentioned the sommerlands aren't just about the rides, there's lots of distractions, such as shooting ranges, assault courses and trampolines which are just a complete giggle and something a little different to your usual amusement park

Did you manage to get inside the ship themed fun house at Bakken?

Divv3k · June 14, 2008

^ Thanks! The ship themed fun house at Bakken was very random and a lot of fun! I think Tom took some photos inside it so keep an eye on his TR for that!

tnguy · June 14, 2008

Cool I hadn't seen very much of Bakken before. It looks like a nice park. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Divv3k · June 15, 2008

PART SIX

TIVLOI GARDENS

After Bakken we drove into the centre of Copenhagen using a bit of improvisation due to umpteen closed roads. We got parked up right next to Tivoli Gardens and headed in for a bit.

We only rode the coasters so we definitely didn't get the best out of the place but we didn't have long, needed to get a decent meal in us too and had a long drive to our hotel in Germany ahead of us. The good thing about Tivoli Gardens is that its open at Christmas time so it makes it an easy place to go back to when everywhere else is closed.

Here's the photos (again I didn't take many)...