The Angry Darren Mullins

Today's adventure took me to Chang'an in Dongguan. Chang'an is the richest part of Dongguan and has a very nice park called Chang'an Park. There are some basic rides here including a mouse coaster, kiddie coaster, log flume and some other rides. The kiddie coaster doesn't work anymore and weeds are growing through the track. The mouse coaster still operates and I took a spin on it. Although this mouse coaster is like others I have ridden, its placement above part of the log flume makes the ride appear higher and gives the park's ride area a unique atmosphere. I call it The World's First Dueling Flume Coaster, although both rides are simply two different rides. After leaving the park, I found another fun place just a short walk away. I have included a photo from there too. I found Chang'an Park recently and alerted Duane at RCDB about it. I was not able to get there until today. Chang'an Park is one of the most beautiful and well-kept parks I have visited, but the rides are a bit rundown. I have now ridden 851 roller coasters at 374 different parks. I have now discovered 210 roller coasters before ACE or RCDB could find them. I have arrived at Chang'an Park. Let's go in. This is the view as you enter the main gate. I am too lazy to walk up the hill. All Chinese parks seem to have at least one lake with boats. This little ride through haunted house is here. There is a nice log flume here. the log flume is entwined with the coaster. Here is the station for Chang'an Park's star attraction. It is a mouse coaster. The cars even look like mice. Here is some of the twisted track of the mouse. There is a kiddie coaster here. The kiddie coaster hasn't been in service for a while. It has not operated in some time. The moon cars ride (arguably a coaster) also closed a while back. The bumper cars are very popular. This fun place exists just a short walk from Chang'an Park. That will wrap up this TR.

I am sure they rehab the rides, but I have not lived in Korea for a few years, so I am unaware of what goes on at Everland now. It just seemed like they never kept rides closed very long. From Oct of 2007-August of 2010, I visted Everland more than 60 times and never noticed rides closed for very long if at all. I know the water rides were closed much of the winter and were probably did go through a rehab at that time, but I also remember Eagle's Fortress and Rolling X-Train operating for most, if not all of the time until late January of 2009 when EF closed.They actually closed bother rides around the same time and sections of track were replaced on X-Train. The fact that two major coasters closed at once and X-Train was down for several months, leads me to believe that they may have ran those things until they just wore out. Maybe now that a few high profile accidents have happened, maybe rides over here will be better taken care of.

We do not know what condition the track is in, but I would say it is rusting and probably has hairline cracks all over it. A terrain coaster could be relocated if another park had a very similar spot of land. EF would be an easy ride to duplicate someplace else. I agree that new supports could be made and the track kept. With that being said, I lived in Korea for over five years and I was a season pass holder of Everland. I never noticed any rides being down for very long, except when they replaced track on Rolling X Train a few years back. I am not saying Everland is unsafe, but I think that given their 365 days a year schedule that they probably run things until they break or are worn out. i never saw EF closed one time before they closed it for good in 2009.

One ray of hope is that as long as Eagle's Fortress stands, it can be saved. What is Prince Desmond's phone number?

"Prince Desmond shares your pain, but saving this attraction is even beyond his powers now." No offense, but Prince Desmond can't do $hit. Seriously though, Prince Desmond can DO anything. When he was born, the event was marked by flying white horses in the sky.

There is big money in scrapping large rides that no longer work. The removal of Eagle's Fortress would probably require the double swinging boats to be closed for a bit, but that would be all they have to close to remove the ride. I hope Everland builds a new coaster soon. With Chinese and Japanese parks building several coasters, I sort of feel that Korean parks are a bit behind in terms of having a good selection of coasters...not that there aren't some really great coasters in Korea, but a lot of coasters have closed there recently including two great coasters at Kumdori Land.

