The Angry Darren Mullins

Over the weekend I visited four parks in southern China. I would like to share my experience at Xiaofantain Paradise. I also visited Jin Ying Park in Yuexiu Park, Nanhu and Chimelong Paradise. Since some of you have been to these, I will not say much about them. Xiaofantian Paradise is located in the middle of nowhere about halfway between Guangzhou and Dongguan. The park looks like something that would have been in America 100 years ago. Although there were only seven rides, it was a unique experience to visit this place. The Jungle Mouse is just like the Speed Slide at Yuexiu Park. The park is in a very desolate area and taxis around the park are hard to find. In fact, most taxi drivers do not know where this place is. My Chinese friend and I had to hire an unlicensed taxi driver to take us to the park and then retain him to drive us back to the nearest Guangzhou metro, which was some distance away. There is no bus service to the park. I am glad I visited the park as I do not know of anyone who has ever been there. In fact, the staff was somewhat amazed by having a westerner in the park and asked me how I knew of the place. If you visit Guangzhou and have the time, plus the nerve to deal with illegal taxi drivers(the driver I hired was actually very nice), then you should visit this little place for a bonus credit. The lift hill of the Jungle Mouse at Xiaofantian Paradise

I have the # 10 song on the European Country Music Association's Top 100 chart for March 8, 2010 (they are a couple of months behind on compiling the charts). 120 country radio stations across Europe are monitored for airplay. The best thing about the song is that I wrote the song myself. It is called The Days Of You And Me.

It sucks to be the first one to find out officially about this, but at least we can move on now. I do not count the announcement a month ago as official because my sources at Everland denied this a few weeks back. I feel bad for those who did not get to experience this ride. I have spent all afternoon watching POV footage on You Tube. This is a loss for every party concerned. They are saying a new coaster will replace EF in 2012...but anyone knows you can't top perfection. I know the people at Everland will do their best to create a world class coaster for 2012, but I really think they will be trading down.

Less than a month ago, no official statement from the park had been made other than the ride might be replaced. Now I can report that a decision has been made. Last night (May 24), I recieved an email from someone at Everland who broke the news to me. EF will not reopen and will be replaced with a new coaster in 2012. I have the email saying this from a higher-up at the park if anyone wants to question this.

I am sure there could have been rumors about the removal of Eagle's Fortress. I am just going on what I was told. For the first half of 2009, there was a lot of positive talk about reopening EF. I know the 10 Year Master Revitalisation Plan, which is on display in the Celebration Center does include EF, but it shows that other rides and attractions will be removed. I think that Everland removing EF would be equal to Cedar Point removing Magnum. At least the good news is, as of this morning, EF is not going anywhere at the present time. I forwarded an email to some of you that I got from someone in a high position at the park. If it is removed, I am sorry for all of those who didn't get to experience it. Eagle's Fortress is a fantastic ride. The best way to describe it is as someone said earlier, a suspended version of Boulder Dash...or since Boulder Dash came later, maybe Bouder Dash is a wooden version of EF.

I contacted Everland this morning about the news that EF was going to be removed and I got a reply saying that Everland was considering removing the coaster, but no final decision had been made. I never said that BBW had anything to do with Everland's decision. I am saying that it may influence Everland as Everland tends to follow park trends around the world. EF closed in January of 2009, several months before the closure of BBW was announced. Before the closure of BBW was announced, the only talk I heard was that EF would be fixed and returned to service. After the announcement that BBW would close, an Everland employee told me that the ride may be removed like one in America. It just seems odd to me that talk of removing EF would begin after the announcement about BBW. All I heard before that time is the ride would be repaired and reopened.

I actually posted on here several months ago that EF would not reopen and it was quickly deleted. I have friends at Everland who told me this. These friends are not responsible for the Dippin' Dots stands either. They are respected people who have worked their way into high positions within the park. I believe the removal of BBW has partially inspired Everland officials to remove EF as the park has been trying to follow American park trends. I feel bad for those who didn't get to ride this awesome ride. I consider it to be the best steel coaster I have been on. I have also been on Superman or whatever it is called now at Six Flags New England, Phantom's Revenge, Steel Dragon 2000, Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster. None of these rides even come close to EF. I have ridden 521 steel coasters. EF is # 1.

