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Liseberg: General Discussion
- Thread starter Rob
- Start date
Dave
TS Founding Member
So thoughts on Helix...
When a ride gets so much hype it's hard to come to it in an objective manner, there is often a tendency to either lean towards knocking that hype down a peg or to fly with said hype. Anyway I tried to come with an open mind and these are my thoughts.
The entrance to Helix feels like your in your local shopping centre, with a Burger King, Ben and Jerry's and the entrance to AtmosFear joining Helix in a semi circle at the top of some escalators. Still entering the queue you soon leave that behind, the queue area (as for the whole ride) is not themed but heavily stylised, which suits the park as it is more of a Blackpool style amusement park (but a much more pleasant environment). There is a lot of bare concrete that I hope they get round to covering but overall it's a pleasant place to queue, especially with the excellent IMA score music blasting out.
My first ride was at the front, and I have to say wasn't the most impressive, the first third was decidedly dull though the rest was fun. However every ride after that was considerable better (no idea why) so I will base my review on those.
The ride begins with the drop out of the station which if your sat at the back has a great pop of airtime, into the first inversion which is perfectly pleasant, before turning into the first launch. Now the launch lacks any kind of thrill, simply it seems serving to get you enough speed to complete the ride rather than having any punch to it. A few turns and the suggestion of a bit of airtime before entering the pretzel, all taken competently but without a doubt this is all the weakest part of the ride, not that it's bad but this section is simply roller coaster by numbers.
Then it gets interesting...
The ride then enters the first airtime hill, with fantastic punchy airtime you fly over the hill, the ride having now found it's pace flows into the next inversion before a truly fantastic airtime bump that immediately twist to the left into a helix and turn into the 2nd launch. Again this launch lacks any real punch but you glide out of it into the inverted top hat which is a superb element.
Next up is for me the best part of the ride, an airtime hill with almost ejector airtime taken with the whole of Gothenburg laid out before you (at night this is a spectacular moment). The airtime is euphoric before plunging down into a series of Slalom turn before entering the heart line roll, this doesn't quite have the hang time of bluefires but it is a great element.
So verdict - it's a fantastic coaster, it isn't without fault and the first third lacks pace but it really makes up for that in the final two thirds.
Quick thoughts on the other Liseberg rides:
Balder - wasn't overly impressed, nice airtime but it loses pace in the turns.
Kanonen - it's fine for what it is but nothing special and the launch is pants
Lisebergbanan - it turns right a lot. Fine family coaster though
Park overall is small but beautiful, well worth a trip.
When a ride gets so much hype it's hard to come to it in an objective manner, there is often a tendency to either lean towards knocking that hype down a peg or to fly with said hype. Anyway I tried to come with an open mind and these are my thoughts.
The entrance to Helix feels like your in your local shopping centre, with a Burger King, Ben and Jerry's and the entrance to AtmosFear joining Helix in a semi circle at the top of some escalators. Still entering the queue you soon leave that behind, the queue area (as for the whole ride) is not themed but heavily stylised, which suits the park as it is more of a Blackpool style amusement park (but a much more pleasant environment). There is a lot of bare concrete that I hope they get round to covering but overall it's a pleasant place to queue, especially with the excellent IMA score music blasting out.
My first ride was at the front, and I have to say wasn't the most impressive, the first third was decidedly dull though the rest was fun. However every ride after that was considerable better (no idea why) so I will base my review on those.
The ride begins with the drop out of the station which if your sat at the back has a great pop of airtime, into the first inversion which is perfectly pleasant, before turning into the first launch. Now the launch lacks any kind of thrill, simply it seems serving to get you enough speed to complete the ride rather than having any punch to it. A few turns and the suggestion of a bit of airtime before entering the pretzel, all taken competently but without a doubt this is all the weakest part of the ride, not that it's bad but this section is simply roller coaster by numbers.
Then it gets interesting...
The ride then enters the first airtime hill, with fantastic punchy airtime you fly over the hill, the ride having now found it's pace flows into the next inversion before a truly fantastic airtime bump that immediately twist to the left into a helix and turn into the 2nd launch. Again this launch lacks any real punch but you glide out of it into the inverted top hat which is a superb element.
Next up is for me the best part of the ride, an airtime hill with almost ejector airtime taken with the whole of Gothenburg laid out before you (at night this is a spectacular moment). The airtime is euphoric before plunging down into a series of Slalom turn before entering the heart line roll, this doesn't quite have the hang time of bluefires but it is a great element.
So verdict - it's a fantastic coaster, it isn't without fault and the first third lacks pace but it really makes up for that in the final two thirds.
Quick thoughts on the other Liseberg rides:
Balder - wasn't overly impressed, nice airtime but it loses pace in the turns.
Kanonen - it's fine for what it is but nothing special and the launch is pants
Lisebergbanan - it turns right a lot. Fine family coaster though
Park overall is small but beautiful, well worth a trip.
Sam
TS Member
I've been thinking about Liseberg a lot over the last week, trying to get my thoughts in order. It's safe to say that it's a park that captivated me, that intrigued me, that grabbed my attention with both hands and hasn't let it go since.
First things first: a colossal, whopping great AtmosFear-sized thankyou to the park for absolutely spoiling us rotten. I've been on the receiving end of great generosity from Europa-Park, Alton Towers and Lightwater Valley, but never have I been made to feel so welcome at a park as I did at Liseberg. Three days of free entry, a goody bag with a beautiful book in it detailing the history of all the park's rollercoasters (though awkwardly skipping over the baffling demolition of the Bergbanan and the failure of HangOver), free entry to the horror walkthrough and access to Helix ERT. Wow. Thankyou so so much Liseberg. It won't be forgotten.
Like many old parks, especially those in urban centres, Liseberg is a mish-mash - a confusing, disjointed, overlapping patchwork that has grown and been amended hundreds of times over the last century. This is occasionally frustrating, but mostly delightful, as the imperfections infuse the park with real character that it is not possible to create in a master-planned theme park. The big hill that has to be traversed via several elevators, the river that runs through the heart of the park and the private flats that overlook the area around the rapids only add to the fun.
Photo by Danny
The built environment of the park is slightly ramshackle but charming, centring around a delightful and short 'main street' that runs from the majestic Lisebergbanan station down to the river. The buildings are traditional picture-postcard Scandinavian and may have been built yesterday for all I know, but they give the illusion of having been there since the park opened in 1923. Elsewhere, the vibe is more rustic and folksy, particularly around the rapids and the Jukebox flat ride. This doesn't work quite as well, and you can blame that on the multi-lane highways that thunder within metres of the park on two of its four sides.
