I just got back to Hong Kong a couple of days ago after my long summer holiday. As usual, I headed back to the UK to catch up with friends and increasingly/worryingly old family, but broke that up with a trip elsewhere, wanting to get some new country/park creds in there. This then developed into a couple of revisits for other new stuff, which wasn't too much of a chore given that Scandinavia is just all-round lovely anyway.
Iceland
I started off by heading to Iceland, which had been on the "must-do" list for absolutely ages. The entire country is cred-free, which is an international disgrace, so feel free to scroll down until you see some coaster track later in the report. At this point, I write these things more as a record for myself anyway since I'm one of only about 6 enthusiasts who hasn't started their own s**ty blogs or "channels".
Day 1 - Reykjavik
I got to the hotel in Reykjavik at around 6pm. I hadn't really planned to do anything, but it was early and it's not like the flight from Manchester was particularly arduous - other than having to spend time in Manchester Airport - so I headed out for a bit of a wander. The weather was s**te unfortunately. The city itself is very pleasant though. Photo dump:
Day 2 - Golden Circle
The next day, I'd booked myself onto a "Golden Circle" tour. I'm generally not the biggest fan of doing tours, but since I don't drive it was the only realistic way of getting to see stuff. Even if I did drive, doing it this way would be far cheaper than hiring a car anyway. Luckily, it was a huge tour group, which most people would complain about but I preferred as it meant it was easy to just see it as a bus service and f**k off by myself after checking what time the bus was leaving for the next stop, rather than being stuck with a tour guide and dutifully nodding and smiling all day.
The weather was still awful and the cheap, crappy, pound-shop-style umbrella I'd bought the day before (of which I didn't check the price and had actually cost close to £20!) was useless thanks to the wind, so I spent the day being wet. It was all really impressive though, and the crap weather added to the drama of it I suppose. Photos posted without explanation:
Day 3 - South Iceland
The next day was another tour to the south of the country - again with a huge group, so I treated it as mere transport rather than a tour - and taking in a couple more waterfalls, black sand beaches and a glacier. You'll be pleased to know that the rain had mostly stopped.
Day 4 - More Reykjavik and Leaving
I had a late afternoon flight, leaving myself with most of the day to spend in Reykjavik. This was my planned sightseeing in the city day, but I'd already done that on the first day. I saw a bit more of it this time around though, and the weather had totally cleared up. Here are some pictures of mostly the same stuff you scrolled past earlier, but with sunshine:
Iceland then. Gorgeous place. I was there at peak season, so it was very busy, but that was expected. Reykjavik was a lovely little city and the scenery of the country as a whole is obviously pretty spectacular. I had a flight that evening from Reykjavik to Oslo, Norway being another new-to-me country. With the flight and time difference, it was around midnight by the time I got the hotel, but all easy enough since there was an easy train from the airport into the city and I'd chosen a hotel near the main train station.
Norway
Day 5 - Tusenfryd and Oslo
I'd only given myself a couple of days in Norway, which I'm now regretting slightly as it would have been nice to have seen more of the country. This was the only full day I had, having booked a bus out of there the following evening, so I headed out to Tusenfryd, which was very easy: a regular bus from the main bus station, which itself is located next to / behind the train station.
I got there shortly before opening, making the decision to head straight to the back/top of the park for the newest coaster, Storm- Dragon Legend, a launched, suspended Gerstlaur thing. Pictures I grabbed on the way:
I was first in the queue and headed for a back-row ride for the first train of the day. I've just realised that a bunch of photos have failed to upload, but I don't have them at hand to do again, so whatever. Here are the few that actually uploaded:
It's a really good coaster, probably Gerstlauer's best after Karnan I'd say unless I'm forgetting something right now. It's lap bars only, which makes for quite a disconcerting ride, especially in the back row since you get some quite extensive hang time on the reverse launch as you get right up into the inversion. The airtime hill is really good as well. Plus, you get two full runs through the circuit, so although it's not the longest coaster, you get a decent amount of ride time. It has a few jolty moments - not really a problem since there are no OTSRs - so it'll be interesting to see how it ages.