I now live a 20 minute walk from Gyeongju World. As a result, I go several times a week to this park to ride Phaethon. I have noticed something about this ride and I wonder if it is common for other B&M coasters. Some days, this coaster has the B&M trademark smoothness and other days it is running very rough. I have ridden nearly 30 B&M coasters, but this is the first one that I ride almost every single day. Have any of you had this experience? Are other B&M coasters rough on some days and smooth on the others?

T-Express a few days ago. It is such an amazing ride.

For those of you who are concerned about the fate of Eagle's Fortress, I just recieved an email from Everland that said no decision has been made to remove that ride. Earlier in this year, there were no plans to remove this coaster as it was still open, so maybe it will stay around a little bit longer. I am sad to see THe Big Bad Wolf leave.

The shows are open to anyone who wants to attend one. The 2009 IAAPA European Expo is going to be in the Netherlands, which is very close to the UK. Maybe this will be your year to go. The shows are more for park owners-not coaster enthusiasts, but any hard core coaster/amusement park nut will find plenty of interesting things to look at. There will be plenty of free ride catalogues and publications available as well. $30 USD got me access to the expo for all three days.

Here are some of my photos from the expo. This was one of several ride models on display. IE Park display. The Mack booth. This was my favorite booth at the show. The Intamin booth for all of your Intamin fanatics. The Pirates Splash Battle is a near copy of the Geoge of the Jungle ride. It just has a different theme. One more photo of the ride Another photo of the George of the Jungle ride. George of the Jungle ride on display at the IAAPA Asian Expo

The worst line I have ever waited in was for Son Of Beast in May of 2000. It was my fourth visit to the park that year and I had not ridden the coaster yet. The ride was supposed to open at 12:00pm that day, so I went to the ride at 11:45am. There were about 100 people ahead of me. I waited and waited and waited. 12:00pm came and went and the ride was not even being tested. 1:00pm. then 2:00pm came. I stood in line with 100 peole ahead of me. Finally, at 6:00pm, the first test run of the day was made. At 6:30, I boarded the coaster for my first SOB ride. I waited 6 hours and 45 minutes to ride SOB. I consider that to be the worst line I have ever waited in. Only 100 people were ahead of me in line and I waited almost seven hours.

Kumdoriland is a good park, but it is very small and out of room to expand. I read something in the newspaper very recently that Lotte World does intend to expand the outdoor portion of the park. They may have found a way to expand without bothering the neighbors. I will have to say that of all of the parks in Korea, GW is almost a sure bet to add another coaster in the next few years. Tongdo Fantasia may also be likely to add another coaster. Maybe a new park will be built. I can't of too many parks in Korea that would invest in a new coaster.

The Meisho looper is going to be removed. The new owners of Gyeongju World want to turn the park into an Everland type park. I think GW is a park to be watched for the next several years. There were GW reps at the show and I do know they stopped at the Okamoto booth. My guess is another coaster is being considered for the park. I was told at the M&V booth that "a couple of Korean parks" are considering a new wooden coaster. I think GW and Lotte World are the parks that may want to build a wooden coaster.

I went to the IAAPA Asian Expo in Korea last week. I have some photos I would like to post from the event. I do not how to post them. How do I post photos on here? There were many interesting exhibits. They had two carnival rides and several simulators. Mack, Chance, Intamin, Vekoma, S&S and several other companies were represented at the show. Mack had the best booth and visitors to the booth could pick up hats and ink pens for free. The Mack people were super nice. It is clear they were happy to be there and they like working in the amusement park industry. Perhaps the most interesting thing at the Expo was I got word from the Martin & Vleminckx booth. With the new wooden coaster opening in China, many Chinese parks have been expressing interest in adding a wooden coaster. A couple of Korean parks are also very interested in adding a wooden coaster as well. That would be a wise move for any Korean park judging by the lines at Everland's T-Express-the best wooden coaster in the world.

