Rob Coasters
Rob Poster
October 2023
Day 1: Tivoli Friheden & Tivoli Gardens
It's been long enough, but the spark has finally returned. Having made two Copenhagen-less excursions to Denmark now, I've been wondering how I haven't visited the legendary Tivoli Gardens yet, and with a brand new Gerstlauer on the doorstep of Aarhus Airport, tickets were booked.
I have an odd fascination with Aarhus, I've always loved the place. I'm not sure if I only feel this way because it's my third time here, but it really is genuinely up there with my favourite European cities. The familiar walk from the train station to the park was taken, memories came flooding back, Aarhus felt like a strange second home at this point.
I'm here for #346 Vindfald, their new Gerstlauer Eurofighter which replaced the ill-fated Cobra that had killed two people before being rightfully sent to scrap. It's a beautiful ride, incredibly well presented and fits the park perfectly but ultimately it's the coaster that should've never happened because of what it's the direct result of. The line was short at a wait of just one or two trains, which allowed for me to take three rides before having a good idea of what it's like.
It's pretty standard Gerstlauer stock with your ever-standard beyond vertical drop and hangtime-centric loop, with a funky turnaround to add, but Gerstlauer did this park dirty with a violent jolt at the bottom of said turnaround. If you don't lean your head back, you are hit hard on the head on the shoulder restraints before the following corkscrew into the brakes.
Vindfald is a great package with a fun layout despite its short length, but is badly brought down by the giant aforementioned pothole. I wish this issue can be sorted as soon as possible because it's a lovely park. The other ride I did was Haunted House which was a ghost train that had the exact same scenes as the interactive 4D cinema shooter in Lyon. The quality wasn't great, at all, but I don't feel the need to call it bad. The SCAD Tower was operational, and watched a few people fall from it, but as I was solo today I felt no need to try it out. If I was with a partner, I would've taken the first opportunity to ride, but it is what it is, but it serves as a lovely excuse to return back to Aarhus.
That was it for the park. The presentation of the rides are is a significant improvement over last year with Vindfald being very visually appealing and riding quite well though being brought down by one bad moment. I made my way to the train station, Copenhagen bound.
One three-hour train later, I found myself finally walking through the doors of Tivoli Gardens. The place was overwhelmingly giant, like I was a minifigure in a massive model village. I found myself almost overloaded with how huge everything felt with oversized buildings towering over you as you traverse across narrow walkways.
#347 Rutschebanen of course was first, hearing fantastic words and nothing but only the highest of praise, I sit myself down in second-to-back, and find myself a little unphased by the experience. The airtime is good, but not as excellent and or perilous as I'd hoped.
Some aimless wandering (or what seemed like it) combined with a plethora of getting well and truly lost, had me looking down at Google Maps every other second as I confirmed that I was going the correct direction (spoiler I wasn't) towards the next one, #348 Dæmonen. I'd been heavily intrigued in floorless coasters for my entire life so was fascinated in finding out what one would feel like. I was immensely disappointed to see it had been running one train and the crowds combined with the disappointment of Rutschebanen had the place wearing down on me very quickly. Being recommended the back row, I headed for there.
It was a fun ride, but a small-scale B&M is a small scale B&M, being a serviceable thrill coaster but ultimately not much more than that. It's short, sweet, but wasn't fully convinced by the idea of the floorless coaster. The sensation didn't feel like that big of a deal to me, but oh well, maybe a front row will help push the concept. I credded up #349 Kamelen before a quick food break at the Gasoline Grill. This was probably the best theme park burger I've ever had, it was sublime.
Before finding the powered coaster I wanted to try out one of the dark rides, Flyvende Kuffert. This was an extremely pleasant wander through multiple fairytales with a calming voiceover describing the scenes. I'm not usually one to be won over by a dark ride after just a single lap, but it hit the spot.
Some further backtracking and getting very lost led me to #350 Mælkevejen which was quality for a powered coaster, then wanted to give Rutschebanen a few further goes. I was told to wait on the platform for the very back row, and I quickly found out this may as well be the only row on the entire ride. The difference between back and second-to-back is night and day, I had fallen in love instantly. The relatively not-all-that hills turned into violent ejector airtime, and the turns turned into unhinged almost drifting. Rutschebanen had instantly become an addictive drug, I had fallen in love and it climbed higher and higher up the ranks. This was paused at some point with a second night ride on Dæmonen, but then I quickly returned to lap Rutschebanen for the remainder of the night.
As the day progressed the queue for the ride gradually grew shorter which increased my quantity of rides further and further, and by the time it was walk-on, when I got off I was back in the station to get back on the train I was just on. There was a conversation with a ride op who noticed my Icon bag and had a coaster conversation - he was spited by Big One due to wind speeds and wishes to ride Hyperia. Then he gave me a run on the ride that damn near tried to kill me, and ironically enough this was the lap that shock me to the core due to its sheer insanity potential - it's better than Hyperia. He gave me a proud thumbs up before sending the next batch of riders to be plunged into the depths of the mountain.
By park close I had racked up 15 rides on Rutschebanen, an instant add to the favourites. By the time I first arrived at this place I was utterly unconvinced, almost hating the park and everything about it to having my entire mind changed at the halfway point. An instant add to the favourites.
