Finland 2015 Part Three: Linnanmäki

[CookieCoasters]

We've had flights booked to Helsinki since August/September time last year, as me and my parents were pretty sure we wanted to do a Finland trip this year. None of us have ever been before, so we were excited about the trip and intrigued as to what Finland was going to be like. I was obviously very excited to tick another three decent-sized European parks off my bucket list, so was very happy when the school year finished and we could finally make our way there.

When we landed in Helsinki, we made it out the Airport in fairly good time, despite a seemingly crowded passport control. We picked up our hire car and drove up to Tampere. As my brother was flying out for the end portion of the holiday, so we weren't actually staying in Helsinki until then. I’m sure those with good knowledge of the location of the Finnish parks will be able to guess which one we were going to the next day.

Särkänniemi

The park opened at 12pm, but we got there just before 11:30. Thankfully, it’s one of those parks which let you roam around before the rides actually open, so we didn't have to wait ages for a ‘rope drop.’ I took a few photos of the rapids ride because it was just… well, there and happened to be testing.

When it got to about 5 minutes before the rides were going to open, I went and queued up by the entrance for Half Pipe with about three other people there. I went here first because I thought it would have the worst throughput, but the queue for it didn't really get much bigger later on.

Oh and in case anyone’s wondering in the light of recent topic, yes I would count these as creds. To me, the launches make it both technically and physically ‘cred-worthy.’

It was my first intamin half pipe (of the ones that spin) and overall, I liked the ride. It provides a nice burst of adrenaline, albeit a fairly short one. The spinning is quite unpredictable; sometimes you go from not spinning at all, to suddenly spinning quite fast, which makes me think the spinning depends on the balance of the carriage. Or is it controlled?

I had another re-ride straight away, just in case the queue would be bigger later.

Now I had acquired my 399th cred, it was time to seek out my 400th.

I’ve known about Tornado for quite a while and have always found its layout and setting quite appealing. However, I remember that after the CF Finnish live a couple of years ago, the general consensus was that it was rather ‘meh.’ I went in expecting a ride of a similar quality to the one in Madrid (which I thought was okay), as I thought that would be realistic expectation.

We walked down into the underground station and I was pleased to discover that there was both a short queue and two trains running. It always makes me really happy when park’s run two trains, at times when they could probably get away with just running one.

Tornado was actually a very pleasant surprise. I didn’t think it was ‘meh’ at all and actually for non-B&M Invert, I was very impressed. The ride was both smooth and quite forceful in a number of places. I also thought the in-line twists added something interesting that is less commonly found on these types of ride, but I was glad they didn’t ‘overload’ on them like with Volcano at Kings Dominion. I will admit that I stuck to the back as a preferred seat because the front on the one at Parque de Atracciones was absolute **** and I didn’t think this one would have been any different. With the train being a little too long IMO to cope well with the rides size, I think this is quite clearly the best seating choice, so at least you get whipped through some of the elements. Overall, I thought it was a solid coaster to have as a milestone and I was happy with it.

This picture was taken at some point during the day (with no 400 sign because it's not a tradition I ever got into). The sun was in my eyes so that’s why I don’t look very happy.

My Dad and I went round for another ride afterwards. Unfortunately, it was now time to start collecting the crap, starting with the Volare: Trombi.

I had done the one at Wiener Prater just over a month ago and I didn't think it was that bad in all fairness. This one was a proper vile piece of **** though <///3. Just dreadful… like beyond abysmal. So much head-banging, so much rattling, just so much pain. One of the worst coasters I've done for sure.

I proceeded to moan about it for a while on the way to the next coaster.

I bypassed the kiddie cred a number of times because the queue was actually quite long. Well, a long queue in Finland is actually only about 15 minutes, but regardless, I thought I’d wait to see if it quietened down later.

Hurray! Another Zamperla was looming; this time one of their Moto-coasters named MotoGee

In the queue I had to think to myself whether I had actually done a Zamperla one before. I didn't think I had, but then I remembered the rather unpleasant contraption that is Pony Express at Knott’s Berry Farm. The restraints crushed me too tightly on that ride, so this time I sat up a bit further to prevent that happening again. It was still gross though. It kind of makes you feel sick because the ride is constantly throwing you forward and back. The layout is a bit and bland and pointless as well.

There were quite a few non-coasters I liked at Särkänniemi and the first one of these we did was the log flume. Log River I believe was its English name.

