Denmark: Tivoli Gardens: 175 Years of Magic

One of Tivoli Gardens' claims to fame is that this Copenhagen amusement park inspired Walt Disney to build Disneyland. Another is that (according to the Tivoli Gardens' website) is that the "one and only Hans Christian Andersen" visited on opening day on August 15, 1843.

Walt visited Tivoli in 1951 (Disneyland opened in 1955). Unlike many other theme parks he visited over the years as he planned Disneyland, Tivoli was clean with lush gardens and family-friendly rides. Click over to the 2012 Business Insider article for the exact quote and other fun facts about Tivoli Gardens.

Reminded me of EPCOT.

Walking through Tivoli we kept pointing to places that reminded us of Disneyland (yes, it should be other way around, but we went to Disneyland first, and more often).

Park map for you theme park geeks

This building screamed Its a Small World with its glaringly white color.
Turns out it is based on the Taj Mahal and has 14 hotel rooms inside.
The mountain in the background reminded us of the Matterhorn.

Topiaries always remind me of Disney.

With the disappointing name "Roller Coaster," it is really an early Matterhorn. See below.

Must have a statue of the founder. Right, Walt?

Lush gardens and enterainment

I suspect a book could be written comparing the two parks. My analysis won't be that long. 

Similarities:
Both are near the people, though Copenhagen's is literally across the street from the central train station and wins the ease to get to award. Anaheim built up around Disneyland, not the other way around.

Once you enter, both have free entertainment, and access to buying food and souvenirs. 

Both transform you away from your surroundings.

The Chinese Pavilion was built as a way to educate locals about different parts of the world -- places most of them would never see. Sound familiar, EPCOT fans?

Both have an alpine-style ride with a Yeti or monster roaring at you.


Differences:

Tivoli Gardens is a lot cheaper. On the surface it is a pay-as-you go plan, but they do offer an all-day ride pass for about an extra $40. You pay an entrance fee (around $20 per person), which gets you into the grounds, then purchase ride tickets as needed.

Tivoli Gardens is also a lot smaller with absolutely zero space for expansion, though we did see a new section going into the park. I wonder what had been there before?

Tivoli has three entrances. I don't remember a bag check, though we went through so many bag checks on vacation I could be mistaken on this point.

Tivoli is only open during the summer, Halloween, and Christmas. Disney found a much better year-round climate in Southern California.

A bit of history:
The wooden ride, Roller Coaster, was built in 1914 making it one of the oldest roller coasters. Leap-the-Dips, built in 1902, in Altoona, Pennsylvania is the oldest, but I seem to recall Leap-the-Dips has not been running continuously since 1902, which would make Roller Coaster the longest continuously running roller coaster (just learned that distinction goes to Luna Park Melbourne's The Great Scenic Railway built in 1912). Always ways to parse statistics. I'll forgive the boring name since it was one of the first, before names had to become more exciting. Wish I had been faster on this one. They have a Yeti-like creature in the middle of the ride, similar to the one on the Matterhorn. I started laughing. Loved the coaster because I had so much air-time. Despite the signs (in two languages) telling me to stay seated, I couldn't.

Loved Tivoli! I'd recommend going around 8 PM in the summer and staying until after dark (9:30 PM in August). This way you can enjoy how it looks in daylight, during dusk, and at night when the many lanterns are illuminated. You can purchase a ticket to allow you to re-enter the park. Unlike Disney, this is an upgrade.