Tomorrow - only some of that
Day 1: Tivoli Friheden & Tivoli Gardens
It's been long enough, but the spark has finally returned. Having made two Copenhagen-less excursions to Denmark now, I've been wondering how I haven't visited the legendary Tivoli Gardens yet, and with a brand new Gerstlauer on the doorstep of Aarhus Airport, tickets were booked.
I have an odd fascination with Aarhus, I've always loved the place. I'm not sure if I only feel this way because it's my third time here, but it really is genuinely up there with my favourite European cities. The familiar walk from the train station to the park was taken, memories came flooding back, Aarhus felt like a strange second home at this point.
I'm here for #346 Vindfald, their new Gerstlauer Eurofighter which replaced the ill-fated Cobra that had killed two people before being rightfully sent to scrap. It's a beautiful ride, incredibly well presented and fits the park perfectly but ultimately it's the coaster that should've never happened because of what it's the direct result of. The line was short at a wait of just one or two trains, which allowed for me to take three rides before having a good idea of what it's like.
It's pretty standard Gerstlauer stock with your ever-standard beyond vertical drop and hangtime-centric loop, with a funky turnaround to add, but Gerstlauer did this park dirty with a violent jolt at the bottom of said turnaround. If you don't lean your head back, you are hit hard on the head on the shoulder restraints before the following corkscrew into the brakes.
Vindfald is a great package with a fun layout despite its short length, but is badly brought down by the giant aforementioned pothole. I wish this issue can be sorted as soon as possible because it's a lovely park. The other ride I did was Haunted House which was a ghost train that had the exact same scenes as the interactive 4D cinema shooter in Lyon. The quality wasn't great, at all, but I don't feel the need to call it bad. The SCAD Tower was operational, and watched a few people fall from it, but as I was solo today I felt no need to try it out. If I was with a partner, I would've taken the first opportunity to ride, but it is what it is, but it serves as a lovely excuse to return back to Aarhus.
That was it for the park. The presentation of the rides are is a significant improvement over last year with Vindfald being very visually appealing and riding quite well though being brought down by one bad moment. I made my way to the train station, Copenhagen bound.
One three-hour train later, I found myself finally walking through the doors of Tivoli Gardens. The place was overwhelmingly giant, like I was a minifigure in a massive model village. I found myself almost overloaded with how huge everything felt with oversized buildings towering over you as you traverse across narrow walkways.
#347 Rutschebanen of course was first, hearing fantastic words and nothing but only the highest of praise, I sit myself down in second-to-back, and find myself a little unphased by the experience. The airtime is good, but not as excellent and or perilous as I'd hoped.
Some aimless wandering (or what seemed like it) combined with a plethora of getting well and truly lost, had me looking down at Google Maps every other second as I confirmed that I was going the correct direction (spoiler I wasn't) towards the next one, #348 Dæmonen. I'd been heavily intrigued in floorless coasters for my entire life so was fascinated in finding out what one would feel like. I was immensely disappointed to see it had been running one train and the crowds combined with the disappointment of Rutschebanen had the place wearing down on me very quickly. Being recommended the back row, I headed for there.
It was a fun ride, but a small-scale B&M is a small scale B&M, being a serviceable thrill coaster but ultimately not much more than that. It's short, sweet, but wasn't fully convinced by the idea of the floorless coaster. The sensation didn't feel like that big of a deal to me, but oh well, maybe a front row will help push the concept. I credded up #349 Kamelen before a quick food break at the Gasoline Grill. This was probably the best theme park burger I've ever had, it was sublime.
Before finding the powered coaster I wanted to try out one of the dark rides, Flyvende Kuffert. This was an extremely pleasant wander through multiple fairytales with a calming voiceover describing the scenes. I'm not usually one to be won over by a dark ride after just a single lap, but it hit the spot.
Some further backtracking and getting very lost led me to #350 Mælkevejen which was quality for a powered coaster, then wanted to give Rutschebanen a few further goes. I was told to wait on the platform for the very back row, and I quickly found out this may as well be the only row on the entire ride. The difference between back and second-to-back is night and day, I had fallen in love instantly. The relatively not-all-that hills turned into violent ejector airtime, and the turns turned into unhinged almost drifting. Rutschebanen had instantly become an addictive drug, I had fallen in love and it climbed higher and higher up the ranks. This was paused at some point with a second night ride on Dæmonen, but then I quickly returned to lap Rutschebanen for the remainder of the night.
As the day progressed the queue for the ride gradually grew shorter which increased my quantity of rides further and further, and by the time it was walk-on, when I got off I was back in the station to get back on the train I was just on. There was a conversation with a ride op who noticed my Icon bag and had a coaster conversation - he was spited by Big One due to wind speeds and wishes to ride Hyperia. Then he gave me a run on the ride that damn near tried to kill me, and ironically enough this was the lap that shock me to the core due to its sheer insanity potential - it's better than Hyperia. He gave me a proud thumbs up before sending the next batch of riders to be plunged into the depths of the mountain.
By park close I had racked up 15 rides on Rutschebanen, an instant add to the favourites. By the time I first arrived at this place I was utterly unconvinced, almost hating the park and everything about it to having my entire mind changed at the halfway point. An instant add to the favourites.
Tomorrow - only some of that
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