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My my, what a scary little crowd you are. And congrats on an awesome ERT session!

~ Rusutsu Park - Me & The Rides ~ So here we are, at this park, me going on all of the coasters available there, and getting on some fave flats, and David is just hanging around.... with his Kobo (an e-reader) and on what we eventually find as a real nice little park paradise. Lawn chairs, The recliner ones. A few of them just scattered in a wooded area in the literal middle of all the rides and concessions. But David did take a few photos, albeit most of them of me, on the coasters, and the flats. So I decided to put them all out, in one posting and have my little ego stroking happen. Also, you'll notice on a few of the rides, I am the - only - one riding. The park was very cool in doing this, having the ride ops ready and waiting for us to ride. And since our group practically out numbered the number of locals there at the time...it was pretty cool having the park practically all to ourself. THANK YOU Rusutsu Park! And I will not do this again, I promise. (For this tour.) On the Ultra Twister. I'm in the back row, on the left there. And for the life of me I cannot remember who was sitting beside me. But then, I did go on it a total of four times, woo hoo! The park's SLC. Front row there, on the left. On the Mad Mouse. Which was really a nice smooth ride. Surprise. And this is one of my all-time favourite flats. Called a Paratrooper, I believe? I love this one. Having fun. Didn't flip it over, even once, sadly. But it's still a great flat ride. On the Jet Coaster. And who's that in front of me. omgomgomgomgomgomg..... omg its Those People from The Travel Channel Show!!! Hi Lauren and Matt! How's fame?! In the back, you can see I am obviously excited about this, being sooooooo close to Them. Another fave flat I forget the name of. And this one took ab - solutely - for - e - ver to slow down and come - to - a - s - t - op. Longer than the cycle, itself. But still fun. The Stand Up coaster. And yes, I am The Only One on it, front row, at the left. Good ride, too. I tried out the mine train, to see if David could ride it - and omg did it have rough dips and turns! It was a pretty intense little mine train! Nope, not for David. And this photo I call..."In My Munsch Period". Definitely a screamer, ha ha. A bit off-centre, but then, what art isn't? And finally - again - me being happy on West Mtn. gondola. Thanks for putting up with this posting. Tomorrow - dinner!

And as it PAINS me to admit it this is NOT an "Its All About BRYAN Day either. Nope. Uh uh. Not happening, buddy. No way, today. That said, here's the photo of Bryan doing "a request" in 2011 at Fuji-Q HIghland Park. Our day at Fuji turned into "Bryan's Day" with a swoop of Robb's arm and Elissa's schedule folder... Then Riovbbb suggecsted we allt ghink of things for Vryan to do, to keep himself amused, while we wait for Fuji-Q's doors to......open. And put it on record, too of course. So this is mine. The wuss couldn't bring himself to actually touching the sign. I offered to use my TPR hand spray and a wet wipe. But he declined. And a few inches between, is all I got. Just a few inches more... Hi Bryan! Hope you are well, as well as your close friends, and family.

Before I get ijnto my next tour trip posting, I want to "borrow" from a well-known (to us musical theatre freeks) recently anointed Best Musical on Broadway - the musical in question...The Book of Mormon. The title of one of it's songs is: You and Me (But Mostly Me). An apt description of the next set of photos coming up. all taken in Rusutsu Park....by him.....Of ME!!! Coming up soon - and by the way - even if you absolutely HATE MUSICALS, this one could change your mind, just a bit. The book is wild, it's put together by the guys from "South Park" and the musical "Avenue Q", and there's a few classic "history making lyrics" here and there in the score, lol. Winner of 9 TONY Awards, including Best Musical, 2011. A historic gem in the musical theatre treasure trove.

Crap!, Thanks a lot Chuck! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! And I have the coaster's theme song CD soundtrack! Project Euro MIR

^ Sorry you couldn't see the video, here. Have you tried viewing it in the TPR Video Downloads/CoasterTube section, on the site? And yeah, I wish one or two of our ski mountain areas had a nifty amusement park like this, too.

QFT

I am so looking forward to visiting Liseberg again!

