Boodangy
Mega Poster
What are your two main destinations, Copenhagen and Hamburg? Call that trip Copenhamburg. Warning: lengthy prologue ahead before we get to the meat.
I haven't been to a theme/amusement park abroad in 6 years. Nor have I been abroad at all in 5. I've been craaaaving to go somewhere! But money's always been too tight, and when it hasn't, I've had to prioritize spending on other, more important things. However this past Spring I figured out that I could earn and save just that bit extra to finally make something happen! But I was unsure where I'd want to go... The cheapest option by far would've been to go to Liseberg by flying from Helsinki directly to Göteborg in the morning, spending the day at Liseberg and flying back at night. However, spending around 200€ for a trip that lasted less than a day where I didn't have any time spent in the actual country seemed like a waste.
I thought to myself if I go abroad, I gotta go for at least two parks, so I floated London (Thorpe & Chessington), Brussels/Ghent (Plopsa De Panne & Walibi Belgium), Hamburg (Hansa & Heide) and Copenhagen (Tivoli & Bakken), all as approximately 4-5 day long trips. I had gone to Hamburg as one of the abroad park trips I did in 2019 already, so that was familiar and I was missing those parks, but I was leaning very heavily towards Belgium due to the fame of Ride To Happiness, and the idea of a new country and new parks. Some options like Amsterdam/Utrecht (Efteling & Walibi H) and Madrid (Warner & PdA Madrid) were stricken from consideration due to just flight price alone.
However it would have ended up being more expensive for me to go to Belgium than London or Hamburg, so I investigated those both, and after it being confirmed I'd be going alone (which changed accommodation pricing), I ended up deciding that I'd be going to Hamburg again. But I still wasn't happy with the cost. Now, 400€ for the cost of everything in a 4 day trip minus meals isn't expensive in general but for me it is, so I spent good time investigating how to squeeze more value out of it. At first my thought was to add layover time (at no extra cost) in Riga, since the flight to Hamburg would've been on airBaltic, so I could see Riga for a day. I wasn't really satisfied with that, however, and while talking with a friend and mentioning that I wouldn't go to Amsterdam because the flights were too pricy he suggested I fly to Brussels since those flights are cheap, and go from Brussels to the Netherlands instead, since the distance is relatively short. It wouldn't have worked out that well, but it gave me an idea.
And after a bunch more investigation I discovered that for the exact same price as a 3 day trip to Hamburg for Hansa and Heide Park, I could add a new country for me (Denmark), a new park (Tivoli Gardens) and a fourth day to the already planned Hamburg itinerary, simply because the flights to Copenhagen were so much cheaper than to Hamburg (as well as direct, unlike the Hamburg flights), and getting from Copenhagen to Hamburg was a breeze. So that's what I ended up going with! In the end I did accept a slight cost increase only days before departure by adding Bakken to the trip, when I realized how long I'd have at Tivoli. Originally I wasn't going to, but I ended up making it a four park trip in the end.
So, day 1, May 5th: Tivoli Gardens & Bakken.
Unfortunately my departure happened to land right on a strike day at Helsinki-Vantaa airport. I couldn't have known while booking the flights, but I still felt bad, cause I don't want to cross the picket line so to say (even tho ik that's for employees, but) and support the action. However, I know it wasn't my responsibility as I didn't know so I just went on and hoped it wouldn't affect me too much. Luckily the strike affected Finnair and Turkish airlines the most, as the strikers were mostly from their groundcrew etc. on that day. Oh yeah, and anybody with a checked bag would get inconvenienced, but as to make the trip cheaper and easier (in terms of lugging stuff around) I only travelled with a small messenger bag.
The ridiculous two tiered tall as towers escalators from the commuter train station at the airport always crack me up (no, not metro, just a regular commuter train that goes deep underground overhead wires and all for the airport).
Absolute breakfast of champions. Helsinki-Vantaa's airport pricing is wildly variable, this fresh hotdog was 6€, while small cold sandwiches in the stall next door were 12€.
