Photo TR: Bill's SCANDI-navia was DANDI-navia TPR 2009 Tour!

[rollin_n_coastin]

^Exactly! They always work well in Scandi.

[Nrthwnd]

Totally forgot about that on that coaster, LOL!

 

Made coming back into the station, all the more "special," hee hee.

 

[Nrthwnd]

Another day of an early breakfast, loading luggage back onto the coach, depart our loooovely Gotesborg hotel and continue on to our newxt park with a rather unusual coaster....

 

~ Skara Sommerland ~

 

This was the home of another coaster on the tour we weren't too sure whether it would up and operating when we got there. But after an hour two, and some initial testing, not only was Tranan up and running, but because the late operating probs ran into our scheduled ERT with it, the management generously let us have First Rides on Tranan, once they got it going! AND they also gave us a neat gift of an On-Ride photo of us on it, if we wanted one! Cool and Thankyou Skara Sommerland!

 

Tranan is literally two canoe-like ride cabs on either side of (what I call) "a balancing act of machine, track and wheels" that kept us 'flying' up, around and under/over this interesting coaster's track. One of the tricks the ride ops kept rtelling us was to keep our arms out "for balance." Uh huh. Well, we did, as you can see later on in my on-ride photo (set), lol.

 

Backing up, to keep us 'busy' while they tended to getting Tranan going for us, we got put on their other coaster, Gruvbanan, and honestly the number of cycles we went through on that..... thing? For a powered coaster.. I was really - feeling slighty - well, winded afterwards from it going round and round and round and...Not a repeat ride for me thankyou. And after we did get on Tranan (which was very cool to ride), our visiting schedule was shorted up a bit, so we got some food into us, then back on the bus, and several hours' drive to our next hotel.

 

But more importantly, this was the hotel that got us (for a couple of hours' visit) within walking distance of one of the original...

 

~IKEA Sweden ~

 

I am honestly jaded about this thing, as there are two IKEAS within an hour or so drive from Vancouver. And I do visit the place, from time to time. So it wasn't the 'contents' that I was interested in seeing (been there. bought that), so much as the "presentation" of it all.

 

And it - was - amazing! At least four floors, with GI-normous set-ups of furniture and accessories - including what I found really cool... small cafe and restaurant 'sets'! Not seen in my IKEAs, I can tell you. And of course, a MUCH BIGGER Swedish grocery area, than what ours had at home. Probably four times the size - very impressive. With Swedish Meatballs & Lingonberry Sauce to take home, too! Nice. But no photos of it sorry - although I do remember Jon and me posing in the Cafe Set for a pic...like we owned the place LOL! (Any chance of posting it here, guys? Might as well ask, hmm?)

 

After we spent time oohing and ahhhing (and some even buying) at the IKEA, it was back to the hotel, then back on the bus to do something really special...

 

~ Evening at Grona Lund! ~

 

The owners were there to greet us, take us to a reserved part of a Grona Lund bar/eatery where we had snacks, beverages (guess what?), and T-SHIRTS for us of our soon-to-ride (then) original coaster, INSANE! And after some time of snacking, talking and drinking, we were let loose on the park, till meet-up time for INSANE and JetLine (another Schwarzkopf!), once the park had closed!

 

My memories of that time period were mainly of, a few of us not only scaring other park guests but the actors too, in their great haunted 2-story walk-through, Spokhuset, heh heh. Evil us. And a flat ride I thought several of us were going to puke our guts out, from. Euuuuuuuw! But - amazingly - we didn't, lol. And we got to ride the two coasters at night, after the official closing time.

 

JetLine was so cool as the park had it dipping and diving all around several of the other park rides, including a coaster! This was Blackpool-style layout at it's best, I felt. Everything all over each other, but still with space to get around and get a great ride out of it - which we did, ee hah! And then...

 

INSANE - well, Magic Mountain Calif. now has one (Green Lantern) but this little (little?) beauty is/was the original design. And we got to ERT it to death - nearly for some of us too, LOL. One of us got a nosebleed, I remember, and a few others nearly pulled several muscles from the

"WhoooOOOOOOOOOSh and OOOOHHHMIIIGAWWDDDSWTFFFFFuuuuuUUUUUU!!!"

we got on it. I think I only made it through five cycles and then I - was - done. Can't remember the rest of the night after that. I do remember the ride ops had a great time running it with each ride vehicle "im-balanced" which they weren't going to be able to do with the general public. So, in essence, we suffered for their most intense cycles and (no-brake) runs, heh heh. It - Was - (true!) INSANE!!!