And here's the video my partner David put together of the paraglider's flight. It is composed of stills I took, and David took, and video I took of most of the pilot in flight. The sound is terrible, and volume best be kept down. I was using my digital camera and the wind got picked up really loudly. Enjoy. (Taken on Monday, July 1, 2013, West Mtn. Rusutsu Resort, Hokkaido, Japan.) [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=Paragliding_Off_West_Mountain_qr67[/coastertube]

^^ Thanks. I still have the film camera, but it rarely gets used. And I already had to change a battery, after hardly using it at all. But - who knows? And I am still taking my time with taking some shots with the digital, instead of just point-and-shoot. So that's some of my film camera experience sticking with me, heh heh. ^ We started out very early in the morning, and didn't leave till just after 4 pm, from Rusutsu. We had ERT on the Ultra Twister, and the Shuttle Loop. Then we were let off, on our own. Don't know if that was longer than your visit. But it seemed to be enough, for us. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Mt. Yotei ~ the "Mt.Fuji of The North" The gondola cars took us up to the top of the (what's called) West Mtn. And from there at the top of it, we got this amazing view of a mountain that looked like Mt.Fuji, right down to the snow streaks down the sides from the top of it. But Mt. Yotei is literally half the height of Fuji (Yotei is 6227 ft/1898 mters high. Fuji is 12390 ft/3776 meters - whew!) There was a bell to ring for good luck, wishes, love... or lotteries, I'm not sure which. Some beautiful viewpoints of the surrounding mountains, Mt.Yotei itself, and Rusutsu Park below. And - to add to the awesomeness of the day there, a paraglider was preparing to take off, from a cliffside of the mountain, and gliding to the country side below. A very kool sight to catch! (video to follow). Just a reminder of the little gondolas we went up West Mtn. in. Beeeee Happy! A little higher up above the park, now. The upper level of the park, with the Sky Wheel and a few flats. And the wire maze in front. Me in a happy space. With a much needed park fan. Everybody gathers at the prime photo spot.... For this. With others, snapping away. A bit of framing... "Ready for my closeup, Mr. De Mille." Of course we had to prove we were there, without photoshop, lol. The bell in question, with me in mid-wish. People still coming up. I think that's Ben on the right there. Recognize the shirt... (o; Another view of the park below us. And then - over there - was a paraglider, getting ready to take off! Very cool to watch. Bonus Random Tour Credit! And - he was off! (video to follow...) Something interesting also found up there. Directional, apparently. And one last look, before heading back down. Very beautiful to look at, it was.

Gasparilla? (Have no idea what that is.)

^ Can't say, really. The only one we actually saw panning for gold there, was Kristen. So I guess you'd have to find out from Elissa if "Kidtums Struck It Rich!", lol. And we didn't stay around too long, anyway. We were on our way to the cable cars, about to climb up the West Mtn. for a supposed awesome view of the surrounding area.

On the Sky Wheel at Rusutsu Park We continued on with riding other coasters, and then a few flats through-out the day. Resting (and eating AND drinking) when we should. And we worked our way up to the small upper area that the park's Sky Wheel and a few other flats, were. And after a lunch at the main eating place in the park, we head over to the station where our cable car awaits, us. (so to speak)... The Loop the Loop - a Meisho Shuttle Loop coaster. You are pulled up the hill, then released backwards through the station, loop, spike, loop, station. Easy! David taking his artsy fartsy shot. And here's the results. (DbM) As a reward for a good shot, David is allowed a ride on the moving uphill sidewalk. Cool! A view of the park's mouse, Mad Mouse. Very smooth, too. On the Sky Wheel - and very interesting maze set out, down below. Looks like it would be very cool to see at night, with all the lights on it, on. Looking at part of the park, below us. The Mountain Coaster (jet coaster), through the sky wheel cage. It was noisy and needed an oil change - badly, lol! David taking shots. Better shot of the jet coaster. The standing coaster, called what else? Standing Coaster! After getting off the Wheel, we find this example of "Nature: Raw and Un-Censored!" (o; And a mother and daughter enjoying the mouse. After some rides, we went to the main eatery in the park. Gift shop right there in the back, too. Convenience! Uh - not too sure about that. David has a Japanese version of a corn dog; I settle for chicken nuggets - and both with Great Fries btw! After that, we head to the cable cars. And on the way to the station, we check and see if anybody's struck gold here, lol.

^ Oh yes! Most everybody took advantage of doing just that. It was awesome and several of us stayed up there for a good, long time too. My photos ~ and a video of a PARAGLIDER ! ~ coming up on Wednesday.

Yes, there was also a waterpark on the other side of that building. Drained and not open, though. i think they were freshening it up, after winter, for the summer season. They were still painting it in spots, but it looked like a decent waterpark. Not huge and overwhelming with towers etc, like some of the American ones. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And where it actually is in the park - go two photos back up and on THE MAP - the water park is below the hot air balloon painted in there.

