The Angry Darren Mullins

I stopped by Happy Valley three weeks ago and the ride is on the park maps and there are photos of it, but it still hasn't opened. I told them they were taking entirely too long to open it and that I was not going to pay the entrance fee until they did open it. OCT did the same thing with the wooden coaster at Knight Valley. It had test runs in January of 2011 and it didn't open until July.

This report is a little overdue. I visited the city of Dongguan in China on January 31. It has taken me over a month to post this. I went to Dreams Garden (Meng Huan Bai Hua Zhou) and Amazing World. I went to Dreams Garden first. Dreams Garden is part of a large park called Center Park. It is a new park an as such, everything was very nice and clean. There is an area with a collection of about a dozen or so basic rides, including a powered coaster. The rides seem to be geared towards families. It is a beautiful place, even if the rides are nothing special. After visiting Dreams Garden, I went to Amazing World to ride the new spinning coaster. The coaster is called Junior Roller Coaster. They only give one circuit on it, which at 20 RMB, I think is not a good deal at all. I did enjoy the ride even though it was a bit short. I took some photos and left. It was my third visit to Amazing World. This is one of the neatest parks I have been to in China. I have arrived at Meng Huan Bai Hua Zhou or Dreams Garden. Here is a shot of some of the garden. Here are some of the rides. A standard Carousel is here. This walk through is cheesy. There is a pirate ship ride here called Pirate Ship. This ride seems to be in nearly every Chinese park. The Golden Dragon will have to do for those wanting a coaster experience at Dreams Garden. Here is a sign for Amazing World's new coaster. I took this photo during my ride on Junior Roller Coaster. Here is Junior Roller Coaster in action. One last shot of Junior Roller Coaster to finish the trip report.

Leap The Dips at Lakemont Park.

Wood Coaster is an excellent ride. I rode four times that day. I find Wood Coaster to be the wooden version of Eagle's Fortress. Both are built on the side of a hill and the layouts follow the terrain very nicely. Either one of these rides could easily qualify as the best terrain coaster ever built.

I went to Knight Valley at OCT East last Thursday and took someone I call Thao Kitty with me. The sky was cloudy, but it didn't rain. I rode Wood Coaster four times. Thao Kitty, who is from Vietnam, had never ridden a wooden coaster before and she joined with me for a ride. She didn't want to ride it a second time. After Wood Coaster, we went to the park's Jungle Kart, a Bobkart ride. This version was ran slower than other Bobkart rides and I thought I was going to have to get out an push the car several times during the ride. We also did the Spider-Man style 3-D dark ride called 4000 Miles to Earth Center and saw the Flood At Mandrill Mountain Stunt Show. We took the railway to the top of the mountain for some spectacular views. Knight Valley has one of the most beautiful settings for a theme park. Those of you who will join in on the next TPR trip to China will be in for a treat. Knight Valley is an excellent place to visit...with or without the coaster. Just inside the entrance to Knight Valley, Thao Kitty poses for a photo. Why is Thao Kitty so happy? Thao Kitty is happy because she is about to be introduced to the joys of a wooden coaster. She had never ridden one of these before. The coolest name ever for a dark ride. Here is Jungle Kart-the slowest ride on the planet. Here is the incline railway at Knight Valley. Thao and I on the incline railway. Here is what Knight Valley looks like from the top of the mountain. Here is a scene on top of the mountain at OCT East. Thao Kitty on Knight Valley's carousel. Here is the lift of Wood Coaster. Here is another view of Wood Coaster. Knight Valley had some photos telling the story of the history of roller coasters. One of the photos showed an ice slide from Russia. Thao Kitty and I finish our day at Knight Valley.

I have taken over 7000 rides on 753 different roller coasters during 810 park outings. I grew up in Ohio riding the big coasters at Kings Island(so far 95 visits) and Cedar Point. I am guessing I have traveled at least 3000 miles on coasters in my lifetime.

I must say we owe a big thanks to Disney for bringing this concept to life. There is even a version of this great ride at Jinjiang in Shanghai.

