Liseberg 2010 - Press day pictures posted

[Anonymous]

Liseberg have released their take on the "beat the queue" system...

The theory of it is that when you pre-order your wristband on their website, you will be given the option to book your Quick Passes on the 5 attractions that are connected to the system. Well in the park you just have to show up at the designated timeslot and enter the ride through a separate queue.
There is a limited number of Quick Passes on each attraction/day and they are available on a first come basis and that they are offered for free to anyone that pre-orders their wristbands...

Looks like you can get 5 Quick passes on each visit (I guess one/attraction), people with Gold-passes (season pass with Entry and Wristband) won't get them (which is kind of a good thing)

Anyway the attractions that are connected to this system are:
Balder
Lisebergbanan
Kanonen
FlumeRide
Kållerado

What are your views on this??

In Swedish
Press release: Slutköat på Liseberg - Quick Pass är här! - Liseberg
Quick-pass FAQ: Quick Pass - Liseberg

And again in "bad" English from Google:
Press release
FAQ

 

[Mushroom]

Hmmm, on my 2 visits I have hardly queued more than 10 mins. What is the park like at weekends? About the same as during the week or busier?

 

[Anonymous]

It depends really, if you go on a weekend in the spring/autumn then it isn't much difference maybe up to 20 minutes maximum, but in the peak season between late June and the middle of August it can get horrible, up to 1 hour queue on several rides. Worst would be Kållerado, Flumeride and Kanonen...
If you just avoid those days like I have done for the past years, then I don't see the point of this, I mean 5 minute Queues on Lisebergbanan isn't anything to worry about (you basically just walk up to the train)...

 

[andrus]

Liseberg is horrible queue-wise at peak season! In the middle of the summer there often is more than one hour queues on all of the top attractions You shoul espacially avoid the Gothia Cup week (the youth football tournament), then you barely can't move inside the park..

I remember back in the day when Hang Over (inverted boomerang) was still in operation. It was the most popular ride in the park and had a horrible capacity. I believe I've never queued shorter than 1,5 hours for that ride!

But then I've only visited the park during peak seanson ^^ (stupid me). So I guess that loefet is right about the queues beeing more resonable the rest of the year but during peak season it should be a good idea to invest in a quick pass!

 

[Anonymous]

I have been at Liseberg several times during Gothia Cup, and as long as you stay clear of the park in the evening then it isn't as horrible as a really packed day.
And going to the park on a "green" day (as they mark the days with less visitors in their calendar) is totally worth it, Quick Pass or not, you will get plenty of rides on your visit. Sounds a bit like this Quick Pass is just a way to get more people to buy the Wristbands at home in advance, and I have a sneaky suspicion that Liseberg might get a few more SEK out of all this (like having less employees, or just by having your money a bit earlier)...
Sure it will also "guarantee" that you will get at least one ride on each of the top 5 attractions...

Yeah, Hang Over was horrendous, it's a bit like Kanonen these days...

One other thing is that most of the queues at Liseberg are a bit boring, just chained off switchbacks, there are a few exceptions though. And I would never stand in line for Kanonen if the whole upper area is filled, especially on a hot day without any shade...

I think that it would have been better to use these new "extra" queues as SRQ's instead, it would have been better for me at least

 

[marc]

This is the bit I like.

"There is a limited number of Quick Passes on each attraction/day and they are available on a first come basis and that they are offered for free to anyone that pre-orders their wristbands... "

Parks that give something back to people who pre order, its a nice way of saying thank you etc. I personally would rather have this than £2 off a ticket.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, and better still is that you might still (they had it last year) get a deal with some extra SEK off the price if you pre-ordered 2 or more "entry+wristbands".

The best thing is that people with the "Gold" season pass won't get them.

I really hope that the riders with Quick-Passes won't be allowed to choose their places, first it would piss people of due to them trying and line up several riders on one train (even though that could be a benefit to others just riding in pairs ), and that it would be murder to get the "good" places on the coasters (Balder - back, Kanonen - front).

