Ken's Random Adventures of 2013 Trip Reports Thread

Greetings all!

 

I'm Ken (Obviously) and I am going to use this thread as a place to put my trip reports for this year. This will be a very crazy year for me since I will be traveling to Asia for the first time next month for visits to Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and of course JAPAN with TPR! I also have a trip to Denver this weekend along with a ton of other things being worked up!

 

April

Knoebel's Amusement Resort

 

Japan Trip add-ons

Day 1- Ocean Park

Day 2- Hong Kong Disneyland

Day 3- Universal Studios Singapore

Day 4- Legoland Malaysia and Singapore sightseeing!

 

TPR JAPAN TRIP

Day 0- Aqua Stadium

Day 1- Tobu Zoo

Day 2- Universal Studios Japan

Day 3- Hirakata Park and Fushimi Inari-taisha

Day 4 (Part 1)- Yokohama Cosmoworld

Day 4- (Part 2)- Sea Paradise

Day 5- Nagashima Spa Land

Day 6- Hokkaido Greenland

Day 7- Rusutsu Resort

Day 8- Joypolis

Day 9- Fuji-Q Highland

Day 10- Tokyo Disneyland

Day 11- Tokyo DisneySea

Day 12- Tokyo Sightseeing and night time at Disney Sea

Day 13- Final trip day. Disneyland & DisneySea

 

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Now, let's start this off with one of the best parks ever! Located in middle of nowhere Pennsylvania in a tiny town of Elysburg is a park you may have heard of... Knoebels!

 

There is no better way to kick off your season than a ride of Phoenix so we choose to spend the entire opening weekend at the park with was nice since opening day was busy while Sunday was more manageable also was nice to not feel rushed.

 

Anyway onto the photos.

Mhm... Pretty sure we are in the right town...

Nice that Knoebels is green but really how many times will this get used being in the middle of nowhere Pa and all?

Who needs a park entrance??? Not Knoebels

Our first stop duh! We got there about 30 minutes till it opened.

I see you testing

Oooo purdy

One of the first trains

One more since I couldn't pick one

Coming back in

Well if you insist... but ok here are my thoughts, You probably know about the recent retracking this past offseason and its not that I don't like it but it did cut some of the airtime out of the ride especially in the "Magic Seat". You don't get as much ejector air anymore but I still love phoenix so go ride it!

Stratofear is the new big ride this year strategically located in this guys back yard. No seriously though I do like its location as it the area towards Twister was very dead.

The ride area (We didn't ride until sunday when the line was a lot shorter) 4 ops for one flat and no physical restraint checks, Only at Knoebels!

Trying to be "Artsy"

Going uppp

If you visit on a non-pop day expect to pay $2, Jack.

One last look

Flying Turns trains being shy

Looper is always a must, especially when you need to crack your back.

SNAP!!!!

It was just a "little" busy

Want a Carmel Apple? Just look for the apple!

Love these things!

Hefty line for the pirate ship

Whip

Next we ended up up here

Purdy

Going down

The new skyline

Ermahgerd it's Space Mountain

Next stop anything must ride! Seriously expect to break through the side when I go down.

New meet and greet

Info

The obligatory not-so park entrance shot

Mark your calendars

Always worth a visit

This is new

We did this Saturday morning... What parks will let people enter 4 hours early for breakfast at a restaurant in the back of the park? Not any, I recommend it. Not only is it really good but it is nice to stroll through the park with no one around.

Those are new

Gotta give twister some love

I will be riding the 2nd version this weekend

Never seen this photo before, right?

Quick ride on the train.

And train #2

Beautiful but a true beast that river.

When you see that sign it means only one thing!

Still my #1 flat!

Ermahgerd this ride is so awesome I want to marry it...

Knoebel's has a giant bread shaped building which does not sale anything bread related!

Got a few more Phoenix photos

Just some of the retracking

Some more

Ohhhh did I mention that Saturday night we had lights on ERT on Black Diamond and The Haunted Mansion? (No pics for Black Diamond since it is the only ride with a no camera policy)

Sorry for the blur

ARHHHHHHHHHHHH

Thanks for the great weekend Knoebels!

Edited March 3, 2014 by kidcoaster 2

Nice start to your reports. Only been to Knoebels once and I keep seeing things I some how missed when I was ther.

Thanks! That's the beauty of the place I have been there 15+ times and also manage to find something new on every trip.

