rollin_n_coastin

Thanks for the comments all! This weekend marked one of the worst ice storms in the area since 1998. Power is back up so why let the weather ruin a perfectly good look back at Fuji-Q? Have to take this opportunity since it's always a gamble if the weather doesn't cooperate or a volcano erupts. Just like at Fuji-Q. JAPAN 2013--CULTURE AND COASTERS Day 0 - Arrival Culture - Kiyomizudera Day 1 - Tobu Zoo and Nagoya Day 2 - Universal Studios Day 3 - Hirakata Park and Osaka Umeda Sky Building Day 4 - Yokohama Cosmoworld and Sea Paradise Day 5 - Nagashima Spaland Day 6 - Hokkaido Greenland and Sapporo Beer Garden Day 7 - Rusutsu Resort Day 8 - Joypolis and Tokyo Teleport Day 9 - Fuji-Q Highland Culture - Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama Day 10 - Tokyo Disney Days -1 and 11 - Around Tokyo - Aqua Stadium, Harajuku, Shibuya & Shinjuku DAY 9 - FUJI-Q HIGHLAND You know, it's often said that there are so many ways to have a day at Fuji Q completely ruined, with most of it being due to Fuji Q. If you've ever visited, you'll notice essentially right away that the potential for a really bad day is everywhere. I can't describe it more clearly other then to say that it's as if the real Japan of efficiency and precision only exists outside of the boundaries of the park. Mercifully, this was the first TPR Japan tour in history to have a very decent day, in fact really great day, at Fuji Q. I think I speak for everyone when I say how thankful we were for being able to accomplish all that we did. As Nagashima seemed close to a Cedar Fair North American experience, I would say that Fuji Q is the closest to a Six Flags North American experience on account of its ride collection and overall look and feel. I can totally get why I've heard Fuji Q often compared to Six Flags Magic Mountain. A great ride line up with a ton of potential but the park can somehow suck your soul away at the worst of times or always leave you puzzled and scratching your head at the best of times. If you haven't been to either park, you'll know what this means if and when you visit. All the background and pep talks that we received prior to our visit truly mitigated any potential for a bad day. A huge shout out to Robb and Elissa for directing traffic at the fast pass booth and honestly giving each group a customized plan of attack to get as much done as possible throughout the day. The end result? I'm happy to report that everyone made it on every ride at Fuji Q, at least once! This alone, made it one of the best days ever. The fact that the rides were good and that the park is actually quite nice was a bonus. I was really looking forward to visiting primarily because of the ride line up and am glad that it worked out for everyone. Since this park has the closest to a North American coaster line-up, I thought I'd give a quick impression of the steel monsters at the park. Dodonpa. The most intense launch ever, period. Sure, it may not do a lot after the launch but it really doesn't have to. This ride is all about the fastest acceleration in the world at the time and since it already does way more than Hypersonic ever did, it's a win win. Dodonpa is terrifying, loud at launch and almost stealthy quiet during the rest of the ride. It is still one of the best, if not the best thrill at Fuji Q. Fujiyama. One to the coolest hyper coaster layouts that I've ever seen or been on. Part out and back, part twister and a great overall ride. Togo to me had most of the best coasters of the trip. Takabisha. The tallest Eurofighter and steepest roller coaster in the world