Today I visited two parks in Dongguan. I went to Dongyue Park and Shipai Park. Both parks were discovered by me recently and I finally got to visit them today. The first park I went to was Dongyue Park. This is a very small park that is built on a small hill in the city. There is a temple on the hill and the foot of the temple, there are about seven rides. There is a typical mouse coaster and I rode it. It needs some grease or something to make it run better. There were two pirate ships, bumper cars, a merry go round and paratrooper here as well. There was one other ride and I can't remember what it was. After Dongyue Park, I was just going to call it a day and go home as it was getting late and I thought that other parks nearby might have already closed for the day as some parks in China close the rides at 5pm or so. I decided to take a chance and go to Shipai Park as I was hoping the rides there would still be open and they were. There are about 8 or nine family and kiddie rides here, including a powered coaster. Shipai park is big and doesn't seem to be that old. I got there around 5:45pm. I rode a few rides and then left. There was another park nearby, but I figured by the time I got to it, the rides would be closed for the day so i didn't go. I can always go there another time. Both of the parks I visited today are for the locals and would probably not be a stop on a coaster enthusiasts trip to China, but I live somewhat close to them and decided to check them out. They are good parks for the locals who can't afford bigger parks and also good for families with kids. I am now up to having found 205 coasters before RCDB and ACE could find them and I have now ridden 850 coasters and I have visited 373 amusement parks. Going through this gate will lead me to Dongyue Park. Here is the Dongyue temple. A mouse coaster one of about seven rides here. This one has not been maintained very well. This little merry go round is one of the rides at Dongyue Park. This was one of two pirate ship in the park. The other has not operated in a long time, but this one was popular with park guests. I have arrived at Shipai Park. Here is some scenery. This powered Dragon coaster entertains guests at Shipai Park. These spaceship rides seem to be very popular here in China. It was late in the afternoon when I got to Shipai Park. The sun set while I was there as you can see by the lights on the merry go round.

Here is my last one.

I went to Shanshui Countryside in Shenzhen yesterday and had a great time. I live in Shenzhen's Baoan district and Shanshui Countryside is in Baoan, but it took me two hours to get there using public transportation. I discovered this park a few weeks back when I was on the train. I alerted Duane at RCDB about when I learned that the park has a coaster. Shanshui Countryside is very similar to Chuanlord Manor. Some of you have been to Chuanlord, so you know what I am talking about. There is a lake in the center of the park and there are cabins on the lake that guests can rent. There is also a very nice motel inside the park, along with a zoo, games, rides and other activities. A new water park is being built here. One of the photos the park has promoting the water park was of the water park at Geauga Lake with Superman and Mind Eraser in the back ground. The coaster here is a typical spinning mouse coaster called Spinning Coaster and is like 40 others I have ridden. There was another mouse at the park too. I saw it on the deck of one of the cabins on the lake. This mouse wasn't a mouse or a coaster. It was a bamboo rat and it was about half the size of a German shepherd. That is the biggest rat I have ever seen. Once again, a great park in China with an average coaster. The parks here seem better than most of the coasters. Spinning Coaster at Shanshui Countryside is one of 203 coasters I have found before RCDB or ACE could find them. I have arrived at Shanshui Countryside. This photo shows what is going to be coming to Shanshui soon. I hope it is either a Vekoma Boomerang or an Intamin Impulse. I will not take any pectures, but I might take some photos. Remember, the sign says do not take pectures. It says nothing about taking photos. The park does not allow photos of its Buddhist displays. Everything is ok to take photos of. This is just inside the park. This was taken from the lobby of the motel here. Kids can fish in this little manmade stream. People enjoy boat rides on the lake. A small merry go round is located here. The wave swinger is popular here. A coaster is here. It is like 40 others I have ridden.

I am not sure if anyone has done this one yet, but it is so true.

For me it would be the brake run.

I redid this one. How many of the under 25 crowd get this one?

How many of you have had this problem? I had this problem at SFGAm and SFOG.

Eagle Fortress at Everland. The 128 rides I had on it were simply not enough to last a lifetime. It never failed to thrill me. It still stands and as long as it stands, there is hope for a refurbishment. It always was very popular with guests and pouring money into fixing it and adding floorless suspended coaster trains would be cheaper than buying a new coaster.