The park are quite rightly noted for their food which is very good, even the fast food offerings at Comix, which substantially improves on the disappointingly high number of Burger King outposts dotted around the park. The themed restaurant under Lisebergbanan is very cute, and the food is simple but high quality Swedish cuisine (I had pork with a delicious creamy sauce). The smoked salmon salad I had at Stjärnornas Krog was top-notch, with a huge fillet of fish where I was expecting a couple of thin strips. It's pricey compared to anywhere else in Europe, but not absurdly so for Scandinavia. Relative to TusenFryd, food prices were very reasonable. Right, onto the rides.
Jukebox
A 'Polyp' flat-ride from Gerstlauer that I had only experienced before in disappointing form at Nigloland. This was a completely different experience: a crazy, disorientating, wild and out-of-control little ride with a great repertoire of movement and different sensations for a spinning flat. During quite long ride cycles, you rarely experience the exact same motion twice, making this very re-rideable. It's probably overlooked due to its size, but this is one of the best flats in Europe.
Flumeride
An excellent and substantial flume from Arrow, showing that they really had the advantage over their Mack counterparts in the 70s and 80s - this is a wise 1973 investment by Liseberg. The ride was the first in the park to utilise the mountain, which you seemingly climb up forever before reaching a long and winding section. Unlike the winding section on Alton's flume, this isn't tedious as there is a lot of close-quarters interaction with Lisebergbanan, Helix and the two S&S towers, as well as people to wave at on paths.
Unlike the Mack flumes where a conveyor belt lifts you over the drops, this doesn't bother with that nonsense, and the channel just falls away from you like a waterfall. This is inexplicably vastly more satisfying, as is the little extra surprise drop at the end of the run-off of the first drop. Intelligent pacing, a good length, plenty of interaction and a decently thrilling final drop - this is a great flume.
Kållerado
If only the same could be said about the park's other water ride, a very underwhelming Intamin rapids. They unfortunately go both ways, these rides, from excellent (Fjord Rafting, Congo River Rapids) to poor (Rumba Rapids, Splash Canyon) and this is closer to the latter. The theming is nice, very rustic with an impressive station, but the ride simply doesn't do anything - there are barely any rapids on it, and the ones that are there rarely send any water into the boat. Imaginative squirting effects and a water explosion at the end don't save this from being a duffer, unfortunately.
AtmosFear
Absolutely huge, with a beautiful view over the park/Gothenburg, but unfortunately this converted drop tower is pretty forceless, for reasons unknown. It shouldn't be because its enormous and the gondola is really heavy, but it is. It doesn't pack as much of a punch as Apocalypse, Detonator or even Höjdskräcken in the same park. But who cares when the night-time views are so beautiful? It's a shame it doesn't rotate - presumably this was too difficult with it being a conversion job. Lovely ambient music in the station, sounded almost like a Brian Eno composition.
Höjdskräcken / SpinRock / Uppswinget
Despite a slow start, SpinRock - Zamperla's answer to the KMG Afterburner - turned out to be actually quite good. It has a more artificial feel to it than the KMG version, but that's no bad thing. It takes a while to get going, but this is a very good small swing ride. The S&S drop tower Höjdskräcken is another surprise discovery - for an S&S tower it feels quite powerful, certainly more so than its bigger brother up the hill. I didn't bother with the twin shot tower Uppskjutet as they're always the same: a bit boring, and I've done Ice Blast too many times.
Uppswinget was pretty much identical to Rush, but had the advantage of its great positioning, swinging riders out precariously over the mountain. Whichever way you face this is good, as you're either swinging towards the excellent view or you see the ground drop away from you worryingly quickly. It's also kinda nifty how this ride is positioned inside Lisebergbanan's triple helix, though the way it has to be propped up on the sloping mountainside is a bit on the ugly side.
Hissningen / Hanghai
Two Zierer family freefall towers. Nowhere near as good settings as the one in the Arthur hall at EP. I like that they are both themed differently though (lighthouse and crane) - very pretty. The Hanghai is a Zamperla Disk-O, mercifully without the hump in the middle that ruins Chessington's. Nothing to set the world alight, but a perfectly pleasant ride. Good theming for this park.
Gasten Ghost Hotel
Shockingly for a park where rides are more stylised than themed, this up-charge haunted walkthrough is jawdroppingly well themed. It's set-up like a scare maze, but the actors barely do anything, so its much better to think of it as a walkthrough with an occasional actor - as a scaremaze, it's pants. But the interiors, the interiors! I felt like I had walked onto a film set. In fact, the best comparison I can make to this is the 'promenade theatre' piece The Drowned Man by Punchdrunk, which had very similar sets.
The intricacy is limitless, the detailing exquisite. Detail is an area where most temporary scare mazes fall short, but this has hundreds of almost imperceptible details in each of its numerous and varied scenes. It's so long as well. The water room (in which you navigate through a half-sunken room in a stricken ocean liner - think the final scenes of Titanic where Rose saves a tied-up Jack) is the single best themed environment that I have ever experienced at a theme park. Not Disney, not Universal, but Liseberg. Well worth the money if you're visiting.
Rabalder / Stampbanan
Kids coasters, what is there to say? Stampbanen is absolutely tiny, but OK. Reasonably high thrill level given its microscopic size. Very smooth. Rabalder is a lot better, though that's mostly because of the surprise water effect for those sitting in the front row (great revenge against front row whores!). Prettily themed, in fact that whole 'Rabbit Land' area around these two rides is pretty.
Kanonen
Photo by Danny
Unfortunately, another duffer from Intamin, and an entirely redundant duffer now that Helix is a few hundred metres away. This coaster is simply too small and too slow. After a ho-hum launch, the ride absolutely crawls over the top-hat - in a way it's laughable. Then, a pop of quality with a twisty airtime hill. The very tight loop is OK, but is merely an intro to the undoubted highlight of the ride: the very sharp right-left twist that has echoes of Maverick and iSpeed, that later (and better) Intamin fare.
The ride ends with a drawn out barrel roll that is just painful due to the restraints. So far, so dull. But this ride is utterly terrifying in half of its rows because if you are in the front of a car, the layout is so tight that at several points the back of the car in front bends towards you alarmingly, and it feels like it's about to smash your head like a watermelon. Really frightening and unpleasant - I wouldn't sit in the front of these cars again.
First things first: a colossal, whopping great AtmosFear-sized thankyou to the park for absolutely spoiling us rotten. I've been on the receiving end of great generosity from Europa-Park, Alton Towers and Lightwater Valley, but never have I been made to feel so welcome at a park as I did at Liseberg. Three days of free entry, a goody bag with a beautiful book in it detailing the history of all the park's rollercoasters (though awkwardly skipping over the baffling demolition of the Bergbanan and the failure of HangOver), free entry to the horror walkthrough and access to Helix ERT. Wow. Thankyou so so much Liseberg. It won't be forgotten.
Like many old parks, especially those in urban centres, Liseberg is a mish-mash - a confusing, disjointed, overlapping patchwork that has grown and been amended hundreds of times over the last century. This is occasionally frustrating, but mostly delightful, as the imperfections infuse the park with real character that it is not possible to create in a master-planned theme park. The big hill that has to be traversed via several elevators, the river that runs through the heart of the park and the private flats that overlook the area around the rapids only add to the fun.
Photo by Danny
The built environment of the park is slightly ramshackle but charming, centring around a delightful and short 'main street' that runs from the majestic Lisebergbanan station down to the river. The buildings are traditional picture-postcard Scandinavian and may have been built yesterday for all I know, but they give the illusion of having been there since the park opened in 1923. Elsewhere, the vibe is more rustic and folksy, particularly around the rapids and the Jukebox flat ride. This doesn't work quite as well, and you can blame that on the multi-lane highways that thunder within metres of the park on two of its four sides.
The park are quite rightly noted for their food which is very good, even the fast food offerings at Comix, which substantially improves on the disappointingly high number of Burger King outposts dotted around the park. The themed restaurant under Lisebergbanan is very cute, and the food is simple but high quality Swedish cuisine (I had pork with a delicious creamy sauce). The smoked salmon salad I had at Stjärnornas Krog was top-notch, with a huge fillet of fish where I was expecting a couple of thin strips. It's pricey compared to anywhere else in Europe, but not absurdly so for Scandinavia. Relative to TusenFryd, food prices were very reasonable. Right, onto the rides.
Jukebox
A 'Polyp' flat-ride from Gerstlauer that I had only experienced before in disappointing form at Nigloland. This was a completely different experience: a crazy, disorientating, wild and out-of-control little ride with a great repertoire of movement and different sensations for a spinning flat. During quite long ride cycles, you rarely experience the exact same motion twice, making this very re-rideable. It's probably overlooked due to its size, but this is one of the best flats in Europe.
Flumeride
An excellent and substantial flume from Arrow, showing that they really had the advantage over their Mack counterparts in the 70s and 80s - this is a wise 1973 investment by Liseberg. The ride was the first in the park to utilise the mountain, which you seemingly climb up forever before reaching a long and winding section. Unlike the winding section on Alton's flume, this isn't tedious as there is a lot of close-quarters interaction with Lisebergbanan, Helix and the two S&S towers, as well as people to wave at on paths.
Unlike the Mack flumes where a conveyor belt lifts you over the drops, this doesn't bother with that nonsense, and the channel just falls away from you like a waterfall. This is inexplicably vastly more satisfying, as is the little extra surprise drop at the end of the run-off of the first drop. Intelligent pacing, a good length, plenty of interaction and a decently thrilling final drop - this is a great flume.
Kållerado
If only the same could be said about the park's other water ride, a very underwhelming Intamin rapids. They unfortunately go both ways, these rides, from excellent (Fjord Rafting, Congo River Rapids) to poor (Rumba Rapids, Splash Canyon) and this is closer to the latter. The theming is nice, very rustic with an impressive station, but the ride simply doesn't do anything - there are barely any rapids on it, and the ones that are there rarely send any water into the boat. Imaginative squirting effects and a water explosion at the end don't save this from being a duffer, unfortunately.
AtmosFear
Absolutely huge, with a beautiful view over the park/Gothenburg, but unfortunately this converted drop tower is pretty forceless, for reasons unknown. It shouldn't be because its enormous and the gondola is really heavy, but it is. It doesn't pack as much of a punch as Apocalypse, Detonator or even Höjdskräcken in the same park. But who cares when the night-time views are so beautiful? It's a shame it doesn't rotate - presumably this was too difficult with it being a conversion job. Lovely ambient music in the station, sounded almost like a Brian Eno composition.
Höjdskräcken / SpinRock / Uppswinget
Despite a slow start, SpinRock - Zamperla's answer to the KMG Afterburner - turned out to be actually quite good. It has a more artificial feel to it than the KMG version, but that's no bad thing. It takes a while to get going, but this is a very good small swing ride. The S&S drop tower Höjdskräcken is another surprise discovery - for an S&S tower it feels quite powerful, certainly more so than its bigger brother up the hill. I didn't bother with the twin shot tower Uppskjutet as they're always the same: a bit boring, and I've done Ice Blast too many times.
Uppswinget was pretty much identical to Rush, but had the advantage of its great positioning, swinging riders out precariously over the mountain. Whichever way you face this is good, as you're either swinging towards the excellent view or you see the ground drop away from you worryingly quickly. It's also kinda nifty how this ride is positioned inside Lisebergbanan's triple helix, though the way it has to be propped up on the sloping mountainside is a bit on the ugly side.
Hissningen / Hanghai
Two Zierer family freefall towers. Nowhere near as good settings as the one in the Arthur hall at EP. I like that they are both themed differently though (lighthouse and crane) - very pretty. The Hanghai is a Zamperla Disk-O, mercifully without the hump in the middle that ruins Chessington's. Nothing to set the world alight, but a perfectly pleasant ride. Good theming for this park.
Gasten Ghost Hotel
Shockingly for a park where rides are more stylised than themed, this up-charge haunted walkthrough is jawdroppingly well themed. It's set-up like a scare maze, but the actors barely do anything, so its much better to think of it as a walkthrough with an occasional actor - as a scaremaze, it's pants. But the interiors, the interiors! I felt like I had walked onto a film set. In fact, the best comparison I can make to this is the 'promenade theatre' piece The Drowned Man by Punchdrunk, which had very similar sets.
