Photo TR: Canobie Coaster's 2017 Foreign Adventures

[cparkes92]

Great tour of Grona Lund. I love that park, with everything in it.

My only regret is not getting a ride on their StarFlyer. )o: I kept

forgetting to go on it, last time I was there, with TPR.

 

To me, Grona Lund is the "Blackpool of Sweden". And I would love

to spend a day or two, just exploring all their museums and "touristy spots."

 

Like ABBA.

 

If I were in Sweden, I would go visit the ABBA Museum, as it would count as a "culture credit"

[Canobie Coaster]

^ I'm all for culture credits, but Abba isn't one of the ones on my list. I much preferred exploring the architecture of Stockholm. But to each their own!

[cfc]

^Speaking of culture, the Vesta Museum in Stockholm is pretty cool.

 

I enjoyed my visit to Kolmarden, too--especially Wildfire and the Safari gondola ride.

[ElectricUncleSam]

I know I'm late to remark on this one, but Grona Lund can seriously rival places like CP when it comes to their concerts. In the past few years alone, they've had Skillet, Ghost, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Korn, Bad Religion, Megadeth, Brad Paisley, Elton John, Slayer, Rob Zombie, Iggy Pop, and Beastie Boys. Sources courtesy of setlist.fm btw

[boldikus]

Great update. Wildfire looks unreal.

[deguy123]

Amazing pictures!

 

Wildfire was amazing!!!! The trip from Stockholm was 100000% worth it. Also the Fanta was amazing!

[Canobie Coaster]

^Speaking of culture, the Vesta Museum in Stockholm is pretty cool.

 

I enjoyed my visit to Kolmarden, too--especially Wildfire and the Safari gondola ride.

 

The safari sky ride sounded really cool, but since I was limited for time I skipped it. If I had a full day, I definitely would have hit it. My concern was that the sky ride would be a long ride and eat up most of my Wildfire time or worse, cause me to miss the bus.

 

I know I'm late to remark on this one, but Grona Lund can seriously rival places like CP when it comes to their concerts. In the past few years alone, they've had Skillet, Ghost, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Korn, Bad Religion, Megadeth, Brad Paisley, Elton John, Slayer, Rob Zombie, Iggy Pop, and Beastie Boys. Sources courtesy of setlist.fm btw

 

That was a really impressive lineup for concerts. It does make sense since the park is right in the city though. I saw online they reached capacity and had to close their gates for the Elton John one. Even with the concert, crowds were totally manageable and it never felt too crowded.

 

Great update. Wildfire looks unreal.

 

Thanks! I had to keep pinching myself to realize I wasn't dreaming.

 

Amazing pictures!

 

Wildfire was amazing!!!! The trip from Stockholm was 100000% worth it. Also the Fanta was amazing!

 

Thanks! I don't like sugar, so I had to skip out on the Fanta, but I was too busy riding Wildfire anyway. That ride is outstanding and I can't wait to try some of the other RMC woodies stateside.

[Dombot]

Awesome report as usual. Wildfire looks insane, but dear Jesus that Viking boat. I would go to Europe just for that. It looks so effin' good.

[Canobie Coaster]

Thanks! Yeah that Viking boat was probably my favorite meal overseas because of how weird and unexpected it was.

[cfc]

The sky ride is very long, so your caution was warranted.

[Canobie Coaster]

Anytime I hear safari ride, I immediately assume the ride is at least a half hour.

 

I ended up assuming the same thing with the one at Chessington later in the trip. While missing a train would have sucked, missing an international flight back home would have really sucked.

[coasterbill]

I just read the Grona Lund report and Kolmarden report and enjoyed them both immensely. I recently discovered that flights to Copenhagen and Stockholm can be sort of reasonable and planned a train trip that includes Copenhagen, Tivoli, Liseberg, Kolmarden, Grona Lund and Stockolm. I even found some cool cultural stuff and museums to check out (and I normally hate museums but they look awesome).

 

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on that once Grona Lund gets their invert, so this report is awesome to read and if you don't mind I may pick your brain in a year or two when I really start planning it out. We'll be spending a full day at Kolmarden though. They have the most impressive animal collection I've ever seen at a zoo and they have a safari sky ride with animals which is pretty much the perfect combination of my favorite things and Brit's favorite things all in one ride.

