Photo TR: Andy's 2019 European Adventure with TPR

[The Great Zo]

On 2/24/2021 at 8:29 PM, DBru said:

With that being said, Helix did leave me disappointed. While the layout and setting are spectacular, the train rattled and vibrated like crazy on every one of my 6-8 rides. Also, the lapbar tightens to an uncomfortable point throughout the ride. However, like you said, this was clearly rough day maintenance-wise for Helix, so I look forward to giving it another chance. I still have it ranked 36/<500, so clearly still a great coaster.

...I'm glad Caroline was unhappy riding the kiddie coaster cuz it's what she gets for being the reason I didn't get to ride AtmosFear. 

Re: Helix -- Yeah, absolutely give this thing another chance sometime. I was really surprised about the rattling, since I've never gotten that on a Mack before. Helix is still my favorite coaster at the park, but no doubt Balder was having a better day.

Re: Caroline -- Holy crap them are fightin' words. @rubysparkles , what do you have to say for yourself???

23 hours ago, Electerik said:

I did not know about the hill across the highway. Even though all I brought camera-wise was my phone, I would've liked to see that--if for no other reason than just to get a bit more of the flavor of the area. Then again, I'm not sure where the time or energy for me to do that would've come from, as the heat and lack of sleep from the previous day really kicked my butt that day.

I'm just not sure about Liseberg. Certainly, there's a lot to like. But a lot of its attractions didn't really hit for me--or maybe nothing was ever going to work for me that particular day. Tough to say. Guess I need to go back!

You did get to the Universeum, though, which (from your TR) looked pretty cool. Literally since it was indoors on a hot day.

If you liked that one hill, wait until the next TR update: there will be more hills 

[The Great Zo]

This next TR segment is basically three mini-reports combined into one. The first bit is from the 2019 trip, and the rest is a look back to my 2016 visit to Gothenburg. That should finish everything up from the west side of Sweden.

Friday, July 26, 2019
Day 15 Continued: Liseberg Backstage

Liseberg is a place of class, magnificence, and history. But one tradition stands above all the rest: scribbling your signature on the wooden supports of Balder.

Following that essential event, Pontus Hallsberg took a few of us on a backstage tour of three of the park's coasters: Balder, Valkyira, and Lisebergbanan.

This is some fun stuff I didn't have space for in the last TR, but it might have been the best parts of the day!

So, let's get it started with Balder.

We'll begin at the recently re-designed entrance to Balder.

Through a gate, we headed into the ride's infield turnaround.

Some nice views of Balder in action from the inside.

This is what we came for -- to add our names to those who have signed before us.

Pontus explains the tradition...

...and behold, the marker of doom!

So we all split up and found some wood.

Meanwhile, Balder kept on rumbling above us.

I have done my part.

So did the rest of the group, with a selection of their signatures shared here.

Daniel wants it in a box!

David!

Ryan is the first of us who was smart enough to put the full date!

Barry!

Brad points it out.

AJ (who is actually one of our many Andrews) has added his name.

John!!

Caroline!

Signatures from years past -- Elissa in 2014, and perhaps also 2011?

KT loves ocean sunfish.

Oh, this one might be my favorite.

The backstage tour started in the ride op booth at Balder. We got a nice view from behind the glass of their very quick operations.

Control panel shot!

I never worked at a theme park (or even wanted to) but I bet this will interest one or two people who have.

A view of the blue train out the window.

The red train takes off.

Can't do a backstage tour without getting a ride! Pontus and Robb look ready for some airtime. I jumped on the next cycle.

What lies beyond this gate?

The entrance to a haunt, for one.

They even themed the escape route map. I love it!

What else is behind the gate?

The old Lisebergbanan trains!

Fare thee well, old trains.

Meanwhile, Valkyria cycles overhead.

Some views from the Valkyria infield you can't normally get.

Hey, you're upside down.

Valkyria was also pumping out the trains, which made it easy to try some different photo angles.

I like this view because you can see every row on the vehicle.

Dropping down.

Curving around.

Hairtime is the best.

An infinite spiral.

Overbanked.

Running out of caption ideas, but yeah, this is a great place to watch Valkyria from.

Always some fun rider reactions, too.

There's a decent view of the top of Balder's lift from over here, too.

Balder takes a dive.

From there, we headed into Valkyria's maintenance bay.

If I wasn't writing this TR almost two years after the visit, I'd probably remember what more of this stuff is.

We got a winch thing on the ceiling!

A place to put the trains.

You'll always need wheels.

You also need tools.

Wrenches of exceptional size.

They didn't invent the wheel -- they just diagrammed it.

More dummies than your average TPR trip.

Very important!

Also important: the sword of Valkyria.

A strange view up at the station.

A view from the loading platform.

A rather steep lift hill.

The anticipation is building.

Checking in from the Valkyria control booth.

A careful eye before the dispatch.

End result: happy people.

Across the way, there's Helix and some other stuff.

We'll head over there and through Lisebergbanan's vacant extended queue.

Way up the hill -- Helix and Uppswinget.

A speedy Lisebergbanan passes.

I spy a clearance envelope!

There are some interesting views of Helix from way back here.

Thankfully, Helix was behaving enough that we got a few pictures.