I flew on Norwegian for the first time in my life. As you have to pay extra to choose a seat I (as most people) got a random seat while checking into the flight, and ended up with a middle seat. Luckily though, the woman sitting next to me on the window seat was a pretty regular flier just working on her laptop, so she was happy to switch with me so I could spend the short flight looking at the views, which was mostly southwestern Finland + southern Sweden, before the plane circled above Malmö to land in Copenhagen.
Helloooo Copenhagen (Airport)! Quirky differences to home I noticed immediately, unlike Helsinki, Copenhagen is clearly more tourist trappy. Not to an unbearable extent, but I noticed the "FREE SIM CARD!!!" stalls and such immediately, plus I got chased down the street to sign up for a hop on hop off bus. As I made my way to the metro line to get to the centre I noticed another quirk, the train departure boards show half minutes!
The metro switch was really easy, and as I rode the escalators up from the metro at the main station I immediately saw the star flyer! What a welcome. I wasted no time as the park had just opened, and made my way to Tivoli's entrance. I didn't explore central Copenhagen much, as I like to do city holiday stuff with friends, not alone, but the little I saw was lovely. Anyway, Tivoli Gardens sure looks compact from outside! (Because it is, lol). Immediately after entry I got face to face with Rutschebanen's mountain.
Man, the park is gorgeous.
Frustratingly, Dæmonen didn't open until 15:30, for unexplained reasons, while everything else in the park opened with the park. I'm not sure if that had something to do with the construction site below the coaster, maybe it did.
Instead, I started the day with Kamelen of all things! I wasn't sure originally if I was gonna do the kiddie coasters, but might as well. That's cred #1 from the trip. Will say, absolutely gorgeously landscaped kiddie coaster. Speaking of gorgeous, Mælkevejen was cred #2 and not only is it stunning to look at, this is my favourite powered coaster I've done. It actually pulls some fantastic forces! It's really fun.
Cred #3 was the classic Rutschebanen. Now I had somehow thought that as this, Rutschebanen at Bakken and Vuoristorata at Linnanmäki were all designed by Valdemar Lebech that they'd all be the same layout, but it's only Bakken's and Linnanmäki's scenic railways that share a layout, although Vuoristorata is slightly larger. I rode in the back row and uhh... How do I say this? I haven't been actually scared on an amusement park ride since I rode a skyloop when I was 13, and I was legitimately afraid during this. The seat is flat and smooth, the restraint is loose so when you ride alone you're just sliding side to side on the bench from all the laterals. In fact I was surprised that although the coaster had it's fair share of airtime, the most drastic forces on the ride were the flat turns in the dark that the ride is full of, and I gotta say? I didn't really enjoy those. However I still think I'd place this as #1 of the three nordic scenic railways when it comes to ride experience and theming, and #2 in setting. Imagining this with Vuoristorata's single position lapbars is... I think that'd be genuinely unsafe LMFAO.
What's this doing all the way in Denmark
The only flat I rode during this first part of the day at Tivoli was Fatamorgana although my intention was to ride as many flats as possible, since I'm a flat enthusiast and have purposely built up my tolerance for them in the past years as I've gotten older. Unfortunately my previous excitement for the 2nd gen Condor model from HUSS was dampened (pun intended) with this, as the swing of the gondolas had a very severe damper effect, so instead of swinging naturally the gondola would jerk me to the side every swing from the damper coming in to slow the swing really harshly. Very uncomfortable ride, ngl. Anyway, it was time to leave the park for now and get lunch before getting on the train and let me say, don't come to Denmark if you have a weak heart, as you might get a medical emergency from seeing the prices of even basic fast food. I paid 28€ for a fast food burger meal with an extra burger on top.
Anyway, welcome to Copenhagen's commuter trains, with weird curved seats and doors that open with the stupidest system ever, where you have to wave your hands above your head to open them. No, not with a button, no, not by walking towards them. By the same system as those useless paper towel dispensers in public toilets. Anyway, this was one of the first examples that day of how nice Danes are. Some man saw me struggling to open the door and without missing a beat showed me with his hands how to do it, after which I saw locals do the same as if it was not silly at all on their way out of the train at stations. But anyways, by my experience in Copenhagen on this trip, about everybody even seniors knows English and are the loveliest people ever, happy to talk to and help strangers even without asking. No extra niceties like you might find in, say the UK or US, but just incredibly nice and open.
