Day 1 - Flight, Linnanmaki
Day 1 - Flight, Linnanmaki
Andy Wright
What a park . First of my Scandi 2007 tour
with the Club. Spent the day with club memebers Jim, Patrick and few
others. Kirnu was a great coaster. This may be a short 45 second ride but
it really packs a punch. Weather was nice and hot. I hope all family is
ok and see you in 10 days time. Look forward to day 2.
Kim Varde Lassen
Nice little park - lots of people. Bakken in
Denmark all over again - wooden coaster wise. Best coaster was Kirnu.
A whole new experience, which is always nice.
Torrence
Jenkins
Kirnu is a great and quick ride, like a Zipper on
Steroids (quote from B. Derek Shaw). Vuoristorata was wonderful and
unique.
Mike & Kammy Sislofsky
Linnanmaki is a nice
little park with a good amount of rides, and they are not low quality
rides either. Kirnu was a really fun ride, and we thought the restraints
were not bad at all. It is short in length, but packed a good punch.
The other gem is their old-style fun house.
Jerry
Willard
My first taste of Scandi was satisfying. A fun place
despite the surprising crowds. Loved the scenic railway, my first ride on
one, and the fun house.
Jon Richins
What a great
start to my first ECC trip, and Linnanmaki was a great first park.
Favorite coaster was the scenic railway, Vuoriststorata. Certainly off to
a great start.
Mike "Propellerhead" Thompson
Hello to all who are reading this online, especially my friends in New
England. Woke up at 3:30am in London after sightseeing in England for 5
days. We caught an early flight to Helsinki where our Scandi
adventure began. Too bad we did not get a full day at Linnanmaki. Very nice
park. To me, the Kirnu ball coaster was an 8-second version of Magic
Mountain's X. But it was smooth. Would have liked it to be longer. We
had no ride session at this park and only a few hours to do everything,
so we rushed to do as much as possible. Managed to ride all coasters
plus a few other things. The indoor coaster was fun and had no line.
Rode an evil spinning, flipping flat ride. Thank goodness it stopped
when it did. The fun house was terrific.
Rendell
Bird
This is my first trip to Scandinavia. The weather has been
delightful so far. I hesitate to mention it lest I jinx us. The highlight of
Linnanmaki was the wonderful scenic railway (Vouriststorata). Their
newest ride, Kirnu, was an interesting ride. It was vaguely similar to
*X* at SFMagic Mountain but wound upon itself such that it had no
laterals. The ride had basically the "motion" of a Chance Zipper but mounted
on a coaster track. Watching the supports for Kirnu flex four
centimeters laterally, and six centimeters "lengthwise". The supports ran
through the station house - and "larger-than-necessary" holes had been cut
through the roof to allow for the "flexing". It was fascinating to watch.
The park is owned/run by a consortium of six children's charities.
They are obviously getting / earning their money's worth. Truly, it was a
great start to our Scandi Trip.
Tim Baldwin
The tour is all new territory for me, so it is exciting for it to be
underway. The idea of no ride session coupled with healthy crowds sounded
unsettling, but no lines were too long and we got on all the coasters
with ease. The dark ride and fun house were quite well done, and I'm glad
I didn't miss them. All the coasters seemed like good family rides
just right for this market, the exception being Kirnu. We all knew it
would be short, but it was surprisingly comfy. The supports clearly seem
inappropriate (lots of sway). It would be interesting to see a lengthened
version of this ball coaster as Griffon is to Oblivion. The Scenic has
numerous charms. Tricky at times to get a front seat (never did), but
enjoyed the ride no matter where I sat. Linnanmaki was an enjoyable
gem.