The intricacy is limitless, the detailing exquisite. Detail is an area where most temporary scare mazes fall short, but this has hundreds of almost imperceptible details in each of its numerous and varied scenes. It's so long as well. The water room (in which you navigate through a half-sunken room in a stricken ocean liner - think the final scenes of Titanic where Rose saves a tied-up Jack) is the single best themed environment that I have ever experienced at a theme park. Not Disney, not Universal, but Liseberg. Well worth the money if you're visiting.
Rabalder / Stampbanan
Kids coasters, what is there to say? Stampbanen is absolutely tiny, but OK. Reasonably high thrill level given its microscopic size. Very smooth. Rabalder is a lot better, though that's mostly because of the surprise water effect for those sitting in the front row (great revenge against front row whores!). Prettily themed, in fact that whole 'Rabbit Land' area around these two rides is pretty.
Kanonen
Photo by Danny
Unfortunately, another duffer from Intamin, and an entirely redundant duffer now that Helix is a few hundred metres away. This coaster is simply too small and too slow. After a ho-hum launch, the ride absolutely crawls over the top-hat - in a way it's laughable. Then, a pop of quality with a twisty airtime hill. The very tight loop is OK, but is merely an intro to the undoubted highlight of the ride: the very sharp right-left twist that has echoes of Maverick and iSpeed, that later (and better) Intamin fare.
The ride ends with a drawn out barrel roll that is just painful due to the restraints. So far, so dull. But this ride is utterly terrifying in half of its rows because if you are in the front of a car, the layout is so tight that at several points the back of the car in front bends towards you alarmingly, and it feels like it's about to smash your head like a watermelon. Really frightening and unpleasant - I wouldn't sit in the front of these cars again.
Sam
TS Member
Lisebergbanan
In comparison to the ride above, this family beast from Schwarzkopf is a simple, soulful joy. The ambition on display during its design and construction is worthy of applause. Before Helix, it owned the mountain, it dominated the mountain, it encircles the mountain multiple times, running victory laps around it as if to assert the ultimate primacy of man over nature. Even when viewed under the masterpiece from Mack, it is still clear that this is an absolutely enormous coaster. Usually, family coasters are much smaller than their thrill counterparts, almost apologetically small. But why should they be? Why should families not have one of the biggest, most visually impressive rides in the park? This coaster shows that a ride can be huge, high, fast and long without being intense or scary in the slightest.
The station is rather wonderful, decked out to look like a turn-of-the-century railway station. It's dated, but full of charm and warmth, and I wouldn't want to see it modernised or changed significantly. That lovely mural on the wall showing the train chuffing through the countryside! It does have a cattlepen inside, but it moves so quickly that it doesn't feel like a chore. Once the ride has promptly dispatched, you are faced with the glorious view of the lifthill that seems to stretch to infinity, flags fluttering proudly on the left-hand side.
The coaster itself is a series of swoops, turns and long helixes ('Helix' is a more appropriate name for this than the Mack). Speed is the name of the game here, and Schwarzkopf creates an incredible sensation of it without actually going all that fast. The layout flows around the mountain with an effortless grace - none of the elements or direction changes feel forced or unnatural. The centrepiece of the ride is a huge triple helix-type-thing, which, although not exactly intense, is an impressively audacious move. I like clever gimmicks like that. I bet it used to look very beautiful as well, though it is now somewhat obscured by Helix and the gloriously named Uppswinget.
This ride doesn't blow me away, and I don't think as a family coaster it quite reaches up to the themed extravaganzas of Space Mountain and Revenge of the Mummy, but nonetheless I love it. It has charm, and character, and soul, and warmth. I have more affection for it than almost any other ride I can think of. It's simply a lovely, lovely experience. It kinda feels like riding an old Scenic Railway - it doesn't do all that much, but you adore it anyway. In a way, it's a worthy substitute for the classic wooden experience that has been missing from the park since they cruelly and sadly tore down the Bergbanan in 1987. This is almost enough to make us forgive them for that - almost.
Balder
Balder, a victim of hype. Twice voted best wooden coaster in the world by Mitch Hawker, and current eighth place holder - it's fair to say that I was expecting big things. Disappointment was inevitable. It isn't fair at all to this ride, because it's a good ride underneath all the hype and counter-hype. But it's impossible to ignore the fact that this is consistently one of the most talked-about and highly-rated woodies in the world. Each train leaves the station with that huge weight saddled on its chassis. And when it doesn't deliver on that, the initial disappointment you feel is disproportionate to the flaws in the ride.
The ride is billed as an airtime machine, and it does deliver a fair amount of the stuff. It's not gut-wrenching ejector like EGF or even Megafobia, it's repeated little bursts and pops of 'wahey! wahey! wahey!' airtime. It's somewhere between floater and ejector, and it's very fun. The ride can accurately be described as a long sequence of these little pops, rudely interrupted by corners.
What are those flaws I talked about then? I just mentioned the most painfully obvious one: the corners. They are dead spots. They kill any momentum and energy that the rows of airtime hills create. As Astro astutely put it, you feel like you should keep your hands in the air for this world-class woodie, but the corners awkwardly force your hands down back onto your lap through their sheer tedium. They are too banked and too high. With less banking, you might get some good laterals, but as they are they just detract massively from the overall ride experience. There's quite a lot of them too.
The other flaw is the general timidity of the ride. I was expecting a wild, out-of-control experience like the GCIs all give, or a screaming, howling blitz to the finish line as offered up by Megafobia. But, although it is fun and exciting, the ride is actually quite sedate. You don't reach the brake run panting and gasping. Unusually for a modern woodie, it is perfectly possible to keep your composure throughout the entire ride, except maybe for the great first drop in the back row. It doesn't have the edge, the bite that we expect from post-CCI woodies.
It's not a bad ride by any means. It's a good ride. Almost a great ride. If you arrived at a park with no idea of what they had and you went on this, you'd be delighted. It's fun, with decent pops of airtime over and over and over again. It's just not the world-class, balls-to-the-wall eject-you-into-space face-ripper of a woodie that it is cracked up to be. Poor Balder.
Helix
The big show, the top billing, the headline act. This Megacoaster from Mack has been talked about all over the world, and been jealously followed by American enthusiasts who are yet to see any true masterpieces from Waldkirch on their shores. Fortunately, after my disappointment with Balder (which in truth, I had been looking forward to more than this), this coaster sealed the park a place in my heart.