The walk from the commuter train station to Bakken was strange. I found myself thinking "Yes, google maps shows the park is there, but it feels wrong" as the walk was through just a quaint upper class low density neighbourhood, with no sight or sound of an amusement park being there, but sure enough by the end of the road there's a big park area that includes the Bakken amusement park as well. I ended up getting a wristband despite the steep price, because with just a couple coaster rides I'd already pass it's price in tokens.
I wonder if Americans find this kind of stuff as funny as I do?
So cred #4 with Vilde Mus, this was actually my first ever non-spinning wild mouse ride, as I hadn't done them at some parks I'd been to before that had them. Maybe the park has a height limit or something since this was built into a pit, but this was really nice and comfy. Hardly any trims, overall really fun coaster and it had magnetic brakes instead of friction brakes at the end which helped with the comfort, you'll hear about a less comfy, older wild mouse ride later.
Something tells me the Germans wouldn't appreciate being represented like this...
If it didn't look so faded this would be one of the coolest unique pirate ship designs I've seen
Bakken was a park of two halves, in parts it was nice and fancy restaurants and food stalls, other parts carnivally fried food stalls, other parts permanent rides, other parts rides on trailers with loud pop music. I didn't know before coming, but it seems Bakken is a bit like Prater, in that the rides and attractions are ran by independent operators? It seems like so especially since acceptable payment methods depend per ride.
No air gates on a steel coaster and pints of beer waiting at the station? Yeah we're definitely not in rule stickler Finland anymore! Cred #5 for the trip is Mine Train Ulven, which ended up being my favourite coaster of the Copenhagen leg by the end. It's got a fantastic setting, a great first drop and just a simply fun and smooth layout of twists and turns after through the trees. Thoroughly enjoyable in any seat, simply put.
I doubt Tornado, cred #6 needs any introduction. A very rare coaster model (one of two of it's kind) and one famous for how insane it is, and I can say, yes. It's nuts. The infamous guy who spins enthusiast's trains at dispatch was working, so as if me riding alone making it off balance wasn't enough to spin, he made sure I spun. My favourite part about the coaster is the lift launch, but that's not to say the rest wasn't great. It's just absolutely insane, and the vests are necessary to prevent your torso flailing wildly. The reason it wasn't my favourite, however is that it didn't have as much fun factor as opposed to sheer intensity as I maybe expected, and the restraints had a small hard part at the top of the harnesses that dug into my clavicles whenever I was going backwards. Still did it three times, of course.
Cred #7 was my last of the nordic scenic railways, and the only one that's given up it's brakeman setup. It's got modern trains, and it's definitely the smoothest of the three, however it's last place setting as well as ride experience wise. Still fun, though! It's just that Vuoristorata has a better set up on top of a hill with views of the whole city (and loose restraints) while Tivoli's Rutschebanen is absolutely insane and well themed. Did a good couple rides so I got a feel of the different seats. A very old man was painting a huge mural with a tiny paintbrush in the queue, glad to see how the owners really care for the rides up close.
All in all I'm glad I shut down the idea of doing the just Copenhagen trip pretty early on, because then I would've planned a whole day for both Tivoli and Bakken, and while that's doable at Tivoli, I was done at Bakken after just 2 hours even though I did some minor rides like the double shot, the pedal swans or Mariehønen, cred #8 in addition to the big coasters. It's really not a pleasant place to spend time off ride with all the burnt grease smells, the rides plopped on concrete and the loud pop music blasting out of every game stall and half the flats. I'd still recommend going, absolutely, just don't expect to want to spend a whole lot of time.
