NemesisRider
Roller Poster
Intro: A Questionable Itinerary
Let's get the obvious thing out of the way - yes, Tusenfryd and Emerald Park make no geographic sense as a combined trip. But if the vikings can travel from Norway (ish) to Ireland, then dammit, I can too.
Back in January, me and some of my friends from university began to plan a group holiday for post-exams. I pitched a trip to Poland (I wonder why) but ultimately got out-voted, thus Norway became our destination. Our initial plan was to start in Oslo and travel to Bergen via train. Whilst my friends had easy and cheap flights from London - can't have anything here in the North I swear - direct flight options from Manchester which were either horrifically over-priced or literally non-existent. After several sessions of intense Skyscanner-ing, I concocted myself two additional stopovers based on bargain flights. The first was Katowice on the way out, which I've already reported on in the epilogue to my impromptu April trip there. The second was Dublin enroute home, where I did 2 nights to tick off Emerald Park. Being in Oslo also made Tusenfryd a no-brainer choice, especially since the addition of Storm last year.
Most of my time in Norway was spent with friends, hiking and seeing the sights. It's a beautiful country with stunning scenery, though it definitely takes some planning to do well on a student budget. Whilst I could happily write more at length about Norway, my two main recommendations would be to get the Bergenbanen instead of flying if you're travelling between these two cities (the views are breathtaking) and to visit the Holmenkollbakken for amazing panaromic views of Oslo, despite it being a little out of the way.
Part 1: Tusenfryd
Tusenfryd gets a bit of a bad wrap. Common allegations include long queues, a "meh" ride lineup and generally being Poundshop Liseberg. Whilst the last one is probably true, Tusenfryd turned out to be a good park with a decent ride lineup.
Unfortunately, I went into the day in about the worst possible mood. After travelling from Katowice, dealing with a breakdown down Flytoget train, then trapsing around Oslo, I was tired. I was annoyed to find that Tusenfryd wouldn't let me buy tickets through their website - Norwegian postcodes are numbers only, so it refused to accept my UK postcode when booking. I turned to Trip.com, which admittedly did let me buy a fixed date ticket... except for the fact that I had booked for the wrong date this time.
"Ah f***, that's £35 down the drain, isn't it?"
After speedrunning the 5 stages of grief, I went to the park the next morning more or less resigned to having to buy a new ticket. I thought it was worth asking to customer services, fully expecting to be told it was an external vendor and hence not their problem. However, the lovely Norwegian bloke working the desk was very understanding and I had a new working ticket within 5 minutes. My experiences with customer services at most theme parks indicate that they usually struggle to get you any resolution, let alone quickly, so this was a pleasant surprise.
Tusenfryd has a wonderful setting, with plenty of dense woodland throughout the park despite the motorway being quite nearby. The park is on a hill, with plenty of slopes throughout the park, and even twin escalators which pass through Speed Monster’s Norwegian Loop on the way in. It very much fits the bill on being styled rather than themed, with some nice areas such as the brand new Dragonville. I found Tusenfryd a really pleasant place to spend time, with very friendly staff.
Despite it being after opening when I arrived, I was slightly concerned to see what felt like a lack of rides in motion. It turned out that some staggered openings were in place on the day of my visit, in addition to Speed Monster and Thor's Hammer suffering bouts of downtime across the day, but with a whole day to play with and what turned out to be very manageable queue times across the park, this didn't prove a problem.
First on the agenda was the park's new E-ticket, Storm - The Dragon Legend. I've been quietly intrigued by this thing since Vekoma impressed me with Hals Uber Kopf, which I think offers an interesting new take on the invert compared to the classic B&M model. Storm instead invites comparisons to the Intamin impulse coasters, albeit brought into the 2020s.
