Gothenburg and Liseberg: My Review

[Rob]

Considering my review of Helix was over 2000 words long I dread to think how long this may be! Anyway, as many of you know I visited Sweden this weekend just gone with the main purpose of the trip being Liseberg. We flew on the Friday morning and were able to spend much of Friday having a look around Gothenburg. The Saturday and Sunday were then spent at Liseberg before flying home on the Monday morning.

Sweden and Gothenburg

This was my first visit to Sweden. If I’m honest I wasn’t totally sure what exactly to expect. I’d done a little research online just before going and found out that there were a surprising amount of things to do in Gothenburg. I also found out that the Swedes seem to be quite proud of their tap water with visit Sweden website recommending tap water over bottled water. I’ll probably come on to this a couple of more times in this report. Finally I knew that the currency was vastly different to all previous currencies I have used myself in the past.

We flew with Ryanair from Stansted to Gothenburg City Airport (also known as Gothenburg Shed Airport) – the terminal building here has a Blue Fire station feel to its exterior. Anyway I digress. You get a great first impression when coming in to land here. The coastline around here is stunning with hundreds of little islands and lovely rock formations. Then you have all the stereotypically Scandinavian buildings.

Gothenburg itself is a beautiful city. We had a wander around the more central areas on-route from the bus station to our hotel (Hotell Liseberg Heden). Gothenburg Central Station is a lovely old building and just outside across the road is a large square. There were hundreds of bikes parked up here; this was our first indication of what a healthy country Sweden seems to be. So many people cycle, jog and walk. Most others use public transport. For a large city there were relatively few cars on the road.

After checking in to our hotel we ventured west which involved crossing Kungsportsavenyen, the main road in the city where you can find lots of shops and restaurants. It’s Gothenburg’s equivalent of the Champs Elysee. Our first stop off was Skansen Kronan in the Haga area of the city. This is a 17th Century fort built on the top of a hill built to defend the city. It’s a long walk up but the views of the city from the top of the hill are stunning. Well worth a visit.

We then moved on to Slottsskogen (translates in English to Castle Forest) which is the main 137 hectare park in Gothenburg. With large open spaces, lots of trees, lakes and many rock formations the park does have a bit of a Central Park feel to it. In the centre of the park on the top of a hill is a zoo where you can find animals including Swedish elk, moose and deer. There is also an area just away from the zoo with penguins and seals. We had lunch at a little café in the park; I asked for a baguette and a bottle of water. Instead of being given a bottle of water I was given a free glass of lovely tap water, a pleasant surprise!

After a 3am get up that morning we were getting rather tired this time so headed back to the hotel. Another point about Sweden, everyone speaks perfect English, in fact I’m sure some Swedes speak better English that some English people. If someone started speaking to you in Swedish and realised that you didn’t understand, they would immediately apologise to you and start speaking in English. At one point I saw a Swedish family where the parents where having a conversation with their children in English, I can only assume this is to help them learn the language. Quite surreal.

I could quite happily have spent a few days in Gothenburg to take in all the sights, visit a few more places and museums and take a trip out to the coast. Part of one day certainly isn’t enough time!

Hotell Lisberg Heden

So we decided to stay at the official Liseberg hotel. I managed get a good price online that was similar to other hotels and of course staying here included the added bonus of Helix ERT on the Saturday morning, far too good to resist! It’s a nice little hotel. It’s not themed in any way but it does have a pleasant up market feel to it. The rooms are a little on the small side however they are well equipped. I found the bed extremely comfy!

The breakfast was lovely. Each morning I had a helping of hot bacon, sausage, scrambled egg and toast followed by fresh fruit salad and watermelon slices. The bacon was some of the nicest I have ever had the pleasure of eating. Also, the waiter that was seating people actually sounded English despite being Swedish, there was no hint of an accent! Imagine a Swede turning up to ATH for breakfast… actually don’t!

The hotel is just a ten minute walk from the park and you also get one days entry to the park included in your stay. All in all I was impressed and would certainly stay here again.

Liseberg

Liseberg is a park I’ve looked at for quite some time but had never really seriously considered a visit until they announced Helix. Of course Liseberg is an amusement park rather than a theme park so it was never going to be comparable to say Europa Park, BGW, Alton Towers etc. I suppose it is more like Blackpool Pleasure Beach only far nicer, in a better location and with superior rides.

Finding the park was dead easy, follow the huge Intamin drop tower than can be seen from the whole of the city! The main park entrance is on the north side of the park and it is a matter of metres from a main road. There is no car park here, just a tram stop nearby. It’s an unusual entrance but I really like it. It looks impressive and grand.

It is not just the main entrance that is unusual, the whole park is! You have one main path that runs through the whole park from the north entrance to the south entrance. It runs parallel to the bottom of the hill and here you can find restaurants, shops, escalators up the hillside and attractions including Lisebergbanan and the Flumeride. Then you have a path that runs along the hillside about half way up, and one that runs along the top of the hill. There are then areas to the left of the main path through the park where you can find the lovely looking kids area, Rabbit Land. A river also flows through the park; across this you can find attractions such as Balder, Kanonen, the rapids and Gasten Ghost House. It has been mentioned on these forums before and it really is like the park has been designed in RCT.

