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Hixee

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Hope you all had a good time! I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Wildfire, as well as your trips in general. I might be stealing some ideas for a trip next spring. :lol:
 
I realise that Liseberg and Grona weren't part of the Live, but they connected so well with the trip, they might have well have been! I'd go as far to say that this trip was the best CF trip I've done for a long time!

I had a fab day at Liseberg. Helix is something special. It was such a buzz hearing and seeing everybody loving it! Everybody rode at every opportunity, no blousers or fed up face - smile all round! I even had a good ride on overrated Balder, getting more air than I ever had before. Usually when I have a long day at the park, I start to get tired and disinterested by early evening, but at Liseberg, the energy and enthusiasm to ride everything was in abundance. That's true testament to how good the park can be with a smashing group of people. Everything from the banter, the weather, the short queue times, the fast passes was absolutely spot on.

Grona on Saturday evening was also amazing. Despite the park being heaving due to a television program being filmed, we got everything of note done. Like Liseberg, the reactions from both the newbies and those who have been before, were positive. I don't think I've ever seen an entire group of CFers happily riding and enjoying the time there. There was no moping about or complaining - just sheer positive, playful smiles! I'm also glad to have done the star flyer at night.

So, to Kolmarden...

The staff gave us a lovely welcome at the start of the day before we started the long wander to Wildfire for our ERT session. Although it was a long, hilly walk, the animals and sheer size of the park kept us all interested. The cheer that went up when we first saw Wildfire was great - everybody was so overjoyed!
[tweet]http://twitter.com/CoasterForce/status/766912620335099904[/tweet]

I rode front row first time (to sort out the camera) but unfortunately the camera mount failure meant I spent my first ride worrying the camera would fly off. But by my second ride, I was hooked. I loved the first upside down element, the overbanked turn and the change of direction immediately after before it thunders through the tunnel. It was climatic, not exactly how I would expect a roller coaster to start! I did find Wildfire peters out a bit towards the end after the zero-g roll, and it's not as perfectly condensed as Outlaw Run, but it makes a solid entry in my Top 10. Usually I cringe when people clap after roller coasters, but the group did so genuinely after every one of the six rides we had during our ERT.
[tweet]http://twitter.com/CoasterForce/status/766921784536993792[/tweet]

Going to be honest, the rest of the day sort of flew by me (like the **** hundreds of **** wasps). The other coasters were nothing to write home about and, although I like zoos, there's only so much looking at animals I can take before I find it tedious. I did enjoy the cable car safari, hence why we did it twice. I was also impressed with the buffet, particularly the beef.

But it was all about Wildfire. We rode it again a few more times in the afternoon. It warmed up considerably and the last two rides I had were near on perfect - especially those towards the back seats.

I would recommend Kolmarden to every coaster enthusiast. Sure, look at the animals, do the safari and enjoy the views, but it really is, for me, all about wonderful Wildfire. The greatest gift that Peter Osbeck has ever given to us. WHAT A GUY!

As always, thank you to everybody who decided to do their trip to Liseberg, Kolmarden and Grona Lund with CoasterForce. The enthusiasm and joy throughout the weekend was so infectious and overwhelming. Cheers for the laughs, the silliness, the comments and, most important of all, the Pokemon heads-ups ;)
 
Had an absolutely amazing trip - such fun with great company.

Here's my short run down: Wildfire is fab. Kolmården is fab. Sweden is fab. And... Swedish men are beyond fab #InAndAround, but yeah.... Great coaster, forceful and fun!

I wrote the following on an article on LinkedIn, here's the link to the original, but below is the quoted piece:

Wildfire - Kolmården's new thrilling investment!


I recently visited Kolmården Wildlife Park, Sweden, during a visit to Sweden's most well-known amusement parks - this post is a little insight into my thoughts about the park's newest investment - Wildfire.

A number of years ago, a Wildlife Park in Sweden made waves in the theme park community when it announced that it was to construct Europe’s first Rocky Mountain Construction coaster, and an extremely impressive one at that. The coaster, ‘Wildfire’, was to navigate the surrounding mountainous terrain on a thrilling journey of inversions, airtime (negative g-force) and staggering fall over a 160ft first drop – it was set to be one of Europe’s best roller coasters, but did it live up to the preconceptions?

In a single answer – Yes! The roller coaster packs a massive punch in terms of force and intensity, yet doesn’t alienate younger audiences wanting to experience a big thrilling roller coaster. Due to the fantastic technology behind RMC’s patented trains, smaller guests can be easily accommodated in the lap bar restraints – seeing young family members being able to ride a coaster with their older siblings, parents and event grandparents is fantastic, and something I feel is lacking in most ‘larger’ coaster experiences across the world.

