A few weeks ago we visited Liseberg amusement park as part of a week-long trip visited various parks across Sweden (with a few German parks thrown in for good measure, more about that soon!) and for those who visited, it was our first time at the park and after hearing lots of good things about the rides and ambience we were extremely excited to see the park ourselves and see what it had to offer.
As we arrived in the center of Gothenburg via a shuttle bus from the nearby, Gothenburg Landvetter airport you see the park’s skyline appear, with rides such as Balder, Helix, AtmosFear, and Aerospin as well as a shiny new ride taking its role in the skyline… Valkyria, a B&M dive machine that opened just six days before our visit.
We got off the bus at the Korsvagen bus stop which is a mere few minutes walk from the main entrance of Liseberg, the plaza already filling with people an hour before opening, however, we were still hoping we would get on everything we wanted to with a twelve hour operating day from eleven to eleven!
The park gates opened half an hour before the park opens to allow guests to collect the wristbands required to get on the rides and although the crowds weren’t too bad it still allowed the crowds to somewhat dissipate before the holding point.
As Valkyria only opened recently I will give you no guesses as to where a majority of the guests were heading to… So we thought we might as well join them! We arrived in the queue outside of Valkyria about ten minutes before the rides were due to start operating and it was clear that Valkyria was going to have a fairly large queue for most of the day.
As we were standing in the queue we were approached by a friendly member of staff and were introduced to a new system for a ride at Liseberg, as we were told that no bags were allowed to be taken into the queue itself as there was no baggage hold within the Valkyria station. The lockers can be rented for a three hour period for 100 Swedish Krona (Around £0.86p) which allows you to close and reopen the locker up to three times within that period. There is also the open to purchase for the day however, we are unsure of the cost.
Cheers echoed around the Myths and Legends area of the park as the mighty wooden doors opened at the front of the Valkyria station building. The guest then stormed there way up the stairs and started the walk through the queue line where we marveled at the theming around the ride, all based around norse mythology. We made our way around the queue and eventually entered the impressive station for the ride. Beautifully designed, the station features two large, what I can only explain as fire pits hanging from the ceiling with mist pouring out from them providing a great fire effect. Above where the trains arrived in the station was a shield with a projected effect of the Valkyria birds swooping around the shield in question, enhancing the theme of the ever protective creatures whose mission was to rescue defeated soldiers in battle that were deemed valiant and brave enough for a space in Valhalla, which the birds would then take them too.
We got on board our vehicle and headed on our way up the 154 foot lift hill which provides great views across the park and then slowly made our way to the precipice and were held in position over the edge for a few seconds, however, for those afraid of heights it could feel like minutes! We were then released from the holding chain and made our way down the 164 foot drop into a small pit underneath the public pathway. The train then reappears on the other side and glides into the first inversion which loops back over the footpath providing a good spot for those avid photographers! The ride then smoothly transitions around the rest of the layout providing an enjoyable experience throughout, it really is one of the best dive coasters we have ever been on and although it doesn’t provide large amounts of force it does provide a fast, smooth experience that I’m sure the guests will love and it will surely hold its place as one of Lisebergs best roller coasters.
After we got off the ride we entered the Valkyria themed shop which is filled with beautiful lights, and a wide range of merchandise. We collected our bags from the locker and made our way to the other attractions that Liseberg had to offer, this included the fabulous gyro swing, Loke.
Loke was a ride that our team's last review missed out on due to it opening a year after they visited however, we have heard many great things about the supersized version of Maelstrom at Drayton Manor, which is a great ride that provides great forces and will now look tiny in comparison. Loke provides more forces that Maelstrom as well as prettier views, with the chance to swing over the river looking straight over it or swinging over the impressive wooden coaster, Balder, giving some beautifully created near miss elements whilst on the ride.
We enjoyed every moment at Liseberg in the day and as the night started drawing in and as the lights around the park turned on the character of the park shifted, the park suddenly shows its true beauty being lit up by hundreds of lights. We then admired the park in the evening and enjoyed some of Lisebergs incredible coasters in the dark until the park then closed at 11 pm. It really made us excited for Autumn in the UK!
Overall it had been a fantastic day at Liseberg and we yearn for the day we can go back and visit this beautiful park and look forward to what this park has in store for the future! We would like the thank Pontus for the tour and Daniel for arranging as well as the press team from Liseberg as they were all extremely hospitable from the first email to finally, our visit.