It was fab! I loved it because rather than just meandering along a long, boring channel for two minutes leading up to a final drop, it had loads of little drops, rapids and waterfalls along the way. It was refreshing to ride a log flume that felt more ‘authentic’, if that makes sense. Obviously, the standard final drop finnishes it off nicely, particularly with a good soaking that I was thankful for, on what was a pretty hot day. Because I loved it so much, it prompted me to make a list of all my favourite log flumes. Here’s what I came up with in case anybody’s interested:

- Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls, Islands of Adventure
- Chiapas, Phantasialand
- Silver River Flume, Port Aventura
- Indiana River, Bobbejaanland
- Log Jammer, Six Flags Magic Mountain (RIP)
- Flume Ride, Liseberg
- Splash Mountain, Magic Kingdom & Disneyland
- Menhir Express, Parc Astérix
- Jungbrunnen, Tripsdrill
- Log River, Särkänniemi
- Crazy River, Walibi Holland

Not really in any particular order, although the top two would definitely be first and second.

We did the Rapids ride next and conveniently that was its name. They were fairly tame for the most part. The only part where I think we got wet was the waterfall section. There was one bit where you go into a ‘forest’ of mist, where you can’t really see anything. I naively thought a surprise drop was going to follow, but it was just a tunnel. Boooo!! Well, at least I got excited for a little while. Really random, but I loved the shade of orange on the boats <3.

I wanted to do some of the flat rides now, which were mostly situated in one area between the Volare *shudders* and Angry Birds Land. I had a sneaky ride or two on Tornado on the way over though.

The first one I rode was High Voltage, which is Zamperla Power Surge. Despite being one of the worst coaster manufacturers, Zamperla can make pretty good flat rides, so I was looking forward to this one. I’d actually ridden one at my local fair a while ago, but I couldn’t remember much about what I thought of it.

I really liked it. It wasn't particularly fast, but quite disorientating and felt quite different to most other flat ride types, where the experiences can often be quite similar. It had a good ride cycle to, so yay!

Next up was the Huss Take Off. Much like the previous one, I’d never seen one of these at a theme park; the only one I had ridden was at the Hamburg Dom Fair. They’re fairly intense, but seem to lack ‘rotational flexibility’ (that’s a made-up term if you haven’t already guessed). What I mean by that basically, is that it gets quite repetitive quite quickly, as it only does one type of movement. Still, it’s not a type you find on a common basis, so that’s always a plus.

There was also a Tri-star in this area, but I didn’t bother with that as I was fairly sure more were going to be popping up throughout the summer.

The park’s Mondial Supernova (another rare flat), Hurricane resided on the other side of Angry Birds Land. I’m sure many UK members remember Bone Shaker that used to operate at Alton Towers, which was also one of these. They took it out the year I was finally tall enough to ride it, spite! It was actually quite a surreal moment to be riding one after so many years of wanting to.*Fast forward two minutes*. Moment ruined – it was quite lame. Never mind, I have gotten over it since.

After taking a few photos around the park, we decided to go up the tower for some drinks in the revolving restaurant. I took quite a few pictures from up there to.

When we came back down, there was mainly just a few re-rides I wanted to do, which were done on Half Pipe, Tornado and the Log Flume (which had the longest queue of the day at a whopping 20 minutes!).

I finally rode the kiddie cred, Vauhtimato. The queue was less than half the length it was earlier in the day, so that was good procrastinating on my part. It was a nice little Zierer, which easily made it one of the park’s top 3 coasters. Slight awkwardness in the queue, especially since my Mum was taking pictures of me.

I think I popped on Tornado yet again for a last ride, just before we left. It’s actually quite sexy when the luminous red train is running <3. The ride experience only improved throughout the day, definitely giving the park a standout coaster. It’s definitely better than Spanish Tornado, but I struggle to compare it to Volcano the Blast Coaster because they’re quite different in their style. It’s at least as good though, I think.