to date. It is also new for 2013. I'm not sure how I felt about this one other than it being a launched Eurofighter on steroids. The first drop really looks fantastic and is terrifying. Overall, it was a fun ride and the least painful Eurofighter that I've been on, compared to Untamed and Saw at the other end of the scale. This was also the first ride of the day and the first time I was left scratching my head at Fuji Q--it didn't take long at all. I hope that nobody forgot their dangerous park maps and tickets in the storage container wall with lockable front doors, also known here as ride lockers. Eejanaika. Great theming and a great ride. If you've been on X or X2, you'll know what this is like. Aside from being a bit bouncy, I don't think a lot of coasters can still come close to the thrill of a 4D. I personally love them and having a chance to ride one of these again was something that I took as much advantage of as I could. If I remember correctly, the only difference from X/ X2 is that the trains are a bit shorter and the ride itself is a bit longer. Great Fluffy Sky Adventure. Simply known as the "hamster ride". One of the best rides at the park. I'll say no more. Overall things were going as smoothly as possible! I was even given a Takabisha fast pass with two hours left in the operating day for another ride. Thing is, when I got to the entrance, the lines were closed for the day to make sure they were empty by closing time or earlier. A different take on closing time I guess? In any case, everything at that point was a true bonus so really, it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. It sure was a great way to collect the last head scratcher of the day though. The rest of the day gave everyone a great chance to check out the views of the incredible Mount Fuji. Enjoy the pics and have a Fuji Q day! I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. Have a great day! That's better. Being at a Disney resort and getting ready to leave Disney can make for a tough start to day. With breakfast in hand, we were off to... ....drive past Tokyo Disney Sea for and head to the Mount Fuji area. The majesty of Mount Fuji is a site to behold. To many, so are S&S 4D coasters--the the lava best stay in Fuji. Fuji Q welcomes its guests with Fujiyama, perhaps one of Togo's finest. A bit Togo for the soul. Park is open and despite the slight drizzle, Fujiyama, Dodonpa and Takabisha were testing/ open. A few special rules that make Fuji Q so special. Up first, Fujiyama! Terminator 2 trains? New for 2013 is Takabisha. This ride looks great and the first drop is honestly terrifying. Mount Fuji as your view is never a bad thing, so long as there is no lava. Now, I only want to give sneak peak of one of the most intense rides ever--Great Fluffy Sky Adventure A few shots of Dodonpa. Time to give it a try. It looks cute and cuddly, doesn't it? Don't let that fool you. We're ready for the fastest launch.....in the world. It didn't disappoint. Up next, lunch with Eejanaika. The ride area looked great. A walk through Thomas Land, which is the nicest one around. Well, it's a credit, so.. Chuck! The ride op wasn't that bad... Oh wait, we're in line for the Haunted Hospital This is one of the best haunted attractions around. Even if you don't come across an actor, the props and sets are enough to creep you right out. The day ended with a bit of time checking out Mount Fuji. What a backdrop to any park. A fun day at the park all things considered. Nevertheless, a drink after a day at Fuji-Q I've heard is mandatory. We obliged at the Resort Gateway area.

