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Itachi

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  1. Although Walibi did not mention it explicitly yet, they will probably give everyone a Fast Lane Bronze, used as a virtual queuing system, which can be upgraded to Silver and Gold if you want to reduce your waiting time. So all rides in the Fast Lane program will be running on virtual queues, including El Rio Grande which just got included in the program this year. This is quite strange indeed, taking in mind that the Dutch government has been announcing measures that apply to households and not families, which makes way more sense. In any way, I am happy Walibi is opening again, although I will wait some time before visiting any theme parks myself, to see how the measures are going to work out in practice, especially because theme parks are opening before everything else in the Netherlands that has been closed except schools, which is a bit strange to me.
  2. It's good to see Japanese parks opening again, but I wonder if this does not give a false sense of security. On the one hand Japan and its society have the characteristics to deal with the virus efficiently, but on the other hand, the Japanese government has been accused of barely testing people and in a certain way downplaying the situation around the virus to show that the country is doing fine and that the Olympics do not need to be cancelled. I agree with the user above me, it would not surprise me if the decision will be reversed at some point. I hope that I am wrong though, and that Japan really has the virus under control already.
  3. While I did not really follow any news about the park, I didn't expect a park of this size to be closed so suddenly. I was aware that the park was a bit run-down. Was the park running so badly that closure was necessary though? Speaking of Apex, I think we also need to keep an eye on Fantasy Island. Apex owned three amusement parks. Two of the three have closed this winter- Clementon and now Indiana Beach. The third is Fantasy Island. Checking the website of Apex, their list of parks has been taken down and the logo for Fantasy Island can't be found anywhere. https://apexparksgroup.com/parks No official announcements have been made yet, however, an article on the website of ACE says that rides from Indiana Beach and Fantasy Island have been offered for sale, including Silver Comet, so I guess it's over for Fantasy Island as well...
  4. Interesting that Morey's blames the delay on the custom nature of the ride, while it actually is a regular off-the-shelf model, or are they talking about the ride being constructed on the pier / beach / close to the sea? Hope they get the ride open soon though!
  5. Thank you for the elaborate answer, that really helps! I indeed looked at your past posts for most of my information, so it's good to know that some things have changed.
  6. I have some questions about visiting the park. Maybe this is not completely the right topic for it, but it's better than opening a new topic I guess. I'll be there at the end of August. Not the most ideal time for visiting one of the most busy theme parks in the world, but anyway, since I read mixed stories about this, is it better to visit this park on a weekday or on a Sunday? And is there a certain plan I should follow, since, if Google Translate is correct, some rides like T Express seem to open later during the day and close earlier? Also, I have a few questions regarding T Express. I wonder if the single riders lane is still active, and, if I understand correctly that the ride operates on a reservation system part of the day, switching to a standby queue later during the day, while it is possible to get tickets for the ride both next to the coaster and at some booth in the children's area. Sorry for the amount of questions. This park just seems to be a pain to deal with if I go there unprepared but the English site is not that complete on information. Want to get the most out of my day of course.