 

And the next morning, we came back to the park, and had almost a full day there, including a Backstage Tour of INSANE, and a lovely outdoor lunch, before our next Big Scandi Adventure... Overnight on Water to Finland!

At Skara Sommerland while we waited to ride Tranan - a possible new beau for KidTums? Naw, she turned him down.

So far, so good. Everything was checking out good for us...'testpilots' lol. And you can see one of the 'canoes' that we sit in, there. Wierd looking, huh? Four to a vehicle, one behind the other, (DL) Spash Mountain-style, lol.

And look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Well..... it's a coaster. A wierd coaster. And check out that "arm spread" up there, hee hee! And that's all I got - Bye bye and Thanks Skara Sommerland!

SO - after the IKEA run - Welcome Shot #! - here we are, drinking, and snacking and Drinking at Grona Lund YES! And no, I am NOT helping Josh drink a beer... I photoshopped that. Grin. I also think we need to count guys/arms/beers, too. We look like an optical illusion, LOL!

Welcome Shot #2 - More of The Group. I got Stacey there with a look like, "not again with the camera," Ryan and Marc posing...perfect, and Tom and Terry looking up at.....? We'll never know, until they tell. And that foursome in the back, plotting and planning... again, we'll never know, darnit. (o;

Welcome Shot #3 - And this is all of us, right here! Before we're let loose on the poor unsupecting Grona Lund general public, !

And I'm not quite sure but for now - left to right - a Park Owner, a JetLine Ride Op...and Me! Before I left the station to head over for INSANE ERT - and - it WAS INSANE! And after that, the rest of the night was a total blank foggy non-memory in my head. (I didn't even remember the coach ride back to the hotel!) Fortunately, no bones or muscles were harmed or brain injuries ocurred, heh. So - see you tomorrow morning, Grona Lund!

[Nrthwnd]

Next morning, we were up bright and early, loaded the coach and then back to where we started last night...

 

~ Grona Lund ~

 

Great park. Lots packed into essentially two parts of the whole, with a bridge to join everything together, lol. I found it was one of the most 'packed' in-city parks I had ever seen, up to that point in my touring. And still there was space to stroll around, and not bump shoulders too often, heh. Part of Grona Lund is at the water's edge so two flats (now one after "recent changes") had their own 'piers' to be on.

 

The coaster collection was another terrific reason to love this park, and want to come back. A properly maintained Schwarzkopf (JetLine), screaming over and around a pretty wild bobsled (Vilda Musen); the family suspended Vekoma (Kvasten) was really smooth and actually had separate themeing at one of it's turns, to work in with the park's spookhouse, which had sound effects - and fire when you flew by, lol! Very cool. A nice Zierer Tivoli coaster for "the kid in us all," credit whores that we were - and finally... INSANE. It looked as crazy as the night before, from what I could remember of riding it, heh.

 

So, after we were continental breakfast feted and given a wonderful Slide Show and Tell about the history of Grona Lund and future plans the park was working on, everybody was taken on an optional BackStage Tour of you guessed it: this crazy bizarre coaster called INSANE. And after the previous evening, and how overwhelmed I remember was at all the machinery (in the small space) used for SpeedMonster at Tusenfryd... I declined the offer, with thanks, and stayed outside of "it" with a few others. Which was fine with me, lol.

 

After that, we were on our own for some time, before meeting up again for a nice outdoor lunch at one of the park's main eateries over-looking part of it's layout. Very nice setting I remember. Nice plush rattan too, hee hee.

 

A bit more time on our own, then back together and on the bur for our next Scandi Adventure...

 

~ Viking Line Overnight Ferry - Stockholm to Helsinki ~

 

Thuis was our third and final use of the ferry system in the Scandinavian waterwayas. It was also The Best One - an overnight in our own little 'stateroom' (most of us had never done this before, including myself) which for most of us, was within the ship itself, but with a nice layout and a nice cheesy artwork in our "porthole window" lol. The ship had a casino; a disco and show lounge which did an "ABBA Tribute!"; a karoake bar which several of our group used to entertain each other, heh; and a couple fo other very important things for us to enjoy...

