thomas2

2010 marks the 20th birthday of the first B&M rollercoaster Iron Wolf. This led me thinking how long it would take before we'd see the first B&M scrapped or removed. We all know B&M is known for it's smooth and reliable rollercoasters but there's also the so called B&M rattle that some coasters suffer from. Why do you think no B&M coaster has already been scrapped? Is it because they're more expensive to built? Or is it simply because no B&M coaster is in a bad enough state that it requires removing? Also, how long do you think before we'll see the first one scrapped? Discuss away!

I'm pretty sure not. First of all I don't know how accurate RCDB is with these coasters as they might already have left the park by now. And secondly this new park will open in 2014 or 2015 and the coasters will have been dormant for 7 years than. They were breaking down the ferris wheel when I visited in october and there was no sign of any rollercoaster left, altough it's a hilly park and of course I couldn't enter the actual park.

One thing I still don't understand about Japanese parks is why so many of the signs (How many locals are going to understand the pun in the name of that food outlet?) and ride names are in English, yet the ride soundtracks are in Japanese...One or the other surely? Fair enough, English signs in the NY/Hollywood areas makes sense because it relates to the atmosphere of the area (In the same way that asian themed areas of theme parks often have banners etc with Asian script) But why would they call their latest coaster Space Fantasy instead of " スペースファンタジー " for instance? Surely it makes more sense to cater to the majority of locals (and children especially who might not be able to read romajii yet). All the attractions have their katakana-nized form on the park map and leaflets and such, but in the park itself as you said they have all ride names in western alphabet. I don't think this is much of a problem but I do however find a problem with all the puns that get lost. For example queing for Spiderman you at a certain point come past this cabinet with 'diplomas' that make no sense but that are hilarious (can't think of what they said at the moment). However they're all written in English so all of that just goes lost for the big majority of Japanese people. Not to mention all the newspaper articles in the Spiderman queu that are all in English. The ride itself and the pre-ride video that is shown in the queue area are in Japanese though. It doesn't make much sense. Maybe translating all the written stuff was too expensive or costed to much money?

This is actually rather interesting since the park will be built on the land of the old Expoland. I looked at the website of this cooperation ( http://www.sun-capitalmanagement.co.jp/ ) and found a proposal for the area. This isn't only a themepark they plan to add but an entire entertainement area which is temporarly called Osaka Entertainement City. A pdf file can be found here: http://www.sun-capitalmanagement.co.jp/PDF/20100602172452.pdf Scroll down and you'll see a overview map of the expo region. The big green spot in the middle is the current Expopark. Site A is the old site of Expoland and that's where the new themepark resort will be built, which has and said before movies as themes. Site B will be sort of a venue for live entertainement as is called 'Osaka Live!' Right now I'm living in the same city as the expopark and it's such a bummer that I'm too late for Expoland and too early for this new themepark!!

I think it's the same attraction, but I haven't been there so I can't say for 100% Thanks everyone!