Leaving the station, Wildfire tackles a 180ft lift to the top of a cliff before circling the ‘Eagle’s Nest’, a taunting banked curve showcasing the beautiful location of the park before leveling out towards a small hill and the huge 160ft, 83° first drop, from this point the real fun begins!

The train plummets down the drop at 70mph before tackling the first main ‘element’ of the ride, the ‘zero-G stall’. A zero-G stall is where the track rolls 180°, before cresting the top of a camelback hill completely inverted, followed by rotating back 180° to the original riding position. This element feels absolutely phenomenal, a true sensation of gliding and floating whilst being enveloped within a mass of wooden supports – it’s truly a unique experience. The entire group that I travelled with agreed that it’s our favorite inversion on any coaster that we’ve been on, it flows so well.

Following the zero-G stall, the train flies through a copious amount of airtime hills, inversions, banking changes and S-bend curves before hitting the final brake run, having navigated 4,300ft of track in 120 seconds! Wildfire just offers everything that you could possibly want in a roller coaster experience – and more! The experience is incredibly re-rideable, with the known smooth experience that other RMC coasters offer mixed with intense airtime moments and flowing inversions.

Also worth noting was the theming and surrounding landscaping of the attraction. Jora Vision of the Netherlands created the concept and fabrication of the station, entrance theming and queue line theming. The station is adorned with logging memorabilia from years gone by, including moving elements of conveyer belts and cogs – the station feels alive, industrial and creates a fantastic atmosphere to excite waiting customers.

Kolmården Wildlife Park is without doubt one of the most impressive zoos/wildlife parks I have had the pleasure of visiting. The park is located in a beautiful rocky woodland area overlooking Bråviken, a Baltic sea bay – from everywhere in the park you’re bombarded with staggering views across the bay, it’s truth breath-taking. The park is host to a huge range of animal exhibits and truly interactive experiences that I’ve never come across before, including a chairlift style Safari ride with audio descriptions of the animal exhibits below.

I’m really impressed with both Kolmården Wildlife Park and the other Parks and Resorts Scandinavia Parks that I visited during my 4-day trip. The staff are incredibly friendly, the theming is beautiful, the park grounds are really well maintained and the price of admission is very affordable.

With the investment of Wildfire, I’m very interested in seeing what Parks and Resorts Scandinavia add to their existing theme parks over the coming few years – if Wildfire is anything to go by, we’re all in for a treat!
 
Well what can I say. Another simply incredible trip away! Amazing perks, top notch organisation, brilliant company and to top it off some of the worlds best parks and coasters. I'll be getting stuck into my trip report towards the end of this week so in the mean time...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rcv8YIBFMY
 
Ok - My turn!

Liseberg - Gorgeous place as usual - great atmosphere, lovely ride line up, - I just feel chilled here!

Helix - a very good ride, it has so many elements and a really good length (oo-err). I don't think you'd ever get "used" to the layout. Oddly, my favourite row is second to back. It does miss out on a top ten place though because I find it is just a little too much, and some rides on it gave me a bit of a headache. I think 3 or 4 rides consecutively would be about my limit

Balder - It really grew on me this trip - I think now that I'm over the fact it's rther overrated - I just find it great fun - and gives a consistent ride throughout and is the sort of coaster I could do again and again.

Aerospin - Couldn't get it to spin as easily as the air meetings, and quite a short cycle.

Gasten Ghost hotel - a brilliant scare walkthrough - family friendly, but had a few creepy moments and just delicious theming - thorpe should be ashamed of last years halloween efforts!

Atmosphear - not as good as fritt fall or apocalypse

Lisebergbanan - Anton at his best!

also nice to see an old fashioned log flume

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Kolmarden - The zoo here was pretty nice, and they also have a cable car over the safari area which is a nice relaxing way to see the animals. There's a rather long walk from the entrance to wildfire, the staff said 15 minutes, and it was 15 minutes

Wildfire - The hotly anticipated new coaster - had moments of absolute genius, that first inversion is orgasmic, and the outwards banked turn is insane! it does peter out a bit at the end, but like helix I found it a bit much for multiple rerides (after 5 or 6 in the ERT I was rather queasy for about an hour or so...), so it misses out on a top 10 place for me. It really warmed up in the afternoon (you could tell as it was going round the pre first drop turn) - in the front seat you just don't see that first inversion coming, it all happens so damned quickly!

The other two coasters where simply +1s, but the lunch buffet was rather good wuth some delish pot roasted beef and cream sauce :p

Left quite early and headed to grona lund for the evening so we could have sunday free.

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Grona lund - The place just makes me happy - seeing all those coasters in such a small space and the atmosphere just buzzes.