 

Duty-Free Shopping - it was nuts. A HUGE floor with everything you know is wanted in these places, like booze and ciagarettes of course, candy and mmmm chocolate everywhere, some fashions, perfumes and watches - it was very trippy to just browse through all of it. i found myself buying some "airport size" liquors for 'Add-ons' to my coffee and/or tea in whatever room Terry and i were next in, lol. It was fun. Nothing like my ferry system back home. Very cool.

 

..and after we had gotten to our rooms, looked around, SHOPPED, we re-gathered for what most of us had signed up for before the tour started, and had two+ hours to enjoy...

 

OnBoard Viking Line BUFFET - I mean, it was an amazing setup of food islands for everything from salads and appetizers from different cultures (mostly Scandi but others, too); some freshly done seafoods, as side dishes and main courses; meats and poultry in various ways and ethnic styles; a kids island for their faves, including those darned nuggets, fries, pizza (world wide, hmm?); and last but least ... the dessert island. At least three types of mouse, two of freshly made ice creams, cakes and pies and tarts, oh my!

 

And it included all our drinks and beverages, alcoholic and non- too! I think we were all responsible drinkers, but I do remember having at least two glasses each of red and white wines, lol. It was really a dinenr treat for pretty well all of us who did it,. Definitely one of the higlights of this tour...

 

And then, into the night, staying up the night to see hardly any nightfall happen, doing the karaoke and disco lounge and show, gambling a bit, losing a bit , And finally to the cabin for sleep, an early wakeup, breakfast (a great buffet, too) and then on a long long drive up into...FINLAND!

Here's where we started the day, with a light breakfast and GronaLund giving us a great slide show & tell of it's history.

And - there IT is. And right here is where I stayed, outside of IT, lol. Truly a very twisted looking piece of machinery, INSANE is.

A big group got together to storm the park's FunHouse. A number of them got pretty winded from all the physical stuff they had to do, thru it. And this is how they "exited" the FunHouse. Cool, huh?

And here's my roomie again, Terry, proving you can go anywhere as long as you have a good sliding start and a good piece of.... uh...rug.

This random selection of coaster pix was on the bridge that connects the two parts of Grona Lund. The Canadian part of this group found Behemoth from Canada's Wonderland! I think it's at the bottom, there. Not knowing Swedish, we couldn't figure out why these were grouped together. So we figured it to be a Grona Lund random kind of thing, lol. (o;

I found this poster - interesting. Not only did it change into... well... a more "revealing' shot of this lovely couple. But the whole thing was up on a regular walkway thru the park. And several families walked by. Nothing. It's no big deal over here. Which was great! But also depressing, knowing it won't happen at my home park any time soon, LOL!

Saying my goodbyes to one of Grona Lund's "regulars," here.I was charmed by this park. Want to come back. But got to go catch the ferry now...... and off to Finland!

On the Viking Line - and on 'half' of my state room, heh. Actually I wanted (and got, thanks Terry!) the upper berth to enjoy. And - I did - and did not fall out either, LOL! And check out that view!

Leaving Stockholm. But more important - THIS is a view of Grona Lund you can't see any more, hmm? I heard some "twisty wood" has taken over some space there and cluttered this park view up, now. )o: Sad to hear. Will be back (I hope) to check that 'rumor' out.

And just before going inside, a shot from the deck, of an interesting setup on shore, here. Neat huh? Now to (yum) dinner, night fun, some duty-free shopping (yes), and finally... sleep! But first - THANKYOU GRONA LUND for a BLAST of a visit! (o:

[Nrthwnd]

After a good night's (well, a few hours, if that, lol) sleep onboard the Viking Line ferry, an early rise up; a practically solitary walk around the top deck of the ship (beautiful morning views); a great buffet breakfast; and... the guy who was taking those "Boarding Pix" as you first boarded the ship? There he was, in the boarding lobby, all of the photos on easels for everybody to choose from and buy, if wanted. It was wild! And coming onboard the previous late afternoon, I did NOT feel like having my photo taken. But the pic showed me in a pretty good head space. So I bought it, LOL! (To be shown at end of report). And the whole setup was down within an hour! Swedish-Finnish Magick!

