History/General Info: Tivoli Friheden actually began as a small restaurant in the woods rather than an actual theme park. It originally opened in 1903, and after only five or six short years, it became exceedingly popular. A young man named Hans Rising owned the restaurant. Concerts on bandstand were always popular events, and in 1927, the restaurant was expanded and a theater was eventually put in that new space. It wasn’t until 1949 that attractions started to make there way into the scene. A minigolf course, pedal boats, and a fairly large spot to conduct chess games in front of the restaurant. 1954 was the final year that Mr. Rising was in charge of the restaurant. Dan Christopersen took over and added several new attractions. This attracted Tivoli into the situation, and in 1958, the amusement park officially opened. The park has expanded constantly since then, including a $2+ (USD) million renovation of the park from 1992-1996.

Roller Coasters:

• Cobra (Ride Tek energizer)
• Dragen (Pinfari super dragon)
• Orkanens Øje (Pinfari ZL42)
• Tyfonen (Zamperla twister coaster)

Other Major Attractions:

• Sky Tower (free fall tower)
• The Pirate Ship (pirate ship)
• Obstacle Course (obstacle course)

Construction Projects:

• None

Trip Reports:

• None

Ride Reviews:

• None

History/General Info: Tivoli Gardens is a unique park where the atmosphere and the scenery may actually take precedence over the ride themselves. The park has been a staple of the area for years – it opened in 1843. A staple for the park has been the numerous lights that they use to light up the park. During the summer time, the park has about 120,000 lit, and that number increases dramatically to 2 million during the Christmas season. The park also has numerous parades and performances at their theater. Performances range from The Tivoli Symphony Orchestra to ballet to rock and jazz and everything else in between. Right below the concert hall you will find the aquarium, which features a wide variety of fish and sharks. Along with the concert hall, there are three other venues where a wide variety of various performing events take place – the Pantomime Theater, the Glass Hall theater, and the Open Air Stage.

Roller Coasters:

• Dæmonen (B&M floorless)
• Karavanen (Zierer tivoli)
• Odin Ekspressen (Mack powered)
• Rutschebanen (side friction)

Other Major Attractions:

• The Star Flyer (aviator)
• The Golden Tower (S&S tower)
• The Dragon (HUSS mixer)

Construction Projects:

• None

Trip Reports:

• None

Ride Reviews:

• None

Description: As of now, Toverland is a small park that consists of primarily indoor attractions housed in two facilities. Over the next couple years, Toverland would like to add a third indoor collection of rides to the mix. This will supposedly be the largest of the indoor sections, as it would double the ride count for the park. While details are fairly scarce, Vekoma will likely provide the majority (if not all) of the rides for the new section. And while this is not confirmed, there has been some buzz that the park would like a Vekoma coaster to be a part of that ride collection coming in. There is a chance that the park could complete this by 2010, but, to me, that seems unlikely. We’ll have to wait and see, however.

Updates:

N/A - Hinted that a Vekoma coaster may be a part of a new indoor expansion for the park.

History/General Info: Toverland opened its doors (literally for the first time in 2001. With the exception of a handful of rides, Toverland is completely indoors. The park currently has two “sections” (both indoors), and is currently planning another expansion, which, again, will be indoors. The theme for Toverland is that of wizards and magic, as evidenced by the parks’ name, which in English means “wizardry.”

Roller Coasters:

• Boomerang (Vekoma junior coaster)
• Booster Bike (Vekoma motorbike coaster)
• Troy (GCI wood)

Other Major Attractions:

• Backstroke (log flume)
• Woudracer (bobsled)
• Towers of Adventure (ropes course)

Construction Projects:

• 2011: Third phase expansion.

Trip Reports:

• None

Ride Reviews:

• None

History/General Info: As a part of the Tripsdrill park, there is also Wildparadies, an open environment where you can take a train tour around an animal park! The safari park has numerous wild animals and the park also offers animal feeding everday (except Fridays) at 2:30.

Roller Coasters:

• G’sengte Sau (Gerstlauer bobsled)
• Mammut (Ingenieur-Holzbau Cordes wood)
• Rasender Tausendfüßler (Zierer tivoli)

Other Major Attractions:

• Bathtub Ride (log flume)
• Waschzuber-Rafting (raft ride)
• Wildparadies (animal park)

Construction Projects:

• None

Trip Reports:

• None

Ride Reviews:

• None

History/General Info: Tusenfryd officially opened on June 11, 1988. The park became a reality after citizens in the area realized that, despite the fact that about 50% of Norway’s population within the vicinty of Oslo, there was not a single amusement attraction in the area. When it opened, Tusenfryd was little more than a leisure park with a few rides. Now, the park is a bustling theme park that has everything any other major theme park would have. According to the website, the park attracts about 500,000 visitors annually, and, in the summer, more workers work at Tusenfryd than any other single working location in the country! In 2007, the park was purchased by Parques Reunidos.

