Photo TR: The Island Of Vekoma (August 30-September 2, 2016)

[The Angry Darren Mullins]

I made my first visit to Taiwan this week and had a great time even though I was there for less than 70 hours (from the afternoon of August 30-the morning of September 2). I visited three parks and found a fourth park that is no longer in operation. I also have given Taiwan a nickname. I call it The Island Of Vekoma because it is an island nation that is infested with Vekoma coasters. Most of the big parks here have at least one Vekoma coaster. That is actually a good thing as I think Vekoma has stepped up its game and it did outlast other companies like Arrow and Schwarzkopf. Here is a run down of the parks I visited:

 

August 31, 2016:

 

Window On China-This park is similar to the Window Of The World parks in China. It features amusement rides and miniature models of the landmarks from a round the world. It features a lot of Taiwan landmarks and was very nice. The rides seem to all be designed for the family. There is a large shoot the chutes ride here and I got very wet on it. There are two coasters. Laser Blaster is an indoor coaster and is a lot of fun. It features and outer space theme. Mini Mine Train is a small Vekoma kiddie coaster like the one at Fiesta Texas. Only two of these have been built according to RCDB. I rode them both.

 

Taipei Children's Amusement Park: This is Taiwan's newest park. It features a roller coaster and 12 other rides. The coaster is fun and could be classified as a junior or family coaster. This park is also very cheap to visit and to ride. Rides cost around $1 USD per person. Currenntly, it is the only operating park in Taipei. I would think the biggest city in Taiwan could support more than one park.

 

Taipei Children's Recreation Center: This is not the park listed on RCDB. This is an outdoor park. It is defunct. I could see it from the Taiwan Metro and it is close to Taiwan Children's Amusement Park, so I stopped to look around. Some rides, including the Ferris Wheel and carousel still stand. Many rides have been removed. I wonder if they ever had a coaster here.

 

September 1, 2016:

 

Lihpao Land-This is one of Taiwan's biggest parks and features Gravity Max. Gravity Max is the world's only Vekom Tilt Coaster. This is a fun ride. I was in the front seat for my first ride. I also found this to be one of the more ridable Vekoma coasters. It seems Vekoma is more than just the European Arrow who built hang and bangs. Gravity Max is a serious ride. It should be a crime that no other park ordered one of these. Mine Express is just like Cedar Point's Woodstock Express and was a lot of fun. I do not consider this design to be a kiddie coaster at all. It is surrounded by trees and is in a beautiful location. Volcano Adventure is arguably a coaster. It features a dry drop just like the Mack water coasters at Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. I had a lot of fun on it.

 

All of the parks seemed to be having a promotion this week. I got in to Lihpao Land for less than 20 USD. I want to go back to Taiwan and visit the other parks here. The people are friendly and the transportation network is very efficient. I have now visited 108 parks and ridden 1029 different coasters.

Here is Window On China. This would be my first park to visit in Taiwan.

There is a miniature amusement park among the models here.

There are a lot of indoor rides here.

It has been a while since I have seen one of these.

I wonder what is in here......

It is Laser Blaster. It would be the first coaster I ride in Taiwan.

Just outside of Laser Blaster would be the second coaster for me to ride in Taiwan.

It is a very short coaster.

The Ferris Wheel gives a good view of the surrounding countryside.

The rapids ride here is a lot of fun.

I got really wet on Window On China's biggest ride.

I caught a train into the city to visit Taipei Children's Amusement Park that afternoon.

The carousel is just inside the gate.

You actually get a decent view of the city of Taipei from this ride.

The wave swinger has a unique appearance here.

The coaster here is called Roller Coaster.

It is a fun ride.

This sign leads to a defunct park a short distance away from Taipei Children's Amusement Park.

This park closed sometime ago.

The Ferris wheel is one of the few rides that has not been removed.

The carousel also still stands.

Wow! Can it be? Am I actually about to go to Lihpao Land?

This is what I came here for.

It is Gravity Max.

I would ride in the front seat for my first ride.

This is an excellent coaster.

I thought this was a log flume, but it turned out to have a section of coaster track that you can't see from the midway.

This is the most poorly executed Ferris wheel yet. The windows had plastic covering that limited riders view of the park. Agggh!

This is Mine Express.

It has the same layout as Woodstock Express at Cedar Point.

Here it is in action to finish the TR. I do not consider this to be a kiddie coaster.

[palmerleeberry]

Great TR report on Taiwan. It's always interesting to hear about amusement parks in other parts of the world, and even more interesting to see pictures of those parks. As for the closed park I'm sure there's another park out there that could benefit with the Ferris wheel and Carousel ( Of course those two rides are the staple in all other parks, but maybe there's a new park looking for those two rides. Well, one can always hope.), but if they don't mind the transportation that would be required if they're taking it out of Taiwan.

 

A ride that looks like a log flume, but it also has coaster tracks? I know of a ride like that in SeaWorld Orlando called 'Journey to Atlantis", so I wonder if that ride was like that. I would be amazed if that ride started like your typical log flume, but it turns into a Mad Mouse type coaster that splashes you in the end.

[Henry M]

Some really good photos of some parks I have never seen before. Thanks a lot for sharing.