Trip Report - Sweden Part 2, Kolmarden

The next day, after very little sleep, we got up early and made our way to the beautiful wildnerness of Sweden and Kolmarden - a safari park smack bang in the middle of Stockholm and Gothenburg and more importantly now home of a shiny new RMC! Considering this didn't even pop up on our radar the last time we visited Sweden in 2014 we were all intrigued as to why this seemingly nothingy park had decided to invest in such a beast!

Kolmarden, even before the addition of the RMC that put it firmly on the coaster enthusiast map, is the premier animal park in all of Sweden. And it's easy to see why. It's a lush, hilly landscape with interesting and vast exhibits for all of its animals. But more on that later. Right now it's all about Wildfire.

Wildfire was the fourth coaster from current enthusiast favourites Rocky Mountain Construction that I have been lucky enough to ride and I think it's safe to say that RMC are putting loads of coaster manufacturers to shame in the current industry. They're innovative yet classic, utilise all of the old favourite elements that make coasters great whilst simultaneously reinventing the modern theme park landscape. And they're fucking awesome.







Most notable about these coasters in the way they so obviously blend steel and wood to create the stuff of legends. This allows for the coasters to ride like woodies as well as permitting the freedom to do some pretty insane stuff inversion-wise. These guys are kind of the overbank kings, and LOVE a bit of hangtime. If you thought you hated hangtime, you need to ride Wildfire. The inverted stall immediately after the first drop has gone straight into my favourite elements of all time - it's such an out of body and wild experience and I simply couldn't get enough of it.

If airtime is your bag maybe Wildfire won't satisfy you, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its fair share of pops sprinkled throughout. The first drop is great in the back, but the best seat in the house for me was front right. All the benefits of the mini-pops of ejector airtime through as well as a front row seat for the aforementioned ridiculous inversions. As much as I adore the stall, my fav was definitely the zero-g. That weightlessness, travelling at speed and feeling completely immersed by the wooden structure of the coaster was a WOW moment like I've never experienced before!



Safe to say we got our fill of this beast before moving on to explore the park a little more. The zoo is also home to two plus ones, one situated right next to Wildfire in a Floridian Key West themed area that's also home to a sealion and dolphin show (that we didn't have time to watch in the end). It looks exactly like Sea World, so super cute - all pastel colours, white panelling and wooden window shutters.

Next up was one of the parks most unique attractions - a massive safari experienced entirely by cable car! Not only do you get incredible views of Wildfire peaking and diving in and out of the treetops, but also a good sense of the beautiful lakes and forest surrounding the park as well as an incredible birds eye view of the animals. We loved this so much we did it twice, seeing bear cubs napping then play fighting in the water, a lioness and her cub stalking through the grass and a baby moose suckling from its mother. I loved it!



We had lunch at a buffet on the peak of one of Kolmarden's many hills with a breathtaking view of the lakes before heading to Wildfire for a few more rides. The coaster warms up nicely and had picked up the pace a little, although I must say I preferred riding in the morning. Once we'd wrapped up our last few laps we jumped in the hire Volvos and made our way East towards Stockholm and our second park of the day, Grona Lund.