I have ridden It's A Small World at Hong Kong Disneyland and I have ridden Global Village at Everland. For those who have ridden both, which do you like better? I prefer Everland's version. I know Everland was trying to copy Disney, but they did so in a way that, at least to me, beat Disney at their own game. I know this will put me in the minority, but if you do make it to Everland, be sure to check out Global Village. I love how many countries are represented during the ride.

I know about the season passes and the offer for a refund, but it would have been a better PR move to have honored them in 2004. The could have just raised the price of the GL pass. If Cedar Fair didn't expect to make a profit from GL and just wanted it to keep it from falling into a competitors hands, then what was the long term plan? There could only be one answer-close the rides. I visited GL several times and I while I didn't experience multi-hour waits in line, I did notice that the rides were more than just a walk on. I know I waited in lines for Villain, X-Flight, Serial Thriller, Superman and even RWB at times. I do not see how this park could not have been turning a profit. My guess is it was under performing, but not losing money. To the east there is Conneaut Lake which is reported to lose money every year but something keeps it alive.

I didn't go to Geauga Lake in 2003, but I have heard nothing but great things about that year. Cedar Fair came in at a time when momentum had been gained to save the park. Cedar Fair didn't try to build upon this. In regards to the hyper, I don't think that was the right choice until they sustained the momentum that had been building up to 2004 as 2003 was a great year for the park. If 2004 and 2005 had been great, we could have seen the hyper in 2006 or 2007. Season passes should have been honored at Cedar Point and Geauga Lake right from the start. It couldn't have been much trouble to have had pass holders from one go to the guest relations window to get a free ticket. People who bought Geauga Lake (Six Flags) passes bought them on the agreement that they could be used at other parks across the country. Cedar Fair should have honored this with its own parks in 2004 for GL passholders. It is my understanding they waited until 2005 to include GL in the Cedar Fair passes. Not a good PR move at all. Cedar Fair buying a park with animal exhibits when they do not run parks with animal exhibits shows they didn't know what they were doing. Those animal exhibits were popular for a reason-people wanted to see them. Removing popular attraction is not a good way to keep customers. Another way to look at this is that a park that combines an amusement park, a zoo and a water park has its own unique drawing power. It is hard to get a group to agree on anything, but if a family member likes zoos and another family member likes swimming and another family member likes roller coasters, Geauga Lake was more likely to satisfy a group.

I agree that downsizing, as far as removing X-Flight and Superman, was the right thing to do. I still think that one or two smaller rides could have been added as an experiment to see if they could regenerate interest in the rides side of the park. If the rides failed, they could have been sent to other parks. My point earlier about the rides was that something should have been added amid the removals. I agree that a ride like X-Flight was too big for the park, but they could have built a new flat ride that no other park in Ohio had and marketed it as such. In regards to the removal of the animals, why didn't they try to fix that within a year? Cedar Fair has deep pockets. I do not like hearing that the Paramount deal left them without cash. As well as the former Paramount parks are attended, they were going to make their money back within a reasonable time. One thing I think that my have hurt the park was the lack of a decent kids area. I was never that impressed with the offering of kids rides at Geauga Lake. Cedar Point and Kings Island have much better areas for kids and even Kennywood seemed to offer more family rides. I think Cedar Fair may have failed to understand this. The wild animals were an attraction that appealed to families. I still think Cedar Fair should have known the market in the Cleveland area a little bit better(the removal of the animals hurt us more than I thought).

I think that Cedar Fair is the villain here. Nobody is perfect, but Cedar Fair could have chosen to run the park as a local attraction. Many parks survive with 700,000 visitors a year. The removal of the wild animals hurt the park, but this could have been avoided. Certainly Cedar Fair was paying attention to how many people were visiting the animal exhibits. Six Flags at least tried with the park. If you look back at Cedar Fair's history you should remember that usually, when Cedar Fair purchases a park, they fool around for a few years before they decide to add anything like a coaster. Why do they wait so long? I think it is because they do not know what they are doing. Michigan's Adventure, Worlds Of Fun and Dorney Park all sat for a few years before a coaster was added to them. The former Paramount parks were an exception, but that was ony because Cedar Fair knew those parks could make a profit after adding big rides. With other parks, it was like, wait and see. Not giving the public a notice that the rides were closing was a mistake. In the 1950s, Cedar Point announced that it would close and the public outcry was enough to keep it open. The same could have happened with Geauga Lake. I think other people did damage, but Cedar Fair didn't know how to repair the damage. The lack of any new rides and the removing of the animals didn't help the park. A new flat ride could have generated interest in the rides section as there would have been ads promoting it. Sure, take out X-Flight and Superman. These were not the right rides a local traditional park, but at least put up something to replace them. When it comes to saving the rides side, Cedar Fair didn't even try.