Up and down the hills.

This is some pretty good airtime.

Helix only has two real airtime hills, but they're both quite strong.

But this isn't a backstage tour of Helix, so...

...here's the Lisebergbanan maintenance bay.

Under-the-track shot.

More wrenches!

I have no idea what this is, but it looks interesting.

Another shot of the maintenance track.

Pretty cool to get to see parts of a theme park you don't normally get to see.

In case someone needs a hose-down.

Orange wheels.

Blue wheels.

Varied wheels.

Shiny silver wheels.

Some stats for those of you who enjoy stats. And also know Swedish.

Ah, yes -- the Zierer / Schwarzkopf combination.

A map of the ride!

And a view of the park from the way up to the control booth.

One random shot of Balder from way over here, just because.

Behind the glass at Lisebergbanan.

They're collecting some awards.

And cats.

Balder and Valkyria were cycling quickly, but Lisebergbanan moves even faster.

So many buttons, so little time.

More buttons and lights.

This is my favorite part of the control panel.

It's a light-up schematic of the progress of the trains on the circuit.

With that, we'll depart Liseberg C on one of the ride's new trains, bringing an end to the backstage tour.

One more round of applause for Pontus for everything!

[The Great Zo]

Monday, July 4, 2016
Liseberg: The Kanonen Era

Jumping back in time a few years...

Liseberg was the last park I visited on my first European trip in 2016. It wasn't officially a part of the TPR trip, which ended in Stockholm, but several people made the journey over to Gothenburg after the trip had ended. A few went on Sunday the 3rd, but I went on the 4th, meeting up with Joe S for some late-night rides on Helix to close out the park.

As I mentioned in the main TR for the 2019 visit, the park's two premier coasters were running quite differently on both of my visits. While Balder was kind of slow in 2016, it was much more fun in 2019. And while Helix was having a bad day in 2019, it was running like dynamite in 2016, quickly becoming one of my very favorite coasters.

This isn't a full TR of my 2016 visit, but I wanted to share some pictures of things I didn't really cover before. That includes more views of Helix, which wasn't running consistently enough for me to get very many pictures in 2019. Oh, and there's the whole Kanonen angle, too -- the moved-to-Iowa Intamin launcher that was replaced by Valkyria.

Liseberg! It's shiny!

AtmosFear ran for more than one cycle in 2016. And it was good!

AeroSpin in action -- a ride I failed to photograph in 2019.

I did ride it on both trips, and was quite dizzy when I was done.

I did not ride the big wheel in 2019, but I did in 2016, so here are a few pictures from up high. This one is looking roughly north toward central Gothenburg, with the Lorensberg district in the foreground.

Liseberg's main entrance.

A view of the park, through slightly-difficult glass.

Oh, Kanonen isn't the only ride that was removed between 2016 and 2019. Say a fond goodbye to Sagoslottet, the park's old fairy tale castle dark ride.

Sagoslottet had some Peter Pan-esque ride vehicles.

The pot-bellied emperor with no clothes is pretty much all anyone remembers from this ride, so that's all I'm gonna post of it.

Here's the Lisebergbanan station pre-renovation.

I never made it over to the far eastern section of the park in 2019, but there are some cool buildings, and one very nice boat.

There's also a dance hall!

Oh, and a departed Intamin launcher. Hello, Kanonen.

Am I going to be drawn and quartered if I say that I liked Kanonen, but didn't love Kanonen?

It's a really fun ride, it's just rather short as far as Intamin launchers go.

With that said, it'll surely be the best roller coaster in Iowa!

Airtime on the top hat!

A Kanonen inversion, with a nice background of Balder supports.

In 2019, I got to see the musician Hurula perform at Liseberg's main stage.

In 2016, they were doing their normal Monday evening show Lotta på Liseberg -- starring Swedish entertainer Lotta Engberg.

That's Lotta on the microphone in the middle. This was from the afternoon rehearsal.

Liseberg's rapids ride is called Kållerado.

I found that it was making rainbows.

It's very colorful.

Some views from the top of the hill -- here's Lisebergbanan with the old trains, and Balder running behind.

Balder and Kanonen, together once upon a time.

A Kanonen loop, and Balder sneaks in.

This view is very, very different now.

As promised, some Helix photos, since I had so few in the 2019 TR.

Helix drops out of the station. You'll get some air if you're near the back of the train.

A view from below of Helix's first drop.

The Gothia Towers make a nice backdrop for Helix.

Another example of the same. It's almost free advertising.

So much excitement and upside-down-ness.

Reactions on the launch track.

Soarin' over Gothenburg.

Another view from the top of the hill.

Say hi to Lotta!

So many inversions, and I can't remember which one this is.

Flipping back around.

Diving into the next element.

Airtime on the return leg.

With the right lighting, you can make a ton out of the scenery from the top of the Liseberg hill.

Dramatic cloud picture!

Going up?

Over the highway.

Train #2 gives me a near-perfect shot of an awesome ride.

It should be obvious from several of these pictures, but, it was kind of a chilly day in 2016.

Spiraling into the brake run.

Well, that's a reaction.

Almost had a Fabio moment here.

Hitting the brakes at the end of the ride.