I know it’s customary to show the entrance sign at the beginning of the report, but I took the picture as I was leaving so this is a more accurate placement

Particularly as this report has mostly been very ride-focussed, I’ll do some ‘final thoughts’ about the park. Särkänniemi is a bit of weird park. It’s not a major European park like Europa Park or Port Aventura. Neither is it a smaller, charming park like Nigloland or Tripsdrill. But, it’s not a **** park either. It’s kind of just… average I guess. Some parts of the park like the area by the rapids ride and surprisingly Angry Birds Land are rather nice, but other areas are simply bland and boring. The coaster selection ranges from pretty good to dreadful; whether the park is ‘desperate’ for something new is debatable, but it will need to get something substantial for me to want to re-visit in the near future. I do like that the flat ride selection isn't just full of the usual suspects you find at parks, even if only one of them is of great quality. And of course, the log flume was a standout ride for me. It’s a park with a fairly equal balance of positives and negatives, but overall, decent. A big plus was that the queues were short and the weather was nice, so it was a really enjoyable day at a theme park – it doesn’t get much better.

Thank you for reading. The next part will be Wasalandia & PowerPark.

 

[davidm]

Re: Finland 2015: Särkänniemi

Nice report (so far!) - I quite liked Tornado too, perhaps the problem on the "Live" was just that we had ERT on it so we were the only ones on it cycling 2 trains constantly for 1/2 hour (not that I'm complaining about the ERT, that was lovely, it just tends to put rides into a somewhat different experience!)

 

[CookieCoasters]

Re: Finland 2015: Särkänniemi

^Thank you.

Right... time to get back on with this.

Wasalandia

Initially, we were only planning on visiting the three main Finish parks, but I decided to search for more creds on RCDB because I just couldn’t help myself. I noticed that one of the parks with a cred was located in Vaasa (which I knew we were staying at when going to Power Park). It was easy to convince the padres to stop because it was only about 10-15 minutes from our hotel.

We arrived at Wasalandia just before 5pm. Only I went in because it wasn’t worth my parents paying the entrance fee, when they are far too ‘normal’ to do such things as getting creds. I was expecting a bit of a dump, but it wasn’t too bad actually. There were lots of families with small children who seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was kind of like a children’s play park, but with a couple of rides dotted about.

Obviously, I went straight to the cred which was just plonked to the side of the parking lot, away from the rest of the park. It would’ve probably been possible just to jump over the fence, but being that the ride-ops would almost definitely have seen me, so there was no point in risking that

The cred is an Interpark Cyclon (basically a Pinfari Zyklon), called Cyclon. It was just a +1 as I was expecting having ridden at least one already.

I then walked back into the main part of the park. It’s mostly full of a kiddie rides and a few play areas, but there were a few substantial rides like a log flume and a pirate ship. I elected to ride the log flume because they had made an effort to make it look nice. I was quite surprised the park hadn’t just bought a cheap Reverchon pier-model flume, but instead a nice custom Mack one. That’s a few plus points for the park in view.

I know it’s just a log flume, but for a park of this size, I think it’s quite a big deal. It was by far the most popular ride in the park and even had a good selection of foliage, theming and a proper station building. It was fun; I wished when I was younger that I had a log flume at my local play park <3.

I then ventured further into the back of the park and found the ‘wild-west’ area. It was the worst one I’d ever seen, but I’ll let them off. It had a small chair-swing and a very tacky-looking ghost train. I took a few photos then exited the area. I then spent about 5 to 10 minutes getting shots of the park before leaving.

I had only spent about 40 minutes in the park, but that was more than enough time. I wouldn’t bother visiting unless you’re in the area and even if you are, I would advise spending more time at Power Park if it was going to eat into your time there. Not somewhere I’d visit again (unless they get a new cred!), but there are worse places out there I’m sure.

Power Park

The next morning we got up at a reasonable time and drove just over an hour to Power Park, which was due to be opening at 11am. It was pouring down with rain for the majority of the drive, which was a bit disheartening. When we pulled up at the parking lot, I think there were a total of two or three cars there. It was now only raining lightly, but still miserable and cold out.

I could see Junker testing and my heart sank when I saw it basically crawl through all the elements. Really, if I was thinking rationally, I should have known that this was probably normal testing speed, but I was getting paranoid that the rain was making the launch slower or something.

This picture was taken on the way out when it was sunnier.

Rather than waiting around at the entrance that clearly was not going to be opened until 11, we walked the edge of the park until we got to near where the hotel is. I liked the look of the building; it was like Christmas-themed ski lodge, although it looked very small, so I doubt they have much of a guest capacity. No photos unfortunately. It was getting closer to opening so we walked back up to the entrance, to find only a few other families waiting there.