I just came back from another day at USJ. Yesterday was the 'official' start of the rain season in Japan but the weather today was supposed to be mainly dry so I deceided to skip today's classes and go to USJ instead. You know you're at a Universal Studios park when you see the big ass revolving globe! Entrance to the park. USJ opened a new coaster some 3 months ago and they're advertizing it througout the park. The main street is covered by a huge structure. Quite impressive! Did I mention this roof is huge? One of the hills of Hollywood Dream: The Ride curves nicely with the roof. Doesn't add anything to the ride itself but it's nice to see from the ground. More advertising for Space Fantasy. I deceided to head to the Hollywood section of the park first though. Beautiful theming AND a B&M coaster, what more does one need in life?!? Wait time was only 10 min. but for the single riders line it was a walk on. They did a good job with the single riders line and were very effective. Typically Japanese. The only minor annoyance was that the single riders line goes all the way around the regular line and so it's quite long. They also forced you to exit the ride and queu again from the start after the ride, which kinda sucked since the single riders line passes right in front of the exit. Alot of unnecessairy walking! View of the lift hill from the queue area They were running 3 trains. Can anyone tell me what the purpose of these dual loading stations is? I believe Tatsu has one too. Are they just for faster boarding? Today they only used the left platform. The first drop is nice but it doesn't even come close to the ground. Feels like a missed chance but hey, it's a B&M, their drops are always nice! The hill after the first drop didn't produce as much airtime as I hoped though. After that hill you fly through an awesome high speed S-curve which really throws you from one side of the train to the other before entering this turn. The part after the turnaround is filled with headchoppers and sends you flying over 3 airtime hills with good floater airtime. Especially great in the back! One thing I really didn't like was the missed potential of this ride. The track is stacked up atop eachother so you nowhere come close to the ground, exept in the end. After the MCBR, which is cleverly hidden behind some billboards you enter the final part of the ride. This drop into the helix was very fun in the back! And the helix itself was waaay more intense than I though it would be! Tight helix with the song 'Get Back' from the Beatles blasting in your ears. Pure bliss. Notice the lights on the train that sparkle, even during the day. Too bad the park closes before it gets dark here so I couldn't see the effect at night. Anyone knows how they power these lights or music? The final part takes you through this building. Inside are flickering lights but I wasn't impressed at all by this. Maybe because then the ride is almost? After that I rode it a couple more times because it's such a fun ride. Not scary at all, just a solid good ride, as you would expect from a B&M. After riding Hollywood Dream: The Ride some 10 times I made my way to the back of the park. It was quite busy for a monday, but luckily alot of the rides at USJ are capacity monsters! The theming of the New York are must have been my favourite. So much attention has been giving to these buildings, and there's something to see behind every window. Very very nice. Oh look they even have the Guggenheim museum! But upon a closer look it's just a flat board. I actually walked right up to this board to check it was really flat, that's how good the illusion was they created. Another attraction that caught me by surprise was The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. I went in thinking it was a boring 3D cinema thing but I had a smile on my face the whole time during the ride. I totally loved it! Lot's and lot's of good theming. No matter where you go, there's always something new to find behind every corner. This was a rather interesting random thingy they had at the park. There was a camera stand and a board painted with a New York landscape. You put your camera on the stand and take a picture, so it looks like it becomes one, but I guess my camera was too small cause it didn't align properly. Believe it or not but I miss this kind of archtecture. Living in Japan isn't the be all and end all ;] Next up was the new coaster, Space Fantasy! This coaster is located in the former ET Adventure building. Entrance of the queue. But it was broken down!!! It was closed for over an hour but reopened afterwards. It was funny to see everyone run over there to get in line once it reopened. This coaster is a big hit with the younger crowd and at a certain point it had an hour wait time. Thank god for the single rider line! The first part of the queue is a long and boring switchback section. Funny thing is that you have to pass1 of 3 'pods' where there's a photographer to take your picture with your group. Afterwards you get a card and you can get the picture after the ride is over. The second part of the queue is divided in different chambers where you're allowed in with a small number of people at one time. The first one has this awesome robot that talks and does silly moves. I quite like it! Second chamber is where the story unfolds and where you're asked to collect stardust and all that crap. I don't have a picture of the third room because we passed through quickly, but it has screens with these little creatures dancing and moving. If you hit those creatures they'll dissapear but more will come, so when you enter this room everyone starts to bang these screens as hard as they can. It was so silly it made me laugh! After the third room you must pass through some hallways before going to the station. The screens on the side instruct you how to board the train and give you information. The Japanese are so sufficient! This was all nicely themed. This is the station. I only have this picture because as you approach the boarding point they will not tolerate you standing still and holding everyone up. Trains are made of 2 vehicles and as you can see the station is just an endless stream of trains being back to back. The trains never stop at the station so you board with the help of a conveyer belt. All this makes this rollercoaster have a big capacity which is excellent seeing as how popular it is. Also notice the custom trains. The round lights on the side change colour and there are speakers in front of each seat that blast music and the dialogues of the story. It was all very cool but one minor complaint was that the back of each seat was rather uncomfortable. How is this on other spinning coasters of Mack? I don't remember having a specific problem with the ones on Euromir.... The ride itself is superbly themed. You're in a space setting and there's literally little lights everywhere around you. I don't know if they achieved this by lights hanging from the ceiling on a string or some sort of visual effect, but it feels like you're right in the middle of these lights flying through them, which greatly improves the 'I'm in space' feeling. The ride itself is fun but because of the big amount of trains you get ALOT of block brakes so it's always just a short section of track where you actually gain speed and such before being slowed down again. There's also 3 lift hills which was a nice surprise. Along the track there are several extra theming to unfold the story like energy crystals, planets and such, but I thought a bit more would have been welcome. After the third lift hill the story takes a darker turn and the finale is a ride through the center of the sun, which was VERY impressive. You travel through a round chamber where the walls are composed of octagonal (I think) mirrors with a light behind them, and as you speed by all these lights are turned on to create a dazzling effect. It's something you have to see in real life because words can't really explain it. After that the ride is sadly over. I'm very glad USJ made a ride like this because everyone can enjoy it (I've seen little children and grandpa's) AND it has a very good capacity. In the center of the park is a huge water pool where they do stunt shows (I'm guessing cause I didn't see much action on the water). I have no idea what those are. It took me some time to figure out this is NOT Chinese. Next up was Amity, home of the Jaws ride. Unfortunately the ride was closed for5 days!! Theming The mighty gates of Jurassic Park welcoming visitors... In case you're wondering what the hell that huge gate is! Why hasn't this been destroyed by a dinosaur yet?!? Very nice theming in the Jurassic area. I was thrilled because Jurassic Park holds a place in my heart <3 I was expecting to see a dinosaur pop up out of the bushes any moment. It did NOT happen. I had high expectations of this ride but came of not knowing what to think. It's a fun ride but I expected more. They could have done more. All is peacefull. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE WEEEEEEeeeeeeeee Oh SHIT! SKLOOSH Hahahaha Hahahahahahaha Boat full of happy riders! I LOVED this sign! From across the pond. Every corner of this park is themed, it's amazing. Here you can see how close the park is next to the highway. Also notice the ferris wheel in the distance. It's not from USJ! HD:TR from across the water. There's a third credit in the park but I didn't feel like waiting 30 min. for a kiddie coaster, and I'm not a credit whore =P Ugh damn traffic lights always being on red! Such a lovely ride... Stacked track ='[ Poor Mr. Lantern doesn't get much attention in life... Goodbye USJ, see you next week!