Great stuff! I really like the park. I remember them having a really good arrow mine train even. Superman I think is a great floorless. Iron Rattler definitely looks worth checking out. Seeing it sway around before it was updated may be a little missed though

Ken, awesome pics as always. Hirakata was such a fun spot. Japan pulls all of us in different directions so it's such a blast seeing what everyone else was up to.

^Troikas are awesome! My sister and I never had a swing set in our backyard growing up. I think what would really make up for it is a Screamin' Swing, without a doubt. The 8 seater was meant for backyards everywhere...

Thanks for the comments all! ^That maze is definitely larger than I thought. JAPAN 2013--CULTURE AND COASTERS Day 0 - Arrival Culture - Kiyomizudera Day 1 - Tobu Zoo and Nagoya Day 2 - Universal Studios Day 3 - Hirakata Park and Osaka Umeda Sky Building Day 4 - Yokohama Cosmoworld and Sea Paradise Day 5 - Nagashima Spaland Day 6 - Hokkaido Greenland and Sapporo Beer Garden Day 7 - Rusutsu Resort Day 8 - Joypolis and Tokyo Teleport Day 9 - Fuji-Q Highland Culture - Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama Day 10 - Tokyo Disney Days -1 and 11 - Around Tokyo - Aqua Stadium, Harajuku, Shibuya & Shinjuku DAY 8 - JOYPOLIS AND TOKYO TELEPORT Our plane landed in Tokyo on time and we headed directly to the Tokyo Teleport area along the waterfront, which is one of the coolest places in Tokyo for sure. Tokyo Teleport is home to The Decks, Aqua City, Tokyo Joypolis and a lot of other very cool things to see and do along Tokyo Beach, including some of the best views of the city. We even found an elusive cat cafe. Joypolis is quite simply the best interactive and digital playground/ game centre that I've ever been to. It's definitely worth a visit. Veil of Dark is the new spinning + shooting + looping interactive coaster. As someone who doesn't like shooters, this ride is the best of both worlds and makes the interactive section actually worthwhile. The shooting dark ride section was extremely well done and the coaster portion was truly an added bonus. I really enjoyed it and rode it a few times. Unfortunately, given its location, pictures are difficult to grab. If Cedar Fair's new gen interactive rides, such as Wonder Mountain's Guardian are anything like this, we'll be in a for a great experience. After spending the day at Tokyo Teleport, we headed to Tokyo Disney Resort to check into our last hotel of the trip, which gave us access to our last three parks of the official trip. Tokyo Teleport area Spinning, looping and shooting all in one? It really does work well. Loved this game. I just wish I was better at it. Very strange stuff going on in the Halfpipe queue. There were a few interactive simulators and live shows, not unlike the different show sections of London Dungeon. The shopping and restaurant promenade of the Joypolis building. Dumplings and a view of Tokyo? Yes, please. Tokyo Sky Tree in the background After lunch, we headed to The Decks and found a Cat Cafe. Why not? I think it was up to an hour per ticket? The number of people visiting the cats at one time is well controlled, which definitely gave us ample time with each cat that didn't try to run away. Including the hairless one. Not so much into this type of cat. I'd put petting this up there with one of the more strange of life experiences. The arcade had more sushi These photo booths are the funniest thing ever. Caroline and Nick by far had the best photo booth shots that I've ever seen. A few of us gave them a go. So pretty? They literally have everything for sale. Next up we headed over to Aqua City It's always cool seeing a Japanese take on Americana. Some prefer a fountain, but this is so much better. This robot is at the entrance of Aqua City. Caroline spotting this great floor covering A great day at Tokyo Teleport! Off to our next hotel at Tokyo Disney Resort! Tokyo's rail system connects directly to Tokyo Disney Resorts's monorail system. One Disney in a lifetime is awesome. I still can't believe that this is my third next to Disney World and Disney Land. On our way to the resort hotel station stop. Hidden Mickey? We've arrived. Oh, Ben lost his TPR bag with some important documents inside. Not to worry since, well, this is Japan. It was turned into the monorail lost and found after the Hilton concierge called a few potential leads. Sure enough, it was waiting there for pickup safe and sound. You'd think Disney is next but you'd be wrong. We'd be driving past Disney and heading to Fuji Q! Good thing or bad thing? Comment below!

^Hopefully you realize that I was being just a bit facetious about Iron Wolf...