 

We then boarded our coach of an extreeeeeeeeeemely long drive up to our next park. I mean, at least 7+ hours drive, with a nice rest stop "somewhere along the way," heh . The rest stop I found actually interesting to explore, outdoors, once I had gotten myself a bottled drink and some crisps. The back area behind our little stop looked like something out of Lord of The R___s, or maybe even Snow White's seven guys' hangout, lol. Then I saw the Full-Size OUTHOUSE there. Good enough, I thought, and left it at that.

 

We got to our park with the sun out, a few minutes to get our stuff into our resort rooms or cabins, and then we were out and over to have...

 

~ Evening at Power Park w/ERT on Thunderbird! ~

 

Power Park is part of a holiday resort set-up, which caters to families for some "country air" and some theme park thills, lol. It has a decent coaster count (4) and several good flats, a cheesy "Western" dark ride (Devil's Mine Hotel)...in fact, a lot of the shops and facade sat the back of the park ("Shopping Street") seemed to be themed to The Olde West. Which was okay with me. I liked the wooden sidewalks, heh.

 

A bit later on, we all grouped at the new wooden coaster in the park, Thunderbird, for some evening ERT (of course, the sun never seemed to go down, being as far north as we were and being June, lol) of it AND some Quality Time doing both "Pass The Sword" (and I think we did very good on this one) and more importantly, breaking the coaster's (then) Speed Record with some help from our more 'weighty' members of the tour. And - they did it!!! Took a few tries, but they got juuust by the record, I remember. And Big Cheers rang out through-out the station!

 

And after that, it was back to our rooms for the evening, but not before having a lovely Welcome Reception (food and drinks!) in the main restaurant of the resort. Then, to bed, and to rest up for one of TPR's Most Important-Ever Tour Events... the TPR Grand Prix!

Off the ferry, and on our way to Power Park. One rest stop, but an interesting one, especially out back of the service building. I sat at that centre bench there with my drink and crisps. It was lovely out. And (most of) everybody else stayed inside the building, LOL!

THIS is what I imagined to be for Snow White's gang... or a stop-off for The Fellowship? Who knows? Ghastly scratchy old speaker inside with rock music playing. Didn't fit the themeing, lol.

And then - there It stood. Waiting. Quiet. Darned thing didn't even creak. Hmmm. Time to get going...

...to Power Park! This is what we saw, when we walked to the park from where we were staying for the night. It all looked great!

This is Pegasus. A clone of what I rode, drunk, at Grona Lund - and survived. But when I saw this at Power Park I decided... no, not even sober, lol.

Thunderbird! Lifthill!! ERT!!!

For those of you with a taste for sexy curvy wood tracking - here. Enjoy.

After the park ERT and after our Welcome Reception, me and my roomie Terry had Nice Restful Cocktails (yay duty free!) on our room's balcony with Power Park's Grand Prix racetrack behind us. Oh, and this is what 11 PM (made a note of it) looked like, too.

[rollin_n_coastin]

Ah yes, two awesome parks where TPR really challenged the attractions!

 

Power Park had the Thunderbird Fat Train--breaking the speed of sound barrier!

 

Groma Lund had the Fat S&S Tower, which let's be honest, just didn't have a chance to even get off the ground to actually get through a full cycle until Larry got off to lighten the load

[SharkTums]

That overnight ferry was one of my favorite TPR Trip times ever! It was a beautiful trip, fun friends, and just worked so well! It also may be cause I like cruises and this was like a mini-one!

[Nrthwnd]

The next morning, we had breakfast, loaded the coach for our leaving later in the day, and then got ourselves over to the buildings where most of us were about to take part in the First-Ever...

 

Theme Park Review (mini) GRAND PRIX!

 

It was pretty easy to figure out what one had to do in this fierce competition.

Win. And make good time while doing it too, heh heh.

 

I hadn't driven anything like a go-kart in decades, and I was hoping that several others were in the same position as me. So we suited up in coveralls, gloves and helmets, were assigned our car numbers and heats we were racing in. Then one group at a time was taken through the course to get the feel of it, before actually racing each other in it.

 

Didn't help some of us, myself included, one bit LOL. I made fairly good time in my first heat, but in the more important elimination round to determine the final heat... well, I got myself 'stuck' on the first right turn of the course, with one of the operators running out to me to get me unjammed where I was, with both of us constantly looking behind us to see if the group was coming around and catching up to where we were. Well, they didn't thankfully just yet, so I quickly got out of that scrape, and although I was way behind the top drivers, I managed to pull ahead of a few others (sorry Chuck) to at least NOT be in last place, lol.

