David H

^ If there was a genuine Intamin Aquatrax in China, and it actually got you somewhat wet, would you have ridden it, Elissa? I generally stayed off of most of the wet rides on most of the trip. Not so much because I was afraid of the water (although I was!), but because I didn't want my pants and shoes wet. The only real serious heavy rain I ran into on my entire trip was just after getting off the bus from Everland in Seoul, and my sneakers were wet for THREE DAYS afterwards. (Reminder to self: never bring those sneakers on a trip! Luckily, I'd brought a backup pair for that reason!) With the amount of walking we were doing, I didn't want to deal with wet, uncomfortable feet. I finally gave in in Shenzen, first at the log flume at Window on China, only to run into seemingly all of TPR spraying everyone with the park's sprayers and taking pictures! After that, I loosened up a bit, getting on wet rides at Happy Valley Shenzen, Ocean Park, Formosan Agricultural Cultutral Village, Universal Japan and Tokyo Dinseyland. I managed to survive it, without picking up any major diseases.

That was the amazing thing about the park. They have 5 coasters. One of them was closed, due to needing a part or something. That sucks, but is understandable. One of them was down for who knows what reason. That leaves only three coasters and a TON of people in the park. And one of them is a family coaster mine train. So, they've got two major coasters that could be operating. And they close one of them for no apparrent reason. Now, maybe something happened after we rode it. But given how they ran the entire park, I'd tend to doubt it. So, if you're a thrill-seeker who's NOT with TPR, you show up at the park and pay your admission, and get to ride ONE major coaster. And since it's the only one, you're waiting half the day in line. Now, imagine if you were stupid enough to go all the way to China from the US or Europe WITHOUT TPR! You'd have ridden one really good coaster (which is a clone of something you can ride at home, but with a LOT better theming) and a mine train. And you'd probabaly have waited most of the day to ride them. Could someone please explain to me how this is a recipe for success?

You could tell that he was giving us extra crazy rides, because we were there and loving every minute of it! I also imagine that we got extra long rides, too. The few Chinese girls on our second ride (who you can occasionally see in the video) started out really amused by us, but seemed to get traumatized by the ride! I was so glad that we got to do this. I'd actually been at Gyeongju World a little under two weeks before that, but their Tagada wasn't open because the park was absolutely dead. I was really bummed out, because I'd been really looking forward to it, after seeing the TPR video of it. So, when I saw this here, I was excited to actually be able to ride it. And riding it with TPR was an absolute blast. One of the single biggest highlights of the trip, IMO. I just asked Robb about the video, and he said that he does have the video of the first ride that we took, and that it's even better! So, look forward to this at some point. He'd uploaded that one because it was on his phone and easy to upload on the fly. (Yes, Robb was on his phone for much of the trip!)

This update is making me realize that there were whole sections of Floraland that I copmpletely missed! I don't think I found more than one of those haunted dark rides or walkthroughs, if that. Nor do I remember France or any of that theming. Floraland was defintiely one of those parks that was more than the sum of its parks. And the tagada was probably one of the biggest highlights of the entire trip. Anyone who hasn't seen the video that Robb posted of it MUST do so now, before reading any further! That said, that video was form the second ride we got on it (though it was the first for some people.) I woudl have thought that the first ride, before we knew what to expect, would have looked even crazier. I wonder if that video just didn't come out well. As always, loving the PTR so far, Chuck!

I dunno. Could it be worse than Eejanaika? That is a good point. The new S&S 4D at Dinosaur Park in China was better than its Japanese cousin, though (maybe by virtue of being newer). Yes, I know this reply is way late! But having ridden both of them a few weeks apart on this trip, I'd actually say it was the opposite. I suspect it may have a lot to do with how the rides are running at the time and where you're sitting. I only rode the one at Dinosaur Park twice. The front seat ride was way too rough for me. The second to back inside seat was ok, though still rough. And I actually LIKE the 4D coasters, so I was surprised. With Eejanaika, since I wasn't with enthusiasts smart enough to snag the inside seats, I only rode in said inside seats. And I have to say that I absolutely loved it. In fact, I rode it three times in one day, with waits of over 2-2.5 hours each time! Maybe I'm just crazy. By the way, great PTR, Chuck! I'm looking forward to the rest. Hopefully, I'll get around to posting my own PTR from the trip. However, since I did a lot more than just the China trip (Japan, Korea and Taiwan, too!), it will be a while before I get to the China part, so all of the good jokes will already be taken my Chuck, Megan and the rest!

So, if I want to do my own PTR from my extended version of the trip, I only have about 19,000 pictures to sift through! Seriously! And it will never be as witty as Megan's!

I'm still torn about whether to count several of the "coasters" on the trip, particularly the one at the wall and two of them at Chuanlord Holiday Manor.

