Denmark 06/17 – Fårup Sommerland + Djurs Sommerland

We arrived bright and early the next morning at what the park claims is ‘Denmark’s best Sommerland’. Seems like we had the perfect way to put that to the test. Entrance tickets are bought from the window of your car at a hut on the way in which was quite a novel experience. It was a massive turnout again, but they’re all here for a picnic or something.

Day 2 – Fårup Sommerland

Walked straight onto #1 Falken, intrigued by what S&S could bring to the woodie table.
They did alright for themselves, I found it to be a fun little ride with some good hills and a decent overall feel to it.
Highlight: Interesting start to the layout with the curvy double down.
Lowlight: Uninteresting end to the layout with the helix of doom.

#2 Orkanen looks and rides great. It’s nice to have a bit more of a layout to a Vekoma Suspended Family Coaster to make go faster, try some more interesting elements and last longer.
Highlight: Nothing under your feet on the lift is a rare sensation.
Lowlight: This is as big as they make them for now.

#3 Pindsnivet – a particularly small family coaster
Highlight: +1
Lowlight: Take your pick

This Gerstlauer launch coaster was both fun and punchy, with a well balanced mix of airtime and inversions. I don’t like these trains at all from previous experience, so didn’t really expect to like the ride as much as I did.
Highlight: Gerstlauer’s smoothest thrill creation yet.
Lowlight: Could have been fantastic without OTSRs.

#5 Flagermusen – spinning wild mouse that spun.
Highlight: Reverchon > Zamperla.
Lowlight: These things are starting to plague me now.

#6 Mine Expressen – a common Vekoma junior
Highlight: No view of Harry Potter.
Lowlight: No view of Wildfire.

We had allowed a whole day to experience this park but, as nice as it was, it was just do quiet and we were done with everything including several rerides in just a couple of hours.

Decided on a whim to jump back in the car and risk visiting Denmark’s best Sommerland a day earlier than scheduled.

Djurs Sommerland

Unlike Legoland, I was more than happy to return to this park (new cred aside). I loved it before and will love it again, I’m sure.
There were cars as far as the eye could see in all directions as we entered the car park, so foolishly started to think we had made a mistake…

Headed into the park.
Walked straight onto Piraten.
It’s all about those picnics.

The Intamin megalite is such a finely tuned layout, with none of that dead spot nonsense I often complain about on larger coasters that try to provide a similar singular experience – buckets of airtime.
Piraten kicks your ass from beginning to end, leaving you no time to prepare in between any of the craziness and making marathons a real physical challenge. Love it.

Time for the new boy. (Or an annual pass).

Intamin’s latest offering to the park looks great but isn’t unfortunately. Though very new, the train had a significant and distracting rattle throughout the layout and the ride has no more force to it than Orkanen down the road, making it a bit of an odd investment.

The ‘unique feature’ – a tyre driven surge of speed at the beginning into a tunnel before the lift hil feels very pointless and overall it just about passes for a decent family coaster. With the lineup they were building before this, I’m sure this park could have done a lot better with the money. I hope it works out for them.

Just like this. Juvelen is fantastic. Beings with a good indoor launch anticipation sequence with the temple statues shaking their sticks at you, followed by a fun warm-up lap. I’m a sucker for a rolling second launch and this one provides a great burst of speed for such open trains, leading to snappy turns and unnerving scenery interaction.

I was very pleased to have been able to nab Ørnen the Topple Tower this time around. They seem to be very temperamental rides and I’ve never managed to find one working before.

Did the rest of the creds for completion – all good solid family rides that compliment the lineup here, then had a couple more laps on Juvelen and Konge to further prove some points,

We finished the day nearly killing ourselves with double figure rides on Piraten. There was plenty of joy to be found, with the pirate staff spraying guests in the baking heat and playing some games of musical chairs throughout the train each time it was in the station. You know the park are onto a real winner when the general public re-ride something as much as we do.

Having knocked out both Sommerlands so smoothly in one sitting, we were left with a day spare now. What to do..?

Day 3