JAPAN 2013--CULTURE AND COASTERS Day 0 - Arrival Culture - Kiyomizudera Day 1 - Tobu Zoo and Nagoya Day 2 - Universal Studios Day 3 - Hirakata Park and Osaka Umeda Sky Building Day 4 - Yokohama Cosmoworld and Sea Paradise Day 5 - Nagashima Spaland Day 6 - Hokkaido Greenland and Sapporo Beer Garden Day 7 - Rusutsu Resort Day 8 - Joypolis and Tokyo Teleport Day 9 - Fuji-Q Highland Culture - Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama Day 10 - Tokyo Disney Days -1 and 11 - Around Tokyo - Aqua Stadium, Harajuku, Shibuya & Shinjuku DAY 7 - RUSUTSU RESORT The 1972 Olympics were held in and around Sapporo for good reason. For one, there is no shortage of great skiing opportunities. We made our way back to Hokkaido to its largest ski resort, Rusutsu Resort. Skiing in June, you may ask? Not so much. Like a true all season resort, there are a lot of other things to do, including golf, shopping and Rusutsu Resorts' own amusement park. On the park side, they have the only dive loop Ultra Twister in the world. It made an already insane experience even more so. Easily one of the top rides on the trip and a personal favourite. A gondola was also operating and it actually takes you to a spectacular view worth seeing. This resort is very picturesque and I hope that the pictures will do it justice. I think the group had a lot of fun here while taking in some great views. You couldn't help but "Be Happy!". Enjoy the pics. The scenery of Hokkaido. We're a bit early for check in so might as well explore. The resort hotel has a shopping promenade that backs onto the ski area. These guys are fantastic and are always there. It's reat to see a model but ...it's much better to check it out for real. After our guide arrived, we headed to the amusement park. They have a real life SLC here! Can you feel it? Can you? Well, you can just leave me here all day. The turntable is honestly just a nerve-wracking as the rest of the ride as it violently shakes when taking that dive loop. It's quite amazing, actually. Shuttle loop line. This was actually really intense. I can't remember if this is Senyo's? Oh yah. They had this Togo standup. I completely forgot about it and I'm glad I did. This is coming from a huge Skyrider fan. The director of Blackfish is on this. The theme of this ride is shooting safari animals. No really. The more you shoot precisely dead, the higher your score. Well, that was the most memorable shooting interactive ride ever. For anyone who's ever wanted to ride in a shoe, check this out! It's kind of like a Fiat 500 on a track. Either a climb up a steep walkway or magic carpet ski lift took us to the second level of the amusement park, a bit higher up the mountain. There are some cool flat rides up here. Yet another Intamin first gen tower not working. It was really looking like I'd have to get to Dorney to finally try one of these. Although they do have a duck race track, these guys were on break. They did have this bizarre maze that no one was willing to try. At the lowest level of the park, a few cool flat rides were waiting. This dark walk through was actually really creepy. This next set of pics are of the view from the top of the mountain. This is actually the first thing you see when stepping off of the gondola. It was extremely peaceful and tranquil up there. A fantastic day at the park. Remember to "be happy!" Checking out some shops on the way back to the lobby. This dessert sounds dramatic. It's always Christmas at a ski resort! The games room was open and they had a Desperados. My first one and it was an experience for sure. No, this isn't deja vu. It was our last night in Sapporo and what better way to say thanks and good bye than spending a bit more time at Sapporo's festival at the train station. Wow, things look different at the train station during the day. The next morning, we were on our way to catch a flight back to Tokyo. Next up is Joypolis.

Not that much, really. My favourite example is the last coaster I rode this season, Skyrush. It sure didn't look like it was trying to kill you on the POV, but it actually does in real life, in a good way. I personally try not to look at a POV if I haven't been on a coaster that I may be able to ride one day. Even the view from the top is a great surprise and part of the experience. What I do love about POVs is that they are best souvenir of a ride that you can really connect with after riding.

Awesome pics guys! You really captured how nice a park BGW is. I couldn't agree more about a Dive Machine being preferable to a Wing Coaster. Griffon is my favourite ride at BGW although I haven't been on Verbolten yet. I305 is definitely worth a trip back to the area, as is Williamsburg overall and even Water Country USA.

Thanks for grabbing these shots, especially in the snow. Did you feel a sense of loss over Iron Wolf? It's cool that they're re-using a station. It worked out more than exceptionally well for El Toro, so good things ahead obviously, no?

This looked like a really fun tour from all I've heard about it. Glad you were able to enjoy it. It's great seeing pics of summer especially with 15 cm of snow coming down about now.

This is looking great so far. Love the lift through the loop--at least it reminds me of one of my favourite B&M's down in Tampa. I'm really looking forward to giving this a go next year. KI is such a nice park and will be even more so that they've added the missing invert piece.

Thanks Dave and Caroline. Yes, I did edit out some of the more special photos haha Those were by far my favourite beer "containers". I think Sapporo is right up there with Kyoto in terms of being one of the nicest cities in Japan.

