kitsch transporter

Don´t be too happy too soon! If you read all the pdf-files, you will understand that due to noise pollution the park had difficulties to get permission for anything lately. Sadly there are only very few people living near the park, but it just takes a few to complain and bring things to a halt. Apparantly Colossos is very loud and it stands close to a small village. To clear the situation with the neighbours, the city and the county-council the whole park had to be tested for noise emission. As a result of this, the park had to replace the lift motor for Big Loop (Vekoma double-loop-screw) which sits in the middle of the park (go figure!) Now, a few years ago the park planned to build an Intamin Aqua Trax. When plans for this appeared on some fan sites on the net, the whole noise and permission debate started. So, it was illegally posted plans that led to the Aqua trax not being built. After the (very expensive) noise emission examination proofed to be quite positive for the park, they decided to get permission for future plans in one go. This however does not mean that the park intends to really build those rides! I understand that the neighbors are now doubting the loyality of the noise examination, and maybe the whole process can start all over again. As much as i would like to have the Giga (especially after the sad Rita-clone) I don´t think this is what the park really needs to boost its attendance in the long run.

I´ve been on both and I gave my vote to EGF. However, it is by far not my favourite steel coaster. S:RoS NE and MF still hold higher places on my imaginary list. The first drop on EGF is its money shot, there is no question about it. But after that I really miss that the layout does not allow sections that get closer to the ground. After the first overbank its a bit like a Minetrain on stilts. However, it has a very good flow and there are some moments where Team Stengel really showed what they can do: Take that downhill section after the station turnaround, here you decend towards the river rapids and the track swivels to the sides. Its like riding a suspended coaster! Then there is the EGF-Flip, which has just enough power to give you a surprising twist when you don´t expect it. I am pretty sure that the first trim is there to take off some speed for this element. If you sit in the back of the train you really notice the trims. Since the are located on a decent, it takes away a bit of the drive and the exitement. I always thought (and still do) that the "Goliath" rides had a design that was more about positive forces than airtime. The two Gios have the killer helices and not much airtime apart from the floater hill. SFOG is more a traditional out´n back but it does have an impressive helix too. I have not ridden this, so I don´t know about the forces in that element. Walibis Goliath is a total frontseat ride IMO. The second hill has this unnatural jolt of ejector air, that i found rather ridiculous. The best moment here is clearly the Stengel dive. Don´t blink, or you´ll miss it. This is best appreciated in the front seat too. After this, the ride doesn´t do much for me anymore. The helices, despite the nice location get boring fast and the EGF-Flips are really missing some "oomph". Anyway, Goliath is located in the WAY better park! I even like the SLC Prototype and Robin Hood is the best ride in the whole park!

That´s one of the many, giant Baseball or Golf batting spaces which you will find all over japan. Because of the limited space in the cities you´ll find those things on top of buildings or wherever there are neighbors or streets nearby.

I thought this ride was mediocre at best! The cars and restraints are horrible. I dread to think that Monte Makaya runs/used to run with those things. The ride was pretty bumpy, the layout didn´t really do much for me. It was, however a nice touch when they used the burning car flying over the track just before the inline-roll, but that was scrapped pretty soon . This is one of those Intamin rides that was actually built before they really got their act together. It was - like the Disney Indiana Jones-coaster in Paris - most likely built in comission by Pinfari. You can see a clone of the Disney coaster here: http://rcdb.com/ig1051.htm?picture=1 Anyway, one question still remains: How can it happen, that a coaster is in a state of disrepair after only 10 years? This is happening in a country that prides itself with one of the highest security standards in the world and has the TÜV inspecting the rides every year? If it was in such a bad shape it should not have been running at all! I rode/saw the coaster for the last time in 2001 and it looked bad back then! The transport tires were totally worn and the whole station looked battered (it could have been part of the dilapidated building theme, though)

That´s an interesting site, as it features LOTS of japanese parks! Just click on "Review Top" and click away. Behind every yellow tag there is a photo report on another park. Some are pretty obscure. But speaking of oddly bent track just check out the "Jet Roller" at Mt. Ikoma (!). Its built by the ever notorious Hoyei Sangyo and looks like a total attrocity. Just scroll down and see for yourself: http://drkssk2.fc2web.com/ikoma/rollsle/rollsle.html RCDB has a picture of THAT spot as well. Even looking at it makes me get an appointment with my chiropractor: http://www.rcdb.com/ig1813.htm?picture=2 OUCH!