 

I know I promised Denver back in May but thanks to an airline problem that trip didn't happen. BUT I am currently in Singapore until Monday when I join the TPR Japan tour so there will be plenty of great reports coming when I get home next month!

ALRIGHTTT!

 

Just got back two days ago from the Japan trip and I finally have plenty of new trips to report on!

 

Last year when I signed up for the TPR Japan trip I figured that was going to be the only country I visited on the trip... but after playing around on Kayak a bit I found out to add some additional stops to the trip it wasn't a whole lot more. So I jumped on adding Hong Kong since I figured it would be neat to round up the Disney park collections... But than I played around a little more, after meeting two great friends on the Italy/Europe tour last year I gained a lot of interest in visiting Singapore. So it happened, now fast forward 5 months when I am on the plane heading to Hong Kong!

 

I will try and keep my reports brief as I am sure most of you don't want to read a book. So I will give an easy round up to my visits.

 

First up Ocean Park!

 

After deciding to visit Hong Kong Disney I knew I wanted to visit Ocean Park because I am pretty sure no other park can even compare with the surroundings this park is lucky with.

 

Getting to Ocean Park from Disney is super easy. 3 trains and 1 bus and you are at the gate!

 

I got there about 45 minutes before opening so I was able to beat the crowds to all the attractions.

 

Ocean Express Since EVERYONE runs to the cable cars first this is the best way (Thanks Dan!) to beat the crowds to the other side of the park. It is only about a 5 minute ride and it drops you off pretty close to Hair Raiser.

 

Hair Raiser I got on the first ride out. This was a great surprise! Once you get past the rattle it really isn't a bad ride and the airtime hill was excellent.

 

Arctic Blast This is just a powered coaster but it travels around the upper level and provides some good views. Also was my first experience of the "In station photos"...

 

Wild West Mine Train A mine train located on the side of the hill. Also offers great views and a good bit of airtime in the back.

 

Ocean Park Tower The views and A/C on this made it worth a ride!

 

Dragon The last credit was this old school arrow. I rode in the front so it wasn't terrible.

 

At this point I did Hair Raiser twice more and than did the animal walk troughs up in the back section. They were incredible. They take you over the animals and than under the tanks.

 

After that I took the cable car back down and took a stroll through the panda exhibit (Sadly didn't see them out) also went through the main aquarium which was also just as nicely done.

 

The heat was getting to me so I left on the 2 o'clock bus back to the metro to get back to Disney which by the way is up next!

Getting ready to leave Pittsburgh for my first leg of this trip.

This is the plane that would take me on the 16 hour flight from Chicago to Hong Kong! (At least united had a great movie selection)

We took the northern route which was nothing but ice...

I think this was in the area of the north pole.

Almost 24 hours from leaving my house I finally made it to my Hotel!

The next morning I got up early to take the train downtown.

Up them steps is Disneyland!

It was actually a very nice train!

Complete with the proper handles.

If your a fan of Batman than you know this building!

It is really a beautiful city.

The way it works around the mountains is incredible.

I think this is the right way...

Oh HEY

Short cut to the back of the park.

A lot of great theming for this ride.

First one here!

Hair Raiser midway

Any ride themed to clowns has my approval!

That is the entrance

Final test

This is the view from the queue line!

Built right onto the hill side.

The airtime hill

Next up Arctic Blast

Not the best timing but you get the idea

Wait? Am I at Disney?

Ignore the coaster just look at everything else!

From the Ocean Park Tower

Sounds like a classy joint

The North Pole encounter

The South Pole encounter

They can swim right under your feet!

Took one last run on Hair Raiser before heading down.

I took the cable car back down it was pretty scary.

This was a neat little area

Being in China I figured I should see some Pandas

Sadly this is as close as I would get...

Quick run through the main aquarium and that's it for Ocean Park

Next up Hong Kong Disneyland!

Nice TR! The entrance to Ocean Park reminds me of Luna Park here in Melbourne... big creepy face with a toothy grin!

 

How did you find the HKDL Hollywood Hotel - worth the extra expense for the convenient location? Also was it easy enough to get to Ocean Park via public transport? Planning to head up there later in the year.

^ For my plans the HKDL Hollywood Hotel worked great since I did the park the day I flew out it was easy to check my bag than return later and have the hotel get me a cab. Not sure what your plans are but there are some hotels in HK a bit cheaper.