Lisabanana makes an appearance over there.

Great view of the wheel from the Helix brake run!

Didn't post much from Mechanica last time so here's the ride sign.

This is a strange-looking ride.

It's also a strange-looking ride experience.

Balder: 2016 edition.

Lots of hairtime on those first couple hills, even in the cooler weather in 2016.

Blue train!

Red train!

It took me a very long time to get this picture but it was worth it because now it's impossible to ever get again.

Balder and Kanonen, at their highest points.

That evening, Lotta på Liseberg drew a packed house.

That's a lot of daisies.

Helix is so good at night -- even the queue is awesome.

It's very green.

One more Helix shot -- with some sunset shadows on the brake run.

That's two fun visits to Liseberg, and hopefully more to come some day in the future.

[The Great Zo]

Sunday, July 3, 2016
Gothenburg: Shelter Where Available

The third and final segment in this post covers my adventures around the city of Gothenburg! Or, if you'd prefer, Göteborg.

In 2016, Stockholm was the end-point of the TPR trip. I decided to travel from there to Gothenburg by train. Definitely an efficient and interesting way to travel. Not the easiest thing if you're lugging a full-size suitcase because packing light isn't in your vocabulary.

I arrived in Gothenburg early in the afternoon on Sunday, July 3. Most of these pictures are from a very long walk around the city for the entire rest of the day. There are a couple from July 4th while I was on my way to Liseberg, and one or two from the July 5th as I was preparing to head to the airport to fly back home to the US.

With our Schiphol-induced travel difficulties in 2019, we didn't get any time to explore Gothenburg during the most recent trip. I'm glad I got to see the city in 2016, and I definitely wanted to share it here -- it's a pretty nice place! I'll tell the story of the journey in the captions, but we'll start at my hotel.

I stayed at the Hotel Royal in Gothenburg. Just a couple blocks from the central rail station.

Great price, great breakfast, very nice hotel overall. Tiny rooms, so probably better for a solo traveler, but I'll stay there again for sure if I return.

One interesting thing is that the keys are all attached to heavy weights -- and you aren't allowed to take them out of the hotel. You return them to the front desk and pick them back up when you get back in. I've never seen that anywhere else.

Starting my walking trip along the waterfront. This is the Barken Viking, a four-masted ship built in 1906. Its sailing days are over -- it's now moored on the Göta älv (Göta River) as a hotel. I almost chose to stay here, actually, but the Hotel Royal was a little more centrally located.

Heading north across the river is the Götaälvbron (Göta älv bridge). I decided to walk across it.

This little corner of Gothenburg (as seen from the bridge) is called Lilla Bommen, named for the red and white building of the same name. Lilla Bommen is also called The Lipstick, for obvious reasons. The very top is an observation deck, but it was closed on the day of my visit, unfortunately.

A view over the river, and yet another post with an old church. That's the Masthuggskyrkan (Masthugg Church) way up on a hill.

A familiar theme park was also visible off in the distance.

The real reason I was heading north across the river was to head up there. Those cliffs are part of a hill called Ramberget.

I got north of the river, made a stop in a grocery store for some refreshments, then walked west. Here's a view over the Hjalmar Brantingsgatan for a northern Gothenburg street scene.

Soon, I was in the woods -- climbing a trail in Keillers Park.

As I got near the top of the park, the views opened up, but the skies began to darken.

Off to the west, I saw a downpour heading in. Based on what I could tell, it was heading straight into the city.

I got out the zoom lens, and saw something interesting.

That's a funnel cloud way off in the distance!

Of course, I'm in Sweden, so I have no clue who I'm supposed to report this to.

Well, the funnel cloud didn't look like much of a threat, and it dissipated within a few minutes. But the rain was still headed in, and I was in a park with no buildings and no shelters and had no vehicle.

I needed a place to wait out the downpour, but where?

Yeah.

Look, it was better than getting soaked, OK? Solid decision.

When the rain ended, the weather was perfect.

Now, I had some time to check out the views from Gothenburg's most scenic spot.

Here's a look southwest over the Göta älv. The suspension bridge to the right is the Älvsborgsbron (Älvsborg Bridge).

Such an interesting variety of architecture and topography. Sweden is awesome.

A view south over the rocky cliffs.

Liseberg's gonna show up in a lot of these!

Here's a picture that gives an idea of what the main cliff edge looks like at Keillers Park. There are lots of different viewpoints, and once the rain ended, the locals came out to enjoy it.

Another view south over the city. Central Gothenburg is just across the water.

Lilla Bommen and the Barken Viking.

AtmosFear, Lisebergbanan, and AeroSpin are all running!

It's a busy port area, so it's easy to get a crane in the way of your shot.

I finally made it to the main destination -- the orienteringsbord at the summit of Ramberget.

The marker at the top! It roughly translates to: See the great view. Height 100 meters above sea level.

Another source lists the height at about 86 meters / 285 feet, but close enough.

I was not the only one enjoying the view.

I suspect I was the only one taking this many pictures of Liseberg, however.

After a while, I climbed down from Ramberget, exiting Keillers Park and heading south.

My next stop was Lindholmen, a mixed-use district on the north side of the Älv, directly across from central Gothenburg.