The ride starts with a gentle first launch forward, sending you only a little up the first inversion, before rolling back and giving a decently powerful second thrust backwards. The front gets comparatively little action here, but the back rows get a lovely floaty moment of near upside-down suspension on the immelmann. A similarly punchy third launch throws up you into the dive loop, which unfortunately is noticeably rough on the entry. This element however does offer a cool sensation, over-rotating on the dive and beginning the manoeuvre late, which leads to fantastic floatiness at the top. Storm’s trains feel great, offering tons of upper body freedom, though the lap bar did have a tendency to press down further throughout the ride. An intense albeit rattly valley pulls into the fantastic airtime hill which offers great sustained ejector throughout the train. This was my personal highlight, and a real surprise to see on an invert. The valleys also seem to get smoother from here on out, as the second dive loop use a similar floaty over-rotation manoeuvre to great effect. Finally, Storm slickly transitions into an immelmann with some surprising force at the bottom. Another quick boost of speed sends you into a second lap, making Storm feel satisfyingly long.
For a prototype, Storm is great, and I’m very excited to see what Gerstlauer do next with the concept. There are many parks that could benefit from something like the Gerstlauer multi-launched invert, which offers better trains, punchier launches and a meatier layout than alternatives like the SRIIs. Unfortunately, it does jackhammer quite a bit which makes the experience quite uncomfortable at points. I found the smoothness notably better at the back of the train (which also has the best experience on the swing launch), so I assume it to be a train issue. Special shout-out to the ride ops who were really powering through to get the trains sent out quickly.
Second on the list was Thundercoaster, the park’s Vekoma wooden coaster. It’s not great. This coaster has run Timberliners since 2015, which provide little in the way of cushioning against the roughness since most of the valleys on this ride feel like a minor car-crash. Some of the airtime hills surprisingly do offer some decent floater, especially the first hill, though there are some dud moments. I’d recommend the front for the best experience, as it was probably the smoothest seat and had great views of the woodland setting. This ride grew on me after multiple rides, but it’s definitely one you have to laugh at to best enjoy.
The cred run continued with Huri Huri. It’s a kiddie coaster that spins and it did literally one lap. Next.
As Speed Monster was still attempting to get up and running, Loopen was the next stop. It’s well-presented, looking very vibrant despite its age. As old-gen Vekomas go, it was tolerable, though not memorable. Operations unfortunately however were terrible, using only 1 train and being very slow.
Tusenfryd has a slightly weird layout, which is probably obvious from the moment you see escalators at the front entrance. Most of the park is located at the top of a hill, and you climb further to reach attractions like Storm. However, the viking themed area (where Supersplash, my next coaster was to be found) is at the bottom of the hill and feels frustratingly isolated. This led to me skipping Thor’s Hammer, which was a shame as I’d heard good things about it. SuperSplash itself was quite bland, with a decent drop albeit fairly dry. Ragnarok was a fun rapids and frankly more interesting than its neighbour, with some nice theming and a sizable drop.
Enroute back to Speed Monster, I ticked off Western Express (a standard kiddie coaster), Space Shot (a standard S&S shot tower), and Spinspider (a good gyro swing). When I arrived, I was relieved to see it had reopened and only amassed a small queue.
Speed Monster, the park’s Intamin hydraulic launch coaster, is still very much the icon of the park despite the addition of Storm. It really succeeds on its presentation, offering a designated viewing area for the launch and being carefully placed on the park’s skyline. Unfortunately, I’d say this is the weakest Intamin hydraulic launch I’ve done, falling below the likes of Rita. Ultimately, Speed Monster’s main issue is that it feels a little forceless – the launch doesn’t give the same “punch in the gut” feeling as its peers, the only really strong moment of positives comes with the Norwegian loop, and only the first hill delivers meaningful airtime. It’s certainly a fun ride, being arguably the smoothest thrilling coaster in the park, and offering a couple of notably good elements in the signature loop and the final corkscrew. The rest, however, is fine if not especially memorable.
By this stage in the day, I was mostly happy to just reride my favourites (mostly Storm), though I did stop for a quick lap their log flume (which was quite short and standard).
I left Tusenfryd feeling very satisfied. Rides-wise, Storm is the clear highlight and probably the only thing worth going out of the way for. Equally, I was pleasantly surprised by both the setting of the park and the customer service, with operations being broadly good and staff being notably attentive. If you’re in Oslo, it’s a worthwhile stop, especially seeing as it’s very simple to reach via public transport (only 25 minutes from the central station via bus). But, if you’re planning a trip and want to visit a Scandinavian park on a hill with an iconic launched coaster… you’re better off going to Liseberg.