  7. Nice discussion about the Ultra Twister. That dive loop is exactly why I was looking forward to this particular Ultra Twister, since the others indeed have that moving platform. The speed in the latter half of Rusutsu's Ultra Twister seems totally crazy. Looks like a great ride! Thank you! I did not get a shot of the "Not-Fuji" since it was quite cloudy, but I already assumed the mountain was quite big, judging from the foot of it. It's a really cool place indeed, so much space to just relax and enjoy the park! I totally missed the Haunted Swing, too bad! As you say, it's hidden very well under that platform. Thanks! Even though I had the opportunity to go to Japan two times, I also can't wait to go back already. Such a great country, glad you like it too! --- Misaki Park and Ikoma Skyland After my time in Hokkaido I spent a day to get from Sapporo to Osaka by train. I crazy schedule, but since there were some amusement parks in the Osaka area I still wanted to visit, I just made the trip, which took almost 12 hours. Maybe I should’ve taken a flight, but I had a Japan Rail Pass and I have to admit I like taking trains quite a lot, especially in Japan. My original plan was to go cycling in some nice area near Osaka, but since Sapporo made me forget how crazy hot the more southern parts of Japan are, I decided not to do it after arriving in Osaka. Without plans, I decided to do some credithunting after waking up the following day. After looking up some parks with still a little bit of quality, I went on my way to the parks. The first park, Misaki Park was an one-hour train ride from where I was staying. Not too bad. An interesting but useless fact is that the operator of the train line serving the station in front of the park, is also the owner of the park. I went inside the park, and after finding out where I could buy ride tickets, the package deal for ride tickets proved to be just enough to do the roller coasters and the Ferris wheel. I still had to eat my breakfast, which I did, followed by the first roller coaster. This one is the only roller coaster outside of the United States made by Hopkins. It’s called the “New Wild Mouse," Hopkins’ take on a Wild Mouse. Well, it was not as good as a wild mouse, but overall, it was a nice family coaster. With decent speed and turns, it gave a smooth but not too exciting ride. A surprising ride in terms of builders and looks, but forgettable when it comes to the ride itself. I still enjoyed it though. A few meters next to the New Wild Mouse, I found the Child Coaster. It reminded me of the older kiddie coasters in the United States. Although I am not that tall, I barely managed to fit in. A decent ride for kids, and for me, just another credit. The last new coaster in this park was found on top of the big hill in the park. Jet Coaster is the second-oldest coaster in Japan, opened in 1957. Obviously, the coaster itself wasn’t that exciting, but because it was a terrain roller coaster, the ride was just splendid. It raced through the trees, with views over the area, and to top it off, a view over the ocean. The setting of this roller coaster was just fantastic! It definitely is not the best ride in the world, but the setting around this coaster make it a small jewel. I love these kind of rides. Besides that, the older staff member operating this ride was also really friendly and interested in where I came from. That kind of staff makes your day at an amusement park definitely better! At a dead-end, the Ferris wheel stood on top of the hill. The operator was dutifully cleaning the ride. It appeared she did not have much to do, although it was already summer break in Japan. The Ferris wheel was, also in this park, nice to ride. I love views! After this, I made a walk around the park. Although the park has quite some rides, mainly for kids, the zoo section of the park is also quite big. I don't really like Japanese zoos though, so I did not spend a lot of time on it. I left the park since it was time for the second park of today, Ikoma Skyland. For this I had to take the train again. A train ride later I was at a station at the foot of a mountain. The problem was, the amusement park was on top of the hill. Luckily, there were cable cars with incredibly cute cars going up the mountain. It took more time than I expected since the time schedule of the two cable cars didn’t connect to each other which meant I had to wait some time halfway through. On top of the mountain, the location of Ikoma Skyland turned out to be gorgeous. Because it is on top of a mountain, the park provides views over the whole wide area with lots of views points. Definitely a beautiful location. The coaster in this park was just a small one, namely, one of those SBF Visa spinning coasters which are popping up everywhere nowadays. Nice for the credit, especially since I was one of the first foreign riders because the ride opened not too long ago. Not that I care though, especially since the ride is so small. In that sense, visiting the park 15 years ago would've been better, when their were four bigger roller coaster including an Ultra Twister and a Shuttle Loop. After enjoying the views and the enormous roller coaster, I made a quick round in the park. The park actually has a broad line-up of rides, like most Japanese amusement parks. A family really could spend a day in this park. Still, in my case, I left after the quick round since I promised to meet up a friend in Osaka and didn’t want to risk the meeting time on the last cable car to the foot of the mountain, which would go 45 minutes later than the one I took now. Obviously, this wasn’t a day of high-quality parks, but I actually enjoy these smaller parks very much. In this case, the parks had splendid views of their surroundings, which really was the highlight of this day, and Misaki Park even had two surprising coasters. Japan seems to be quite a good country for people who like to credithunt from time to time, like me, since even the smaller parks do not disappoint.