Everland before rides like the Eagle Fortress and the Ferris wheel started to close and be left to rot. Everland with the Eagle Fortress and T Express is my favorite park and EF and T Express would be my favorite steel/wood combination anywhere in the world. Other parks deserving of the honor would be: Nagashima Spaland-Japan New Reoma World (a jewel of a park that not many enthusiasts would probably visit due to its out of the way location)-Japan Tobu Zoo-Japan Nasu Highland-Japan Space World-Japan Tokyo Disneysea-Japan Ocean Park-Hong Kong Happy Valley Beijing-China Hong Kong Disneyland Nara Dreamland-Japan (the wood coaster there is one of the best of the 99 wood coasters I have ridden even if the park was a bit rudown before it closed) Gyeongju World-South Korea Gumdori Land-South Korea-small and compact, but with a large custom Vekoma looper and a great indoor Vekoma coaster Chimelong Paradise-China Happy Valley Shanghai-China Happy Valley Wuhan-China Knight Valley-China Fantawild Adventure Zhuzhou-China Fantawild Adventure-Shantou-China Fantawild Adevnture-Taian-China Chuanlord Holiday Manor-China-Nice park, basic coasters, but a lot of them if you are a dirty filthy credit whore Yingze Park-Taiyuan-China-A long distance from Beijing. I wonder if I am the only enthusiast to hav visited here. It has an unusual suspended coaster that is wort going out of the way for Shenzhen Children's Paradise-China-Nice kiddie park that is well landscaped and has some theming

This is the third Fantawild park I have been to. All three of them have both the Orange Stinger knockoff and Wonderworks knockoff.

I spent the last two days in Hunan visiting several parks. Here is a rundown of what I saw and did: October 3: Zhuzhou, Hunan: Donghu Park I started here at 6am. This park is a city park with a lake. Donghu means East Lake. There are a few rides here, but many rides have been removed. Among the rides removed were a mouse coaster and kiddie coaster. I found Donghu Park several months back before RCDB and ACE found them. There are about four or five kiddie rides here. Fantawild Adventure I went here immediately after leaving Donhu Park. There are two coasters-Flare Meteor (SLC) and Vesuvius Volcano (mine train).These two coasters appear at several other Fantawild parks as well as the Happy Valley parks. I rode both and enjoyed them, but Flare Meteor was a bit rough. With that being said,Vesuvius Volcano was the best mine train of this type that I have ridden in China. It was smooth and fast. Upon leaving Fantawild Adventure, I noticed something next door. Fantawild Dreamland (Under Construction) There is a new Fantawild park called Fantawild Dreamland under construction next to Fantawild Adventure. I took a few photos, but what I noticed on a picture inside one of the buildings was a rendering of appeared to be a skyloop coaster and Arrow/Vekoma looping coaster. It could be that a skyloop and Vekoma Boomerang are planned for this park as the last couple of Fantawild Parks have been building these. I didn't notice or see any rides being built yet. Xiangtan, Hunan: Heping Park Heping means peace, so this would be Peace Park. There are two coasters here. The little worm coaster is a powered coaster while the other kiddie coaster is a gravity powered ride. The gravity powered kiddie ride I found here became the 200th coaster I have found before RCDB or ACE knew about it. I am now up to having discovered 202 coasters before ACE or RCDB. That is more than many enthusiasts get to ride and almost enough to fill up ACE's original Guide To Ride. Heping Park is very nice, but most of the rides are for little kids. Families can enjoy this place together. October 4: Changsha, Hunan: Nanjiao Cartoon Paradise I found this park recently and informed RCDB of it. There is a mouse coaster here along with many basic carnival rides. The rides here are very new, but the park has been around for about 20 years or so. Changsha Ecological Zoo This zoo is located in the southern part of Changsha. There is an amusement park outside of the main gate and there are about a dozen rides, including a mouse coaster called Spinning Coaster. Most of the rides here are new. The coaster was fun, but it was like 40 others I have ridden. I have had a great time and I am now up to having visited 370 different parks and I have ridden 847 different roller coasters. It is 6am at Donghu Park. These rides are all that remain at Donghu Park. Next up is Zhuzhou's Fantawild Adeventure This is just inside the gate. The castle here is huge. It seems bigger than the castles I have seen at Disney. This building houses a dinosaur themed ride called Dino Rampage. Here is the entrance to Vesuvius Volcano. This is the best Chinese made mine train I have ridden. Here is the mine train in action. Here is Fantawild's wave swinger. Conch Bay is a neat 4-D show that takes place inside this building. The enterprise at Fantawild was one of the most popular rides at the park. These types of carousels seem very common in China. This is the biggest ride at Fantawild. Flare Meteor is a bit rough, but then it is an SLC, so that should be expected. Here is another look at Flare Meteor. It seems to touch the sky in this photo. Next door to Fantawild Adventure is Fantawild Dreamland. Dreamland is still under construction. I got to take a brief look inside Dreamland. I have arrived in Xiangtan to visit Heping Park. Let's see what is inside. A very basic merry go round is here at Heping Park. A moon car ride is here. I like these. They seem to be disappearing from the parks though. Here is Heping Park's Fruit Worm powered coaster. This kiddie coaster at Heping Park in Xiangtan became the 200th coaster I found before RCDB and ACE could find it. It is now day 2 of my trip to Hunan. This is Nanjiao Cartoon Paradise in Changsha. This lake is just inside the entrance. There is a mouse coaster here. This mouse design is very common in China. It is actually one of a few models that are very similar to each other. Here is a shot of part of the layout. Here is one more imagine of the mouse at Cartoon Paradise. My final park of this trip was the Changsha Ecological Zoo. The rides are located just outside the zoo's exit gate. There is a spinning coaster at the zoo. It is called Spinning Coaster. I have been on so many of these. One more can't hurt. That will do it for this trip report.