Let's get the obvious thing out of the way - yes, Tusenfryd and Emerald Park make no geographic sense as a combined trip. But if the vikings can travel from Norway (ish) to Ireland, then dammit, I can too.
Back in January, me and some of my friends from university began to plan a group holiday for post-exams. I pitched a trip to Poland (I wonder why) but ultimately got out-voted, thus Norway became our destination. Our initial plan was to start in Oslo and travel to Bergen via train. Whilst my friends had easy and cheap flights from London - can't have anything here in the North I swear - direct flight options from Manchester which were either horrifically over-priced or literally non-existent. After several sessions of intense Skyscanner-ing, I concocted myself two additional stopovers based on bargain flights. The first was Katowice on the way out, which I've already reported on in the epilogue to my impromptu April trip there. The second was Dublin enroute home, where I did 2 nights to tick off Emerald Park. Being in Oslo also made Tusenfryd a no-brainer choice, especially since the addition of Storm last year.
Most of my time in Norway was spent with friends, hiking and seeing the sights. It's a beautiful country with stunning scenery, though it definitely takes some planning to do well on a student budget. Whilst I could happily write more at length about Norway, my two main recommendations would be to get the Bergenbanen instead of flying if you're travelling between these two cities (the views are breathtaking) and to visit the Holmenkollbakken for amazing panaromic views of Oslo, despite it being a little out of the way.
Part 1: Tusenfryd
Tusenfryd gets a bit of a bad wrap. Common allegations include long queues, a "meh" ride lineup and generally being Poundshop Liseberg. Whilst the last one is probably true, Tusenfryd turned out to be a good park with a decent ride lineup.
Unfortunately, I went into the day in about the worst possible mood. After travelling from Katowice, dealing with a breakdown down Flytoget train, then trapsing around Oslo, I was tired. I was annoyed to find that Tusenfryd wouldn't let me buy tickets through their website - Norwegian postcodes are numbers only, so it refused to accept my UK postcode when booking. I turned to Trip.com, which admittedly did let me buy a fixed date ticket... except for the fact that I had booked for the wrong date this time.
"Ah f***, that's £35 down the drain, isn't it?"
After speedrunning the 5 stages of grief, I went to the park the next morning more or less resigned to having to buy a new ticket. I thought it was worth asking to customer services, fully expecting to be told it was an external vendor and hence not their problem. However, the lovely Norwegian bloke working the desk was very understanding and I had a new working ticket within 5 minutes. My experiences with customer services at most theme parks indicate that they usually struggle to get you any resolution, let alone quickly, so this was a pleasant surprise.
Tusenfryd has a wonderful setting, with plenty of dense woodland throughout the park despite the motorway being quite nearby. The park is on a hill, with plenty of slopes throughout the park, and even twin escalators which pass through Speed Monster’s Norwegian Loop on the way in. It very much fits the bill on being styled rather than themed, with some nice areas such as the brand new Dragonville. I found Tusenfryd a really pleasant place to spend time, with very friendly staff.
Despite it being after opening when I arrived, I was slightly concerned to see what felt like a lack of rides in motion. It turned out that some staggered openings were in place on the day of my visit, in addition to Speed Monster and Thor's Hammer suffering bouts of downtime across the day, but with a whole day to play with and what turned out to be very manageable queue times across the park, this didn't prove a problem.
First on the agenda was the park's new E-ticket, Storm - The Dragon Legend. I've been quietly intrigued by this thing since Vekoma impressed me with Hals Uber Kopf, which I think offers an interesting new take on the invert compared to the classic B&M model. Storm instead invites comparisons to the Intamin impulse coasters, albeit brought into the 2020s.