I needed a way to get back to the other side of the river. I already walked across the bridge once, so why not take a ferry this time?

From the ferry, here's a view back up at Ramberget and Keillers Park.

Some photogenic clouds on a beautiful evening in Gothenburg.

Coming back into the central part of the city.

The rest of my tour was focused around the central part of Gothenburg. Here's the Göteborgs stadsmuseum (Gothenburg City Museum), with the clock tower from the Tyska kyrkan (German Church) behind it.

Gothenburg is built on several canals -- this is one of them.

Just behind this canal is Gustav Adolfs Torg, the city's central square. It's named for King Gustav II Adolf. The building nearest to the center of this picture is Gothenburg's Rådhuset (City Hall).

On the south end of the downtown area is the Feskekörka -- an interestingly-shaped fish market.

Gothenburg is a city that was originally very heavily fortified, many centuries ago. Today, most of the fortifications have been removed, although you can still imply their locations by the shape of the canals along the edge of downtown.

This picture is from the top of the only remaining fortification -- the Carolus Rex XI bastion.

As it turns out, you can see Liseberg from pretty much anywhere.

Rush fans might get the theme of this restaurant, where I stopped for dinner. I had a very good, though insanely expensive burger. While the owners of this place might be fans of Rush and rock music in general, Gothenburg's chief export in the world of rock is death metal / alt metal band In Flames.

A nice view over one of Gothenburg's canals as night begins to fall.

Gothenburg Central Station (Göteborgs Centralstation) -- where I arrived by train earlier that day.

Swedish reflections to end a long day.

The next couple pictures are from the next morning, while I was on my way to Liseberg.

This is a fountain on theh Kungsportsavenyen road in the Lorensberg neighborhood. Behind the fountain is the Göteborgs Konstmuseum (Gothenburg Museum of Art).

A statue of Poseidon, and a view northwest into the city -- with Gothenburg's white and blue streetcars making their way.

Liseberg was next, and I already covered that bit earlier.

So, here's the final few shots from later that night.

A walk back to the hotel through the quiet streets of Gothenburg.

Heading north along a canal, at the end of my last full day in Sweden for 2016.

One more moody shot to mark the end of the 2016 trip. But there's still a whole lot more to come from Sweden.

Hope you've enjoyed your quick tour of Gothenburg, and an overload of stuff from Liseberg. Kolmården is up next!

[Garet]

9 hours ago, The Great Zo said:

One interesting thing is that the keys are all attached to heavy weights -- and you aren't allowed to take them out of the hotel. You return them to the front desk and pick them back up when you get back in. I've never seen that anywhere else.

My hotel in Tokyo did the same thing, I had to return the key to the desk whenever I went out out every day.

[Electerik]

Quote

While the owners of this place might be fans of Rush and rock music in general, Gothenburg's chief export in the world of rock is death metal / alt metal band In Flames.

In fact, the owners of said place are the members of In Flames.

So there you go.

[DBru]

The idea of you waiting out a tornado in a porta-potty makes me really, really happy.

Also, Balder in a Box would be the best roller coaster in the world. Just sayin'.

[The Great Zo]

On 3/30/2021 at 5:16 PM, Electerik said:

In fact, the owners of said place are the members of In Flames.

So there you go.

This makes the whole thing make a lot more sense and I feel like it is something I should have known in advance.

On 3/30/2021 at 8:48 PM, DBru said:

Also, Balder in a Box would be the best roller coaster in the world. Just sayin'.

That would require an excessively large box...

[CenturyFlyer]

I loved getting lost in this report and pictures, as always. I'm guessing that once the two year lag time had passed from your 2016 trip, you were already planning the 2019 visit and just figured you'd save the pictures until now, nearly five years after they were taken! 

Happy to see those who included the date with their signature formatted it the right way! I would probably forget.

I like the nicely padded chair for the operators - do other European parks do that?

[The Great Zo]

On 4/1/2021 at 3:35 PM, CenturyFlyer said:

I loved getting lost in this report and pictures, as always. I'm guessing that once the two year lag time had passed from your 2016 trip, you were already planning the 2019 visit and just figured you'd save the pictures until now, nearly five years after they were taken! 

Thanks for reading! I wish I was that well organized ... more like I was putting this one together and just said "eh, I have some 2016 stuff I can throw in too..."

[The Great Zo]

Saturday, July 27, 2019
Day 16: Kolmården

Kolmården is a zoo. It's a really big, really awesome zoo. It's the kind of place I'd gladly visit on my own while traveling. It's maybe not, however, the kind of place you'd expect to find written up in a trip report on a theme park forum. But you're reading this at TPR, so you've likely already heard of Kolmården, and it's because of the big coaster investment they made in 2016: Wildfire.

Before we get to Wildfire, here's some background on the zoo. Kolmården Wildlife Park opened in 1965, and was taken over by Parks and Resorts Scandinavia (also the owners of Gröna Lund) about 20 years ago. Kolmården was built in a densely forested, elevated rocky area on the northern shore of Bråviken Bay, a narrow inlet of the Baltic Seat. With respect to nearby cities, it's a little ways across the bay from Norrköping, and about 120km / 50mi southwest of Stockholm. Kolmården is quite large, even by standards of other large theme parks and zoos -- well over 200 acres if the Safari area is included. To put it another way, the walking distance from the park entrance to Wildfire (about as far as you can walk) is just short of a mile.