The gates were opened by a staff member, who whenever we walked by the entrance throughout the day, just seemed to be sat on a stool with a clipboard, saying “hi and bye” to people. Dream job or what! As we entered the park I could see Thunderbird and a few other rides testing, so I was no longer too worried about getting spited by anything.

We took a leisurely stroll along the banks of the Kwai River over to Junker: Power Park’s new-for-2015 Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster. Out of the small number of people that seemed to enter the park at that time, we were the only ones over in the Junker area, meaning me and my Dad had two solo re-rides on it, before anyone else even joined the ‘queue.’

I posted a small review of Junker is this thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=37356&start=42

To summarise my opinion of it now three weeks have passed, I will say that my favourite thing about the coaster is that it offers a lot of strong forces (both positive and negative), but also consistently, throughout a creative layout. There are some coasters that are fantastic, but perhaps share too much in common with a number of other coasters in terms of a layout. Junker isn’t like that. It actually feels like a custom layout, but still excels at certain elements that coaster enthusiasts are known to love, such as the launch and top hat.

I rode Junker 13 times throughout the day, so I’m very certain about my opinion of it. It would be an excellent addition to any major park, but I love that a fairly small, middle-of-nowhere park like Power Park has managed to nab such a gem off Gerstlauer. It’s definitely a league above any of their other rides which I’ve done.

With the rain having completely eased off and the park seeming very dead, I started to become more relaxed about when I would do rides, so I just started with doing the rest of the coasters as I came to them.

Next then was the Fabbri spinner; a bit rarer than their larger Reverchon cousins. I'm not someone who has any sort of hate for spinning coasters (including mouse-like ones), so I wasn't dreading it. Neo’s Twister here then was surprisingly very smooth and span quite gracefully. I'd say these have a lot of potential to be better than the Reverchon ones for these reasons, but sadly the layout is short and does very little.

We then walked back up the hill to Thunderbird, which after Junker was my most anticipated coaster of the holiday. I had heard very positive things about it, particularly on CF, so I was expecting a very solid GCI.

It starts with a decent first drop (akin to the one on Lightning Racer), then dips onto and out of a turnaround element. From memory, you drop down into an airtime hill, which is where the ride starts to pick up the pace. The following elements had the great power or ‘oomph’ that I love to see on a GCI. A few fast pops of airtime and a nice little rattle, making it feel like a good, traditional-style woodie.

Unfortunately, such a feeling started to peter out on the end section. There was a series of small dips, where I expected a little less ‘bum in seat’ than there was and then after another turnaround, it just… ended, almost a little too quickly I felt. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with Thunderbird. The middle section of the ride was of a very high calibre, but in turn, this highlighted the slightly more mediocre experience of the beginning and ending. Nonetheless, it was a pretty good coaster and one that is more inclusive of the entire parks clientele than Junker. In terms of other GCI coasters I've ridden, I'd put it right in the middle of the list.

I had second go on Thunderbird afterwards. It is worth noting actually, that the very back row did have a noticeably better ‘out-of-control’ feeling than the couple of rows in front. After that, I carried on cred-hunting and got to the Boomerang, Cobra.

I’ve already tried Boomerangs with the old Vekoma restraints, the new ones and the Prater one which had lap bars. This one had yet another different train, with different restraints. I don't know who made them. It might have been Kumbak, but I doubt it because these weren’t crap. In fact, the trains seemed to make the boomerang so smooth, that my head barely moved at all. It was definitely the smoothest one I’ve done, although the Prater one feels more thrilling because of the lap bars.

The next cred I spotted was Joyride, an L&T Systems family coaster. It was very forgettable. The only thing I remember about it was that it braked in station, rather than on a brake run.

It was very cold out, so after that we went to Heidi's Cafe for some coffee and hot chocolate. I really liked the German architectural-style buildings here, especially with the slightly more vibrant colours than the norm. As you went further down this path, they became more Spanish and then after that, more western-themed. Quite random, but fab! Reminded me of the Parc Astérix entrance area.

After we had warmed up, we went into the woodland area, in search of the final cred for me.

I really liked this area of the park. It's like a little hidden escape from the openness of everywhere else. As well as the Zamperla Gravity Coaster (which I don't have any pictures of, but I'm you can all imagine what it looks like), it had a car ride and a (shooting?) dark ride; neither of which I did.

