Day 4 - Sarkanniemi, Ferry
Day 4 - Sarkanniemi, Ferry
David & Susan Ellis
This was our second visit to the park, our last being in 2003. Back then it was hot and sunny and Half-pipe was working. Today it was wet and Half-pipe was down, as it has been for a while now. Still, we managed to have a great time. Tornado was as good as ever, and we got to do some stuff we missed last time such as the Observation Tower, the Aquarium and Planetarium. Now off to the Ferry for our overnight crossing to Stockholm. Hello to all at home.
Bob & Cheri Armstrong
A rainy day at the park. Thankfully, we entered the park last night for an hour and were able to ride many of the coasters then, Today, the rain has closed some of them. The Tornado was the smoothest "hang and bang" we have every been on. It's nice to know a good one can exist. We rode the Jet Star last night, and it was great. And, we rode the Corkscrew in the pouring rain. What fun! We've had a great time to Finland and were treated very well by all the people we met. Now on to Sweden.
Torrence Jenkins
The Half Pipe was not running, and it rained all day. The Tornado was great during ERS; the park also contained a nice amount of flat rides. All in all a very nice park.
Tim Baldwin
The meal was very well prepared and the ride session went off well. Sadly, Mother Nature was not cooperative. The rain was dreary and for a park with coasters easily accessible to photograph; it was a shame. Even the wonderful views from the tower were blah. The bonus hour the night before was a life-saver, especially for Jet Star. It was interesting that the five coasters were all different - Intamin, Vekoma, Zamperla, Schwarzkopf, and Zierer. The flying coaster was MUCH smoother than Elitch's, too.
Jerry Willard
Thank goodness for the bonus time the night before as for the second day in a row the rain proved quite a pain. Tornado was an interesting coaster to see Intamin's take on the genre. On to Sweden and hopefully the blue skies will be as plentiful as the blue eyes along with the great coasters.
Rendell Bird
Sarkanniemi is located on a rocky promontory overlooking an expansive lake in central Finland. Not unlike Alton Towers in Britain - the park has been forced to excavate into the ground to make room for expansions. The station house for The Tornado was located about 40 feet below the surface of the surrounding hillside. Again, like Nemesis (at Alton Towers) the coaster ducks into, and out of, the ground at multiple points along its journey. It was quite a pleasant ride. The Observation Tower was impressively tall and should have commanded an inspiring view. Unfortunately, the cloud-deck was below the level of the top of the tower. It was fun to watch the clouds swirl between us and the spinning rides. Currently, we are headed toward the town of Turku where we will board our ferry boat for our overnight trip to Stockholm, Sweden.
Andy Wright
Even though we did one hour at Sarkanniemi on the 3rd dfay of the trip, the main trip started on day 4. We started the day with an ERS on Tornado (Intamin) coaster. It was a nice ride, a little slow but good to ride. Then the rain started and did not stop all day.The food was good as well good chose. I enjoyed the day and look forward to the next part of trip.
Lisa & Warren Scheinin
A bit of a rainy day but still plenty to keep us occupied. Besides the coasters, the (nice, dry) planetarium, dolphinarium and aquarium were great fun! Nice meal, too.
Maggy Linka
Finland is a soggy place today! But no matter, we rode coasters anyway as the parks don't shut down for rain. Dolphin show, aquarium,planetarium shows were unique and fun. Dolphins juggling!! Now to the ferry and Sweden. iPod melodies on the bus. Great day!!!
B. Derek Shaw
Another fine day in a fine Finnish park. The Tornado ERS was great fun. The dolphin show was outstanding and the planeterium show a good place to snooze. (It's not that I didn't like it; I had too many pints last night and got to bed to late!) Goodbye Findland - Hello Sweden!
Derek Cromarity
Whatever!
Kim Varde Lassen
Rain does something to a park experience, and so did this...oh well, to make up for it this park had a pretty good Intamin inverter with an underground station. The corkscrew did its job without too much jerking around. The Trombi flying thingy, however, takes the prize as the not so good coaster, to put it mildly. To end a high note, the park staff was smiling and the ERS was executed in a relaxed fashion. Good job!
David Cornell
Sarkanniemi! Another great park, another great meal. I rode all coasters despite the rain as we stopped by for an hour last night when it was sunny and not raining. Thanks, Justin. Also thanks to Don Garrison for standing on my restraint on Tornado so I could ride. Damn to small Intimin hanging seats. We now sail for Sweden. Look for a picture of me in the wagon in Justin's pictures.
