Stockholm, Sweden

 The trip into Stockholm was a bit odd. We sat just outside the entrance to the archipelago for several hours, then around 2:30AM we got underway again.

That afforded plenty of time to marvel at the Super Moon.

I’ll admit that SOMETHING in Ålund did a number on my allergies and started my sinuses dripping down the back of my throat, which triggered a nagging cough, which meant that I woke up every 10-15 minutes all night. I woke up feeling like a zombie, which isn’t how you want to start the day.

I gotta admit, though, when the ship spun around before docking so that our balcony was facing the Gröna Lund amusement park, it did brighten my spirits a bit!

The tour was so-so. It was almost all on the bus, and doesn’t afford much actual sightseeing. We did get out at city hall, though, and I snapped a few of the surroundings.

After the tour, it was time to pack up our luggage, which had to be outside our rooms by 10pm. I went ahead and got mine done early so I could head over to the coasters.

I looked up the website and noticed they have a bizarre ticketing scheme: you can get a morning ticket that’s only good from 10am-3:30PM or you can get an evening ticket that’s good from 4:30-11:30. Or you can get a late night ticket that’s only good from midnight-2am.
That kinda screwed up everything, since I had planned to go right after lunch. But if I did that, I’d be buying a ticket ($66!) for just an hour or so, since everything would shut down at 3:30.

But if I waited until 4:30, I could miss dinner on the ship.
I briefly toyed with going tomorrow, but tomorrow is Saturday and everyone knows that you never, ever, ever go to a park on Saturday unless there is no other option. Crowded!!!

Alas, however, there were two concerts tonight, so the crowds would be here tonight as well.
Bottom line: there was a new-to-me coaster there and one of my all-time faves is also there and I could see from our balcony that both of them were operating today.

First rule of coasting: if you haven’t been on it and it’s running, RIDE IT NOW. You aren’t guaranteed that it will be operating later.
So I caught the shuttle bus to the opera house, walked 2 blocks through King’s Garden…

…then caught the #7 tram to Gröna Lund.

That’s when I found out that you have to pre-purchase your tickets in advance on their app. There’s no ticket booth to buy them at the park.
I played the “I’m from Canada” card along with the “the website was in Swedish” wild card and got someone at another booth down the street to sell me a ticket. Yay.

I went straight to the new-to-me coaster, Monster:

…and it was closed. Some glitch somewhere (this is common on new rides) and they said it would be running again “shortly” but didn’t know when. They suggested I ride something else and come back. I said, “I came from Canada for this. I’ve been on the other stuff. I’ll wait.” So I did… and abut 10 minutes later, it opened and I was the first one in. Plopped my butt in the front row and off we went.

I should mention something right from the start. Gröna Lund is a gorgeous little park.

Monster is their 7th coaster.
The park is only the size of about 2 city blocks.
They have SEVEN COASTERS.

Everything goes over, under, through, around, and between other things. It’s a hot mess of track. Five of the seven coasters are in this one photo:

So where to put a new coaster? Above your heads, of course!!

It’s an inverted coaster, meaning the track is overhead and the cars hang below like a ski lift.

I loved it. The interaction with the buildings and other obstacles really ups the game on this one. I’m not sure if it would be as good if you aren’t in the front row, though.
From there, I rode the park’s Wild Mouse coaster, “Wilda Musen”.
Unlike most mouse coasters, which are production models and very similar to each other, this one had to be custom-designed to fit in and around an existing blue coaster. The mouse track in this pic is yellow. (Photo from a friend using a mounted GoPro camera on my last visit here)

t’s one of the better mouse coasters out there, honestly. Lots of fun.
Then it was time for my baby, Jetline.
I love this ride so much. (Photo from previous trip, but the sentiment hasn’t changed)

It’s an absolute classic by my fave coaster designer of all time, Anton Schwarzkopf:

If the name sounds familiar, he designed the Mindbender at West Edmonton Mall as well as Olympia Looping, Lisebergbanen, Sooperdooperlooper, the ‘Wildcat’ production model coaster, the Bayern Kurve carnival ride, etc etc etc

He’s known for three things:
1. Aerial acrobatics - like the coaster train is doing ballet in the sky
2. Layouts that seem to get more and more intense as they near the end
3. Absolute perfection in engineering. He invented “heartline banking” where the track twists and turns using the rider’s heart as the centre point. So when you get to a turn, the car swings out a bit underneath you and your head pivots the opposite direction, giving you the possibility of wicked turns and twisting drops without subjecting the riders to unnecessary forces.

It means you can take a running start at a diving drop like this and not worry about your ribs meeting the sides of the car.

Jetline, in addition to being a perfectly-engineered masterpiece, has a really nifty retro loading station made to look like an old diner train car.

t was running faster than I remember, but also rougher. Once and done.

At this point, the crowds were starting to pile in for the concert and I was getting hungry, so I started to make my way back to the ship. As I left the park, I noticed the throngs of people queued up outside going through security to get in.

Seems like I left just in time!

Dinner was Swedish Meatballs, which I was then able to add to my list of foods I’ve eaten whilst in the place they’re named for.
Yay.
Tomorrow, we’re off the ship really early, then have to take an Uber to our hotel. Not sure the room will be ready, but they can hold our luggage until it is and we’ll explore the city.

On to the next day!

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