 

[Anonymous]

Liseberg have just announced more stuff for the park, nothing for the thrillseekers like us, but good non the less...

* A new ride called "Flygande elefanter" (Flying elephants) for kids, which is located where Rainbow used to be.
* The old carousel "Ponnyexpressen" has been replaced with a newer one.
* "Radiobilarna" (the Bumper cars) have got new cars. The older Volvo cars have been replaced with police cars and "Bandit Rock cars" ("Bandit Rock" is a radio station which plays rock music).
* Pandavision, the 3D-movie, is now only a memory. The new 3D-movie is called "Sammys äventyr" (Sammy's adventure).

They haven't made a press release about these, but I guess that we might see one later today...
More can be found on their webpage: http://liseberg.se/sv/hem/Nojesparken/

 

[Anonymous]

2009, best ever year for Liseberg.

2009 goes down in history as the results in terms of best year ever for Liseberg. Despite the current economic downturn increased the Group's profit compared to 2008 from 28 million SEK to 72 million SEK.

There is an increase in visitor arrivals, together with higher sales per visitor, which is behind the good results. Liseberg amusement park was visited during the summer season of 2,352 million guests, and Christmas at Liseberg set a new visitor record with 552 000 visitors.

Lisebergs all facilities (amusement park with accommodation facilities and event venues) had 3.6 million visitors, compared with 3.4 million 2008th
- Guest volume for both summer and winter exceeded all expectations and really shows that we offer our guests are asking for, "said Mats Wedin, CEO of Liseberg.

Over the last decade has Liseberg invested over 1 billion SEK of its own activities. 2009 was no exception. Over 100 million SEK was invested in including two new rides, and Hanghai Rabalder, a conversion of Lisebergsteatern and a total renovation of the Liseberg Wärdshus.
- We had the courage to make the investments that we had planned, even though it looked really dark out, "said Mats Wedin.

Lisebergs for tourism in Gothenburg is still great. In 2009, park visitors generated approximately 2.5 billion in tourist revenue to the city.
- It's so clearly a particularly satisfying when the recession hit western Sweden hard, "said Mats Wedin.

Lisebergs all facilities (amusement park with accommodation facilities and event venues) had 3.6 million visitors, compared with 3.4 million 2008th
- Guest volume for both summer and winter exceeded all expectations and really shows that we offer our guests are asking for, "said Mats Wedin, CEO of Liseberg.

Link to Press release.

So in the end they have done a terrific job to get through the economical recession, but they haven't still broken the park visitors record from 2003 (Balder opened) that saw 3.4 million visitors (summer + winter seasons).
I really hope that this will mean that there will be some big stuff in the future of Liseberg

72 million SEK is about the same as: 10.1 million USD, £6.7 million, 59.3 million NOK, 7.4 million €...

 

[Anonymous]

Finally a press release about the new rides, and a quick construction update!!

New Rides!!

Liseberg is opening in about a months time. When the park opens they will premiere the Flying elephants, a new pony carousel, bumper cars and the new adventures of Sammy at Maxxima. And Quick pass of course.

The Flying elephants become a cherished reunion for all those who were children 1986. Since that was the last time it spun at Liseberg.

The Pony Carousel has been around even longer, in fact, ever since the park opened 1923. This year it is exchanged for a brand new carousel.

The Bumper cars are another classic that get a facelift. Among the 36 new cars, five will be painted as police cars. The rest is, as the name imposes, strips with local radio channel logos.

Sammy adventure is the name of the new 3D animated film on Maxxima. In it we follow the turtle Sammy on his journey through a changing world where the human impact on the environment plays a central role.

This year's big news is otherwise the Quick Pass, or the ability to pre-book their place in rides and thus avoid standing in line. Anyone who buys an Åkpass at Liseberg website are given the opportunity to reserve the Quick Pass, free of charge. In connection with the purchase when you get a chance to book time slots on Lisebergbanan, Kanonen, Balder, FlumeRide and Kållerado.

Source [Swedish]

A quick photo update of the park:

Not much new to see here.