I still don't understand totally the Peter Rabbit thing, although it's on signs, napkins, plates.. and some snacks too. But still - never seen the bunny in the fur - maybe they're actually smart with their character actors and DON'T put them in stuffy suits like this during that humidity? Great take on Nagashima, Chuck. I believe truly, that all the Japanese version of English signs are more fun, awkward, totally f-ed up, or just ??? than any others in the world. Even China! Looking forward to more.

And here's my camera video take on a run of Ultra Twister at Rusutsu Park, as best I can do it. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_2487_c6ke[/coastertube] Enjoy. (More to come, tomorrow...)

on July 1st ~ Rusutsu Resort Park ~ A Great Park! There are so many , many good memories of this park, it really is hard to keep them all "in order" lol. The resort itself is obviously for winter vacationing with plenty of skiiing hills around us, as well as working cable car systems, most of which were down "for their season", But there was still one very well working cable car, we could take, up a mountain to.... Well, that's another day, for now, lol. The park had 8 coasters, and ALL WORKING coasters, too! Although a few, like their Jet Coaster and the Corkscrew could use a bit of greasing up for a smoother ride, etc. But the stand up was actually very good, the SLC held together, without tossing me aroudn too much. And the Mad Mouse and The Ultratwister were both excellent surprises. One fore the smoothness of it all, and the other for The Dive...... Lots of room to walk around, and plenty of tall trees for shade. Fairly good park food was available, as were plenty of drinks and beers etc. And those darned Capsule Machines, en masse LOL! Here's the start of our day at Rusutsu... This was our bus to the Resort. And I have NO Idea what it stands for..... On the way. Faces or faces seen in this mountain formation. Used for holding back Angry Rocks! Japanese Technology Works! Then there were these... no idea how.... (But it does look like in Jurassic park, yes? No?) Keep this building in mind. By the end of the day - all of this was gone. Yay! This was in the main centre of the resort, where we entered the park through,. He/it worked for us as we were leaving. Creepy, but fun at same time! (DON'T look into the EYES!) Their Main Street (mall) as we walk to the park's entrance. It was really nicely themed, and pleasant to walk through, there and back. Looking back, where we entered from. A beautifully crafted 2 level carousel/merry-go-round, too. Looks like we're going the right direction. Yes! Here we are! But it was another lengthy outdoor walk to the actual park - a good walk for everybody, us included. And we saw a lot of interesting stuff along the way.... The Map that shows us where everything is at the Resort. And "the other map" of the Resort. Don't ski. Never will. Envy those who can and do. And snowboard, too! (o; (DbM) Some beautiful placement of flowers and plants throughout the resort. And then there was this GI-Normous circus tent, slightly open and just standing there. Totally fascinated me, but I didn't "stray from the path" ha ha. Did anybody else see inside of this? Could be for a Circus School for kids, which would be awesome! Up ahead .... I - See - Park! And then there was The Phrase that we first saw, lovely on the lawn. Then we kept hearing it, over and over and over and over and.... (And the running cable cars are there up above the sign, heading up to...) Lots of lush plants everywhere, especially on the upper levels of the park - and where Ultratwister was! (DbM) Lots and lots in interesting groupings, for photo taking. (o: (DbM) But Ultratwister awaited us - and I got 4 rides on it! Kind of surprised myself, heh. And The Dive was very cool, on it. But David sat this one out, and took more pix of us and more plants, lol. Like this nice set of.... (DbM)

What a sad, sad, little fair. Uh - Thanks for sharing.

I El Locos! And now there's one, under cover! Cool!

Stephen Sondheim. Because I want him to write a score about riding roller coasters, LOL! Theme park choice? Easy. Walt Disney Just to see what he thought and felt about all this progress with coasters. Since his Matterhorn.

I hate power surges.

^ That sounds yummy, lol. Meat smoke in your clothes... I too, am glad you went on Blue Fall at Sea Paradise Park, and lived to tell the tale, Jason. I think you could tackle any fall tower, now.

Looking forward to seeing all of you destroy yourselves at The Museum.

^ And nobody bought a bottle of this stuff? And I admit, either I never saw it, or it was never brought to our table. (Or wasn't there any "souvenir bottles" of it available?) Next park we visit - Rusutsu Resort Park! Coming up, next week.