[SharkTums]

They have the most impressive animal collection I've ever seen at a zoo and they have a safari sky ride with animals which is pretty much the perfect combination of my favorite things and Brit's favorite things all in one ride.

 

Seriously the Sky Ride Safari was one of the coolest things EVER!!! I'm sorry, but credit whore, timing, whatever, it's kind of dumb to go all the way out to Kolmarden and not do it. We have some of our favorite memories of the Europe Trip from that Sky Ride! Plus, it's kind of a cool preview of the upcoming WDW Transportation system.

[Philrad71]

Not to mention that they feed horses to the kings of the jungle!

[Canobie Coaster]

I just read the Grona Lund report and Kolmarden report and enjoyed them both immensely. I recently discovered that flights to Copenhagen and Stockholm can be sort of reasonable and planned a train trip that includes Copenhagen, Tivoli, Liseberg, Kolmarden, Grona Lund and Stockolm. I even found some cool cultural stuff and museums to check out (and I normally hate museums but they look awesome).

 

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on that once Grona Lund gets their invert, so this report is awesome to read and if you don't mind I may pick your brain in a year or two when I really start planning it out. We'll be spending a full day at Kolmarden though. They have the most impressive animal collection I've ever seen at a zoo and they have a safari sky ride with animals which is pretty much the perfect combination of my favorite things and Brit's favorite things all in one ride.

 

I definitely recommend it! I still have my itinerary and trains written down, so I can share how I was able to get around Sweden via train and bus. The transportation network in Europe is outstanding.

 

When I eventually return, a full day is definitely in order so I can enjoy everything the zoo has to offer (and get many more rides on Wildfire). With the weekend only operations and Friday being my last day in Sweden, I had to decide between Liseberg only, Kolmarden only, or a very brief visit to Kolmarden and then Liseberg. Since I wasn't cutting Liseberg out under any circumstances and wanted to ride the shiny RMC, I picked the latter.

 

They have the most impressive animal collection I've ever seen at a zoo and they have a safari sky ride with animals which is pretty much the perfect combination of my favorite things and Brit's favorite things all in one ride.

 

Seriously the Sky Ride Safari was one of the coolest things EVER!!! I'm sorry, but credit whore, timing, whatever, it's kind of dumb to go all the way out to Kolmarden and not do it. We have some of our favorite memories of the Europe Trip from that Sky Ride! Plus, it's kind of a cool preview of the upcoming WDW Transportation system.

 

I actually wasn't planning on hitting Sweden when I planned the week out in Europe before Oktoberfest. I was planning on hitting Heide and Hansa Park on that Thursday and Friday before the meet up in Munich on Saturday. But with Colossos being down for the year, I switched the plans to Sweden. Liseberg and Kolmarden were weekend only. I wasn't going to cut out Liseberg, so my options on Friday were 7 hours at Liseberg or 2 at Kolmarden and 5 at Liseberg. Definitely not an ideal amount of time at Kolmarden, but Wildfire was definitely worth it and Club TPR had the free admission for the park.

 

Next time I'll hopefully visit in the summer when everything is open normal hours so I don't have to cram what looks like an amazing zoo and an outstanding park into one long day. That way I won't have to cut out the Sky Ride Safari.

 

Not to mention that they feed horses to the kings of the jungle!

 

Even more reason to return!

[Keetz]

Awesome update! Kolmarden + Liseberg + Grona Lund is on the short list of trips I wanna take ASAP. Your TR only further reinforced that.

 

Wildfire looks like it's a coaster that doesn't usually get a line... ever. It seems like such an odd coaster to have at a zoo but, but they clearly wanted one of the best coasters in the world so I'll accept that and come ride it soon.

[ThemeParkJunkie51290]

If they built a clone of Wildfire . . . I PROMISE . . . I wouldn't complain! That coaster looks massive and magnificent, and I'm sure provide some amazing rides!

[Canobie Coaster]

Awesome update! Kolmarden + Liseberg + Grona Lund is on the short list of trips I wanna take ASAP. Your TR only further reinforced that.

 

Wildfire looks like it's a coaster that doesn't usually get a line... ever. It seems like such an odd coaster to have at a zoo but, but they clearly wanted one of the best coasters in the world so I'll accept that and come ride it soon.

 

I definitely wasn't complaining, but it definitely did seem odd that a zoo would go that far in on a major coaster. However, they wanted something noteworthy and exciting, and they got it in Wildfire.