 

It was pretty wild and exhilarating, and and heavy on the nerves, all at once. A great adrenalin rush. Definitely would do that again.

 

Then, after the races, we spent a few more hours at Power Park, re-riding Thunderbird and the other flats and coasters we'd enjoyed the night before, or not gotten to ride till now. After that, a nice group meal back at the resort's main restaurant, and then back on the coach and off we went, continuing on to our next-to-last park and city... Sarkenemmi Park in Tampere, Finland.

Everybody (most) suited up and waiting for their turn on the Grand Prix course.

Lou Got Ride! I think it was Andrew there on the right, being Lou's "driver", and it was fun to watch them with this 'sidecar' peeling around the course.

And after the race - back to the park - here's a view from the ferris wheel. And even that boomerang was pretty good!

Typhoon! We all loved it how you "almost hit the building" whooshing back and forth like a pendulum through the loading station. It was great!

And on the way out, to our coach and travelling to Tampere...I saw these guys. A bachelor party to be sure. Uh, yeah, that's right. It was amusing to see them leading their Main Cow through the park, lol. Moo moo!

And after a few hours' drive - this awaited us in our room. I love to soak in a tub (if possible) after a long day of walking, riding, Grand Prix-ing, heh. And tubs in hotels on this tour were very few. So this one was especially enjoyed. Mmmm bubbles. Then a nightcap, to bed, and then - Sarkenemmi Park!

[Nrthwnd]

Well, no way around it. Once we were up, breakfasted, loaded on the coach, and off to our next park and (eventual) hotel, the clouds had rolled in and started to heavily "drizzle" down on us the second we walked into...

 

~ Sarkanniemi ~

 

Management was very nice to us, getting us our ERT on three of their coasters, even though.. on Half Pipe we kept getting smacked in the faces with rain 'bullets'; on Tornado the Intamin Invert, as sweet as the ride was, it was just wet and a bit ch-ch-chilly on it (wearing shorts I guess didn't help, lol); and although Trombi was not favoured among many who had ridden similar coasters (lay down 'cages' & inverted?), the rain had let up a bit, by the time we were riding it, and most of us felt "it wasn't too bad a ride, all things/other reviews considered," so that was nice, not getting beaten up by this one, lol.

 

Unfortunately, their Schwarzfopf Jet Star and their new disko/coaster attraction Surge, apparently just weren't "dry enough" to be operating. The word was "20 minutes after it stopped raining", and of course, it kept starting and stopping again and again, into the afternoon.

 

But before finding out about whether we could ride either ride, we had another great group meal in one of the park's main eateries (Sarkka Lunch Cafe). Then, we met up a bit later after other rides and checking on Jet Star and Surge (nope - still not open), and got to go up and into the special private level of the park's massive Observation Tower, which was amazing for the park and city view. But those of us still checking, noticed (from high in the tower) that they were now running cycles of Jet Star!

 

So of course, after touring the tower, down down down to the ground, and over as fast as we could to Jet Star... only to find out now they wouldn't be running it, just yet! So, several of the group, took it upon themselves to stay and wait, and eventually they started up with a sing song of pop songs that contained the word or themeing of SUNSHINE, lol. It was funny. I kept going to other parts fo the park for a flat ride etc, then come back to JetStar queue and heard everything from "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" (Stevie Wonder?); "Let The Sunshine In" from HAIR; "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" (Lesley Gore???) and 'others' heh heh. Must have worked, because as time was running out for us to stay in the park, JetStar finally opened, those of us there immediately all got our credit, woo hoo!

 

And some of us got the disko/SURGE credit too, lol. And after we were all done and then heading out to the coach, it started raining - again! Ah well, we got all the credits, the park management was fantastic hosting us... and this was Park #100 for me!

After Half-Pipe, and Tornado, we did ^ TROMBI or "Inverted Hamster Cages". Actually, not bad for my first (and so far only) kind of coaster. Have heard the rest of these, around the world - aren't so good, lol.

Sad and pathetic me, with the Viking Ship in mid-swing. I think this is more for a group photo, hmm? You think?

Take Off! I loved this flat! And I wish we had one of these at the home park.

And for those who wanted to get more wet than they already were... The Rapids Ride! Hi guys!

Some of the themeing around the park. I call this "Streetcar Under Glass".

