Bert gets his Viking on with the TPR 2023 Scandi Tour (no Pillaging, but some Humping occured)

[bert425]

Howdy all,

so I had the Privilege and the Honor to participate in the TPR 2023 Scandi tour - an almost 3 week trip that would visit 5 Countries and 17 Theme Parks (+ a mountain coaster!)

It was such an amazing assortment of people, and was so great to see friends from past trips, and to meet some folks who I've seen here on Theme Park Review over the years, but have never actually met in person - such as Big Mike,  Shane (of Shane's Amusement Attic), Matthew Martin, among others (spoiler, all of em are awesome folks).

If you read my Trip Report from Europe 2022, you're aware that my Spouse passed shortly after I got back from the trip. . so I really made this year's adventure an excuse to force myself to a) be social again , and b) force myself to face some fears and do things I'd be terrified to do (such as a 300 foot free fall, a stand up drop tower, a single rail mountain coaster (in the rain!). 

yes, I had some very emotional moments on the trip - especially after doing something that I was scared to do, and then realizing I had no one to call home and tell about it.   But all in all?  I had an incredible time and I'm looking forward to sharing my adventure and pics.

--> I know there's a couple of folks already posting Trip Reports as well (go read em, Chuck's (CFC) & Erik's are both starting out as wonderful reads with great pictures).   But since we all didn't hang out together the whole time, tho the pics from some parks/places/cities might be the same?  the photos should be different, and hopefully enjoyable.

let's get this adventure started!

Day 1, June 2nd-3rd.  

I had my flight out of Austin scheduled for Noon, and tho I had two connections, I was supposed to get into Copenhagen by Noon on Sat, giving me a full evening of sightseeing as well as the full next day before the trip officially started on Monday 6/5.

I dropped my car off at my Best Friend's house (he rightly argued that I should leave my car there since he lives 10 minutes from the airport, instead of paying for long term parking for 3 weeks) and he dropped me off.

TSA pre-check saved me a ton of time at Security. ..  .which then got eaten right back up as I was "randomly selected" to have further check, so off came the boots, the belt, the hoodie. . .etc while they swabbed everything. 
Oh well, still had plenty of time, and before long it was time to board.

I had paid for upgrades to enjoy the flight, and so the flight from Austin to Chicago wasn't too bad.

rare window seat. . so took a pic.  No idea what State this is. . LOL

Since was in 1st, we got a nice meal on this ~2 1/2 hour flight:

It doesn't look too tasty, but it actually was pretty good.

 

upon landing in Chicago, I took my phone out of Airplane Mode and immediately got the update that the long, International Flight was delayed by an hour.

i was concerned and spoke to the gate agents, about what that would do to my much shorter connection in Brussels.   I was *assured* that the plane would "make up the time" in the air, and that I shouldn't change anything, just leave it alone, and if we were late, United would take care of me.   They made me feel quite stupid and were very dismissive of me for even being concerned that I might miss my connection out of Brussels.

(and no, I will never believe the gate agents or customer service again. . if I'm worried about a connection?  I'm going to change it myself despite what they try to tell me)

anyways, so I got on the plane, and had a really nice flight, once we actually left - about an hour late.

they served us a very nice Dinner:

as well as a lovely Breakfast (I had Crepes), and I watched a couple of really stinker films:

"Antman & Wasp: Quantummania" - long and boring, and I just don't understand why Kang is a "bad" guy????

&

"65" which was so stupid. . and then you get to the twist, and it's even MORE stupid.   and even at just 80 minutes still felt too long, and too short at the same time, like a lot of stuff got cut out, and they just ended the film when they realized what a dud it was.

So we land in Brussels and lo and behold. . ..  I've missed my connection as we did NOT make up any time in the air.   Myself and dozens of other passengers had been re-assigned new flights and we were to go see the gate agents.

the agent I spoke to was very cheery, and could not understand why I did *not* want to take 3 additional flights to get to Copenhagen.  I wanted a replacement direct flight from Brussels to Copenhagen, that I had SEEN while at the counter in Chicago, and could still see. . but was told that "United doesn't partner with discount airlines"   (nevermind the flight that I missed was on, you guessed it, Finnair, which they called a "discount airline"

she assured me:  "we do this all the time!  don't worry, and this gets you into Copenhagen earlier". . . with a smile of course, and handed me my tickets (yup) for three flights on Lufthansa. . . .but no seat assignments, so I should go over there right away and check in.

"over there" was in a different terminal which took me 42 minutes to get to (yes, I timed it and I remember it was 42 from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, thanks Douglas Adams!).  Because the airport in Brussels is huge, and by changing terminals I had to go thru passport control - where of course, only 1 person was working and all the auto readers were closed.

whee. . .   oh, extra bonus.. the 1st flight I was supposed to go on with Lufthansa was delayed.    So they gave me a coupon for 17 Euro to use in the airport for my "inconvenience"

ugh.. oh well, at least there was a cheery photo op.

 

Eventually my flight took off and I began my tour of Germany's airports via Lufthansa, as the planes got smaller and smaller.

here's Frankfort:

and Munich

and Berlin

eventually. . I *DID* get to Copenhagen.   Exhausted from flying all day, but at least was there. . in the happiest place on the planet (surveys have shown, no really).

and it was "only" ~7pm. . so ok, I had lost most of my day, but still kind of early, so had been chatting with Colin about going to sightsee a bit once I landed anyways.

but then the luggage came out. . .well. . most of the luggage came out.  not mine.   
took about an hour filling out forms (once somebody was able to help me find someone to talk to at the Baggage claim area, as I couldn't leave the area to talk to the airline and there was no one representing them there). . but eventually someone from Lufthansa came down and spoke with me.    Thank goodness I had purchased Apple Airtag that was in my bag, so once out of Airplane Mode, I could clearly see that United had left my bag in Brussels and never even put it on the Lufthansa plane. 

nice partnering. . huh.

but I will say that Lufthansa was very pleasant to work with, and helpful (they gave me a "we're sorry we lost your luggage, here's some necessities" kit - which included a 2XL undershirt and paper underwear (I'll attach a pic of that in a moment).    Luckily I had arrived more than a day early, and we were at the 1st hotel for a few days - so there was time for them to get the luggage to the hotel for me if they could find it.

exhausted from the travel day, I didn't even mess with the buses or the trains, and instead just hopped in a taxi that took me directly to the 1st hotel:  "The Square"

I got there around 9pm . .messaged Colin that I still wanted to go out, but needed to freshen up just a bit, and checked into the room (after letting the hotel know about the luggage situation)

nice size room.  My roomie, AJ, wasn't coming until tomorrow, so the room looked really large - especially without my big bag in it

 

 

then went down to the lobby and met Colin and we decided to walk to find a place to get drinks. . and I REALLY wanted to go see the Little Mermaid Statue that Copenhagen is famous for.

so we decided to walk. . I was, shockingly, full of energy by this point. . so off we went.

the view from the lobby of the hotel - overlooking "the Square". . with the Train Station right across the street. (and Tivoli Gardens right around the corner)

no sleep, and look like it. . but I VERY quickly learned how much the folks in Denmark love their bikes, and to really be careful and look out for the Bike Lanes!  

the folks in the bike lanes have right of way, and they WILL take your ass out if you're not paying attention.

Colin and I just wandering sorta towards where the Little Mermaid Statue is. . .checking out bars and deciding if we wanted to stop in at any of em.

they were mostly a bit fancy, but we did stumble across a Tiki Bar and went in there and enjoyed Pina Coladas and Daqueries. . and some weird interactions with locals (along the lines of "s'up?"   "nuthin, s'Up with u")

strangely I have no pics of the Tiki bar. . LOL. . I thought i had taken one.   The drinks were decent tho, and big.

we continued our trek after the drinks and I snapped pics of the architecture (it was almost 10pm here)

as we walked and walked..  (and decided we were taking the trains back, LOL) it finally started to get a bit darker as it closed in on 11pm.

the docks you need to go to for the famous statue is a small entertainment area.. that was really quiet on this Saturday night.

but there are some other interesting things over here. . including some pretty cool "junk" sculptures.

and a "SeaPlane Museum". . .closed at this hour, but I snapped the pic as we walked by.

and eventually, we were here at the famous statue.

it was very cool to see it up close, and as it was just after 11pm, it was really just us and 1 other small group there.   So was able to really get up close and admire it.

so I'd recommend going really late to avoid the crowds, but do note, the statue has NO lighting on it.    so if your phone doesn't have decent night photos, it might be worth it to go earlier in the day.   One of the folks in the other group told me that since people kept stealing the statue's head (you really can get quite close to it in the harbor), they've now filled the head with concrete to help prevent theft.

my clumsy ass took a spill going down the rocks and landed hard on my bum. . . but still.. worth it for the picture

statue seen, we started our walk back towards the hotel - or at least a train station that would take us to the hotel.

it's a LOVELY city. .tho fairly quiet for a Saturday nite, I thought.

exiting the train station back at our hotel, we caught a glimpse of one of Tivoli Garden's gates. .and wandered over that way to take a look at it all lit up

I like the modern architecture here too.

and the Irish Pub near the hotel was hopping still.. with a photo op!

ooooo. . we were late enough that caught the Tivoli Garden's Saturday fireworks!

the lights at night are absolutely gorgeous here . . .

and with that. . I was wiped, and tomorrow was gonna be a full day as I was gonna cram in all the sightseeing I could before the welcome dinner at Wagamama.

so I said my goodnight to Colin, and headed up to the room. . where I crashed hard. 

and dreamed of lost luggage (tho the pic of Nick I had in the carry on. . so THAT I had, thank goodness)

[bert425]

sorry to disappoint. . . I know I had the paper underwear when I unpacked. . .but I can't find where I put it to take a picture.

So it must have ended up in the trash

[bert425]

Day 2, June 4th, Part 1:

so I woke up and got ready to go up to breakfast (at this hotel it's on the 6th floor), and peeked out the window to get a good look at the view from our room.

i liked the architecture across the way, so snapped a pic.

then noticed what it was. . .LOL. . the European Church of Scientology . . . .

I don't seem to have any pics of the breakfast area, tho perhaps that was just this 1st day (I'll check the rest of my pics). . but it was a very nice spread with lots of options.

while eating, I saw a few folks from the TPR trip who had arrived already and said hello, and ended up meeting Big Mike (of Big Mike Roadshow fame).. he and I hit it off over breakfast and I enjoyed the company.   when I mentioned I was planning on going to the Copenhagen Zoo this morning, he showed interest as well. . so we made plans to meet in the lobby in 10 minutes and go together on the Train/walk.

a better look at the lobby now that I've had some sleep.  a lovely hotel.

a short train ride later (and luckily I had taken a train back the night before with Colin, so already knew how to operate the ticket machine/get a ticket easily, and was able to show Big Mike) and we were at the station closest to the Zoo.

closest is misleading tho, as it was still a bit of a walk.  but the city is lovely, so really didn't mind.  besides, was gonna be doing a LOT of walking today and in the next 3 weeks.

tons of bikes on this street. .not one bike lock.   never in America

as noted, this was the closest train station to the Zoo (as well as a few other touristy things). . so it was very nice to see clearly marked signs (in multiple languages) directing folks to the sites.

such a nice walk, and so picturesque. . . we even passed a guy doing concrete cleaning with a flamethrower - but was on the wrong side of the street to get a good pic of that

eventually tho we made it to the. . . . Zoo? 

