vistaway Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Yes, it does. They also have what seems to be a Nagashima trademark of wanding you down with a metal detector in the station just prior to riding. They had the ride down for a few hours yesterday afternoon but reopened it for the last few hours. The queue was 15 minutes most of the day. This was my first visit to the park and I really liked it. Definitely see the Cedar Point comparisons. When we arrived they told us that Steel Dragon was down. That wasn't cool, but whatever. We rode the Arashi first, then Acrobat (Manta clone) using the 500jpy express pass (one train operation meant a 60 minute queue!). The longest wait was for White Cyclone, at 40 minutes, since I wasn't going to pay for the express pass. That was one hell of a rough ride. What a shame, because I like the layout. We rode all the rest of the coasters and unique flats with minimal waits. Ultra Twister was closed, but looks amazing with a new coat of paint. We loved the bobcarts, haunted house, double giant pirate ship, and the unique kids rides. The 50 year old Jet Coaster was better than I expected. By 2pm, I saw a line in front of Steel Dragon's station. They opened it soon after! I loved it - like Magnum, but bigger, smoother and just better in every way. After the park, we hit the spa (onsen). I have to say, after getting over the being naked part, spending an hour bathing in hot springs is the perfect way to end a theme park day! Skip the queue for $5. Convenient vending machine right there. Shiny new paint Arashi fits in nicely So many pirate ships! Loved Steel Dragon! Didn't love White Cyclone, but she's a beauty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 ^ Actually, I love it that Free Fall is still there! Such a classic. The original "tower of terror" LOL! Man, everything is being fitted into place perfectly. Ha! It's a kick to see that small Haunted House in the middle of this pic. Seems to me that NSL is becoming the "Blackpool of Japan", following in the footsteps of Grona Lund park, my second pick as the "Blackpool of Sweden". And is that 8 coasters in that one shot, above? Cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vistaway Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 I definitely get the Blackpool feel, although there is still plenty of open space between rides, which I don't recall as much of at BPB. They do have expansion room too, so the ride positioning seems to be by choice and not necessity. Agreed about the first gen drop tower. I had forgotten how properly scary those are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 ^ I agree, Spaland has the opportunity to spread all the attractions around, within space limitation. Not like BPB. But this park is also one to have relocated two of it's coasters to the other side of the park, so that a new children's area could be (was) created. And it all worked out great! Where Corkscrew and Ultra used to be. But that old SCREECHING! Burned Tire Smelling, powered coaster was still there. It's thankfully hidden in the trees, there. TPR 2013 Japan Tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiex Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Arashi looks so tiny next to Steel Dragon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbatboy Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Arashi looks so tiny next to Steel Dragon You can say that again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 I've always been impressed with the way this park uses its space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT325 Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 So happy to see they still have their 2 Schwarzkopf coasters. The park looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbatboy Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 I've always been impressed with the way this park uses its space. Yes, it's cramped but in a very organized way lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterDirected Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 I've always been impressed with the way this park uses its space. Yes, it's cramped but in a very organized way lol. Like a lot of Japan in general Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesman Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Whats the reason for having 3 pirate ships? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 ^ No reason at all. It's Nagashima Spaland! Actually, is it possible, they bought the Big Twins, then realized some of the gp want their "smaller version" instead? Or it was the other way around. Maybe. Also, apparently VIKING SHIPS are way larger than tiny old Pirate Ships, lol! The itty bitty Pirate Ship is behind the VIKING SHIPS, there. TPR 2007 Japan Tour. There's the Pirate Ship ride! And check out one of the base poles on the Viking Ships! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrientExpressForever Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 I've always been curious about the gigantic Viking ships because the Pirate ships are on my short list of favorite flat rides. For those who have ridden, is the ride experience significantly more thrilling, i.e. longer moments of airtime and/or more forceful g's, or does it actually seem less intense? Would it be worth the greater expense for a park to install a giant Viking vs the standard Pirate/Sea Dragon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 ^ The rides I had at NS were oh - so - slow. It took the ride forever to just get up to the "usual" height that the Pirate ship hits. And then it was a quick "tap" to that height, and then it started descending faster than when it was going up. But it was still amazing to see so many people on one ship. It was like a small theatre, with a small