Not here either, but soon it might look very different...

Hang Hai were a new ride last year, but there is some work done in the background...

What are they doing with that truck??

Looks like they are preparing the ground for the Flying Elephants.

Here is the location of the new observation wheel that will be placed in the harbour of Gothenburg, after about a year of complaints and lawsuits they are finally able to put it up for this year.

Close up, why would this be a part of a Liseberg update? Well Liseberg is the company that own the wheel (will move it to the park as the building permit expires in 2 years time) and they will also run it when it's done. The wheel will open around the same time as the park...

 

[Anonymous]

New update:

Liseberg have recieved a big shippment from Maurer Söhne, for an installation...

See what I mean

Then we spotted a Bussink car??

Ahhhh it's for the harbour wheel

Lighting accessories...

According to the builders then the wheel itself should be finished today, and the start to put on the 42 gondolas will begin tomorrow.
Official opening day is on the 22:nd of May and the wheel will initially run everyday until late august between 11 and 21.

To clear things out, Liseberg have bought an observation wheel from Dutchwheels, the wheel is designed by Bussink and built by Maurer Sohne...
Info about the wheel itself can be found at: http://www.dutchwheels.com/ (it's the R60 model)

We didn't stop by Liseberg this time, but we will have that next time...

 

[andrus]

Too bad it wasn't a spinning coaster that would fit in nicely with the park thoug, small footprint and has a high family value as the rest of the park, we might see one of those in the future! (I keep my fingers crossed at least)

 

[Anonymous]

^ If Liseberg ever were to get a spinning coaster (which I hope), then I would prefer a Gerstlauer, I think that Gerstlauer is more of a quality product then M&S...

 

[andrus]

I've never been on a Gertslauer spinner but I absolutely love the MS ones!

 

[Anonymous]

New attractions and completed wheel.

A new update as promised!!

First from Liseberg.
They are working hard to get the park ready for it's season première.

Getting ready at the south side

Balder through the trees

New for 2010, the Flying Elephants

Turbo drop testing

Lisebergbanan testing

Liseberg tower testing

Another new ride for this year, a replacement of the old carousel, which were also testing by the way

Overview of the north end of the park


Now for a brief observation wheel update as well

They have completed the structure of the wheel and also hanged all of the gondolas since last time

Wheel entrance under construction

VIP gondola, for dinner reservation's etc...


This is it for this time, next update will hopefully come after the Press day next week...

 

[furie]

Brilliant, thanks for the updates Loefet! I'm desperate to get back over there!!!

 

[Anonymous]

^ Thanks, are you coming over for the live later this year?

 

[Anonymous]

Liseberg press-day 2010

I just got home from the Liseberg press-day for this season, where we got info and tested some of the new stuff this year.

We start at the beginning by the entrance

There were three Liseberg rabbits which played around with the children that were with the group

It's not often that you see a park this empty

One of the new rides from last year

The first new ride we looked at was the new Ponny Karusellen (Pony carousel)

The press manager Julia Vasilis welcomed us to take a ride.
Parts of the old one that were removed had been around sine Liseberg opened in 1923

Rabbits doing their thing

The police wanted to see what was happening

This new model featured some really unstable horses that you can "ride" on

It really looks great, Zamperla really knows how to make it look good

The two bandits

Moving through the empty park

Liseberg Station

Maintenance guys hard at work

They have added a second entrance for the Quick pass holders at Lisebergbanan

Normal work ethics, one is working and two are supervising

Next up was the new and improved Radiobilarna (bumper cars).
They have replaced the old Volvo cars with 24 brand new ones, they have also moved the exit to a better location.
6 of the new cars sport a Police paint job, where as the rest of them have been, of course, given "Radio channel" based paint jobs...

One of the Bandit rabbits have found the perfect car

So did the other one

Ooops, wrong car...

Much better

Even the Liseberg CEO joined the fun (BTW he drives like a maniac).
The best thing with these new cars is the seatbelts, they are like a normal belt but you don't have to buckle them, just pull them over your head

Looks like they have got it to work now

Seems to be running really fast today

Can't wait to ride it later in the season

Empty or cloaking devices, you decide...

