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... But - I gotta say.... Tornado your worst coaster? LOL I rode it back in '09 and '14 in the early TPR tours, and found it to be one of my all time faves in the tours! Slow speed lift or insanely speedy lift! When I knew it was coming I braced myself accordingly. And I actually dreamed of one of these being built in Playland(PNE), my home park... Anyway, sorry it's not one you enjoyed. TPR tour 2014 - Bakken park - where I ran into my folks, that trip. 😉  

^ What he said. I always enjoy reading through what you've .....uh ......been through, on all your tour TRs! 👍

Something I've just noticed.... Our Broadway Across Canada" subscription for the 2024-25 season, includes four shows, and two add-ons, one of which I immediately bought tickets for...for two separate showings! 🙂 But - looking at all of the tickets we've got, everybody now seems to be opening at a 7:30pm Curtain, although for years and years it's been the usual 8 o'clock openings. So, has the covid pandemic had anything to do with these new, somewhat earlier, curtain times? Just wondering.... What we're seeing, starting in January, actually. But this November.... One of the two add-ons we couldn't pass up on. And I also bought a second ticket for myself, for the Sunday aft. performance! But it, and all the other shows, are starting at 7;30 pm. So .....? Just curious, that's all. 🎭

I might be the only one who tends to comment sometimes. . but trust me, many read your reports. and I LOVE them.   y'all are freaking hilarious, and I loved spending some time with you both.    great pics.

And so at last we come to the final update of the longest trip report I've ever written, about the longest vacation I've ever taken, to the farthest place I've ever gone, to experience the worst roller coaster I've ever ridden. (Tornado at Bakken.) But let us not dwell on the negative, but rather focus our attentions on the very best things we encountered on this amazing trip....   28: Big Finnish   Up with the sunrise to catch our flight. And this is Helsinki, so sunrise is probably earlier than you think.   And back home to the little strip of land we share with 750,000 other people near the Pacific Ocean.   Time to reflect. Sometimes Smisty and I agreed as to what was the best of a particular thing, and sometimes we didn't. For example: Erik's Park of the Trip - Gröna Lund I really struggled with this one. Yes, I rate Gröna Lund as my second favorite park (with Europa being #1) but Liseberg was just so good on this trip. What I ultimately decided was this: If I can count the Grand Curiousa Hotel as part of Liseberg, then Liseberg wins--and if I can't, then Gröna Lund wins. And since it seems weird to me to count a hotel as part of an amusement park for this purpose, well...Gröna Lund wins.   Smisty's Park of the Trip - Power Park I get it. I rated this one quite highly as well, and I skipped the crazy flat rides that Smisty cited as being particular highlights of Power Park. She also mentioned the Devil's Mine Hotel dark ride that gave you a limited number of shots.   Best Wooden Coaster - Rutschebanen at Tivoli Gardens According to RCDB, Rutschebanen's elements are: Tunnel, Cable Lift Hill, Tunnel, Tunnel, Tunnel, Tunnel, Tunnel, Tunnel. But I think that's selling it a bit short. There are a few drops. And, of course, a brakeman. Normally, I don't distinguish between wood and steel for purposes of judging rides against one another, but doing it this way kept Misty and I in agreement. Otherwise, my favorite coaster overall would be her second favorite, and vice versa. Which, come to think of it, wouldn't really have changed very much in terms of presentation here.   Best Steel Coaster - Fønix at Fårup Sommerland For me, it's not even close. I have Lech as my #1, and this now at #3, with Mako sandwiched in-between them, but probably just because I subconsciously don't want two such similar rides right next to each other at the top of my list. It's like someone took an MRI of my effed-up body, sent it to Vekoma, and challenged them to design a ride that specifically I would enjoy. And they did it twice (at least). Oh yeah, and Smisty likes it also.   Best Coaster Collection - Liseberg Is this here just to make me feel better about choosing Gröna Lund over Liseberg? Yeah, probably. But there's not a bad coaster in this park, even if Balder is a bit overrated.   Best Dark Ride - The Flying Trunk A weird multi-level dark ride that travels through narrated Hans Christina Andersen stories? Yes, please. I wouldn't say that there were a lot of dark rides on this trip, but many of the ones that did exist were relatively strong.   Best Dark Ride Collection - Linnanmäki Witches and clowns, man.   Erik's Favorite Water Ride of the Trip - Ragnarok at Tusenfryd On a trip without a lot of good log flumes, a rapids ride sneaks in and pillages my watery heart! (Or something.)   Smisty's Favorite Water Ride of the Trip - The Three Hour Buffet Ferry Ride from Denmark to Norway Smisty, I don't think you're taking this very seriously. I was thinking more like an actual ride at a park. Maybe the log flume at Liseberg? No? *sigh* Fine.   Erik's Favorite Walk-Through: Lustiga Huset at Gröna Lund I may be old and overweight, but I'm pretty sure-footed, and I love a good fun house. And this is the goodest.   Smisty's Favorite Walk-Through: Gasten Ghost Hotel at Liseberg I'd love to show you a picture of it, especially the awesome flooded room--but photos are not allowed inside. So, instead, here's a picture of Smisty's favorite dessert of trip, Strawberry Shortcake Cake at Power Park's Road House.   Erik's Favorite Flat Ride - Lake Carousel at Särkänniemi Yes, it's a Schwarzkopf. Yes, it's also very much a family ride. But it's just so gentle and fun! They don't make them like this anymore, but they should.   Smisty's Favorite Flat Ride - Aquila at Tivoli Gardens A nicely themed Zamperla Air Race on top of a building. What more could a Smisty want?   Transportation/Observation Ride of the Trip - Safari at Kolmården Zoo When I told Smisty first draft nominee for this category, her response was, "That's it?" So then I threw in Särkänniemi's observation tower and Linnanmäki 's monorail to pad it out. But, really, what other possibility could there by besides this?   Erik's Best Park Food/Restaurant - Spökbaren Gasten at Liseberg While food was perhaps not on balance as good as on our two previous European trips, there were some highlights. Such as the Danish Smørrebrød, or Liseberg's haunted pub. Of course, part of this choice is the atmosphere. After all, everyone knows that food tastes better when you're scared.   Smisty's Best Park Food/Restaurant - The Disgusting Food Museum in Malmö, Sweden Smisty, you're making a mockery of this whole idea. This isn't even at a park and the whole point of the place is that the food is bad. Why do you hate me??   Erik's Best Non-Park Thing - The Paternoster Elevator What more can I say? Except that Smisty knew full well this was a category when she named a place that serves "three penis wine" as her favorite restaurant, and a buffet as her favorite water ride!   Smisty's Best Non-Park Thing - Tropicario (or, as we call it, the Snake Zoo) Oh, I get it. By calling the Disgusting Food Museum your favorite restaurant, you got to mention both that and this. Cheater!   Fine! I'm changing my favorite wooden roller coaster to the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum! How do you like those apples?!   She likes those apples fine.   I'd like to thank the following weirdos: Myself, for writing this trip report and taking most of the photos. Smisty, for proofreading it and being the B-camera. Bert, for being the only one who reads it. Goodballs, for being our pal. Elissa, for organizing the trip and herding the cats. Robb, for hating mango lassi. Peter Ellis, for inventing the Paternoster Elevator. And Hans Christian Andersen, without whom, we would be left with a dark ride themed to Mads Mikkelsen.   Actually, that sounds kind of awesome.   Goodbye forever!