Liseberg
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Liseberg is an amusement park located in Gothenburg, Sweden. The park opened in 1923 and is today the largest in the Nordic countries, attracting well over 3 million visitors annually. One of the most popular attractions is the wooden roller coaster Balder. Balder has twice, 2003 and 2005, been voted Best Wooden Tracked Roller Coaster in the world in a major international poll. Liseberg itself has also been chosen as one of the top ten amusement parks in the world (2005) by Forbes Magazine.
The park is also open in November-December with a Christmas market where guests can try anything from ice skating to candied, roasted almonds, hot mulled wine and real reindeer "döner kebab". Most rides, however (including all the roller coasters), do not operate during this time.
The official colors of Liseberg are pink and green as can be seen on the entrance and the older houses in the park. By the eighties Liseberg got its symbol, a green and pink colored rabbit.
The park has a lot of stages and restaurants. In addition to rides, guests can also sit and relax.
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[edit] Rides
Almost every year a new ride opens. In 2005 Liseberg opened a new rollercoaster called "Kanonen" (The cannon). Well-known attractions are Flumeride, Lisebergbanan, Balder.
The complete list of the rides includes: Balder, Bumper cars, Circus Express, Fairy Tale Castle, Ferris Wheel, Fishing Boats, Flumeride, Gasten Ghost Hotel, House of Mirrors, Höjdskräcken, Jukebox, Kanonen, Kiddie Boat Ride, Kiddie Bumpers, Kiddie Flight-Carousel, Kulingen, Kållerado, Lilla Lots, Lisebergbanan, Liseberg Tower, Little Frogs, Oldtimers, Maxxima Pandavision, Pony Carousel, Rabbit River, Rainbow, Spinrock, Teacups, The Dragonboats, Topspin, Tornado, Tummeliten Carousel, Uppskjutet, Waltzer, and Wave Swinger
[edit] Accidents
- In 1985 two empty rollercoaster trains collide at Liseberg, causing injuries to staff members.[1]
- In 1997 25 young people are trapped for three hours when the ride "Hangover" at Liseberg malfunctions.[1]
- In 2001 a 14-year old boy is pinned between a raft and a landing on the ride "Kållerado" at Liseberg.[1]
- In 2002 six small children receive minor injuries when a safety latch fails on the attraction "the little frogs" (Swedish: Små grodorna) at Liseberg.[1]
- In 2005 a power failure affects western Sweden, causing all the attractions at Liseberg to stop, leaving people stranded in various positions but causing no injuries.[1]
- On July 15, 2006, 21 people were injured at Liseberg when two roller coaster trains, on the rollercoaster Lisebergbanan, collided. The crash happened when the chain that pulls trains up the initial climb malfunctioned, causing a fully loaded train to roll backward into the loading platform, hitting another train that was unloading riders. Since only part of the train was on the lift, the anti-rollback mechanism had not fully engaged and broke. The steel rollercoaster was built in 1987 and is one of Sweden's largest, reaching speeds up to 80 km/h.[2] Since the accident the rollercoaster has opened again, after a technical adjustment.
- On September 2, 2006, a man received injuries to his head and neck after being hit when a flagpole fell down.[1] [3]
- On October 8, 2006 a woman in her thirties was seriously injured on the log boat ride "FlumeRide". At the second and final drop, a 14 metre slope, the woman apparently panicked and tried to keep the log boat from travelling down the slope by holding on to the railings. She was ejected from the boat into the water and fell down the slope, where she was hit in the head by at least one of the two following log boats. Since she had managed to temporarily keep the log boat from dropping down the slope, the following two log boats passed the last safety gate and couldn't be stopped from falling down the last slope where the women was located. The event was witnessed by the staff who stopped the ride but were unable to prevent two of the log boats from continuing. The woman, who was travelling together with her 11-year old daughter and another woman, was taken to Sahlgrenska University Hospital where she was reported to be in critical but stable condition. A investigation has been initiated by the authorities, and Liseberg as also initiated a internal inquiry.[3] [4] [5]
[edit] Prices
Entrance costs 60 SEK (approx. 8.30 USD $/ 4.40 GBP £) and a one day unlimited rides ticket costs 270 SEK (approx. 37.50 USD $/ 19.70 GBP £)
[edit] Visitors
- 2005 - 3.2 millions
- 2004 - 2.9 millions
- 2003 - 3.4 millions
- 2002 - 3.0 millions
- 2001 - 3.0 millions
- 2000 - 3.1 millions, Christmas at Liseberg starts
- 1999 - 2.5 millions
[edit] See also
- Gröna Lund, the amusement park of Stockholm
- Tusenfryd, an amusement park located in nearby Norway
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Tivoliolyckor i Sverige (Swedish), Göteborgsposten, October 8, 2006.
- ^ 21 injured in Liseberg rollercoaster crash (English), The Local, July 15, 2006.
- ^ a b Woman seriously injured in Liseberg accident (English), The Local, October 8, 2006.
- ^ Kvinna svårt skallskadad i Flumeride på Liseberg (Swedish), Göteborgsposten, October 9, 2006.
- ^ Kvinna skadad i FlumeRide (Swedish), Liseberg Press release, October 8, 2006.