What you should do while nearby is visit the beach by the Klampenborg train station you use to get to Bakken. My god, how lovely. I find my peace the most when I'm by water, so this was a lovely refresher after being in the city and parks all day so far, just sitting by the water and breathing in the sea air in the sun for a good while. I gotta come back in the summer some time, because the baltic sea is so clean here! What?! In Helsinki it's FILTHY and I would never swim in it, while here in Copenhagen it's crystal blue with lovely sandy bottom. Damn.
After relaxing at the beach I made my way back to the centre to rejoin the sights and sounds of Tivoli Gardens as the day started turning to night, slowly but surely. I still had pleeenty of time at Tivoli, as they only closed at 22:00, so before I went back in I popped by a grocery store to get some large drinks so that I wouldn't have to find a still open grocery store before my bus later on, and of course so I had something to drink at the park. Mild culture shock time, in Finland you can't get any alcohol above 8% or so ABV in normal grocery stores while in Sweden they're even stricter with 3,5%. Despite being almost attached to Sweden, Denmark is so lax on alcohol that the last second purchase shelf usually reserved for candy bars and condoms in Denmark is reserved for bottles of Absolut, Malibu, Jägermeister and the like. It was rather funny.
Dæmonen was now open, that's the last cred for the Danish leg of the trip. Needless to say, I was shocked at how much I hated cred #9 for the trip. I already don't like the classic B&M seats, as the seats are way too close to eachother leaving no shoulder room and the OTSRs are the worst I've experienced. Combine that with one of the roughest coasters I've ever experienced, probably the worst after Big Loop at Heide Park and you've got hell on earth. Tear this thing down and build something else, please. I really enjoyed the pre drop segment for a bit but then I realized how rough it was and went "oh no". It's short, too. You can do better, Tivoli.
Anyway, onto good rides! I spent the evening doing rerides as well as going on more of those unique flats. Some are unique due to how well presented they are, others are rare because of being a park version or because they really are rare. Monsunen is one of only two Zierer Suspended Flying Carpets and not only does it look gorgeous like everything else in the park, it's got that fantastic water feature. Aquila is a Zamperla Air Race, my first one, fun and fantastic looking with the queue in the hub of the ride (unique angle to see the ride from!) but I expected the gondola to switch directions, it spun in the same direction the whole ride so it was a bit one note.
Tik Tak is a park version of the Mondial Shake and an incredibly well presented one at that. This was my aaabsolute favourite ride from the Danish leg! Like I said, I'm as much a flat ride person as I am a coaster person and this was ridiculous fun. Although the function of the ride is different with different axes of rotation, the out of control feeling felt very nostalgic and similiar to Kieppi, the now gone HUSS Booster that was at my home park until 2016. Didn't even get slightly dizzy or nauseous, unlike I do on the classic woodies, for example. Absolutely fantastic.
It goes without saying that the park was even nicer at night than during the day. There's a ton of lighting in the park that you don't even notice the bulbs during the day, and at night it just comes alive. I did also remember to do the fairytale chest ride! How charming. The ride system was insane, though, and how many times you could see the ride track crossing over itself in the dark in all the levels was wild. What a feat of engineering. Unfortunately, I couldn't go on the funhouse as for whatever reason, that closed at 18:00 already. I don't really appreciate that.
I did still have a snack at the park with a french dog and fries at the park before leaving. The cook/cashier was very interested in my trip in fact, to how I liked Copenhagen etc and we had a fantastic chat as I ate. I will say, they definitely oversalt their fries in Copenhagen, I experienced it at lunch as well. I appreciate the deposit system in the park, it's just a bit inconvenient if you're a tourist as you then get dealt local coins in return. Heide Park later on also had a cup deposit, but you could get the cash back on card.
There was also a night time light show, but no photos or video came out good as it was mostly lasers. It was quite pretty though, and it was a nice bow to tie the night to an end with.
And that's that for day 1! Not only did the weather turn out better than expected for all days, but everything in general just went fantastic. Obviously the most action packed, but also good to focus the most walking intensive (as I have garbage joints) and hectic days for the beginning, when I'm best rested. After leaving Tivoli all I did was walk to the bus station, brush my teeth in the bathroom and hop onto the overnight bus from which my adventure continued to Germany. I ended up spending way more time than I expected writing this, so hope at least someone read to the end.