I'm not going to say too much, because everything that can be said about this ride has already been said (most notably by Roland and Stengel). Helix is simply superb. It is a masterclass of coaster building. It's the indisputable pros of the industry grandstanding, showing off what they can do with immeasurable class, style and grace. It's been described by the geeky CEO of Liseberg as being the "Rolls-Royce of coasters", which is an excellent comparison. The build quality of every element of this attraction, from the queue to the trains to the track to the media is second-to-none.
The station building, shared partly with AtmosFear, is a beauty. Brushed metal everywhere. Soft green lightning. Different levels and walkways jutting out across voids at odd angles. This is rollercoaster queueline as designed by Daniel Libeskind. It also has a touch of M. C. Escher about it. As discussed with a number of people on the trip, it's the only coaster in the world that can genuinely be described as 'cool' (Silver Star is the only other ride that comes close). It's not themed, but intensely stylised, refined and polished. Apple don't make rollercoasters, but if they did...
Multi-layered loveliness. Photo by Danny.
The ride is so long that you can forgive the first third of the layout for being a touch on the dull side (this is all relative, obviously, even the first third is miles better than all of Kanonen). But the way the trains drop out of the station with parts of Gothenburg laid out ahead is pretty cool, and kicking things off with an inversion is always fun. Both launches are very weak and this is a bit of a lowlight - they'd be great if they had the intense punch of Anubis' rolling launch. But still, they get the ride off to a nice start, followed by a couple of inversions. The Norwegian loop is a bit lost among the other elements, and I only really noticed it on my third or fourth ride - it's not as pronounced as the same element at TusenFryd, where it stands on its own and is visually self-contained.
The fun really starts once you dive underneath Lisebergbanan's lifthill, with the double-punch of an intense airtime hill followed by a tight and forceful zero-g roll. Up next is a sharp sudden flip to the left - a highlight - which betters the same element on Blue Fire even without diving through Wodan's superstructure. A few turns make up what is probably the weakest point of the ride, but this dead spot can be forgiven for merely being a tease before the second half kicks off.
The second launch isn't flat but pitched towards the sky, so that for the first time during the ride the mountain is entirely out of the view and all you see is the sky and the inversion in front of you, which, impossibly, continues to go up, up and up. This second launch gave me and several other people a slightly weird emotional sensation. Something about the sky, and the way you race towards it. It feels liberating, like a sudden unshackling and a release, like a bird escaping through the open door of a cage. It Feels Like Your Accelerating Towards a Better Future™
The huge inversion that follows (the one with really ugly supports) is a lovely pirouette through the sky, and cunningly acts as a 'false climax' of the ride. It pretends to be the high-point of the coaster, but actually the real finale lies just ahead, with a whopper of an airtime hill than smashes to smithereens any single hill on EGF. It's proper ejector launch-you-out-of-your-seat airtime, and a real ecstatic moment as you crest a hill that feels like its hopping over the entire park in a single graceful bound.
In comparison to the ride above, this family beast from Schwarzkopf is a simple, soulful joy. The ambition on display during its design and construction is worthy of applause. Before Helix, it owned the mountain, it dominated the mountain, it encircles the mountain multiple times, running victory laps around it as if to assert the ultimate primacy of man over nature. Even when viewed under the masterpiece from Mack, it is still clear that this is an absolutely enormous coaster. Usually, family coasters are much smaller than their thrill counterparts, almost apologetically small. But why should they be? Why should families not have one of the biggest, most visually impressive rides in the park? This coaster shows that a ride can be huge, high, fast and long without being intense or scary in the slightest.
The station is rather wonderful, decked out to look like a turn-of-the-century railway station. It's dated, but full of charm and warmth, and I wouldn't want to see it modernised or changed significantly. That lovely mural on the wall showing the train chuffing through the countryside! It does have a cattlepen inside, but it moves so quickly that it doesn't feel like a chore. Once the ride has promptly dispatched, you are faced with the glorious view of the lifthill that seems to stretch to infinity, flags fluttering proudly on the left-hand side.
The coaster itself is a series of swoops, turns and long helixes ('Helix' is a more appropriate name for this than the Mack). Speed is the name of the game here, and Schwarzkopf creates an incredible sensation of it without actually going all that fast. The layout flows around the mountain with an effortless grace - none of the elements or direction changes feel forced or unnatural. The centrepiece of the ride is a huge triple helix-type-thing, which, although not exactly intense, is an impressively audacious move. I like clever gimmicks like that. I bet it used to look very beautiful as well, though it is now somewhat obscured by Helix and the gloriously named Uppswinget.
This ride doesn't blow me away, and I don't think as a family coaster it quite reaches up to the themed extravaganzas of Space Mountain and Revenge of the Mummy, but nonetheless I love it. It has charm, and character, and soul, and warmth. I have more affection for it than almost any other ride I can think of. It's simply a lovely, lovely experience. It kinda feels like riding an old Scenic Railway - it doesn't do all that much, but you adore it anyway. In a way, it's a worthy substitute for the classic wooden experience that has been missing from the park since they cruelly and sadly tore down the Bergbanan in 1987. This is almost enough to make us forgive them for that - almost.
Balder
Balder, a victim of hype. Twice voted best wooden coaster in the world by Mitch Hawker, and current eighth place holder - it's fair to say that I was expecting big things. Disappointment was inevitable. It isn't fair at all to this ride, because it's a good ride underneath all the hype and counter-hype. But it's impossible to ignore the fact that this is consistently one of the most talked-about and highly-rated woodies in the world. Each train leaves the station with that huge weight saddled on its chassis. And when it doesn't deliver on that, the initial disappointment you feel is disproportionate to the flaws in the ride.
The ride is billed as an airtime machine, and it does deliver a fair amount of the stuff. It's not gut-wrenching ejector like EGF or even Megafobia, it's repeated little bursts and pops of 'wahey! wahey! wahey!' airtime. It's somewhere between floater and ejector, and it's very fun. The ride can accurately be described as a long sequence of these little pops, rudely interrupted by corners.
What are those flaws I talked about then? I just mentioned the most painfully obvious one: the corners. They are dead spots. They kill any momentum and energy that the rows of airtime hills create. As Astro astutely put it, you feel like you should keep your hands in the air for this world-class woodie, but the corners awkwardly force your hands down back onto your lap through their sheer tedium. They are too banked and too high. With less banking, you might get some good laterals, but as they are they just detract massively from the overall ride experience. There's quite a lot of them too.
