There’s a line spoken early on in 2 Fast 2 Furious, where the cars are lining up and ready to start the race, and then Ludacris walks out. You can tell the air is thick with humidity and anticipation, and he yells, “Fire ’em up!”
That’s how we approached our last full day in Copenhagen. We were anticipating a full day of being on our feet again. The rain had made its way through and left us with blue skies and sunny days ahead. Fire ’em up!
Our initial plan was to hit the ground running upon landing in Copenhagen. I mentioned that before, but not the part about it being meant to include our visit to Tivoli Gardens. We thought that we would be better served by going to the amusement park and staying up as long as possible. Thank the gods we decided against that. Firstly, you’ll remember, it was raining. Secondly, we cut our day short and took a nap. If that was us in Tivoli, I dare not think about that because I am sure we’d all be cranky before the sun began to set.
With our previous outings mostly indoors, we opted for activities that would bring us out into the sunshine. So, to complement our afternoon trip to Tivoli Gardens, we first visited the Botanical Garden.
My future mother-in-law said, while we were walking around, that she always felt it was a great idea to visit a botanical garden in whatever country you were visiting. It’s hard to find fault with that statement. I’ve enjoyed gardens in Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, England, and now Denmark. It’s a great way to see what local flora and also what international flora grows in different climates.
In Copenhagen, the main Botanical Garden is a free attraction open to all. There is an additional charge to enter one of the greenhouses, but I say it’s worth the price of admission. This is a truly great place to wander and get lost. The weather on the day we visited was perfect, and many other people were taking in the sights. You will probably need to ditch your jacket as you enter some of the greenhouses, as they get a bit warm (as one would expect).
There was a lot to take in, so I’m going to follow this up with a gallery of some of the things we saw.
Look at this lawn. It’s a massive space of sod. What is not pictured are the robot lawnmowers. Completely autonomous, like a robo vacuum for your house or apartment, but this time they were trimming the greens. I, honestly, had not seen one before. They do a pretty good job! I welcome clean, trimmed lawns from our robot overlords.
After spending what we felt was enough time at the Botanical Garden, it was time for us to venture back into the city. There is a train stop directly across from the garden, so it made it very easy to travel through the city. We ventured back to the shopping street and were doing some window shopping until the aforementioned future mother-in-law saw something at the Bang & Olufsen shop that caught her eye. Not wanting to wait around, we left my partner’s parents at the store and headed on our way.
We really wanted to get to Tivoli Gardens.
Another quick trip on the train, and boom, we were at Tivoli Gardens.
After a 1951 visit, Walt Disney reportedly fell in love with Tivoli and its atmosphere. The rest of that story is widely known, and now we have Disneyland, Disney World, and Disney properties in Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.
There is still only one Tivoli. It is wholly unique and magical in its own right.
The first thing that struck me was how immersive the space felt. We walked down a set of stairs, and the city around us disappeared. We became enveloped in the park.
It was also incredibly clean.
I have become so accustomed to the lines and seemingly endless queues at Disney and Universal parks back home that I was pleasantly surprised and found the Tivoli queues refreshing. I don’t think we waited longer than 30 minutes in line for any ride. And guess what? The Copenhagen Card covers admission into the park. We only had to purchase a ride pass. This allowed us to ride any ride. Otherwise, you can pick and choose which rides you’d like to ride and pay accordingly.
We made our way around the park little by little, making sure to do as many rides as possible. Some were geared more towards smaller children, but we rode them anyway. Fun knows no age limit.
I found the theming and overall design of the park to be rather wonderful. It truly felt like a diversion. So often, when we visit parks back home, we are pressured to do everything because of the cost of admission. That can take away the joy of being there. I never felt that while we walked around Tivoli. Sure, I wanted to do as much as possible, but not at the expense of my own enjoyment of the day.
While we were standing in line for the wooden roller coaster, Rutschebanen, we came across a plaque congratulating the coaster for still being in operation. It is one of the oldest wooden roller coasters still in operation worldwide. The plaque commemorates its existence and operation. I think that’s pretty cool. When I think of wooden coasters, like this, I remember them being traditionally seen on boardwalks, think Santa Cruz or Coney Island, and to see one still working, thousands of miles from home, over 100 years later, is remarkable.
After my future in-laws made their way to the park, it was time to indulge in some eats.
Do you remember going to an amusement park as a child and kind of dreading the food options? I do. Well, maybe “dreading” is the wrong word, but I never felt like my choices were, well, a choice. It was burgers, pizza, popcorn, chicken tenders, and a giant ass turkey leg for some reason. Now, granted, this (minus the turkey leg) was my main diet as a pre-teen and tween, so I had nothing to truly complain about.
Except for the quality. The quality was always the issue.
Over the last 10 to 15 years, I’ve felt the food landscape at amusement parks change. Those initial offerings still exist, but they also offer elevated versions as well. The corporations figured out they could charge the hell out of food if they made it sound a little fancier, with a “Brewhouse” burger, a Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich, or clam chowder in a bread bowl. Now I just complain about the prices and the quality (at times).
All of those words to say, we ate at a Gasoline Grill in the park, and I found it to be one of the best burgers I’ve eaten. Scouts honor. We also got some soft serve, and that also hit the spot.
Our appetites satiated, it was time to continue our way through the park. There were a couple of rides my partner just wouldn’t do, so I did them alone. One that twisted and turned me in every single direction while strapped into a seat. Another that slowly raised me above the city skyline and then dropped me. Then there was a haunted house that I walked through that legitimately scared me because real people popped out and interacted with you/scared the crap out of you.
Then it was time to feed the ducks! Stationed around one of the ponds was a coin-operated bird food dispenser. We put in a Krone or several, and out came a handful of bird food. We ate, so why shouldn’t they?
Our night ended at one of the restaurants in the park. It was unlike any other amusement park restaurant that I had been to before, in that there were people dressed in suits and business wear dining at tables opposite us. Someone was overdressed, and it sure as hell wasn’t us. We, the hoi polloi, know how to dine at an amusement park. Yes, I’ll have a Pepsi Max with my steak au poivre, please.
Our bellies full again, and our legs and bodies sufficiently tired, it was time to head out.
It was a really fun way to spend the afternoon. We were able to ride every ride that we wanted to, and then some. We also sat, relaxed, and took in the beauty of Tivoli. I had no idea what to expect as I walked onto the park grounds, and I left knowing this would be one of the memories I would cherish most because the park evoked a true sense of joy and enthusiasm, unburdened by intellectual property or influencers.
Tivoli is a unique experience and one that should not be missed.