Thanks for the comments all, appreciate it. ^That shuttle loop was so awesome. I remember after all the jet coasters how amazing it was to see an Arrow or a Schwarzkopf in real life. The first Schwarzkopf shuttle I was ever on was at Knott's during West Coast Bash and honestly, we had ERT on a few rides at night but I parked myself on Montezooma's Revenge and was more than happy for the night. Definitely a tie between the shuttle loop and ultra twister for me. JAPAN 2013--CULTURE AND COASTERS Day 0 - Arrival Culture - Kiyomizudera Day 1 - Tobu Zoo and Nagoya Day 2 - Universal Studios Day 3 - Hirakata Park and Osaka Umeda Sky Building Day 4 - Yokohama Cosmoworld and Sea Paradise Day 5 - Nagashima Spaland Day 6 - Hokkaido Greenland and Sapporo Beer Garden Day 7 - Rusutsu Resort Day 8 - Joypolis and Tokyo Teleport Day 9 - Fuji-Q Highland Culture - Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama Day 10 - Tokyo Disney Days -1 and 11 - Around Tokyo - Aqua Stadium, Harajuku, Shibuya & Shinjuku DAY 6 - HOKKAIDO GREENLAND AND SAPPORO BEER GARDEN After Nagashima, we had one of the smoothest flights ever to Sapporo. Our first day would bring us to one "traditional" park, Hokkaido Greenland, and two other "non-traditional parks", being Sapporo Beer Garden and the Sapporo Station Beer Garden. Hokkaido Greenland was one of the more bizarre family parks that we visited, in a good way. It had a standard line up of jet coaster, loops crew coaster and family coaster. It also had some really interesting walk through and old school interactive stuff. When you check out the loopscrew picture, you'll notice how Japanese Jet Coaster transitions are all parking garage ramps, including the first drops. It looks odd but rides cool? Sapporo is a beautiful city. I'm really happy that our trip had a chance to make it up there. Oh and Sapporo beer is good. You'll see that below. Enjoy and as always, please post your comments and questions! Welcome to Greenland. Jetcoaster stuff! Loopscrew! Oh boy, that first ramp is coming up! They had so many ways of getting around....like this ....and this ....or this. Or dessert? After a long park day, who couldn't use some noodles? Our Taxis await--back to Sapporo! Sapporo Train Station is a really nice building, which hosted a Sapporo festival site outside offering cool good and Sapporo beer. The radio tower was our meeting spot before heading to the brewery. One of the beer gardens that Sapporo set up in the city. So where do we find this place of wonder, offering unlimited food in drink within a very reasonable time allotment? The Sapporo Brewery beer garden, without a doubt. I'm not sure what the point of asking what the bibs were for, especially since I was sitting downdraft from the grill... Bring it on. May I have some more genghis kahn please? Thanks bibs. We were all very happy. Even the locals were happy with us! You'd think we're done but you'd be wrong. We met up with the more TPR folk at the Sapporo station beer garden. A happy night just made you wanna hug your neighbour. Up next: Rasutsu Resort--It's more than skiing in a great way!

I agree about cost being the main reason for the way TTD and KK stand today. In those cases, the parks got what they wanted within their budget so it’s got to be a balance between realistic goals and cost. I love both Storm Runner and TTD exactly the same for different reasons. TTD is what, 10 years old now? After visiting again this past summer, the excitement, smiles, laughter and anxiety from everyone in line or getting off the ride was as infectious as it was in its second year, from what I remember. Add a fantastic ride crew and it’s still one of, if not the most popular rides at the park. With TTD and KK, it’s all about the wait/ anticipation from the time you are watching trains launch and then waiting for your train to launch. To me, the ride starts when you’re next to go in the queue. Sure, this happens for Storm Runner and Xcelorator, but not to the same extent. That’s probably the main difference. The common element is for sure that these coasters make you want to re-ride them as opposed to being just re-ridable.