I saw the ride (in fact, I saw Megan and Mike on it), but didn't think we had enough to time to ride it, so I skipped it. Didn't look like much anyways. Loving the TR, Megan! Reliving the memories of a great trip with great people. And meeting and spending time with you guys was one of the highlights! Glad we were able to help make your olympic dreams come true. It was funny how we basically just missed the rain on that drive to the water cube and bird's nest. I actually really lucked out with weather on that trip. I spent 45 days outdoors in Asia during typhoon season, and barely managed to get rained on at all! i think I have some kind of amazing luck on overseas trips, since I've really only had like 5 days of rain in all of my 5 overseas trips that amounted to 19 weeks or so. Just got back from the trip yesterday (I did a VERY extended version of the trip), and may work on my own PTR, though it will be much longer, and probably far less witty! (And obviously far wordier!)

^ I'm assuming you're referrng to the t-shirt! And you're welcome for getting you the free scarf!

You can literally taste the smog in the air!

You guessed right. I saw him do it!

Anyone with Facebook with anyone in the hobby as friends has been bombarded with pics and info about this already! One enthusiast remarked that it was her entire wall right now! Like all the other coasters out there, we can only guess what it will be like until we ride it. A few immediate thoughts: -- Lapbars only! With three inversions. That should make a lot of us very happy. -- It's funny that they're building this just as SOB is going down. -- I wonder what the outside banked turn will feel like. -- 8 moments of airtime: floater or NTaG ejector? On one hand, I could see SDC not wanting something that extreme. On the other hand, NTaG has gotten nothing but rave reviews and the GP seem to love it! -- The layout doesn't look all that inspiring. Not a lot of directional changes at all. Again, we'll see what it really does when we ride. -- It's fairly short for a terrain coaster. But will it pack enough of a punch that it won't matter? It makes sense that RMC might not want something Voyage or NTaG sized for their first completely original coaster. -- Whatever you think of it, you have to give Silver Dollar City credit for trying something different. And Six Flags over Texas for being the stepping stone.

I haven't been to SFNE in years, mainly because I live in Boston and don't have a car, and it's not worth renting one for SFNE. That said, they have a REALLY good water park. So, going in the summer is worth it, if you like water parks.

Depending on several factors, it will likely be either Aqua Stadium or Tokyo Joypolis next month. Although there's a chance it will be Hanayashiki (if I have time to stop in) or Fuji-Q. My Tokyo plans are somewhat loose to allow for weather and other factors. Believe it or not, that will actually be my FIRST park of the year!

To be fair, it was only listed there because I told them of what I thought was a rename after seeing it on their website, thinking it was just renamed and rethemed! But that's how RCDB works. One person can't know everything about every coaster worldwide. He needs help from the rest of us! And it's only fair, considering how many of us benefit from it!

So, I'm confused about one thing. It's called Veil of Darkness: The Shooting Coaster. But it's not a shooting ride? Huh? Oh yeah, it's Japan. When Joypolis finally updated their site, I checked this out, because I've been considering stopping by there on my first Tokyo stop on the way to TPR China. Given that it was now themed and called "The Shooting Coaster", and given how many times they've changed Spin Bullet/Speed Boarder/etc, I'd assumed that this was just that coaster with new trains that shoot. (Maybe the ones from Zola at Fuji-Q?) Apparently, this isn't the case! Now, I'm so going there! In fact, in just over a month from now! Watching that video reminded me how much fun the weird half-pipe ride is! And the various walk-throughs, several of which I didn't have time for last time. Was the talking dolls thing really worth doing, if you don't speak English? I'd assumed that I'd miss the whole point. Strangely enough, it may actually end up being my first coaster of the year! Unless I decide to hit up Galaxy Express (I'm staying in that hotel!) or Fuji-Q first. I've been so busy working overtime this year to pay for my crazy Asia trip that I haven't ridden ANY coasters yet! But I'll make up for it soon, maybe starting with a world premiere ride! Hopefully, I'll figure out how to take video with my camera before then. I've never been big on taking coaster video, but I imagine there will be some demand for this one. By the way, the park is officially called just Tokyo Joypolis now, even though Sega still owns it.

Just curious how heavily the mid-course brake on iSpeed was on during your visit. On my first visit in 2009, I didn't really notice it, though it might have been because I only got two rides, and it was still new to me. But on my visit last year, it was really noticeable, at least to a coaster nerd like me. It's still a great ride, but I wonder how much better it might be without it on. Great TR, Hanno!

For one of the very few times in my life, I'm simply speechless!