What the hell?  why is there a big dinosaur here???

 

but yeah. .it's the Zoo.

which also includes a freestanding observation tower, that for a small fee, you can add to your admission (they give you a token at entry, and you feed it into the turnstyle to go up in the tower).  

 

Nice information. . . although we pocketed the token for later, and headed into the zoo itself first.

it's a very nice zoo. . . very oddly spaced out, but with a great assortment of animals, as well as a ton of WTF photo-ops, and gardens interspersed thruout.

I will say, every animal we saw seemed very happy and pleased with their surroundings. . .I had a great time here.

not sure what this guy was, but they were in with the flamingos. . and were very eye-catchingly red.

this Polar Bear was a hoot.. he was "quarantined" in this section while a zookeeper cleaned his main "area".. and he kept running up to the doors between and bellowing at her.

he really either 1) wanted to go back to his main area, or, 2) wanted to eat her.

 

ooo. . Lion Pride, with babies!     

the zookeeper I spoke with said the cubs were born ~6 months ago.

a better look at the family from a different viewing area.

 

this thing freaked me out a little bit.

it talked to you, and it "burped" after you put trash in it. . .

all kinds of fun carvings and pathways thruout the zoo.

I don't recall seeing any falcons here, but I have a picture of the carving, so we must have been by the enclosure.

smart, sleeping, buffalo - thing.    it wasn't super hot, but I'm from Texas. .so to me, anything under 102 is not really "hot"

so I don't blame him for staying in the shade.

Elephants!

the little one was playing in the water, spraying it everywhere, and the bigger one was having a ball swatting the plastic containers hanging from the tops of the posts.

as with many of the others, the Elephant enclosure was a good size, and you could go all the way around it.

Erik mentioned the restaurant where you could eat and watch the Pandas.  It was closed on the Sunday we were there, but peeking thru the exterior glass, I realized you could see right thru the restaurant and into the Panda enclosure.

So was able to snap some really great pics (considering it's thru two panes of glass and a restaurant between)

you can also go around and up top to view the Pandas in the enclosure without the restaurant.

and. . here are the Dinos.    yeah. .not really sure why. . we didn't really go into this part of the zoo.

but a photo op, where I can touch the dinos?  yeah. . some "humping" took place

Penguins!!

these guys didnt' seem to mind the sun. .and were out sunning themselves.

more interesting sculptures over here. . and you could turn a crank to make the sculptures "squawk" at you.

over to the Red Panda exhibit. . which had this really cool "runway" where the panda could run back and forth between the connecting areas.

unfortunately, we didn't see this guy at all - couldn't even spot him if sleeping.

but there were photo-ops with wood carved Red Pandas in the seating in this area . . so took pics of that.

 

awwww.. .Otters are so cute!

this guy was fugly. . .so fugly I had to get a pic.. but he seemed so happy.. sniffing the air and hopping up and down in the paddock he was in.

 

into the Primate House - which was mostly empty for some reason. . tho there were lots of primates out in the enclosures outside of the main Primate House.
 

the Chimps were hanging out inside tho.   and were happy to pose for those who wanted to see them.

yeah. .he saw me looking. .

and turned for the picture.

 

no idea what this one was doing. . but sat this way the whole time we were in the area, while shocked parents laughed and quickly grabbed the kiddos to pull them along as they got to this window.  

 

attached on the other side of the Primate House is the reptiles/bugs/rainforest area.

where there were multiple free-range birds, butterflies, Turtles, and a sloth!

 

baby crocs. .

and birds. .

looking up to show how large, and lush, the area is.

there was a case of butterfly pupa on display, that hatched in real time.. that was rather cool to see some of them being born while we were there and then taking flight into the enclosure.

I believe this is a Dik-Dik

 

ummm. . what is this?

Do I want to look at it?

the answer was NO. . I should no have looked at it. . it was a whole wall display of "Death's Head Cockroaches"

ewwww. . . creeped me out for days!

and some nice large millipeedes

and poisonous tree frogs. . but so pretty!

 

animals everywhere. . just hanging out, and watching the people watching them.

 

ummmm. . .ok.

not sure what the sign was trying to tell me.. . . but I did a double-take at this sign.   

Bwaa-haaa-haaaa

 

looking up, I saw the Sloth and pointed him out to Big Mike. . and we watched him (her?) slowly climb across the ceiling and head down to it's burrow inside one of the large trees.

next up was the Wallaby / Kangaroo display.  which also has a walkthru area where you can get pretty close to the animals

tho the big plastic (and moving!!!) dinosaurs are pretty distracting. 

I still find it odd that a whole section of the zoo was dinosaur themed.

why hello there!

oh, don't mind me. . we lemurs are just hanging out in the shade.

feels SOOOO good!

 

hahahaha.. a Churro that has been turned into a snake for advertising.   Love stuff like this.. lean in!

King of the Baboons, high on his perch watching over all the other monkeys in that enclosure.

babies in the enclosure too

 

lizard.

and look. .I found an interactive toy to play with (and yes, I waited in line behind a kid to get my turn on it)

thanks to Big Mike for taking the pictures.

we'd finished the main part of the zoo at this point (tho there was the whole "Savannah" section across the street - accessed via a tunnel.

but we decided to do the Observation tower before heading across.

a huge crowd was forming around the base of the tower.   what was up?

it was a Peppa Pig show.  (no, really). . . damn.. that pig is popular in Denmark!

we were literally the only ones in the tower. . which was a good thing, as the steps are steep, and the passageways narrow. 

So we had to keep stopping to rest on the way up.

looking down at the Peppa Pig crowd from the lower level observation deck.   (we stopped to rest before continuing up to the top).

and the crowd got even more tightly packed as the slow started.  as noted, they really like Peppa Pig in Denmark.
(and the zoo knows it's crowd. . after the show ended, a gift shop worker came out with probably 50 Peppa Pig balloons, and it was a feeding frenzy, and he sold out of every one of them in minutes!)

as the show started, and that awful song started to get stuck in my head, we continued our climb to the top of the tower.

well worth it. . the views were LOVELY from up here.

poor Polar Bear still trying to get back into his preferred area over there (from the top of the tower)

just lovely.

after our climb back down (easier.. surprise, surprise ). . and a quick stop in the gift shop to pick up magnets . . we headed across to the Savannah area to check out the Giraffes / Rhinos, and other animals.

zebras!

 

we had pretty much finished up the zoo, but were getting a little hungry, and thirsty.  the food places all had pretty long lines, but Mike found a place selling hotdogs that had a fairly short line.   So we went there for a drink, and I noticed right next door was this Ice Cream Place (Nice Cream)!. . so went over there since no line.

 

the lady was happy to see me, but told me with a sad face that it was "Vegan Ice Cream"

her whole demeanor changed, and she lit up brightly when I said "that's ok" (apparently many folks walk away when she tells them her ice cream is vegan)

I took her suggestion and had (I think) Coconut Milk Ice Cream with nuts. . it was really good!

My ice cream, and an unintentional Big Mike photobomb behind me getting sodas from the stand next door.

while eating my ice cream, I was shocked to see this across the way.

so had to put aside my ice cream for a moment to get a pic.

i present you:  the Stevie Nicks Camel.

yup. . it was awesome.

Stand Baaaaaaaack

 

and with that, we made our way to the front gates to decide what to do next, as it was only ~1pm.   

I had tentative plans to go to the Cisterns that were kinda across the way. . but I had been chatting with gate staff, and so asked them "as a tourist, would you recommend the Cisterns?"

 

they said, "honestly no".. so I asked for their suggestions on what to do, and one of the suggestions, "the Rosenborg Castle" had been on Big Mike's list of things he'd like to do - and it was across from the botanical gardens.

so we thanked the gate folks, and made our way back to the train station and headed towards Rosenborg Castle.

to be continued in part II:

 

[bert425]

Day 2, June 4th, Part 2:  Rosenborg Castle

there wont be a lot of commentary in this update, just a crapload of pics.

I weeded out things I thought weren't interesting, but still ended up with so many pics.   The Rosenborg Castle is GORGEOUS inside - if you like over the top furniture, clocks, decor, and tapestries.
and your visit also includes a trip to the armory underneath, and the vault that holds the crown jewels.

 

If you find yourself in Copenhagen?  it's absolutely worth a visit, but be advised that tickets do sell out, and they assign times.  So we lucked out, but you might want to prebook your visit.

on to pics!

 

A short train ride (and switching lines) and we were at Rosenborg Castle

they were only open until 5, so we had plenty of time. . but we hadn't realized that the tickets are timed.    and most of the times were filled for the day already.

warily we got in line, and got very lucky that there were two open spots for the 2pm entry left.  So we grabbed those last two tickets, and then had about 35 minutes to kill before our time to line up for entry. . which we did by wandering the grounds.

armed guards (all looking VERY young) patrol around the Castle.  and you are advised to not get in their way as they patrol, and also told (at the ticket booth) to NOT take any selfies with them.   But you are allowed to take pictures OF them, so I did so.

 

lovely grounds in the back here, with lots of folks just hanging out in the grass enjoying the sun, and the ponds full of large fish (not sure what kind, they weren't Koi).

along the walls of the front of the castle are all these busts.  .not sure if they were leaders, or perhaps gods?  (some of the inside work clearly depicted some of the Pantheon of gods. . so could be busts of them outside too, I suppose).

placard about the castle layout and gardens.

looking out over the great lawn & pool that's at the front of the Castle.

and turning back to look at the building itself.

really a beautiful building outside - but was blown away by how over the top incredible it was inside.

what's behind this door?

no idea, but the Guards didn't stop me when I pretended to pull the handle

 

oooo. .a butt

 

a butt, I tell you!

completing our circuit around the Castle.

the grounds really are very lovely. . and it was a beautiful day.

this is the entry to the Armory and the Crown Jewels - we'd go here after touring the main Castle.
(you have to show your entry ticket and they allow you down in here)

our turn, so we lined up and went in.

there are 3 floors open, with many rooms to view.  All of them crammed full of things. 

there is an available map, and also an audio tour you can take.   We were kinda/sorta limited on time, so chose to just do our own walk thru, but you can easily spend 3-4 hours here if you want to experience the full place, and learn about all the furniture, clocks, artwork, dishware, tapestries, and rulers who lived here.

every room is floor to ceiling dripping with excess. .

 

If they had sold a replica of this in the gift shop, 100% I would have bought one

 

the royal toidy.

no, really!   and you could peek inside - as the servants were able to do back in the day - there was a window from the next room peeking into the bathroom so the servants could see if they were needed by the Royals while on the potty.

the true throne of this Castle

Did I mention that some of the rooms are very "over the top". . . but oh so stunning to look at!

and look!  Big Mike in the middle of it

the numbers go with the mapbook, and the audio tour.

these were figurines presented as a gift, if I'm not mistaken.

more gifts.