  8. Thanks! I guess Nighthawk, Firehawk, Thunderhawk and Kiddy Hawk don't sound so bad anymore right? Thank you! I did go in one of the madhouses and both of the mirror houses. I read in some report that one of the mirror houses' lay-out could be changed with some kind of switch, but that didn't appear to work anymore, if it was true. I didn't encounter a haunted swing / madhouse, maybe I missed it or it was removed? I guess the first, since this park don't seem to renew or remove attractions. The rotoshake for example is still there, although it isn't featured on the park map and the queue line is removed. It must be because of that indeed, and if this is a normal summer for them, this park will probably be next to disappear since I can't see how they can stay open with this amount of guests. Maybe August is busier, especially during Obon? They have to make a profit somehow. I also felt bad for the ops. Most of them were older persons who were so nice, but they had nothing to do at all. They were standing at the entrance of their attractions begging for riders indeed. --- Rusutsu Resort Rusutsu Resort and its weird Ultra Twister was one of the reasons why I made the long trip to Hokkaido .Although the journey to Hokkaido took a long time, it's actually quite doable with the comfortable Japanese trains, and the area is really nice to look at from the train. The transport to Rusutsu Resort is arranged perfectly. In the summer, multiple buses a day go to and from the park. You can reserve them online, and it's totally free! If that's not good customer service, I don't know what is. A little bit after opening I arrived at the park. It was not as calm as most Japanese parks were, but also not too busy. Just a nice light crowd. I wanted to hit up Ultra Twister first, but since I saw in some reports that Loop the Loop, a Meisho Shuttle Loop, was closed, I decided to ride it first as I saw it open while walking past by it. This ride wasn't as great as a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop, but it was still really good! The lift takes an eternity, and what follows is a short but forceful ride. I enjoyed it. What is interesting though, is that this ride has both a shoulder and a lap restraint. Not really necessary, but at least I don’t have to worry about falling out of the train. Next I walked to Ultra Twister, as already mentioned on of the reasons for me as a coaster fan to come all the way to Hokkaido. Full of anticipation I used the conveyor belt to go up the hill, where the coaster is located. The silence was already suspicious and when I was close to the ride what I suspected turned out to be reality. A closed Ultra Twister. There was no life at all around the station. so I considered the chance that it would still open today as close to zero. Sucks! But nothing to do about it. Especially in Asia, closed coasters are part of a fan's daily life, even in the summer. That doesn't mean I wasn't very disappointed of course, because Ultra Twister is the star of the park. To lighten my disappointment, the high-quality jet coaster of the park, Mountain Coaster, was next. I have nothing special to mention about this ride. It a regular jet coaster without airtime and forces, and also jerky banking. Still, I enjoy these types of rides quite a lot. Just decent family rides with a high fun factor. At the end of the ride however, my restraint turned out to be stuck. There was no staff at the exit station, but luckily, a Japanese understood what was wrong after I tried to speak to him, and so the employee at the boarding station opened my restraint by sticking a screwdriver into the restraint mechanism and shaking it a bit. If it works I’m not gonna question it. The Standing Coaster, a Togo Stand-Up, was familiar to me. This thing has the same lay-out as Momonga in Yomiuriland, although it lacks the sit-down train. I like Togo Stand-Up coasters, so this coaster was a lot of fun to me. Nothing surprising though, as I knew the lay-out. With the Mad Mouse, I ended up in the low-quality coasters of this park. This kiddie ride is kind of an alternative Wild Mouse, but aimed at kids instead of families. A short ride with sharp turns, short ascents and abrupt brakes. Nothing special. After watching some street entertainment in the park, I hit up one of the biggest rides in the park, which is the Vekoma SLC. Normally not the best rides, but this unit was actually quite good! I really enjoyed the ride since it was smooth for a Vekoma SLC. It also looked really good, as it was painted recently. In the afternoon the coaster closed for half an hour, after which the staff inspected the ride. This happened at all the major rides in the park. Quite strange, and I also don't see how a few regular employees inspecting the ride helps for safety for the rides, but well, that’s Japan for you. The technical staff was busy anyway, since, apart from a closed Ultra Twister, the log flume and S&S tower were broken for practically the whole day, while a few other rides broke down over the course of the day. The last new coasters for today were the Corkscrew and the Go Go Sneaker. One was an Arrow Corkscrew which was not very popular, and the other one was a Japanese variation on a Wild Mouse, this time more family-oriented. Both were very solid rides, but nothing too special. Just fun rides to grab a ride on. Over the course of the day I also tried some