Tornado and it's flashy neon train. And they had a yellow one, too!

Another Tornado shot, with the Observation Tower (heading up to it now) in back.

And here we are - on the Private Level of The Tower.

And a bit of what we see bel - wait! Is that Jet Star running cycles??? Eep. Wrong place (and height). But eventually...

We all get our Jet Star Credit, woo hoo! Here's Marc and Ryan, the first riders since the rain stopped!

And noting the achievement - My 100th park! Thankyou Sarkanniemi for a great day, rain and all, LOL!

[Nrthwnd]

Well, it had to eventually come to an end, the tour did. But we still had one more great park to do, and one more group meal to have together before we parted and went our separate ways home, from Helsinki.

 

~ Linnanmaki ~

 

This was a city park built literally on and around a hill! And it made for a great walking workout for us all, lol. But before all that walking started, we got some ERT in, before the park opened...

 

Vuoristorata, a side friction wooden coaster, brakeman included, that was very enjoyable to ride, even as old as it looked to be. Well maintained, ran great, we were impressed!

 

Kirnu, or what I called "INSANE,Jr." which was the same design and maker (Intamin ball coaster) but a bit (no, a LOT) less intense (and less an extra level/section of track, too) than it's bigger bro at Grona Lund. Sio much so, I found myself riding it way more times through the day, than I did on INSANE.

 

After that, management got us over to what I called the "Coaster Quartet" for First Rides on them, before the public swarmed in: Salama, a pretty good spinning coaster; Pikajuna, a very intense (IMhO) powered coaster; Tulireki, an 'okay' Mack E-Motion coaster that had a couple of 'tilts' to it, but not much else; and my #393 Coaster (Vonkaputous), a great zippy water coaster I went on a lot. Really enjoyed that one. Really got wet too, lol.

 

And there was an indoor coaster too - one on the top of that hill the park was built around: Linnunrata, a space-themed coaster which had some great star effects we got to whiz by, heh heh.

 

And in the park itself, several flats and indoor attractions including a great ghost train (Kummitusjuna); a wierd clown and elephant poop-themed ride (Taikasirkus); a FunHouse I didn't go in, but heard it was quite the workout and very popular, with the never-ending queue to go in it; and KotKot which is basically riding in a hard-boiled egg, and spotting (and counting) baby chicks with red bandanas on! Basically for children, but hey, we're kids too, right?

 

Eventually, we all gathered together at one of the park's main restaurants (Safari Family), and had a wonderful Farewell Dinner, before heading out of the park, back to our hotel, and then heading for home the next day .

 

And here's the park photos, but I will post the Farewell Dinner pix (and Souvenirs, and Onride Photos, oh my!) after the holidays are over and we are into 2012. So for now...

 

"Happy Holidays Everybody!" Have a great season and an Equally Great New Year of Coasters and Parks to all!

Our ERT on Vuoristorata, the side friction woodie, complete with onride brakeman!

And after the other coasters counted - my 393rd one (Vonkaputous), wet and wonderful! Several times!

And some of us like pinball, too. And it was great to find a country's park with some to play. Very cool!

On KotKot, Tim and Jon in their egg, ready to count baby chicks with red bandanas on.

And Josh and me in our KotKot egg, doing "the funky chicken" I believe. And there's a section of Kirnu track in back, there.

Our mid-day meal, with our second bus driver for the tour (Sorry I forgot your name but THANKYOU for the great coach driving!) He's behind Jason and Jon. And doesn't our server (behind Tim) look like the US actress Amy Poehler? Hmmm...

Observation Tower view. How many coasters can you count? And remember, there's one under all that grass & greenery there, inside the building!

From the ferris wheel - a great shot of Vuoristrata. And Helsinki, too.

A look at Kirnu through the trees. The FunHouse is at the left (red entryway roof). And our Farewell Dinner was in the smaller (one of) building behind Kirnu.

Kirnu and Vuoristorata, with Josh pointing them out, lol.

Me and the park's clown mascot. And I still have no idea what his/it's name was, LOL! After this, the Farewell Dinner and Goodbyes.

[cfc]

Scandinavia has one great selection of parks--thanks for the look back at an amazing trip, Bill. Heck, that region would be worth visiting for just Tivoli Gardens, Liseberg, and Grona Lund, but all the parks had something unique to offer.