Coaster wise - they do the family thing pretty well - the gerstlauer bob is good fun, twister's good fun, jetline is good oldschool schwarzkopf, kvasten is a pretty good SFC (not as good as orkanen) and there's a couple of kiddie creds.

Oh and insane - the gross intamin zacspin!

But the park is so much more than the coasters! other highlights:

Bla Taget- A really nice modern ghost train - one of the effects wasn't working though - so slight disappointment there

Fritt fall - a great intamin drop tower - deffo my fave !

The fun house - just fab - goes on and on! Don't get why so many struggled with the uppy downy stairs outside though.

Didn't do the starflyer this time as I wanted to do the house of nightmares - which closed at 8:45 so I had to come back the next day and pay...(got one day free) It was fun, with a recurring theme of spiders! had a few decent frights.

Oh - and the aquarium nearby is crap!
 
Well, I genuinely LOVED that weekend. Honestly, it was just brilliant.

Liseberg has instantly become one of my favourite parks. So too has Kolmarden. Even Grona is a stunning little place in it's own unique way.
Balder, Lesbianbanana, Atmosfear, Twister, Jetline, the cable car safari and Grona's hilarious Funhouse have all left me with very happy memories, seriously good rides and attractions ... but oh my God, Helix and Wildfire have SMASHED it! Both have rocketed their way straight into my top 5.
In fact, I'm actually considering placing Helix as my brand new number 1!
Seriously, it's that good.
And I don't say that lightly - my beloved Nemesis has been the Holy Grail of roller coasters for the last 22 years, so to evict it from the top spot really is a big deal for me.

Kudos to Sweden in general too. What a beautiful country - some of that scenery on the long drive to Kolmarden on Saturday morning was just breathtaking. Throw in a spot of sightseeing and culture on the Sunday too and you have an all-round super weekend.

And then there's you lot. To be perfectly honest, I was initially quite 'wary' of going on an expedition with a bunch of goons. A few years ago I joined the RCCGB, but that infamous and flesh-crawling video of Hine telling everyone to do the roller coaster handshake put me off going to one of their meet ups forever.
Then I joined the TPR forum, but I just found it to be rather unfriendly on there, y'know? A bit... 'clicky', so again I never bothered going to a meet.

But after Blackpool, Paulton's and now Sweden, it's clear to me that CoasterForce is the way forward. Such a relaxed, friendly and informal vibe, really good fun.
I've been made to feel very welcome here and I'm looking forward to many more CF Lives in the future.
Yep, you guys are cool. Some of you are a bit weird.... but in a good way, and I like you all very much! Thank you everyone.

I didn't take very many pictures - you all saw the state of my camera phone - but of the handful that I did take, this one kinda sums things up for me!

29129044615_3249fb44c8_k.jpg


I'll add a few more pics and more detailed ride reviews as the thread progresses, but in the meantime I hope everyone has recovered sufficiently and I'll see you all soon.
xxx
 
Howie said:
Well, I genuinely LOVED that weekend. Honestly, it was just brilliant.

To be perfectly honest, I was initially quite 'wary' of going on an expedition with a bunch of goons. A few years ago I joined the RCCGB, but that infamous and flesh-crawling video of Hine telling everyone to do the roller coaster handshake put me off going to one of their meet ups forever.
Then I joined the TPR forum, but I just found it to be rather unfriendly on there, y'know? A bit... 'clicky, so again I never bothered going to a meet.

But after Blackpool, Paulton's and now Sweden, it's clear to me that CoasterForce is the way forward. Such a relaxed, friendly and informal vibe, really good fun.
I've been made to feel very welcome here and I'm looking forward to many more CF Lives in the future.
Yep, you guys are cool. Some of you are a bit weird.... but in a good way, and I like you all very much! Thank you everyone.
That brought a tear to my eye. I've always wondered why people choose CF over others, and why they stick around. But right there is the clear answer - it's the smashing bunch of people. Hurrah for being weird but normal in equal measures. And Howie, it's no longer "you" and "us". You are one of us now!
 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C4uTEEOJlM[/youtube]

Edit - Too good not to embed. - ECG
 
It was a fab weekend, Wildfire is **** fab, Helix is still amazing.

The quality per ride in Sweden can't be beat by any other country really, Helix, Wildfire and Balder are all just, top ten brilliance.

That night ride on Balder my God.
 
Since becoming an enthusiast Sweden had always been one of the trips I was desperate to do. The parks are great, easily do able in a single trip and transport to the country is cheap and easy enough not to turn down. When I saw the live topic pop up for after the completion of wildfire I knew I simply couldn’t miss out on the perfect opportunity for a nice weekend away with the 2 nearby parks (liseberg and Gronalund) included.

Day 1 Liseberg.