 

many fireplaces too. . after all, it IS Denmark.   

lots of big balls in this castle too. . .the Royals liked their big balls apparently

 

ummm. . ok.   

not sure what's going on, but I liked it.   (heck, I loved most of the tapestries hanging)

Up to the 2nd floor. . .

 

this tea-room was Japanese themed, and was a very dark black, with inlaid dragons and other creatures.

it photographed dark, but was just lovely.

lots and lots of large & intricate clocks in almost every room too.   

this room just blew me away.   

yes, it's very busy, but the tapestries are beautiful, and I loved every bit of the furniture in here.

an early phonograph, I believe

this was the "music room" and it was floor to ceiling in mirrors.

because it was afternoon, this room was baking hot from the sun reflecting off the mirrors.

this was so fugly, I kinda loved it.

Marble top and turquoise and gold trim?   awful, but I loved it.

Medals worn by the Royalty that lived in the Castle over the decades.

up to the 3rd floor, which is mostly the Grand Ballroom.

which, honestly, is Breathtaking!

looking up at the inlay on the ceiling for the Coat of Arms:

only two side rooms were open up here - but they showed off the fancy glasswear and gold used for the ballroom parties.

a blown glass silverware set:

single throne on one side - which the guidebook said was used for dealing with diplomatic issues

and on the other side, the His & Her's thrones - guarded by Silver Lions

 

with a backdrop of some of the Greek Gods looking over them.

I believe this is Demeter?  (goddess of the harvest)

and I believe this is Artemis, the goddess of wild animals.

peeking out the 3rd floor window for an overview of the back garden before heading down.

 

and with that, we headed back downstairs and into the Armory beneath the castle.

to be concluded in Day 2: Part 3 - weapons, jewels, a stop at the Botanical Gardens, and welcome meal at Wagamama!

[Nrthwnd]

Wow, Bert! Soooo much packed into that castle! Exhausting, just to look through all your photos, pic by pic.

And that chest of drawers (blue with gold trim?) reminds me of those (are they called) Royal Doulton ware? Not too sure about that.

And yes - ditto a BIG wish for a gift shop version of that statue, to buy.

Love this all, and we're not even out of Denmark, yet!!!

[bert425]

Day 2, June 4th, Part 3:  Rosenborg Castle Armory, the Crown Jewels, a quick pop into the Copenhagen Botanical Gardens, and the welcome dinner at Wagamama.

and a pleasant surprise after dinner.

 

down into the Armory, the 1st thing you really encounter is a big display case full of golden/silver figurines - that would have been used on a war map.

assorted rifles and swords, as well as some armor

this was pretty cool. . the first revolvers seen in Europe - a gift from President Lincoln

 

crossbows

carved Ivory & turtle shell artwork on display down here too. . .very pretty

a royal saddle and helmet

onto trinkets and expensive gifts given to the royals living in the castle.

 

and then it was down some step steps and thru this vault door. . it was time to see the Crown Jewels

 

ooooooo

even prettier than the 1st crown.

and this was a set of two for King & Queen

 

some really stunning jewelry. . .

 

hubba hubba!

tho to be honest, some of the rings really did look like kinda cheap costume jewelry . . tho I'm sure they were worth big bucks

 

after oooohing and ahhhiing at the jewels, we headed out and since we were right across the street from the botanical gardens, decided to give it a 30 minute peek.

unfortunately the gardens are undergoing a huge renovation, and 3/4ths of them are closed off to the public.

on the positive tho, that meant we really could see almost everything in just 30 minutes. . . and it was free to get in!  (not sure if they usually charge or not, but I'd assume they do, and just were not as only one entrance/exit gate was open).

posing under the lilac trellis (at least I recall they smelled like Lilacs)

bunch of folks out on the lawn (on the portion of the gardens open) enjoying the beautiful day.

this looked interesting, but I'm kinda glad we didn't make the effort to go into this greenhouse, as I heard (from Erik I think) that the circular room at the top was hella hot today from the sun thru the glass.

having seen most of what was available, we hitaled it back to the train to head back to the Hotel for the welcome Dinner.

remembered to take some pics of the train station by the castle tho.. as it was rather neat looking.

a quick stop at the hotel to drop off stuff (and say hello to AJ who had arrived) and we headed over to Wagamama - which happens to be attached to Tivoli Gardens.

our table: ltr: me, AJ, Erik, Misty, Jon

my "green tea" -which is promoted on the menu as free to enjoy. . was kinda brownish.

but it tasted good.

I had some sort of firecracker chicken curry. .it was SO damn good.

and a pork bun (also very good).

 

so good Jon and I went back the next night as well.

 

while we were eating, I got an email from Lufthansa that my luggage had arrived and was on it's way!

the airtag showed it on the street outside Tivoli. . .so I worried just a little bit about it, but when we got back to the hotel?  it was waiting for me at the front desk.

 

YAY!!!!

most important part of my luggage were the treats for the snack exchange. . . and I was so happy to find the "treats" i had brought to share were all intact.

finally able to breathe a huge sigh of relief, I called it and climbed into bed early (I think) while AJ headed over to Tivoli Gardens for an evening visit, as we weren't gonna be in that park for two more days.

I was excited, the trip had officially started, and we were staring off the day tomorrow with the super messed up (and super fun) BonBonLand!

[teacherkim]

Great start to your trip Bert! Ha, ha 42, the answer to the meaning of life, I've told Joel to always keep a towel in the car with him 

You have to watch out for people on bikes all over Europe, they will not only mow you down but get quite annoyed if they have to swerve to avoid you.

Did you try Cocio, the chocolate milk that is basically the national drink of Denmark with that hot dog? They love it and it is soooooooo sweet that even Joel as a kid couldn't quite finish it.

My Mom almost fell right on her can at the Little Mermaid statue too 

Glad you enjoyed Rosenborg Castle, we got ver lucky there and saw a ceremonial changing of the guard! If you think that is over the top you will totally shit yourself if you ever go to St Petersburg Russia (unfortunately not likely for a very long time) and see the likes of Peterhof, the summer palace and winter palace (where the Hermitage is) OR the Vatican museums OR Versailles ............they all make Rosenborg look like a boring clapboard farmhouse.

Happy to see you enjoying life with some good friends and can't wait to see the rest

[bert425]

Day 3, June 5th (and the official start of the TPR trip) part 1:  BonBon Land

BonBon Land is a weird - I mean REALLY weird - park.   

Think of it as the Denmark version of HersheyPark , only in that it is run/themed by/to a candy company.   In this case, a company that makes lots of weird hard (and licorice) candies that are themed to body functions, and weird / nasty messed up animals!  

it's also hidden behind what looks like an industrial area, in the middle of fields.    But then suddenly there are Rollercoasters and all kinds of weird rides.

Apparently they've WAY toned down some of the more offensive/freaky mascots - and many of the rides seemed to be missing theming that we were told was there in prior years.   So they've absolutely "cleaned it up". . tho much of the WTF-ness of it does remain, hidden in some areas.   

Seriously, this park is beyond fucked up. . .so of COURSE I loved it.

 

tho it's probably most infamous for Henry the pooping dog, who is the mascot of the infamous Dog-Fart coaster.

let's have some fun, shall we?

 

coming up to the front gate.   We were getting in early for some ERT, but the park was also hosting a "heroes" race for parents and kids, where they got to wear masks and capes and run a course thru the park.   Not gonna lie, I was envious of the capes and really wanted one

but that's why you might notice some tape blocking paths in some pics.

hurm. . here was an advertisement for our included lunch for today - the park was going to open up it's Mexican Buffet for us *usually only open on certain days.

Danish "Mexican" food. . what could go wrong?  

LOL. . cautiously optimistic . . .

but hey, they had rainbow flags everywhere!   for the race?  for Pride?  not sure. . but was still happy to see em.

right near the front of the park - as you pass all the photo ops (would go back for those later) as you get to the actual rides section. .there's a statue of Henry.  already with leg up

interesting figures all thuout the park, just spaced out among the rides.

most of these are on the labels for the candies (also sold in the park). . but as noted, they seem to have way toned down the "over the top" ones. . and gone more towards the cute or "slightly racially offensive" ones.

loved this take on the caterpillar ride. . .

tho he looked a little scary. . .

the turtle just looked a bit stoned.

or maybe he was upset at all the weight hanging from the underside of his shell.

 

such odd, and yet amazingly funky and fun rides here!

fairly large space too.. this looked like it was a boat ride of some sort that had been pulled out.   not really sure, but it's lush back here

and we were walked over to our first coaster of the day:  Vild Svinet  (which is Danish for Wild Boar)

not really sure WHY this has a hog racing theme. . but it is historic, as it's the worlds first Eurofighter

it did have a little bit of a rattle. . but in the front row, it was not bad at all.  (not a fan of Eurofighters).

note: any pic that I'm in is courtesy of Elissa, Robb (tho he's in this pic), AJ (ditto), Andy, or Brad.

after we got a ride or two on the Eurofighter, we went next door for Han-Katten  (Tom-Cat).

this is a Gerstlaur spinner, and man, did it spin.

the mascot was out, to greet the racers, and tho he could barely walk in the giant feet, and seemed very confused by who all the people were on the other side of the race course with him. . he still posed for a pic.

and then posed with the group. .

a nice view of the two coasters next door to each other. . they actually look quite good together.

whoever took this pic, managed to catch Robb filming, and the lift hill.

note that we're riding in the "Pussy" car.    

no really . . . the cars each have names, and my first ride was with the guys in the Pussy car.

and man did we spin.

wanna see?  here's the video Robb posted

it was so good, I went back around and rode again - this time in the Felix car.  But we still spun a TON

the 3rd coaster we were going to before the park opened was the one the place is most well known for:

Hundeprut - which really does, translate from the Danish to "Dog Fart"

so yup. . we got to ride the famous Dog Fart coaster. ..where, when the train goes thru the house, there are loud fart noises played.

 

oh. .and the statue of Henry in the middle of the coaster field, also has poop around him.  

yup.

I loved this messed up park.

look at those happy faces!

even I was laughing and enjoying this thing.

TPR got farted on by Henry!

me enjoying the back row.

we had a little time before the park opened to the general public, so we headed over to wait close to the 4th coaster in the park, Viktor Vandorm. . a really long (I think 20 rows) zierer family coaster.    while we waited we hung out in the playground underneath the raised coaster - where Henry is also represented.

NEVER IN AMERICA.. but you can climb into Henry in multiple ways, then get pooped out via a metal slide from his butt.

no.. really: 

Bwaa-haaa-haaaaa

 

soon enough the park opened to all (tho most of the TPR folks had stayed together to ride this one) so we took over the whole train to go around a few times in a surprisingly fun family coaster.

cut loose to enjoy the rest of the day on our own - until time to meet for lunch. . many of us headed over to the giant frisbee.

along the way we passed the small - and heavily themed - drop tower.   Very similar to one I rode last year at Tripsdrill. . and no, I won't spoil the surprise, but yes, it scares the crap out of you before dropping.

it wasn't open just yet, so snapped a pic as I passed.

here's the frisbee. . themed to a giant spider. . but most all of the actual "spider" theming was gone.

didn't matter tho. .it was still an amazing ride, with very high & fast swings, and a really long cycle (perhaps just a wee bit too long. . once was enough. . LOL)

we explored a bit and found where we needed to meet for lunch later.

perhaps a little humping occurred on this "is it racist or not?" figure.

but I had spotted this.  No Carousel any longer (the park had an infamous one with lots of the offensive characters, but it had been pulled out). . so this was as close as I was gonna get to a Carousel here.

