Photo TR's: JordyC's Theme Park Adventures

[Philrad71Why do I still have a donkey title???]

I would really like to get to this park - some great coasters, flats and beautiful theming.

Thanks for sharing!

[JordyCI love donkeys more than me.]

Efteling (Preview Symbolica) - June 2017

Hello everyone!

Today, Tuesday June 27th 2017, their was the preview for annual pass holders to experience the park's newest dark ride Symbolica before the official opening this Saturday, July 1st. First of all, I would like to thank Efteling for organizing this preview. For the park, it is an excellent way to hold a 'general rehearsal', but it is also a great opportunity to experience Symbolica before everybody else. Also, I want to appologize for the lack op photos. But because Symbolica will only open to the public on Saturday, we were not allowed to make pictures from the ride itself, hence why I only have pictures from the exterior of the ride.

After all the teasing from the park, the amazing Making-Of series, some leaked pictures and videos and knowing that this ride costs 35 million euros, my expactations for Symbolica were pretty much as high as they can get. And you know what, it exceeded all of them! From the moment that you enter the queue from the majestic Palace of Fantasy until you exit the ride, you are in a completely different world. Symbolica just has so much theming everywhere you look, and I really love all the little details. Since it was the preview, we were only allowed to have one ride, but that certainly isn't enough. The ride didn't really feel 7 minutes long, but that's because there's so much to see. And I am sure that this ride will get better everytime you ride it. I heard some people say that they were a bit disappointed by the ride. And I can see why. It is just so big, and there is so much going on and so much to see, that it might feel a bit overwhelming after the first ride. But as I said, I am sure that this ride will get better the more you ride it. But for me, it is the best ride at the park and my new favourite Dark Ride.

**SPOILER ALERT** If you want to be surprised by the wonderful world of Symbolica, then stop reading here!

Symbolica takes you on a 7 minute journey, but the total experience takes much longer. It all starts when you enter the queue, in the beautiful gardens of the Palace of Fantasy. After a wonderful walk through the gardens, you enter the lobby of the Palace. Here you are greeted by lackey O.J. Punctueel, which is the first of many amazing animatronics. He is explaining the house rules of the palace, in preparation for your audience with King Pardulfus. Suddenly Pardoes - the park's mascot - appears on top of the stairs and says "Alle Tovertwinkels" (All Magic Twinkles), after which the stairs magically open and creates a secret doorway towards a stairwell.

After a walk down the stairs, you arrive in the station. You have to choose between three different routes: Tour of Heroes, Tour of Music or Tour of Treasure. The three vehicles, named Fantasy Sailors, will leave at the same time. On my ride, I chose the Tour of Music.

Initially, the three Fantasy Sailors stay together. First, you drive into a dark corridor with flashing candles and blue crystals. On the way to the Observatory - the work room of the old wizard Almar - you pass by a staircase and a treasure chest. Once you arrive in the Observatory, Almar is saying all kind of spells. Suddenly behind him Pardoes appears once again. With his Twinkle Torch in his hands, he says: "Use your imagination!", after which the Fantasy Sailors are enchanted and beautiful stars appear in the sky and on the Fantasy Sailors.

Next, the Fantasy Sailors drive to the Panorama Salon. You first pass by a large painting of a Symbolic landscape at daylight, that is absolutely stunning. Then you drive to the balcony of the palace, overlooking a huge illuminated miniature city. This is the most impressive scene! Seriously, it is just stunning. All the little houses, the rivers, the beautiful butterflies, the gentle breeze; there is just SO MUCH DETAIL! I would ride it again just for that scene alone.

The next room is the botanical garden Botanicum, with magical flowers that open and close. The Fantasy Sailors stop in front of some dark windows. Or that is what it first looked like. It turns out to be an aquarium. A big fish appears and breaks the glass. Water is pouring into the botanical garden, after which Pardoes appears behind a plant and says, "Come here, it's safe!"

Then you enter a six-door hallway. The Fantasy Sailors split up and enter the Music Salon, the Heroes Cabinet or the Treasures Boudoir. Then some objects appear in the mirror. You can use the interactive control panel in the front of the first row to decide what objects you want to see. Next, the Fantasy Sailors take you to the Hidden Fantasy Depot. All Fantasy Sailors drive to somewhere different, depending on the chosen tour. As mentioned before, I had the Tour of Music. Musical instruments starts to play and move, depending on what you touch on the interactive panel.

In the Royal Champagne Stock, the three Fantasy Sailors come back together. Then the Fantasy Sailors take you to a pile of pots and pans in the "Provisie Passage", where the cook Polle appears. He is pushing a large piles of pancakes, which are wobbling back and forth.