The ride starts with a gentle first launch forward, sending you only a little up the first inversion, before rolling back and giving a decently powerful second thrust backwards. The front gets comparatively little action here, but the back rows get a lovely floaty moment of near upside-down suspension on the immelmann. A similarly punchy third launch throws up you into the dive loop, which unfortunately is noticeably rough on the entry. This element however does offer a cool sensation, over-rotating on the dive and beginning the manoeuvre late, which leads to fantastic floatiness at the top. Storm’s trains feel great, offering tons of upper body freedom, though the lap bar did have a tendency to press down further throughout the ride. An intense albeit rattly valley pulls into the fantastic airtime hill which offers great sustained ejector throughout the train. This was my personal highlight, and a real surprise to see on an invert. The valleys also seem to get smoother from here on out, as the second dive loop use a similar floaty over-rotation manoeuvre to great effect. Finally, Storm slickly transitions into an immelmann with some surprising force at the bottom. Another quick boost of speed sends you into a second lap, making Storm feel satisfyingly long.
For a prototype, Storm is great, and I’m very excited to see what Gerstlauer do next with the concept. There are many parks that could benefit from something like the Gerstlauer multi-launched invert, which offers better trains, punchier launches and a meatier layout than alternatives like the SRIIs. Unfortunately, it does jackhammer quite a bit which makes the experience quite uncomfortable at points. I found the smoothness notably better at the back of the train (which also has the best experience on the swing launch), so I assume it to be a train issue. Special shout-out to the ride ops who were really powering through to get the trains sent out quickly.
Second on the list was Thundercoaster, the park’s Vekoma wooden coaster. It’s not great. This coaster has run Timberliners since 2015, which provide little in the way of cushioning against the roughness since most of the valleys on this ride feel like a minor car-crash. Some of the airtime hills surprisingly do offer some decent floater, especially the first hill, though there are some dud moments. I’d recommend the front for the best experience, as it was probably the smoothest seat and had great views of the woodland setting. This ride grew on me after multiple rides, but it’s definitely one you have to laugh at to best enjoy.
The cred run continued with Huri Huri. It’s a kiddie coaster that spins and it did literally one lap. Next.
As Speed Monster was still attempting to get up and running, Loopen was the next stop. It’s well-presented, looking very vibrant despite its age. As old-gen Vekomas go, it was tolerable, though not memorable. Operations unfortunately however were terrible, using only 1 train and being very slow.
Tusenfryd has a slightly weird layout, which is probably obvious from the moment you see escalators at the front entrance. Most of the park is located at the top of a hill, and you climb further to reach attractions like Storm. However, the viking themed area (where Supersplash, my next coaster was to be found) is at the bottom of the hill and feels frustratingly isolated. This led to me skipping Thor’s Hammer, which was a shame as I’d heard good things about it. SuperSplash itself was quite bland, with a decent drop albeit fairly dry. Ragnarok was a fun rapids and frankly more interesting than its neighbour, with some nice theming and a sizable drop.
Enroute back to Speed Monster, I ticked off Western Express (a standard kiddie coaster), Space Shot (a standard S&S shot tower), and Spinspider (a good gyro swing). When I arrived, I was relieved to see it had reopened and only amassed a small queue.
Speed Monster, the park’s Intamin hydraulic launch coaster, is still very much the icon of the park despite the addition of Storm. It really succeeds on its presentation, offering a designated viewing area for the launch and being carefully placed on the park’s skyline. Unfortunately, I’d say this is the weakest Intamin hydraulic launch I’ve done, falling below the likes of Rita. Ultimately, Speed Monster’s main issue is that it feels a little forceless – the launch doesn’t give the same “punch in the gut” feeling as its peers, the only really strong moment of positives comes with the Norwegian loop, and only the first hill delivers meaningful airtime. It’s certainly a fun ride, being arguably the smoothest thrilling coaster in the park, and offering a couple of notably good elements in the signature loop and the final corkscrew. The rest, however, is fine if not especially memorable.
By this stage in the day, I was mostly happy to just reride my favourites (mostly Storm), though I did stop for a quick lap their log flume (which was quite short and standard).
I left Tusenfryd feeling very satisfied. Rides-wise, Storm is the clear highlight and probably the only thing worth going out of the way for. Equally, I was pleasantly surprised by both the setting of the park and the customer service, with operations being broadly good and staff being notably attentive. If you’re in Oslo, it’s a worthwhile stop, especially seeing as it’s very simple to reach via public transport (only 25 minutes from the central station via bus). But, if you’re planning a trip and want to visit a Scandinavian park on a hill with an iconic launched coaster… you’re better off going to Liseberg.
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