Ah sorry, I didn't think of looking there

I rode this thing yesterday and was very impressed. I went to the park thinking it was yet another boring mack coaster but I was wrong. The capacity of this coaster is also very high: in the station there's a conveyer belt to board the trains and there's literally a continuous stream of trains entering and exiting the station, so (in the station) it actually feels like there's just one continuous train while in reality it's 2 car trains that are just back to back with eachother. Also the trains don't stop in the station (conveyer belt) so the capacity of this coaster is very high! The ride itself is superbly themed. You're in a space setting and there's literally little lights everywhere around you. I don't know if they achieved this by lights hanging from the ceiling on a string or some sort of visual effect, but it feels like you're right in the middle of these lights flying through them, which greatly improves the 'I'm in space' feeling. The ride itself is fun but because of the big amount of trains you get ALOT of block brakes so it's always just a short section of track where you actually gain speed and such before being slowed down again. There's also 3 lift hills which was a nice surprise. Along the track there are several extra theming to unfold the story like energy crystals, planets and such, but I thought a bit more would have been welcome. After the third lift hill the story takes a darker turn and the finale is a ride through the center of the sun, which was VERY impressive. You travel through a round chamber where the walls are composed of octagonal (I think) mirrors with a light behind them, and as you speed by all these lights are turned on to create a dazzling effect. It's something you have to see in real life because words can't really explain it. After that the ride is sadly over. There's a good amount of spinning throughout the ride without overdoing it. Good points: Superbe theming, especially the hundreds of lights in the room that create an awesome space setting and the sun chamber Very high capacity Good spinning Bad points: Ride feels short despite 3 lift hills Because of the block brakes the ride feels chopped up in short sections, so it never feels like you're truly picking up speed. Overall, a good ride and thankfully it has a good capacity. Well done by Mack

Just want to point out that Himeji Central Park hasn't been added to the index. I believe TPR visited that park in 2007 (?) Also, I will be having pictures of the new Space Fantasy ride at USJ next week. Really fun ride!

I can sorta understand why the Horror Hospital has such a low capacity. Alot of the 'horror' gets lost if you're in there with too many people, so to add to the experience they only allow a small amount of people in. Sucks for the people who wait in line though. Also, on their website it states the Horror Hospital has a DAILY capacity of 1000~1500 people

Imo Japanese horror is much better than western. I'm much more freaked out by little girls with long black hair shifting towards me then a masked killer with a chainsaw. Definately going to try to do the haunted hospital.

Thank you for this TR! I'm going to go there either this month or next and seriously considering staying a night at their hotel. If you're in the hotel you get acces to the park 30min prior to opening, but then again that's kinda useless if they open the rollercoasters late! I'll guess I'll buy some fast passes for the big coasters, though they are 1000 yen each. Boy that's going to be an expensive day Also, is there someone who has actually done the haunted hospital ride? I heard it's the best one of it's kind in the world

^ "Ride capacity of 16 passengers - 4 cars in the train, 4 riders per car"

No offense, but this was a complete joke from what I heard on Belgian themepark websites. Apparently it was just some park employees telling people to walk backwards, and that was it. They didn't even let any attractions ride backwards (the log flume would be perfectly fine for that, it's even called flashback. They just needed to turn the boats around). Belgian themeparks

I wonder how those goggles will be like after months of use with all the sand blasting into them. What kind of material would they be? Blurry goggles would be a big turnoff imo and could greatly reduce the attractivness of the ride. But then again it's Ferrari so they can afford to buy new goggles anytime.

I believe they should gradually try to remove some photos and replace them with better/newer ones.

I had to go to the hospital to get my abscesses drained. Yes, not one, but two. FML.

Elf at Hirakata Park.

Nagashima Spa Land is on number 15. Strange because when I went there the park was deserted. But then again it's a big park and I did go in the winter months.