^Thanks Matt! I try to apply equal flatter to all....lol JAPAN 2013--CULTURE AND COASTERS Day 0 - Arrival Culture - Kiyomizudera Day 1 - Tobu Zoo and Nagoya Day 2 - Universal Studios Day 3 - Hirakata Park and Osaka Umeda Sky Building Day 4 - Yokohama Cosmoworld and Sea Paradise Day 5 - Nagashima Spaland Day 6 - Hokkaido Greenland and Sapporo Beer Garden Day 7 - Rusutsu Resort Day 8 - Joypolis and Tokyo Teleport Day 9 - Fuji-Q Highland Culture - Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama Day 10 - Tokyo Disney Days -1 and 11 - Around Tokyo - Aqua Stadium, Harajuku, Shibuya & Shinjuku DAY 5 - Nagashima Spaland Day 5 of the trip brought us by taxis to a place that I was really looking forward to visit ever since I read in 2002 that some roller coaster in Japan took the title of world's tallest from Millennium Force just a few months after it was built. It also is home to what I thought, by videos and pictures, is the most beautiful wooden coaster out there, White Cyclone. I still feel that way after seeing this Intamin beast in person. This.......is Nagashima Spaland. The park with two of everything! Travel Channel was also with us filming our escapades and capturing love at first coaster to add some normalcy to our geeked-out hobby, thanks to Lauren and Matt. New this year were the B&M trains built for Steel Dragon 2000. They weren't as comfortable as other B&M trains, primarily because of the seat belts, but they really weren't a deal breaker by any stretch. I found Steel Dragon to be a massive and great looking ride. It did ride a bit shaky/ rough however. As expected, the first drop does take your breath away with a fantastic view of the park. Overall, it is a super-sized Morgan layout, which isn't a bad thing. The park also has a Togo Ultra-Twister, which by far were my favourite type of coaster on the trip. I'd never been on one and am now their biggest new fan. White Cyclone was simply an epic ride through one of the most beautiful roller coasters ever built, which I loved a lot. If that wasn't enough, the park also has a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop. So many pleasing rides in one very pleasing place--Nagashima Spaland is like Japan's Cedar Point. I lived on Ultra Twister, White Cyclone and Shuttle Loop all day and what a great day it was. Enjoy the pics! Arriving by Taxi and what a welcome. Oh, we will. It's always interesting arriving before a park opens. The first of many Intamin first gen drop towers that was closed. Since Travel Channel could technically capture us on video at some point, our agents had to have us sign all of the proper release waivers and paperwork. They rejected our Glamour Shots head pics so we all had to have them re-done by this van down by the river. Stars were obviously born. The majority of the Travel Channel shoot was done at Steel Dragon New train! We walked into the queue, "WITH GUSTO". I don't think I could be a director. Setting up for an HD POV of Steel Dragon. Steel Dragon is without a doubt, very tall and doesn't hide it. All the extra bracing for earthquake safety made this ride look insanely massive. Moving on, Corkscrew was obviously closed today. A bit of White Cyclone Heading back to give Steel Dragon to give it another go before voting in Insane Coaster Wars Who did you vote for? So awesome. They also had a powered bobsled ride. This must be the biggest viking boat in the world. Yes, since this park has two of everything.... ...it's a double wide. ...it' A Shuttle loop is always a great way to end a day! A train station Bento Box meal for the train ride back. Beer is everywhere. Again, Japan is awesome.

That Spiderman walk-back was the best thing ever. It's always great when you get people so close to the project showing you around. They were so excited with so much to show and tell that we ran overtime, even. I think we all have a huge new appreciation for the ride. ^One of trains runs backwards, yes. It has it's on queue. I'm not sure how many trains Hollywood Dream/ Backdrop has? It was so much better backwards and the music/ sound system on Universal's coasters work really well. Add J-Pop to Backdrop and you've got a great ride

^Life's soundtrack! It's a good thing haha The more ridiculous a ride (ie: painful or just plain awful), the more I laugh to get through it. Otherwise it's a lot of whoops, hopefully subtle....

