My Favorite Amusement Parks: Liseberg + Cedar Point

Spinrock at Liseberg Amusement Park

I’m always up for a day or two at a fun amusement park. So far, my favorites are Sweden’s Liseberg and Ohio’s Cedar Point.

Favorite Rides at Liseberg

Located in Swedish Gothenburg, Liseberg is the biggest amusement park in Scandinavia. As a kid, I have visited more times than I can remember. We usually began at the Liseberg Tower to enjoy the view over Gothenburg and ended with the House of Mirrors, a maze full of different mirrors which make you taller, shorter, thinner, and fatter. Highly amusing!

A favorite ride is Balder, apparently the biggest wooden coaster in the world – not for people afraid of heights as the first drop is 70 degrees. Another funny ride is Spinrock, the carousel opposite Balder, where you almost ride upside down. And don’t miss the roller coaster Lisebergbanan, the water rides Flumeride and Kållerado, or, my favorite, The Jukebox. You ride in gaudy colored cars moving up and down and round whilst listening to music from the 50s. The new attraction for 2007 is Uppswinget (The Screamin’ Swing). Apparently the scariest ride in the park.

To make the most out of Liseberg, stay until they close — often at 11 pm. Evenings are better since most people prefer the day, so lines are shorter. Buy a 1-day ride pass for 280 SEK, or a 1-day ride pass for 315 SEK including a ticket to the Gasten Ghost Hotel. You can also purchase a large ticket book for 225 SEK including 18 ride coupons and 3 wheel-of-fortune tickets, but you’ll probably gain on buying a 1-day pass with unlimited rides — especially if you enjoy carousels as much as I do.

Mean Streak, Cedar Point

Tallest Roller Coaster in the World

Outside Europe, Cedar Point in Ohio offers unbeatable attractions. The amusement park is located on a peninsula in Lake Erie, between Cleveland and Toledo, in Sandusky. We traveled by car from Michigan, arrived around 11 am and went to Raptor near the entrance at once. After 45-minutes queuing we sat in a ski-lift style seat with lap belts and shoulder harnesses, our legs dangled free during the ride, and we went upside down six times.

While I enjoyed Mean Streak and the other roller coasters, my mind was set on Millennium Force, one of the fastest and tallest roller coasters in the world, with an 80 degrees descent. Because of the extremely long queue during the day, we saved this ride untill the end. If they weren’t about to close the park I would have gone a second time, a third, a fourth, and probably a fifth.

Don’t forget to visit the beach before you leave Cedar Point. The two beach entrances are located by Hotel Breakers south of the water park Soak City.

We paid $41.95 per person for a Cedar Point Funday. So worth the price. Children aged two and under can enter Cedar Point and Soak City free.