Looks like Mumbo Jumbo is pulling a Sirocco there. *hopes atleast some people get it*

It's amazing that Club TPR offers discounts and such to such a large number of parks throughout the world, but are there any plans to include some Japanese parks to the list?

Yes it's made by Intamin,but not a plug&play.

That's interesting that you visited the park just a couple of days earlier. You really didn't like Elf? I thought that for it's size it delivered a great ride. The roughness is very tolerable IMO and adds to the ride. Haha I'm glad I wasn't the only one noticing how Red Falcon's track shook on the brake run. Kinda scary isn't it Also, have you done the gnome-themed shooting dark ride? That was soo bad and way too short. Funny thing is they had 2 ride ops for a ride that had no people coming to it while at Elf or Red Falcon they had 1 person doing everything. Strange... Thank you for your input! Oh and I see you're Belgian too

The McDonalds down the street closed it doors forever yesterday Yes I'm actually sad about that

Hello TPR! Weather was very good today in the Kansai region so me and a friend deceided to check out the amusement park Hirakata Park, located in ... Hirakata. After a short train ride we arrived at the park. The park itself was rather busy but we never had to wait more than 5 min. for an attraction (I think we waited more at a food stand than for any ride!). Since noone really cares about long pieces of text I'll just tell my day by using photos! Yay we finally made it to Hirakata Park. Btw yes, the K of Park is missing, it's my fault. The park is rather hilly, you can see the ferriswheel and the wooden coaster being all high in the air. Also, random cardboard guy in the front! That's right, the wooden coaster is called Elf. It stands for Episode of Little Fairies. I was more than confused about the name cause there's not a single fairy in sight, let alone an episode of them! What the hell?!? I was really looking forward to the wooden coaster since R&E said it's good. Here you can see that it's a medium sized rollercoaster. This is how a day at a themepark should always be! Really liked the trains cause they felt very open and comfortable even though they look very standard. POV!! Seriously though, for it's size, this coaster was a hell lot of fun. It's difficult to photograph but the coaster is basically drop-turn-drop-turn-... untill you hit the brakes! You simply can't beat the feeling of a wooden coaster. As I said, this is a medium sized one but you still get that out-of-controll feeling that I love about woodies. And because everyone loves a POV, I shot one with permission of the operator. Hope you enjoy it! [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_6877_9cc5[/coastertube] Also something that I noticed is that the front gives a MUCH better ride than the back. In the front you get pushed up the hill and you get alot more airtime than when you're in the back. Maybe this has something to do with the short trains? Either way I didn't get the 'airtime cause I'm being pulled down a hill' feeling in the back. Moving on, we come to this cluster of coasters and rides. Red Falcon, the BIG rollercoaster. Better believe the sign boy! This is one of those infamous japanese jet coasters that are all over the place but hardly do anything. This one had OSR but there are no inversions! Also, is it me or is the track freakishly wide? I think this had to be the widest rollercoaster track I've ever seen! Seriously though, the coaster wasn't that bad. Sure the hills weren't steep nor deep enough, but the coaster did have some high speed moments and ofcourse a helix with insane headchoppers. Also, some of the track looked like there were some mistakes made. A high speed turn didn't have banking at all but then it suddenly banks for a slow turn and so on. It was fun though. They also have a logflume which is fun, but why did they put a shield at the front?!? You didn't get wet at all, except for a few droplets. Japanese people sure don't like getting wet... Here you can see some of the other rides. There was also a spinning mouse rollercoaster which didn't spin at all. Time for more Intamin goodness! (btw, Meteo? Shouldn't that be Meteor or something??) Poor Meteo probably gets made fun of every day by it's bigger brothers all over the world, but it was still a nice ride, and I prefer an Intamin drop ride anyday over an S&S one. "Fantastic Coaster Rowdy" Sounds fanatstic eh? Well it sucked. It's basically a big kiddie coaster with jerky movements and very tight turns. No more pictures need to be posted about this piece of crap. The street with food stalls was themed nicely. The garbage bins in this park are screaming for waste!! It's as if they have their own mind! This was themed nicely too, but it's not part of an attraction or something. Obligatory big japanese ferris wheel. Here you can have an idea of how Elf's layout it. It's basically a circle with a figure eight inside. And here's some of the rest of the park. We didn't do the kiddie coaster in the front because we're not credit whores. This was the first time I did one of these disk things, and I was pleasantly surprised (and also unpleasantly naucious!) There was also a rapids ride. This one actually got you a bit wet unlike the logflume, but notice the plastic hanging over the seats to stop the water. Lame! Also, these signs were everywhere in the que, telling you to watch out because you will get wet. Kinda unnecessairy when you're queing for a WATER ride. After every run the ride ops would dry the inside of the boats with a towel. Only in Japan, only in Japan. Here you can actually see the towel rack with all the wet towels they have used to dry the boats. And one last picture of Elf sitting there high above us and looking down on us. Thank you for reading.