David Cornell
I had a great time this past
week tagging along with the Amborns and the Martin to St. Petersburg. We
even found a rollercoaster that had moved down the road due to
construction of a supermarket. Now I am glad to rejoin many more friends on
the ECC tour. The sun today made for great picture taking. The scenic
railway coaster with the brakeman riding was fun and unique. On my
second ride, the front car was full of our gruop. We got great air time on
several hills. Unfortunately, Intamin still is not making
rollercoasters that accomodate large people like other coaster companies do. I did
not fit into Kirnu despite loosing 10 pounds since January. We are now
moving farther north. Tonight the sum may not go down as we are
nearing the arctic circle. tomorrow we ride the northnern most wooden
rollercoaster in the world. later..
David & Susan
Ellis
Great start to the trip...and sunshine too! Although the park was
busy and we had no ERS time, everyone had a chance to ride everything.
The new Intamin coaster Kirnu was unusual, short but great fun.
The scenic railway, Vuoristorata, was as excellent as we remembered from
2003. Hello to everyone back home!
Peter & Becky
Jackson
Arrived to sunlight with sun creme in the cases Hmmm! Great
first park and an unusual Intamin coaster that we tried facing front and
rear.
Fun scenic railway with slight ejector seat at rear of
train. Fun day.
Warren & Lisa Scheinin
What a
gorgeous day for the start of the trip! Vuoristorata was running
beautifully (love that third seat), and the rest of the coasters were all fun
as well.
B. Derek Shaw
Greetings to everyone
from across the pond! After having spent five days visiting parks in the
UK and Holland, I met the group today in London to start the official
part of the "Coolest Coaster Tour III". What a great start it has been.
First up Linnanmaki in Helsinki. This is my 3rd visit and it looks as
beautifual as ever.
The Scenic Railway is still a gem. Kirnu,
their new 4-D coaster, is odd, but fun. The dark rides and fun house were
still quite a bit of fun. Yahoo!
Cheri & Bob
Armstrong
We have arrived to join the Scandi trip after a few great days
in St. Petersburg, Russia. Linnanmaki is a great park and wonderful
start to the trip.
Always fun to enjoy Scenic Railway coaster, so
well maintained. The new coaster, Kirnu, puts new twists into coaster
riding. A beautiful, warm, sunny day.
Richard
Bannister
With apologies to Monty Pythons Spamalot, "Finland! Finland!
Finland! Thats the country for me!" Im probably the only person in the club
not completely sold on the idea of the Intamin ZacSpin as seen in Kirnu;
its certainly an impressive ride experience for the few seconds it
actually lasts, but it could have done with being much longer. The other
highlight for me was the Huss Booster, though I really wish these rides
had slightly better shoulder padding!
Paul Hindle
A really great small park! I thought Kirnu was mad / silly / funny -
especially facing backwards. My highlight was the woodie,
Vuoristorata, a new type of ride for me - great airtime in the front. Found the
beer. Keep cuddling the bears John.
Otto Dobnick
Wonderful park to start tour with. Missed riding todays scenic railway
in 1978 (it was winter) but longingly stared at it from a tram window.
Today, this misjustice was corrected. Otto. [like the local ATMs, but
not as much cash available to give out]
Matt Crowther
The park has really grown since my last visit in 1996, when the
scenic railway was the only coaster. `The woodie still delivers a nice
smooth ride with a couple of moments of surprising airtime- especially
in the front of the train. The Intamin coaster was short but really fun
and certainly unique. Also loved the funhouse. Good times to begin
the trip.
Steve Gzesh
Okay, the trip is off to a
great start (espectially since my luggage finally arrived this
morning!). Linnanmaki was a great little park with some quite unique rides.
Ive never seen anything like Kirnu before and predict well see some
incarnation of it in the USA sometime soon. Park food had its uniqueness as
well (at least to to this Americans pallet): French fries with cheese
and little hot dog bits. Cant say I tried it, but Im glad it wasnt
herring bits! More food (and ride) reviews to come...
Nick
Bowler
This is my first major ECC trip. Having arrived in
Helsinki on Tuesday it was nice to see some familiar faces at lunchtime.