The park itself is beautiful. It is up there with the very best when it comes to landscaping and that is some compliment when you consider the likes of Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Europa Park. It is a very green park; a look at Google Maps satellite views demonstrates this. You actually forget that you are right in the middle of a city at times. Liseberg clearly take great care when it comes to planting, there are some lovely flower beds in various places. You also have the Liseberg Gardens on the hillside just as you enter the park. It all serves to enhance the positive atmosphere that the park has.

Helix actually a great example of how seriously landscaping is taken at the park. It does not look like the ride has only just opened this year. It all blends in so will with the hillside it proudly sits on. You can see lots of new planting in areas that had to be cleared for construction. One case is the where the pretzel loop is situated. This huge element is constructed on a large concrete foundation in a similar manner to how the whole of The Smiler is on one large concrete foundation. But would you know this if you had not been following the construction of Helix? Not at all! They have completely covered it over in soil and filled the area with trees and plants, not a hint of concrete. Such a refreshing attitude.

It is not just planting and landscaping that makes Liseberg a beautiful park. There are many typically Scandinavian buildings throughout the park. With it being an amusement park there are very few themed buildings, the main exceptions being the Ghost House and the rapids. It’s all so quaint, so Sweden, so Liseberg.

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[Rob]

Rides and Attractions

Liseberg has had an appealing ride line-up for a number of years now. Lisebergbanan is rightly regarded as a classic and Balder has a reputation as being a top class airtime filled woodie. And now in 2014 they are the home of Helix, Mack’s most ambitious project to date. So, what are the rides at this park like?

The Liseberg Wheel:

Let’s start with something tame. Along with AtmosFear this is the attraction that really stands out on the park’s skyline. It’s a big ass 200ft tall big wheel and provides stunning views of the park and the city. We got to go round three times and it allowed for a very unique perspective of the park below, particularly the Liseberg hill. Highly recommended if there is not a long queue.

Uppswinget:

This is an S&S Screaming Swing like Rush at Thorpe Park, only it is far better than Rush. Firstly this one is actually run on a decent setting meaning you get a good number of full swings. Secondly it’s not buggered. And thirdly it is set on the side of the Liseberg hill meaning that you get the great views and a slightly surreal ride experience. A great thrill flat.

Jukebox:

We weren’t going to bother with this as we were running out of time but we’d had messages from several back in the UK saying that we must, so we did. Unfortunately a victim of overhype for me. It is better than the equivalent at Nigloland and is a good fun ride but it doesn’t warrant the somewhat rave reviews it seemingly got. I would still welcome something like this at Towers though.

Uppskjutet:

An S&S shot tower, nothing to really shout about. Good fun and worth a ride. Looks nice on the hill along with Höjdskräcken.

Höjdskräcken:

This is an S&S drop tower, although I’m not sure the drop is freefall. Like most things S&S do there is air power involved. Still this is great fun and has a far better drop than AtmosFear. These smaller drop towers are often really good.

Kållerado:

This is the park’s Intamin rapids ride and it is very different to any other rapids I have ever done. The station is indoors and you then venture out into a very unusual “rapids” layout. I put rapids in inverted commas as there aren’t really many rapids sections on this. It is somewhat slow and sedate yet the odd wave did come over and soak our boat. These rapids do have a lot of squirting water effects and water explosions and these are what tend to get you wet. Overall though not a patch on say Fjord Rafting or Congo River Rapids.

FlumeRide:

As the name suggests, this is the park’s log flume. It is an old Arrow log flume that opened in 1973. It is another water ride with a unique layout. Not only that but the op-cabin is not even in the station. It is situated halfway up the hill near the final drop and has an air traffic control tower feel to it, very strange!

Anyway the ride. You begin by climbing a lift hill towards the top of the hill. You then wind along the hill passing under and over Lisebergbanan with stunning views down to the rest of the park. Before any drops you head up another lift hill right to the very top of the hill. A slight meander later and it’s straight into the first drop down the hill. This is followed by a further very small drop right before the final and largest drop right back down to the bottom of the hill. And thankfully you don’t get that wet; although we did see some boats full of adults get a soaking at the bottom of the final drop.

It really is a very enjoyable flume ride that builds up perfectly to its grand finale.

Gasten Ghost House:

This is the park’s only truly themed attraction and boy is it well themed. We honestly weren’t too sure what it was. A scare maze? A haunted walkthrough? Some sort of ghost train ride? I suppose it is a combination of the first two. You walk through this haunted hotel in a conga line and there are various actors along the way. However it really isn’t that scary. The theming however, WOW! It is incredible; detailed, extensive and varied. You pass through many different themed rooms, one which is ice cold and another which is very hot. There are uneven floors and a nice wooden plank walkway effect using a glass floor. The sunken ship scene is particularly stunning. I was at the front of the group just walking and admiring the theming.