Upon exiting the kiddie cred, pretty much straight ahead is the drop tower. They were cycling it empty for some reason. I stuck it out for a little while, but then just left, figuring they were just testing it and it would be open later.

Because of this, I decided to do the Booster next. The only annoying thing about riding a Booster in windy, cold weather is that you freeze on that bit where you’re left ‘stranded’ at the top, while the other carriage is being loaded. Other than that, it was a solid ride.

I was then itching to get back to Junker. I can't remember how many times I rode it at that time, but going by my overall count, it must have been at least four times. My Dad sat out after two, although he did actually quite enjoy it, despite usually being a Gerstlauer-hater. I rode Thunderbird a couple more times after. I’d still echo what I said earlier; the ride didn’t seem to really warm-up any more.

We then went back over into the wooded area to have lunch. Because the park is quite small, we didn’t really have a problem with jumping between the different the areas quite a lot. After lunch, I took a second shot at the drop tower, Dragon Tower. It was running with people on now. It’s a large, Moser drop tower. I had heard so much **** about the one at Busch Gardens Williamsburg before riding that, but it was good, so I was expecting this to be as well. Well, the drop was good, but I found the seats uncomfortable, so I didn’t feel the need for a re-ride.

Quite a few more people were in the park now the weather was a little nicer, so the atmosphere definitely picked up. However, all the rides were still walk-on, so it was a win-win.

To be honest, I may be jumbling the ride order up a bit, but I’m pretty sure I did this weird, spinning flat ride next. It was called Pegasus and I’m pretty sure it’s a Fabbri, but I couldn’t find the model on their website. It was very disorientating and quite intense at times, so naturally, I liked it <3.

I was also starting to notice that even less-major rides like this were quite nicely themed outside the ride. It's clear that the owner has made an effort to ensure the park doesn’t just feel like a permanent fairground.

Pretty much next door was Typhoon, which was a Fabbrisbee. It went through a hut like the one at Flamingo Land. It made me feel queasy, but I think that’s because I decided to ride straight after Pegasus, which in hindsight, was a mistake.

There wasn't that many other rides I did. I pretty much spent the rest of the day having a couple more rides on Thunderbird and loads more rides on Junker, which was just as amazing every single ride!

Now I’ve done all the Gerstlauer Launch Coasters in Europe, I would rank them in the following order:

1. Junker
2. Karacho
3. Fluch Von Novgorod
4. Lynet
5. Anubis

I actually don’t think Gerstlauer have made a bad launch coaster yet (although, I haven’t done Takabisha). They’re all pretty fab and would probably make up most of my Top Gerstlauer list.

Oh, I did do the flume (Kwai River) near the end of the day, despite it still being quite chilly out. It wasn’t as good as the one at Särkänniemi, but still above-average. I like how the first drop goes under the bridge, but then rather than go into water, it goes round a fast turn into another drop. Something a bit different. It was also rather wet on the final drop's splashdown, but I wasn’t too bothered by that.

I'll leave you with one last picture of Junker for good measure.

Power Park has to be one of my all-time favourite parks. Although the weather wasn’t the best, I had an extremely enjoyable day with great rides, no lines, very friendly staff, and an extremely charming park that is really well-kept and clearly has people who care about it a lot. It’s not a major park, but who cares? I felt it had a lot of character and its ride selection wasn’t ‘weak’, like many other small parks.

Of course, the entirety of Power Park isn’t just the theme park, but also a hotel, entertainment centre and a race track, so all in all, it’s a very nice little resort and If I was to return, I might explore a little more beyond the park. I just really loved it! If I had the money to buy a theme park, it would so be this one <3. I felt quite a strong emotional connection with it and I hope it continues to expand its selection and become more popular. The only sad thing about it, is its burdenous location

Thank you for reading my report on Wasalandia and Power Park. The last installment will be Linnanmäki.

 

[TilenB]

Re: Finland 2015: Särkänniemi

I’ve already tried Boomerangs with the old Vekoma restraints, the new ones and the Prater one which had lap bars. This one had yet another different train, with different restraints. I don't know who made them. It might have been Kumbak, but I doubt it because these weren’t crap. In fact, the trains seemed to make the boomerang so smooth, that my head barely moved at all. It was definitely the smoothest one I’ve done, although the Prater one feels more thrilling because of the lap bars.

Those trains are the new Vekoma ones. The coaster might also feel smoother because it is one of the few newer ones out there (outside of Fantawild).