But that's ok, as I love these pony rides.

which at one point has a chicken animatronic that turns to show you it's butthole.

again, no, really.   Andy took this pic after I told him that it's on the ride, so he rode just to get this picture for me (thanks Andy!)

whee!  (you pull the cord to send yourself off).

 

hurm. . a little of the 'older' theming seems to remain on this ride tho. . . the pigs were "tits out"

and Mexican robber rats.

I think the Disk-o is supposed to be themed to an albatross. . but I kept calling it a Drag Chicken

(and that's the first  Magnet I bought here.. the drag chicken magnet).   Didn't ride the Disk-o tho, as I don't care for them.

I had heard whispers about this ride too. .it's basically an outdoor dark ride. . where your boat passes lots of scenes, full of some "questionable" content.

it to had been cleaned up a bit, but the underbelly of weirdness was still there, and I really loved this.

(tho I didn't love the operators with water pistols on the water rides that squirt you before you even leave the station. . something that happened at many parks thruout the trip).

USA. . .cracked and bent.. but ok.. seems reasonable

is that Bullwinkle?

So "Sitting Bull". . . . .LOL

hard to see in the pic, but the crock animatronic was chewing on a disembodied leg.. LOL

oh my!

the characters all have such big feet, it's hard for them to walk.. so they get pushed around in carts!

the small surprise drop tower opened, so we headed over there. . and all of us got the crap scared out of us by what it does. . even tho some of us KNEW what it was gonna do

damn that frisbee goes high.

getting close to lunch time. . but first, we had to go on the flume.

which is themed to Rats, and rotten cheese.  

yup!

 

 

 

Colin enjoying squeezing in with Barry. . . Andy looks comfy tho

the rest of the group I hung around with today did 2 per raft

 

one of the "pissing ants" that is a character on some candies, and used to be featured on the Carousel.

(tho this one wasn't pissing. .it had been sanded off).

I chose not to ride this "Swinging ship" which seems to be themed to a fish?  but those that did said it was an oddly boring cycle. 

it looked great tho.

 

several of the parks on this trip were going to have Obstacle Courses. . I'm a big ol kluts, and wasn't gonna do most of em.

but this one at BonBon Land I did, as the steps were wide enough I wasn't worried about slipping, and the snakes spit water, and I didn't care if I got a little wet.

whee!

and then it was time for lunch.

how was it. . . ummm. . . .   well.. if this is a representation of Danish Mexican food?  I guess it's OK

i mean, it didn't give me the shits. . but it was most certainly very bland.

and the best things I got was the Corn (not really Mexican) and the Chicken on a Stick (also not really Mexican).. but those two had the most flavor and are what I went back for.

wanna see the buffet options?  sure, I took pics!

there were three types of "Taco Toast" - two with meat and a veggie version. . and they all tasted the same.  LOL

this was boiled chicken (as near as I could tell).   Even dumping guac and salsa on it didn't help much.

the beef was better tho.   only slightly, but better.

here are the chips and cheese to make nachos.

the Tortilla chips?  they tore open bags of Doritos and poured them in the bowls.   Hysterical.

but hey. . can't go wrong with Doritos!

the corn and build your own tacos (with the chicken or beef in prior pics)

after lunch we still had a couple of hours in the park, so off we all went until it was time to meet up at the bus to head back to Copenhagen.

this slide i was told was very fun (I didnt' ride it). . . it used to be themed to (I think I was told) a giant shrimp?   and used to have a giant sexy shrimp laying across the top of the launch area?

what I find most interesting is how it interacts with the long family coaster, that dives thru it (you can see the elevated tracks here)

Bever Rafting?    ok then. . . BWAAA-HAAA-HAAAA

 

this was a fun river raft ride, that didn't have a lot of "rapids" that I recall, but had lots of scenes with Beaver characters on the shores doing things.   I think we did get a little bit wet tho.

We're all smiling in the pics.

 

we then headed over to the "Western" section.. which most parks seem to have.

no real "rides" over here - it's a small section - tho they do have a shooting gallery, and this great photo op.

 

I think maybe the shooting gallery at one point WAS a ride?  the saddles you sit on look like they are supposed to move (think Plants vs Zombies at Kings Island or Carowinds). .but they were just static seats while we shot at the screens.

we SUCKED at it. . LOL. . but didn't stop us from trying to do a Charlies Angels pose.. sorta.

 

I had spotted this earlier, and it seemed like a kiddie ride.  But watching it cycle just once?  oh no, this crazy thing not only spun super fast, but also went backwards just as fast.

NOT a kiddie ride. . . and the design of it is fantastic.

all smiles before it starts.

and then bigger smiles as we hung on for dear life, as the ride op got it going faster and faster and we tried not to fly out.

a couple more pics of the worlds first Eurofighter. . as I walked the park to see what else I might want to ride.

 

this one was a mistake.. you HAVE to pedal.   HAHAHAHAHA. . it sucked.

I think Big Mike was ready to kill me when we got half way and realized how much more pedaling there was to do.

i think thanks to Andy for this pic.

another pic of Henry as I made my way towards a gift shop to get some more magnets. . I wanted one that said BonBon Land.

Erik and Misty had been getting ice cream at most stops, and it sounded like a really good idea.

and once I saw you could get a souvenir Henry head full of ice cream?   SOLD

watching Dragon cycle (and Robb film) as I enjoyed the ice cream.

Success on magnets. . . but none of them said BonBon Land. . had to keep looking. . .   (spoiler, I did find some. .thinking I'll save Swag posts till the end, or at least until I organize enough to get pics of everything)

in the front gift shop, hidden high on the upper level above the registers. . they had some carved figures of the characters they had quietly removed from the park

but will my zoom on my camera, was able to capture them.

um. . some I DO understand why they pulled them . . .LOL

as heading to the bus.. had to stop for those photo ops I had passed on earlier.
 

but also realized I never got a pic of the park map:

 

awwwwww

after a fun filled day, we met at the bus and headed back to Copenhagen.

while on the bus, Robb shared the pic he had taken that morning:
 

 

I really liked this park. . supremely funky, and odd. . and really my cuppa, even if they didn't have a Carousel.

there were a few things we didn't do.. and just didn't have time for the 5D movie part of the park.. but overall, I really liked it.

hope you enjoyed the pics!

on the drive back it was pointed out that we were getting back fairly early and Tivoli Gardens was open until 10.. . so it was quickly decided that some of us were going to take advantage of an "evening ticket" and just go in to walk the grounds and get the lay of the land for the next day.

so with that plan in my head, I relaxed for the ride back to the hotel.

Day to be continued. . . .

 

[bert425]

Interrupting day-evening on 1st full day of the trip for important news:

I found where I put the Lufthansa Paper Underwear!  

No, I didn't throw it out, but I did put it in the pile of paper recycling.

so I present in all it's glory (and NO, I did *not* put it on for a pic, as when I tried to model them it was so awful, I wouldn't do that to  you).

 

they are the consistency of "Bounty Paper Towels"

 

so, yup, they gave me "the quicker pick-er-upper to wear on my junk"



(I knew y'all wanted to see. . so "your'e welcome" )

 

[bert425]

Day 3, June 5th part 2:  Tvioli Gardens and Copenhagen Canals:

when we got back to the hotel, first thing we did was the "fun snack exchange"

This is something that sometimes happened on USA trips, where attendees bring their favorite local (or weird) snack to share with the group.

I helped organize this year, and had gotten permission from the hotel desk to take over an area of the lobby for us to sample each other's treats.

there were some damn good snacks brought - I think my favorites were the Ice Wine Candy from Canada, and some of the "biscuits" brought by Carolyn from England.
but there were a lot of good things, and the only "bad" one - to me - were the "Mac & Cheese" Gummies. . which some seemed to love, but for me?  blech.  
(I also brought cinnamon spiced watermelon Lollipops . . that are SO good).

 

anyhow, here's a pic of some of the stuff laid out on he table.  There was so much, that many folks took some for later in the trip, and there was STILL a ton left.

 

after we shared snacks, we helped clean up, and then Jon, myself, AJ, and I think Jonathan? headed over to Tivoli Gardens to take advantage of evening entry with no rides, just to stroll the grounds.

it was a good call, as just going in, boosted my ego:

Lady at the ticket booth - blonde, very well "endowed" - did the tickets for the first two of us, but when I was going to the window, she swapped out and sliding into the seat was an older gentleman.

so I asked for an evening ticket like the prior folks had gotten, and this man says "I'm really sorry about the poorer view that you got"
I was confused for just a moment, then realized he was referencing that the big boobed blonde wasn't at the ticket window anymore. . so I said,
"oh, no worries!   I'd much rather look at you anyways"

and he smiled at me and said (and Jon heard it, so I have a witness): "why thank you. .and I'd absolutely do you"

LOL. . so I got hit on by a ticket booth sales guy on the way into Tivoli Gardens. 

as I said, really made a perfect ending to a great first day

ok. .so after we finished giggling about it (I mean, couldn't do anything - he had just gone on shift, and I was going into the park. . so didn't even go back and ask him for coffee, tho I probably should have). . we made our way into Tivoli Gardens proper.

we weren't going to be here for the day until tomorrow, but it seemed like a great idea to look around.

 

this stage, with the gorgeous Peacock curtain is where they do "Pantomime" plays thruout the day.   there was nothing going on at the moment, but I did catch a performance the next day and enjoyed it for what it is (stupid clown stuff) and it did draw quite a crowd.  Overflowing from the set benches and onto the lawn where people sat in folding chairs or on blankets.

I believe this is one of the fancier restaurants on property.. but it's a mini Taj Mahal (sort of)

snapping pics of a "cold tower" at one of the restaurants we passed in the park.

there are TONS of restaurant options, most fairly upscale. . but the dining options all looked really good, if a bit pricey.

this girl was eating cotton candy (candy floss) bigger than her head!   I had to get a pic.

one of the oldest coasters in the world, operating since 1914 - Rutschebanen

decent line for how late in the day it was. . .but it's a classic, and this is a coaster that operates with a "Brakeman" in the middle of the train to control the speed.

theming and booths along the side of the coaster.

lookie.. you can win a Weiner (hot) dog. . if you hit the dancing clown

small, but adorably themed ferris wheel on top of one of the buildings.

 

this is a shooting dark ride. ..I rode it a few times the next day, and honestly dont' remember much about it (LOL) - other than it was hard to aim with the "guns"

this was interesting, but never saw anyone playing it.

i seemed to be a "wall sized" Whack a Mole.. tho instead of a mallet, you "high-five" the hands as they light up.

looked like stupid fun.

ahh. .the infamous "Spin and Puke" Tik Tak - with some really spectacular theming.

not only spins, but also gets flipping - some seemed to flip more than others - but still.. . vomit comet city!    tho I DID ride it the next day, and we only flipped 3 times (there's a counter in the seats that keeps track, supposedly)

what's this I spy, next to the Sea-Storm?