I agree and I pointed that out to Duane at RCDB. It is similar, if not identical to the one at Sun Park. With that being said, I haven't ridden the one at Sun Park in nearly 4 years. Even if it is the same, this would only make the second one of this design I have encountered.

A couple of years ago while I was on the way to Dongguan to visit some parks, I passed by a shopping center with a Wal-Mart. I noticed a Ferris wheel next to the center and immediately looked on a map of Shenzhen to see if there was a park there. Turns out there was a park there and I got to visit it today. It is called Shenzhen Children's Paradise Park and a lot of nice landscaping and themed rides. There is a kiddie coaster called Children's Coaster that is unlike any of the other kiddie coasters I have seen. I hope the Chinese are breaking away from the powered kiddie coasters and the Space Car kiddie coasters from Golden Horse and will start doing something different. In addition to the coaster, there is also a nice log flume and a big Ferris wheel. There is a freefall ride and a double decker carousel here too. The park is nicely laid out and feels a bit like a theme park. It is certainly worth a stop if TPR is in China again. Rides are only 5 RMB each and there is no gate admission, although the park has two gates and you can only enter through these two gates. I did not get to ride anything today though as I went so late in the afternoon. By the time I got there, the rides had shut down for the evening and it started to rain. I got some photos though. Enjoy them. As a side note, although I passed this park two years ago, I didn't know it was a park and that it had a coaster until today. RCDB actually found this one before I did, but I am still up to having found 191 coasters before RCDB or ACE could find them. As a side note, the original Children's Park in Shenzhen still stands, but all of the rides there are gone. They were not moved to the new park I visited today. i have arrived at the Shenzhen Children's Park. The rides are closed for the evening, but let's see what is inside. A carousel is here. It was getting dark by the time I took this photo.That is a freefall ride to the left. The wave swinger is a fixture at almost all Chinese parks. A log flume is here. This boat is a nice play area for kids. The Ferris wheel posed nicely for this shot. Here is the station for Children's Coaster Here is the coaster train. The lift of the coaster is not very tall. Here is the biggest "drop" on the coaster. When I go back to ride it in a few days, people will hear my bloodcurdling yell on this drop. Here is one more photo of the coaster before I end the TR.