A perfect reaction after riding a ride called Peekaboo Town!

Thanks Kyle. I wish I had a video of it but found this on Youtube. One ride is the full continuous drop that feels like you're falling forever. The other ride is a short drop and trim/ stop at the top before it continues all the way down, which you can see clearly on the left car in first of two rides in the video.

SEA PARADISE In addition to Blue Ball, Sea Paradise had one of my favourite coasters of the trip and yes, it was a Togo! Surf Coaster was actually a lot of fun and it being built over the water was really cool. Sea Paradise also has the crazy launch boat ride, which was closed on the day we were there but hey, Japan will just need another visit. Our local line out. My hands were clammy just thinking about Blue Fall at this point. Oh yah, she's a tall one! Fake out drop! Who needs the helicopter? On our way to perhaps the greatest Togo ever built. Surf Coaster in all its glory. Oh, the on ride photo system here was fantastic. A guy with a Nikon and you always knew that the camera was in the station. Did I mention that I loved this ride? The crazy boat launch ride! It wouldn't be Sea Paradise without Sea Life! The creepiest fish of them all-the Ocean Sunfish I honestly thought it was half a fish. It wouldn't be Japan without the best Engrish out there. I won't go there Shopping for snacks for the ride back to Nagoya Who says food can't show emotion? The bullet train rides really were great. Train travel can be fast and enjoyable.

^I know, it's hilarious! I didn't get to see the famous enclosed shoot the shoots boat at Nagashima. Thank goodness for towel hoodies. ^^^Thanks very much, I'll definitely keep it going. Appreciate the comments! I'll close off Yokohmama Cosmoworld with the flume to rule all flume rides and views from the massive wheel. A look at the drop off from this air time beast. Liesurely credit run on the Senyo family coaster. The next few pics are a view from the top of the observation wheel--the largest of the trip I think. Vanish's funky disco tunnel. On our way to the train station A great day at Yokohama Cosmoworld!

JAPAN 2013--CULTURE AND COASTERS Day 0 - Arrival Culture - Kiyomizudera Day 1 - Tobu Zoo and Nagoya Day 2 - Universal Studios Day 3 - Hirakata Park and Osaka Umeda Sky Building Day 4 - Yokohama Cosmoworld and Sea Paradise Day 5 - Nagashima Spaland Day 6 - Hokkaido Greenland and Sapporo Beer Garden Day 7 - Rusutsu Resort Day 8 - Joypolis and Tokyo Teleport Day 9 - Fuji-Q Highland Culture - Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama Day 10 - Tokyo Disney Days -1 and 11 - Around Tokyo - Aqua Stadium, Harajuku, Shibuya & Shinjuku DAY 4 - YOKOHAMA COSMOWORLD AND SEA PARADISE This day was a day of mixed feelings. It was exciting since we were going to meet up with Mr. Kitagawa of Senyo Rides to visit his showcase park and the photo op happy Diving Coaster: Vanish at Yokohama Cosmoworld. He had joined us for our awesome Yakitori dinner the night before and was truly looking forward to showing us Comsoworld, especially as a regular long time reader of TPR. You couldn't help but get excited. On the other hand, it was also the day that we'd be heading to a quaint family seaside park that had some great attractions for kids and families. What's to be worried about? Well, stuck in the middle, there's just this little family ride called Blue Fall that may or may not seem out of place for Sea Paradise park. It's just a 351 ft Intamin Drop Tower. Even though I'm terrified of these things, every overseas trip has introduced the tallest drop tower yet, such as Fritt Fall, Hurakan Condor and now Blue Fall. Blue Fall was the most terrifying yet. But wow, what a view! It wasn't all about Blue Fall, though. Sea Pardise is also home to one of my favorite coasters on the trip, Surf Coaster. This was a fantastic day. Both parks were at great waterside locations and had their own share of wacky Japanese stuff. I also made my second money mistake by thinking a gaming token machine at Cosmoworld was a change machine. The change was to help with the capsule machine addiction but instead I was rewarded with a bucketful of game tokens, which some really nice locals helped me use up. YOKOHAMA COSMOWORLD The rides at Cosmoworld may not be the most unique but how they were designed into the buildings and land made them a great and fun experience all their own. The flume is as crazy as you've heard! Oh and the ice maze walk through attractions? They are cold. Very, very cold. Even though we were locked in one, it was the funniest thing ever since it totally came out of left field. A huge thanks to Mr. Kitagawa for being a great host. Enjoy the pics! You know you're in Yokohama when you see the tallest building in Japan, the Yokohama Landmark Tower Yokohama Cosmoworld! A city seaside location sounds cool to me! The infamous airtime log flume. We started off on Dive Coaster: Vanish. A view from the top of the insane flume drop. What made this mouse a bit more frightening than usual is that it was built on the roof of the games building, which is pretty tall to begin with. Mr. Kitagawa was a fantastic host, notwithstanding locking is in a walk-in freezer