See you later for part 2!
I haven't been to a theme/amusement park abroad in 6 years. Nor have I been abroad at all in 5. I've been craaaaving to go somewhere! But money's always been too tight, and when it hasn't, I've had to prioritize spending on other, more important things. However this past Spring I figured out that I could earn and save just that bit extra to finally make something happen! But I was unsure where I'd want to go... The cheapest option by far would've been to go to Liseberg by flying from Helsinki directly to Göteborg in the morning, spending the day at Liseberg and flying back at night. However, spending around 200€ for a trip that lasted less than a day where I didn't have any time spent in the actual country seemed like a waste.
I thought to myself if I go abroad, I gotta go for at least two parks, so I floated London (Thorpe & Chessington), Brussels/Ghent (Plopsa De Panne & Walibi Belgium), Hamburg (Hansa & Heide) and Copenhagen (Tivoli & Bakken), all as approximately 4-5 day long trips. I had gone to Hamburg as one of the abroad park trips I did in 2019 already, so that was familiar and I was missing those parks, but I was leaning very heavily towards Belgium due to the fame of Ride To Happiness, and the idea of a new country and new parks. Some options like Amsterdam/Utrecht (Efteling & Walibi H) and Madrid (Warner & PdA Madrid) were stricken from consideration due to just flight price alone.
However it would have ended up being more expensive for me to go to Belgium than London or Hamburg, so I investigated those both, and after it being confirmed I'd be going alone (which changed accommodation pricing), I ended up deciding that I'd be going to Hamburg again. But I still wasn't happy with the cost. Now, 400€ for the cost of everything in a 4 day trip minus meals isn't expensive in general but for me it is, so I spent good time investigating how to squeeze more value out of it. At first my thought was to add layover time (at no extra cost) in Riga, since the flight to Hamburg would've been on airBaltic, so I could see Riga for a day. I wasn't really satisfied with that, however, and while talking with a friend and mentioning that I wouldn't go to Amsterdam because the flights were too pricy he suggested I fly to Brussels since those flights are cheap, and go from Brussels to the Netherlands instead, since the distance is relatively short. It wouldn't have worked out that well, but it gave me an idea.
And after a bunch more investigation I discovered that for the exact same price as a 3 day trip to Hamburg for Hansa and Heide Park, I could add a new country for me (Denmark), a new park (Tivoli Gardens) and a fourth day to the already planned Hamburg itinerary, simply because the flights to Copenhagen were so much cheaper than to Hamburg (as well as direct, unlike the Hamburg flights), and getting from Copenhagen to Hamburg was a breeze. So that's what I ended up going with! In the end I did accept a slight cost increase only days before departure by adding Bakken to the trip, when I realized how long I'd have at Tivoli. Originally I wasn't going to, but I ended up making it a four park trip in the end.
So, day 1, May 5th: Tivoli Gardens & Bakken.
Unfortunately my departure happened to land right on a strike day at Helsinki-Vantaa airport. I couldn't have known while booking the flights, but I still felt bad, cause I don't want to cross the picket line so to say (even tho ik that's for employees, but) and support the action. However, I know it wasn't my responsibility as I didn't know so I just went on and hoped it wouldn't affect me too much. Luckily the strike affected Finnair and Turkish airlines the most, as the strikers were mostly from their groundcrew etc. on that day. Oh yeah, and anybody with a checked bag would get inconvenienced, but as to make the trip cheaper and easier (in terms of lugging stuff around) I only travelled with a small messenger bag.
The ridiculous two tiered tall as towers escalators from the commuter train station at the airport always crack me up (no, not metro, just a regular commuter train that goes deep underground overhead wires and all for the airport).
Absolute breakfast of champions. Helsinki-Vantaa's airport pricing is wildly variable, this fresh hotdog was 6€, while small cold sandwiches in the stall next door were 12€.