"Smogen". . . google translate tells me that it's a City in Sweden, but it also means "Alley". . so let's take a look down there.

 

ooo. . love the use of the carousel horses here. .

lots and lots of stuff down this alley. . .games, shops, bars, casino, and even an attraction or two. . .

and most all of it very interesting!

a better view of the alley.. .packed with things on both sides.   (on the right is the coaster)

what's that I see?

 

ah.. bewbs

 

loved the design of most all of the games. . they do such a fantastic job making this park "quaint"

in the middle of the Alley is the entrance to the big funhouse - that's in the center of the coaster.

it's a ticketed admission and as we were just walking around today, didn't go on any "rides". . . I'd be back for this tomorrow.

Coming down the steps, got a good view of the Rutschebanen pulling into the station.

so you can see the Brake-Man and how he operates.

nice Double-Decker Carousel over here across the great lawn. . not a "classic". .but nicely done.

and going towards the back of the park, we came across Daemonen - a B&M floorless, that's crammed into a pretty small space.
it may be short, but it's pretty intense.

Looking across the "lake" from Daemonen. .

it really is a beautiful park.

I do believe they have a full size Bumper-Cars, but since I don't ride Bumper Cars, I can't really recall.

but I DO remember the kiddie version. . .  Under the "Condor" ride,

and themed to bunnies!

 

and across from that?  another Carousel.   This one not a "galloping" carousel, but more traditional "just sit on animals and go around in a circle"
but I really liked the assortment and animal options:

turning around to look at the park's Condor ride.

 

Fatamorgana is a weird one. . it IS a Condor. . but they're replaced two of the "arms" with outward facing seats.

and those seats?  get a pretty good tilt on them as the ride progresses

good example of the amount of tilt those outward facing seats get.

it really is a fantastic idea, and I wish other parks would do this!

they also have a suspended flying carpet, called Monsunen:

continuing around the park, on the lake side, there's an installation of glasswork that I thought was just lovely. . .

looking back towards Daemonen, across the lake.

(too bad the cranes mess up my picture, but it's not like there's a train on the track anyways )

 

a pirate ship. . . why not?   adds theming to look at for the paddleboats.

wildlife all thruout the park. .including this very ugly duck.

and some pretty Malards. .that know they're pretty.

and this guy. . hanging out with the seagulls (?). . .no idea what he is. .

speaking of "no idea what it is". . . .

um..a bear?   maybe?

this is the Tivoli Garden's haunt, Villa Vendetta.  An immersive walk thru, where they send folks thru in groups of 7-9. . conga line style (hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you)

giving off very "haunted Mansion castmember" vibes.

I fell in love with these hats, and wanted one SO badly.

but they don't sell them. . the only way to get one is to work at the park.   I even checked eBay. . no luck
 

 

more of the "Gardens" in Tivoli Gardens.

really. . such a lovely park.

loved this antique cars ride. . seemed very short. . but once I found out that there was a photo op on it?  (we had photo pass included in our tickets tomorrow), made sure to ride it so could get the pic .

look how happy this lil guy is!   wish I knew who his parents were so could share the pic.

we were getting a bit hungry, so Jon and i decided we'd head out of the park for a bit and walk along the canal and see what we could see.

not the "famous" canal houses, but just some of the architecture. .and see if we could spot someplace to grab a bite to eat - as we hadn't really eaten since the Danish-Mexican buffet at BonBonLand (not counting the snack exchange)

so we headed towards the side exit of the park, passing Daemonen's section again. .
 

and passing the Hans Christian Anderson ride.

 

oh wow, Chuck, I DID get a pic of the figure of him riding the "book/box"  I had no idea I had gotten this pic of the entrance to the ride!

lots of candy . . . those "pacifiers" for teens/adults seemed REALLY popular. . saw them at many parks!

before heading out tho. . we popped into one of the Gambling places in the park. 

not the casino, but one of the Guess where the wheel stops places.

in this case, the wheel is a cyclist who goes around a large circle, and you bet where he might stop to win.   The lady operating told me that this particular parlor, had been in operation since the park opened.

so over 100 years of pedaling!

there's also a big "Opera House". and smaller aquarium downstairs. on property.

beautifully placed Star Flyer (on top of a building), and close to the ferris wheel.

and a flying Carousel front and center behind the main lawn.

Jon and I got our hands stamped and headed towards the canal. . . I think this was a restaurant? 

really loved the architecture along the water, and the fact they have a "boardwalk" up and down so folks can walk it.

(some were swimming too. . but I can't imagine how cold that water must have been!)

giant chairs in front of the Marriott make for a great photo op.  . .but I knew my fat ass might be able to get in the chair, but won't be very pretty getting OUT.

so I just balanced on the edge for my photo.

 

this was an interesting "slide". . not only made out of wood (so you couldn't really "slide" on it). .but it also ended a good 5-6 feet above the water!

maybe it was for bikes, or skateboards into the water?   regardless. .it was weird.

the backside of the Danish Architecture and Design Center (sadly closed at this hour) has an interactive playground. . with all kinds of slides and climbing things to play on.

I'm a klutz, so tho the gate was open?  yeah. . didn't do these!  (wasn't gonna break my ankle on day 1)

we were hungry, but hadn't really had anything catch our eye. .  so we decided to head back towards the park, and we'd go again to WagaMama.

good decision. . and the menu is so big, that we easily were able to get different food than the prior evening.

and we got seated right away, only being a party of 2.

don't even remember what this was. . but it was good!

meal finished. . we headed back into Tivoli Gardens to close out the last hour of the night.

not really "dark" this late. .but at least some of the lights were coming on. .

 

this is the "Kiddie Coaster" :  Kamelen. . . which I assume means "Camel". .. LOL

 

oooo. . no fireworks tonight, but there was a "dancing fountains" show, coordinated with lights and smoke effects.   Cute, and nicely done.

 

and with that done, we headed towards the exit closest to our hotel. . . I was pretty wiped out after a full day, and Jon was tired too.

beautiful park.

i think I took shower once back, then crashed hard.

couldn't wait for tomorrow, as it's a full day at this place, and I'll get to ride all the stuff I looked at today!

 

wOOt!

 

[cfc]

Minen was more fun as a boat ride than a shooting dark ride.  I also liked those Tivoli hats.

[bert425]

Day 4, June 6th part 1:  Tvioli Gardens!

 

up and early and after breakfast, we headed around the corner and across the street to Tivoli Gardens.

we were getting there before open, as we were going to have a walking tour of the classic Scenic Railway, Rutschebanen!
(with some ERT after)

while waiting for the folks from Tivoli to meet us, Robb took a group pic:

and as we were greeted and got a quick history of the park (and in particular Rutschebanen - which has been operating here since 1914 (!) )

everyone was so damn friendly. . but no, he wouldn't give me his hat     (damn. . still REALLY want one of these hats!)

the park rep walked us back over to the coaster, passing some of the beautiful gardens that are in the park's name.

 

and then he led us INTO the mountain. . for a tour of the structure and the tracks.  

what I found incredibly interesting, is the history that's preserved inside this ride.    The Brakemen (and other operators) have saved TONS of signage and Park History from over the years, and  have lovingly tacked them to the walls all over the space inside.

I took lots of pics as we made our way thru the mountain and up to the tracks themselves:

oh my!

while walking thru the structure, one can peek down into the Funhouse, that's actually inside the ride (entrance from the alley we were in yesterday).

you can't really notice it from the ride itself, but very cool.

and next thing you know, we were stepping thru a door, and onto the actual tracks of the ride (well.. actual transfer tracks. .the main tracks for the ride are just up ahead)

and down below. .

there was this massive pile of rotting teddybears in an "orgy" like situation. . . I asked about them.

Turns out these were used during Covid to fill every other row of the coaster train, to enforce social distancing.    How neat is that?
once the Covid crisis passed and vaccines became avail, they just dumped the teddies here off to the side of the transfer track. . where they have been ever since.

LOL

this was our guide, a very nice gentleman - who's name I can't recall (I'm sure someone in the group knows and will tell us).

I may (or may not) have taken this pic to show the track, the space, the lighting. . . or maybe just his butt ?

the world may never know!

 

here he is pointing to a patch repair where the train had come around the curve too quickly, and smashed into it.
(bad brakeman! LOL). . . .to be fair, he said it's happened a number of times in the history of the ride.   

I love little stuff like this. . . so cool to hear stories like this.

 

just me on the tracks.

then we headed outside to the "roof" of the mountain.

really so great to get this experience, and be able to take some unique pics!

Jonathan behind me having a grand ol time. . .

we paused for a Group pic on the top of the coaster:

 

and then our guide got on his walkie to call for an Uber to get us down from the roof.

 

here it comes!

oh wow. . . so freaking cool!

the coaster train was brought to a stop near us by the Breakman. .

and we loaded up the train to ride the 2nd half of the coaster course down to the loading station.

yup.. we loaded up in the Polar Bear cave - something you honestly don't notice much when riding the coaster, as you zoom thru this cave/turn.

all loading up, and another pic taken - since got lucky and ended up in the seat just in front of the Breakman.

and we were on our way!

(these two pics courtesy of Elissa I believe)

after a few rides on Rutschebanen  (oh and believe me, I rode it a BUNCH more thruout the day. . I think my final ride count on it was 21?   really either a good ride, or a great ride depending on which Brakeman you got, and where you sat),

the group headed over to Daemonen - for 15 minutes of ERT before the park officially opened.

again, pic courtesy of, I believe Elissa. . . tho any pic with me in it, is either Robb, Elissa, AJ, Brad or Andy

got a good 4-5 rides on this short, but strong forced B&M floorless coaster during our ERT session. .as we just about filled up the whole train.

and then we were handed out our lunch coupons, and turned loose in the park for the rest of the day.

the great thing is that the park was open until 10pm. . . and the hotel was so close, that anyone who needed a break could go back and rest easily.

of course i stayed in the park all day.. prolly should have rested, but so much to do, so much to see!

it's such a pretty park. . .

tho we were turned loose, most of us headed over to the area close to Daemonen that has the Condor, Flying Carpet, & drop tower. . and a 2nd Carousel.

the one with the fantastic animals, but no galloping.

of course, i went for the Camel.
(I think these pics might be from Big Mike?  tho the middle one might be from Elissa)

and climbed up and sat on the neck "hump"

 

I mean, seriously. . look how damn happy I am!!!

and I rode it twice while waiting for the Condor to open. . . I mean. . so many options!
(and I spy Kidtums on a Giraffe right behind my spinning teacup/flower)

oh, we also rode the shot/drop tower. . . I didn't remember that we rode it (make of that what you will). .but I have this pic, so I know we did.

that's Big Mike, Jon, and myself.

here's the Condor. . while some of the TPR folks did go for the standard "animal" cars..most of us went for the tilting outwards facing ones.

it was really fun!  (and as said the other day, wish more parks would install this option).

pics, I think, courtesy of Andy

after a few "extreme" rides.. how about a nice dark ride. . . in the world of Hans Christian Anderson.

where you ride in a trunk.

sure.. why not?

it's a HUGE dark ride, that's really rather hidden - it doesn't stand out at all from the midway, but once you head down the stairs.. . .

we each travelled in our own "trunks".. which was probably a mistake (one we repeated over and over as we rode this a bunch) because some of the transitions are so steep, you're sliding back and forth on the seat. .

very "Doom Buggy" esque.. the front comes forward and "seals" you in. . so no chance of sliding out. . but pretty steep angles in places.   I was joking this should be considered a coaster credit.

ready to see some fairy tales on this GREAT dark ride that's a combo of Small World type figurines with Hand Christian Anderson tales.

tho some of them I had no idea.. .

