Nick's Japan 2018 TR

[jynx242]

Wow - what an adventure you guys had! Still loving the reports and am always amazed at how wonderfully and efficiently the Japanese deal with things like earthquakes.

 

David

[robbalvey]

It's unfortunate how bad the guest service has become at Universal Japan lately. It used to be one of my top favorite parks in the world, but when you end up having a better visit to Fuji-Q than Universal Studios Japan... that really says something. The trouble I had with the park goes well beyond what Nick mentioned in the report, and while I won't go into many details, I will say that this was now my SECOND experience where things have most certainly gone south at this park, and some of the issues I encountered happened BEFORE the earthquake, so it wasn't just a one-off happening. I'm hoping that maybe the park will be able to redeem themselves during our upcoming October visit...

Edited August 15, 2019 by robbalvey

[Pure Impurity]

^^It really made the whole experience that much more authentic, ya know? It's funny, though; Japan seems so much more well-prepared big quakes than Cali.

 

^Fingers crossed! Thank you for dealing with their shenanigans, though!

[Garet]

Has USJ finally priced out their express passes to slow demand? It used to be I had to book months in advance and pray to the weather gods, but lately, I've been able to get them for 2-3days ahead of time. It's been a few years and I remember them being pricey even for not getting all the rides but I don't remember it being as much as 630 dollars for entry and a fast pass 7 for 2 people?

Edited August 16, 2019 by Garet

[robbalvey]

Has USJ finally priced out their express passes to slow demand?

Let's just put it this way... we are about to spend around $400 per person for *ONE DAY* worth of Express Passes that will get us MOST attractions during the day of our next visit and in the evening of Halloween Horror Nights.

 

Note that $400 gets you MOST attractions... Not ALL...

 

I'm also not too pleased about that either...

Edited August 16, 2019 by robbalvey

[Garet]

We were just looking for a few years down the line to try Nintendo Land in 2021 and we have no proof but we both came to the conclusion that there's a chance it'll be a separate fast pass just for Nintendo rides or a stupidly high priced on a new combined fast-pass to really rake it in. That and time entry on the existing one and we are assuming Nintendo Land will be timed and we couldn't justify the stress of making deadlines with us taking turns with our son.

 

Honestly for what we'd budget just for a weekend in Osaka and one day and fast pass in USJ (since it's a v short flight from here) to get in MOST rides, not ALL, we can probably get a whole week in Hong Kong and a semi-decent hotel for that cost.

[Pure Impurity]

Day 8.1: Washuzan Highland

 

Today was another two-park day, and we were heading out west, past Kobe, to what might have been the most bizarre park of the whole trip: Washuzan Highland.

 

It was another rainy day, but that's okay, 'cause both parks today ran their rides in the rain!

 

So, uh, the station by the park was pretty interesting….

 

Yeah, so Kurashiki has a thing for denim. Who knew?

 

Like a ruin in the Amazon, the park rises up out of the woods.

 

Okay, so I had no idea about this going in, but Washuzan Highland is themed to Brazil! This makes Parque España look normal by comparison! I assume this is thanks to Brazil having the most Japanese expats of any country and that Brazilians represent the largest non-Asian demographic in Japan. It's still an amusing theme, though!

 

Brazilian Bing is the biggest competitor to Brazilian Google

 

Oh, hi there….

 

I was running a bit behind the pack, so I had to hightail it if I wanted to catch up. The thing is… in order to get to where everyone else was, I would have to hike a seemingly endless set of stairs up Mt. Washu itself. This right here is only part of it! Still, I had conquered Tokyo Tower mere days before; surely I could handle this!

 

I could barely stand after this.

 

But what a view! Up here is their human-powered "roller coaster," which is just as much clickbait fodder as Diving Coaster: Vanish, but for good reason! The ride takes you (or rather, you take yourself) out over a very large cliff, which is made all the more unsettling by your bare-bones seat belt and sketchy seats.

 

Photo by Chris

Having lagged behind, I was the last to get their ride in.

 

This park honestly had some of the best views of the entire trip, and I think the rain clouds just added to that! Standing on Mt. Washu, you're offered a grand panorama of the Seto Inland Sea, with its myriad islands and islets. You also get a great scene of the giant suspension bridge that we would be taking very soon! (I somehow didn't get a picture of it, though).

 

Heading down the stairs to ride Star Jet, I came across this little guy enjoying the weather.

 

Lurking in the forest is this shabby beast. Star Jet has since been repainted (and renamed), but in this state, it was hard not to approach it with a little trepidation.

 

"Tu está totalmente ferrado huehuehue"

 

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This coaster had all the makings of a deathtrap: it was rusty, a Togo, and one train went backwards! There was no way this thing was gonna be good. But somehow it was! The ride itself was actually quite comfortable, and you get some killer airtime going over those humps! Maybe my opinion would've been different if the stand-up train had been running instead, but it's certainly a fine ride!

 

Unfortunately for us, the other two coasters there—a jet coaster and an Ultra Twister—weren't running, but we'd be riding plenty of jet coasters, and there'd be another Ultra Twister later on.

 

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They even had a real samba band playing some tunes, and the dancers came over and danced with us! During pauses in the music, there were educational segments, including a short Portuguese lesson… which of course was in Japanese! Where else could we have learned that "obrigado" is Portuguese for "ありがとう"? Being that we were literally the only ones there, these people must have really appreciated the audience!

 

Wow, these guys sure know how to advertise!

 

Photo by Robb

So that was our day at Washuzan Highland! This is such a quirky park that I definitely recommend you visit it, even if it's not the most glamorous park around. If you're traveling between Hiroshima and Osaka, check this place out!