 

Like I said getting to Ocean Park via public transit was super easy (And will be even easier when the new metro line opens in the next few years). If you stay at Disney you just have to take the Disneyland line to Sunny Bay station, than transfer to the orange line to Hong Kong station, walk to central station and hop on the blue line one stop to Admiralty station than jump on bus 629 which drops you off and picks you up right at Ocean Park's entrance. If you need help when you plan your trip I will be happy to help.

 

Also remember the Octopus card will be your best friend for that journey.

Ocean Park and Disney have changed a lot since I was last there. Looking forward to the Disney pics!

Hong Kong Disneyland!

 

For Disneyland I spent two half days at the park so I will try and combine both into one report.

 

After using the transit system to get back to Disney property I grabbed a quick and needed nap and headed into the park. I made my way down main street with the mini castle looming a head and I took a left once inside the park to one of the newest stars of the park.

 

Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars I hoped in the single rider line (Which I would be using a lot these two days) and grabbed a seat in the back. The theming is top notch on this ride and also the bear animatronics are great! Especially the ones on the launch. Besides the launch there really isn't anything really thrilling but the ride is a lot of fun!

 

I walked by Mystic Manor which had a 30 minute wait so I skipped it for now but little did I know it would close shortly after.

 

RC Racer Unlike Paris this one didn't have a single rider line. But luckily I only had to wait about 20 mins. The rest of Toy Story land is pretty much just like one in Paris but that's not really a bad thing since they are really nice sections.

 

It's a small world Had to... This one had the Disney Characters mixed in.

 

Space Mountain Just like the one in Tokyo and Cali. Pretty fun ride. Nothing else to report.

 

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters This was having some issues where it would shut off about every 2 minutes. But I managed to get through.

 

Mystic Manor At about an hour till close I tried to do the Manor but it was still down from earlier in the day. So I went and rode Grizzly a few more times so I returned about 10 minutes till close and it was the same and I returned to Grizzly. I decided it was worth the shot to return 1 minute till close and I walked up to it the sign showed it still being down so as I was just turning around to sprint back to Grizzly I seen them turned the wait sign back on out of the corner of my eye. So I turned around and the cast members started trying to wave people in!

 

The park kept the line open just long enough to fill up the pre show room half way and that was it for the night. The queue line was very detailed with a model of the mansion and many artifacts all through it. I didn't know till later but there is also a group photo of the Explorer's Club along with Lord Mystic and Albert (The monkey) in the photo is also Mr. Hightower and Shiriki (From the Disney Sea tower).

 

After a great preshow it was on to the ride... It used the same technology from Winnie the Pooh at TDL. There are 4 cars which follow each other through the mansion with only slight variations to the ride experience. Petty much the story is that Albert plays with an ancient music box that brings everything to life. The scenes are perfectly done with some really cool tricks all building up to an amazing finally with a giant Jade statue coming to life and causing havoc.

 

The ride isn't intense as Spiderman or Transformers but I love it and it's my new favorite dark ride.

 

At this point that was it for the first night but I returned the next day at opening.

 

I started off with two rides on Mystic Manor before trying to do old school Pooh which was down so I grabbed a fast pass for it.

 

Jungle Cruise This was pretty funny but since I was the only one in the English line I ended up getting a zen ride. My personal skipper was excellent and it was fun watching her try and change her lines that are normally meant for full boats.

 

Hong Kong Disney Railroad

I than took the train around the park and I liked the little bits thrown in like the aliens behind tomorrowland and the Mystic Manor cargo unloading platform.

 

Festival of the Lion King Being a fan of the movie I had to see this show. It was pretty neat with several large floats. They had an issue half way through the show that resulted in an Estop for about 10 minutes.

 

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Knowing I would be riding TDL Pooh later on I knew I had to do this old school version. It was nice but nothing great.

 

After this I did Space Mountain again and Grizzly and just explored the park and Castle before I had to head to the hotel to grab my bag and head to the airport where I would be greeted with a 5 hour delay....

 

Universal Studios Singapore next!

I case you forgot where I was.

Doesn't look busy at least.

There is a castle back there I swear!

Gotta go this way first!

Under this bridge...

And there it is!

Works for me!

I spy Mickey and Minnie

Welcome to Mystic Point!

I'll come back later...

The exterior is really nice though!

Next stop!

Fantasyland has some room to grow...

Backside of the castle

Next...

You can hear the song already...