 

The queue line for the ride is pretty long. I went on a day late in their operating season when it was rainy, so I'm not sure how bad it gets on a summer day.

 

If they built a clone of Wildfire . . . I PROMISE . . . I wouldn't complain! That coaster looks massive and magnificent, and I'm sure provide some amazing rides!

 

A park could try to clone the layout (doubt it ever happens), but the outstanding setting is what really helps make the ride unique along with all the crazy elements.

[deguy123]

I just read the Grona Lund report and Kolmarden report and enjoyed them both immensely. I recently discovered that flights to Copenhagen and Stockholm can be sort of reasonable and planned a train trip that includes Copenhagen, Tivoli, Liseberg, Kolmarden, Grona Lund and Stockolm. I even found some cool cultural stuff and museums to check out (and I normally hate museums but they look awesome).

 

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on that once Grona Lund gets their invert, so this report is awesome to read and if you don't mind I may pick your brain in a year or two when I really start planning it out. We'll be spending a full day at Kolmarden though. They have the most impressive animal collection I've ever seen at a zoo and they have a safari sky ride with animals which is pretty much the perfect combination of my favorite things and Brit's favorite things all in one ride.

 

That type of trip is amazing! I did the Scandi 2014 trip and it was one of my favorite trips!

 

I also went back to Copenhagen/Stockholm in September 2016. I booked the flights in Jan. and got VERY good rates. I booked one way to Copenhagen, took train to Stockholm and then flew out of Stockholm. The hotels were mid priced and very nice, If you book thru Hotels.com you can pay on arrival. (Wait till you see the free breakfasts over there!) The train from Stockholm to Kolmarden was very easy too! Do the trip, you wont regret it!

[ElectricUncleSam]

Random thought, but I noticed that with all the German parks you've either visited or are about to be visiting on the whole, you're skipping Heide. Any reason?

[Dombot]

Random thought, but I noticed that with all the German parks you've either visited or are about to be visiting on the whole, you're skipping Heide. Any reason?

I have a vague idea

[Canobie Coaster]

I also went back to Copenhagen/Stockholm in September 2016. I booked the flights in Jan. and got VERY good rates. I booked one way to Copenhagen, took train to Stockholm and then flew out of Stockholm. The hotels were mid priced and very nice, If you book thru Hotels.com you can pay on arrival. (Wait till you see the free breakfasts over there!) The train from Stockholm to Kolmarden was very easy too! Do the trip, you wont regret it!

 

The only annoying thing about getting to Kolmarden is that the town bus (at least on the day I went) only runs hourly.

 

And I know! Those breakfasts put the Holiday Inns and Quality Inns to shame. The food actually tasted fresh and not like some microwaved garbage.

 

Random thought, but I noticed that with all the German parks you've either visited or are about to be visiting on the whole, you're skipping Heide. Any reason?

I have a vague idea

 

Bingo.

 

Originally I was going to arrive in Germany earlier and hit Hansa and Heide. But after it was confirmed Colossos would be down all year, I switched plans to Sweden so I could get my Intamin pre-fab fill plus Wildfire and Helix. Cutting out Hansa and Karnan was difficult but the parks in Sweden convinced me.

 

I'll probably make it to Heide someday, but I'm hoping Colossos is open at that point. I just hope Merlin fixes it.

[deguy123]

I also went back to Copenhagen/Stockholm in September 2016. I booked the flights in Jan. and got VERY good rates. I booked one way to Copenhagen, took train to Stockholm and then flew out of Stockholm. The hotels were mid priced and very nice, If you book thru Hotels.com you can pay on arrival. (Wait till you see the free breakfasts over there!) The train from Stockholm to Kolmarden was very easy too! Do the trip, you wont regret it!

 

The only annoying thing about getting to Kolmarden is that the town bus (at least on the day I went) only runs hourly.

 

And I know! Those breakfasts put the Holiday Inns and Quality Inns to shame. The food actually tasted fresh and not like some microwaved garbage.

 

Yes I do think the bus was annoying (time wise) but I was so excited about Wildfire!

[Canobie Coaster]

Liseberg

 

After my high speed train arrived in Gothenburg, I had a 10-15 minute walk to my hotel. My staples stateside are Motel 6, Days Inn, and Econo Lodge…if they have a minimum rating of 3 stars on Trip Advisor or an equivalent site. In the event the hotel is a dump or overridden by drugs (things that seem to go with bargain basement rates), my backups are usually something like a Quality Inn. Since I had a long night and had a 4 am turnaround time to get to the airport, I needed something close to Liseberg.