As a zoo, Kolmården is quite impressive. It's maybe not the largest quantity of different animals you'll find, but the ones they have are generally kept in huge and elaborate enclosures. Pack your zoom lens -- you may need it to get shots of some of the animals that are far away from the pathways! Kolmården's size and setting work very well to its advantage in terms of beauty and openness. The pathways are wide, the trees and rocky outcroppings are everywhere, and until you run across a roller coaster or an animal, it's easy to forget you're in a zoo or ticketed park of any kind.

There's not much to the "trip report" part of this post, so I'll keep it quick. We left Gothenburg early in the morning, arriving to Kolmården at about noon, and started off with a ride on Wildfire. After that, we had a group lunch at the park's main restaurant, and then split up to explore the rest of the property. We ended the night with an hour of Wildfire ERT/filming from 8PM to 9PM, then blasted ABBA Gold while cruising into Stockholm on the tour bus.

Kolmården has two rides of note...

Safari: The concept is simple here -- it's an incredibly long cable car / gondola ride over a variety of different animal habitats. What makes it so impressive is its remarkable scope and size. How big? The entire length of the circuit is 1.65 miles, and it took 35 minutes for our car to make it back to the station. Opened in 2011, it's Kolmården's signature family attraction, and for good reason. You'll see a lot of animals, and if you've got a long lens, you'll get some great pictures. Along the way, you'll also enjoy some outstanding views of Wildfire and the Bråviken Bay scenery.

Wildfire: First, some background.

Remember when Wildfire was first teased and announced here on TPR back in early 2014? Remember the "Building a Mega Coaster" video series released by the park? The hype was through the roof. There was no question TPR would get there as soon as possible, and plans were made to visit shortly after its announced opening in 2016. We sure cut it close. There were delays during construction, due at least in part to local politics. Then, after testing had begun, there was a temporary shutdown due to the whole RMC train restraint cylinder thing. We hoped for the best, and it all worked out, just barely -- our 2016 visit to Kolmården was just 3 days after the ride opened to the public.

I loved Wildfire on that trip, but wondered to myself -- realistically, when am I going to make it back to this semi-obscure location in Sweden to ride it again? Well, as it turned out, only three years later.

Wildfire is worth the hype. How many coasters in the entire world have this beautiful of a setting? Perched high on a rocky outcrop? Overlooking the water, through the trees of the forest? Hair Raiser in Hong Kong probably qualifies, but not much else. Wildfire is coaster scenery porn at its finest, but it's so much more than just that. It's an RMC, so you know it's good, but the first three elements are total coaster perfection. The first drop is great, and full-on ejector if you're near the back of the train. The zero-g stall is one of my favorite coaster elements anywhere -- and unlike the one on Goliath at SFGAm, this one's taken at the correct speed to actually work in the intended way. The weird turnaround / sideways airtime hill thing right after is RMC-weird in the best possible way. From there, the coaster goes through a series of quick turns, smaller airtime hills and drops, and two more inversions. The final 15 seconds of the ride are taken a little more meanderingly than you'd like, and the elements don't pack a lot of punch on the way into the brakes, but that's a small complaint. Not a big issue, especially when the first two-thirds of the ride are about as good as it gets.

Robb produced a fantastic 8-minute long video from our filming session in 2019. We had an hour, we had multiple cameras, and we just tried basically everything. Tons of rider-cams, forward POVs, backward POVs, off-ride footage from spots you normally can't get to, and all kinds of hilarious shots of our group having a stupid fun time. This is one of my favorite TPR videos ever made. Oh, and enjoy the shot that begins at 2:32 -- that's the "Andy Cam" footage, looking straight up (or down) through the zero-g stall. It's pretty wild. Sorry Daniel, "Method Cam" might have to wait for next time!

LARRY, WAKE UP!

[The Great Zo]

Kolmården pictures!

The majority of these pictures are from our visit on July 27, 2019. As with some of the other TR segments, I'll mix in some shots from the 2016 trip (July 1) to fill in a few gaps.

An introduction ... beginning with a cool sign at the entrance to the park/zoo.

Our first stop -- lunch at the Restaurang Safari.

Not a bad view for a lunch break. Trees towering high on a cliff.

Speaking of things towering high...

...ah, Wildfire. But we'll get back to you in a bit.

We're going to start with the animals.

Red Panda!

I know of at least one person on the trip who loves red pandas. I know of at least one person on the trip who hated red pandas.

I think they're pretty neat.

They're kind of tough to photograph, but this one was mostly cooperating.

Everybody on the trip loved rodents of unusual size. Say hello to the capybara.

We have dry elephants.

We have wet elephants.

The white handed gibbons were entertaining to watch. This one's razzing the photographer.

This gibbon is chilling.

Yeah, I'm eating here, whaddya want.

There are gorillas!

There are chimpanzees!

The chimps were pretty active.

Just, uh, watch out for what they might fling out of their enclosure. (photo from 2016)

Brown bears, having a good time.