There weren't many people up at that end of the park that early on, so I grabbed a few rerides. I think there was a single-rider queue, but there was no need to use it at that stage. Operations were excellent as well. Even though it was quiet that early in the day, they just got the train right out with just a handful of riders rather than waiting for more people to fill it.
The nearby mine train coaster was closed, so I headed to Thunder Coaster. It did very little for me on that first ride, but was better later in the day. It meant that I'd collected the full set (three) of the Vekoma woodies at least.
From there it was down to a pain-in-the-arse, out-of -the-way area for the water coaster. The people getting off the rapids didn't seem too wet either, so I had a ride on that. Both were decent enough.
There was also a dark ride down at that end with a closed sign out front, but a sign further up the path at the entrance to that area, as well as the park app, had it opening at 12pm. It wasn't too far off at this point, so I stuck around until then, as did a few other people. Nope, it was actually closed.
The mine train had opened though, so I did that and then realised later that I had the cred already since it's a relocation from (I think; can't be arsed to recheck) Italy.
This kiddy coaster never opened all day though, which is obviously s**t from the cred count point of view, but far preferable to anything else being closed, and it was the only spite of the trip, so all-in-all I'll take that as a win.
Loopen, while not being anything special, was at least a new ride/layout type for me. Defininetly a one-and-done, and the operations on this were pretty slow as well due the old-school trains needing to have the restraints manually released and the staff on this ride being absolutely in no hurry to do so.
A second ride on Thunder Coaster was marginally better than the first.
This just left Speed Monster, which since hoofing past it earlier in the day had weirdly been slightly forgotten about. This had a bit of a queue, but operations were good and it was only taking about 15 minutes.
I'd never heard particularly glowing reviews for this ride, but I actually quite liked it. The launch doesn't have that gut punch that you'd usually expect from an Intamin hydraulic, but the rest of the layout was decent enough, with some decent pops of airtime. I did a couple of rides and took a quick break from it to give Thunder Coaster a final chance.
Nah. It was definitely better again than earlier, but still not doing a great deal. It was mid afternoon by this point and it had been running constantly for hours, so it was pretty much as "warmed up" as it was going to get. Go ahead and tell me that I'm wrong and I should've gone back to it at 6:59 P.M. I don't care.
I considered heading back up to Storm for a reride, but, forgetting about the single-rider queue, figured that it would be pretty busy by that point, so settled on a Speed Monster reride on the way out.
The park was open until seven, and it was only around half three at this point, but I decided to call it a day and see a bit of Oslo. I liked this park though. The terrain and layout makes for a bit of a workout in places, but the setting on the hill is really nice. Considering how awful Parque Reunidos can be, I thought it was run really well, with (mostly) quick dispatches from effiecient and friendly ride ops. Storm, which seems to me to have really flown under the radar, is an excellent addition to the park and deserves a bit more attention.
I got the bus back into the city, a short but very nice ride, and headed to the area around the opera house, checking out the Munch Museum (which I really liked) since it still had a couple of hours until closing. They have two of the four original versions of "The Scream" along with hundreds of other works by Munch. From there it was a bit more of a wander around the city for a couple of hours before heading back to the hotel. It was much bigger than Reykjavik, but all still very walkable.
Day 6 - More Oslo
As I'd done with Reykjavik, and as I continued to do for this trip, I'd booked to head out of the city in the late afternoon/early evening so had time to go out and do/see some more stuff. This consisted of another wander into the city and then down to the national museum down at the waterfront, which had another "Scream" - this time the very first one - and a bunch of other stuff. While I was down there, I booked myself onto a boat cruise since I still had loads of time and had had enough of walking around.
I really liked Oslo as well. From previous reports, I'd not been expecting much. I'd heard very little praise for the place, with it being made to sound quite concrete/functional/industrial. I was expecting a Scandinavian Birmingham to be honest, but it wasn't like that at all; it was really nice.
I got a bus from there down to Gothenburg. It took about the same amount of time as the train would have but was quite a bit cheaper, and the bus stations/train stations of each city were conveniently right next to each other anyway. It was also almost empty, so was very quiet and comfortable.