I flew on Norwegian for the first time in my life. As you have to pay extra to choose a seat I (as most people) got a random seat while checking into the flight, and ended up with a middle seat. Luckily though, the woman sitting next to me on the window seat was a pretty regular flier just working on her laptop, so she was happy to switch with me so I could spend the short flight looking at the views, which was mostly southwestern Finland + southern Sweden, before the plane circled above Malmö to land in Copenhagen.
Helloooo Copenhagen (Airport)! Quirky differences to home I noticed immediately, unlike Helsinki, Copenhagen is clearly more tourist trappy. Not to an unbearable extent, but I noticed the "FREE SIM CARD!!!" stalls and such immediately, plus I got chased down the street to sign up for a hop on hop off bus. As I made my way to the metro line to get to the centre I noticed another quirk, the train departure boards show half minutes!
The metro switch was really easy, and as I rode the escalators up from the metro at the main station I immediately saw the star flyer! What a welcome. I wasted no time as the park had just opened, and made my way to Tivoli's entrance. I didn't explore central Copenhagen much, as I like to do city holiday stuff with friends, not alone, but the little I saw was lovely. Anyway, Tivoli Gardens sure looks compact from outside! (Because it is, lol). Immediately after entry I got face to face with Rutschebanen's mountain.
Man, the park is gorgeous.
Frustratingly, Dæmonen didn't open until 15:30, for unexplained reasons, while everything else in the park opened with the park. I'm not sure if that had something to do with the construction site below the coaster, maybe it did.
Instead, I started the day with Kamelen of all things! I wasn't sure originally if I was gonna do the kiddie coasters, but might as well. That's cred #1 from the trip. Will say, absolutely gorgeously landscaped kiddie coaster. Speaking of gorgeous, Mælkevejen was cred #2 and not only is it stunning to look at, this is my favourite powered coaster I've done. It actually pulls some fantastic forces! It's really fun.
Cred #3 was the classic Rutschebanen. Now I had somehow thought that as this, Rutschebanen at Bakken and Vuoristorata at Linnanmäki were all designed by Valdemar Lebech that they'd all be the same layout, but it's only Bakken's and Linnanmäki's scenic railways that share a layout, although Vuoristorata is slightly larger. I rode in the back row and uhh... How do I say this? I haven't been actually scared on an amusement park ride since I rode a skyloop when I was 13, and I was legitimately afraid during this. The seat is flat and smooth, the restraint is loose so when you ride alone you're just sliding side to side on the bench from all the laterals. In fact I was surprised that although the coaster had it's fair share of airtime, the most drastic forces on the ride were the flat turns in the dark that the ride is full of, and I gotta say? I didn't really enjoy those. However I still think I'd place this as #1 of the three nordic scenic railways when it comes to ride experience and theming, and #2 in setting. Imagining this with Vuoristorata's single position lapbars is... I think that'd be genuinely unsafe LMFAO.
What's this doing all the way in Denmark
The only flat I rode during this first part of the day at Tivoli was Fatamorgana although my intention was to ride as many flats as possible, since I'm a flat enthusiast and have purposely built up my tolerance for them in the past years as I've gotten older. Unfortunately my previous excitement for the 2nd gen Condor model from HUSS was dampened (pun intended) with this, as the swing of the gondolas had a very severe damper effect, so instead of swinging naturally the gondola would jerk me to the side every swing from the damper coming in to slow the swing really harshly. Very uncomfortable ride, ngl. Anyway, it was time to leave the park for now and get lunch before getting on the train and let me say, don't come to Denmark if you have a weak heart, as you might get a medical emergency from seeing the prices of even basic fast food. I paid 28€ for a fast food burger meal with an extra burger on top.
Anyway, welcome to Copenhagen's commuter trains, with weird curved seats and doors that open with the stupidest system ever, where you have to wave your hands above your head to open them. No, not with a button, no, not by walking towards them. By the same system as those useless paper towel dispensers in public toilets. Anyway, this was one of the first examples that day of how nice Danes are. Some man saw me struggling to open the door and without missing a beat showed me with his hands how to do it, after which I saw locals do the same as if it was not silly at all on their way out of the train at stations. But anyways, by my experience in Copenhagen on this trip, about everybody even seniors knows English and are the loveliest people ever, happy to talk to and help strangers even without asking. No extra niceties like you might find in, say the UK or US, but just incredibly nice and open.