 

That got me Gothia Towers, the single nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. The hotel was colossal (almost as tall as Liseberg’s Ferris wheel), so the views were spectacular. Unfortunately, I wasn’t on the side facing the park. I instead got the side facing the city’s sports stadium. But what really impressed me was their hospitality. I had to leave at 4 am, so I strongly doubted breakfast would start by then. I was right. However, they prepared a special complimentary brown bag for me that was ready to go when I checked out at 4 am.

 

This is so unlike me. Usually I'm used to the towering 2 story resort known as Motel 6.

Like Grona Lund, Liseberg is another noteworthy park nestled in the center of a major city. One of the few equivalents I can think of in the US is Elitch Gardens, except Liseberg has coasters that you actually want to reride. However, once you enter the park, you sort of forget you’re in the middle of a bustling city. The park is beautiful and topography is pretty interesting. Half the park is on flat land while the other half is located on a pretty large hill.

 

Liseberg was one of the most anticipated parks on the trip and it didn't disappoint.

You wouldn't think you were still in a busy city. The park was beautiful!

And I'm not saying that just because they have boobs on display.

It was still drizzly, but the park was far from empty. The worst line I encountered all night was about 10 minutes. I decided to begin with the park’s newest coaster, Helix. Located at the tip top of the hill, Helix thankfully had an escalator that brought you up to the entrance. But you still had a ways to go. The queue line is pretty long and wacky. The queue line is a seemingly random, multi-level labyrinth. It probably takes a good 5 minutes just to walk through the thing. I decided to start with a back row ride.

 

Helix has an amazing setting on a hill and the park is kind enough to provide an escalator.

Magic Mountain really could use one of these.

Finally you reach the entrance.

Only to navigate a multilevel labyrinth.

This was my second experience with Mack’s lap bar only trains. My first experience was with Manta, so I was interested to try them out on a far larger and more intense coaster. They are incredibly comfortable and just a notch below B&M mega coaster trains for my favorite steel coaster trains. Because of the station’s height, it begins with a steep drop out of the station that gives some strong ejector air in back. That’s followed by a very slow corkscrew that provides some great hang-time.

 

Then came the first launch. Usually this is the highlight of a launched coaster, but not on Helix. They are fun and build good speed, but they felt forceless. I’ve been on Zamperla motorbike coasters with more kick to their launch. I’d say not stopping before the launch could have been the cause, but Taron’s launch at Phantasialand a week later still had a lot of power to it. Heck even Wave Breaker at SeaWorld San Antonio had more power. The second launch was much of the same and really the only weakness on Helix.

 

With the head of steam from the launch, the ride careens through a zero-G roll with tons of hang-time. That’s followed by a nice little airtime hill before the second inversion, a dive loop. This loop is followed by the Norwegian loop. The inverted portions provided more hang-time like the first two inversions and the bottom of the inversion pulled the most Gs of any point on the ride. That’s immediately followed by another great zero-G roll; this one snappier than the first. The next hill is arguably the best part of the ride, it’s a long, drawn-out airtime hill with 2-3 seconds of ejector air reminiscent of the 3rd and 4th hills on SFNE’s Superman. The first half has one final trick, a sudden downward curve that combines an abrupt pop of air with some laterals.

 

After another surprisingly forceless launch, the ride reaches its highest point with the inverted top hat. While Mr. Freeze ferociously whips through its inverted top hat, time seems to stand still on Helix’s as you get some pretty freaky hang-time. That’s followed by another excellent airtime hill much like the signature part of the first half. This one provides a breathtaking view of downtown Gothenburg, particularly at night, to boot. The ride then weaves up the hillside before encountering the last inversion, a very slow inline twist on par with Hydra’s jo-jo roll in terms of speed and hang-time.

 

To put it short, I loved Helix. I immediately hopped back in line for a front row ride, which was even better to get the full visuals of the ride’s amazing setting. The views of downtown Gothenburg lit up as you traverse the hillside is quite the site. One of the other comments I’ve heard about Helix is that all of the inversions feel the same. I can sort of agree with that, as a majority of them were floaty with lots of hang-time. But those are my favorite kinds of inversions so I welcomed all 7 of them. Few enthusiasts would complain about 7 similarly awesome airtime hills and that’s how I felt about Helix’s inversions.