To be honest, I may be jumbling the ride order up a bit, but I’m pretty sure I did this weird, spinning flat ride next. It was called Pegasus and I’m pretty sure it’s a Fabbri, but I couldn’t find the model on their website. It was very disorientating and quite intense at times, so naturally, I liked it <3.

It's made by Technical Park. I'm sure that's why you couldn't find it on Fabbri's website.

Great report as always, Cookie!

 

[CookieCoasters]

Re: Finland 2015 Part Two: Wasalandia & Power Park

^Thanks

I’ve already tried Boomerangs with the old Vekoma restraints, the new ones and the Prater one which had lap bars. This one had yet another different train, with different restraints. I don't know who made them. It might have been Kumbak, but I doubt it because these weren’t crap. In fact, the trains seemed to make the boomerang so smooth, that my head barely moved at all. It was definitely the smoothest one I’ve done, although the Prater one feels more thrilling because of the lap bars.

Those trains are the new Vekoma ones. The coaster might also feel smoother because it is one of the few newer ones out there (outside of Fantawild).

They're not the same as the ones on coasters like Speed of Sound or Magic Mountain though. That's why I was confused.

 

[TilenB]

Re: Finland 2015 Part Two: Wasalandia & Power Park

^ Rcdb says they're made by Vekoma, which is quite believable, considering steel coasters usually have the trains made by the manufacturer (at least nowadays; apart from some of the RMCs). It could be they have changed them in the past 10 years, but this is quite unlikely, since I doubt there were any serious problems with any of the Vekoma made trains.

 

[CookieCoasters]

Re: Finland 2015 Part Two: Wasalandia & Power Park

After our amazing day at PowerPark, we drove a good 4-5 hours down the West coast of Finland to a small city called Turku and spent a couple of nights there. Our hotel was on the riverfront which was nice, but once you walked into the city centre, it was just very ‘meh.’ Afterwards, we left to spend four nights in Helsinki. We definitely planned too much time in for Helsinki, but my brother was flying in for this part of the trip, so it would’ve been a little pointless to only spend two or three nights.

There was a big Gymnastics competition going on in the city, so we looked it up and found that the Sunday (12th July) was either the day it started or a big training day, so figured the park wouldn’t be swarming with them.

Linnanmäki

Although there were thankfully no large groups of gymnasts, it was sadly pouring down with rain when we arrived and on-and-off for most of our time at the park. I think it definitely put a little bit of a downer on my feelings towards the park, but I did try and look for the good stuff, as opposed to focusing on the obvious negative. I didn't take that many pictures and they're not particularly good ones, so I apologise in advance for that.

It kept raining very heavily for a good 20 minutes past opening, but as soon as it got a little lighter, we left our place under-cover and went to buy the wristbands. It wasn’t where I was initially planning to go first, but as it was still raining, the logical thing to do was to go to Linnunrata, the park’s indoor Zierer coaster.

The queue-line was such a blatant, crappy rip-off of Space Mountain’s. I’m not just saying that because they’re both space-themed coasters, but just the style of this just reminded me so much of Space Mountain’s , in a way that say, Eurosat’s does not. It was walk-on. It was simply an okay family coaster. Mild fun would be the best way to describe it.

It was still raining once we exited the building, but I was getting bored waiting for it to stop, so I just decided to nip on Kirnu (the Intamin Zac Spin), as we were right next to it and it was sporting a zero person queue. I don’t think my brother has very good memories from riding Green Lantern 3 years ago, so subsequently he avoided riding this.

I quite enjoy these rides; even this one which has a very short layout. They’re just very different to basically all other coasters and some of the sensations you get while going round are quite unique. That being said, just as it gets going, it stops, which is a shame as I think these rides have a lot of potential that hasn’t been shown in any of the additions we’ve seen so far. I’m looking forward to riding Batman at SFFT in October to compare.

I wanted to go over to Ukko (Maurer Sky Loop) next because I thought that could potentially have one of the more burdenous queues of the day. It was shut though. We asked around and found out that it doesn’t operate in rain. Fair enough, although obviously I was a bit anxious about the possibility of getting spited.

Vuoristorata, the avec-brakeman woodie was next door, so I decided to ride that instead. I managed to nab the front row as it wasn’t yet occupied, despite quite a few people sitting in the train. After waiting in the open station for a full train, I was now well and truly soaked!