Honestly almost rode it twice for the awesome A/C

Next was Space Mountain

Followed by Buzz

Getting ready for the Fireworks

Still closed...

So I ended up back here

The entrance at night

Finally open!

Model in the queue

Grizzly looks even better at night!

The Castle

That's it for the night

Day 2!

Ribbon cutting

First stop!

Just some of the queue

Seriously a great ride! I know they can't put copies of the ride into other parks but I would love to the same idea used elsewhere.

Moving on

They were filming something as I passed through Toy Story Land

Dumbo

Next stop Jungle Cruise

My guide and a full boat in front...

Me and my empty boat

This Jungle Cruise replaces the steam boat found at other parks.

It goes around Tarzan's Treehouse

The finally involved lots of fire and water

My only complaint of the park is how late the resturants open...

Festival of the Lion King is next!

The finally

Old School Pooh!

Old School Pooh cars

Quick lap on the train

I didn't have time but it looked really nice.

One last Grizzly run

Time to head to the hotel to grab a cab. This is the metro station just outside of the gates.

I ended up having a 5 hour delay... so I got a chance to browse the official park store in the airport..... Next up Universal Studios Singapore!

What an oddly funny experience getting your very own Jungle Cruise boat must've been.

 

Always enjoy seeing pictures from HKDL and the new lands. Thanks for sharing your photos.

Seems like you had a day with very small crowds. I envy you so much for getting almost no waits.

^ There were some crowds at both parks but it was still very manageable.

 

Universal Studios Singapore

 

Alright next stop brings us to the little city/country of Singapore!

 

Even though I spent 5 hours later than planned at Hong Kong Airport I did arrive to the world's best airport! I mean any airport that has gardens, drivers to take you to other gates during tight connections, mints at immigration, ohhh and the tallest slide in Asia it has to be the best? Right???

 

Well I meant up with my friend Dan and we were able to get about an hour sleep before we got up early to head to Universal Studios Singapore!

 

A quick train later we were on the monorail onto Sensota Island and were quickly at the gates. We got there early to grab breakfast in the park. Right next to Transformers we were greeted with a very nice spread complete with real bacon! (I guess it's hard to find in the region).

 

Unfortunately at the time of my visit Singapore was struck with some severe haze as a result of the wild fires in Indonesia. This forced the closure of a lot of attractions around the city and Sensota Island. Fortunately though it did start to clear half way through the day.

 

Battlestar Gallactica Cylon & Human After filling up we got first ride on both sides of Battlestar. We started on Human (Sitdown) in the back seat and it offered a nice pop of air on the first drop. The rest of the ride was fun but nothing great. Cylon (Inverted) was next, we hopped in the front seat. This one was a lot better and had a nice layout.

 

Ohhhh the best part of these coasters??? They still duel!!!

 

Transformers Orlando had opened theirs a few days before my visit so I thought it was neat to be riding the original. The ride is a lot of fun! Very hard to tell whether I like this or Spiderman more but the scenes were really cool, also it was pointed out that the ending features a nod to Bumblebees orginal form. This is also the exact same ride as the one in Hollywood and Orlando.

 

Sesame Street's Spaghetti Space Chase This had a really cute name and I remember Sesame Street from my child hood so I was interested in seeing this one. The first ride the on board audio didn't work so I was left really confused. The second ride it worked so it made a lot more sense. The ride was an inverted dark ride an featured just about ever character from the show especially Elmo.

 

Lights! Camera! Action! It started out kinda like Disaster but was actually very different. The ending featured a hurricane destroying New York City (Mhmm). But had some really cool surprises.

 

Revenge of the Mummy This is an exact copy of the Orlando version but with some huge differences in the story line and some different effects. But has one huge plus over Orlando... the lack of Brendan Fraser. This story worked a lot better and was all about finding the book of Living.

 

Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure This Jurassic Park is different than the others in that it is a river rapids, the out side section is also a lot longer. Pretty much a flood is about to destroy the park and you have to get to safety which turns out isn't very safe. The ride ends with a vertical lift than a drop.

 

Canopy Flyer Unlike the Orlando version this one sits 4 per car and allows adults. The ending helix also pulls some nice G's.

 

Enchanted Airways The last credit of the park is this vekoma roller skater themed to Donkey his wife, and their cross species offspring.