I found a video on You Tube that showed footage of a ride collapsing in Shanghai. The video is broadcast in Japanese, but the park is in China.

Cobra, King Cobra and Venom are all decent names for it. I still think Moccasin or Cottonmouth fits because of the area where the park is located. I wonder if Cedar Fair will use the old King Cobra sign from Kings Island for the ride.

I am not sure if this has been a topic here or not, but I would like to try to guess the name of Carowinds' Boomerang. I think it will either be called Moccasin or Cottonmouth. With Cedar Fair possible going with a reptile name for the ride, either of these names make sense. The cottonmouth, or moccasin is common in the south and the coaster will be built very close to the water park. I may not be right, but I think my guess is pretty good. I also think these names are good names for a coaster.

I will try to find a way to edit the photo and post it here. A really good photo of the place is not possible unless they relax photo restrictions. All I have in the photo is the partially constructed waterslide and that was taken from some distance away, but it is a good shot. Nobody is allowed to take photos from the bus because of the anti-American signs posted in the town. As far as anything being for show, I can honestly say that some things about North Korea could be used to improve America-like most North Koreans know how to read and the lack of pollution (it is kind of hard to hide sign of pollution from people). Everywhere I went in the city was clean and the North Korean people I spoke with were friendly. Also, in countries like America, people carry guns and shoot people on a daily basis, so I do not want to hear anything about "human rights violations" in North Korea. The rest of the world only knows what the US government wants to tell us. Back to the water park. It was really small just like most amusement parks I have visited in South Korea (not including Everland and Lotte World of course). I bet when it was open that the North Koreans went into the place and had a great time there. I would love to find more parks up there if and when I get the chance.

I was in North Korea a week ago. I visited the city of Kaesong. Kaesong is the only city to switch hands as the result of the Korean war. It used to be in South Korea and now it is in North Korea. There is no amusement park in Kaesong, but there is a water park. Unfortunately, it is defunct. The park is very small. It has a swimming pool, kiddie pool and something that appeared to be a lazy river. It also had a waterslide that appeared to be under construction or deconstruction. whatever, it was incomplete. I was only able to obtain one photo of this park due to regulations by the North Korean officials. I got a good view of the park as the bus I was riding in went by. The photo I have was taken several hundred feet away from the park, but I can't get it to upload to this site as it is too big to be uploaded. I would love to share it with everyone. Don't believe what you are told about NK, the place is clean, the women are beautiful and there is no crime or pollution.

For those who will be attending the mini-Korea trip with TPR next year, you may want to add Pyeongwha Land to this. Pyeongwha Land only has a Wacky Worm, but it runs without the mid-course brake and is in a nice little traditional park next to the DMZ. It is located near Panmunjeon. The park is easy to access by taking the commuter train from Seoul Station to Imjingang. Pyeongwha is Korean for peace. The park is worth checking out because of how unique its location is. There is a store nearby that sells North Korean made goods that the average North Korean can't afford to buy.

The galaxy. I haven't seen too many Milky Way candy bars in Japan.

I was at Mitsui Greenland near Kumamoto about two weeks ago and the Fujin Raijin coaster there is now called Milky Way. The station has a brand new sign that reads Milky Way. There is no mention of Fujin Raiin except for old park maps. As a side note, I stopped at Nagashima Spaland to ride Steel Dragon 2000 and found it to be my least favorite of all the large steel out and back coasters. I enjoy Son Of Beast(which isn't steel or an out and back) better than Steel Dragon 2000. There is only mild airtime the ride doesn't seem as fast as Magnum. Those who ride it are in for a BIG letdown.

The park is being run by his daughters. They should keep the park running for a long time. Thanks Mr. Stricker for providing a wonderful place for people to have a great time.