flatrides. This park has one of the few Intamin First Generation Free Falls left and it was working, so I was happy to grab a few rides on it. Some people also tried a water cup challenge on the ride, but got quite soaked because of it, so I skipped it. I didn’t skip some re-rides on it however, since I never know if I ever have the chance to ride such as classic again. I also tried the paratrooper that turns upside down, the ferris wheel, the flying carpet and some crappy Italian topspin with a decent ride. A special ride in the park is the cable car. This one goes to the top of the mountain Rusutsu Resort is built partly upon. The view on top is marvelous, and it is a tranquil and calm place because it is completely separated from the amusement park. I spent some time looking at a few paragliders using the mountain top as their starting place and sat down in the grass just to enjoy the view. After I had done everything I wanted to, including some re-rides on most coasters, I went back to Sapporo with the 5 o’clock bus. I originally booked the 9 o’clock bus to be sure to have enough time in the park, but I really didn’t need those few extra hours, especially not since the Ultra Twister was out, so the friendly ladies at the reception of the park didn’t mind changing my bus reservation. The only bad thing is that I missed some kind of evening show which I saw being prepared, but lying in bed earlier than 1 AM also didn’t sound too bad. Because of that, I was also able to have an evening walk in Odori Park, which turned out to be one of my favorite places in Sapporo. Although it was a shame that Ultra Twister was out, I had a great day at Rusutsu Resort. They have an extensive line-up of attractions, typical Japanese friendliness and above all, a stunning location. I surely hope to come back here one day. Not only to go back to Rusutsu Resort, but also to check out more of Hokkaido, since five full days were by far not enough for this nice area in Japan.
  9. Great photos and report! It surprised me how nice of a park Selva Mágica actually is. By the way, Alicia has been removed. They seem to be overhauling the kiddie land, and Alicia was nowhere to be found during my visit at the end of 2017. Too bad! But it's always good that there is a lot of maintenance going on.
  10. Totally agree! Especially that Arrow ride is just amazing in its own kind. So screwed up indeed. A bit of delay for the next report, but here it is. Some text parts are placed between the photos. A chance to the previous reports, just to try something new. --- Hokkaido Greenland Next, it was time for Hokkaido Greenland. Going to the park, I had trouble to spot the right bus platform. Confident enough in my poor Japanese, I asked an employee at the bus platform what bus I had to take to Hokkaido Greenland. Speaking a little bit of Japanese is one step, but understanding a little bit of Japanese is another. After quite a long answer from which I could deduct that the bus to Hokkaido Greenland only runs on the weekends, I asked if she could repeat her answer in English. In the end, the bus did not run to Hokkaido Greenland, but the bus took a route along a bus stop near the park. Good enough, I don't hate walking. Walking towards the entrance, I hesitated if the park was open. There were just a few cars in the parking lot and staff members were doing maintenance on the entrance. It turned out that the park was just dead, but the friendly old lady at the ticket booth sold me a ticket and guided me to the souvenir shop, where I could pick up my wristband. The first coaster encountered was the kiddie coaster, Wani Wani Coaster. Nothing special, just a figure eight kiddie. Next was Dragon King, the park's Japanese looper which tries to kill you. Well, at least I was the only one on the train, so I was the only one suffering. Besides that, not that special a ride. Just one looping and two corkscrews, although the drop is quite strange since it is not steep at all. The best coaster of the park was GO-ON, the jet coaster. Not one of the better rides in the world, but it had some really nice airtime on some of the hills, especially in the back. Besides that, it was a typical jet coaster. A slow lift hill, shoulder restraints where they are not needed, a stretched-out layout and statistics which promise much but don't deliver it. I love these kind of coasters, and this was definitely one of the better ones of its kind. Not that intense but just nice family rides, with in this case nice airtime. Great ride! After catching a ride on the ferris wheel, I took a ride on the last coaster of the park, Torokko Coaster. Just a crappy kiddie ride with two hills and three turns. The special factor here is the lift hill, which is basically a conveyor belt. Totally whack! Apart from the coasters, I did some flatrides and some track rides, and also took some re-rides on the coasters. This park basically feels like an outdated park. There are a lot of rides, but nothing is themed and the rides are all very basic compared to more modern rides. Nothing wrong with that and I had a really nice time, but, especially since there were only ten cars on the parking lot when I left, and that in the middle of the summer, I have doubts about how well the park is doing. Let's just hope they will survive, because it's a really decent park. Just too bad the Roto Shake was closed. All in all, a really nice day!