 

Madagascar: A Crate Adventure Next up was the giant ship at the from of the park, it don't house a luxury restaurant like Disney Sea but it does house Madagascar. I slow boat ride through various scenes from the movies, and of course the penguins "trying" to save the day.

 

Monster Rock This is kind of like the show at Universal Orlando (Minus beetlejuice) meets bill and ted. It has a lot of action and a lot of fun. With some great music choices.

 

Next we grabbed lunch with another friend at Louie's which offers some very good pizza and pasta. Before we left the park and hopped back on the monorail just two stops down to the beach. Walking down it you could tell its normally a hot spot but with the haze it seemed really quiet today.

 

Mega Zip The ziplines are at a perfect setting right on the beach and starts on top of the hill with some great views up top.

 

Leap of Faith The first attraction we did at Mega Zip was the leap of faith. You pretty much just jump off the tower only held onto a winch with a cable about a half inch thick. The jump is about 40 feet up. I don't have any pictures because I had to take a few minutes afterward to catch my breath.

 

Ziplines We did these twice and boy are they a lot of fun. You skim right over the trees sometimes being able to hit one with your feet before flying down over the beach and water before ending on a tiny island.

 

Both these attractions are a lot of fun and with a super friendly staff that just add to the experience it is defiantly worth a visit if you ever go to Universal Singapore.

 

Our next stop on the beach was the Luge. It is really hard to explain what exactly it is but know this and New Zealand are the only places in the world you can do this. Also it is worth doing several times because you only have to take the chairlift to the top to do it again.

 

In between one of our rides we hopped on the sky tower at the top of the hill to get some great views of Sensota Island along with most of Singapore.

 

After our last ride on the Luge we returned to Universal and did Transformers again along with both Battlestars we than walked around exploring the rest of the park which reminds me of a mini version of Island of Adventures meets the studios park. It works really well and the theming at the park is excellent.

 

We ended the night with two more rides on The Mummy. We stuck around the park for a bit after that before we headed back into Singapore where we grabbed a beer and did some exploring before heading back to get some sleep.

 

Thanks Universal Studios for an amazing visit! Also a huge thanks to Mega-zip and the Luge! I highly recommend a visit!

LEGOLAND Malaysia is next!

To get to Universal Singapore you must first take the monorail onto Sensota Island.

Approaching the island you could instantly see the haze over taking everything.

Welcome to Universal Studios Singapore! Stylish mask, no?

Well luckily as the day went on the haze would clear back into "healthy" levels.

The first in the park for the day!

Right away it is already a really nice park.

First stop was Sci-Fi city.

This was the divider between New York and Sci-Fi

After breakfast our first ride was on Transformers! It's a great ride with a lot of action and some really cool scenes. Its still hard to tell if I like this or Spiderman more.

The Transformers photo spot.

Continuing on we head for this twisted mess of coaster track!

The coasters really dominates over the park. Both coasters are kind of rough but fun rides. I preferred Cylon though.

Moving on...

Welcome to Egypt home of riots and military coups!!!.... Oh I mean....

Awesome rides like Treasure Hunters!!!....

... and MUMMY!!!

Welcome to the best of the Universal Studios Jurrasic Parks!

The Discovery Center here is a food court.

Rawr and stuff

First up was River Adventures, defiantly prefer this over the other Jurassic Park boat rides.

Canopy Flyer sits 4 per car and allows adults. Also includes a nice ending helix. Make sure you ride backwards.

Jurassic Park also has a climbing wall in the back if you are into those things.

Next we went Far Far Away... or about 15 yards over to the next section of the park.

It's defiantly bigger than Disneyland's Castle

And its only for a theater!

If you venture into the gift shop you will find this....

A Ferris wheel!

Also in Far Far Away there is a credit!

Just outside of Far Far Away is Shrek's house

That giant boat in the back is Madagascar. Not terrible but its a slow boat ride through various scenes from the movie.

One of the many random paths throughout the park.

Sesame Street is the new ride. It's actually a very nice dark ride and any ride themed to pasta is ok by me!

The entrance hosts at some of the ride entrances hold puppets and the Sesame street crew put masks on the Cookie Monster and Elmo puppets I thought this was awesome!

At this point we did pretty much everything so we left for a bit to do some stuff on the beach.

Getting to the beach was as simple as two stops on the monorail.

The first set getting ready to go.

Its a long but beautiful way down

I loved it!

Looking back up.

Another group coming down

Next we headed that way

Took the chairlift up...