"Little Drummer Boy" perhaps?

"the Little Mermaid"

(featuring bewbs)

lots and lots of bewbs...

"the Emperor's New clothes"

"the ugly duckling"

"the Snow Queen"

some of them that I DID know, I don't have decent pics of. . such as "the Princess and the Pea" and "the Little Match Girl" - which yes, showed the little figure outside in the snow freezing to death while rich folks partied inside thru the window!

at the end of the ride there's a pretty great animatronic (way more lifelike than the figurines in the ride). . .of HCA

and he moves.

as noted. . we rode this a LOT.. . LOL

about this time, I needed a pee break.

too much information. . but wanted to share, as Tivoli has the most amazing bathrooms.. all of them seemed to be themed, and all very different from each other.

this one is right next to the fairy tale ride.   Very art deco tiles. .

into a funhouse themed Bathroom!

I adored this. . and wish the magnets for this park had these psycho chickens on em!

I'm having to guess here, as it's a dark pic and I honestly dont' recall. . but I'm pretty sure this is a pic of us on Mælkevejen (Milky Way) a powered Mack coaster.

I do recall the cars were themed to the planets, and I was highly, highly amused that I ended up in the "Uranus" car.

no really. . tho I didn't get a pic - as when we went back to ride it late in the day, it closed as it had valleyed just before we got on it!

it was fun for what it was tho.. just a family coaster.

lots of games here at Tivoli Gardens. . . and gambling.

they had a bunch of these type of "gambling" games where you choose a number and can win giant chocolates (something I saw at many of the parks we visited).   Our tickets today included a chance to play these, so I did.

I lost, but even losers get a piece of candy as a consolation!

here's Minen, the shooting dark boat ride. .that I seriously remember nothing about.  (tho I rode it a few times, and even have pics of me on it. . LOL)

tho Chuck said it was better as a boat ride than a shooting ride.

one of the many trips back to Rutschebanen. . . we hopped on it anytime we passed it and the line wasn't too bad - which it never was too crowded, as we were there on a Tuesday.

 

but here's some pics of the station

another booth in the Alley.. . where you could get hair braids.

from this creepy mannequin head!

and since we're in the alley?  let's do the funhouse!  (remember, we're INSIDE Rutschebanen)

I'm a big ol klutz. . but there seem to be handrails, and it's well carpeted.. so ok, let's give this a shot.

Jon on the slide

and this oh, so flattering pic of me coming down one of the steep slides (too fast for Big Mike)

and the scrapes to prove i did it!

we bumped into Erik and Misty in the alley, and Misty was willing to ride TikTak with me.. so we got in line, and took a spin.

Pics from Erik, who did a great job capturing clear pics of us, even tho the ride moves so damn fast!

we ended up with 3 complete flips, but a lot of "close almost upside-down" calls.

we sure LOOK like we're having fun!

 

 

to be continued. . .

 

[bert425]

Day 4, June 6th part 2:  Tvioli Gardens!

since we were closeby (and it was included in our entry ticket), we decided to take a break and check out the Aquarium.

its really just a big giant tank on the lower floor of the Auditorium, but yes, it's nice and cool down there and the fountains by the staircase were "interesting"

as noted. . really just one big giant tank.

but lovely.

and across the way, a smaller tank. . with Piranha.

(something every aquarium I went to in the 5 countries had. . guess the folks there like the little fanged suckers)

they ARE rather cute

we were getting hungry, and checking out the lunch options, it seemed the Tivoli food court (towards the front of the park) was the best option for our gang. . so we headed over that way.

passing the Tivoli "trains". . .which I never actually got to ride!  every time we passed the station for it, it was out driving around, and when they were at the station were too full.
oh well, a reason to go back

walking past that big building in the front. . what's this in the grass?

a "roomba - mower"

why yes it is!  and it's themed as a Rabbit!

 

OMG. . LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this. . .

for food, I wanted to try a couple of things, so I got this fantastic roll from Let's Sushi (can't recall what was in it (looks like Tuna) but was SO good)

as well as a curry and fried spring roll main.   Not quite spicy enough for my taste, but still very flavorful and filling.

full, fat, and happy, we headed back out into the park, and got this perfectly framed shot of the nightmare clown. . that showed up all over Denmark!

and a white peacock.

the cute Tivoli worker behind was just a happy coincidence I caught him in the pic.. I swear.. .

SQUEEEEEE!!!!  the little Rabbit Mower?

it lives in a little version of the bigger place who's lawn it mows.

OMG. . SO. DAMN. CUTE.

even tho Jon is not a fan of heights, and even tho the small ferris wheel is on top of a building?   we got him on it.

so some pics from the ferris wheel.

that Starflyer looks fun. . we'll get to that soon.

but first. . . hadn't ridden the other Carousel yet!

 

Jon braved it, but I was worried the small horses up here wouldn't hold me after lunch, so I rode "Bench" on the Carousel.

Magic Mushrooms?

I liked em, but learned last year not to buy something bulky to carry around towards the start of the trip (tho my pregnant Mermaid from Europa DID make it home safely)

we headed back over to the fairy tale ride, as someone didn't like the photo taken, and wanted to get a good picture.

having already ridden it 5-6 times, I sat down on a bench by Dæmonen and watched it cycle while they rode.

I hadn't planned to ride the antique cars - tho the course was lovely, it was fairly short.  and the cars looked like they were designed for the smaller set.. .

but it was pointed out to me by someone (not recalling whom) that there's a photo op on the cars. . . and weeeeeell.. our ticket did include photo pass today. .

and not much of a line.. so why not?

the cars drive themselves, so no gas pedal, nor steering involved.

the wonderfully themed Photo download kiosk.

yes, I had asked where the camera was so I could pose.

I call this: 

"Driving Miss Gay-zee"

a look across the lake at the Haunt - that we were headed to shortly. . . and what I believe was a kid's funhouse?

(not 100% as never went in there)

along the way, we passed a lovely cul-du-sac with restaurants, and bathrooms, and  this ornate birdcage in the middle.

I heard all the chirping, but had to laugh when I realized that was all piped in, and the birds in the cage are fake.

LOL.. no really. . some of them were hanging upside-down, as they had fallen off the branches they were nailed to.

Funny.

and then it was time for our visit to the Haunt!

here we are all smiles in line.

and about to be spooked  
(tho Jon didn't' get the memo to act scared. . .LOL)

Tivoli won an award from a Theme Park place for the Villa Vendetta attraction!

and to be honest?  it's pretty amazing and detailed inside. . really liked it

what I didn't care for is that they make you go thru in groups of 6-8 as a Conga Line. . .hands on the person in front of you.

i tend not to "jump scare" so I didn't' mind going first. . .but I do wish that we could have gone thru separately and at a slower pace to enjoy the details.
(but again, I realize most people are awful, and that's probably why the conga line - to make sure guests don't touch the staging)

they give you a cute video back/forth at the end of the visit tho.

after that?  time for Ice Cream!

yummmm

(and to be fair, we had bumped into Erik and Misty. . so great excuse to have Ice Cream)

and then back to the Fairy tale ride - which I did ride again.

and for the first time noticed the "odd" placement of one of the 'glowing (family) jewels' out front

I had mentioned to Erik that the Cars had a photo op, and it was a lovely course. . so he and I rode it, as it was a walk on.

(pics from big Mike, I think)

and I attempted to go back to the Carousel by the Condor.. but it was closed (the "kiddie" rides shut down at 7

so I took solace in taking some pics of the teeny-tiny animals I hadn't noticed earlier that are for the real tiny kiddos.

(and we also rode the kiddie coaster, Kamelen (Camel) while we were over here as that was still open)

proof that I rode Minen again.. .LOL. . I seriously don't' remember anything about it!  what were we shooting at?

tho more "magic wand" (or Sonic Screwdriver) than "shooting apparatus"

 

back to Rutschebanen again. . told ya, I rode it a lot

 

I swear. .it's so damn cool to ride a coaster that's been operating for over a 100 years, and has a manual Brakeman.

I can't recall whom, but we bumped into someone who hadn't eaten yet, so we went with them back to the Food Court, and I stopped before going with them to watch part of the Pantomime show that was going on this evening.

something to do with a Statue that when "wound up" stabs people (or at least hits them on the head with his sword). . very "slapstick"

after food, we headed over to the Starflyer. . intending to hit the rides we hadn't done yet, and get another ride on Mælkevejen - which you get a great view of from the Starflyer queue.

sadly, that was not to be, as it valleyed just after I took this picture.    

so instead, we headed over to the Air Race - which I had been avoiding, as every other flat had been running INSANE programs here at Tivoli Gardens, and I really didn't want to get sick to end the night.   But it was right there (also on top of a building, across from the starflyer), so we headed up and got a somewhat mild ride on it to close out the night.

somewhat mild, for an Air Race I suppose.. LOL. . .  

it's 10pm here, and the park is closing down. . but look how bright it still is!

at least can see some of the lights a bit.

 

and with that we headed back to the hotel, for showers, and resting, and packing. . as tomorrow?   We were headed to Bakken, followed by a Ferry Ride to Germany!

 

[bert425]

Don't wanna bore y'all with too many pics (sorry if too late). . . so I pulled out some of the fun "on ride" pics I have for a separate post.

here are official on ride pics, as well as Pics Big Mike took, or Jonathan took, or maybe even Jason. . . and some from Robb's Rider Cam on Daemonen too

enjoy!

Daemonen Rider Cam:

Minen:

 

Ferris Wheel:

 

Mælkevejen

 

Kamelen

 

Cars:

 

Fairy Tale Ride:

and finally, Rutschebanen:

 

 

hope you've enjoyed the pics!

next up?  BAKKEN!

[cfc]

That wooden coaster at Tivoli is a classic, and I'm glad they still use brake men. 

[Electerik]

Quote

"Little Drummer Boy" perhaps?

"The Steadfast Tin Soldier."

Thanks for riding the crazy stuff with Smisty!

 

[cfc]

Agh! Now I can't get "pah-rum-pum-pum-pum" out of my head!