For such a small park they certainly cram a lot in. You will get very
wet on the water ride, unless like some of us your wear disposeable
ponchos. If you value your ribcage watch out for the last hill on the oldest
coaster in the park, a woodie called Vuoristorata.
Adam King
Great starter for 10. Good friendly park with a good
selection of rides. Kirnu was the surprise coaster of the the day.
Provides two different ride experiences depending on whether riding forwards
or bacwards. Perhaps a bigger and longer ride will be built somewhere
soon? Ride it again Harry . . .
Bob Clark
Wonderful Scenic Railway - Vuoristorata - Great start to what promises to be
a memorable club trip.
Mats Hummel
Kirnu the
Intamin ZacSpin was fantastic. Small footprint and a really tumbling
experience. Park look crowded but the queue's were ok, nice weather. A
good start for this trip.
Paul Freeman
A nice
park of several levels atop a hill. The highlight of the park was Kirnu a
nice coaster with a tumbling motion and several sudden drops - steep
enough for a few choice words on the first ride!
A relatively
modern Scenic Railway (1951) with a few nice bits of airtime.
A walk
through Ghost house with 3D effects, a couple of really dark bits and a
mirror maze made a good break from the coasters.
No need for the
jumpers yet, it's been swelteringly hot for me today.
Hi to all at
RBSG and Love to Rhyannon
Kevin Moran
Kirnu was
new, weird and fun, and fun, albeit short. Good start to the trip!
Lars Sorensen
Kirna was really good. Small
coaster, small footprint, very quiet, and yet it is packed with tons of funm
great ride. The water coaster was nice too, didn't even get drenched
:)
Ole Bredesen-Vestby
A nice little park worth
visiting again in the future.
Maggy Linka
Scenic
railway was awesome! Park clean and friendly with lots of kids and
families. Scandinavia is beautiful, and today's weather was perfect.
Great to see coaster friends from ECC again. Lots of ACEer friends on
this trip as well!
Ray Topscher / Kevin Schreiner
Lovely little park with a great selection of rides. We especially
enjoyed the 3-D walk through attraction.
Dirk Lather
Na das nenne ich einen ueberraschenden Start einer Nordtour. Von dem
Park hatte ich ja wenig erwartet, aber ich wurde absolut ueberrascht.
Fuer mich ist er das kleine Blackpool von Finland, denn auch hier ist
alles schoen zusammengequetscht auf engstem Raum. Pies ist ein Spinner
und zwingt mich nun, hier aufzuhoeren, also bin ich mal nicht so. Liebe
Gruesse an meine onrider, Dirk
Rob Derman
An
awesome little park located right in the center of Helsinki, a great way
to start the trip. A very unique 4-d coaster just added to the thrill
of this park.
Alan and Owen Rees
good park. good
use of the space.
Daniel Almer
Despite of the
small size of Kirnu it was really a great ride. Linnanmaki was a lot of
fun and a nice start of the Coolest Coaster Tour. The Scenic Railway
was a fantastic coaster and we are looking forward to the ERS on the one
in Bakken.
Matthias Pies
Linnanmaki hat mir
sehr gut gefallen. Hat mich irgendwie an Blackpool erinnert. Konfuse
Anordnung von Attraktionen und eine skurile Mischung von Achterbahnen und
Darkrides. Gefallen hat mir besonders das Funhaus und die Geisterbahn.
auch Kirnu hat mir viel besser gefallen als erwartet. Netter Park und
ein toller Start der CCT 3.
Ken Simmons
I
really enjoyed Linnanmaki today. The scenic railway was one of the best I
have ridden, and Kirnu is a really unique, very fun coaster. A similar
coaster would fit really nicely at Seabreeze,my home park. Todat was a
good start to CCT3.
Lace Patton
What a
wonderful park. The Scenic Railway was a great ride both front or rear of
the train. Thanks to the staff there for having us. Love to the
triplets.