stage in the middle (main mast)! And the locals went more nuts on it, than I did. Even at very VERY short tilts of the ship, heh. I know that watching all of the locals on it, was more fun than the ride itself. But. If I was a park owner, I'd still go with the Pirate Ship. The Vikings are only more impressive, if they're seen in a larger park, like this one. Flash Forward to 2013 - Ships still there. But the two coasters have been moved! TPR 2013 Japan Tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo von Sol Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Whats the reason for having 3 pirate ships? I think it's actually four. The space shuttle counts as a pirate ship. (In the lower left corner) Neverless, that is a lot of pirate ships for one park. Can't imagine they're all that popular rides for the GP to be used to full or even half of capacity during the park operating season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 ^ Ah, I forgot about that........ride. I rode one of those once, at our city's 1986 World's Fair. And I rode it never, never again. I think it was the hang time that really got to me, at the 12 o'clock mark. Bleah. Taken from afar: Sauli's Very First Shuttle "Overswing Ship" (what I called it back then). TPR 2011 Japan Tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanthonyam Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Any video out there of those massive pirate ships in action? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 I think Everland may have the same massive double ones, honestly I think they may be less exciting than regular ones, although it is cool looking around and seeing like 100 people on it with you. I've don't think I've ever seen the far side running even on crazy busy days when lines have hit 90 minutes-2 hours which is a shame because that would be cool to see with 200 people. I did manage to find this really old video of both sides by searching in Korean for it [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vistaway Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Re: the pirate ships, the onsen (spa) had a great year-by-year history of the parks on the walls. The small one actually came first, and then the giant double ships in 1985. So I am guessing that the first small one was really popular, which pushed them to get the big ones. They were only running one ship the day I was there, which was fine as the capacity of a single one is insane. Each ship has two lap bars per row, and I am guessing could fit 10-12 across. It's at least twice as wide and long as a typical pirate ship ride. The experience was similar to a regular one, IMHO. The cycle was pretty long. I'm not a fan of these rides as much as I used to be, so I tend to favour the middle rows. But it felt like a typical ship. I really liked their kids' area. I didn't realize they moved some big rides out of there to create it. Makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9Armgeddon4 Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 According to Screamscape White Cyclone might be receiving the RMC treatment in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal1br3tto Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 ^My first thought was, "Oh, now I'll have to go back there." I quickly remembered that, in fact, I'd already wanted to do so. Very intriguing news regarding what's currently a fairly inoffensive, but ultimately middling-to-poor wooden coaster. Also, I'd forgotten all about Screamscape until earlier today when I saw them quoted in the NYT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetstar2 Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 I went there on a Wednesday in May just after golden week and I think there were less than 300 guests at the park. Everything was walk-on. The majority of the waiting I did was on rides waiting for more riders to show up. The large pirate ship was running one side, on a schedule of once every 30 min. I rode with two parents and a child being the only other people on the ride. It may sound great, but it was actually creepy as hell. It basically seemed like the park was closed and I shouldn't be there. The loading platforms for the two boats make a giant concrete circle that looks like some sort of bizarre Colosseum. It was empty except for me. The family I rode with showed up at the last second. The opposite rear row of the boat from me was just missing for some reason. The ride op doesn't actively staff the ride, and just showed up for the one planned cycle. It was probably one of the creepiest ride experiences I've ever had. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I'm glad I did it. Just look at all those guests! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Also, I'd forgotten all about Screamscape until earlier today when I saw them quoted in the NYT. It's funny you mention that as we were just talking recently how Screamscape seems to come up less and less in conversation lately. Not sure if it's just that not as much is happening industry wide right now, or that so much of it gets posted to social media before you see it on that site. Either way, RMC in Japan would kick ass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 ^It would indeed. When I first rode White Cyclone in 2007, I didn't think it was all that bad; however, it was a different story years later. It would be the perfect first RMC for Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rill'o'beily Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 I did manage to find this really old video of both sides by searching in Korean for it Any idea who made these ships? I'm kinda interested as a flat enthusiast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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