AtmosFear:

This is the ride that is visible from nearly all of Gothenburg; a 308ft tall Intamin drop tower that was previously an observation tower. It is impossible not to be intimidated by it. As you would expect it is scary as hell being taken to the top, and the views are spectacular. The drop though? Bland. These huge Intamin drop towers with large circular gondolas are all the same. You feel the speed as you drop but there is no real force. I much prefer smaller ones like Apocalypse or fantastic High Fall at Movie Park Germany, they actually pack a punch.

Kanonen:

With Helix in the park Kanonen does seem a little redundant. It’s such a small little Intamin accelerator coaster. I’ve always thought that it’s looked a cute little coaster and I was interested to see how it would ride. Ultimately it is a tad bland. The launch is perfectly fun but it just never really gets going. You then creep over the top hat. We saw a couple of empty trains launched at one point and they barely made it over! It’s then into a perfectly pleasant loop, some typical Intamin turns and transitions and an in-line twist.

We rode Kanonen for a second time on the front row however and it was a better experience. The transitions felt a lot smoother and there were a couple of decent pops of airtime. An average coaster that I suppose was a little cute.

Lisebergbanan:

Now this is a true classic. The 1987 signature coaster from Schwarzkopf. The coaster starts right at the very bottom of the Liseberg hill and you immediately climb the lift hill all the way to the very top. This must be the biggest lift hill on a family coaster anywhere in the world! The first part of the ride involves venturing around the top of the hill, ducking under and around other attractions including Helix. You then reach the ride’s showpiece section; three dives down and around the hill, all almost exactly the same yet all great fun. Following the third of these you race along in the same direction as Helix’s track. We were lucky enough to duel perfectly with Helix on one ride here which was one of those special theme park moments! A few more turns and it is the end of the ride.

I don’t think any written review or any POV will ever do Lisebergbanan justice. It is just a brilliantly fun ride, exactly what a good family coaster should be. You even get some nice pops of airtime once it has warmed up. Then there the matter of front row in the dark, even better! The sensation of speed is greatly enhanced and at times you don’t really know where you are going.

It should also be mentioned that Lisebergbanan is a throughput monster. It runs five very long trains; the hosts don’t check the restraints and it is a case of train in, guests off, guests on, train out. Very efficient operations meaning that the queue constantly moves.

Balder:

Now I was really looking forward to Balder. It gets top class reviews and considering my current number 1 coaster is El Toro, another Intamin woodie, I knew this could be amazing. So maybe I shouldn’t have been too surprised at being slightly underwhelmed after my first ride. Thankfully each subsequent ride got better. As with most woodies Balder is best once it has warmed up. The first drop is great on the back row and you have some nice sustained airtime on the hills. I particularly enjoyed some of the smaller hills towards the end of the ride. The corners on Balder are slight non events, it is true that they’ve been banked too much meaning that there is no force.

Balder is a really good wooden coaster but it was never going to compare to the mighty beast that is El Toro.

Helix:

I’ve already written a rather long review of Helix so I’m not going to make you read a second one. If you’ve not already seen it then take a look here.

What I will say again is that Helix is the main reason for visiting Liseberg and it is the main reason that I will return. A world class coaster.


We didn’t bother with the two kids coasters. The queues were too long and more rides on Helix were a priority!

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[Rob]

Food

You can never be too sure what to expect from food at a theme park. Some places just have the bog standard overpriced burgers or hot dogs and chips. Others provide proper restaurants where you can sit down and enjoy a real meal. Thankfully Liseberg gives the option of the latter. Although there are four Burger Kings in the park you would be mad to visit one of these ahead of one of Liseberg’s own fabulous restaurants. The very informative park map gives you a good overview of what you have to choose from.

On the Saturday we ate at Café Taube. I had lovely Swedish meatballs with creamy mash potato. Very impressive food for one of the park’s lesser food outlets. Not only that but you get the option of free glasses of tap water here, no need to ask, there’s an automatic tap.

On the Sunday we tried Järnvägsrestaurangen, a wonderfully railway themed restaurant underneath the station of Lisebergbanan. Once again the food was far better than you could ever imagine eating in most theme parks; I enjoyed a tasty pork dish followed by some sweet strawberries in a vanilla sauce.

I’m always impressed by a park that makes a real effort with their food offerings.

Final Remarks

With world class rides, stunning scenery, great food and a friendly atmosphere you could not want too much more from a city centre amusement park. Walking around you can just tell how much they care for the park and what it means to the city of Gothenburg. Although it is a small park there are plenty of pathways to explore and you never tired of seeing attractions such as Helix and Lisebergbanan set on that unique hillside.

The fact that the park is in the wonderful country of Sweden just make it all better. Everyone, staff and guests alike, is so friendly and helpful. If anyone is considering a trip to Liseberg, or Gothenburg as a city for that matter, then I urge you to go for it. You will not be disappointed.

In Helix Liseberg have themselves’ a modern masterpiece. It is enough of a reason to want to return to this park multiple times in the future. I am excited to see what the future holds for Liseberg. Andreas Andersen seems to really know what he is doing running the park and has a great understanding of what brings you success. I’d imagine that it will be a while before we see another major coaster but I’m certain they will have some other exciting plans for the years ahead.

Liseberg, Gothenburg and Sweden as a whole, it was an absolute pleasure!