Today I went to a couple of parks in Dongguan. I had been to Tangxia Culture Park before (two years ago), but I recently discovered that a new mouse coaster had been built there. I went to the park this morning, rode the coaster and left. What about the coaster? It is a Golden Horse Spinning Coaster that is like 100 others I have ridden here in China. No, I have not actually been on 100 of these, but it sure seems like it. After Culture Park, I had lunch and then went to another part of Dongguan to visit Binhe Park. Binhe is Chinese for Riverside,so the second park I visited was Riverside Park in English. Riverside is located by a partially dried up riverbed. Some attractions here are old and some are new. There are not that many rides here. Many parts of this little park are faded. I rode the powered Dragon coaster and left. I found both of these parks before ACE or RCDB. I am now up to having found 189 coasters before ACE or RCDB. These parks are somewhat easy to get to. For coasters enthusiasts who visit China, take the train from Shenzhen or Guangzhou to Zhangmutou station and take a bus to Binhe (Riverside Park) from the station. You can also take bus 23 from Zhangmutou station to nearby Tangxia to visit Culture Park. I have arrived at my first park of the day-Tangxia Culture Park. The entrance is being remodeled, so this will make due as the entrance gate for now. Here are some of the rides at Culture Park. This frisbee type ride is relatively new. Here is the new Spinning Coaster. I have been on so many of these. This way to Riverside Park. Let's see what is inside. Some games are here. A lot of natural beauty is inside Riverside Park. The Wave Swinger seems to be the most popular ride here. I love the red color on the carousel. A powered coaster is here. Say Ahhhhhhhhh! Here is an action shot of the Dragon to finish off the TR.

I enjoy posting these reports.

It does look wider than it is tall and it it seems like it is almost a perfect circle too.

Today I visited Quanlin Resort and Jindouwan Resort in Zhongshan to ride coasters that were recently added to these parks. It was my third visit to Quanlin and my second visit to Jindouwan. I have posted photos here before. I hope I have added some different images from today's outing. I rode the coasters and took some photos of recently added attractions. Quanlin seems to keep things up to date more than other Chinese parks. The old powered coaster has been replaced by a new looping coaster called Crazy Roller Coaster and a new powered coaster has been added near the front of the park. Pain has been added to most rides, which is a big improvement over my last visit here two years ago. Crazy Roller Coaster is just like the ones I rode in People's Park in Nanning and at the Yinxian Resort in Dongguan. Both of these coasters can be seen in TRs here on TPR. Crazy Roller Coaster is as rough as the other two. After Quanlin, I went to Jindouwan Resort Villas. Jindouwan is somewhat close to Quanlin. This made it easy for me to combine them for a day trip and ride the new coasters. At Jindouwan, I rode the new kiddie coaster first since I had not ridden it. It was like others I had ridden in China. I also paid a visit the the park's two spinning coasters and left. I had a great day out. As of this TR, I have ridden 837 coasters and discovered 187 coasters before RCDB or ACE discovered them. Here is Quanlin Resort. They use a photo Yinxian Resort's coaster to promote the new Crazy Roller Coaster. Here is the view just inside Quanlin Resort. I like the outside of the haunted castle. Quanlin has a new powered coaster. Here is another shot of the powered coaster. Here is Quanlin's carousel. The mouse is the first ride I ever experienced at Quanlin. This is the other haunted walk through at Quanlin. People are enjoying Quanlin's pool on a hot day. Here is one of the many lakes in Quanlin. Here is Quanlin's biggest coaster-Crazy Roller Coaster. Here is a shot of Crazy Roller Coaster. Here is some loop porn before I leave Quanlin. I have been here once before. I have returned to Jindouwan. Jindouwan has a nice lake. This spinning coaster with a basic layout is here. The spinning mouse is just like all the others I have ridden in China. Here is Jindouwan's new kiddie coaster.

There are a variety of ways I find these parks. One is before I go to a city, I look on Google Maps for parks there. I also find many parks by visiting tourist info centers and finding information. Other times, I ask the taxi driver to take me to one park and end up at another park I wasn't planning to go to or knew about. Sometimes, the locals tell me. I also look on ride manufacturers websites and sometimes they list where they have built rides. As of this post, I have now found 186 coasters before ACE or RCDB could find them.

As a side note, this park has a dark secret as of recently. According to a security guard out at the front gate, someone was robbed at knife point and killed here recently. I noticed a lot of young men in the park who seemed to congregate and were possibly part of gangs. There were also a few homeless people there. They sure took notice when I pulled out my wallet to pay for the rides.