John Gasper
Linnamaki is a great little
park. Scenic railways are always a treat. Their new coaster is pretty
crazy and would be a great fit for Kennywood! Several other funky rides as
we have come to expect from the European parks, including a funhouse
with plenty of opportunities to injure oneself!! I made it through
without incident,which I did not do on the slide at Tripsdrill a few days
ago in Germany. Today I also rode the wildest spin and puke ride that
I have ever been on. I could not walk when I got off.
George Greenway
Great park, compact but weel laid out. every
inch of the park is used, there are no vast tracts of tarmac.nice set
boarders and strange characters usd to support the monorail. it has a nice
family atmosphere. the introduction to the park by the manger was a
nice treat. the wood coaster is a gem. lively nicely paced and worth
coming back for. the crazy new ride is the complete opposite. one ride was
enough. we spent more time watching it wobble for minutes after a train
had gone over the top. the water coaster lived up to its name and on
this hot (21degC) day was getting most of us soaked, apart from some
woosies who bought 1 poncho and were handing it round. we have the photos
and will use them.
Malcolm Marr
Why are we
starting at the finnish? Backwards trip?
(Linz, I'll be ordering one
of those t-shirts when I get back!)
Keith Johnson
What a great start on a trip. Linnamaki was just like I
remembered.
A great park, with great rides.
andycoasterboy
great week so far, southend, thorpe and now the scandi trip -
great first park to start with many great rides including Kirnu and the
Aqua Coaster
WORTSIE
so another Spanish trip
looms...
Jeff Holmes
What a great start to the trip.
Linnanmaki is a fantastic park with some great coasters including
Kirnu and Scenic Railway, Paul Worts I hope you are getting the Finnish
berrs in!!!!
Michael Horwood
Great day at
Linnemaki. Also had terrific "ice drinks" at the Arctic ice bar in the city.
Love the coasters - 6 new ones for me. All who organized this did a
splendid job - a great start.
Hector Jimenez
Linnemaki es un parque pequeno pero muy divertido. Este parque tiene una
collection muy diverso de attraciones neuvos y viejos.
Martin Valt
Enjoyed the Richard Bannister reception committee.
Great start at a great park. Hi to Julie and Lol.
Yvonne
Janik
Linnanmaki was a delight with such a variety of rides. The
park was pristine, and the staff members were very efficient. It is my
first trip to Finland - love it.
Jeppe Nygaard
So here we are to start the official CCT3. Before this trip, Malcolm,
Keith, and I had a pre-trip to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Tallinn. We
had a good time over there, and I definitely want to get back to Russia
and Estonia.
liz fryer-kelsey
we en joyed our
third visit to Linnanmaki. Mick rode Kirnu the new coaster. The
weather has been very hot, so lots of families were visiting the park today.
The Mack e-motion coaster was a bit strange with the tilting
mechanism, but was OK. Vonkaputous was wet!
My favorite was Vuoristorata,
which will not surprise anyone who knows me, because I like wooden
coasters best. Hallo mouse framily.
Rob Hill
Linnanmaki was a perfect park to start a wonderful coaster tour. The Scenic
Railway is pure fun with surprising airtime (you don't want it to end),
Kirnu was unique, and the Funhouse was something that you just want
more and more things inside it because of the entertainment you get from
it. All the staff people are wonderful, too.
Andy
Costin
First day in Linnanmaki. Good weather - warm! Kirnu - wierd
ride but fun, fun, fun! The old scenic wooden coaster was as good as
ever. The water coaster was as wet as ever. A good fun day was had by all
and i nearly lost my hat but found it after all!
Coastin' Carl Ragan
Hey BTW :) Overnight from Moscow was rather
smooth. Ready to begin the Coolest Coaster Tour in Linnanmaki, Helsinki!
Kirnu gives you two different rides depending on which side of the car
that you sit. Also the boarding and unboarding process on the wooden ride
was quite European. Looking forward to a great time.