  11. Thanks! I did not see the alter, but maybe that is because that area of the park was closed off. I think you should be glad that you went a few years ago, since that appeared to be a better time for that park. The exercising prep seems so Japanese. I can totally imagine stuff like that happening in Japan. Maybe because it was rainy, the park looked worse than it really was, but indeed, I saw the TPR TR from years ago and park seemed to be in a better state then. The mid-range parks in Japan are in danger, I totally agree with that. I hope it is just a time period which will end in a few years, but after visiting quite some parks in Japan, it would not surprise me if only the bigger parks survive while the mid-range parks will become smaller. In that case, I should be glad I had the chance to visit them now I guess. --- Benyland - 07/16/17 During a summer school at Sendai's local university, I had the weekends off. On the second and also last weekend, while everyone was tired from the crazy schedule we had en stuff we did, I made my way to Benyland, Sendai's local amusement park, which was accessible via the city's subway system. If I have to attach the word 'normal' to a park, Benyland would definitely one of the first parks I would think of. The park has no groundbreaking rides, has an average size and is just not that special. That does not mean I didn't enjoy my visit. I had a really good time in the park. It had a nice atmosphere, a decent-sized line-up of rides and, with Yagiyama Cyclone, quite the surprising coaster. Visiting the bigger parks with world-class rides is fun, but smaller, more 'normal' parks like this is also something I really enjoy. It was a good visit. A nice moment in the park was that an old lady approached my while I was taking shelter for the rain. Most Japanese do not seem to be very open, especially, I think, because they are scared to use their English. This lady, however, just talked with me and she spoke English quite well. She invited me to the park show, but when we arrived at the small venue in the park, the show did not seem that promising and, since I had plans with my summer school plans from the end of the afternoon onward, I almost had to leave the park, so I excused myself. Still, a very nice lady! Roller coasters Yagiyama Cyclone - At the first glance, this ride looks like your regular Arrow Mine Train. Still, the back seat provides some crazy airtime on the first drop. During my first ride in the back seat, I was seriously scared I would fall out of the ride. After the first drop, some jerky twist'n turns follow, and with jerky, I mean that typical Arrow jerkiness. All in all, this ride was really surprising. It was definitely not the best ride in the world, but it was way better than expected. I like it! By the way, did I already mention that the ride was very photogenic with its bright white and blue colors Corkscrew - Knowing the name, it may not come as a surprise that this ride is an Arrow Corkscrew. This ride was just a fun ride. The corkscrews were quite smooth, which is worth mentioning since some Arrow corkscrews try, in combination with OTSR's, to kill your ears. All in all just an average ride. What was interesting was that half of the ride was repainted, and half of it wasn't. The same colors, but still noticeable. It was nice to see, since it is a perfect "big coaster" for a park like this, while also preserving a classic ride, although the lay-out is just average. Jet Coaster - Time for the low bait. This coaster had some short lines from time to time, so the general public liked it. Still, it was not that interesting. The lay-out was a stretched, misshapen oval with the length of a larger kiddie coaster, like a Vekoma Roller Skater. The first drop was quite steep, but I don't remember if it had any airtime. A decent family coaster, but for me, not that interesting. Aero 5 - Did I say Jet Coaster was low bait? Then I should not even mention this roller coaster. This coaster was just one of those Zamperla inverted switchback plane kiddie coasters. I rode it, I got the credit, and that is all I have to say about it. Well, since this one was quite new, it was still nice to see the park investing in new rides. Especially since new rides, or at least new roller coaster, seem to be quite