The other flaw is the general timidity of the ride. I was expecting a wild, out-of-control experience like the GCIs all give, or a screaming, howling blitz to the finish line as offered up by Megafobia. But, although it is fun and exciting, the ride is actually quite sedate. You don't reach the brake run panting and gasping. Unusually for a modern woodie, it is perfectly possible to keep your composure throughout the entire ride, except maybe for the great first drop in the back row. It doesn't have the edge, the bite that we expect from post-CCI woodies.
It's not a bad ride by any means. It's a good ride. Almost a great ride. If you arrived at a park with no idea of what they had and you went on this, you'd be delighted. It's fun, with decent pops of airtime over and over and over again. It's just not the world-class, balls-to-the-wall eject-you-into-space face-ripper of a woodie that it is cracked up to be. Poor Balder.
Helix
The big show, the top billing, the headline act. This Megacoaster from Mack has been talked about all over the world, and been jealously followed by American enthusiasts who are yet to see any true masterpieces from Waldkirch on their shores. Fortunately, after my disappointment with Balder (which in truth, I had been looking forward to more than this), this coaster sealed the park a place in my heart.
I'm not going to say too much, because everything that can be said about this ride has already been said (most notably by Roland and Stengel). Helix is simply superb. It is a masterclass of coaster building. It's the indisputable pros of the industry grandstanding, showing off what they can do with immeasurable class, style and grace. It's been described by the geeky CEO of Liseberg as being the "Rolls-Royce of coasters", which is an excellent comparison. The build quality of every element of this attraction, from the queue to the trains to the track to the media is second-to-none.
The station building, shared partly with AtmosFear, is a beauty. Brushed metal everywhere. Soft green lightning. Different levels and walkways jutting out across voids at odd angles. This is rollercoaster queueline as designed by Daniel Libeskind. It also has a touch of M. C. Escher about it. As discussed with a number of people on the trip, it's the only coaster in the world that can genuinely be described as 'cool' (Silver Star is the only other ride that comes close). It's not themed, but intensely stylised, refined and polished. Apple don't make rollercoasters, but if they did...
Multi-layered loveliness. Photo by Danny.
The ride is so long that you can forgive the first third of the layout for being a touch on the dull side (this is all relative, obviously, even the first third is miles better than all of Kanonen). But the way the trains drop out of the station with parts of Gothenburg laid out ahead is pretty cool, and kicking things off with an inversion is always fun. Both launches are very weak and this is a bit of a lowlight - they'd be great if they had the intense punch of Anubis' rolling launch. But still, they get the ride off to a nice start, followed by a couple of inversions. The Norwegian loop is a bit lost among the other elements, and I only really noticed it on my third or fourth ride - it's not as pronounced as the same element at TusenFryd, where it stands on its own and is visually self-contained.
The fun really starts once you dive underneath Lisebergbanan's lifthill, with the double-punch of an intense airtime hill followed by a tight and forceful zero-g roll. Up next is a sharp sudden flip to the left - a highlight - which betters the same element on Blue Fire even without diving through Wodan's superstructure. A few turns make up what is probably the weakest point of the ride, but this dead spot can be forgiven for merely being a tease before the second half kicks off.
The second launch isn't flat but pitched towards the sky, so that for the first time during the ride the mountain is entirely out of the view and all you see is the sky and the inversion in front of you, which, impossibly, continues to go up, up and up. This second launch gave me and several other people a slightly weird emotional sensation. Something about the sky, and the way you race towards it. It feels liberating, like a sudden unshackling and a release, like a bird escaping through the open door of a cage. It Feels Like Your Accelerating Towards a Better Future™
The huge inversion that follows (the one with really ugly supports) is a lovely pirouette through the sky, and cunningly acts as a 'false climax' of the ride. It pretends to be the high-point of the coaster, but actually the real finale lies just ahead, with a whopper of an airtime hill than smashes to smithereens any single hill on EGF. It's proper ejector launch-you-out-of-your-seat airtime, and a real ecstatic moment as you crest a hill that feels like its hopping over the entire park in a single graceful bound.
Sam
TS Member
Helix (continued)
The left-right-left-right slalom element that follows doesn't do it for me, but by now the ride has already done enough to earn all the accolades, and anything extra is a bonus. A heartline roll as a final flourish doesn't quite match up to Blue Fire's - I wonder if they'll ever make that perfect accident again? - but bookends the ride well. Interestingly, the heartlining of the roll seems to match up perfectly with the giant ferris wheel if you're sat in the front row, probably unintentional but a nice visual coincidence nonetheless.
While the ride is great during the day, it comes into its own at night, with the fairytale lights of the park twinkling below you and the lights of the train darting across the hillside like a flaming arrow. At night, a great experience enters the sublime. Front row is the place to sit. I was riding the front row at 11pm, tears running down my face from the wind, mouthing 'wow' over and over again, unable to shake the feeling that it was one of the great rollercoaser experiences of my life. Riding this thing late at night, front row, is such a beautiful experience that it almost feels like some sort of religious epiphany.
Fairy Tale Castle
I don't even want to talk about this. Let's forget this ever happened, shall we?
Operations
Just a few words about operations to finish my review of this great park. To be honest, they varied wildly from good to poor. Staff on Lisebergbanan, which is clearly designed to devour queues, were great and got the trains out the door very promptly. Even when it was running with a reduced number of trains, the queue didn't stop shifting, and the high throughput ensured that it was the one major coaster in the park that was walk-on at night time. Staff were running, or at least jogging, down the platform to check restraints.
Operations on Balder were very average, with the two trains often stacking. Not exactly great, but not terrible. Kanonen again was pretty reasonable, though the low capacity of the ride thanks to the tiny trains and OTT restraints limited the throughput by design. The main problem, it has to be said, was with Helix.
Maybe it was because the brain inevitably makes the comparison to Blue FIre, but the operations on this new coaster felt frustratingly slow, with trains often waiting minutes on the brake run. The staff simply weren't very fast, and there seemed to be a lot of faffing before each train was dispatched. Airgates were opened quite late which was another cause of delays.
The main problem was the lack of a batching host and the lack of a front-row queue. The station is only small, and a lot of people seemed to want to queue for the front and back rows. This often meant that the station platform was packed, but with most only queueing for two different rows, which often had over a dozen people waiting for them. This meant that on numerous occasions, we were shocked to see trains dispatch with empty rows despite an hour-long wait because there was nobody waiting in the airgates. This has to be rectified as soon as possibly. Oddly, there is a member of staff at the front of the queue checking wristbands who could just as easily also batch people into rows, or at least only let a certain number into the airgates. Unfortunately, it may be too late to add a little front row queue into this small station.