Kanonen without a stalled train

That helix is the ****

Quick pass entrance on the Flume Ride

After stopping by the new game wheel (cookies), we got to the 3:rd new ride for this season, the Flygande Elefanterna (Flying Elephants)

Liseberg had one in the past, which was removed at the same time as the old Scenic railway

The rabbits were still fooling around with the kids

Pretty standard ride, but two adults in a car is a bit heavy for the air pressure

Seems a bit too happy that this ride have returned

The entrance to the Quick Pass on Kanonen is up these stairs

The one on Balder is by the entrance to the little hut inside one turnaround

Quick pass screen, you have 15 minutes to get to your timeslot

Some cleaning is done to Uppswinget

The Ice-Bar have returned, last time there was one in a temporary building in 2006, but this time it might stay.
If you enjoy your visit at the Ice Bar then you now have the opportunity to have a meal served on plates made by Ice in the nearby restaurant

The old bar that were in conjunction with one of the restaurants in the area by the ghost hotel have had a complete re-theme and have become Spökbaren Gasten (Ghost bar Gasten)

It was a bit too dark inside to take any good pictures, but it is meticulously themed into a really creepy place, with loads of fun things to see. They were also serving some special snacks there, maggots and cockroaches...

After a little stop by to get some snacks and listen about the new stuff in the park, we were able to walk around in the park and take pictures, do re-rides, etc.

Balder really looks great

They were still cleaning Uppswinget

New, never seen before picture from the Quick Pass line

Quick Pass line, oh I forgot between these images we managed to get 2 rides on Balder It was running great for a cold day, but it was a bit sluggish on the lowest part, but I guess that 4 people on the train might be a bit light to get a good run
One of the ride ops complained that I put the bar too tight on the first run, so on the second one he did it for me, I haven't had that bar so far from my lap before I was standing up the whole way...
Hi, Kenny!!

More empty space

Next time there will be a lot more people here

Looks really nice!!

We weren't allowed to get on Rablader

We stopped by the wheel on the way home and decided to take some close ups of the finished wheel

It was a really nice day, and I would like to thank the people at Liseberg for the opportunity for us to visit.

BTW, I asked Julia if they had any plans for the space on the mountain where Aerovarvet/Kulingen stand, but I only got the reply that they did, so we might be in for a treat...

The season premier is this Saturday, so please pay a visit!!

 

[Martyn B]

Is that Harbour Wheel brand new? Looks identicle to the one that was at Gt Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, including the little VIP car!

 

[Anonymous]

^ This one is brand new, and according to the manufacturer then there are identical wheels all over the world. They don't say how many, but they state 14 countries in which they have sold wheels to, including the UK.

Another update from the press-day which I read in today's paper gives a real hope that there will be something bigger coming next year.

Årets satsning på de mindre barnen, förklarar Mats Wedin , vd för Liseberg, med att de minsta inte har haft lika mycket att göra i nöjesparken som äldre barn.
- Det vill vi ändra på och det måste vara lite växelbruk vilka vi satsar på, säger han och avslöjar sedan att nästa satsning kommer att bli på de lite äldre.
En ny attraktion i Balder-klass?
- Det kan jag inte säga nu, men jag hoppas att vi inom ett par veckor kan gå ut med mer information.

This year's focus on the younger children, explains Mats Wedin, CEO of Liseberg, the smallest children haven't had as much to do in the amusement park as older children have.
- We want to change that and there must be a little rotation on who we invest on, he says and then reveals that the next investment will focus on the slightly older crowd.
A new attraction in the Balder-Class?
- I can not say now, but I hope that within a few weeks can go out with more details.

So hopefully they will reveal what they are getting for the 2011 season soon, and seeing that this is the last year that Mats is the CEO of Liseberg could mean that they will get something special so that he can leave with a bang.

I really hope that they put in some kind of coaster on top of the mountain