...and got our Luge on!

Next we did the sky tower. Here is the water park which was closed due to the haze.

Down there is the entrance to USS

Transformers in that front right building and Mummy behind Battlestar

Battlestar doing its thing.

The city is starting to appear through the haze.

Time to go back down.

Didn't do IFly.

We than returned to the park for the rest of the night.

We than did Battlestar again. This was in the queue

I'm just going to post all my Battlestar photos.

Dueling!

More dueling!

Egypt. Now time for the rest of my photos.

Far Far Away

I did like the random Mummys

It was a kick ass day USS!

Next we headed into city in search of food.

That's it for today! Next up LEGOLAND Malaysia!

Edited July 18, 2013 by kidcoaster 2

Is Battlestar Gallactica rougher than the other vekomas?

^ No I have been on a lot worse. Battlestar is actually re-rideable.

How many times did you ride the best ride in the park? I'm talking about Treasure Hunters of course!

 

Love the whole Sentosa complex, it's like a giant cruise ship private island of fun! Can't wait to go back!

How many times did you ride the best ride in the park? I'm talking about Treasure Hunters of course!

 

A whopping ZERO.... and that has completely ruined the trip for me.

 

I thought about skipping Disney Sea just so I can return for it

 

But no, agreed Sensota is a really awesome place there is so much to do and see. You just can't do everything in a one day.

Thanks for all the photos! Looks like a really nice park!

Good morning all!

 

Next stop brings us just south of the Singapore border to the brand new park LEGOLAND Malaysia!

 

Getting to the park from Singapore is super easy using WTS travel service with the bus pick up at the Singapore Flyer. It was an hour and a half to the park followed by a short walk to the entrance. I didn't go in right away because I needed breakfast so I went to the mall built literally just outside the park gates. The mall was super nice even with garden bathrooms (Yes you got to pee outside while looking at plants and stuff). I grabbed my breakfast (and later lunch) at KFC.

 

Project X (No, no drinking or nudity or starting a riot unfortunately) First thing to do was get the credits out of the way. This is nothing more than a standard mack mouse just like the one that just opened at Knott's.

 

Dragon's Apprentice This is really the parks "kiddie" coaster. It was a nice little ride.

 

Dragon This is the main coaster at the park and honestly I really liked it. Not sure is there are other coasters with this layout but it was mildly intense. The dark ride section before the ride was cool as well.

 

4D Theater Feeling like 200 degrees with the humidity the way it was I ended up taking in several movies in this nice COLD theater. The occasional water in the face was also very welcome. OOoo one plus is that I finally know what the hell Chima is.

 

The Tower This is the observation tower. It ended up getting stuck earlier but it reopened so I grabbed a quick ride.

 

Lost Kingdom Adventure This is the Sally shooter. It was a fun little ride.

 

Train They have a train that circles Miniland and some other sections of the park. It was only running one train but still didn't have to wait long.

 

After this I repeated some rides and took in Miniland before returning to Singapore for dinner with Meat-on-a-stick in the middle of the street and pay a visit to some hookers along with some beer before flying to Tokyo a few hours later!

 

Next stop the land of the rising sun!

Good morning Singapore! Sadly I will be leaving for a few hours.... But I will be be back!

We had some decent views from the bus.

Marina Bay Sands hotel.

Singapore has a VERY large shipping port.

Crossing the border... check out that haze.

Welcome to LEGOLAND Malaysia!....

... But first FOOD.

Once inside the park Project X was first! No this did not include lots of drinking and nudity unfortunately :/

Moving on....

Onward to the Kingdom for my next credits!

Dragon's Apprentice is first!

Some of the queue theming.

Small but perfect for families.

One more.

This way to Dragon!

This looks like the right way.

Some queue theming

The station

The start of the dark ride section.

The Tower (Great name,eh?) was first.

Dragon's Apprentice

Dragon

Dragon Again

Water park conrtuction

Miniland

Dino Island

Imagination area

Overview

Moving on

Didn't do but looks like you don't get too wet.

The shooter

You guys should know what this is.

I think I only seen it go once.

Took the train next.

Miniland from the train

Construction of something

Entrance plaza

Moving on

Driving school

Guess someone wanted out...

Ride ops here to save it

Another look at the waterpark

Lets go check out Miniland!

The Tower looks like a model too doesn't it?