I don't really have a conclusion because I said everything I wanted to say about the park in the first few paragraphs. A charming place, go visit basically! And thankyou once again to the generous Liseberg!
The left-right-left-right slalom element that follows doesn't do it for me, but by now the ride has already done enough to earn all the accolades, and anything extra is a bonus. A heartline roll as a final flourish doesn't quite match up to Blue Fire's - I wonder if they'll ever make that perfect accident again? - but bookends the ride well. Interestingly, the heartlining of the roll seems to match up perfectly with the giant ferris wheel if you're sat in the front row, probably unintentional but a nice visual coincidence nonetheless.
While the ride is great during the day, it comes into its own at night, with the fairytale lights of the park twinkling below you and the lights of the train darting across the hillside like a flaming arrow. At night, a great experience enters the sublime. Front row is the place to sit. I was riding the front row at 11pm, tears running down my face from the wind, mouthing 'wow' over and over again, unable to shake the feeling that it was one of the great rollercoaser experiences of my life. Riding this thing late at night, front row, is such a beautiful experience that it almost feels like some sort of religious epiphany.
Fairy Tale Castle
I don't even want to talk about this. Let's forget this ever happened, shall we?
Operations
Just a few words about operations to finish my review of this great park. To be honest, they varied wildly from good to poor. Staff on Lisebergbanan, which is clearly designed to devour queues, were great and got the trains out the door very promptly. Even when it was running with a reduced number of trains, the queue didn't stop shifting, and the high throughput ensured that it was the one major coaster in the park that was walk-on at night time. Staff were running, or at least jogging, down the platform to check restraints.
Operations on Balder were very average, with the two trains often stacking. Not exactly great, but not terrible. Kanonen again was pretty reasonable, though the low capacity of the ride thanks to the tiny trains and OTT restraints limited the throughput by design. The main problem, it has to be said, was with Helix.
Maybe it was because the brain inevitably makes the comparison to Blue FIre, but the operations on this new coaster felt frustratingly slow, with trains often waiting minutes on the brake run. The staff simply weren't very fast, and there seemed to be a lot of faffing before each train was dispatched. Airgates were opened quite late which was another cause of delays.
The main problem was the lack of a batching host and the lack of a front-row queue. The station is only small, and a lot of people seemed to want to queue for the front and back rows. This often meant that the station platform was packed, but with most only queueing for two different rows, which often had over a dozen people waiting for them. This meant that on numerous occasions, we were shocked to see trains dispatch with empty rows despite an hour-long wait because there was nobody waiting in the airgates. This has to be rectified as soon as possibly. Oddly, there is a member of staff at the front of the queue checking wristbands who could just as easily also batch people into rows, or at least only let a certain number into the airgates. Unfortunately, it may be too late to add a little front row queue into this small station.
I don't really have a conclusion because I said everything I wanted to say about the park in the first few paragraphs. A charming place, go visit basically! And thankyou once again to the generous Liseberg!
Danny
TS Contributor
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
I've been continuously debating with myself if I should write a review of this park or not, but I feel as if you've summed up word for word (in a more pleasant and charming way of constructing such a view) my feelings and thoughts of Liseberg perfectly. Remarkably, I think the majority of us all walked away from Liseberg with an almost identical or at least very similar thoughts on each ride and the general atmosphere and operations that the park has to offer.
I've never agreed with anyone so much on so many points made in a range of posts in my time with this community, so I'm glad I've finally been able to make such a conclusion. I mostly agree with your points made surrounding the Gasten Hotel. Its combination of scenes and even simple tricks (such as the perspex glass walk across) is executed in such a manner that whilst obviously leaves any of our attempts at theming within scare attractions strewn across the floors in tatters, but it even challenges and exceeds the theming of the widely established Disney and Universal theming portfolio.
I came away from Liseberg with so many aspects of it taking a fond place in my heart, even more so than from my first visit to Europa in April. The charm and authenticity of Lisebergbanan, the pleasant Scandinavian architecture from the various buildings scoping the park , the vibrant area surrounding Rebalder and of course, Helix at night. A ride which when running at 11pm at night has taken not only the crown of my top ten roller coaster list, but the crown of any ride and attraction I've ever experienced in the world.
As always Sam, a superb and this time even an emotional read that has fueled a burning desire to eventually return to the park (thankfully with @Kimberley in tow seeing as she missed out this time!)
I've never agreed with anyone so much on so many points made in a range of posts in my time with this community, so I'm glad I've finally been able to make such a conclusion. I mostly agree with your points made surrounding the Gasten Hotel. Its combination of scenes and even simple tricks (such as the perspex glass walk across) is executed in such a manner that whilst obviously leaves any of our attempts at theming within scare attractions strewn across the floors in tatters, but it even challenges and exceeds the theming of the widely established Disney and Universal theming portfolio.
I came away from Liseberg with so many aspects of it taking a fond place in my heart, even more so than from my first visit to Europa in April. The charm and authenticity of Lisebergbanan, the pleasant Scandinavian architecture from the various buildings scoping the park , the vibrant area surrounding Rebalder and of course, Helix at night. A ride which when running at 11pm at night has taken not only the crown of my top ten roller coaster list, but the crown of any ride and attraction I've ever experienced in the world.
As always Sam, a superb and this time even an emotional read that has fueled a burning desire to eventually return to the park (thankfully with @Kimberley in tow seeing as she missed out this time!)
Cheese
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Helix, Liseberg
If anybody from Liseberg reads this, thank you very much for your hospitality and generosity to us. I was very taken by the park and will definitely return, hopefully next year.
I might one day type up my own summary of my thoughts on the park, but like Danny I agree with pretty much everything you've said Sam. My thoughts on Lisebergbanan are particularly similar to yours; judging it as just a ride, I can only really say it's pretty good and leave it at that (it's certainly not the Knightmare at North Meet 2011-esque face-ripper I was perhaps expecting!). However, taken as a whole it is indeed a lovely, charming experience that I developed a big soft spot for over the course of the visit. Strolling almost straight onto a train at 10PM and rushing through the darkness on that hillside was an absolute delight.