But Bullet was such a vicious machine that it ate spare parts for breakfast. There must have been a reason why Flamingoland limited its daily operations and had an extensive inspection every afternoon.

I rode THRILLER in its maiden year 1986 when it was still in its original form. The restraints back then were just a lap bar and a simple black leather belt (the ones they use on Autoscooters). My first ride was a complete shock! After riding the wonderful "Dreier Looping" the years before I was expecting just another great coaster with one more inversion. But Thriller was a vicious beast compared to its ancestors! I remember my first ride in the front seat as if it was yesterday. Nobody would tell you what those black belts were for and how to use/wear them! After the same old lifthill and the neat pre-drop I was expecting another typical Schwarzkopf drop, but suddenly the track just disappeared and all hell broke lose! I still consider this as one of the best drops on any coaster ever. The two loops were a G-force orgy all the way until the end. While watching the ride from the ground you could see that many people just could not keep their head or torso up. At the bottom of the first drop many people just slumped forward and once in that position they had no chance to sit back in a normal position. The steep hill that would lead into the first blockbrake was great and delivered airtime in the front-seat. I remember later rides in the rain when those brakes would not slow down the train at all and the following drop was just awesome because you just slammed right into it. I never really cared for the third loop as I thought it added nothing to the ride and actually hindered the elegant flow of those Stengel/Schwarzkopf figure-eight dives and turns. Back in 1986 the last loop was the crucial, critical part where the ride earned its bad reputation. It was a ridiculously contorted mess of steel, that could not decide if it was a loop, a corksrew or something that would later be called an Immelman. It was just sick and painful! I have to admit I can´t remember if a train would consist of six or seven cars back then. Either way the train was too long, too fast and too heavy for this relatively small inversion. First it would slam you hard into your seat and then halfway down it would suddenly slam you violently to the left INTO the person sitting next to you. It was absolutely not too funny and many people were cursing and screaming in utter shock. Now everyone had an idea why those leather straps had been installed (they were not there on its maiden fair, but I rode it on its second or third fair, and those things were clearly a quick fix) Anyway, this was the first time I would stumble down the exit ramp, without that "post coasteral" smile and that "lets do it again" yell! I actually didn´t ride it until one year later when they had installed those accordion restraints. Through the years they completely rebuild that last inversion, shortened the train and sometimes closed the last car completely. In 1986 the ride was deemed as dangerous and there were many cases of whiplash. There is the wonderful story when officials wanted to close down the ride and Oscar Bruch (the owner) just flat out said: "People come to us to get thrilled and experience something out of the ordinary. Nobody wants a ride that offers you the thrill of just sitting on a chair." And he got away with it! As bad as those accordeons were, they prevented people to fall forward after the first drop. It would also provide your torso with some much needed lateral suppor in the last inversion. Even after it was rebuilt, I always prepared for the worst. If the restraints would not come down on you (that could be the most painful thing) they would have been perfect, as you would´nt get any headbanging from them. What this ride does NOT need is some headrestraint. The only thing that needs to be stabilized is your torso and after the castration of the drop, maybe it could be run without OTSR after all. Anyway, it was one heck of a ride. I always regard it as the equivalent to the infamous Riverview Cyclone. BUY IT!

I´ve ridden that during my first tokyo trip at the end of 92. It was heavily advertised back then. I thought it was great back then. But on my first trip to japan i found the most mundane things amazing. I think in retrospect it was just an okay ride.

^The drop tower at that fair was most likely an italian design. I think Moser makes those transportable freefall rides. Intamin doesn´t build them for the fairgrounds. (Even EuroTrashStar is actually built by Giovanola and not Intamin) The heydays of german fairs are somehow over. During the 7ts and 8ts Schwarzkopf and Huss built the real jawdroppers but since the mid 9ts it became stagnant and lots of great rides are vanishing. France has really amazing and large fairs. Especially the Foir du Trone in Paris is a real highlight.

Space World in Japan used to have one near to the Space Shuttle replica, but I think that its gone. As someone who still holds a candle to Giovanola I would like to remind you that the 1st gen Freefalls were 100% Giovanola products. Intamin just sold them.

On- and Offride Video! http://coaster.fc2web.com/movie/fujiq_eeja_0607_org.mpg Make sure to watch to the very end.