I know that place

I know that place too

They also had these but I didn't feel like getting drenched head to toe.

I went and grabbed one last ride on Project X before heading out.

The Hotel is looking good.

You can also visit the water park. Well at some point in the future.

Time to had out.

Finally back in Singapore lets have a quick look around here before moving on.

The Flyer has a full garden under the wheel.

From the other side.

Marina Bay Sands

Sky Garden

See this bridge here?

Don't even think about bringing your cattle over it!

Merlion

Singapore Flyer

Marina Bay Sands

This is where we had dinner. Looks like a nice patio or something right?

Wrong, it is just some food vendors who set up tables in the middle of a real working street! Complete with still working street lights! Stingray was good though!

My last stop of Singapore was Beer Market.

This restaurant has a simple but great set up! If no one wants a beer the price goes down.

But if someone wants a beer...

... The price goes up! Its awesome! One the way back we swung by a Japanese Temple. It reminded me I leave for Tokyo a few hours later. So bitter sweet but I am just glad to have gotten the opportunity to visit Singapore and I look forward to returning. SHIOK!

Since I am posting this at the start of the week maybe now it will get more interest.

 

So this is a super short report for a super small "park" Aqua Stadium.

 

My day started early with my flight out of Singapore. It was an easy taxi ride to the airport and the check in was very quick with some super friendly staff. Breezed through immigration (Yay mints) and grabbed breakfast before going through security (AT THE GATE!) This flight consisted of a light nap and watching a few more new releases.

 

Once at the airport I had a short wait at immigration than went through customs. I had to process my Rail Pass so I went to the train station after converting the rest of my currency to Yen. Processing took about 20 minutes but once through I met up with Matt and waited for several more as we planned to all get to the hotel together. Once we had everyone we grabbed the airport express and went straight to the Shinagawa Prince Hotel which was a short walk from the train station.

 

After we all checked in and dropped our bags we met back up in the lobby to go visit the small park in the hotel and than to grab food.

 

Galaxy Express 999 Once in the park you just have to get tickets for the coaster or carousel or the pirate ship (Are there even any other rides here?). With the some help by one of the super friendly employees at this park we were able to figure out the ticket machine and he even saved us 4 YEN in the process!

 

Before the coaster though you have to go through a what felt like a 20 minute long preshow of explaining props for a show we didn't even know anything about or understand. Along with a video and some animatronics before you finally enter the station.

 

The trains are super long and the track is all indoors so you really don't know what's about to happen. We finally board the train and I grab the front. The ride is pretty much slow buildup of speed while leaving the station followed by a turn than staring at a loop before you finally take on speed. After the loop you hit some helixes before ending in the unload platform where the bring all your lose articles to which was nice.

 

As we were leaving we noticed our luck as they had shut off the queue while we were on the ride so I guess we were the last riders of the night.

 

Last thing we grabbed lunch in the hotel food court where I got some really good rice beef sandwiches. At this point we were all tired so I headed to bed to crash. We had an early morning for the first day of the Japan Trip!

 

Tobu Zoo is next!

Out of the plane this was one of the first things I went for. Actually really good!

My first Japan park!

The Carousel looked really nice.

But we are here for this!

You are going to stand here for 20 minutes while we talk about random stuff.

Finally!

Oh man, I sure hope we can find a seat guys...

The ride entrance with the closed queue as we were leaving/

I will leave you with a night shot of Tokyo from my hotel room. Next up Tobu Zoo!

I wish'd we'd been able to do Galaxy 999, after we arrived at the hotel.

But we didn't give ourself enough time .

 

Yes, the pre-show is about three times as long as the ride itself (ha)

but it's a pretty good experience. Especially when some people

don't actually know there's a ____ in the ride. (no spoilers here)

 

And in Hong Kong Disneyland - did you find out what that "ribbon cutting

ceremony" was all about? Didn't look to be a big audience draw, heh heh,

 

Great start to your tours! Looking forward to seeing more.

The ribbon cutting was the way they opened the park for the day. Some cast members picked a family and brought them forward where than the princesses came out of the castle and each of them said a few works before they put up a ribbon for the family to cut.

 

There was a very large crowd gathered but the ropes were right at the end of Main Street so you couldn't see it in my photos.

Galaxy Express is an indoor family coaster right?

Galaxy Express is an indoor family coaster right?

 

Not really, it's not fast but it does have an inversion.

Sorry guys I just came from several very busy months for me. But now I can finally resume the report!