In the big Royal Hall, Lachey O.J. Punctueel is waiting for you. "Unfortunately, you are too late for the audience." King Pardulfus and Princess Pardijn are sitting on a large table filled with all kinds of magical delicacies from a 'Hoorn des Overvloeds' (Horn of Abundance). Pardoes is on the table and ignites the chandeliers in the hall with the saying "Illumina Symbolica!" Here you start to dance with the other two Fantasy Sailors. Once again, you can use the control panel in front of you to decide if you want to spin left or right.

The last scene is the "Gallery of the Imaginatives". Here you see a collection of moving paintings by all residents of the palace, such as Pardoes, Almar, Pardulfus, Pardijn, O.J. Punctueel, Polle and the fish from Botanicum. Your photo will also appear in a painting, which was really cool.

Now on to some pictures.

I am here at the sneak preview of Symbolica.

What is that behind the gates?

Here it is, the wonderful Palace of Fantasy.

Everything was already set up for the big opening later this week.

A sneak peek of the Palace's garden.

There are lots of things to read while you are waiting in the queue, and that in 4 different languages.

A little back gate to the gardens of the Palace.

Yes, even the back side of Symbolica looks great.

Where else do you have a waterfall at the back of a dark ride?

There are so many little details. I love it!

A look at the amazing roof of Symbolica.

Some more people waiting to enter the Palace of King Pardulfus.

Pagode taking a closer look.

I will end this report with this fantastic view.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.

[JordyCI love donkeys more than me.]

Tivoli Gardens - June 2017

Hello everyone!

June 28th and 29th 2017, I went for my first ever time to Copenhagen to visit Tivoli Gardens and Bakken. I spent the first day in Tivoli Gardens, and the second day in Bakken.

On June 28th I visited Tivoli Gardens. This was a park I wanted to visit for a very long time, and especcialy after my visit to Liseberg last year. I don't know why exactly, but there is something about these city parks that I just love. The park is very beautiful with all the gardens (hence why it's called Tivoli Gardens). I did not know what to expect from the queue times, but they weren't bad at all. Most rides had a wait time of 5-10, except for Dæmonen with 15-20 minutes. Overall, I had an amazing time at one of the most beautifully landscaped parks in Europe.

Dæmonen (7,5/10)
This was my first B&M Floorless, and I just loved how compact it is. The elements follow each other so quickly, no time to have a break, and I really liked that. I also liked that you start off with the helix after the lift hill, that's something unique. Also, the zero-G roll is just perfect! The ride was perfectly smooth, but the theming was okay, nothing too special. The area looked nice, but that's pretty much it. In terms of comparing it to the other B&M's I've ridden, Dæmonen is my least favourite. But don't get me wrong, it is still an awesome ride and gets a 7,5/10 from me.

Rutschebanen (7/10)
The fact that this coaster opened in 1914 and is still this awesome just blew my mind. Seriously, Rutschebanen is definitely in my top 10 wooden coasters. The airtime is insane, especially in the back. Also, it was surprisingly smooth. And the mountain that you're going through looks great. I knew this ride would be a blast, but it exceeded my expectations.

During my last ride, we had to stop in the second corner. The brakeman told us there was something wrong with the train in front of us. After 5 minutes, we got green light and continued our ride. Because we proceeded from a standstill, the rest of the ride wasn't that good. But he asked if we wanted to stay seated and go for another ride. And since we are not stupid, of course we said yes. And OMG! That last ride was totally amazing! He barely braked and we just went totally crazy. The airtime was phenomenal, and we were thrown from side to side in the last section. Shout out to that guy, he is fantastic!

Odinexpressen (3/10)
A Mack Powered Coaster that was actually pretty forceful, but it had absolutely no theming. It was pretty smooth, though. But it's just not my kind of ride.

Karavanen (1,5/10)
Your standard Tivoli Coaster (yes, a Tivoli at Tivoli). At least this one has got some theming.

Welcome to Tivoli Gardens.

First impressions: what a beautiful park.

I bet this will look even better at night.

Tivoli Gardens is full with beautiful, well.. Gardens.

The Star Flyer is the only way you can tell that I am in an amusement park.

The big Tivoli stage.

You wouldn't say that I am in the most populous city of Denmark.

First ride of the day - Rutschebanen!

Airtime!

It is strictly forbidden to stand up in the cars - except for the brakeman!

What a classic, I absolutely loved it!

Rutschebanen's mountain in front, Copenhagen in the back.

The Brakeman is just chillin' around.