Roller Coaster:

• Dragon (Zamperla dragon)
• Loopen (Vekoma tornado)
• Speed Monster (Intamin rocket coaster)
• SuperSplash (Mack supersplash)
• Teeny-weeny (SDF Visa Group kiddie)
• Thundercoaster (Vekoma wood)

Other Major Attractions:

• Space Shot (S&S tower)
• Tømmerstupet (log flume)
• Kanofarten (pirate ship)

Construction Projects:

• None

Trip Reports:

• None

Ride Review:

• None

History/General Info: Opened in 1975, this was the first of the Walibi parks. An interesting fact is that Walibi is derived fromt the three towns surrounding the park (WAvre, LImal, and BIèrges). Walibi was the first park in Europe to have POP admission (pay-one-price). The large lake in the middle of the park was the original highlight, as guests would make their way to the park to enjoy waterskiing. The park was purchased in 1998 by Premier Parks, and by the year 2000, it had been branded Six Flags Belgium and the trademark Six Flags roller coasters and thrill rides had been added by the 2001 season. Six Flags maintained operation of the park for a brief period, until the new ownership sold the park to Star Parks in 2004 in an effort to reduce costs. Star Parks then sold the park to Grévin & Cie in 2006.

Roller Coasters:

• Calamity Mine (Vekoma mine train)
• Cobra (Vekoma boomerang)
• Coccinelle (Zierer tivoli)
• Loup Garou (Vekoma wood)
• Turbine (Scwarzkopf shuttle loop)
• Vampire (Vekoma SLC)
• Vertigo (Doppelmayer mountain glider)

Other Major Attractions:

• Dalton Tower (drop tower)
• Buzzsaw (top spin)
• Challenge of Tutankhamen (dark ride)

Construction Projects:

• None

Trip Reports:

• None

Ride Reviews:

• None

Description: This has not been confirmed, but news reports indicate that Disney and the Shanghai government may have finally banged out a new deal to bring a Disneyland resort to the Shanghai region. Some details from the article (see Updates section below) state that the park will be located in Pudong, will hopefully open by 2012 (this would be about when a third of the resort would be completed), be eight times the size of Hong Kong Disneyland, and that it could cost as much as $5.7 billion USD. It also appears as if the agreement is different than the one Disney has with the Hong Kong government for that Disney resort. Unlike Hong Kong, where the government leases Disney the land, the government of Shanghai will own the land, finance construction, and maintain a majority ownership in the resort. However, Disney will receive royalties for using their name, manage the resort, and receive a small portion of the income. According to unnamed sources, the two groups would like to make the announcement regarding the resort in August after the Beijing Olympics. Most of this comes from these unnamed sources, so take everything with a little grain of salt until there is some kind of official announcement.

Updates:

6/29/08 – Article citing unnamed sources claims that Disney and Shanghai have hammered out a deal to bring a Disney resort to Pudong.

History/General Info: Originally, Walibi Rhone Alpes opened in 1979 under the name Avenir Land. In 1998, Premier Parks purchased the park, and in 2000, the Six Flags brand officially moved in to take over the park. That reign was short lived, however, as the new Six Flags management sold the park (along with all of their other European assests as well in an effort to cut costs) to Star Parks, who in turn sold the park to Grévin & Cie in 2006.

Roller Coasters:

• Boomerang (Vekoma boomerang)
• Coccinelle des Andes (Zierer tivoli)
• Zig Zag (Zamperla zig zag coaster)

Other Major Attractions:

• Totem Infernal (S&S tower)
• Tomahawk (inverter)
• Grand Soleil (ferris wheel)

Construction Projects:

• None

Trip Reports:

• None

Ride Reviews:

• None

Description: After the ride had been SBNO for about a year, the park is now rehabbing the ride for the 2009 season. While I am sure that other minor improvements to the ride will be made during the span that is down, it seems that the only confirmed improvement that the ride will be getting will be new trains. The ride will be ready for the ’09 season.

Updates:

• None