Mike Thompson
Hi Al. Thank goodness for yesterday's bonus hour at Sarkanniemi. Managed to ride all 5 operating coasters plus the dark ride in one hour while the weather was beautiful. Today's rain made it less than desirable, but we made the most of it. I even rode the rapids ride in the rain with my poncho. A note from yesterday: Lauri's Park has the softest toilet paper of the trip so far.
Jon Richins
Second day of rain in the park, but still a great time. The Tornado was my favorite and a very unique inverted in that it wasn't that rough. Also of note, this is the first day in Finland that I did not see anyone peeing on the side of the sidewalk.
Dennis and Debbie Martin
We had a good ERS on Tornado this morning (Intamin inverted). We had a little too much rain today but since we had a bonus hour last night at this park, we were able to ride all of the rides (big thanks for the bonus hour). We are on our way to take a ferry from Finland to Sweden. I am very excited as this is a first for me. (Deb)
Simon Baynham
Hi ECCers. What a great ride Tornado is. Fast, exciting and enjoyed the fun house. It reminded me of Blackpool.
Chris Hull
Another enjoyable day at Sarkanniemi. Tornado and Jetline as good as on my last visit. Nice meal and friendly staff.
Malcolm Marr
Sarkanniemi Water park was awesome! The flying sandwich machine coaster was more awesome than the one in The Prater, and that was pretty awesome in itself. Tornado is aging well. Now on our way to the ferry; things may get messy from here on.
Keith Johnson
Had a wonderful, wet time at another fun park.
Lutz
I felt sorry for Yvonne. Jet Star was fantastic.
Christof
Intamin inverters are fun rides. It's a pitty there's only so few of them around. The station fly-through with an inversion is a great feature. If you lose an item, you can pick it up when you return to the station!
andycoasterboy
after a late park entry last night we were able to get the majority of the rides done.We headed down for a few drinks at the Tampare Festival!! This morning we had a ers on Tornado, a very nice Intamin inverter - with a great station fly-over. Now on the bus headed for the ferry to Sweden.
Paul Worts
I am waiting in line at Furios Baco but don't seem to hacomesve seen many club members??
Jeff Holmes
Tampere,s local park, Sarkanniemi, is very good with a fantsastic slc in the name of Tornado, flying through the station upside is a great experience. We had our last night in Tampere in the Tammerfest... drinks were flowing, enough said!!!!
Andy Costin
That's two up to Mother Nature - Cow! Couldn't get on Jetstar today but at least we did it yesterday. Good ERS on Tornado followed by a good meal. Pity about Half-Pipe not running (D-oh!). Got soaked on the Corkscrew.
Terry Jarvis
When it comes to 2-seater inverters I usually try to avoid them as they normally give you a good head-banging. However this version from Intimin is completely smooth and a lot of fun to ride. I just wish there were more of this type in other parks.
Coastin' Carl
Sarkanniemi is a wonderful little park with loads of things to do. From the dolphinarium and planetarium to the museums and the rides, I was pleasantly surprised. The employees seem to know their stuff and have wonderful rain gear as riding the night before was great however today it rained the entire day. Still I was able to enjoy everything unique I was looking forward to. Not to mention the best dolphin show I've seen in a while. Loads of photos, can't wait to kiss you BTW.
Patrick Flumet
Deuxieme visite a Sarkanniemi , hote de Tampere ville que j'adore. Comme nous avons pu rider presque tout hier soir en surprise, la journee pluvieuse ne gachait rien. Surtout apres la viree de cette nuit au festival...
Mette Doving
Reached my number 100 yesterday on Tornado with the late entry to the park. Did a few of the other coasters yesterday as well. Started the day with a ERS on the Tornado, great ride, best in the back. A shame that the Halfpipe was not open, so have to come back another time.
Nina Kleppe
Had a good time at Sarkanniemi today and yeasterday evening. Fun ERS on Tornardo this morning. A great Intamin inverted Coaster with no headbanging. Also got to do all of the other Coasters exept from the Halfpipe. Shame that was closed. Shame that it was raining. Now we're of to the boat for Stocholm.
Mike & Bob Englander
We've had rain to one degree or another since arriving in England last Sunday, and finally it played a part in reducing our ride time today. Sarkanniemi was a nice park with quite a bit to do, but trying to do so in a persistent rain was a little uncomfortable. At least we got to ride all but Half Pipe at least once.