special in Japanese parks, except the bigger ones of course. Other rides Paratrooper - Or, according to the subtitle on the ride sign, the New Exciting Machine. As an older family ride, it was not new, nor was it that exciting, but these rides are always enjoyable. When parks contain classics like these, I make sure to give'em a go. Pirat - It seemed like this ship was almost going vertical, way higher than other swinging ships. When riding it, it didn't feel that way, so it looked more exciting than it really was. Still a decent ride. I don't think I ever rode a bad swinging ship. Weird Monorail Ride - I forgot the real name of this ride, but this monorail, circling around the first half of the park, was weird because it contained individual cars suitable for four people, with one person controlling the speed. On top of that, the cars appeared to use gasoline to move forward. Wacky! Ferris Wheel - A Japanese park is not a Japanese park without having a ferris wheel. This one, like almost all of the ferris wheels, also provided me with nice views. Also a ride a never skip. Top Spin 2 - A Huss Top Spin. Not the best one I have ridden, but also not the worst. Just average, and also enjoyable. Megadance. - Another Huss ride. This ride had quite a lame ride program. It just rotated and the benches swung a tiny bit. I compared it with a video from a version which traveled on the German fair, and that one was a bit more exciting, but also not a very extreme ride. I guess I'm spoiled when it comes to extreme rides, since I live close to Germany with its crazy fair circuit containing rides like Devil Rock and High Impress. Photos in kind of chronological order:
  12. Also just saw the statement on the ECC Facebook. Really disappointed, since I was planning on going to England this year and this was a ride a was really looking forward to. I also just don't understand it. Apart from the popularity among fans, I also read on the ECC Facebook that is was also quite popular among the GP. Together with the fact that Blackpool is a park with seems to value it's historical rides, I just can''t believe this decision. I just hope Dreamland Margate will ever set up their wooden Wild Mouse, and otherwise, too bad but nothing to do about it. I understand progress, but I at least expected BPB to announce a closure of such a classic ride way sooner.
  13. It would be strange to me that I park would demolish an almost 70-year-old right without any prior notice, so I'm waiting for an official announcement. Still, to remove such a coaster completely... not too promising. Especially when reminded of the fact that BPB did not hold back to remove old coasters here and here because money. Amusement parks are business after all.
  14. Sad to see Space World go. Last year, the park felt dead already since it was empty in the middle of the summer, but it certainly has some nice rides. I also liked that the park was in the middle of the city. Not that it felt like a city park, but the higher rides provided some nice views. I hope at least the bigger rides will find a new home. Still, I can only wish those S&S trains on Titan will be scrapped might the ride find a new place. Some of the worst coaster trains I ever encountered. My manly parts still hurt when I think back to my ride on Titan.
  15. Here an English summary of the situation: So, because Colossos is a prototype, its track is made of a special type of rail. This led to extra inspections by the TÜV. During one of those inspections, it became clear that the condition of the track was worse then assumed, leading to an immediate closure. The complete track of 1500 meters long has to be replaced. Because of the complexity of this operation, it will cost as much as a completely new installation, and it will take two to three years. On top of that, the companies with the ability to execute the operation will have to create the capacity to do that job, and the pinewood of which the track has to be made, is, supposedly, also not easy to get, so those things will also add up time to the operation. Next January, the park will make a decision about Colossos' future. Source: ParkErlebnis If this is all true, it seems to me that the future of Colossos is not looking bright.
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