[simon8899]

I always like the Volare at Prater when I rode it in its first year. Maybe that one aged bad....

 

The Huss Take Off is a great ride! At full speed one of the few rides that makes me tipsy....

[gisco]

I'm getting anxious to go on another TPR trip again! I have loved this report looking at a part of the world I haven't been too ...... yet!

[Nrthwnd]

Well, I decided that this report should be finished before the year ends in a few days or so, heh.

 

So here are a few photos of the people that were with me on this great TPR Tour. Our Farewell Dinner was held at one of Linnanmaki's main restaurants, Safari ravintolamaailma = Safari family Restaurant. On it's second storey. Lots of food to enjoy and beverages to drink. And memories to share, before most of us parted the next day, from Helsinki Airport.

 

I believe there was even a "Table Top SCAD Tower" created in honour of the tour's end. Yes, Dave? And as well, the well-known bat around themeparks, ICE BAT - made visits to the tables, posing with tourers and props in various uh....poses. Courtesy of IB's best buddy, Dave!

 

So, thanks to Robb and Elissa for another wonderful tour. One of The - Best -Tours - Ever...Still IMhO, as of today's date. And Terry, great to have you as my room-mate for the tour. We were AWE-SOME! And so good to see many of you from the past tours we had done up to this point - and of course it was great to make new friends with those of you in this, our first tour together. I hope it wasn't the last one.

 

Here's the photos of the dinner. (Souvenirs and On-Ride Photos to come a bit later.)

Yes Stacey, it's another (actually our last together, this tour) photo of us! And BigMike and my tour roomie, Terry! Bye guys! (Note all the drinks on the table.)

Don't you love it how various people give you various faces when you ask them to pose for a pic? Kool. See you soon on another tour, guys! (Not so many drinks here.)

More of us. Eating and drinking - drinking and eating. It's all good. Later, guys. (So many bottles, there.)

Hmmm. This is a fairly familiar bunch. And ICE BAT too!!! Woo hoo! Been an awesome tour, everybody. Where are we going next year? (o; But more importantly - there's ALWAYS a "Party In Our Tummy," yes? Everybody be well and take care. See ya!

[Nrthwnd]

And after it was all over, and I headed back to home, via Frankfurt and (ugh - a 2nd stopover) Montreal, it was then time to get everything out of the luggage, do a Big Laundry, and then sort thru everything I had brought back with me from the tour.

 

A lot of the stuff was knick-knacks; some fridge magnets; t-shirts in addition to the TPR Tour shirts; the all-important park maps; and.... some actual un-spent $$$ to put back into my account, woo hoo!

 

Just a few photos to show. But I always find it truly amazing, that year after year, I am able to bring so - much - stuff back with me, heh heh.

 

I love TPR Tours!

 

(On-Ride photos to follow...)

Here's how the whole mess looked, when I got it out of my luggage. And noooo - the tv tables were not part of the haul LOL!

A closer look - left side - with everything there - like a mini-mirror ball (Power Park); mascot ears and 70' cap (Liseberg); coffee mugs (GronaLund & Hansa); lots of 'figurines' (too many parks to list); a tube of cola MENTOS from our overnight ferry ride; maps and pins and clothing... too - much - stuff, lol.

And on the right of it all - fridge magnets and pins; maps and on-ride photos; many - many t-shirts; park lighters!

And here's where some of all of it ended up, in our guest room. On that chair there, is stuff from 4 TPR Tours! But, the stuffy with the ears on; the figures in the window; the watterbottle from Skara Sommeland; my (un-eaten, still) gingerbread heart from Hansa; on top of the chair, my souvenir ship from the overnight ferry trip - and an awesome folded "Map Cap" from Craig; all from the Scandi Tour. And ON-RIDE PIX coming up soon!

[gisco]

^^Those people look a little shifty that your traveling with!

[Nrthwnd]

^ Yeah Bob - I didn't know if that last bunch (in the Farewell Dinner pix) was worth trusting, heh heh. I was willing to give them another chance though - on "future tours", lol.

 

And now - OnRide Photos! (And one "On Board" pic, too.)

 

They're pretty easy to figure out, but I will gladly help along with the pertinent information.

 

Bon Bon Land - on The Crab - and QUICK! Which one of us looks The Happiest To Be On This Thing, Me or Stacey? (Tough call, eh? )

Me and Josh...uh... "Gettin' Our Groove on"... I think. On what and where we are, lol.