Patrick Flumet
Mon premier passage dans ce park m'avait laisse
une tres bonne impression et les deux nouveaux coaster pour moi valaient
le deplacement. Specialement Kirnu, qui concentre sur le plus petit
espace le plus grand nombre possible d'impressions. Et refaire ce vieux
coaster en bois avec son freineur... Du pure bonheur.
James "Spinner" Hannaford
No longer a scandi Virgin Linnanmaki was
a great start to the trip looking forward to riding some great coaster
with some fellow tourists.
Mette Doving
First
day of my first ever Ecc Trip. Had a great day at Linnanmaki. Enjoyed
Kirnu and the rest of the coasters was also good. Good fun house and
also enjoyed the dark ride. Looking forward to som coaster filled days to
come.
Nina Kleppe
First day of the trip started
of in Linnanmaki. Kirnu was fun, and the rest of the coasters was fun
as well. And I really enjojed the fun house vekkula too. Looking
forward to the rest of the trip.
Bob & Mike Englander
Survived 4 days of driving the English countryside: 'wrong' side of
the road, not knowing the speed limit half the time, lanes way too small,
street names hard to spot, and dodging rain showers every day, and
then we get to Finland, don't have to worry about the driving and the
weather is beautiful. Linnanmaki was a great small park...wish we could
have had another hour or two there.
Gordon Taylor
Die Woon. All Thei Beeg Brooother Hicemeets are oon thee boose.Aveery
good die was had at Loonymaaki.All the rides weer gooood especially
the Seenic Roilwaay.Tempers are noot fleering boot theer moo be a
soorprise eveection toomorrrow.
Cal Jones
First trip
to Scandi. Kirnu was mental but really enjoyed it. Loved the scenic
railway and finally got to do a Huss Booster. I think it took my 10 minutes
before I could walk in a straight line. Lie in tomorrow!
Chris & Dan
Perfect weather in Helsinki.Linnanmaki was
packed for a Thursday but still had rather short waits. Great small park
with lots of suprises. Last night Chris's fat ass fell thru a cot in the
hotel room, pictures to come later.
Chris Hull
A great start to the holiday. Warm sunny weather and a nice park to
break us all in gently :)
Pjotr Everts
The first
day of the Scandi trip started out very nice. We visited Linnanmaki in
the heart of Helsinki. There were a few new coasters there for me, Kirnu
and Tulireki. Kirnu is was very nice coaster. It's short but very
intense. Tulireki was that very good, it was a quite boring and had some
rough spots. Off to the hotel in Tampere now.
Tonny
Schonewille
First day of the trip. Helsinki's great, the coasters
are great. Kirnu, Vonkaputous - what odd names! Very interesting stuff
though. And thank God for English speaking people. Although I might think
differently after 11 days with a coach full of Brits. For now, all's
great!
Peter w Oakes
First day o'trip. the
scenic railway at Linnanmaki was far more thrilling than i expected. i was
expecting no airtime on
a scenic railway. however i got a supprise
when i took off out o' my seat!.everything i went on in the park was
really good' except the water coaster was too wet.
Tim
Galvelis
Day one Saw a return to Linnanmaki for me. Although
the visit was short, it was definitely fun. Vuosristorata is still as
wild as ever, and Kirnu was simply amazing, for a short ride. Turlireki
was a bit odd coaster from Mack, but it fits in well for the park.
Bill Buckley
After a most "interesting" start to
the park visit, we were off into a somewhat crowded park of roughly
15,000. The queues, however, weren't to bad. Warm, sunny weather laid the
pallet for some great coaster riding. Vuosristorata was fantastic!
Kirnu was interesting, but our rides didn't find much spinning going on.
Oh well, off to Tampere and Power Park.
Simon
Baynham
YAY! Simon tamed a Huss Booster - I can go home happy now.
Great park with a unique collection of rides. Of particular note was the
Funhouse with the usual tricks and stunts - loved it. Kirnu was a bit
of a stange ride, not really my cup of tea, but it had to be ridden.
The star attraction was the woodie, Vuoristorata, the second
double-down caught me by surprise, great stuff.