In heaven, B&M will bow to Anton as he sits at the right hand of God.

Schwarzkopf-Because Anything Else Is Just A Coaster

Ancient Chinese Proverb: You don't stop playing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop playing. This past weekend, I took two roller coaster trips. I took my last coaster trip of 2011 and my first coaster trip of 2012. I left home on Saturday (December 31) to go to Nanning. I had to catch a train in Guangzhou. Due to the long layover, I decided to check out Xiaogang Park because I knew it had some rides. As it turns out, there is a small coaster there. The coaster is not on RCDB. It appears to be a new coaster and many of the rides at the park appear to be new as well. I rode the coaster and then went to catch the train to Nanning. I arrived in Nanning at 9:00am on Sunday morning (January 1) and headed to People's Park. RCDB lists two coasters here. My first coaster of 2012 was Spinning Coaster. I have ridden about 25 of these-most are in China. Shuttle is a kiddie coaster that is not listed on RCDB. I took a ride on it and then went to Roller Coaster. Roller Coaster became my 750th coaster. Roller Coaster has a 6 car train and each car seats two people for a total of 12 passengers per train. Roller Coaster also has the same layout as Roller Coaster at Yinxian Resort in Dongguan. I was at Yingxian Resort in 2010. My second park in Nanning was Shishan Park. The Jungle Mouse at Shishan is smooth. It is not yet listed on the RCDB. Shishan Park only has basic rides, but one of them is a Chinese knock-off of the Tilt-A-Whirl. The third park of the day was Xinxiu Park. This is a new park and it is very clean. There are many rides here, but there is no coaster. I say they will add one eventually. Give them time. The park was very busy. Most of the rides at Xinxiu Park are family rides. My next stop was Nanning Zoo. Two coasters called the zoo home. There is Spinning Coaster, which was great fun and Shenlong Roller Coaster, which, for a knock-off loop and screw was really smooth. I rode both coasters. The zoo was packed and I had to wait 45 minutes for Shenlong Roller Coaster and 30 minutes for Spinning Coaster. My last park of the day was Jinhuacha Park. Jinhuacha Park has many rides, but does not have a coaster. After Jinhuacha Park, it was time to leave Nanning. I had a great time there and I managed to visit five parks in one day. This is only the second time I have done this. The first time was in 2011 when I visited five parks in one day in Shanghai. I discovered three coasters this past weekend that are not listed on the RCDB. In addition to these three, I just learned about Water Park in Shijiazhuang, near Beijing that has a Jungle Mouse. I have now discovered 79 coasters before they were listed on the RCDB or ACE's Coaster Census. I have arrived at Xiaogang Park-my first park of the trip. This is the lake in Xiaogang Park. The midway at Xiaogang Park features several different rides. A Merry Go Round is here at Xiaogang Park. A Moon Cars ride is here too. Yes! Xiaogang Park has a coaster that is not on any coaster directory. Yet another discovery for me here in Asia. This is a very colorful coaster. I am ready for my ride to begin. Here is an on ride shot of my final coaster ride of 2011. I have arrived in Nanning-my first stop is People's Park. I have entered People's Park of Nanning. Here is a random scene inside of People's Park. There is a Merry Go Round at People's Park. There is a large wheel here too. People's Park has a Tagada. I love these. Here is Spinning Coaster-my first coaster of 2012. A kiddie coaster called Shuttle is here. RCDB doesn't list this one. Roller Coaster at People's Park became my 750th coaster. This is the lead car on Roller Coaster at People's Park. Here is Shishan Park. Here is a photo of Shishan's Merry Go Round. Shishan Park has this Chinese made version of the Tilt A Whirl. A swinging pirate ship called Twin Dragon is here. This was one of several rides at Shishan Park. Shishan Park has the Jungle Mouse. This one is not listed on RCDB. Here is a car from the Jungle Mouse. I took this photo while riding the Jungle Mouse. Here is my third park of the day. Xinxiu Park. This scene was just inside one of Xinxiu Park's gates. A Merry Go Round is here. Here is a ride at Xinxiu Park. This is another ride at Xinxiu Park. Here is the Merry Go Round at Nanning Zoo. Spinning Coaster is at Nanning Zoo. Spinning Coaster is great fun. Here is Shenlong Roller Coaster at Nanning Zoo. Shenlong Roller Coaster goes through the loop. Here is my final park of the day. This is Jinhuacha Park. This bridge was in Jinhuacha Park. Jinhuacha Park has bumper cars. Here is a photo of Jinhuacha Park's Merry Go Round to finish off this trip report.