It’s basically the same as the one at Bakken, except that one is a bit crappy because they axed the brakeman on the trains. It’s mostly a fairly sedate woodie, but there were two moments of great airtime when sitting at the front, which was fab. Not in the same league as the one at Tivoli Gardens though.

Preferably, I wanted to collect all the creds before riding anything else, so we went over to the back-section of the park in search of the rest. Salama, the Maurer Spinner was done next. For some reason, I always get quite excited about riding one of these spinners; none of them are that great, but visually, I always find them very appealing. This probably hypes them up more in my head and often leads to disappointment. They always leave me feeling that I expected more, this one included. Their solid, fun coasters, but almost never quite as good as they look I guess.

However, I was happy that I now had the full collection of Maurer Xtended SC 3000’s – Yay! As me making lists seem to have become a bit of thing in these reports, I’ll give you another one. SC 3000’s ranked from best to worst (including Winjas as one):

Winjas Fear & Force, Phantasialand
Tarántula, Parque de Atracciones
Dragon’s Fury, Chessington
Salama, Linnanmäki
Dizz, Bobbejaanland
Cagliostro, Rainbow MagicLand

The last two were equally disappointing and could really be in any order, but I think Cagliostro annoyed me more. As for Salama, I would probably rate it on an equal playing field with Sonic Spinball, in terms of quality.

Next I tried the Mack E-Motion coaster, Tulireki. I’d heard it was a bit ****, but I tried to keep an open mind. It closed pretty quickly though. It feels really old and clunky and at the few points in the ride where it actually goes at any decent speed, it’s pretty rough. Not enjoyable. It reminded me a bit of Master Thai at Mirabilandia, in terms of just being quite a small coaster, yet still being such an epic fail. The whole ‘tilting’ thing doesn’t really work either.

I then walked up some stairs to Pikajuna, a standard, forgettable Mack Powered coaster. The only way in which it stood out from the rest was the ridiculous position you’re left hanging when the train slows down at the end.

I avoided the water coaster for the moment, as it was still raining and instead, we went and found a café nearer the entrance of the park. The rain seemed to have subsided once we got out, meaning my brother was more inclined to start riding things. I took him on the woodie, as we were around that area again and it was also the best coaster I’d ridden at the park so far.

This time I wanted to try the back, so that it where we sat. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as good as the front because you didn’t get that airtime and without it, it’s a pretty dull coaster to be honest. Ukko still wasn’t open, but I assumed it probably needed some time for the brakess to dry out after the heavy rain.

I was planning to go back to collect the water coaster, but my brother said he would ride the spinning coaster with me this time, so we did that while on the way. Urrgh, there was a TEN MINUTE queue though. One thing I noticed on this holiday is that because I had to do so little queuing, I would get a little bit peeved when I did have to wait, especially for rides I just walked on earlier

The funny thing was that it started to rain very heavily again, while we were in the queue. Much to my brother’s dismay, we had a pretty wet ride on Salama; I quite enjoyed it, although I generally hate faster rides in the rain because they HURT.

We took shelter for 20 minutes or so and the rain didn’t seem to plan on stopping. I was starting to get more anxious because I was still in need of a few creds, so once it looked like it was getting even remotely lighter I abandoned the family and went over to the Premier Rides Liquid coaster, Vonkaputous. I had heard it was very wet, but I didn’t care because I was already drenched.

I was being just a little bit clever though and decided to sit at the front so I could hide behind the windscreen thing the boat had. It worked. I came off just slightly wetter than I was before. It was a really fun ride actually. I went on it a couple more times throughout the day, especially because there was never anyone waiting for it <3. The coaster section is short like many others, but I love the way the splashdown just comes out of nowhere, unlike the on the Mack ones where it’s generally more conspicuous.

The rainfall had died down again, so I met back up with my brother and parents. Not surprisingly, Ukko still seemed closed. I was just praying that there would be at least an hour-long period with no rain, where the coaster might actually have a chance of opening. I forgot about creds for a bit and rode my most-anticipated ride at the park; a lovely looking, spin ‘n’ spew flat ride called Kieppi.

It’s a Huss Booster, although obviously very different to Fabbri or KMG Boosters. After watching a ride cycle, I was well and truly pumped up for it and it was just as INSANE as it looked. It just throws you around all over the place, in a disorientating, but not really painful way. I absolutely loved it, although much like the Extasy ride at Prater, it did leave me feeling a little queasy afterwards.