A curious meerkat!

Some kind of wild boar / wild pig in the petting zoo area.

There are goats, but they are not on the roof.

This is a bontebok. I had to look that one up.

Kolmården has a large collection of deer and antelopes and related species. I couldn't tell all of them apart, so just enjoy the pics I guess.

There are many deer/antelope things.

Two more in the bright sunlight.

Interrupting a nice moment between parent and child. Sorry!

One of the largest enclosures, with numerous large land animals, was also home to a huge flock of barnacle geese. They aren't listed as official zoo animals, but they're also not native to southern Sweden, so that's a little bit interesting.

On the first trip to Kolmården, while getting out of some rain, we saw the park's dolphin show. (photo from 2016)

I don't have very many pictures from the dolphin show, because it turns out our reserved seating was in the splash zone, and I thought wiser of it and put my camera away. (photo from 2016)

Here's a very sleepy dhole -- a wild canine from southern Asia.

The dhole were much more active when being fed on the first trip. (photo from 2016)

The tiger enclosure is pretty impressive -- this is just one part of it.

Wait, what's that old Russian bus doing in the middle of the enclosure? (photo from 2016)

We had a special tour on the first trip, and got to go inside the bus. From this angle, it feels like we're the zoo animals! (photo from 2016)

The whole thing is built out of an underground tunnel, allowing guests (and zoo staff) safe access. (photo from 2016)

We got really up close and personal with the tiger feeding. (photo from 2016)

That's one big cat. (photo from 2016)

Ready for a closeup, too. (photo from 2016)

Back to 2019, and the tigers are right where we left them.

Just a hop and a skip...

...and make your way across the water.

Two tigers!

Three tigers!

There are lions, too. We had a chance to see them up close on the first trip. I'll share a picture of a young one! (photo from 2016)

We're barely scratching the surface on the animals at Kolmården, but to see even more, you'll want to take a ride on the Safari.

Here's the view from near the entrance station -- it's a continuous run of open-air gondolas. They comfortably fit 4 people each, and can squeeze in more if necessary.

Doppelmayr is the manufacturer -- same as the new-ish system at WDW.

I even caught a wild Erik and Smisty modeling Gondola #7 for us!

Here's a GPS track map of the path of the Safari ride. The station is at the southeast corner of the image. The whole path is about 1.65 miles (2.65 kilometers) in length.

You'll get views of more than just animals -- Bråviken Bay looks quite nice.

Oh, and some really unique angles of that little coaster called Wildfire.

So, yes, there will be some Wildfire content in the "animals" part of the post.

This still just doesn't look quite right.

And yet, RMC makes it happen.

You'd need the world's luckiest timing to get a train going through the course while you're up there.

Oh, there's one.

Enjoy your drop.

It's pretty steep.

Just before you disappear into the trees...

The zero-g stall, and the scenery behind.

Upside-down and weightless.

Getting just a little too far away for a great shot of the turnaround...

...but I did snag one on the first trip! Wow, the wood's changed colors a bit over the course of three years. (photo from 2016)

Oh sure, there's a view of the kiddie coaster too.

Back to the animals!

There are many you can see from the safari, including more deer and antelope and goat type things.

I am not a zoologist, but this appears to be a picture of a shadow.

Giraffes! I know this one!

A wonderful lunch of tree stuff.

Ostriches big and small. Especially small. (photo from 2016)

Have you ever seen a baby ostrich? Now you have. (photo from 2016)

The gnu were out.

So was the moose.

Caught the alpine ibex last time around. (photo from 2016)

More brown bears, too. I think these are the males.

This lion knows how to be photographed.

Here's a wide view of what it looks like from a Safari gondola. The enclosures you're flying over are gigantic, with varied terrain and vegetation.

It's also fun to see the spots where the gondolas cross over and under each other.

There's a gondola on the first leg of the journey, passing closest to Wildfire.

Late in the ride, you'll hit the highest point on the Safari -- with the best views of the landscape.

We're pretty far above the rest of the Safari at this point.

The scenery remains outstanding.

Wildfire also remains outstanding.

One more Wildfire view I barely got as we neared the end of the ride.

Back down into the Safari station. Still a whole lot more of Kolmården to see!

[The Great Zo]

We've still got some more animals to visit.

There are camels of the bactrian variety.

Here's one taking a stroll.

I'm going to call these animals by their proper name -- the Turkmenian kulan.

But, really, they kind of look like donkeys, right?

The kulan is closely related to donkeys, but they are not exactly donkeys.

I think it's close enough for the purposes of noting that for all the donkey stuff at TPR, I've never actually posted any donkey stuff myself.

So, here you go. Theme parks, roller coasters, and ... well, it's so close to being a donkey, it might as well be a donkey.

We also have rhinos.

Large rhinos and small rhinos. Well, they're both big, honestly.

A rhino by the water.

The unmistakable zebra...

...and another fine ostrich.

A wider view of this enclosure -- one of the largest that isn't on the safari. This enclosure is partially encircled by pathways, so there are plenty of good places to view the animals from.

There's also a two-level observation area, with plenty of information about the animals you're seeing.

Honestly, what these last few pictures help to show is just how beautiful and well-designed Kolmården is.

