2004
Coaster Trips: 2004: Farup Sommerland
Tuesday May 4th
Fårup Sommerland
On arrival at Fårup Sommerland we were welcomed to the park by the park boss, Soren. He gave us a quick speech about their brand new wooden coaster, Falken (#242), and how it had been in the planning stages for more than a decade. He talked about how the ride might have been built by Intamin, but how they eventually settled on S&S at the end of the day. He also announced that there would be free on-ride photographs and t-shirts for everyone, which brought on some loud cheers. The t-shirts commemorate the inaugural riders on Falken and carry the date of 4th May 2004.
I was lucky enough to get the back seat of the train for the first ride of the day. I believe this to have been the first train to run on this coaster with anyone other than park staff on board, which is not something you get to do every day. There's no other way to say it; Falken is a fantastic ride. It's not the best wooden coaster out there but it is certainly in the top ten percent of the wooden coasters I've ridden. I clocked up a further nineteen back-to-back rides before taking a break to get in the other two coasters at the park.
Flagermusen (#243) is a production Reverchon Crazy Mouse, but with some nice theming that adds quite a bit to the experience. Of course the best bit for me was when the ride E-Stopped while we were on it. That marks only the second time I've gotten stuck on a coaster, the first time being the Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris. Having said that, the E-Stop totally destroyed the speed of the second half of the ride, and I didn't get a chance to go back for a second spin.
Mine Expressen (#244) is a Vekoma junior coaster which runs through some lush scenery. It was a good ride but marred by a very sudden stop at the end of the ride. I got two circuits on this thanks to an enthusiastic ride operator who decided to dispatch the train a second time!
At this point it was approaching time for the official opening ceremony for Falken, so I strolled back across the park to listen to the speeches. Unfortunately I know just one word of Danish - and it's not appropriate for a family web page - so I nodded politely and timed my laughter to match with the rest of the crowd. Denise Dinn from S&S gave her speech in English, so I could follow that one okay, but I've no idea what any of the other ones said.
After the speeches it was time to ride. I hung around the side and managed to get some good photographs of the ribbon being cut for the official start.
I decided to queue up for a front seat ride, as I hadn't had one yet, so after about twenty minutes I got that out of the way. I also filmed a full front seat POV which came out rather nicely. I followed this on with a further fourteen circuits until the weather completely let go.
The park had laid on an excellent buffet for lunch. After the last few days of hot dogs it was refreshing to get a proper plate of rabbit food, albeit accompanied by the obligatory (and delicious) smoked salmon.
I managed to get in one final front seat ride on Falken before it was time to leave the park for Fredrikshavn harbour.
A somewhat amusing situation arose on the bus while I was writing up my trip report. I was passed one of the other computers to type a few words for the ECC web site, and as such I ended up with two PowerBooks on my knee. There is a funny shot of three computers and at least three pairs of hands on the ECC web site.
The crossing to Göteborg was uneventful aside from a minor panic during check in that meant we were on board the ferry just six minutes before departure. Stena Line's ferry is much the same as the one that crosses the Irish sea; not a lot to see on board and a slight smell of chips. The only difference I could see was an impressive collection of gambling machines, which have been present in all the parks we've visited in Denmark.
Liseberg is directly across the road from the front door of the hotel, and I am very much looking forward to it tomorrow.