I’m not sure anything will beat the anticipation I felt when driving past this park on the way to it. The view from the motorway means the park is unmisable with all the rides perched on the hill. With my excitement building we parked up and made for the entrance. We were greeted by the extremely pleasant guest services lady who sorted is out with all the brilliant perks that Ian had arranged for us. We got free entry wristbands and what looked like an entire book of fastracks! Today was going to be good...



With the sun shining and the excitement bouncing of all of us we headed straight for the world famous Helix. This is my most anticipated coaster of all time. I think i’d managed to piss off all my family and friends forcing them to watch the POV and blubbering on about how good it was going to be. I was a little nervous in the queue that maybe i’d overhyped it a little myself, boy was i wrong. It was everything that i think a coaster should be. Butter smooth, forceful, great variety of elements, perfect airtime, great length and brilliantly planned interaction with the surrounding rides.





I think i rode approximately 15+ times throughout the day and night and it just got better and better each time. By the time i got my last ride in at 11 the thing was throwing me around all over place and was just so so fast the airtime just got crazy! This thing went straight in at number 1, i knew it would take a lot to shift it. Would wildfire pip it tomorrow?


I’d heard very mixed reviews when it came to the next ride Balder, many said it was repetitive and the airtime wasn’t great but others argued saying the airtime was some of the best around. I rode with an open mind and loved the thing. Yes it could do a little more and is a bit of a one trick pony, but boy does it do that one trick better than most. The airtime is so crazy you just spend most of the ride out of the seat!





Next up was kanonen. The forgotten step brother of Helix. The park are clearly a little embarrassed by this ride as its a bit meh when compared to other coasters, its still an ok ride but would be much better suited at a smaller park take Gronalund, Oakwoody type park. The launch is great but after that it is way too compact and just throws you around in the cramped cars a bit too much to be considered comfortable.



Lisebergbanan was next on the list. A ride i’d known about for a long time and had always regarded it as a really pleasant looking ride. Just a real smooth speedy terrain coaster that has some real old Schwarzkopf charm. What a great little ride this is, probably one of the best examples of a family ride and its approaching 30 years old and still smooth as glass. It whips around the track with low to the ground curves and a few small moments of airtime as it speeds over the log flume.



After getting the +1’s we started getting round to the flats and water rides, the only significant flat that i rode was Atmosfear, it was the tallest drop tower i’d been on and it was only made more intense because it’s on top of the hill. It gave some spectacular views over the park an city but the anticipation of the drop means nothing can be taken in. The drop itself is forceful and completely took my breath away, I’m glad these things don’t have cameras when you hit the brakes as my face is always screwed up as I struggle for breath!



We then did the new sky fly thing which i found to be it average at best. It’s one that goes up like a drop tower rather than the angled arc system, because of this I really struggled to get it spinning. The arc system looks far superior in my opinion.

Next up was probably my fav log flume ive ridden, I love long meandering log flumes which is why I’ve always enjoyed loggers at Thorpe, Lisebergs does some serious meandering as it weaves in and out of Helix and Lisebergbanan whilst collecting height. It just seems to keep rising and spreads out right across the hill. It’s lovely to just chill out and enjoy the views whilst on this thing. Anyway next thing you know your charging down the hill going down a series of drops that aren’t close enough to eachother to be considered a double drop but are close enough to carry a bit of speed to the next. This results in a crazy fast descent which obviously gets you pretty soaked. If you ever go here and are put of the log flume because of the weather or whatever I beg you to re consider because this flume is seriously not one to miss!

After various re rides of the coasters in the dark it can be established that this park seriously comes alive at night. The coasters just get even better and the park lights up beautifully.



I don’t think the first day of the trip could have gone any better if im honest. The queues were minimal and the weather was fantastic. After getting up at 5 and being on park from 1pm to 11pm i thought i’d be cream crackered come the early evening but the amazing rides just didn’t allow me to feel tired (i crashed out on the drive to the hotel). Sleep was limited though, we had an incredible day lined up for Saturday. The thought of ERT on wildfire had me trembling at the knees...
Kolmarden up soon!
 
Nice report, Chris.

Whilst we're waiting for the other 20 or so attendees to post their reports, lets plays a game of Guess The Arse. No prizes, it's just for bum. I mean fun.

1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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As I scrolled, I could see it coming.

Noo. He wouldn't... would he?

Oh Em Gee, he did!

You're a bad man, Bell.
Actual tears! :--D

PS Loved the report Chris, great pictures.
 
Dan we're all dying to know, was the mystery stain what we all thought it was?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Just wondering, for French and Spanish enthusiasts, is Wildfire a "Rocky Mountain Russian Mountain" (montaña rusa)
 
I had a fab weekend...18 new coasters is testament to that!

Helix and Wildfire the clear highlights, I might write a proper trip report one day, but don't get your hopes up...cheers everyone!
 
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