Everywhere around Kolmården, you'll see trees, hills, rocks, and little trails. It's like you're out enjoying nature.

I think this one leads up to the highest point in the park -- about 116 meters / 381 feet above sea level.

On the east side of Kolmården, there's an interpretive nature trail.

This trail is also quite pretty, and includes some informational signs about the geology of the area. There are also some connections to other trails that I think might actually leave the park entirely.

Two picnic tables overlooking the bay. As a reminder -- this is still very much part of Kolmården. It's as peaceful a scene as you'll find at any park or zoo like this.

But really, are there any parks or zoos like this?

Just to the south, closer to the park's main restaurant, there's an interesting area that wasn't open in 2016.

It's a strange stone structure at another nice overlook.

It's almost like it's designed to look like some kind of ancient temple.

If you venture over here -- it's near the Kolmården church -- you'll be rewarded with more great views.

There's also a bridge...

...but, sadly, the bridge was out. It was closed off and looked like it needed some repairs.

Some of Kolmården's best views are from the rocks above the restaurant, or even down at the restaurant itself.

We're probably 300 feet above Bråviken Bay from this vantage point.

Why the rocky terrain? Here's the text from one of those informational signs.

"In front of you and along the northern shore of Bråviken you can identify a steep vertical fracture in the bedrock. The Kolmårdenfault has an east-western direction and you can observe it also when travelling on the highway E4."

Farms way off in the distance.

Norrköping is somewhere off that way.

A rocky shoreline across the bay.

And, yes, yet another entry to this trip report with a church way off in the distance.

Atop the rocks! Text from another sign:

"The solid geology of Kolmården is very old. Different rocks were created 1800 million years to 1600 million years ago. Leptite, granite gneiss, veined gneiss and marble dominate among the rocks. Some of them e.g. the Graversfors Granite ("The Rose Swede") and the Kolmården Marble are well known rocks used e.g. in the Royal Castle of Stockholm and the UN-building in New York. Walking on a nearby trail you can see some of the rocks in Kolmården."

It's easy to forget you're in a zoo or a theme park.

But, the main pathways are never all that far away.

There is a petting zoo!

There's also Bamses Värld! This is the park's kids area, home to most of the rides at Kolmården.

Bamse is a Swedish cartoon, based around the titular bear, Bamse. The Bamse franchise has been active since 1966.

I think this is supposed to represent his house. (photo from 2016)

Bamse is a big fan of dunderhonung (thunder honey) -- and we've got a kiddie teacups ride themed after it. (photo from 2016)

Skalman (another character from the cartoon) gets the theme on this antique car ride. (photo from 2016)

There's a rockin' tug as well.

The theater in Bamses Värld is home for performances by the cast...

...and also meet-and-greets with the characters, including Bamse himself. (photo from 2016)

There are also restaurants in Bamses Värld, including...

...this one.

Mind out of the gutter, people. This translates to "grandmother's kitchen."

We've got another kiddie credit, too.

Here's Godiståget -- Swedish for "candy train." (photo from 2016)

Godiståget is a 26-foot-tall Zierer Force 190. (photo from 2016)

The train is very colorful. (photo from 2016)

I caught Joe picking up the credit on the last trip! (photo from 2016)

One more coaster at Kolmården -- Delfinexpressen. I'm not translating this one. (photo from 2016)

Delfinexpressen is in the park's marine area, along with one other ride -- a pirate ship. Wildfire is on the hill above the two rides. (photo from 2016)

Delfinexpressen is your basic Vekoma roller skater. (photo from 2016)

Yep, it's got a dolphin on the lead car!

[The Great Zo]

Alright, we've done animals, we've done kiddie coasters...

...we're all here for Wildfire.

A beautiful ride sign for a beautiful coaster.

You want some facts about Wildfire? We've got facts about Wildfire.

I'm going to start with a few wide-angle shots from the last trip, just because I didn't get much of that in 2019. Here's a nice view from behind the lift. (photo from 2016)

Looking up at Wildfire's imposing structure from the marine area. As coasters go, this one looks good. (photo from 2016)

Heading down on that impressive first drop. (photo from 2016)

The rocks are not far below. (photo from 2016)

Ah, the zero-g stall. So much fun to ride, but so hard to photograph. Maybe I'll get some better shots later... (photo from 2016)

This is kind of a moody pic from early in the day in the 2016 visit, but I love the colors of the wood with the darker skies behind. (photo from 2016)

In 2016, we got to do one really interesting thing ... a visit to the lodge. (photo from 2016)

The lodge is a little building nestled under the Wildfire structure. To be honest, I don't recall seeing it at all in 2019. Does the lodge even still exist?

We met Parks and Resorts owner (and TPR forum member) Mattias Banker at The Lodge, for some fun info on Wildfire and a refreshing lunch. (photo from 2016)

This picture, which hung in the lodge, is absolutely amazing. That's Mattias riding at front left, and, I believe, Fred Grubb of RMC at the back left. (photo from 2016)

From the lodge, you also got some great views of how Wildfire was built right into the rocky terrain of Kolmården. (photo from 2016)

Some interesting "behind the scenes" views of Wildfire as well. (photo from 2016)

That's it from 2016 -- everything from here on out is new (well, newer) and previously unseen (unless you're on Twitter) so enjoy!