Hansa Park - Fluch von Novgorod - all TPR on board, with "one notable exception" (hee hee).

Legoland - on The Dragon - and it was raining - so it depends which one of us here you look at, to see if we all enjoyed it... or not, lol.

SkaraSommerland - on Tranan - now here, one of us has definitely figured out "where the onride camera is". The rest of us...

The On Board pic - Heading onto our overnight ferry, Stockholm to Helsinki. At first, I was gritting my teeth saying "no pix, please don't take it, no thanks". Then I saw the photo onboard, next morning. Um - I liked it? (o: And bought it, of course!

Sarkanniemi - Log River - Sad & Pathetic Pic #1

Srakanniemi - Log River - Sad & Pathetic Pic #2 - but with Good Company! Thanks, guys.

[SharkTums]

Oh Bill...you are really making it hard to wait till 2013 for our next Scandi trip!!!!!

 

Also, here's the picture of the fabulous Straw/Beer/Napkin SCAD Tower!

 

[Meteornotes]

^That is still seriously one of the greatest things I have ever witnessed.

 

dt

[Nrthwnd]

^ I totally agree, Dave. It was very kool to see it made. ^^ And used, heh heh.

And thanks Elissa, for posting a pic of it!

 

And "by the way" Dave - I remember you getting

a good number of ICE BAT PIX. I particularly remember

putting one together with IB and .....cotton candy?

 

Any chance you could show one (or more) here?

If you can find them, of course.

 

Thanks in advance, LOL!

[Nrthwnd]

So - it's the end of this trip report, one that should have been "reported" a year or so...earlier? Ah well, it all happens, in good time.

 

That said, I first want to again thank Robb and Elissa Alvey for a mind-boggling supremely awesome and totally memorable (I did remember!) tour, that year. And I repeat - it was - and still is IMhO, 2011 Japan tours notwithstanding - The Best TPR Tour - Ever.

 

So far. 2013, hmm? Thanks R & E. BearHugs.

 

And then a thankyou to Terry, my amaaazing roomate for the tour. And to everyone old and new (uh, that dosen't 'sound' right, but well, you know...) I saw on this tour. Thankyou to ALL of you, for being such an awesome part of it with me, through-out Scandinavia. And a bit of Germany on the side, Yes Hansa!

 

So - here's a final "After-The-Tour" shot of myself. Taken in July, 2009, after: 1)I had mastered the art of "open-faced sandwich smorgasborg"ing, lol. 2) I was gushing over my new (then) recording of the (then) revival of HAIR on Broadway, and most important 3) I had finally altered that %$**#+ SCAD Tower "I did it!" t-shirt, to be more uh, timely?

 

And for my first New Year's Resolution of 2012 - Get my darned 2010 TPR UK & Mainland Europe Tours TRs up and posted... before the world blows up!

 

~ Happy New Year Everyone ~

Celebrate, have fun, be safe,

and then get yourself ready for

"The Year To End All Years"!

Here I am, with lunch ready, the cd just arrived, and That Shirt on me, finally ch-ch-changed (up ~ it was orig. 2005!) a bit. It was a Great Big Faaabulous Tour. Really! A Party In My Tummy, to be sure LOL!

[Nrthwnd]

Oh Bill...you are really making it hard to wait till 2013 for our next Scandi

 

Well, one year off isn't too bad, hmm? Of course, I was two years behind, in posting this TR. Timing, huh?

 

I decided to BUMP this TR of mine, written up just two years ago, on the first Scandi Tour TPR did...four years ago, lol! I am a bit better in timely TR posts, nowadays. Not everything in this TR will be in the 2014 tour. There's already two parks that have gone down for the count - Karolineland, and Sommerland Syd. But...

 

It gives you an 'idea' of the tour ahead.

What we enjoyed, (Thanks Robb & Elissa!) in 2009.

They had it first! Grona Lund did...

[Moose]

This tour was epic. I'm sad I won't be making a return trip. You are all in for a fantastic time!

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the year delay was to allow for some great park additions to be built (like project helix). Robb and Elissa are always looking out for us!

[gisco]

Deposit sent in! Is it June yet??

[SuperShawn]

Deposit sent in! Is it June yet??

 

Ditto

 

It's going to be a long 9 months leading up to Scandi and reading these reports from the 09 trip don't help.