 

This was my favorite ride in the park, no small feat for a park with an Intamin pre-fab. It’s a long, unique ride that sprinkles a little bit of everything (launches, inversions, airtime hills) while also having one of the best settings for a coaster. I think the latter is what really elevates this ride, particularly during night rides. 10 out of 10

 

I loved the combination of airtime and inversions. Also enjoy about the last daytime photo I had of Liseberg. It's all downhill from here.

Oddly the weakest part of Helix may have been the launches.

But it gives you the speed to make it through hangtime filled inversions such as this one.

The backdrop of Gothenburg is quite the site during the ride.

I also love how both Helix and Lisebergbanan have lights on the side of the train.

While I was atop the hill, I decided to try the park’s huge drop tower, AtmosFear. I love how the little plaza has AtmosFear smack dab in the middle and has the glass panels for onlookers. It’s not exactly a themed drop tower, but the station definitely has that haunted boiler room feel to it. After a one cycle wait I boarded the observation tower converted into a drop tower (probably my favorite thing about the ride).

 

The view was absolutely stunning. A 300 foot drop tower alone would give spectacular views, but AtmosFear is built atop a hill. Zumanjaro may have a longer drop, but AtmosFear felt even taller thanks to its placement. Like Ikaros, I was a little letdown by the drop. I don’t know if it’s because I had been riding 2nd generation Intamin towers the past 3 days, but the drop didn’t feel as fast as other Intamin towers. There was still solid air going down, but it lacked the stomach-dropping sensation they have consistently provided for me. Still the length of the drop and the views were impressive. 8 out of 10

 

I love the little viewing area in the plaza. Most people look absolutely mortified at this point.

The views at the top are spectacular. A 300 foot tower alone would give outstanding views, but then place that tower atop a hill.

Next was a ride that I thought was a Schwarzkopf masterpiece until a few minutes ago, Lisebergbanan. Well it technically is an Anton Schwarzkopf design, but Zierer manufactured it after Schwarzkopf went bankrupt. Coaster nerding aside, the ride felt like a more drawn-out, less intense version of Jetline with a superior setting. The ride is situated on the same hill as Helix, so it has some great interactions along the way.

 

Lisebergbanan is a very long ride. Knoebels may have a double helix on Twister, but Lisebergbanan has a triple helix. It’s not particularly forceful, but it’s a cool visual repeatedly diving up and down the mountain, particularly since it revolves around the screamin’ swing. Honestly, the most intense part of the ride were the 2-3 random pops of air. They were abrupt and totally unexpected, and they were often followed by a sudden change of direction. There were a few turns that pulled some Gs, but overall it’s one of those rides that’s just pure fun. 8 out of 10

 

The old king of the hill was dethroned by Helix, but Lisebergbanan is still a very fun ride.

Twister's double helix is one-upped by the ride's triple helix. Or quadruple helix if you count the ride's neighbor that happens to be photobombing.

With the rain picking up, I decided to make my way to Balder just in case the park decided to close early (spoiler alert- it didn’t because we weren’t in America and Europeans don’t let rain stop them). While the other coasters had 5-10 minute waits, Balder was a complete walk-on. I was confused but wasn’t going to question it. I decided to start with a back row ride.

 

The first drop was a letdown compared to El Toro’s as the banked drop only gave a decent pop of air due to the twist at the start, but the first drop isn’t Balder’s bread and butter. The ride’s strength is the subsequent array of ejector air-time filled camelbacks and bunny hills. Unlike the pops you get on RMCs, this is the strong drawn-out ejector air much like the camelbacks on El Toro, just on much smaller hills. My two favorite drops in particular were the tunnel drops as they were considerably taller than the rest of the ride’s bunny hills. In total, I think there is something close to 12 hills.

 

Balder’s triple out-and-back layout is pretty basic, but the airtime it provides is anything but. It’s some of the strongest air you’ll find on any coaster. My favorite seat ended up being the front row. Also with regards to smoothness, I was a little nervous after hearing the state Colossos was in before its closure, but thankfully Balder was as smooth as El Toro. It's a toss-up whether or not I prefer El Toro or Balder. El Toro has 4 hills with stronger air than anything on Balder plus the Twister section, but I'm more of an airtime guy and Balder is perfection in that area. 10 out of 10

 

Balder, the Nordic god of ejector airtime.

