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Happy Valley Shanghai - Newbie's visit 19th Aug 2009


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Hello. I am new here, so please be gentle with me!

 

I was fortunate enough to be in Shanghai last week, and thought I would pop along to Happy Valley. I noticed there was some interest from some forum members so I thought I would post my pics.

 

It did have a rocky opening, and was still not fully opened when I was there. I understand all rides will not be operating until mid-September.

 

I am sorry there are not more pics, but I wasn't taking pics with the forum in mind - I will next park I visit!

 

There were a lot of rides not finished/not operating, but I didn't have much time in the park anyway.

 

Seeing a Western person must still be a bit of a novelty, as there was a lot of finger pointing at me, watching me etc. Mind you I had my photo taken a few times too, kids were talking to me, and one group even wanted me to go round the park with them!

 

The ride queues were a bit uncomfortable as there were no fans for the heat/humidity. They also allow smoking and queue-jumping was quite common.

 

Loading was very very slow, as the guests are not used to having to secure bags, caps etc in the station lockers. In some of the rides you even got a full lecture before they opened the platform gates!

 

Happy to answer any questions, especially for you guys going on the trip coming up shortly!

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I'm a little teapot........

(not in Happy Valley)

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Who would have guessed that there would be no kids on this - just adults squeezed in tight!

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a covered hill-lift

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This is a view of Goldmine Twon (their spelling - not mine!).

 

Called Mine Train Coaster - not yet open...... and in the very front is something called Flying Island - a type of viewing platform. Again - not yet open!

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Some parts of the park are actually quite well themed....

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Hmm - not quite the popcorn and hot dogs I was expecting....

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Another view - bored yet?

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Another view of Fireball. One of my best woodies I think.

 

The funniest thing about this ride, was once it started, almost everyone ducked! I was the only person with my head up - and laughing until the brakes!

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Again, hardly original naming of this ride!

 

My first megalite - amazing! Went on twice - front row. No waiting time...

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Expensive typo! They have printed this name in the map, and all over the theming of the ride.

 

I think they mean soaring!

 

It is a fixed ride - once I can find out what you guys call it I will update!

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Pic of the originally named Diving Coaster! Was closed for most of the day apart from a few hours from 1.30pm.

 

The flat ride in front is called Power Surge.

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Once one person had put rubbish on this roof, then everyone else seemed to join in "the game" while waiting to ride Fireball.

The rest of the park was spotless, although saying that there was hardly any guests!

 

In this pic, you can also see the Grand Carousel and Wave Swinger. The carousel is a double decker, with one level spinning round the opposite way from the other.

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This is the view looking out over part of Fireball. The park is very quiet as you can see - it is around 1 hour after opening.

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Flying coaster random view 10

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Flying coaster random view 9

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Flying coaster random view 8

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Flying coaster random view 7

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Flying coaster random view 6

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Flying coaster random view 5

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Flying coaster random view 4

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Flying coaster random view 3

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Flying coaster random view 2

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Flying coaster random view 1

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^Not to mention that amazing-looking Intamin Mine Train!

 

Great TR, FlyingScot! I know you said that Fireball is one of your favorite woodies, but could you describe the experience for some of us who most likely won't have the chance to ride it in the foreseeable future? How would you compare it to another well-known (TGG) wooden coaster that you have ridden?

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Fireball looks amazing, although in Chinese, it is Wooden Dragon, not Fireball. The Mega-Lite is called Blue Moon (something to do with Shangri-La) Coaster. I'm so glad they're having a non-Vekoma mine train, not that they're bad, it's just the Vekoma track doesn't look fit as a mine train rail track which ruins the feeling a bit. I think that Happy Valley Shanghai had a rocky start is probably because it's trying to rush the opening. If they finished all the rides first, and figured out the perfect way to operate, then open, it will be the best.

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So I'm guessing from the comments that the Dive Machine is a clone of Sheikra but taller by 13 feet?

 

Also, are all 4 Mega-Lites clones of each other? Just wondering.

 

Thanks for the pictures. I have no idea if I'll ever be able to go to these China parks so it's great to hear about them.

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^Yes, it is SheiKra but a little bit taller and the trains are 2 wider as well. Nothing to extreme but still pretty much a clone.

 

As well, all the mega lites are clones of each other.

 

 

Thanks for posting this TR, I have been very interested in this park and it is great to see it finally open(ish).

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Nice TR! Question for all those more knowledgeable: Are there any videos/POV of Fireball and/or the other coasters of this Happy Valley?

 

Ask and you shall receive.

 

Fireball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFTpmNk4srE

Looks like an amazing woodie! So much airtime from the looks of the vid.

 

Dive Machine:

Almost exactly like Sheikra, however the ending is slightly different with a faster helix into the brake run.

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^I thought the dive coaster at chimelong had an immelmann that went all the way to the ground as well as a complete helix at the end. They are very similar, but this one is most definitely almost a sheikra clone.

 

You can see in Happy Valley model, the track after the immelman runs above the final brake run. Which is pretty much identical to that found on SheiKra. The model im chimelong most definitely has track going all the way to the ground, unlike that of the aforementioned dive machines.

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^I thought the dive coaster at chimelong had an immelmann that went all the way to the ground as well as a complete helix at the end. They are very similar, but this one is most definitely almost a sheikra clone.

 

You can see in Happy Valley model, the track after the immelman runs above the final brake run. Which is pretty much identical to that found on SheiKra. The model im chimelong most definitely has track going all the way to the ground, unlike that of the aforementioned dive machines.

To be honest, only your uber, die-hard roller coaster nerd would even notice the difference. When I rode Chimelong's Dive Machine I really thought it was a clone of SheiKra and then someone pointed out the minor differences.

 

While riding it, I couldn't tell the difference between SheiKra and Chimelong, but then again, I'm not the type of person who analyzes every inch of track on a ride.

 

The Shanghai version IMO looks "close enough" to a SheiKra clone where I would call it as such. We'll be there in a couple of weeks to see how it rides.

 

--Robb

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