We'll start from the station -- where any good coaster begins.

And then, after a little turn around the top of the lift, the drop.

The hair goes flying.

You're out of your seat at this point.

Great lighting on a beautiful day, so let's test out the zoom lens on the first drop.

Kid in front-right is a little too calm.

Because the people behind him are having a good one!

Wildfire proved to be quite spectacular for rider reactions.

Oh, the screams, and the lack of anything to actually hold on to.

Having fun at the top of a 184-foot tall coaster.

I'm enjoying the dad who's chillin' a bit too much in the front seat.

Chillin' dad shows some excitement!

Now that's a range of emotions.

The marine area (and the Wildfire overflow queue) offer some nice views of the quick drops later in Wildfire's circuit.

You will get some airtime.

In other words, there will be some uplift.

Hair just gets flying everywhere.

Chillin' dad is still chillin'.

How does he do it?

Oh, and we've also got three inversions.

Here's one of them, visible from the public area of the park.

It's quite the twist.

It's tricky to time out shots like this through a quick inversion -- you've gotta hit the shutter at the exact right moment.

With light crowds, Wildfire was only running one train, but that kept the trains full, too. A photographic trade-off.

There's a quick banked turn past the station, probably about 2/3 of the way through the ride.

Just have to say -- Wildfire and Balder were responsible for virtually all of the near-wardrobe-malfunctions I accidentally photographed on the entire trip.

A quick curve -- with a guest appearance by Chris and John in the back row!

Hold on tight!

Wildfire through the trees. I think I took this one from the Tiger habitat area.

Finally, the turn into the brake run.

Exhilarated riders.

Excited riders!

Exhausted riders.

That's a lot of Wildfire.

But wait ... there's more!

All of the above pictures from 2019 were taken from the public areas of Kolmården. But we're not done yet. We got a trip backstage for some extra views of Wildfire -- and some new camera angles yet to be seen.

We'll start with the first drop again -- this time, viewed above the trees from the west.

That's a 161-foot drop. Great in any seat, but amazing in the back.

Wildfire's structure is mostly wood, but there are some steel supports at the drop.

A drop and a tree. This one was fun to compose in real time.

A big curve somewhere in Wildfire's back half -- not even sure I remember exactly where.

Up and around it goes.

Supports below, trees above.

An overbanked turn that passes near the Safari ride station.

Here's another one of Wildfire's inversions -- from zoomed in very close.

Wildfire's second and third inversions are both corkscrew-kinda things, though I'm not sure if that's the technical term for it.

Flipped sideways.

Restoring order right-side up.

There is, however, one more inversion to go.

Ah, here it is -- the zero-g stall. In my mind, even more so than the first drop, this is Wildfire's signature element.

It's virtually impossible to photograph from the public areas of the park, but there are some interesting angles back here.

Wildfire's zero-g stall is not just my favorite element on Wildfire, it's one of my favorite elements on any coaster. It's taken at just the right speed to make you feel truly weightless, while you're flipped totally upside down.

If you tilt your neck up, you can watch the supports (and the ground) pass by below you ... but it feels like they're above you. It's almost surreal.

So, I wanted to show a wide view of where I was set up for the next few shots -- along the ride's perimeter fence with a view up to the exit of the zero-g roll.

Hello, bent 103B!

The zero-g sequence begins. You lock into this straight, un-twisting position for a solid few seconds.

Then, the twist on the way out.

Right on into the next element.

This is a zero-g stall the way they were meant to be taken!

Alright, one more -- and maybe my favorite of the whole batch. Another shot that was tough to time out, and maybe the focus isn't perfect, but it's so wild to see the entire train flipped upside down through the stall.

Well, that brings us to evening ERT and filming.

I don't have much to share, because I was too busy riding, but the YouTube video tells the whole story. It was an amazing hour of coaster riding -- one of TPR's best ever.

Also, no axes on the ride, please.

If this is your view, you're in for a good time.

I'm going to end this with a tweet from the TPR account -- a still image from the filming session.

That was my view for our dozen-or-more consecutive rides on Wildfire.

Seriously, does coaster riding get any better than that?

That's all from Kolmården, and one of the most scenic coasters on the planet. We'll cruise on into Stockholm for the next installment at Gröna Lund.

[cfc]

Kolmarden was great--and quite a hike! It's tough to top the location of Wildfire and how it interacts with the rugged landscape there. You captured it perfectly.

[SharkTums]

Effin Red Pandas!!!!

Great report! I miss this park, that gondola safari is so amazing. 

[cfc]

^The Raccoons of Satan!

 

[The Great Zo]

On 4/24/2021 at 5:09 PM, SharkTums said:

Great report! I miss this park, that gondola safari is so amazing. 

Yep, nothing like it anywhere else I'm aware of. BGT, I guess, but that doesn't really compare.

On 4/24/2021 at 8:27 AM, cfc said:

Kolmarden was great--and quite a hike! It's tough to top the location of Wildfire and how it interacts with the rugged landscape there. You captured it perfectly.

I like a good hike. Thanks!