This is already way too much for one post, so I'll come back to this later.
Iceland
I started off by heading to Iceland, which had been on the "must-do" list for absolutely ages. The entire country is cred-free, which is an international disgrace, so feel free to scroll down until you see some coaster track later in the report. At this point, I write these things more as a record for myself anyway since I'm one of only about 6 enthusiasts who hasn't started their own s**ty blogs or "channels".
Day 1 - Reykjavik
I got to the hotel in Reykjavik at around 6pm. I hadn't really planned to do anything, but it was early and it's not like the flight from Manchester was particularly arduous - other than having to spend time in Manchester Airport - so I headed out for a bit of a wander. The weather was s**te unfortunately. The city itself is very pleasant though. Photo dump:
Day 2 - Golden Circle
The next day, I'd booked myself onto a "Golden Circle" tour. I'm generally not the biggest fan of doing tours, but since I don't drive it was the only realistic way of getting to see stuff. Even if I did drive, doing it this way would be far cheaper than hiring a car anyway. Luckily, it was a huge tour group, which most people would complain about but I preferred as it meant it was easy to just see it as a bus service and f**k off by myself after checking what time the bus was leaving for the next stop, rather than being stuck with a tour guide and dutifully nodding and smiling all day.
The weather was still awful and the cheap, crappy, pound-shop-style umbrella I'd bought the day before (of which I didn't check the price and had actually cost close to £20!) was useless thanks to the wind, so I spent the day being wet. It was all really impressive though, and the crap weather added to the drama of it I suppose. Photos posted without explanation:
Day 3 - South Iceland
The next day was another tour to the south of the country - again with a huge group, so I treated it as mere transport rather than a tour - and taking in a couple more waterfalls, black sand beaches and a glacier. You'll be pleased to know that the rain had mostly stopped.
Day 4 - More Reykjavik and Leaving
I had a late afternoon flight, leaving myself with most of the day to spend in Reykjavik. This was my planned sightseeing in the city day, but I'd already done that on the first day. I saw a bit more of it this time around though, and the weather had totally cleared up. Here are some pictures of mostly the same stuff you scrolled past earlier, but with sunshine:
Iceland then. Gorgeous place. I was there at peak season, so it was very busy, but that was expected. Reykjavik was a lovely little city and the scenery of the country as a whole is obviously pretty spectacular. I had a flight that evening from Reykjavik to Oslo, Norway being another new-to-me country. With the flight and time difference, it was around midnight by the time I got the hotel, but all easy enough since there was an easy train from the airport into the city and I'd chosen a hotel near the main train station.
Norway
Day 5 - Tusenfryd and Oslo
I'd only given myself a couple of days in Norway, which I'm now regretting slightly as it would have been nice to have seen more of the country. This was the only full day I had, having booked a bus out of there the following evening, so I headed out to Tusenfryd, which was very easy: a regular bus from the main bus station, which itself is located next to / behind the train station.
I got there shortly before opening, making the decision to head straight to the back/top of the park for the newest coaster, Storm- Dragon Legend, a launched, suspended Gerstlaur thing. Pictures I grabbed on the way:
I was first in the queue and headed for a back-row ride for the first train of the day. I've just realised that a bunch of photos have failed to upload, but I don't have them at hand to do again, so whatever. Here are the few that actually uploaded:
It's a really good coaster, probably Gerstlauer's best after Karnan I'd say unless I'm forgetting something right now. It's lap bars only, which makes for quite a disconcerting ride, especially in the back row since you get some quite extensive hang time on the reverse launch as you get right up into the inversion. The airtime hill is really good as well. Plus, you get two full runs through the circuit, so although it's not the longest coaster, you get a decent amount of ride time. It has a few jolty moments - not really a problem since there are no OTSRs - so it'll be interesting to see how it ages.
There weren't many people up at that end of the park that early on, so I grabbed a few rerides. I think there was a single-rider queue, but there was no need to use it at that stage. Operations were excellent as well. Even though it was quiet that early in the day, they just got the train right out with just a handful of riders rather than waiting for more people to fill it.