After Hirakata, we had the afternoon to explore nearby cities. A few of us chose to head to Osaka to check out the Umeda Sky Building, known for its roof top floating garden. Great city views and a cool building. Check out the pics below. The Sky Building's entry plaza area First level observation floor. AKA the free area. For a very small charge, you get access to the floating garden outdoor rooftop. They love their ferris wheels in Japan! They are seriously everywhere. Our night ends with a group dinner at a great Yakitori restaurant. Yakitori--like chicken wings but way better! The restaurant area in the Sky Building was modelled after 1950s Japan.

It's been too long but time to kick this back into full gear! After a few tech challenges with a bad hard drive, I finally saved enough for a new computer and also saved my pictures and files that I thought were lost forever. I'm all reorganized, have proper back ups and am ready to go. Back to Japan! JAPAN 2013--CULTURE AND COASTERS Day 0 - Arrival Culture - Kiyomizudera Day 1 - Tobu Zoo and Nagoya Day 2 - Universal Studios Day 3 - Hirakata Park and Osaka Umeda Sky Building Day 4 - Yokohama Cosmoworld and Sea Paradise Day 5 - Nagashima Spaland Day 6 - Hokkaido Greenland and Sapporo Beer Garden Day 7 - Rusutsu Resort Day 8 - Joypolis and Tokyo Teleport Day 9 - Fuji-Q Highland Culture - Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama Day 10 - Tokyo Disney Days -1 and 11 - Around Tokyo - Aqua Stadium, Harajuku, Shibuya & Shinjuku DAY 3 - HIRAKATA PARK AND OSAKA UMEDA SKY BUILDING Our second Japanese park was a really nice little family park, Hirakata. This was also the first park where I made a point of buying something local at the gift shop and really taking note of the "it takes two employees to properly package and tape down a purchase before leaving a store" phenomenon. It was like watching perfection at work. Hirakata was also home to more Intamin stuff, starting with wooden coaster, Elf, and a stubby drop tower. Both a ton of fun in different ways. The drop tower made sounds that you'd never normally want to hear come from a ride. Goes to show that even small rides can be scary. Overall, a great park in a really cool hillside location. Here are the pics. Our preferred mode of transportation Made it! Cute lucky bunnies are in there...maybe The children are surprisingly not frightened. It's Elf! The first of the interactive scream loudest to earn points log flumes! The Maple Leafs are one of the most valuable sports franchises on the planet. You'd never know it if you saw them play. I think it's awesome I'd run into something Leafs in Japan. Thanks Sean! Japanese Flume POV! Random flume shots The flume score board. Well, you'd probably feel the same way if you came off of a roller coaster called Peekaboo Town. The ubiquitis drum game. These are everywhere and not as easy as expected on the first try The experts have arrived Yes, there really is 24 hour poo. The Disk-O was too exciting for some.