The walk from the commuter train station to Bakken was strange. I found myself thinking "Yes, google maps shows the park is there, but it feels wrong" as the walk was through just a quaint upper class low density neighbourhood, with no sight or sound of an amusement park being there, but sure enough by the end of the road there's a big park area that includes the Bakken amusement park as well. I ended up getting a wristband despite the steep price, because with just a couple coaster rides I'd already pass it's price in tokens.
I wonder if Americans find this kind of stuff as funny as I do?
So cred #4 with Vilde Mus, this was actually my first ever non-spinning wild mouse ride, as I hadn't done them at some parks I'd been to before that had them. Maybe the park has a height limit or something since this was built into a pit, but this was really nice and comfy. Hardly any trims, overall really fun coaster and it had magnetic brakes instead of friction brakes at the end which helped with the comfort, you'll hear about a less comfy, older wild mouse ride later.
Something tells me the Germans wouldn't appreciate being represented like this...
If it didn't look so faded this would be one of the coolest unique pirate ship designs I've seen
Bakken was a park of two halves, in parts it was nice and fancy restaurants and food stalls, other parts carnivally fried food stalls, other parts permanent rides, other parts rides on trailers with loud pop music. I didn't know before coming, but it seems Bakken is a bit like Prater, in that the rides and attractions are ran by independent operators? It seems like so especially since acceptable payment methods depend per ride.
No air gates on a steel coaster and pints of beer waiting at the station? Yeah we're definitely not in rule stickler Finland anymore! Cred #5 for the trip is Mine Train Ulven, which ended up being my favourite coaster of the Copenhagen leg by the end. It's got a fantastic setting, a great first drop and just a simply fun and smooth layout of twists and turns after through the trees. Thoroughly enjoyable in any seat, simply put.
I doubt Tornado, cred #6 needs any introduction. A very rare coaster model (one of two of it's kind) and one famous for how insane it is, and I can say, yes. It's nuts. The infamous guy who spins enthusiast's trains at dispatch was working, so as if me riding alone making it off balance wasn't enough to spin, he made sure I spun. My favourite part about the coaster is the lift launch, but that's not to say the rest wasn't great. It's just absolutely insane, and the vests are necessary to prevent your torso flailing wildly. The reason it wasn't my favourite, however is that it didn't have as much fun factor as opposed to sheer intensity as I maybe expected, and the restraints had a small hard part at the top of the harnesses that dug into my clavicles whenever I was going backwards. Still did it three times, of course.
Cred #7 was my last of the nordic scenic railways, and the only one that's given up it's brakeman setup. It's got modern trains, and it's definitely the smoothest of the three, however it's last place setting as well as ride experience wise. Still fun, though! It's just that Vuoristorata has a better set up on top of a hill with views of the whole city (and loose restraints) while Tivoli's Rutschebanen is absolutely insane and well themed. Did a good couple rides so I got a feel of the different seats. A very old man was painting a huge mural with a tiny paintbrush in the queue, glad to see how the owners really care for the rides up close.
All in all I'm glad I shut down the idea of doing the just Copenhagen trip pretty early on, because then I would've planned a whole day for both Tivoli and Bakken, and while that's doable at Tivoli, I was done at Bakken after just 2 hours even though I did some minor rides like the double shot, the pedal swans or Mariehønen, cred #8 in addition to the big coasters. It's really not a pleasant place to spend time off ride with all the burnt grease smells, the rides plopped on concrete and the loud pop music blasting out of every game stall and half the flats. I'd still recommend going, absolutely, just don't expect to want to spend a whole lot of time.
What you should do while nearby is visit the beach by the Klampenborg train station you use to get to Bakken. My god, how lovely. I find my peace the most when I'm by water, so this was a lovely refresher after being in the city and parks all day so far, just sitting by the water and breathing in the sea air in the sun for a good while. I gotta come back in the summer some time, because the baltic sea is so clean here! What?! In Helsinki it's FILTHY and I would never swim in it, while here in Copenhagen it's crystal blue with lovely sandy bottom. Damn.