A few months ago, I learned of Haiyue Lake Park in Dongguang, Guangdong, China. I informed Duane at RCDB of the existence of this park. Today, I got my chance to visit. The park is located by Haiyue Lake and has 12 rides, including a new walk through haunted house and a 5-D motion simulator. The rest of the rides are older rides that are rusting away, but very much open. There is a mouse coaster here called Forest Flying Mouse and powered coaster called Golden Dragon. The mouse is fun and the Golden Dragon is, along with the Dragon at the now defunct Woncheon Lake Land in Korea, the best powered coaster I have ever ridden. There are some other rides here including a moon cars ride, merry go round and a few others. I was informed by a worker to be careful while visiting this park as much crime happens in the park and around the nearby lake. I didn't let that bother me though as I was in a fun little park and I was having a great time. I have now ridden 745 coasters. I have arrived at Haiyue Lake Park. The carousel is a must have for any park. The motion simulator is a new attraction here. This walk through haunted house is a recent addition. I always enjoy riding moon cars. This monorail was rusting away, but it is still open. It seems each park in China has a Jeff Johnson credit. Here is the Forest Flying Mouse. Here is the lift on the mouse. One more look at Forest Flying Mouse. A Wave Swinger is at Haiyue Lake Park. Many parks in China have this type of ride. I have never tried one. Haiyue Lake Park has the Golden Dragon powered coaster. This is the fastest powered coaster I have ever ridden. Here is a look at some of the Golden Dragon's track to finish off this trip report.

One more thing...if Fruit Worm is considered a coaster, then I have found 76 coasters before they were located on the RCDB.

This park is very new. It is close to a station on the Longgang line and has two(possibly three credits). I am guessing the Fruit Worm is powered, but people over a certain height are not allowed to ride it. The Paratrooper looks like one I saw at Golden Lion Amusement Company when I visited Luming Lake. You can look at that trip report and see for yourself.

I went to Qiushuishan Park in Shenzhen yesterday. This park was recently added to the RCDB and according to the RCDB, one coaster was here. Upon my arrival, I discovered, in addition to the knock-off of an Arrow looper that is here, that Qiushuishan Park has a kiddie coaster that is listed on the RCDB. The looper is simply called Roller Coaster and the kiddie coaster is called Space Vehicle. Space Vehicle is not currently listed on the RCDB and is the 75th coaster I have found that is not listed on any of the coaster directories. Qiushuishan has many rides including a large ferris wheel, a Jeff Johnson credit called Fruit Worm that has two small hills, shoot the chutes and a Chinese made giant Frisbee. The park is within walking distance of one of Shenzhen's metro lines. Qiushuishan is a relatively new park. It is also very clean and nice. It is well worth taking the time to visit. Many people were at the park yesterday. I am at Qiushuishan today. Qiushuishan Park has a merry go round. A Chinese made Frisbee is here too. Jeff Johnson credit is located here. The Jeff Johnson credit even has two small hills. There is a Chinese made version of the old Crazy Daisy ride here. A colorful Paratrooper entertains guests. A Tagada is here too. These are actually very common in South Korea, but not so much in China. A large ferris wheel calls Qiushuishan home. A pirate ship and cycle monorail exists here too. Here is the entrance to Roller Coaster. The corkscrew on Roller Coaster was very rough. Here is Roller Coaster from another angle. Roller Coaster goes through the loop. Here is a section of track on Space Vehicle. Space Vehicle is the 75th coaster I have found that was not listed on any coaster directory when I found it. Space Vehicle's station. Space Vehicle's lift hill as seen from inside of the station and that is all until I go on my next park outing.