Just look at all those hills. And each one launches you out of your seat.

I think the weirdest part about Balder was the restraint check. For those of you who have ridden El Toro, I’m taking a wild guess you’ve been stapled more often than not just like I have. The ops on Balder didn’t push the restraints down any further, they just checked the belts and made sure the bar wasn’t coming up. But that wasn’t even the strangest part. Every other time there’s an empty seat, I see the employees push the lap bar down. On Balder, they dispatch the empty seats with wide open restraints. I was really baffled to see this since I’d think a locked restraint would be needed to dispatch the train.

 

This is how they dispatched trains; empty seats had their lap bars raised. Anyone know why they'd do this instead of lowering them?

I then hit the park’s newest attraction (for now) in Loke. I was interested in seeing how Intamin’s take on the giant frisbee would compare with the Huss and Zamperla ones I’ve ridden. The ride looked absolutely fantastic at night with its light package and I could see the ride all across the park. I probably had to wait 2 cycles despite the ride’s large capacity and the first thing I noticed was how free the restraints were. Outside of “it” at Morey’s Piers, all the other frisbees have pretty large OSTRs. Loke had the same restraints as Zumanjaro or Lex Luthor, a beefy lap bar and minimalistic shoulder bars. While it’s lap bar was more minimalistic, Loke felt freer thanks to the outward facing seats. I much prefer that configuration over the inward facing ones.

 

My usual gripe with frisbee rides is they don’t give too many max swings. For example, Riddler Revenge at SFOT only gave 2 max swings. Loke differs in that it had an incredibly long and fulfilling cycle. There were probably about 8 max swings, plus several others that were just a notch below. And those max swings were outstanding. A few seconds of sustained floater air combined with a breathtaking view. With the outward facing seats, you could really feel just how high up you were. Loke is now my new favorite frisbee ride and I’d love to see more of these Intamin ones in the US. 10 out of 10

 

The park's newest ride.

For now that is...

This is my new favorite frisbee ride.

The max swings are plentiful, go incredibly high, and have some serious sustained airtime.

Sweden must have a thing for haunt upcharges. Much like at Grona Lund, Liseberg had their own haunt. Except instead of being inside your typical haunted house, this one took place in an elaborately themed hotel. The theming throughout was on par with the lobby of Tower of Terror and there were plenty of scare actors jumping out. Each scare actor was themed to the room. There were bellhops, chefs, etc. My one complaint with the ride was that you have to walk through the attraction conga line style, even if you don’t know the party ahead of you. A relatively minor complaint, but just something I noted. 9.5 out of 10

 

Sweden really loves these walkthrough haunts. And so do I.

The walkthrough dumped me off next to the park’s kiddie area so it was time to grab the two kiddie coasters. First was Rabalder. The larger of the two, Rabalder was a decent coaster. The train crests the lift hill surprisingly fast and the subsequent helix is pretty fun. You get two laps. While better than most kids coasters, one ride was enough. 3 out of 10

 

Junior Balder was the better of the two kids coasters.

Stampbanan was the smaller of the two. I passed 4-5 confused parents as I walked up the entrance ramp and shamefully parked my rear end in the back of the train. All I can say about this one was that it was smooth. 2 out of 10

 

Note the distinct lack of parents riding alone.

With the two kiddie coasters knocked out, I had two hours left. I went back up the hill to hit two of my favorite types of flat rides, the screamin’ swing and the sky roller. Uppswinget, the screamin’ swing, was first. I’ve always heard the screamin’ swing at Glenwood Caverns is the best one because of its location over a cliff, but this one may be firmly in second place. Located on the edge of a large hill, I recommend riding on the side facing away from the hill while you load. That way you are facing straight down on the max swings. Like the other models, Uppswinget had some great floater air on the max swings. But unlike the other models, Uppswinget seemed to have 2 extra max swings which was a pleasant surprise. 9 out of 10

 

Their Screamin' Swing may have the second best location of any in the world, since number 1 isn't ever going to be beaten.

I hydrated up and got ready for a workout on AeroSpin. These sky rollers can be one of the most intense flat rides out there, as long as you channel your inner Richard Simmons. If you rock the paddles in perfect, opposing unison, making sure the motion in one direction is complete before reversing the paddles, you will eventually get that first inversion. From there, all hell breaks loose.