 

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Finally we come to the official start of the TPR Japan Trip!!.. Ok, well the add-on for the pre-trip add-on. Either way we are at Tobu Zoo!

 

We woke up early to meet everyone in the lobby to get our bags, grab a super fast breakfast than to head to the train station to make our way to the park.

 

After several trains we finally made it to the park where it true TPR fashion the trip started off with a bang! And that bang was an hour of ERT on the mega light Kawasemi!

 

Kawasemi Throughout the day I got in about 17 rides in starting with the first ride of the day with would crawl through the course. I was really worried after experiencing it but I managed to get on the second ride and the difference was incredible! After you leave the lift your butt will barely touch your seat for the rest of the ride.

 

Regina After our ERT we set out to get the other credit at the park (The kiddie was closed with the train missing). I managed a front and back seat ride and I liked it better in the front but the ride pretty fun. Defiantly a lot better than I thought it would be.

 

Star Cross We had no idea what this was but as our group was passing it there was a lot of debate whether we should try it but when someone walked close to see what it was and found out it had A/C that was settled.

 

It was a motion simulator with a film about saving the earth from a meteor (I think?)

 

Galaxy Walkers Another thing we had no clue about but there were two versions you could choose. One where you match the weight of a bag and one you don't. There was some mazes to it and a lot of confusion of where to go (I think I ended up back stage at one point). In the end it was a lot of fun to do as a group.

 

We than grabbed lunch and some beer before another ride on Kawasemi followed by...

 

Sky Love You could sky love all over the park and end up on the other end of the park where you exit and can than Sky Love all the way back.

 

At this point me and Nozzy split from the group to check out the zoo and some of the dark rides.

 

Surprising House You surprisingly enter the mouth of a clown where you than surprisingly sit down before the room surprising spins (At a very fast rate). At the end the ride surprisingly stops and you surprisingly exit, surprisingly (Ok, I'm done).

 

Strange Street After being surprised you can than be strange. This is a neat walk through haunted house. There was even shockingly an actor which made a very valiant attempt to scare me.

 

Zoo Yes there really is a zoo at Tobu Zoo. It was actually quite large too. They have pretty much every animal and even some Tiger Cubs.

 

After seeing the zoo we grabbed another ride on Kawasemi before getting lunch at the 100% authentic Itarian restaurant. We split a pizza and got some fries. The pizza was really good and the unlimited drinks were a huge bonus.

 

One more ride on Kawasemi would complete the park before we met at the entrance to get out of there before the rain would hit.

 

We had to take several trains back to the hotel to grab our bags than to hop on our first bullet train (!) down to Nagoya to check into our new hotel for the next several nights.

 

A group of us went out to dinner just around the corner from the hotel at a very Japanese restaurant. Shoes off, sit on the floor and all. Oh and we had to cook our own meal. We ended up getting chicken, beef, annnnnddddd Womb (yes womb). It was defiantly a very interesting and fun night and after dinner we explored the area a bit before calling it a night since we had to be up early to make our way south to Universal Studios Japan!

Good morning Japan! Let's meet everyone in the lobby and get this day started!

After several trains you have to walk about a mile to the park entrance from the train station.

We made it!

Want to know what's closed? Inquire at the ice cream.

In some places Tobu is a very nice park.

We definatly came here for the dueling giant wheels! Ignore that yellow thing on the right...

Ok, I guess we couldn't ignore it for long!

These are the chariots to a minute of pure awesomeness

What happens when you ride a vekoma.

But riding Kawasemi will give you tears of joy.

But if your grandparents do not ride Tobu will release the angry spirits.

Airtime

MORE AIRTIME!

I think Robert enjoyed it!

Moving on here is a look at the rides section to get an idea of the layout.

First we pass these two very reliable rides.... well... just move along. Nothing to see....

After the Music Express we did this interesting walk through/game.

Awww but I wanted to stay....

We kept seeing this film crew around the park.

Regina is the other major credit here.

Regina doesn't look so good in the morning....

Not a terrible ride but not super exciting either. Was at least worth a re-ride.

Which are you?

What did he do???

But don't worry! Be happy! Here's part 2!

Edited December 2, 2013 by kidcoaster 2

I have totally missed your reports as they were posted when we were on tours this summer! I love them! Going to tweet about the Singapore one now! (better late than never, right?)

I miss Tobu Zoo.