Pearl Land in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China recently removed the loop and corkscrew coaster there and is in the process of removing the Jet Coaster. When I learned of the removal of the looping coaster, I went by the park a few days ago and walked along a road by the park to see if the Jet Coaster was being removed and sure enough, it is. I took a few pictures through the weeds and the fence. I went to Pearl Land over a year ago and the big coasters were not open. I was told they never would reopen. Everytime I go by this park, there are less than five cars on the parking lot and a few buses. I have no clue what even keeps this place going. It is a shame that a relatively large park is without a major coaster. I think they should just close the place down and be done with it. The ferris wheel and log flume here do not operate anymore.

I am about 188 cm tall. I am not sure what the height limit is for the Looping Toboggan of Death (my name for the Universe Coaster) at Chuanlord.

Does anyone know of or may have visited Danga World in Johor Bahru in Malaysia? I am thinking of going there this winter. It is very close to Singapore. The park has a coaster. The website is www.dangaworld.com and it looks like this is a family park. I believe this is now the 74th coaster I have discovered that isn't on RCDB.

I went to Chuanlord Holiday Manor on October 30. I had a great time. I was expecting to find a rundown Chinese park and instead I found a very interesting park that, in 2011, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. I rode all seven coasters. The looping toboggan coaster was painful and apparently there is a height limit as I was initially refused a ride, but due to the language barrier, I just stood on the platform until I was allowed to board a car. The ride was rough, but not as rough as Space 2000 at Gyeongju World in South Korea. I think the best ride at Chuanlord is the Jungle Mouse. I took several rides on this coaster. I didn't see a merry go round at Chuanlord and I think the park could use a log flume, but there are so many activities like boats on the lake and a zipline. The park also has plans for a large steel coaster with inversions. With seven coasters, Chuanlord has, I believe, the most coasters of all of the parks in China. In addition to the rides and the zoo, one very neat feature is a restroom near the looping toboggan of death. I walked in noticed that the sink and the urinals were combined with an aquarium. I really had to use the restroom and all of those fish were looking at me as I done my business. Chuanlord Holiday Manor is an easy 20 minute walk from Shunde train station and is very close to the city of Guangzhou. I am at Chuanlord Manor today. Chuanlord was packed today. The Spinning Surfboat was my first coaster of the day. I had to take a spin on both of the Shenzhou Surfing Coasters. The Sliding Dragon provided fun for the whole family. Chuanlord has a cool zipline over the lake. Several different types of boats run on the lake. I took this photo of the ferris wheel while I was on a boat. The Spinning Coaster was a smaller model than other Spinning Coasters I have ridden. Here are the two Shenzhou Surfing Coasters as seen from the ferris wheel. I saw this as I entered one of the restrooms. The urinals doubled as an aquarium. Now be good kiddies or once again I will knock three times and summons the Looping Toboggan of Death. This is not as fun as it looks. The Jungle Mouse was great fun.

I know exactly what Larrygator is talking about. Go to Lakemont Park and ride Leap The Dips. Try out a classic dark ride. Ride a carousel and you will understand what is missing from the new rides being built today. Rides today are awesome and very in your face, but older rides were built for fun. We have amusement parks because we like to have fun. I discovered a suspended coaster recently in China that had a track design that recalled early suspended coasters and while it was not an in your face thrill, it was a lot of fun. Some rides like the PTC Crazy Daisy, boat chutes, Whip and others are cool beyond belief. Lost Kennywood was an example of how parks could add an area based on the thrills of yesteryear. Most of Kennywood is very traditional, so the theme of the Lost Kennywood area wasn't too far from the rest of the park. I love visiting parks that feel like a throwback to more simple time. Stricker's Grove is one place where the whole park feels like time stopped decades ago.

Believe it or not, most of the parks I have visited here are doing very well. Luming is not one of them. There are a few others that aren't doing too well, but most parks here are busy.