As this topic is primarily focused on Helix, I'll finish by saying that it's not going to top everybody's rankings, but for me it has and is a truly incredible ride that shows exactly what can be achieved when you just set out to make the very best coaster you possibly can. I very much doubt that we'll ever see a coaster built in the UK to anything like a similar standard, even if our top parks are one day given the freedom to design rides without needing to come up with 'killer images' or 'compelling propositions' that stand in the way of high quality conventional attractions. Helix wasn't the only ride in the park that made me consider the folly of such practices again, but it's easily the one that brought it to the front of my mind most strongly.
I might one day type up my own summary of my thoughts on the park, but like Danny I agree with pretty much everything you've said Sam. My thoughts on Lisebergbanan are particularly similar to yours; judging it as just a ride, I can only really say it's pretty good and leave it at that (it's certainly not the Knightmare at North Meet 2011-esque face-ripper I was perhaps expecting!). However, taken as a whole it is indeed a lovely, charming experience that I developed a big soft spot for over the course of the visit. Strolling almost straight onto a train at 10PM and rushing through the darkness on that hillside was an absolute delight.
As this topic is primarily focused on Helix, I'll finish by saying that it's not going to top everybody's rankings, but for me it has and is a truly incredible ride that shows exactly what can be achieved when you just set out to make the very best coaster you possibly can. I very much doubt that we'll ever see a coaster built in the UK to anything like a similar standard, even if our top parks are one day given the freedom to design rides without needing to come up with 'killer images' or 'compelling propositions' that stand in the way of high quality conventional attractions. Helix wasn't the only ride in the park that made me consider the folly of such practices again, but it's easily the one that brought it to the front of my mind most strongly.
Danny
TS Contributor
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Upon reflection, the one thing that Sam didn't touch on with Helix is the soundtrack.
In the weeks running up to the trip, I found myself listening to it on a fairly regular basis. Having the opportunity to finally hear this piece of IMAscores work in person in the correct environment however is something else...
The individual tracks blend seamlessly into the segments of the ride they are composed for (the queue line and the station). The more relaxed overarching tone of the queue line track is enough to build the tension that is then allured into a beautiful crescendo provided by the station soundtrack, where things are really turned up a notch. The vibe in the station couldn't be further away from the queue line if it tried to be, really uplifting the moments before you board the ride.
Queuing for the first front row ride of Helix at night. accompanied by the soundtrack pumping out is a unique moment that nothing I've ever experienced will ever be able to scratch the surface of. I'm not a big fan of the new modern genre of music that has gradually grown into the present generation, but @Russ and I did feel the need to let ourselves go with the music whilst queuing for front row at night. Paired with this astonishing ride, Helix and its soundtrack are simply perfect.
As others have said however, it's just a damn shame that the ride doesn't boast on board audio. Blue Fire's experience is wrapped up with a cute little bow tie on top of an astonishing package by the beautiful ending to that respective on board audio experience, and it's the only negative I could find about Helix.
In the weeks running up to the trip, I found myself listening to it on a fairly regular basis. Having the opportunity to finally hear this piece of IMAscores work in person in the correct environment however is something else...
The individual tracks blend seamlessly into the segments of the ride they are composed for (the queue line and the station). The more relaxed overarching tone of the queue line track is enough to build the tension that is then allured into a beautiful crescendo provided by the station soundtrack, where things are really turned up a notch. The vibe in the station couldn't be further away from the queue line if it tried to be, really uplifting the moments before you board the ride.
Queuing for the first front row ride of Helix at night. accompanied by the soundtrack pumping out is a unique moment that nothing I've ever experienced will ever be able to scratch the surface of. I'm not a big fan of the new modern genre of music that has gradually grown into the present generation, but @Russ and I did feel the need to let ourselves go with the music whilst queuing for front row at night. Paired with this astonishing ride, Helix and its soundtrack are simply perfect.
As others have said however, it's just a damn shame that the ride doesn't boast on board audio. Blue Fire's experience is wrapped up with a cute little bow tie on top of an astonishing package by the beautiful ending to that respective on board audio experience, and it's the only negative I could find about Helix.
Benzin
TS Member
On the subject of on board audio, and having done Blue Fire last week, it proved to me that such audio does not work on rides that aren't indoors...
I've only ever heard snippets or nothing of Blue Fire's on board audio (usually these snippets were from the final brakes onwards), so I don't really understand the need for Helix to have it as well...
I've only ever heard snippets or nothing of Blue Fire's on board audio (usually these snippets were from the final brakes onwards), so I don't really understand the need for Helix to have it as well...
Danny
TS Contributor
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
I thought Blue Fire's audio ranged as sometimes I struggled to hear it at all other than the final brake run, yet on other rides I was able to hear it for almost the entire duration. The soundtrack is the icing on top of the cake for the entire experience of Helix, and adding it as on board audio would only make it sweeter (provided it was loud enough to hear, but not deafen you).
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Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
I've not yet ridden Helix but I personally think that the onboard audio on Blue Fire make a big difference. In July it wasn't working on the majority of my rides and I really did notice. It just adds that extra element to the ride and it does fit so perfectly well. I can only imagine Helix would have been better with onboard audio.
Plastic Person
TS Member
I really don't rate the music on Blue Fire, unfortunately. You'd think a German theme park would be able to get a decent bit of techno composed.
Plastic Person
TS Member
Of course it's down to personal taste, I just think the current one sounds a bit too much like the theme for The Krypton Factor or similar. Then again, almost everything at EP is similarly over the top.
Thanks for the sarcastic response, anyway.
Thanks for the sarcastic response, anyway.
Danny
TS Contributor
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
The soundtrack that Blue Fire had during 2011 (I think?) was awful. It'd be like giving Air the same genre and the result would be hideous. The soundtrack Blue Fire has now is perfect, and applying Helix's launch platform soundtrack to onboard audio would have the same effect to complete the package.
Dar
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
Liseberg seem to have gotten this strange notion that free perks increases revenue!
It's almost like they think that by giving enthusiasts free stuff (even entry!) and treating them well, will give them a greater impression of the park so they'll go home and make positive posts on their respective fansites making their friends visit in the future after hearing such a glowing review!
It'll never catch on.
It's almost like they think that by giving enthusiasts free stuff (even entry!) and treating them well, will give them a greater impression of the park so they'll go home and make positive posts on their respective fansites making their friends visit in the future after hearing such a glowing review!
It'll never catch on.