Mind your head!

There are lots and lots of restaurants at Tivoli.

The park's Ferris Wheel.

Minen - a fun little interactive dark/boat ride.

It had some decent theming, and it was fun!

The concert hall of Tivoli.

They also have this classic Breakdance. I love these classic rides.

Time for a ride on Himmelskibet, Star Flyer in English. (Thanks Google)

Amazing views from Copenhagen up there.

With its 80 meters (260 ft) tall tower, it's the tallest ride at the park.

I wanted to have a night ride on it, but it closed at 22:00 for the fireworks.

Anyone fancy a balloon?

Next up, Odinexpressen.

A closer look at those powering wheels underneath the train.

You get 3 laps on it, which is great!

I'll never skip a ride on the Bumper Cars.

You get a very long cycle on it. Awesome!

Astronomen; a beautifully themed flat ride.

All the rides at Tivoli just look so pretty.

"Life is the most wonderful fairy tale"

The China area of the park.

Dæmonen, with or without VR.

Peeking through the loop.

The lift hill it's not that tall, but the station is about 10 meters (30 ft) above the ground.

The lights will follow the path of the train at night.

Best zero-G roll I've done!

Rollin' towards the station.

What a beautiful mess of track.

Dæmonen doing its thing.

You can choose to ride VR, but only in the 2nd - 4th row. I am not a big fan of it..

It's like a mine Dragon Khan.

Just cruising around.

Just your standard towers, nothing special. Although you get great views of the Gardens and the city.

This is quite possibly the most intense ride I have ever done. 5 freakin' G's is a bit too much for me.

And if the 5 G's doesn't make you feel sick, the spinning definitely will.

Monsunen - an inverted flying carpet.

The newest ride of the park - Fata Morgana. The "twirl" sides are definitely the best.

They have a Tivoli at Tivoli, how awesome is that.

For those Booster Wheel enthusiasts out there.

Helix helix helix!

What a beautiful park it is.

There is a fountain and water show on this lake at night.

Floating garden, only at Tivoli Gardens.

I love little things like this.

A Danish bird, standing on one leg. What a great act!

There is a restaurant in that ship.

Yes, we are still at Tivoli.

They had a garden (of course) with dozens of little fountains like this.

Another restaurant. You will not be hungry here.

This park is just so relaxing.

Anyone in for a bit of Jazz?

Did I already mention how beautiful this park is?

Nobody has made this shot before.

Little boat ride in the front, B&M in the back.

Isn't she pretty?

It is time for the fountain show.

And there is fire! Fire is always a bonus.

Let's have a look at the park during night.

Rutschebanen is even better at sunset.

Who doesn't love some gorgeous B&M curves?

I love Chinese theming.

I will end this report with this amazing view.

Thanks for reading. I will soon upload my report from Bakken.

[Guy T. KoeppNow with Extra Retarded Flavor]

This is such a beautiful park. I truly hope I can get to it one day. Great pictures!

[JordyCI love donkeys more than me.]

This is such a beautiful park. I truly hope I can get to it one day. Great pictures!

It surely is a very beautiful park. I hope you will be able to get out there someday! It is very easy to get to, and the park itself is just so relaxing.

Ooooh I really want to get back to Tivoli. It's easily one of The Parks in Europe I want to return to.
And of course, the wonderful city of Copenhagen.

Great shots you took. I am always amazed how much "amusement park" they pack into this place,
along with all the wonderful landscaped areas, etc. Everything looks as awesome as it did back
in 2014, my last visit there.

Thanks for sharing your visit there. I Tivoli.

[JordyCI love donkeys more than me.]

Great shots you took. I am always amazed how much "amusement park" they pack into this place,
along with all the wonderful landscaped areas, etc.

Yes, indeed. I felt the same way. It's amazing how they have so many beautiful gardens, and they still find the space for the rides, without losing the "garden feeling".

[vfireI Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

Eftleing and Tivoli are just beautiful parks. Thanks for the trip reports!

[cfcI've gone pantless!]

Tivoli Gardens is a beautiful park, and Rutschebanen is a lot of fun. I haven't been there since they restored the ride's "mountain" setting.

[JordyCI love donkeys more than me.]

Eftleing and Tivoli are just beautiful parks. Thanks for the trip reports!

They are indeed one of the most beautiful parks in Europe!

Tivoli Gardens is a beautiful park, and Rutschebanen is a lot of fun. I haven't been there since they restored the ride's "mountain" setting.

I really enjoyed Rutschebanen. It is an awesome ride, especially for its age. And when you have a good brakeman, the airtime is insane!