yay japan WHOOOO

[switch_79]

hi guys! i stumbled upon your photo archives of your trip to japan while i was searching for info on nagashima spaland... lol, looks like you talked me outta that sidetrip. anyway, i'm planning on visiting japan in september to see a friend who's teaching english there, and i thought that i could break away from her for a couple of days to check out nagashima... hehe, or not.

 

BUT you guys did give me hope through other parks i hadn't even taken the time to research yet. the problem is, i'm STILL having trouble, because of the whole language barrier thing. i go to the park sites, i check the english section (if there even is one), and i still don't get the info i need.

 

one question i'm hoping you guys can answer: are these parks even open in september?

 

i think i'll be there sometime between the 3rd and the 13th, so it is the earlier part.... do you guys use a language filter of some sort to obtain this info? did you use a travel agent to help you? is one of you fluent in japanese or something (though, based on the captions and the occasional expressions of bewilderment on all of your faces in the photos, that would surprise me greatly.. hehe)?

 

so i guess if you could point me in the right direction, or maybe if you have that info in your personal notes and you'd be willing to share, that would help immensely.

 

thanks guys! love the site!

 

heather

[gisco]

The parks are open that time of year. Robb and Elissa's trip was the end of September last year to give you an idea of crowds. I will be there with the ECC/ACE trip Sept 3rd to the 18th and we will be doing pretty much the same parks as they did.

One thing I have been doing to find out information on the parks is to translate them with Alta Vista's Babel fish. It's not perfect but you can kind of get an idea at least of what the parks have to offer and some price and time info also.

When Robb and Elissa get back from their Europe trip I'm sure they can give you a lot more information.

[switch_79]

ty gisco... my research has been paying off. i'm too excited about going!

 

so far, i've trimmed down my options to LaQua fo shizzle , and either yomiuriland or toshima-en. i just can't make up my mind. i've spreadsheeted the pros and cons of each park like a big coaster dork, hehe, and i still can't decide between the two! advice?

 

oh, and maybe i'll catch ya there! gotta renew my ACE card, though. do you know if any of the parks provide discounts?

[SharkTums]

The parks do not provide any kind of Coaster Enthusiast discount. They are very independant of any of that kind of stuff. They should all be open but may have certain days of the week that they are closed. We did learn some Japanese and in some cases would call the parks to confirm that they would be open if we could not figure it out from their website. September - October seemed like a very good time to go, but make sure to keep an eye on the weather as that is prime Typhoon Season! Most of the parks run most rides in the rain, but not in very bad weather!

 

Yomiuriland and Toshimaen are both less than 40 minutes from central tokyo by train and are easy to find. LaQua is in central Tokyo and impossible to miss! Since they have a pay per ride system you might be better off just hitting that park when you have time. As for Nagashima, I wouldn't tell you not to go, but don't expect too much.

 

Elissa "cough parque espana cough" Alvey

[switch_79]

believe you me, elissa, parque espana crossed my mind more than once. but isn't it over in the osaka prefecture? i don't know if i have that much time to travel. also, fuji-q almost reeled me in with hamtaro alone.. ! oh well. i should double check where the log coaster is at one more time. that just might be the dealbreaker: werd.