After a short while looking around the park, we eventually found the extremely dubious cred, Pilotti, which is listed on CoasterCount.

Didn't take my own picture, so here is one from CoasterCount

It wasn’t actually running at this point because of the rain, but when I saw it operating later on, I was in shock. No **** way is this a cred. If it is, then so is Squirrel Nutty and so many other similar rides. I’d love someone who does count it to explain why, but I just can’t see how you could and not feel at least a tad guilty about doing so. It just travels at the same SLOW speed the entire ride!

We were going to have lunch next, but I did Kingi (Moser drop tower) first. It was better than the one at PowerPark I thought. It seemed to have a more forceful drop and the restraints weren’t as annoying; no idea why that would be. Probably my second favourite ride in the park behind Kieppi actually. I re-rode again later.

After lunch, we came out the restaurant to see Ukko finally testing!! My brother and I went over to wait outside the entrance along with a few other people. Unfortunately, the ride-op came and shooed us away. Damn them getting my hopes up </3. I can’t remember exactly what happened next, but I think I just re-rode stuff I’d already done. I did the Top Spin and my Dad and I did the Space Shot at some point. They were both rather ‘meh’, as expected.

My Dad and I did the rapids at some point as well as actually. I think it had a viking theme and inside the tunnel, the theming was pretty decent. In rapids terms, it was nice and choppy, with a few sprinkler/shower effects. It was a fairly good rapids and better than the one at Särkänniemi.

My brother and mum were about to leave so they could go back to the hotel and showered and stuff, but just as they were about to leave, we saw Ukko testing again. This time they actually intended to open it, so my Brother and I were let in. Finally!

Like Zac Spins, Skyloops are quite controversial coasters, but personally, I think they’re fab. Going upside-down at the top of the lift is one of the very few coaster moments which still scares me and despite them being short, they leave me with quite a buzz. It wasn’t as good as Abismo because it doesn’t have the extended layout and it was also a bit rattly, but I still enjoyed it. I had another re-ride a little later, just before my Dad and I left the park. My brother was not a fan though. I kind of knew he wouldn’t be, but for my own entertainment, I wasn’t going to let him chicken out. Just as I wanted, he moaned and groaned through the entire thing <3.

I think that’s all the rides covered then. Where the park is concerned there isn’t really much to say. It’s got a very ordinary amusement park style to it, but it hasn’t really got any character. There’s nothing to really immerse yourself in, apart from the rides. Where atmosphere is concerned, I always think it’s such a hard concept to really hone in on, but dare I say I didn’t feel this park had much of one. As I said at the beginning, the poor weather definitely dampened (no pun intended) the experience overall, but even with beautiful weather, I still don’t think I’d have thought much of it. I’d say it is very comparable to Bakken, but without that crammed-in feeling.

The ride selection covers all the important bases for me (coasters, water rides and flat rides), but I have to state the obvious and say they need a standout coaster. I couldn’t even tell you what my favourite coaster at the park is because many of them were “decent”, but none particularly good. They’ve clearly gone for quantity over quality, which is fine because it means more creds :wink: , but it’s a shame they haven’t just put in one high tier coaster. However, I expect money and space has restricted them in this regard.

Thank you for reading my Linnanmäki trip report, as well as all my reports from Finland. It was an interesting set of parks to visit, however, without Junker opening this year, the country would have definitely lacked a great coaster for me.

 

[caffeine_demon]

Pilotti is absolutely NOT a cred - Looks like it might kinda be an inverted powered coaster, but is just too slow - so it's just a sub peter pan without an enclosure or theming.

 

[Ian]

That was a really good read. It's nice to relive the parks again and to hear a viewpoint from somebody who wasn't on the Live.

I agree with you that Finland isn't the most exciting of places to visit for coasters but the selection they have are interesting and different to what you'd expect. There's a lot of variation in Finland, it's just a pity there's nothing world class (I haven't been on Junker).

 

[ThomVD]

Great report! It was fun reading all your opinions and how they compare to mine. Overall we have very similar views on the Finnish parks and coasters. I'll work it all out in more detail in my report, but for now I'll just say; Yayyy for Finnish 2-train operations, Gerstlauer goodness, Vekoma smoothness (it exists!) and crazy flats, nay for disappointing woodies and mediocre creds.