Celia Horwood
Sure glad we were able to do the rides at Sarkanniemi the night before. The Tornado was so much smoother than expected - I instincitvelyy braced for ear bashing and didn't get any! Even though it rained we were able to do neat indoor activities which aren't too common at any other parks like an awesome presentation at the Planetarium and an art gallery! Loved the ride operators' orange sweaters!
Michael Horwood
I do not need to return to log the [closed] Half-Pipe because for me it still is NOT a coaster :)
Yvonne Janik
The food at the revolving restaurant Nasinneula and the view were perfect. The park was clean and had a fun variety of rides, and I had a great time in spite of the rain. I will come again so that I can ride Jet Star and Half Pipe.
Mick Fryer-Kelsey
Park staff were all very friendly and hospitable. Trombi was an uncomfortable ride and not really re-rideable.
Liz Fryer-Kelsey
Tornado - WOW - a very smooth ride and no head banging.
Corkscrew - OW - my head was bashed about, the same as all the other corkscrews I have ever ridden. Unfortunately, the rain stopped play on the Jetstar, but I will be back again to ride that.
Jim Lawrence
Sarkanniemi a great park as always. Pity about the weather. Had the finest meal ever at the park's rotating restaurant last night. Eating strawberry icecream will never be the same again. It changed my life.
David Elvy
We visited Sarkanniemi last night for an hour, as well as today. A nice Park, Tormado and Jet Star are great rides, Trombi is awful, and our first closed ride of the trip Half Pipe, shame.
Paul Hindle
30 rides on Tornado (sorry again John !!!!). By 4pm the ride staff were slapping hands with everyone I think we may have started something ! Virtually no queues all day the only down side was the poor weather. A great day nevertheless.
Owen & Alan
Lovely rain.
Rob Derman
We started our adventure at Sarkanniemi last night, great little park, excellent airtime on Tornado Went out on the town and got lots of looks in my quiet sedate outfit J not that I minded lots of really cute Finns staring at me Got the remaining coaster credits at the park today while managing to stay (mostly) dry excellent parks and excellent hospitality in Finland looking forward to the same on the rest of the trip!!!
John Gasper
Last night we made a quick stop at Sarkanneimi for about an hour. The park was pretty empty so Robin and I were able to get in all five coasters and the dark ride! We returned to the park this morning for an ERS on Tornado and to get the rest of the park in. The weather was rainy and one of the coasters was down causing some of the people not to get a ride on it. Rockin Ron has taught us well. Tornado is an excellent ride!!!!!! It is unlike any other inverted coaster. Robins wristwatch exploded today on the flying carpet ride and went flying to the ground. This is the second thing she lost, counting the earring that got taken by the spin and puke at Linnamaki. Last night we went on a pub crawl through Tampere until about 3:00 am. It never got dark the whole night. I am trying to have at least two beers for every coaster on the trip. So far so good. Tonight we get on a ferry in Turku and ride overnight to Stockholm. There is to be a dance club on the ferry so it could be another long night.
Ray Topscher / Kevin Schreiner
ERS on Tornado was a lot of fun and the train going through the station was very cool! It was a very nice park, too bad the weather hasnt been cooperating.
Ole Bredesen-Vestby
Tried out some pubs in Tampere last night, so I had a hard time this morning, but the ERS on Tornado fixed that problem J. Had a great time in the park after that, and the rain made the ques quite short. Now heading off to Stockholm
Richard Bannister
Another nice park, only downside being a slightly broken Half Pipe coaster. I made the mistake of riding Trombi a second time after getting away with it (mostly) the first time... really I should know better at this stage!
Paul Freeman
Another wet day, fortunately we had an hour in the dry at this park last night and got a lot of the coasters done then.Fortunately the park also has plenty of undercover attractions (including a Dolphin show) so the rain failed to spoil the day. The ride ops for the relatively dry morning ERS on enjoyable and very re-rdable Tornado were the best of the trip so far; fast, smiley and happy to join in - can we ship a few of them to the UK please? The park was on the edge of a lake providing a nice view from several rides, particularly Jet Star. The flying coaster was akin to being strapped in a suitcase and loaded into a tumble drier, once was enough! The (very tasty) lunch reminded me of the curry houses near work as the stew type dish was simply labeled "Meat" Still finding it weird that it never fully gets dark. Walking back from sampling a few delicious beers at a microbrewery bar at 2am this morning it was still only like twilight.
