Built at a cost of 250 million Norwegian Kroner (€30m), the park was built on land belonging to the original owner’s father. Construction was difficult, however, because of a very hard winter and heaters had to be used beneath the soil to make the roads and foundations.

Projected attendance for that first season was 460,000, but in a country of just 4 million people, that was very ambitious. After just two months the park went into liquidation and the banks took over. At this time, the Lund family, travelling fairground operators for over 100 years, were asked to have a look, but declined.

Konge Parken was then sold to a marketing man, who also tried to get Lunds into the park with their rides as concessionaires. The park went into liquidation three times in total before the head of the family, Bjorn Lund, finally took an interest.

“I said to my father at the time, ‘are you crazy?,” reveals eldest son Håkon Lund, now the park’s director of development. “All three brothers [Håkon, Aasmund and youngest brother Magnus] said no, but a good package was put together by the bank, and the politicians asked us to become involved. We were very flattered.”

Taking stock

Lunds eventually took control of Konge Parken on February 2, 1997, and Bjorn and wife Veslemøy moved there to live. The facility they took over had a very good infrastructure, a well-themed entrance, food and retail outlets and good office buildings, but very few attractions. The main features were a large walk-through attraction on the side of a hill, a bob sleigh ride down the side of a mountain, bumper boats and a giant aviary – with no birds! Attendance stood at just 45,000.

“The park had a very negative image locally,” recalls Håkon, who at the time was studying for a law degree. “We discussed at great length whether to change the name, but it had great recognition nationally, so we chose to grow it organically and change the focus inside.”

A ‘King Bear’ mascot was introduced and Lunds defined six values that would underpin everything Konge Parken did: Learning, play, sharing, exploration, magic and excitement. A Disney-esque policy of staff ‘auditions’ replaced interviews, and greeters were placed at the gate to welcome guests. “We wanted to let people know that this was a place families could stay and play together.”

With just 300,000 people inside a two-hour drive, Lunds had to be very creative in attracting guests from further a field. Armed with their new teddy bear ambassador, they took to the streets of the Oslo, about 300km away, for a big PR drive. Every child in the Norwegian capital was invited to bring their soft toys to a teddy bear hospital, to be treated for anything from a bit of loose stuffing to an ice cream overdose. “We treated about 2,000 bears in the first hour,” reveals Håkon.

“It’s taken us a lot of time and investment to build up our teddy story, but we need it if we are to have that extra layer of somewhere like Disney or Plopsaland.”

King Bear has been so popular that Konge Parken now sells more teddy bears than anywhere else in Norway.

But the park also gives plenty back to its guests. Children and their families can benefit from free camera hire, free milk, free sunscreen and, new this last year, free cod liver oil.

“We want to do something different from other parks, so there’s also a health angle to all most of our giveaways,” details Håkon. “A visit to Konge Parken is not necessarily about cotton candy.”

And there’s a real incentives for the kids to get healthy, too. If children drink all their milk, for example, they get a souvenir coin in return.

New rides from Japan

In 2002, Lunds added a raft of new rides from a defunct park in Japan. Imported with the the help of Interlink, they included a Huss Tri-Star, a tower balloon ride, which was shipped in 16 containers, and a Tilt-a-Whirl with cars themed like sea shells. This ride was erected in the middle of a lake and is accessed by a wooden pier. A family coaster had to be built into the side of the hill and it took quite a lot of earth moving to accommodate it. The aviary never did get any birds, but was transformed instead into a large play area.

With over 35 regular staff, the park builds and themes many of the attractions itself. When I visited in the summer, a Gravitron ride had been installed behind one of the buildings and themed as the ‘North Wind’ with snow-capped cows leaning into the wind as you passed through various corridors, one of which is like walking through ice.

The winter theme comes to the fore each year as part of Konge Parken’s Christmas celebrations. The rides do not open, but the games and retail outlets do. Children can also make their own sweets and gifts in special workshop areas, while they enjoy festive song and dance. For the first few years, the park “lost tonnes” on this venture, but now visitors flock in their thousands and pay a premium (KR180/€22) to do so. The event is open to the public over four consecutive Sundays, with additional sessions for local schools and factories. All sell out in advance.

The park also hosts several other special events during the year, including a music festival for new students comprising more than 14 separate concerts over three days. This brings 10,000 guests into the park, is worth KR250 million to the local economy and is so popular that tickets often make their way onto the black market.

Then in July, the park gains nationwide exposure as the final of Norway’s answer to Pop Idol/American Idol TV talent show is transmitted live from the events arena.

It’s five or six years since I first visited Konge Parken and a lot of improvements have been made since. Meanwhile Lund’s Tivoli, the travelling operation now stewarded by Aasmund, continues to tour Scandinavia and beyond. The Lund family can be proud of their achievements. The two businesses entertain more than one million guests a year, Konge Parken contributing around 150,000 to that total. Håkon’s plans now are to reach a quarter-of-a-million at the park within around five years. “That would be a realistic growth level,” he says.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend