Xcoaster

^ Walk up the hill towards Revolution, but then keep to the path on the right instead of the entrance side on the left. Keep going up that way.

Hint 1: It's pictured on this tin. Hint 2: It’s not fruit drops. Morbid! "Yarbles! Great big bolshey Yarblockos!" Great TR!

^ If you're into coasters at all you should give it a try. Go on a weekday and the lines should be more manageable. Anyways, sorry for being extra super slow in posting this next update. This culture update doesn't involve traditional theme parks, per say, but has two (or 1.5) open-air architectural museums (theme parks in the very broadest sense of the term) and a visit to the awesome Studio Ghibli museum. On Thanksgiving 2011 I had the day off, and I finally managed to reserve a ticket to the Studio Ghibli museum in Mitaka, so I decided to center my day around a long-awaited visit to it. The first stop of the day was the Nihon Minka-en open-air museum in the Tama hills area of Tokyo. This is the train station I used to get to it. Nihon Minka-en, the first open-air museum of the day, showcases Japanese folk houses, and was located in the same general area as Yomiuriland, a decent walk up the hill from the Mukogaoka Yuen train station. Unfortunately, I misread the museum’s website, and most of the park was closed when I got there (they’re closed on the day following a National holiday, and since Thanksgiving is celebrated on Wednesday in Japan, the park was closed Thursday…). So, I just walked around the outskirts of the park until I figured this out, took in what I could see, then took off after getting lunch. This is partway up the hill to the park. Here's the entrance to the park. It was closed but at this point I figured, "Hey, maybe there's another entrance open somewhere else." A train car on display in the nearby park. There's a guy sitting inside reading a newspaper; I thought it was a funny place to hang out. The museum's restaurant, which is housed inside of one of their more iconic folk houses. Again, closed. At this point I was starting to get the impression that the park was closed today. Looking down on some of the other houses. A map of the museum layout. Near the rear gate to the park. At this point I figured out from one of the signs that the park was definitely closed. After walking back to the train station, I had lunch at Ootoya, a chain restaurant which seems to focus more on European style cuisine. I ate at another later, and both times it was pretty good. This time I had what turned out to be French Onion chicken soup. I was nearly finished with it before I realized what I was eating - I'd assumed it was a traditional Japanese onion stew. Afterwards I thought I might swing by Yomiuriland and get my White Canyon credit and a few rides on Bandit (since I only had one before), but I made my third big dumb of the day (first was forgetting my passport and railmap) and took the train to Yomiuri Land Mae, which is NOT the station with the gondola ride to the park (that’d be Keioyomiuriland). I was already on the fence about visiting since I had to get to the Studio Ghibli museum by 4:00, so at this point I decided to abort and just went on to my next stop, the Edo-Tokyo outdoor museum. The Edo-Tokyo open-air architectural museum is in Koganei Park, a short bus ride away from Musashikoganei train station. The bus was pretty easy to figure out. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to spend here, since I had to get to the Studio Ghibli museum at 4:00, so I sped through the place in just about an hour. Honestly though, unless you really take your time going through each building and the museum, 2-3 hours would probably be plenty as it isn’t a particularly large complex. This is a old police box. I think this is an old fire watch tower. It wasn’t entirely planned this way, but this whole day ended up being very Studio Ghibli focused. First, Nihon Minka-en was located in the Tama Hills / Tama New Town area, which was the setting for two Studio Ghibli films, "Whisper of the Heart", and "Pom Poko", both of which highlight the suburban sprawl that came to define the area. And while walking to the park, I noticed a tanuki crossing sign, which I believe were put into use because of "Pom Poko". My photo of it was a bit too blurry to post, however. Going onto the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Museum, it was supposedly a major inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki when he was creating Spirited Away – from some of the interiors it’s easy to see how. To start, this trolley car is similar to the one from the film, and a very similar one was used as the projection room at the theater at the Studio Ghibli Museum. This street scene is similar to the line of shops from the beginning of "Spirited Away" Hayao Miyazaki also created the mascot for the park, a caterpillar. I liked the lighting inside the bathhouse. This bathhouse is supposedly an inspiration for the much taller bathhouse from "Spirited Away". Initially I didn't see it, but if you look at them side by side, they have the same basic design, this one is just 1000x shorter. This stationary shop is clearly the inspiration for the boiler room with all the drawers in "Spirited Away". Since I missed out on most of the folk houses of Nihon Minka-en, I was glad to see that the Edo-Tokyo museum had a few to spare. The interior of this house bears some resemblance to the interior of the bath house from "Spirited Away", particularly the living quarters. Later I might to do a side-by-side comparison with some of the scenes from "Spirited Away" compared to the museum. Some of it is pretty striking. An old photography studio. Artsy photo of the entrance building. The entrance to the open air museum. Sorry about posting this last. So now we're walking to the Studio Ghibli Museum, located near the Mitaka train station. I’ve wanted to go to the Studio Ghibli Museum since I found out it existed. I was particularly fond of Hayao Miyazaki’s films back when I was in college, and I designed one section of my Rct2 park, DisneyAir, around his movies, so getting to finally visit their showcase has been one of my biggest priorities since I’d started visiting Japan. Unfortunately, on my first trip I never found a date when tickets were available, and my second trip was cut short. This time I got lucky in that I had a holiday off which was a normal weekday for almost everyone else. Anyways, this is an elevated walkway at the Mitaka train station After about a 10 minute walk along this canal, you arrive at the Studio Ghibli Museum. There are plenty of signs along the way, but I didn't get any pictures. Totoro is manning the ticket booth at the false entrance to the museum. Note the sootballs in the port hole underneath. I should mention at this point that the park doesn't sell tickets on site, you can only get them at the Lawson's convenience store or travel agents. It's not too difficult to buy your ticket in Japan at the Lawson's kiosk, with the only caveat being that part of the process involves typing your name into the machine, using Japanese characters. I had to get one of the employees at the shop help me enter my name in. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it on the ticket afterwards where it was printed, so I still don't know how to type it out. If you like the details and atmosphere of Disney parks, or if you've enjoyed the films of Studio Ghibli, I'd highly recommend a visit to this museum. Unfortunately, the museum doesn't allow photos inside the museum buildings, so you'll have to get a sense of it from the outside. I'll vouch for the inside however, and say it's incredible, atmosphere on par with the best of Disney's themed environments. Tons of little details, and a bunch of great exhibits. They have a detailed recreation of an animator's studio, beautiful 3D zoetrope sculptures that seem to move when under a strobe light, and recreations of various scenes from their films (the inside of the Catbus from "My Neighbor Totoro", the hat-shop from "Howl's Moving Castle", a forest scene from "Princess Mononoke", and the inside of the bathhouse from "Spirited Away"). The museum also features lots of stained glass, spiral staircases, a bridge spanning the interior of the building, and lots of little passages and rooms to explore. The idea behind it was to make it a place to explore. They say they don't allow photos so that you can make memories instead, but I imagine it could get pretty crazy inside if photos were allowed, so I'm not completely opposed to that rule. Outside the museum is a spiral staircase that takes you to the roof of the building, atop of which they have a garden and a sculpture of one of the robots from "Laputa: Castle in the Sky" Each museum ticket allows for one entry to their cinema, where they show a different short film each day. Each film is played exclusively at this theater and hasn't been released elsewhere. I got to see "The Day I Harvested a Planet," which was kind of like a sci-fi "Spirited Away" meets "Super Mario Galaxy." It was pretty cool. Also, each ticket was a small clip of film from one of their movies when it played in theaters. Mine was three frames of the airship 'Goliath' from Laputa. The outside restroom is colored appropriately. The museum has a number of levels. The entrance to the museum. Some of the outlying parts of the building remind me of Tattooine. Cats from "The Cat Returns," I think. One of the stained glass windows outside the building. One of the "Princess Mononoke" themed doors to the museum, and a small view of the inside, with its atrium-spanning bridge. The flying robot sculpture from "Laputa: Castle in the Sky" The working water well under the cover is supposed to be a recreation of the one from "My Neighbor Totoro" One of the stairwells for the museum. Next time I’d probably try for one of the morning tickets. I imagine it’d be less crowded, and might allow for more time in the museum (I’m not sure if they kick people out once their time is over). Like I said earlier, if you have any interest in the Studio Ghibli movies or themed environments on par with Disney, I'd highly recommend this museum. After the Studio Ghilbi Museum I walked around Mitaka a bit, then went to Shinjuku to look for dinner. Everywhere I went in Japan there were Christmas displays, with names like "Shining Heart Joyous X-Mas". Shinjuku was no exception. Shiny! For Thanksgiving dinner in Japan I had a savory crepe filled with sausage, meat, and cheese. Anyways, thanks for viewing! I promise the next update will have coasters. It'll probably be Hamanako Pal Pal.

We were also talking with him while Apocalypse was broken down (they were having a computer issue - it was saying the train was going too fast when entering the station), and boarded shortly after he started talking about the new ride, so I missed some of what he said (I didn't hear much about the actual layout, using the tunnel, or where he said it would have a length record). Anyways, what I heard from him was that it was still in the design phase, but would be in the 6000 ft length range, would have three magnetic launches, and would claim the record for the world's tallest loop. After hearing what Tim and Neal had to say on the subject, it all seemed pretty plausible (huge = long length, record breaking = giant loop and/or reclaiming coaster record, and both made a point of mentioning that the design was still in progress). Tim and Neal also mentioned that they were clearing out monorail track from the tunnel, which would fit with the ride using that feature. Anyways, from what I heard it sounded like Cheetah Hunt, but longer, faster, and with a loop. And since the current record for loop height is Superman: Krypton Coaster at SFFT (145 ft tall @ 70 mph), it seems like a given that it'd need to reach at least 70 mph (10 mph faster than CHunt). A giant loop would also make a nice tribute to Revolution, Viper, and Riddler's (all former record holders). Anyways, I've been excited for whatever they have in store, but if what I heard last weekend turns out to be true, I think that excitement will be well justified. I think we had the same feeling for Colossus - they basically repeated what they said last year regarding their love for NTAG, but didn't say that they were definitely moving forward with it for Colossus, for various reasons (return on investment, nostalgia, rampaging coaster nerds). I'm just assuming that's their 2014 plan, until we hear otherwise. You might be right regarding the Log Jammer replacement just being a "what-if?", but I also recall them starting by saying something along the lines of "this design is still in development...", which indicated to me they were actually talking about a solid plan for the near future, not just one route they might eventually go down.

Have people been getting the SFMM and Knott's Q&A's mixed up? I thought SFMM said quite a lot about their 2013 and 2014 attractions. Regarding the Log Jammer replacement, they said it would be "huge", "record-breaking", not an Aqua-Trax (duh), and would have something to do with July 4 (probably the announcement date). That right there is quite a lot, since they're at least admitting they're adding something major to replace Log Jammer. Then they also went on about possibly giving Colossus the Rocky Mountain treatment (presumably for 2014), and that the only thing that might stop them was that they might not get a good return on the investment, since from the public perspective they wouldn't be getting a new ride for the money (they quoted a figure, I think it was $8 million). On the other hand, Knott's said nothing about new attractions, other than that they were looking into getting better-riding trains for Ghostrider, and were looking into dark ride options for the park (in reference to KoD sitting vacant). When did SFMM insult someone at the Q&A? I'm not doubting it, I just don't recall the question. Now, I do remember Raffi telling someone to put more thought into their questions, since they asked about Knott's getting a B&M hyper coaster and his response was that they already have Silver Bullet, which is clearly the same thing .

I think they actually had kid's music playing in Camp Snoopy, which fits. At least I heard a lot of it while waiting in line for Sierra Sidewinder after the group photo - I'm not sure if it was throughout the whole area.

I think the idea was just that they weren't welding or drilling on the existing support structure since heating or removing material could weaken its integrity. So they're affixing the new track without modifying the existing supports. I'm sure it's still being bolted to it, per-say, just without actually drilling into the supports to do it. Agreed, after what we heard at WCB, I'm expecting something akin to Cheetah Hunt in 2013, and some kind of sprucing up of Colossus in 2014 (possibly NTAG treatment, if they can justify the expense). Probably some other surprise attractions as well, maybe even this year.

^ I'd say primarily marketability, with capacity and footprint as lesser reasons. We know that mega-lites are awesome, but to the average park guest it'd probably just look like another coaster (it even looks a bit like Xcelerator). A mega/giga would add some serious zazz to the park's skyline. On the other hand, a mega-lite could be marketed as a family coaster (it's about on par with Sierra Sidewinder - a small-to-medium sized coaster that delivers more than you'd expect). But really, I think the park needs a major new attraction at this point, not just a continuation of the family theme. Regarding footprint, for the standard mega-lite model it would need a fairly open spot of land, which Knott's has very little of (the only place I think one might fit is where Perilous Plunge is now). As for the parking garage, I agree that this would be a fantastic solution. However, I'm pretty sure this was asked before at one of these events, and I think they said it wasn't viable in the near future. Not sure if it was just cost, or something else. Anyone remember?

I think I actually see all 5 trains in the picture - one starting up the lift, one on the first drop, one coming out of the second drop near the station, one going down the drop toward the loop, and one in the brakes just before the station.

Thanks for all the comments! I'll try to post the next updates pretty soon. The next will be mostly culture (two open-air museums, and the Studio Ghibli museum). After that, we have Hamanako Pal Pal, Toyohashia, Lagunasia, and Parque Espana, then some more culture before I get to my previous trips. So far my humble goal at Fuji-Q has just been to get on each coaster once, but yeah, I suppose you could certainly get multiple fastpass tickets for each coaster, assuming they're available, and experience something resembling ERT. Next time I'd probably get at least a couple tickets for each major coaster, plus maybe one for their haunted hospital. That'd be at least 9000 yen (about $120), but considering that's less than the cost of the bus and free pass, I suppose it'd be worthwhile. The train was scenic (I didn't post any of those pictures from 2010), but when I took it I didn't see Mt. Fuji at all (probably too cloudy), while on the bus it was visible for much of the ride. That may have all been due to the season, however. Anyways, now that I'm more experienced with train travel in Japan, I probably wouldn't have much trouble making the transfers and getting there quickly, but I'd still be somewhat inclined to take the bus. When I'm coming all the way from Yokosuka, vice Tokyo, the train takes over three hours (assuming I don't miss transfers, as I did my first time), and needs three transfers, while the bus was less time, only having to deal with the transfer from train to bus, and having a reserved seat (especially important, since I'd have to do most of my traveling through the Tokyo area during rush hour). If I was just going out of Shinjuku, however, I'd consider taking the train, or I'd take it back from the park, since it'd give me more time there. In my experience, the chances of using more than one ticket per coaster per day at Fuji-Q are pretty close to non-existent. I think he was referring to the fastpass tickets, which I think you can buy as many as you want, assuming they're available. Otherwise, yeah, it almost might not be worth it to even buy the freepass, since there's a chance you might only be riding a few rides. I took the bus from Yokohama, but it should be the same, and yes, I'm pretty sure it had a toilet. At least the one on my return visit did, I was sitting near the back, and I seem to recall people walking back there to use it. You could alternatively take the train, and just make a point of using the restroom at each station when you make a transfer. I can't guarantee all the stations would have toilets though (usually it seems I can find one if I'm looking for one). I'm waiting for someone to say "just don't go!", but unless if you visit on a day when it's dead (I've heard it happens), your best bet really is to get there early and buy a fastpass for each major ride you're interested in. Each fastpass is 1000 yen, so they can add up, but they're worth it when the ride lines are measured in hours. Once you do that, I guess either go to whatever ride you can't afford to miss (just in case it breaks down or starts raining), or start on rides you don't have fastpasses for (probably the mouse, hamster coaster, or kiddie - the first two in particular can have very slow moving lines, but at least they aren't terribly popular). If you don't get fastpasses, then I'd just start with whatever you want to ride the most, and go from there. In my very limited experience Dodonpa and Takabisha tend to get the longest lines, while Fujiyama and Eejanaika aren't as bad (both visits Eejanaika was under an hour wait). Of course, it'd also depend on how many trains they're running (on my first visit Fujiyama was about 30 minutes, this last time it was over 2 hours, since it only had one train). The mouse line is slow, but if there was a credit to miss there (besides the kiddie), it'd be the mouse. If you don't use the fastpass there's a good chance you'll miss credits, since the big coasters seem to average 1-3 hour waits, and the others can be up to an hour each. That means if the park was open from 1000-1800 (Japan park hours tend to be limited), you might not even hit all the big coasters. But yeah, mostly just use fastpasses, hope for the best, or plan on a couple days.

I think one reason German El Toro did so well is that unlike most GCI designs, it focuses more on airtime hills instead of twists and swooping turns. Its remoteness may have bumped its rank a little more than it should've, but I don't see why everyone is so doubtful of it, especially if they haven't ridden it. It's easily one of the top GCIs, IMO. I rode it and Troy on the same trip, and felt, despite its much smaller size, El Toro was a far better ride. Every little hill has a great pop of air, and there wasn't a dull spot on the ride. For a domestic comparison, it's probably closest in size to Apocalypse, except the entire ride delivers, instead of just the first 1/2 as on Apocalypse.

Is it a mistake that Leap the Dips was included with the SBNO coasters? Or did it collapse when I wasn't looking? Also, it looks like Son of Beast would've been the last place coaster, if it had been included. For me it's a toss up between it and Bandit. EDIT: Nevermind, Leap the Dips got corrected.

I had a great time at SFA when I visited - luckily, the park was pretty dead and everything was a walk-on. Plus, it had just rained so the woodies were running great, and, best of all, I got to see M.C. Hammer in concert. On the other hand, La Ronde was about the same as my times at Fuji-Q - even with ideal circumstances at La Ronde (ERT, Gold Flashpass), I was barely able to get all the credits in our time there (there was no time left for poutine... ). In that case I get stressed when parks are run so poorly that you can't possibly do all the coasters in a day (especially when you're on a tight schedule, and you might not be back for years). Such is the case at Fuji-Q (unless if you visit when it's dead, or you stock up on fastpasses). But excepting the terrible operations, they probably still have the best coaster collection in Japan. That's what the park map says, I had plenty of time to read through it while waiting in line... Seriously though, most of the non-coaster stuff there that I'm interested in would actually be considered walkthroughs, not rides (except the Thomas darkride and maybe the Coffin Ride - but I really have no idea what that is). Because of their vest-like restraints and near lack of turns, neither X2 or Eejanaika have any headbanging (unless if you count the back of your head against the seat - I haven't had that problem, but it's pretty likely). But, I think everyone agrees they're both very rough (I've heard comparisons to riding in a paint mixer). X2 will toss you around a lot when it rotates and if you don't keep your legs tucked in, it can do some damage (the outside seats tend to be especially violent). Even so, I generally find X2 to be very rideable because of the open restraints. When it comes to 4D coasters, it seems that people are very polarized: either they find them rideable and love them, or they find them far too rough and loathe them. I personally love them, I think they're an experience like no other, but no one can really say how you'll ultimately feel about them, you'll need to ride and find out for yourself.

I did pretty well; 8 coasters in my top 12 list matched up with the winning top 12 (#1,3,4,5,6,7,9,12 - I haven't been on the other four). And I loved German El Toro, I'm glad to see it finish so high.

So on Sunday, 21 Nov 2011, my first full day of this third Japan trip, (Seibuen Yuenchii was actually day two, I posted it early for the Christmas tie-in), I headed back to Fuji-Q to try Takabisha. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of again trying to visit on a weekend, so lines were much worse than during my last visit on 4 Sep 2010. Since I didn't have much time for photos this time, I'm actually going to combine my 2010 photos with my most recent ones, since neither have yet to be posted here, and it gives a better view of the park. The main differences are that this time Takabisha existed, the weather was clear and cool versus cloudy and hot, and this time we had some fall colors. So here's a quick rundown on this last trip. I got up early thanks to 1st day jet-lag, and was able to catch the 7:30 bus from Yokohama to Fuji-Q. It was scheduled to get in a little after 10:00, but it actually made it there nearly half an hour early (traffic made the return trip a lot longer). On my previous trip I took the train and didn’t get to the park until around 1:00 (partly because I had a later start), so I’d highly recommend taking the bus instead. On arriving I picked up my return bus ticket at the shop where it drops you off, looked around in the big main entrance store for a bit (it was all new to me - the train entrance was over by Eejanaika), and discovered the line to buy tickets was about 20 minutes long. I finally made it into the park around 10:20, and headed straight for the fastpass booth. It was only about half an hour after opening at this point and many time slots were already sold out, but I got one for Takabisha from 3:00-4:00 (I should’ve gotten more tickets for other rides, as I came back later and almost everything was sold out). Anyways, my main reason for coming here was to ride Takabisha, and I didn’t want to risk waiting until 3:00 (especially since the weather forecast had a small chance of rain), so I decided to get in line and make sure I got at least one ride. The wait for Takabisha ended up being about 1:50, as was posted. There’s an outdoor queue that takes about an hour, then the queue goes around and through the station building. Once you’re at the station they have you put your stuff in a free locker, then queue up for your row. For my first ride I got in the second row, third seat from the left (2:3). They were fairly quick with loading, even with the extra buckles on the restraints and having to hold up dispatch while they make their safety announcement. The ride starts off indoors with a left turn and a quick drop, followed by a high-banked turn to the right, which transitions gracefully into the barrel roll (it’s a bit like combining Mystery Mine’s start with Hydra’s). You then touch some brakes, have another sharp drop, and hit the fairly forceful launch. After that it was mostly just a jumble of different inversions, but I guess the first one was some kind of hang-time filled giant loop/corkscrew, which actually felt a bit like a Premier top-hat. Then there’s what I think is called the banana roll, which felt like an abbreviated cobra roll. Afterwards you hit the giant corkscrew (more hang-time), followed by a lovely non-inverting corkscrew airtime hill, and another pop going into the brakes prior to the vertical lift. The “world’s steepest drop” was slowed quite a lot by the brakes on the angled section prior to going over the edge. As such, the beyond vertical section was much smoother and more comfortable than most extra-steep drops, but it also wasn’t particularly forceful, especially when compared to similar drops elsewhere (later I felt a bit more of a “pop” when I came back and rode in the front). After the drop there’s a giant dive loop, a tophat, and an immelman, followed by the final brake-run. Again, it was a disorienting combination of inversions, and each had fantastic hang-time. Overall the ride reminded me a lot of Maverick’s basic concept, but with Fahrenheit’s elements instead of all the twisty bits (and with a light seasoning of other elements taken from Mystery Mine, dive machines, Hydra, and Bizarro). It had great flow, tons of hang-time during the giant inversions, and a superb combination of disorienting elements. However, for being the signature element of the ride, I felt the drop wasn’t one of its best features. It’s plenty fun, but the brakes just kind of let you slide over the edge, which kills most of the forces you’d otherwise expect on any other dive machine or Euro Fighter. I actually felt the first half of the ride prior to the lift was the best, as I greatly enjoyed the indoor barrel roll, launch, three inversion combo, and twisty airtime hill. Still, the last three inversions were also pretty cool, since they felt like a giant Norwegian loop with a tophat stuck in the middle. The ride was very smooth in both rows, no head banging (maybe a little more jolting in front), which is great since Eurofighters can sometimes be rough right from the start (Huracan, Untamed), or have their bumpy sections (Mystery Mine). Overall I’d rank it as one of one of my favorite multiloopers, and easily among the top 5 coasters in Japan (though honestly Japan has probably less than 10 world class coasters in the country, with most spread between Parque Espana, Fuji-Q, and USJ). After Takabisha I had some takoyaki and chicken-on-a-stick as a quick lunch, then queued up for Eejanaika. Its wait was posted as 1:30, but ended up being less than an hour, making it the shortest wait of the day. Eejanaika is still a favorite steel of mine, and it even seemed a little smoother than on my last visit, but it could’ve just been where I was sitting. I rode in the back row, inside seat, on the right side (the side facing the ride entrance, so 5:3, I think). The roughness is about on par with X2, maybe a bit worse since it does more, and with the older trains. I didn’t notice much different from X2 during the first drop, maybe the rotation at the bottom. After that, during the raven turn the seats flip completely around, but I personally prefer X2’s simpler raven turn for its flying sensation (one of my favorite coaster moments). The full-full was very impressive, and the turn-around is smoother and much more interesting than X2’s. The rest of the ride seems basically comparable with X2. Overall they’re very similar rides with the exception of the full-full, except that Eejanaika generally seems to take the 4D concept even further, fitting extra rotations in whenever possible, whereas X2 seems to rely more on the wingrider aspects, highlighting the soaring sensations. Also, I though Eejanaika’s flow and transitions were a bit better. I’ve got no clear preference between the two (maybe slightly toward Eejanaika), making both among my favorites. After Eejanaika I still had an hour until my fastpass was good for another ride on Takabisha, so I wanted to try Fujiyama again. I didn’t get a real strong impression of it last time, except for the terrible transitions at the end, so I was looking forward to trying it again. Last time it had only about a 30 minute queue, so I wasn’t too worried about the 1:30 posted wait time. Unfortunately, I hadn’t noticed that it was only running one train today, so the wait ended up being closer to 2:15. The line itself wasn’t terribly long, but between the single train and horrendous operations, it took a while. As with elsewhere in Japan, they usually didn’t start filling the station until the train arrived, or was unloaded. Once they start lining up passengers, there’s no choice of seating, as you’re expected to fill the train from front to back (I ended up somewhere in the middle – I tried for the back but got reprimanded, slowing the line down further – sorry…). I guess this rule makes sense for certain crowds, since they place a high priority on keeping groups together, and this is the easiest method for that goal. They use Japan’s ubiquitous free lockers in the station, which I actually like when they’re implemented correctly (as on Eejanaika). Here they’re on the other side of the station, so you have to go across the train, empty your pockets (they’re very serious here about bringing nothing with you – another slow down), get your locker key, and return to the train. And as you'll find elsewhere here, they make a point of holding the loaded train in the station while they make safety announcements. I timed each train cycle at about 7 minutes. In Japan’s defense, most of their operations do make some sense from a safety perspective, it just puts them at the opposite end of the spectrum from Germany when it comes to efficiency (I’d say the US is in-between somewhere – also trying to make everything lawyer-proof, but still maintaining a decent efficiency). And while Fuji-Q seems to really exemplify these issues, most of Japan’s parks do tend to follow the same pattern, they just don’t seem to get the same crowds where it becomes such an issue. As for the ride, it’s a bit like Togo was trying to make an early Intamin hyper/giga using Arrow track. It starts off with a few fun drops and a slow turnaround, but it quickly goes into a layout of high banked turnarounds, quick direction changes, and some decent drops. The ending is filled with what seem to be their early attempt at the non-inverting corkscrew, but the bad transitions make this the deadliest part of the ride, even if it is kind of amusing. Overall it’s a long ride and pretty fun, so it’s up there with Magnum and Steel Force for one of my favorite “retro hypers” (I’m putting the newer Morgans, like Steel Dragon 2000 and Phantom’s Revenge, into the better designed and more prestigious “modern hyper” category). After that unexpected long wait it was about 4:20, so I missed the 3-4pm return window on my Takabisha fastpass, but I decided to check anyways. I showed my ticket to the attendant outside the station, and he motioned me toward the station. Once I got to loading area the attendant there took my ticket, and I was ready to ride. I’m not sure if they were being flexible with the return time or if they just didn’t check. Either way, I considered myself lucky. This time around I found another odd Fuji-Q loading procedure. I was originally queued up to ride in the front row on the left outside seat (1:1), but once we were seated they had me switch seats with the couple next to me, so that I was sitting in the third seat from the left (1:3). I think the reasoning here is that the on-ride photo actually gives you two photos, one of the entire car, and one zoomed in on groups of two. If we’d gone with the original seating arrangement, the zoomed in picture would’ve been of me and the person next to me, instead of taking a picture of the two of them. Now I’m not sure why they made us switch seats instead of them just moving over a seat, but I assume that was their reasoning. At this point I has less than a couple hours before the park closed and my bus left, and I didn’t want to risk waiting in line for Dodonpa, since last time it seemed to have the slowest line. Plus, while the launch and sensation of speed are very impressive, I wasn’t terribly eager for another punch to the gut on the tophat. So since more coasters seemed to be out, my next priority was hitting some of the walkthroughs, which were all new to me. Mostly I was interested in the Evangelion: World walkthrough inside the former Zola 7 building, since it was based on an anime series I used to watch. It mostly featured recreations of locations from the series, and sculptures of the characters, but the big draw was the life size giant robots from the series. Granted, one was only a head, and the other was just that plus the torso, but they were pretty cool. The larger of the two (EVA-01) played a little show occasionally, with some narration from the series, and some light and fog effects to make it seem like it was going berserk. After the Evangelion thing I figured I'd check on some of the other rides and walkthroughs. First I went to Thomas Town, since they appear to have a darkride, but everything there was closed. After that, the Haunted Hospital walkthough was closed, as was the Coffin Ride, and the GeGeGe no Kitaro walkthrough. This was all about an hour before park closing, so fair warning, don't plan on doing much at the end of the day. Before finally heading back to the bus stop I picked up a Takabisha shirt, an Eejanaika cell-phone charm (shaped like one of the coaster cars, complete with spinning seats), and a Fujiyama cell-phone charm (shaped like one of the H.R. Giger coaster car). While waiting at the bus stop I talked with a couple, and learned that the expression for asking if a ride was scary in Japanese translates roughly into English as “did you die?” Otherwise smartphones (or an iPod touch in my case) made communication between us relatively pain-free, even though we all had very little knowledge of the others language. In the future, I'd recommend the following plan to maximum your potential at what can often be a very difficult park to plan for. Try to plan your visit for a rain-free, non-holiday weekday. Check their website for planned ride closures. Either take an early bus there, or stay in a nearby hotel the night before so that you're at the park early. If possible, I’d recommend taking the train or a later bus back so that you can get some last minute rides in before park closing (I probably could’ve gotten another coaster in if I wasn’t worried about missing my bus – that’s how I managed Eejanaika on my first visit). And if you can buy tickets online, it may save you some vital time in line. This is all mostly general common sense park knowledge, but here any little bit helps. Lastly, once you're in the park, head straight for the fastpass booth located between the wild mouse and the carousel. Tickets cost 1000 yen per ride (about $12), each ticket is good for a specified 1 hour window (they might be flexible if miss your window, but don't risk it), and they sell out quick. I recommend going there first thing before they start selling out, and getting one ticket for each major coaster. It's not cheap, but each one will probably save you 1-3 hours of wait time, which might be necessary just to get the credits, not to mention enjoying the rest of your day (and really, what's that extra expense on top of everything else just to get to the park?). With that done, you're almost guaranteed to ride the major coasters with minimal wait (barring weather and Fuji-Q eccentricities), so you can either try out some of the smaller stuff (my plan for next time), or use the tickets for rerides later. Either way, having at least a couple fastpasses will make your day go from hectic and possibly disappointing, to only mildly frustrating, or possibly even pleasant. Anyways, picture time: So here’s where I started the day, at the Yokohama bus stop for the bus to Fuji-Q. I highly recommended the bus, it’s much easier than taking the train. The only tricky part was making the reservation over the phone (I had a couple numbers to try, on one the operator didn’t speak any English, so we had an awkwardly polite pause before I hung up, and on the other we both spoke enough of the other’s language to get by). I’d recommend seeing if someone at your hotel could make the reservation for you. Pepsi Pink. I like to try the stranger sodas while I’m in Japan, and this one is a strawberries and cream flavored Pepsi. It wasn’t bad, but it did still have that Pepsi flavor. So while waiting for the bus I had a quick convenience store breakfast of Pepsi Pink, pink pickled plum onigiri, and an assorted seaweed onigiri. The bus had some nice views during the drive to the park. Got to see lots of fall colors on the way, I just couldn’t get many pictures from the window. We had a fairly clear view of Mt. Fuji during the drive. Much better than when I was last at Fuji-Q, I could just barely make it out through the clouds. So now we’re at Fuji-Q, and early too! The bus arrived 20-30 minutes earlier than scheduled, so I had time to get my return ticket and check out the store, which was new to me since when I took the train last time I arrived at the other side of the park. Fujiyama is hanging out over here. Takabisha looks to be open, yay! Going down the world’s steepest drop. Because of the holding brake it’s not terribly intense, but it’s fun, and the rest of the ride is pretty awesome. The ticket booths and actual entrance to the park are after the big gift shop building (which was packed when I was leaving). So after I got my fastpass for 3-4pm, I queued up in the line for Takabisha. It had a posted wait time of 1:50, which turned out to be pretty accurate. This outside area was about half that. I had a nice view of Mt. Fuji and Dodonpa from the line. I didn’t actually get to ride Dodonpa this time due to long lines and poor planning on my part. But I rode it last time, and while the launch is great, it's probably my least favorite of the big four here, so I can wait until I come back again. Sorry Dan... Anyways, in line for Takabisha they have monitors that play the safety warnings, advertise ride merchandise, and play the usual Fuji-Q videos. So the mascot for Takabisha seems to be stereotypical American guy. Here he’s demonstrating the shape of the drop using his arm. They have a big image of him at the entrance looking confused. I received a sticker of it after I bought some stuff at the gift shop. I’m not sure what his significance is to the ride - I’d guess something about Americans being viewed as domineering, or maybe it's just the usual inexplicable wackiness of Japan. I guess the ride was a bit too much for stereotypical American guy. Another Fuji-Q trademark – the Guiness World Record certificate for the ride. This one is for having the world’s steepest drop. Eejanaika and Fujiyama have theirs posted as well, and I think Dodonpa does too (of course, Eejanaika’s record is disputable, and Dodonpa’s and Fujiyama’s are now expired). The next three photos are basically the same. I apologize, I didn’t take a lot of Takabisha photos, so I have to stretch what I’ve got. On my first visit to the park I tried yakisoba for my first time (as pictured in this 2010 photo). They were sold out this time, so instead I had… Takoyaki!!! Octopus balls! It’s like a donut hole, but filled with octopus bits and goo, and covered with mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce, and dried fish flakes! They’re usually pretty good. If you ever stop at the Universal City Walk in Osaka, they have a takoyaki museum upstairs with a bunch of varieties to try (that’s where I had it my first time). And just a couple days ago I found a place down the street from my house that serves it, yay! What’s with all the panic? (2010 photo) I like this photo, it makes Fuji-Q seem like a happy place. (2010 photo) So Dodonpa has four trains that I’ve seen – Cheetah, Snake (the green one), Zebra, and Strawberry. One of these doesn’t belong. (2010 photo) I was standing where Takabisha is now when I took this photo. (2010 photo) Zebra train!!! I think I rode in Cheetah. (2010 photo) The line for Dodonpa is soooooo slow. I learned from the Kotoba app on my iPod that Dodonpa is a “rumba-like Japanese musical genre popular in the 1960s”. The logo for the ride is a very stylized writing of the name. (2010 photo) Here’s their wild mouse. Like most Japanese mice, it has a weird layout. This one also has a long, slow line. Luckily I rode it on my first visit, so I was able to skip it this time. (2010 photo) (2010 photo) (2010 photo) You won’t see that on most American mice. (2010 photo) (2010 photo) Ok, so now we’re onto a bunch of Eejanaika photos. It’s much more photogenic than X2 since you get to walk though most of the layout. (2010 photo) I didn't notice much different with Eejanaika's and X2's first drop this time; maybe it rotated differently at the bottom. (2010 photo) Eejanaika's raven turn is much flippier than X2's. I prefer X2's for the soaring sensation as you crest the top and drop down. (2010 photo) (2010 photo) I can't recall if the second raven turn was any different - maybe more flipping at some point, not sure. (2010 photo) (2010 photo) (2010 photo) The turnaround on Eejanaika is much improved from on X2. While I much prefer X2's big raven turn, the full-full on Eejanaika is pretty awesome. It's a toss-up for which ride is better - I like both. Probably the best part of the ride. The cats want to eat your face. Here’s the Chinese takeout / LOLcat themed rapids ride. I haven’t ridden it yet, but I’d like to just for the fantastic theme choice. I’m pretty sure I saw Happy Cat in the queue video for the ride. (2010 photo) Punch to the gut!!! (2010 photo) Hamster coaster is actually pretty fun. It’s better than Iron Dragon. (2010 photo) I didn’t ride hamster coaster this last time, since the line tends to move pretty slow and it looked to be closed later in the day. (2010 photo) Fuji-Q’s Thomas Land is a nice kid area. I hear they have a dark-ride, but I didn’t know about it my first visit, and this last time it was closed by the time I made it over there. They have quite a lot of other stuff too (including the kiddie credit), much nicer than any of the similar Six Flags areas. (2010 photo) More parks should have hedge mazes. (2010 photo) Thomas kiddie flume. (2010 photo) This park has a lot of commercial tie-ins (mostly based on Japanese properties). First there was Thomas, now there’s this GeGeGe no Kitaro walkthrough, which I guess is based on a manga series. I didn’t check it out my first time, and it was closed when I got to it this time. Lesson learned, do your non-coaster rides early. (2010 photo) This looks to be a Looney Tunes area. On my first visit to the park they were playing some pretty explicit rap in this area, definitely inappropriate for kid’s area, but since all the lyrics were in English it probably didn’t matter. So as far as other commercial tie ins go, they also have a Gundam walkthrough and a walkthrough for something called Basara (?). The only non-coaster thing I’ve done here is the Evangelion walkthough, so I can’t speak to those either. Maybe next time I’ll be able to do some of the non-coaster things. (2010 photo) (2010 photo) Fujiyama is pretty fun, easily my favorite Togo. It’s like an Arrow hyper that decided to get creative and add a bunch of fast turns. It has some bad transitions, but overall I like it. Oh, and the Christmas tree seems to be up all the time, since this photo was from my August 2010 visit. And look, no line! They recently added an exhibit for Evangelion, another giant robot series which was set fairly close to here in Hakone. I didn’t get to go last time, but I wanted to check it out since I used to watch the series, so this time I did it after the coasters. It’s housed inside the old Zola-7 building. (2010 photo) So inside the Evangelion exhibit they have some set recreations from the series. This is where all the shadowy folks would hang out and plot the destruction of mankind. Double-crucifix rainbow explosion! And some girl from the new movies. This is the full-size EVA-02 head in beast mode. I don’t think it puts on a show like the EVA-01 torso. Sulking in the elevator. So here’s the star attraction, the full-size EVA-01 torso. It puts on a little show every few minutes where it goes berserk and such. Oh, and they have a raft floating around in the pool of blood, nice touch. It gets mad, roars, and there's some smoke. RAWRRRR!!! I guess it can't do much to you without arms or legs. That’s me! Over here you can get your picture taken in the giant robot pilot’s chair. Instead of paddle boats, during the winter they had an ice skating rink set up. Nifty. With a name like Food Stadium, they’d better be filming Iron Chef here. Here’s one last Takabisha photo before we go. That blurry thing is the train going through the corkscrew during the first part of the ride. Bye Fuji-Q!!! I’m sure I’ll be back again someday in my continuing quest to have a nice, stress-free day here. And in all fairness, while Fuji-Q exemplifies terrible Japanese park operations, they do have three of my favorite coasters in the country, in addition to a number of other interesting attractions (most of which I still need to experience). Anyways, thanks for reading! The remaining PTRs won't be quite so in-depth, so I'll hopefully get some more posted soon.

I think they actually keep Colossus running fairly well, so I agree that it doesn't need it, but with it's current layout it's a decent coaster, at best (excluding backwards Colossus, which I thought was pretty cool). On the other hand, NTAG is one of the best coasters on the planet, so if they could even begin to approach that, I'd be quite happy. But, seeing that Rocky Mountain's two previously announced coasters for 2013 now have locations, it doesn't look likely that Colossus is also a candidate for 2013 (and to be fair, Rattler actually needs it). Maybe later, but 2013 made the most sense, since it'll be its 35th anniversary. So now I'm hoping that they'll use its 35th as the announcement for later things to come . But until then, onto more realistic things, like their new park-spanning giga-Aquatrax. And a bit of me will always be nostalgic for the old Riddler's music, but I'm also kind of glad not to hear that song anymore.

Looks like Colossus won't be getting the Rocky Mountain treatment in 2013. According to Screamscape, their two 2013 projects are Fiesta Texas getting the NTAG treatment on Rattler, and Silver Dollar City getting a brand new wooden coaster.

I went to the park for about 4 hours today, mainly to get my pass processed, and was able to ride most of the coasters (skipped GL, B:TR, Scream, Colossus, and Tatsu). It was pretty quiet, most coasters had waits of about 3 trains or less. For example, I rode X2 twice in a row, Apocalypse 3 times, and had a short wait for S:EFK (only the left side was open). Apocalypse was running great, lots of airtime during the first half of the ride (I did all my rides in the back row). I did front and back on X2, and both rides were pretty smooth, but the front in particular was very rerideable. I could just barely hear the audio on my first ride, so it's not entirely dead, but it's close to it. Fire was working on Apocalypse, but not on X2 (probably from the wind). Also, I had a relatively smooth ride on Revolution. I tried the unofficial single rider line method at Green Lantern, but got denied. It looked to have at least a 30-45 minute wait, so I passed on it. I also noticed that Viper and Revolution both now have single rider lines, in addition to the one at Riddler's Revenge. Granted, those two usually have some of the shortest waits in the park, so they're not the most useful coasters for it, but any little bit helps, especially if you get there on a day when it's packed.

I don't think these are for larger folks - I've heard these will be more confining than before, and possibly too small for some. Not sure if they have new restraints, but if so, they could help with loading times and lawyer happiness. It looks like these will be basically the same as the current trains on Disney World's Space Mountain (which makes sense, since they're mostly the same coasters), so I wouldn't be surprised if they have lapbars. I personally found Space Mountain's trains to be pretty comfortable, so I'm fine with the change. The new seating arrangement might allow for an increase in capacity. The old trains would hold 4-8 people, depending on whether people sat double or single. With the new arrangement everyone will be sitting single, so it should always get 6 people per train, which might be better than what they averaged before. They also probably just needed some new trains. I believe their current trains were the original trains from Disney World's Space Mountain, which would make them 37 years old.

I had Coaster ranked as my #12 wooden coaster (between CP's Blue Streak and the Beast - I had fantastic airtime on Blue Streak this summer). Because of it's loose restraints it provides a violent experience (not rough) pretty much unlike any other coaster. I'd compare it to Phoenix if it had ejector air and killer laterals instead of those comparatively gentle pops of airtime. I spent my first few rides on it just trying to keep from flying up and hitting the lapbar during the drops. And it isn't anything like the wood coaster in Puyallup - that one is fairly tame.

Email sent. I was thinking of going this weekend anyway to get my pass processed, so this would work out nicely.

My favorites: 1. Fujiyama - Fuji-Q (easily my favorite - long ride, lots of great drops and twisty bits, only a few bad transitions) 2. Surf Coaster - Sea Paradise 3. Bandit - Yomiuriland (only had one ride though) 4. Ultra Twister - Nagashima 5. Loop Screw - Seibuen Yuenchi 6. Cyclone - Toshimaen 7. Manhattan Express - Ny, Ny 8. Mega Coaster - Hamanako Pal Pal 9. SkyRider - CW

Update #1 - Seibuen Yuenchi - 11/21/11 - Star Kingdom Lights Update #2 - Fuji-Q - 11/20/11 - Takabisha Update #3 - Studio Ghibli Day 11/24/11 So I've made three trips to Japan in the past couple years for work, the last two within a just a few months of each other, and each time I'd try to hit up parks when I had free time on the weekends, or at the end of the trip. The first trip I visited most of the Tokyo area parks, the second trip I did some near Nagoya and Osaka, plus DisneySea again, and on this last trip I did a little more Tokyo and Nagoya. I've yet to submit any Photo TRs for these trips (or any trips, actually - this is my first TR here), so I'll probably be doing all three in this topic, starting with the most recent trip, and moving backwards. Anyways, on the first day of this most recent trip I actually revisited Fuji-Q, but given that today is Christmas, I thought it'd be more fitting to start this topic with my second day instead, at Seibuen Yuenchi's Star Kingdom Christmas light event. So on 21 Nov 2011 after work I decided to make a quick trip to Seibuen Yuenchi, since it had one of the last of the larger Tokyo-area credits that I was missing, and it was open late this particular evening (until 9:00 pm). As it turns out, they were open late for their Star Kingdom Christmas light event, which meant they'd also have only a limited number of attractions open (9, I think - only a few less than normal). The price for admission and rides was only 1500 yen (I think), which was a nice surprise when I arrived, especially after my train was delayed for nearly an hour on the way there (I had expected I'd be paying for admission and then per ride). Upon arriving I first went to Loop Screw to get my coaster credit. I was expecting a simple Arrow loopscrew type layout, but much of the layout was actually more in line with the typical jet coaster, with a number of drops through the trees, a little airtime, and even a threading-the-loop moment. The trains were a bit cramped, but it was overall much smoother than I expected, and all-around a pretty fun ride. This is also the coaster famous for its queue line chairs - instead of a normal line they have row after row of chairs that you sit on while you wait - I'd expect one row is loaded per train. The park was pretty empty, so I never got the full "sitting in line" experience, but I had both rides in the front seat instead. After that I wandered around the park, found that the kiddie credit, Hello Kitty Angel Coaster, was closed, did the mirror maze, re-rode Loop Screw, and rode the ferris wheel just before the park closed and I had to take the train back. On an interesting note, this park is operated by and serviced by the Seibu train company (see, Seibuen Yuenchi, where Yuenchi means "amusement park"), making it akin to America's trolley parks of old (one remaining example is Idlewild). I rode a Seibu line on the way to the park, so I guess I got the full experience (It may have been a JR train that I got stuck on though). Anyways, next up I'll do some backtracking and take care of the Fuji-Q update. The light "fountains" turn on in sequence so that it looks like they're traveling down the hill into the pool. Looking down from the hill at the nicest lit section of the park. Looking back from the carousel toward the hill Shiny! The carousel building is neat looking. The lighted "water" comes down and surrounds it. I imagine they use standard tap water the rest of the year. The carousel setup was pretty cool. It reminded me of something whimsical that you'd see at Efteling. They had bonfires set up for folks to gather around. A nice touch, especially since it was fairly chilly out. I rode the ferris wheel later. Hello Kitty Angel Coaster was closed; one less credit for me, sad. Not sure if it was closed for the season (not unusual in Japan, it seems), or just for the evening. I'm guessing the latter, and I feel getting to see the park lit up was a certainly a fair trade for a kiddie credit. The observation tower was open, but I didn't get to it. I think the swinging ship was open too. Some of the trees had buttons where people could change the lights. Looking down the hill. I don't think I ever got around to walking up through this part. Looking toward Loop Screw's station Loop Screw's famous seated queue line. Not a bad idea, really, especially since it's covered. I had the coaster all to myself. Actually, on my second ride I had a couple other people show up to ride with me. The coaster train and station. Looks like I must have ridden on the right side this time, I did the other side later. Threading the loop on Loop Screw (apologies for the quality) One of the hillsides covered in lights Japan's ubiquitous ride-able animals The park's covered arcade area Looking down the green lighted path The park also had a small mirror maze, themed to an enchanted forest. At the end of the short maze you come across a dragon egg. Looking at the surrounding city from the ferris wheel. Looking down on the park from the ferris wheel, you get a good feel for the park layout. It's pretty small. Looking down at the park using different settings on my camera. Later in the trip I fiddled my camera some more and finally figured out how to take somewhat decent low-light pictures, but for all the theme parks it's the usual blurry goodness.

Mine is full of ties and groupings. Here's the starting highlights: 1. Boulder Dash (Lake Compounce) 1. My Favorite Steel - New Texas Giant (SFOT) 2. Thunderhead (Dollywood) 2. El Toro (SFGAd) 3. Phoenix (Knoebel's) 4. El Toro (Freizeitpark Plohn) 5. Lightning Racer - L/T (Hersheypark) 6. Ravine Flyer II (Waldameer) 7. The Legend (Holiday World) 7. Hades (Mount Olympus) 8. The Voyage (Holiday World) 8. Wooden Warrior (Quassy) 9. Apocalypse (SFMM) 9. Troy (Toverland) 10. Blue Streak (Cedar Point) 11. Comet (Great Escape) 12. Coaster (Playland) 13. The Beast (Kings Island) ... (much later) ..... 99. Son of Beast (Kings Island) 100. The Bandit (Movie Park)

^ Riddler's Revenge has a single rider line. Go down the exit path and follow the signs. I can't think of any other rides with single rider.