Mats Hummel
Raining a bit today, the brits must feel like home... Great ERS on a great coaster. Tornado's ride-ops seemed to really enjoy having us here, slapping hands really hard and loading the trains very quick (Justin have you been training the ride-ops here? :-) ). The Jet Star was great!
Steve Fagin
Enjoyed Sarkanniemi - despite more drizzle, the day was pleasant enough and the ERS gave full reign to those who wanted to ride Tornado to death. the ride itself was smooth and comfortable, with an exciting front-seat ride, although more speed in the final elements would sharpen up the experience considerably. Hanging by your shoulders through a barrel roll isn't quite ideal. Going up the observation tower was worth doing (I don't recall this in 2001). You could see the park laid out beneath you like a child's model set, with the ride tracks snaking their primary colours against the backdrop of the nearby lake. The flying coaster was unsettling in an unpleasant sort of way. Novelties don't pay off when they cause pain. Paul Freeman's analogy is a good one. Overall, a nice park with friendly staff, and well worth the return visit for me.
Daniel Almer
Sarkanniemi is a really nice park with interesting coasters and nice staff. I really enjoyed the 1 hour ERS on Tornado. Especially in the backrow it is just awesome. What a pity that the Half Pipe was closed on both days, but it looks smaller than i thought. The Zamperla flying coaster is painful, one ride was enough. Our coach is very comfortable and the driver makes a good job so far!
Gester hets gheisse, i muessi mol uf schwiezerduetsch was schriebe, dem wunsch chumi natuerlich gern nache. Bis jetzt isch es wuerklich e geniali tour und i freu mi uf alles was ide noechschte taeg na folgt. Huet nacht mache mer jetzt zerst mol na party uf der faehre, juuuchuuuuu!
Ken Simmons
ERS on Tornado was great. Fortunately, most of it happened before the rain came in. The lunch was also good, but what was the meat? Reindeer?
Matthias Pies
ERS auf Tornado war echt gut. Mir hat die Bahn sehr gut gefallen. Ausserdem bekam ich endlich mal die Gelegenheit einen weiteren Jet Star zu fahren. Einfach ein toller Coaster. Der Volare Coaster faehrt sich super shlecht aber nicht so schlimm wie der im Wiener Prater. Trozdem hat mir eine Fahrt genuegt. Schade das dei Half Pipe geschlossen ist. Aber irgendwie sah der Ride nicht annaeherndso beeindruckend aus wie ich es mir vorgestellt habe.
Adam King
Hello Everybody. Day 4 and another good day at a park I cannot pronounce or spell. We actually had an hour and a bit extra last night at this park which was a good thing as many members would not have the chance to ride the Jet star as it was closed for most of today due to the rain. Good ERS on Tornado. Very fast and efficient staff. Good meal too. The variety of meals on this trip has been a pleasant surprise. This park also had the 'best room' in a fun house i have ever seen. Well trippy. Overall, some good Sunday morning fun, followed by the some more 'wetter' sunday afternoon fun. Just en route to the Ferry which will take us to Sweden. Extra side notes include the very enjoyable drinking session in Tampere last night and the fact that i woke this morning dreaming i was being attacked by Scooby Doo?? Whats that all about???
Steve Gzesh
Well it was a nice little park with some good rides, though the rain sure did suck! I got my #600 credit on Tornado, which was much better than I expected it to be (a worthy milestone!). Alas, I didn't ride Jet Star last night and it didn't run all (or most) of today, so I missed that credit, along with Half Pipe, which was also down. Morale: ride the coasters at your first opportunity 'cuz you never know what the weather will do to ride operations! But still, the trip is a blast so far and we'll be on the ferry to Stockholm pretty soon. Hey, now that we're a bit further south, maybe we'll actually see a more conventional night sky again!
Matt Crowther
Luckily I was able to ride the Jet Star and kiddie coaster the evening before, and after a couple of spins on the Tornado, I basically just took in all the indoor attractions like the aquarium and dolphin show. The park is small but pleasant, with a pretty lakeside setting. Too bad about the cool rainy weather, but I had a enjoyable day nonetheless.
Otto P.Dobnick
Hi. So far, have been able to ride all available roller coasters and dark rides. Wonderful, hospitable parks. Visit to Power Park, seemingly far removed from any large cities, was unexpectedly surprising and enjoyable with the wooden Thunderbird and lots of other fun rides. T-bird may be the northern-most roller coaster in the world. The brewpub in Tampere was also nice with a great selection of beers. Tampere at 02:30 more lively and populated than the downtowns of many US cities. Still light out at 23:30 this far north.