The nearby mine train coaster was closed, so I headed to Thunder Coaster. It did very little for me on that first ride, but was better later in the day. It meant that I'd collected the full set (three) of the Vekoma woodies at least.
From there it was down to a pain-in-the-arse, out-of -the-way area for the water coaster. The people getting off the rapids didn't seem too wet either, so I had a ride on that. Both were decent enough.
There was also a dark ride down at that end with a closed sign out front, but a sign further up the path at the entrance to that area, as well as the park app, had it opening at 12pm. It wasn't too far off at this point, so I stuck around until then, as did a few other people. Nope, it was actually closed.
The mine train had opened though, so I did that and then realised later that I had the cred already since it's a relocation from (I think; can't be arsed to recheck) Italy.
This kiddy coaster never opened all day though, which is obviously s**t from the cred count point of view, but far preferable to anything else being closed, and it was the only spite of the trip, so all-in-all I'll take that as a win.
Loopen, while not being anything special, was at least a new ride/layout type for me. Defininetly a one-and-done, and the operations on this were pretty slow as well due the old-school trains needing to have the restraints manually released and the staff on this ride being absolutely in no hurry to do so.
A second ride on Thunder Coaster was marginally better than the first.
This just left Speed Monster, which since hoofing past it earlier in the day had weirdly been slightly forgotten about. This had a bit of a queue, but operations were good and it was only taking about 15 minutes.
I'd never heard particularly glowing reviews for this ride, but I actually quite liked it. The launch doesn't have that gut punch that you'd usually expect from an Intamin hydraulic, but the rest of the layout was decent enough, with some decent pops of airtime. I did a couple of rides and took a quick break from it to give Thunder Coaster a final chance.
Nah. It was definitely better again than earlier, but still not doing a great deal. It was mid afternoon by this point and it had been running constantly for hours, so it was pretty much as "warmed up" as it was going to get. Go ahead and tell me that I'm wrong and I should've gone back to it at 6:59 P.M. I don't care.
I considered heading back up to Storm for a reride, but, forgetting about the single-rider queue, figured that it would be pretty busy by that point, so settled on a Speed Monster reride on the way out.
The park was open until seven, and it was only around half three at this point, but I decided to call it a day and see a bit of Oslo. I liked this park though. The terrain and layout makes for a bit of a workout in places, but the setting on the hill is really nice. Considering how awful Parque Reunidos can be, I thought it was run really well, with (mostly) quick dispatches from effiecient and friendly ride ops. Storm, which seems to me to have really flown under the radar, is an excellent addition to the park and deserves a bit more attention.
I got the bus back into the city, a short but very nice ride, and headed to the area around the opera house, checking out the Munch Museum (which I really liked) since it still had a couple of hours until closing. They have two of the four original versions of "The Scream" along with hundreds of other works by Munch. From there it was a bit more of a wander around the city for a couple of hours before heading back to the hotel. It was much bigger than Reykjavik, but all still very walkable.
Day 6 - More Oslo
As I'd done with Reykjavik, and as I continued to do for this trip, I'd booked to head out of the city in the late afternoon/early evening so had time to go out and do/see some more stuff. This consisted of another wander into the city and then down to the national museum down at the waterfront, which had another "Scream" - this time the very first one - and a bunch of other stuff. While I was down there, I booked myself onto a boat cruise since I still had loads of time and had had enough of walking around.
I really liked Oslo as well. From previous reports, I'd not been expecting much. I'd heard very little praise for the place, with it being made to sound quite concrete/functional/industrial. I was expecting a Scandinavian Birmingham to be honest, but it wasn't like that at all; it was really nice.
I got a bus from there down to Gothenburg. It took about the same amount of time as the train would have but was quite a bit cheaper, and the bus stations/train stations of each city were conveniently right next to each other anyway. It was also almost empty, so was very quiet and comfortable.
This is already way too much for one post, so I'll come back to this later.
Love that you managed to visit Klugheim too 
Love that you managed to visit Klugheim too 