 

I believe I got 30-something flips. The most intense part about these sky rollers isn’t the sheer fact that you experience 30 flips (thought that alone is pretty wild). Rather it’s the breakneck speed the inversions are taken at. The flips pull some serious Gs! And thanks to the ride’s location atop a hill, the physical intensity is combined with the disorienting visual of Liseberg and Gothenburg’s lights coming and going at a rate that’d be an epileptic’s nightmare. I wish more parks stateside had a version of this insane flat ride. 10 out of 10

 

I take pride in how many flips I can get on these.

After trying to ruin my body’s equilibrium, I followed up with a much more relaxing ride on FlumeRide. Like several of the park’s rides, the flume utilizes the hill perfectly. The ride has a decently long layout that meanders from one lift to another to bring you atop the hill. The hill is also densely populated with trees so this layout is well-concealed, especially at night. Once you reach the top, the ride has two sizable drops back to back to return back to ground-level. I love flumes that hug the terrain, travel through the woods, and have great drops. Liseberg’s flume does all 3 of those things. 10 out of 10

 

This is like Lake Compounce's flume, except double the height of the hill, add a second drop, and run six times the logs.

The last ride I wanted to hit before reriding the big 2 coasters was Mechanica. A combination of a top scan and an inverting frisbee, Mechanica looked like it could be one of the world’s most intense flat rides. Unfortunately that wouldn’t be the case. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun ride. It just wasn’t balls to the walls intense like it appeared.

 

The swings at the beginning of the ride were taken very slowly. It was too slow to cause any flips or airtime; I just got some gentle rocking. Then halfway through the arm stopped with us suspended in midair. For a sec, I worried the ride had broken down, but then we started spinning. The next half of the ride was taken faster than the first. I think I got one or two flips and some air over the top, but just as the ride started to get interesting it ended. I would have thought the combination of an inverted frisbee and a top scan would be a fantastic ride, but I’d take the individual rides over the lovechild. 7 out of 10

 

This ride was such a tease. It looked to have all the potential for an insane ride, but it moved far too slowly for a majority of the ride.

At this point, the heavens opened up. But in typical non-US fashion, the rides didn’t close. I got three quick rides in on Balder with the rain stopping for my final ride. Balder really is an airtime buffet. What Phoenix’s layout is to floater air, Balder is to ejector air. With a half hour left, I ascended back up the hill to get my last rides on Helix. I got one ride in the back and finished the night off with two rides in the front row. Seeing the bright city skyline and then rushing back into the wooded hillside was an amazing visual combined with the rest of the ride.

 

That concluded the busiest day of the trip, but I wouldn’t take it back. Yes there were several trains and buses along the way, but I rode two woodies that entered into my top 5 and a steel coaster that’s borderline top 10 for me. And in general, Liseberg is one of the nicest parks I have ever visited. The park has the major headliner rides you’d expect and basically all my favorite non-roller coaster rides (a great flume, huge drop tower, sky roller, haunted house, screamin’ swing, etc).

Edited January 22, 2018 by Canobie Coaster

[viking86]

Just been catching up on this trip report, and I must say I really enjoyed it. I loved Wildfire, in my opinion the best wooden coaster in Scandinavia, and in regards to Liseberg I just love the whole place. Beautiful park, awesome rides and some of the best operations I've ever witnessed. I've never seen any of their rides being understaffed, and the staff always seems to do their best to get the trains rolling again as fast as possible.

 

There were points on my trek where I wondered if the ride really existed. But eventually I saw the lift hill peek above the treeline. Somehow the park was able to conceal a massive 180ft wooden coaster until you’re right on top of it. Not just from a visual perspective, but I couldn’t hear the rumble of the ride either walking through the zoo. I’m sure the animals certainly appreciate it because what could be more natural than a hulking wooden coaster on top of a rock cliff with a support structure so odd that the ride doesn’t even look real.

 

This is definitely true. I spent a whole day at Kolmården last year, so I spent quite a bit of time walking around (because as you said, this place is HUGE). And it's really incredible that the only times you notice that Wildfire is in the same park is when you can actually see it. I remember when they announced it, there were a lot of comments in social media from locals that "Oh no they're gonna ruin the zoo", but somehow they managed to make it fit in perfectly.