While I haven't been on Kawasemi itself, I've been on its clone Piraten in Denmark. And the mega-lite and Thunder Dolphin weren't even close. It's really pretty much as Elissa describes. A nice, fun ride, neatly positioned on and through the building and through the wheel. But nothing terribly special. (Although I do have it on my keychain.)

A friend of mine was just there last month., visiting Japan with family, and hitting up a few parks. He said that there were no operating roller coasters. But they have added a ride that's similar to Spider-Man, involving some cat-girl character from manga. I'm tempted to stop by in August just to check it out, if time allows, but my time in Tokyo will be very tight, so I probably won't have time.

Mirabilandia is easily one of my favorite parks in the world. So much so that I made a side trip there on my way from Scandinavia to Ibiza, Spain last year. And I happened to run into some local TPR readers whle I was there, too! Katun is an absolute B&M masterpiece, from back when they made them really forceful. Think Montu or a bigger, longer Batman with more variety in inversions. I have a hard time deciding which I like more, Katun or Pyrenees at Parque Espana in Japan, though I give a slight edge to Montu over either of them. All three are in my top 5 steel. It's a real shame that B&M don't make coasters like this any more. We call these the old-school "B&M's with balls". And while I'm not as huge a fan of Intamin's launched coasters as some people, iSpeed is basically the best parts of Xcelerator and Maverick wrapped into one coaster. I'm curious if they still had the trim brake in the middle of the ride on stongly, because without it, it would probably hit my top 10, instead of being a bit outside it, which still makes it a damn fine coaster! But together, it's one of the best one-two steel coaster punches out there. I'd actually give a bit of an edge to Montu and Kumba at Busch Tampa, but Mirabilandia gives them a run for their money. In fact, Mirabilandia is the only park in the world with two coasters in the top 10 on either of Mitch's coaster polls, wood or steel. Even if those two rides were the only coasters at the park, they've got lots more, including a well-themed shooting dark ride, the new haunted walkthrough (which was only mediocre on my visit when it was new last year, though maybe they've amped it up since then?), decent S&S towers and great theming everywhere. The water coaster just adds to the goodness. But you asbolutely can't forget their Q-Bot system, which as Robb mentioned is one of the best implimentations anywhere. And reasonably priced too. Even on a slow day, it's worth it to just walk in front of the line with such a short wait. On iSpeed, I was getting on literally every other train! I'd enter the Q-bot queue, get my q-bot scanned and reset, then immediately scedule another ride on it. By the time I got off, it was time to ride again, with the q-bot line conveniently located right at the ride's exit! Rinse, repeat, again and again! Even the gold version was cheaper than any of the REGULAR Flashpasses at any Six Flags park!

Ditto to the last few comments. I haven't been to the park in a few years (despite it being only 1.5 hours away -- the problems of not owning a car in this hobby and working weekends in a restaurant!) But on my last visits, the Cyclone was a shade of its former self. This was a good example of "be careful what you wish for." The replaced the horrible Morgan trains with heavier PTC trains. While they rode great the first year, they also tore apart the track. Since Six Flags doesn't like to spend money on maintenance, that means they've put trim brakes all over the ride, which particularly kills what once was a great finale! And the reprofile of the first drop and turnaround combo severely cut into what was once one of the best opening sequences on any coaster anywhere. The worst part is that the original track is still there!

It's good to see that the park finally managed to get their Eurofighter open. Apparently, it was announced something like 5 years ago, and they've put it on their website as opening that year every year since then! Apparently, they had some trouble getting final approval from the city. They didn't end up opening it until last August, according to RCDB. I seriously considered taking a side trip to the Bari area while I was planing my Italy trip in 2009. I remember the Eurofighter being on the park map at the time, with no indication that it wasn't open yet -- even though they hadn't even started building it yet, apparently! When I e-mailed them to ask if it was open or would be in time for my trip, they said they didn't think it would be, because of the trouble I mentioned. That helped nudge me into not taking the side trip, which was really the right choice for me at that time and for that trip. The main reason I'd considered the side trip was because Easyjet was offering an insane sale of only 9 Euros each way for flights from Rome to Bari. But it would have meant rushing crazily to get to both parks on public transportation (plus a cab or two). And more importantly, it would have meant cutting out about half of the things I wanted to do in Naples and Rome, which I really did not want to do! And I'm really glad that I got to spend that time climbing Mt Vesuvius and standing on top of an active volcano, watching (a bit of) smoke come out, plus having more time to walk around the HUGE Vatican museums, and not missing the amazing Borghese Gallery and the Imperial Forum. The credits will come eventually! I'm sure I'll get there some time. I really LOVED Italy! And I won't be able to stay away from Mirabilandia, on the coaster front!

Am I the only one who saw the headline on the front page about Larry dodging the zombies on media day and thought it was a reference to a certain coaster group in the area whose leader is obsessed with TPR?

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