After relaxing at the beach I made my way back to the centre to rejoin the sights and sounds of Tivoli Gardens as the day started turning to night, slowly but surely. I still had pleeenty of time at Tivoli, as they only closed at 22:00, so before I went back in I popped by a grocery store to get some large drinks so that I wouldn't have to find a still open grocery store before my bus later on, and of course so I had something to drink at the park. Mild culture shock time, in Finland you can't get any alcohol above 8% or so ABV in normal grocery stores while in Sweden they're even stricter with 3,5%. Despite being almost attached to Sweden, Denmark is so lax on alcohol that the last second purchase shelf usually reserved for candy bars and condoms in Denmark is reserved for bottles of Absolut, Malibu, Jägermeister and the like. It was rather funny.
Dæmonen was now open, that's the last cred for the Danish leg of the trip. Needless to say, I was shocked at how much I hated cred #9 for the trip. I already don't like the classic B&M seats, as the seats are way too close to eachother leaving no shoulder room and the OTSRs are the worst I've experienced. Combine that with one of the roughest coasters I've ever experienced, probably the worst after Big Loop at Heide Park and you've got hell on earth. Tear this thing down and build something else, please. I really enjoyed the pre drop segment for a bit but then I realized how rough it was and went "oh no". It's short, too. You can do better, Tivoli.
Anyway, onto good rides! I spent the evening doing rerides as well as going on more of those unique flats. Some are unique due to how well presented they are, others are rare because of being a park version or because they really are rare. Monsunen is one of only two Zierer Suspended Flying Carpets and not only does it look gorgeous like everything else in the park, it's got that fantastic water feature. Aquila is a Zamperla Air Race, my first one, fun and fantastic looking with the queue in the hub of the ride (unique angle to see the ride from!) but I expected the gondola to switch directions, it spun in the same direction the whole ride so it was a bit one note.
Tik Tak is a park version of the Mondial Shake and an incredibly well presented one at that. This was my aaabsolute favourite ride from the Danish leg! Like I said, I'm as much a flat ride person as I am a coaster person and this was ridiculous fun. Although the function of the ride is different with different axes of rotation, the out of control feeling felt very nostalgic and similiar to Kieppi, the now gone HUSS Booster that was at my home park until 2016. Didn't even get slightly dizzy or nauseous, unlike I do on the classic woodies, for example. Absolutely fantastic.
It goes without saying that the park was even nicer at night than during the day. There's a ton of lighting in the park that you don't even notice the bulbs during the day, and at night it just comes alive. I did also remember to do the fairytale chest ride! How charming. The ride system was insane, though, and how many times you could see the ride track crossing over itself in the dark in all the levels was wild. What a feat of engineering. Unfortunately, I couldn't go on the funhouse as for whatever reason, that closed at 18:00 already. I don't really appreciate that.
I did still have a snack at the park with a french dog and fries at the park before leaving. The cook/cashier was very interested in my trip in fact, to how I liked Copenhagen etc and we had a fantastic chat as I ate. I will say, they definitely oversalt their fries in Copenhagen, I experienced it at lunch as well. I appreciate the deposit system in the park, it's just a bit inconvenient if you're a tourist as you then get dealt local coins in return. Heide Park later on also had a cup deposit, but you could get the cash back on card.
There was also a night time light show, but no photos or video came out good as it was mostly lasers. It was quite pretty though, and it was a nice bow to tie the night to an end with.
And that's that for day 1! Not only did the weather turn out better than expected for all days, but everything in general just went fantastic. Obviously the most action packed, but also good to focus the most walking intensive (as I have garbage joints) and hectic days for the beginning, when I'm best rested. After leaving Tivoli all I did was walk to the bus station, brush my teeth in the bathroom and hop onto the overnight bus from which my adventure continued to Germany. I ended up spending way more time than I expected writing this, so hope at least someone read to the end.
See you later for part 2!
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