Daftöland

You have never seen two more excited children in your life.

They're so happy, and they haven't even gotten in yet.

Daftöland is our small, local, pirate-themed amusement park. We have driven past it almost daily since we arrived in Sweden. It sits at the corner of an intersection that connects our group of islands to the town of Strömstad. Sometimes, we pass Daftöland multiple times a day.

Daftöland has been closed since we arrived; it's only open during the summer. The girls have been counting the days until it would open. They waited three months. In those three months, they've been gazing lovingly at it each time we pass, memorizing the various attractions visible from the road, planning what they'd ride when they finally made it inside.

*squeeze!*

Recently, the park must have been making a promotional video. They were filming a group of people enjoying one of the park's more thrilling rides. On this day, we discovered that what we had assumed for three months was a plastic sheet covering a swimming pool or wading pond was actually a giant inflatable trampoline that we had only ever seen in its deflated state.

Swedish pirate log ride.

On the day Daftöland finally opened, it was a holiday weekend. All of Sweden was there. We opted to wait, despite the pleading of our children. The park's hours for the first month were odd, it only open certain days and sometimes closed early. So although it had opened, we kept driving by. And waiting.

Finally, one day last week on an afternoon when we had nothing else going on, the girls said, "Why don't we go to Daftöland?"

And so we did.

"I am MOANA!" (That's our default.)

The children were so overjoyed you would have thought that we bought them a pony. I wish I had written down the exact words they said. They said things like, "I think my heart is going to explode!" And, "There is never a day when I have been happier in my life!" And, "I can't believe my dreams are finally coming true!"

Swedish pirate teacups.

They were VERY excited at the idea that they were going to an amusement park that their friends back at home would likely never visit. I reminded them of the many things on this trip that their friends would probably never do (live in Sweden, go to school in Sweden, go to ANY of the places we've been fortunate to visit IN SWEDEN). They were not swayed by this at all.

Swedish pirate stomach-drop ride.

The inside of Daftöland was much as it looked from the road. For friends in the States, I'd compare it to Boomers in size, but cleaner and higher quality. And more piratey.

Giant Swedish pirate skull.

Although we'd seen the trampoline area from the road, seeing it in action was a shock. It was so different from any trampoline park back home. Here, there was one, giant inflatable surface. Surrounding it was only dirt with some wood chips in it, and around that a low wall made of rocks. Yes, rocks. The only safety instructions we saw were signs telling users to remove their shoes.

That small silver circle is a slash through a shoe.

In the States, there'd be a waiver you'd have to sign before you could get anywhere near the trampoline. Then, they'd sell you some special grippy socks. The trampoline would be divided up into several smaller trampolines (one per person, please) and there'd be an attendant there to monitor your use of the trampoline at all times. Oh, and it would be surrounded by padded walls.

All together now!

Another surprise: Self-operated rides. There was one that is similar to a ride we've been on a LEGOLAND, where you pull yourself up a tower. At Daftöland, there was no worker managing the line or helping people get in and out. At one point, my kids couldn't figure out how to unlock themselves from the seats. Another kid came over and said, "Push" in Swedish, while pointing to a button.

Operated by pull-power.

Another ride shocked us not only because it had no attendant, but because of the ride itself. We'd seen the top of this attraction for months, while driving by. We could see that there was some sort of little car on a slide, but couldn't see the whole thing. I thought it was like the "Super Slide" at the Del Mar Fair, only with a little car to ride in. It was not until we visited Daftöland that we realized what actually happened at the bottom of this ride.

First, you get pulled backward up a ramp...

...then you catch some air!

I cannot imagine this could ever exist in the United States. No attendant? People would try to stand up on the boat and surf down the ramp. People would try to flip the boat. People would DEFINITELY not adhere to the posted weight limit.

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

I can't quite reconcile the fact Americans are both more cautious AND more impulsive than the Swedes. The over-protectiveness at our trampoline parks seems ridiculous by comparison to the low-key rules here. Perhaps we need safety padding and attendants at every ride precisely because our default behavior is so reckless?

So yeah, we bought season passes. Watch out, Daftöland... the Americans are coming!