 

 

[bert425]

before I get TOO far into the trip report. . .I finally photgraphed the swag I got.

so lemme catch up on the Copenhagen Zoo, the castle, BonBon Land, and Tivoli for the swag (not much. . as no T-shirts large enough for "Americans" yet. . LOL. . so thus far just magnets really)

Copenhagen Zoo:

 

Rozenbourg Castle:

(and a 2nd I bought as a gift that I haven't given away yet)

 

BonBon Land
(the drag chicken. . which I think is supposed to be an albatross)

and Henry (with the park name)

 

and Tivoli Gardens:

[bert425]

oh. .and my park maps/brochures from the whole trip:

 

[bert425]

Day 5, June 7th part 1:  Bakken!

today was gonna be a really full day. . . but at least we got to sleep in a bit!

after breakfast, we checked out and loaded up the bus and were on our way to Bakken by 10:30 (for 11am arrival).

as some others doing reports have mentioned, Bakken is the world's oldest amusement park, as per Wikipedia, it's been operating since 1583!
It also really does look exactly as we were told - "like a group of carnies got tired of traveling, so just set up in the middle of a forest, and decided to stay there"

the closest comparison, I'd say, is Knoebels. . it very much has that vibe.

we had ERT on their wooden coaster, and a crazy swing ride called Supernova before the park opened at noon, and then were there until 5pm.    (we had to catch a ferry to Germany this evening)

it's not a HUGE park, but there is quite a lot to do.

as Chuck has been pointing out. . this Nightmare clown seems to be all over Denmark!

 

I had thought this was a spookhouse. . but when it opened later?  it's a candy shop.   Yeah. . with Dracula's on the top for some reason. . LOL

 

This was the reason we are here early. . . no, not the "Fyr & Flamme" performance, but the wooden coaster (which like at Tivoli Gardens is called) Rutschebanen  (Roller Coaster)

This one is not quite as old as the one at Tivoli Gardens, as this one opened in 1932.

Sadly tho, back in 2010, they modernized it with new trains, new station gates, and other "upgrades". . .  

the new trains no longer require a brakeman to control the speed. . . so although the coaster LOOKS fantastic, it really was just an OK ride.  Way, way outshined by the version at Tivoli Gardens.    Oh, still worth riding. . but personally I didn't really get any airtime regardless of where I rode the train, and it seemed a bit sluggish in places.

it's only one ride at the park tho, so not a slam on the park, but it is a shame it's been so neutered.

I do love the "Old skool vs new" design of the trains

the fancy "glass" gates

front row!

this is a later pic, and explains why not a full train, as some went over to ride Supernova (which is a spinny ride that I just wasn't feeling, so I stayed back and kept riding Rutschebanen).

again, it was ok.    Fun, but not YEAHHH!!!! fun

and unlike the one at Tivoli Gardens?   This Rutschebanen has a nude woman that is still on the actual ride.

in fact, you go thru the "classily" placed tunnel that she hovers over during the ride!

(thanks, Jonathan, for the clear pic!).

pink unicorn balloons?  sure!

appetizing!

we were gonna be turned loose in the park to enjoy the day, but after some discussion, pretty much everyone stayed together to head over to Tornado, the park's Intamin spinner.
one of only two in the world (and the 2nd one just opened in 2023).

you see, they run it in normal mode. . but with some encouragement (ie: $$ and asking nicely) from Robb & Elissa, the park very kindly switched the ride over to "insane" mode for us!

what is insane mode you ask?   well. . .the chain lift, basically speeds up to the point that instead of a lift hill?  it becomes a launch.  

and when I say launch?  I mean, this sucker THROWS you up the lift hill and right into the twisting track.

it really beat the shit outta me, and I loved every moment of it!    and insane, crazy, fun ride.

the park was open to the public now, this wasn't ERT. . but they still ran it in "Insane mode" for us before switching it back.

so we got back inline to ride it in "normal mode". . and the operators recognized us as TPR and kicked it back over to insane for our launch again. . LOL. . . I have the bruises to prove it.. but loved this.    Really wish there were more of them around!

most of the track is in the building, so hard to get a pic of the full ride, but I think Robb has a video up on TPR's youtube of it?

after another ride on Tornado, much of the group scattered to check out the rest of the park on this beautiful day.

 

scary clown?  check!

oooo. . down this way is the Vilde Mus - which is exactly what you think it is

these pics, I think, courtesy of Big Mike.

yeah. . here's Supernova.. the other ride we had ERT on this morning (that I passed on riding)

ooo.. a carousel.

a small one, but don't mind if I do!

"interesting" figurines on the interior column

but Hawk and Doug rode with me. . .

next door was something. . it appeared to be a fun house, so we went in.

and it IS a funhouse - a pretty damn good one too. . but themed to a submarine!   (for some reason).

continuing along to check out more of the park.  Turned out to be a beautiful day. . the weather really cooperated with us on this trip.

oooo..the clown has his own house - where he puts on a show.

the park was nice enough to have the times out as a warning

this is a jungle/shooting ride. . .

Jonathan better watch out for that spider!

Big Mike looks like he's shooting himself in the leg.

there's one more "big" coaster here - Mine Train Ulven (Wolf's Mine Train)

like Tornado, a lot of this ride is hidden in the trees/shrubs. . and also like Tornado?  it's an Intamin!

didn't' know what to expect, but this was SO good, with an intense diving helix that was so impressive we got off it and got right back in line to ride again.

the park also has a Flume. . that's very disingenuous.. . the drops don't get you really wet. . but the course brings you so close to the drops, that you get soaked from the splashdowns of OTHER boats.

really quite good.

a little moist, but it felt good.

(think this pic is via Andy if not mistaken)

we were starting to get hungry, so looked around to see what options were avail. . and there are a LOT of food options.   Several buffet choices too.

we ended up at a very nice place - looked a bit "fancy" but was quite reasonable, and had a great variety of choices on the buffet.  Yes, i chanced deviled eggs from a theme park buffet and did NOT get ill.   

most everything was really good. . tho too many choices and I did overdo it a little bit

didn't stop me from going back and getting a little bit more. . . (those are calamari not onion rings. . and I HAD to try one of the gigantic hot dogs being sold everywhere - tho I didn't care for it, so most of it was uneaten)

but there's always room for Ice Cream!

 

even if the promotions are these creepy kids eating their way out of ice cream traps that are worth of the '66 Batman TV show.

yum!

"Skumfidus" ???

yeah. . .   nope!!  

(turns out skumfidus is the danish word for "Marshmallow". . . so disgusting in English, AND in Danish)

taking a lap around the park to check out the areas we hadnt' been to (and to walk off the food). . . let's go past the wild mouse this time. . .

a "Professor'. . . not sure, but at least not a creepy clown.

Check out that tie he's got on tho.

Grasshopper. . another spinny ride, that was a "nope" for me today, tho Doug & Hawk rode it later.

as mentioned, tons of restaurants and cafes here in the park.

including this dance hall.

this was the first time I'd seen something like this, so snapped a pic - but I discovered all thruout the Scandinavian parks, dance halls are very popular . .. and this was the least crowded of any of them I'd see during the trip.

the decor in here was "interesting" tho. . .

 

ah.. . a dark ride haunt?  yes please!

it was carnival level, but also had a couple of really good animatronics, and at least two GREAT jump scares.

I think I rode this 4-5 times.

the park has a Nebulaz too. . .

tho this was more my speed at the moment. . still full from so much food!

a shooting dark ride?

not quite. . more saddles with "guns" in front of a video screen, if I'm recalling correctly.

I *think* the seats moved along with the action on the screen?  but can't recall.. someone on the trip can clarify I hope.

there was also a 5D theater . . .

 

again, not a super clear memory, but I think we saw an Angry Birds 5D movie?

LOVED the poster art all over the park.. so much history.

unfortunately, not really a gift shop that sold any of this merch, tho they did have a puzzle of the grounds I think.

not a Kangaroo (ala Kennywood) but a fun mini-bouncer.

but note. . do not clim on the statue!

some of the track from the "hidden" Mine Train Ulven

more food options.. . .but past here the place really was more "park" than "amusement park".. .lots of folks having picnics and enjoying the grounds once you passed this bus.

 

oh no!   we happened to be walking by at "Clown time"

 

GAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

scared the "pissoir" out of me

the park has a smaller Air Race. . . that seemed to allow for some good flipping.

Hawk about to get his flip on

and Jonathan

not super tall.. but tall enough to allow for some good winds. .

and I really enjoyed the retro light fixtures.

this wasn't operating today, but as near as I can tell, it was a "Dunk the clown" booth?

and here's the park's one other coaster:  Mariehønen  (a zierer ladybug kiddie coaster)

here are the credit whores riding it!

and I honestly did NOT remember riding it. . tho many on the trip did.

but here's proof that I did get on it and ride it too

(hi, I'm bert, and can be peer pressured into being a credit whore too (sometimes)).

here's that Grasshopper ride, with Doug & Hawk on it.

yeah. . glad I passed on it. . .

tho I did enjoy this rum fountain near the funhouse.

I did a quick run over to guest services (where they sell the very limited Bakken merch) and tho no magnet, I did pick up a bottle opener/keychain, that I'll have to make into a magnet), and then we headed to the front of the park to meet the bus.

Robb gathered us all for a picture. . .

 

and then we headed out to the bus. . we had a ferry ride to Germany, and a decent drive ahead of us before we checked into the hotel (a very funky hotel) for the night. 

to be continued. . .

[bert425]

the aforementioned keychain - which will soon be a magnet, once I have time to work on it.

[bert425]

Day 5, June 7th part 2:  Ferry to Germany, bus ride, the incredibly odd Hotel Gremersdorf, and forced Schnitzel!

 

after a very fun day at Bakken, we settled in on the bus as we headed towards the Ferry, where I believe we were going to cross the Baltic Sea?

it wasn't a terribly long crossing (I think a little over an hour?). . . but passengers are not allowed to stay on the vehicles, so we had to leave the bus down in the hold, and relax on the ferry as we made the crossing.

some folks ate, or had coffee - but most of us were still full from lunch, so just browsed the ship or the store onboard.

Many also stocked up on snacks, as the hotel we were headed to didn't have a lot of food options nearby, and as we were arriving ~9:00pm it was going to be close as to getting food later.

 

bye-bye Denmark

a ferry coming the other way, from Germany to Denmark

a mirror of our ship. . if you were curious what ours looked like. .

 

soon, the announcements were made, and we funneled back down into the hold and onto the bus.

hello Germany!
 

shortly after getting on the road tho, we hit some major construction going on - on the bridge from the ferry!. . that pretty much brought us to a standstill for over an hour +

but at least we got to see a beautiful sunset from the bus on the bridge:

tho eventually we did get moving and made our way to the hotel

Welcome to Hotel Gremersdorf. . .a very funky/odd hotel.  

the rooms all are slightly different. .and some in different buildings.

It's kinda like an odd little self built commune, crossed with Winchester house.   Some rooms had windows that opened into nowhere,  some had slanted walls that you had to be careful not to bump your head when getting into bed. .and some had doors that you couldnt' open if a drawer was pulled out, or if the bathroom door wasn't completely closed (no space for the main door to swing open). 

It was so weird.. . I loved it!

maybe has some of "the Overlook" from the Shining mixed in too!

I took all of these pics after dinner. . .

dinner?  yup. . . the very, VERY kind folks who run the hotel?  when we arrived so late due the construction, they kept open the dinner/buffet for us, and would not check us in until after they had fed us, because they felt bad we had arrived so late.

so instead of checking in, we were directed to dump all our luggage into a dark corner of the lobby, and led into the restaurant.    Where we were seated and they insisted on feeding us.

yup. . forced schnitzel!   

(no shade.. was really good, even tho most of us ween't that hungry, we all ate. . . because. . . such kindness!)

 

I had to take a quick potty break (while they were setting up the buffet for us), and this amused me:

but on the way back remembered to take a pic of the offerings they had stayed open late (and awake) for us:

as noted. .was really good!

and that it was such a kind gesture made it taste all the better!

 

once we had all eaten, room keys were handed out, and we were able to go into our rooms to crash for the night.

as noted, pretty much every room is slightly different in this Hotel, but AJ and I lucked out with a very nice room:

that had a "sleeper sofa" included. . . since I had been snoring, I figured I might be able to get some space so he could sleep better, so I took the sofa:

large bathroom here too.. tho you had to be careful what you had open, otherwise you couldn't open the door to get in. . LOL

 

I recall having a pretty good night's sleep here, even tho the window right behind where I was sleeping (which when slanted open gave a great cool breeze), opened up into a weird little courtyard that despite not seeing any way to get INTO the courtyard. . I still heard noises of people/things out there all night.    LOL. . like I said. . funky hotel.

i really did like it.

 

soon enough tho it was time to get up for breakfast, and I got a good look at the lobby in the daytime:

 

quirky!

 

breakfast was great:

 

and then we checked out, loaded back onto the bus, and headed off to what was once the original LegoLand. . know known as Hansa Park!



(to be continued on Day 6 with Hansa Park)

 

 

[Nrthwnd]

^ I think that this hotel is one of The Best Hotels ever booked on Scandi Tours, Bert, thanks to Robb and Elissa's awesome pre-planning, etc.

Great you got to experience it and the short ferry ride across.

 

[SharkTums]

Getting caught up, I laugh every time I think about our people trying to go back later in the day to get a 'normal' ride on Tornado only for the ops to put it back to insane mode special for them!  Also, all those unsuspecting GP!!! lol!!!

[bert425]

Day 6, June 8th part 1:  a full day at the incredible Hansa Park

after checking out, a short bus trip brought us to the main gates (well. .the parking lot across the street from the main gates) to Hansa Park - which started out life as the first official Legoland (way back when).

it's so much more now, with sections that are fully immersive, and hidden nooks and crannies everywhere in the park with all kinds of fun stuff to discover.

up the escalator to cross the busy road. . .

a bit foggy this am, but it would burn off.

oooo.. pretty charming front gates.

and a welcome TPR area?

with cool goodies for us?  how neat!  (including a CD of music played at the park).

after a quick introduction and welcome to the park, we were walked into the place before opening to enjoy some ERT on a coaster - the park's "biggie" Schwur des Kärnan (Karnan's Oath). . a Gerstlauer Infinity coaster.

thru the main gates. . .tho stopping 1st for a pic of park map

wow. . it's a much bigger park than it looks like on the map.   did a LOT of walking today.

I'm positive Robb took a group picture, because I remember posing in front of this flower clock.. . but I don't seem to have it in my pics from the park (which means I have it mis-filed, and if I find it during the months it will take me to finish, I'll go ahead and post it).

but meanwhile, here's my pic of the flower clock at the main entrance.

what you see upon entering the park:   Nessie , the Schwarzkopf looper.

also that tower there is "Highlander" - which is now the world's tallest tilting freefall tower (since,  you know, the incident in Orlando)

restaurants and shops.. as noted, lovely theming.   Empty only because we're in the park before official opening.

another look at Highlander as we walk by it. . .that's not Nessie, but yet ANOTHER coaster, Royal Scotsman, a Vekoma Jr. coaster, that wraps around it (and passes thru Nessie's loop)

lots of play areas sprinkled around the park.. I appreciated that many were close to "big" rides, to give the little ones something to keep them occupied while the teens/adults were on the bigger things.

a mini canoe ride, featuring frogs.
 

Indian frogs that live in tee-pees apparently.

and a very plastic horse in the western section that one could pose on  (I passed on this.. .shocking, I know. . but there were many other photo ops that had my attention)

remember the Alamo!    (well, this ain't it.. . so your memory is faulty)

and coming around the corner, our first real peek at the twisted, terrifying track that is Schwur des Kärnan

that medieval tower there?  that hides the lift. . and has a secret that scared the crap out of me and really gets the adrenaline going.

the track is way off the ground in most places -- at least in the places one can see.  the first half of the ride is kinda a dark ride.

let's walk the queue so we can enjoy the heavy theming. .

going up into the castle via the queue, one gets a look at the "planes on stick" ride (tho it's actually "Planes on a trebuchet").

and a playground area with one of those giant inflatable bouncy mountains.

deep into the castle, the theming gets more and more intense

as you discover the storyline of the ride. .

it involves magic and spells that protect the castle. . .  

the lockers are tied into the theming, as the wizard tells the story on the TV, and then the bookshelves slide open to reveal storage for all loose articles.

so because everything was put into the storage, I had no camera to describe the rest of the loading process. . but it's very cool, so will describe it.

once everyone has stored bags, you are led into a circular room that's divided with six "queue lines". . . .these lines don't match up with where you'll end up on the coaster - as you can't actually see the train yet.    What happens is the lights at the top of the room start to spin (ie: magic) and in turn it lands, randomly, in front of each queue row in the circular chamber, and then the "wall" in front of that row opens, and those 4 people go thru to sit on the ride.   So first door open, gets front row, 2nd door 2nd row, etc.. .

got really lucky on my rides, and ended up front row one ride, and back row on another.   I think I got a 3rd ride and just went to the center since we didn't have to go back thru the preshow room if we wanted to ride again that time.     a GREAT ride.

and no..I'm not going to spoil the start of the ride, or what happens in the lift.   but wow.. it's a shocker the 1st time, and even when you know what's coming?  it still gets that adrenaline pumping.

a few rides later, and my camera back from my stored bag. . .I hung out at the bottom of the tower to try and catch the drop from the vertical lift

(it moves so fast it took a few tries, but I got it).

after the fun ERT, we were cut loose in the park, and since over here, several of us went over to the nearby Crazy Mine - a Maurer Wild Mouse (that also has some animatronics.. many rides here seemed to have a dark ride-like portion, or at least animatronics).

and lots of theming in the queue-lines.

was fun for what it was.. tho not as fun as the photo op that was available in this area.

is it a "horse" ?   hell if I know.. but damn right I'm gonna climb on top of it for a photo!

 

look how damn happy I am.. LOL. . does this count as humping?

 

this is a weird one. . while looking at RCDB, I noticed that Hansa Park had another coaster, that I must have missed:

Schlange von Midgard (Snake from Midguard) a Gerstlauer family coaster where the train looks like a viking ship, and has an enclosed (dark ride-ish) start/lift hill.

I REALLY thought I hadn't ridden it. . LOL. . but then found this pic!

- part of our "goodie bag" from the park included an on-ride pic, and I got this one.  

too damn funny that the coaster I got the onride pic from is one that I don't even remember riding now.

we're all smiling tho, so we must have enjoyed it enough

 

 

it was time for a potty break, and I found these "kiddie sized" toilet stalls so charming, that I took a picture of them.

tho most were mainly interested in the coasters, I really like most all rides, and so did those I ended up with today. . . so we made our way over towards Highlander.

um. . that looks really high (probably because it is)

I don't recall it being "scary". . which is odd, as I don't like heights.    But I guess I DO love Falcon's Fury, and Acrophobia.  so a tilting drop tower is more fun to me than scary. . and I do recall this being fun.

as it was RIGHT next door, we headed over to Royal Scotsman before going over closeby to queue for Nessie.

honestly, Royal Scotsman doesn't do much, but it's ALL about the setting - circling Highlander, and going thru Nessie's loop makes it kinda fun.

tried to get all at the same time. . but I don't have the patience for that. . .LOL. . so here's Nessie going up the lift hill just before the 1st drop.

again, the park has done a heck of a job with the queue.

and I adored this logo, and would have bought a shirt or magnet with it in a SECOND.  
but the park store didn't have any Nessie merch

very impressive station.

and we knew we'd all love it. . I mean, it's a classic Schwarzkopf

after Nessie we moved further into the park to head towards the kiddie coaster (was on the way to our next thing). .and found ourselves in a traveling circus area.

at least the clowns in Germany are not as terrifying as the ones in Denmark!

or are they??

clearly this is a kiddie coaster, and it's called Kleine Zar (Little Czar, I believe).  (it's hidden behind a fairly tall fence, so you can't even see the coaster much unless you've queued for it)

that's a pretty tight helix tho and it looked like it might be fun, so we asked if adults were allowed to ride it.

an example of the view one can get of the coaster from outside the queue.

 

we got a "yes, of course you can ride" from the ride op, so we hopped in line for this.
(on the right is the coaster we had been heading to: Flucht von Novgorod (a Gerstlauer Eurofighter). . but as noted, this was on the way

it truly was a lot of fun, and I giggled my way thru it.

as I expected, that tight helix was quite enjoyable.

I took back row.

while others went for the front rows.

hands up!

 

and the wonderful operator who told us of course we could ride.

Kiddie coaster credit out of the way, we headed to Flucht von Novgorod (Escape from Novgorod). . a heavily themed coaster with a spooky storyline. . .

the two girls we had met by the clown bridge came along with us, and were truly scared to get in line for it (no, really)!

hmmm. . another brick building?  yup, another enclosed vertical lift coaster.

later in the day, this ride would have an insane line - especially with so few riders per car. . . BUT we discovered that making use of single rider got you on relatively quickly, and so ended up riding this several times during the day.

it was a lot of fun.

one of the most fun features of this was that the storyline doesn't end after the ride!

the exit is via a maze (that one really can get lost in) and there are also photo ops in the exit maze:

lots of fun.

this seems to be an out of the box ride, but I liked the look of it, and so convinced Jonathan to ride it with me.

the operator put us on a LOOOOOONG cycle tho.. and I was well ready to stop spinning around before he stopped the ride.

luckily we hadn't eaten lunch yet.

but before it started it sure looks like we were ready to have fun

 

also over here was what appeared to be a rather "hidden" water obstacle course. . .

it wasn't huge, but I'm a klutz, so I took pics of the obstacles, while Jonathan actually did the course.

one tiny step to cross this water filled trap. .

whoops. . well..there WAS one little step.

better watch your timing on this!

oooo.. .kinky

a junior sea-storm. . but I actually passed on this - wasnt' about to go on another spinning ride after being spun to death on the motorcyle ride just moments before.

 

here's my speed. . and yes, it's called "Blumenmeerbootsfahrt"

but the English section of the description sold me as a perfect ride for this moment:  "A slow moving boat ride"

piped in sounds too. . very calming

but with freaky little fairy people among the scenery.

Big Mike likes flowers, and I do too.. . so seemed a nice reprieve.    Think everyone with me rode it

 

awww a cute lil mushroom wave swinger for the lil freaky people.

aha!  from the boat ride, you can actually see part of the kiddie coaster

 

starting to get a little hungry. . but so much more of the park to do.. and we decided to take the "long way" around to the front restaurant where we'd eat lunch.

 

but passing by a photo op?

don't mind if I do!

and they even had a small section with the "do it yourself" rides I had seen in some parks last year while in Europe

 

these seemed to be clearly for the little kiddos only tho. . so just snapped a pic of them.

 

to be continued. .