caffeine_demon Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 oo err - I've been doing it wrong! ps - good stuff so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firewalk13 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Thanks for posting the updates! Looks like such a good time!! I really like that floorless... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grinch1313 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Great updates so far. I really liked the Big Air and weird dark ride coaster POVs. Thanks for sharing the pictures of the trip so far. I can't wait to see more updates from Taiwan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XII Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Great updates from parks in the world that don't get covered that often. Looking foreword to seeing more updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrlittle Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Thanks for the great photos and videos as always. Looks like a fun trip so far. I also like that you just posted some vine videos from the trip on Twitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Cool Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 I am really kicking myself for not going on a trip this year. Thanks for the updates as always Robb!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 We rode this "Knock-off Space Mountain" today complete with the "DL-2000" rocket in the station! The ride was actually quite good as well! More on this later... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Great updates on this part of your tour, Robb. And nice to see the Drums are still around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 Bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 Bump again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 Today was a quite "Interesting" day - started out at a fairly nice park called "Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village" which actually DID have a cultural village, but in the middle of it all was a quite nice little theme park, oddly themed mostly to Japan's "One Piece" anime series, and also included a really good Space Mountain knock-off! Our second stop was almost a total bust. A place called "Atayal Resort" which pretty much looked closed, like closed DOWN closed...but somehow we still managed to get the pseudo-roller coaster credit that was currently "closed for maintenance" .... yeah.... Follow us on Twitter for lots of live updates - or Facebook for a few updates as well - http://www.facebook.com/themeparkreview. Video of the "Knock-Off Space Mountain!" This was the entrance to "Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village" - it looks like it's going to be more of a nature and culture park rather than a theme park, right? But then you step inside and gone is anything that looks "cultural" and you are met with space and anime themes! A huge part of the park is located inside this indoor section. Kind of reminded me of one of Toverland's huge indoor park buildings. Really big building and they were even working on some expansions inside here. But let's cut to the chase here, the highlight of the park (at least for me) was this amazing "Space Mountain" knock-off. As someone who grew up with Disneyland's Space Mountain, and having seen photos many years ago of this far-off park that copied the theming of the Space Mountain, I just had to check this out! This is REALLY close to the "DL-2000" rocket that you saw in the queue of the original version of Disneyland's Space Mountain. (You also see this rocket while climbing the lift of the Magic Kingdom version.) Seriously did a great job of knocking off the queue theming! Although there are subtle little reminders that this is an Asian knock off! Here's the signage out front of the ride... I guarantee you this sign does not say "Officially licensed by Disney!" lol However, not only does the entrance area look good, the ride was actually a LOT of fun! One of the few times you actually say "Wow, I'm glad this is a real Vekoma coaster!" While not really a knock-off, the park also had a Jurassic Park-like attraction. "Not our dino!" Damn, I love a bird that's flexible! "Hey kids! Check out my junk!" Pretty much the entire park was themed to One Piece. It was pretty much everywhere. The park also had one of the most interesting Intamin Gyro Drops I've seen! The giant UFO lifted up with the seats so you couldn't see when you were at the top! Not sure how tall this one was, but it felt like it was at least 200 ft. Always produces smiles! They also had a Mack Supersplash (the one that reverses direction.) The park was really nice and had some decent rides! They had a nicely themed log flume... This park would also be home to our first missed credit of the trip... Oh, darn...the SLC was closed! While it actually looked pretty nicely themed, I gotta be honest, I'm not too hurt by missing an SLC credit! Looked nice, though, at least as far as SLC's go. Here's the park map, so you can get an idea of the place... "Put your balls in the turtles butt" game... ...and you can win this GUN!!! Having fun on the Pirate ship... This is part of the "cultural" part of the park... This was known as the "European Garden" and it had a train ride that went around it. It was basically outside of the main amusement park. Had to get my BOOB CREDIT!!! Our next park didn't look as promising. This was the entrance to "Atayal Resort." Not sure what that thing is...but it was scary! Park mad had seen better days. Walking around the park, it was clear that the park wasn't "open" and it hadn't looked open in a while. There were no people... no guests, no ride operators, NOBODY! Absolutely nothing in the park was running, and the place felt very "abandoned." There was random theming that looked like it has not survived the elements too well. Nothing looked "kept up." Random stuff like this everywhere, and you can see the train ride behind here was starting to become overrun with grass and weeds. I'm sure this is officially licensed. Well, we found the coaster. There used to be another "butterfly"-like coaster, but that one had been completely removed. This was not unexpected based on what we had seen of the rest of the park. The ride didn't look "Closed for maintenance", it just looked closed... as in "for good!" The ride sign had even been removed and was sitting on the floor beside the ride. As we were looking around, a guy game out, and explained to me that they were no longer focusing on the "amusement part" of the resort, but instead focusing on the hotel and other areas. I asked him if the ride was operational at all, and originally he said "no", but after a bit of explanation of what we were doing there, a few phone calls later, he managed to find someone who knew something about the ride. Much to our surprise a person came out, fired it up, and tested it out! We have no idea when the ride was run last, but the damn thing worked and made it around the track without any problem! So of course we hopped right on in! lol "Hooray! We survived!!!!" Yes! We just managed to ride a coaster that was listed as "Closed for Maintenance!" lol Yes, it was EXTREMELY sketchy, but I gotta be honest.... after some of the stuff we rode in China, India, Malaysia, this didn't seem all that bad! But I'd be lying if I wasn't a bit worried when that train first pulled out of the station! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sspaz1000 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Awesome update! Glad you survived the sketchy credit! But I'd take sketchy credit over a SLC any day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Clinksalot Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 (edited) Can't really have a better day than an "Intergalactic Probe", Boob Credit and a living through a Sketchy Credit. Awesome stuff. Edited June 20, 2013 by Sir Clinksalot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kailisun98 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 ^^ As would I. Especially if its a knockoff SLC that is so common in China these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElToroExtreme Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Wow... I'm loving the updates so far. It is amazing to see thing what would never happen in the US. Ihope you guys have a blast in Japan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Knock-off Space Mountain looks amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrapesLie Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Wow awesome report! I simply love the color scheme of Insane Speed! Reminds me of more classic B&M layouts! Robb you must have a way with words! You brought a credit back from the dead! That is so awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBrylczyk Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Ah, opening yet another closed ride for the tours. Robb, you rock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoCo Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 More great stuff! That "Mayan Adventure" SLC does look far better than it should. This picture made my day. The look on KidTums' face is priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markysharky17 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Thanks for the coverage Robb, it all looks so cool! I cant wait to see a pov of Screaming Condor. If you guys go there but keep posting because all your reviews are just perfect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyBo Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Awesome stuff so far guys! Looks like everyone is having fun and what a why to see Taiwan. I'm jealous you got to go on the 3rd tallest building in the world! When it was being built I was a total nerd and watched a lot of the construction. Really cool looking building. Almost as cool as the "closed for maintain" ride that you guys did you're magical wonders and had them run it for you. Awesome! Jimmy "Taiwan Space Mountain > anything at Cedar Point" Bo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 I visited FACV last October, after the TPR China tour. It was a really nice park, quite different from others I've visited. Mayan Adventure was actually pretty good. I wouldn't exactly call it "smooth", but for an SLC, it was good. It definitely wasn't awful! The theming, however, was awesome. The whole thing was built inside an open pyramid structure, which gives lot of good foot-chopper moments. They even had a waterfall inside that pyramid structure that the coaster gets quite close too! I'll post pictures of it operational when I get to that part of my Asia trip report. The amusement park is only the front 1/3 of the park. That's the section on the map that Robb posted. All of the space and anime theming seemed out of place, actually. The real reason for the park is to be an outdoor museum of aboriginal peoples, mostly Taiwanese and Asian aboriginals, but also those from around the world. There are lots of open-air displays of aboriginal peoples from around the world doing daily things like hunting and eating and getting married and all sorts of stuff. The Americas are represented with wigwams and totem poles and the like. That's where the Mayan Adventure theming comes from: the native Mayans. There are also various shows about aboriginal peoples, and lots of stores selling "authentic" merchandise. I bought some necklaces that a lady was making out of beads that a guy was blowing. I'm not sure how "aboriginal" they were, but they claimed to be. The whole park is built on a mountain. Most of the amusement park is at the base of the mountain, with some of it somewhat uphill. But the outdoor museum section winds its way up the mountain. There is a skyride gondola to take you to the top of the mountain area, if you don't want to walk. Then there is a another skyride across the lake, which gives some really spectacular views of the lake and surrounding mountains. You actually exit the park to get on the other skyride, but the ticket gets you on. The park ticket included both skyrides. The other side of the lake skyride is not owned by the park, so people not visiting the park can board on the other side, but have to return. All in all, I enjoyed the park quite a bit. I wish I'd allowed more time to visit the museum section, but I did walk through almost all of it. I guess I'm glad I didn't try to go to Attyal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 I cant wait to see a pov of Screaming Condor. We actually won't be riding Screaming Condor. We know that ride is closed. Also, I'm not sure why you "can't wait to see a POV", it's no different than any of the other Intamin Impluse coasters. it's a clone of the one at Dorney Park, SFGAm, Valleyfair, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 Here's another video! This time of a really cool Intamin Gyro Drop at Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Wow...they really have some interesting looking themed parks in Taiwan. Thanks for the updates! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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