Gröna Lund is a densely packed theme park on the edge of Djurgården Island in Stockholm. The park has a variety of thrill rides and family attractions, and welcomes around 1.7 million visitors every year.

Monster is the largest ever investment at the park, at a total cost of 450 million Swedish Krona (€44 million). It is 111.5 ft tall, reaches a top speed of 55.9 mph and features three inversions; two Zero-G Rolls and a Corkscrew.

We were delighted to be invited to visit the park and experience the new ride for the first time, and took the opportunity to check out Wildfire at nearby Kolmården the following day.

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Monster

This superb new Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster at Gröna Lund is the first ride of its type to open in six years.

It isn't the tallest, longest or fastest ride of it's type, so it's tagine claiming to be the 'King of Roller Coasters' is a bold one. However, statistics aside, what differentiates this new ride from the others, is a unique setting and impressive interactions with its surroundings.

One of the most unusual features of the new roller coaster is the underground station. This was necessary due to limited space available at the park, but has been become integral to the storyline for the attraction, with riders making their way down into an abandoned subway station.

Read our interview with Peter Osbeck, the Senior Ride Manager at Parks and Resorts Scandinavia, on building a Monster at Gröna Lund.

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It's not just Monster that's new, it's part of a major renewal of a whole area of the park. There are several new places to eat and drink, impressively themed streets and a selection of games.

The transformation of a large part of Gröna Lund into New York neighbourhoods from the early 20th century is the largest renovation in the theme park's 138-year history. The brick facades include everything from genuine imported American fire hydrants and exact replicas of the lanterns of the iconic Waldorf Astoria hotel, to a replica of The Brazen Tavern in New York. On the ground at the new Little Italy food area, the attentive visitor can discover a mixture of railway tracks and asphalt at a classic turntable, which was used in the past to rotate trains. In the middle of the characteristic New York architecture, you will also find newly planted trees.

A particular highlight is the Spice Bar, offering incredible views of Monster from its rooftop location, and serving beer, wine and cocktails to enjoy in a relaxed and sophisticated setting.

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Gröna Lund

This was our first ever visit to Gröna Lund, so in addition to experiencing Monster, everything else that the park has to offer was also new to us.

The most memorable attractions for us, were the 400 ft (122 m) tall swing tower ride Eclipse, and Ikaros, an extraordinary 311 ft (95 m) tall 'face down' drop tower.

Both the vertical spinning coaster Insane and wooden coaster Twister were out of action, the latter of which is closed until next year.

The other roller coasters include Jetline, a classic Zierer coaster that opened in 1988, and Vilda Musen, a wild mouse coaster from Gerstlauer. There was also the suspended family roller coaster Kvasten from Vekoma, that has been very nicely themed.

One of the most popular attractions at the park throughout the day and night, was the 'fun house' Lustiga Huset. It opened in 1917 and was updated in 1987, and continues to surprise and delight people of all ages. 

Blå Tåget is one of the best 'ghost train' attractions we have experienced, with the Gosetto ride featuring some unusual and really effective jump scares.

House of Nightmares is a walkthrough scare attraction that uses a combination of themed sets, various animatronics by the Sally Corporation and a cast of scare actors. An extra ticket (50 kr) is required, but we felt that this was reasonable value, for an attraction that's equivalent to what you would find at a chargeable Halloween event.

For families with younger children, there is a whole area of the park dedicated to them. From classic flying elephants and tea cups to vintage cars and two junior coasters, and more colourful rides and attractions for little ones.

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Night Rider

During our visit there were two main ride sessions (10am-3.30pm and then 4pm-9.30pm) followed by a Night Rider event (10pm-midnight) with each requiring the purchase of separate tickets.

This opening model did create strange changeover periods where all rides were closed down and guests had to exit and then re-enter the park. It seemed to be a rather overcomplicated operation and it isn't a very good experience for guests.

However, the Night Rider event had much more to offer than just riding in the dark, with the park transformed into a vibrant open-air club with pop-up bars, DJs, live music, street food and games.

The atmosphere was incredible, with the beginning of the event drawing all guests to the centre of the park to experience a spectacular launch, featuring an array of lighting, sound and special effects, plus street performances. The crowd were made to feel part of it, with colour changing wristbands.

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Kolmården

The following day we travelled to Kolmården, nestled in the beautiful countryside south of Stockholm. Covering 1.5 square kilometers and home to countless animal species, thrilling rides and magical shows. Kolmården is among the most popular tourist attractions in the Nordic countries.

The highlights include Wildfire, the highest and fastest wooden roller coaster in Europe, and Safaribanan, a unique cable car safari with gondolas suspended above the vast animal enclosures. Wildfire towers 142 metres above sea level, reaches a top speed of 115 kph and has the second largest number of inversions in the world on wooden roller coaster.

In addition, Marine World and the World of Bamse include lots of fun rides for kids and adults alike, as well as brilliant live shows and other entertainment.

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Find out more!

We were guests of Gröna Lund and Kolmården for the purposes of this review.

Find out more and book your visits at gronalund.com and kolmarden.com