 

Adeus, Washuzan Highland.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about how much they love jeans here….

 

Photo by Robb

Well, who can deny a nice pair?

 

Next up: New Reoma World!

[Canobie Coaster]

Great reports!

 

Was that your first real earthquake? It almost sounds like the same reaction as me (except I was in the hotel room) where I didn't realize what it was until it was over.

[Pure Impurity]

^It was my first earthquake ever. I'd never really been in earthquake-prone places much before this.

[i305isdaddy]

My husband and I are going in 2 weeks and also bought the entry+7 passes and holy crap we were shocked at the end price to say the least. He's never been to any Universal park at all so it sucks that we'll have to wait for a few rides like Backdraft because it doesn't include everything.... but oh well. We'll make the best of it.

[SharkTums]

^We're going during HHN this year and one day is over $400 a person with all the freakin express passes!!!! Ugh.

[Pure Impurity]

Day 8.2: New Reoma World

 

To get to our next park, we had to take a train over the water! Most of the things we'd done so far had been on the island of Honshu, which is the largest island of Japan; New Reoma Land, however, is on Shikoku, directly south of where we were.

 

The sea between Honshu and Shikoku is pockmarked by my many smaller islands, several of which have these cute little villages!

 

If you have a fear of the ocean, this train ain't for you! (Train't for you?)

 

Really great scenery

 

As we reached the shores of Shikoku, we were greeted with some cool industrial stuff.

 

For real, though, the ride didn't take long at all!

 

This scene outside Kotohira Station is just so quintessentially Japanese: the rain, the huge mountain obscured by mist, the utter coziness of this town… it's just so lovely!

 

The park has a gorgeous hillside setting!

 

The rain was heavier here, but I do love the look of misty mountains!

 

Photo by Robb

A little rain don't hurt nobody!

 

Photo via Robb

We all made a beeline for the park's biggest coaster, Vivace. (The literal Italian translation means "lively," but in a musical context, it basically means "quickly," which is what I bet they were going for).

 

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The coaster is a quirky little contraption—basically a cross between a mine train and a jet coaster, with a little bit of Schwarzkopf thrown in for good measure. Not a bad combo!

 

Their shooting dark ride had capybaras out front. (I found it interesting that Washuzan Highland of all places didn't have any, considering they're native to Brazil and all).

 

After that, some of us did a strange, hard-to-explain haunted walkthrough attraction with scare actors (actually, there might have only been one scare actor doing multiple things). And after that, we moved on to their not-Space-Mountain coaster, Spaceship 2056….

It may look like we're waiting for a show, but this is in fact the queue for the coaster!

 

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After you're let inside, you're led through this impressive, if a little kitschy, themed hallway to…

…a space elevator! Because lift hills are just so passé.

 

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Once you're let out, you go through this trippy tunnel, and then you're finally at the station! The ride itself wasn't anything special, but you may find yourself squeezed in tight, especially if you've got a bag like I did.

 

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After you're done, there's still a little bit of theming left.

 

The park also has this weird suspended balloon ride thing. It's just as odd as you'd expect.

 

God, we're pathetic.

 

I guess I should point out that the park's Ferris wheel has a few carriages that look like seats from an inverted coaster. We didn't do that, though; we weren't that interested in sitting out in the rain.

 

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This coaster is a really cute wild mouse-style ride. It's great for a nice solo ride! As you can see, the rain had started to pick up, so I decided to make my way back to the entrance area.

 

This is really nice to have when the weather isn't perfect!

 

NRW was another "sleeper hit," I think. The park had a cool setting and many unique attractions, even if nothing there was bucket list material. And despite not being right in the middle of everything, the park is really not too out of the way either, so don't write it off just because it may be a slight detour.

 

The sun's already sinking at five, but that lighting is gorgeous!

 

Next up: More Universal and Hirakata Park!

[Pure Impurity]

Lots of videos in this one…

 

Day 9.1: USJ redux and Hirakata Park

 

Today would be a very jam-packed day from morning 'til night, and it all began with a second crack at Universal after the events of the other day….

 

More Universal

 

Since Hirakata was originally scheduled for this day, we decided to get to the gates as early as possible to get in our credits before leaving.

 

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For us, the big prize was the Flying Dinosaur. (What's Universal got against the word "pterodactyl"? First Pteranodon Flyers, now this!) This thing is intense as hell! The back-to-back barrel roll, sidewinder, and pretzel loop really take it outta you!

 

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This area also has people dressed up in these really cool dino suits!

 

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After getting my Snoopy coaster credit, I moved on to the last one I needed: Hollywood Dream – The Ride. It's not the most exhilarating ride in the world, but it was running one train backwards, so that spiced things up quite a bit!

 

Hirakata Park

 

The main event for today involved a short ride to the northern parts of Osaka Prefecture, much closer to the epicenter of the quake just a few days before.

 

Looking around, you'd have never known that this place was just in the middle of a strong earthquake!

 

"What in the hell is this!?!?" (No, seriously, what is he holding?)

 

"Hirapah," as it's nicknamed, is a family-oriented park with no overtly thrilling rides, but it's very scenic and has tons of charm!

 

Look at this lil guy!

 

Photo by Robb

Our first ride was on Elf, an old-school Intamin woodie. "Elf" is actually an acronym for "Episode of Little Fairies". Makes it sound like some kind of military code name….

 

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Elf was one of only two wooden coasters the entire trip. It's a fairly small coaster, and it does have a few bumps here and there, but it does offer a few moments of airtime! (Hi Barry!)

 

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Red Falcon is the obligatory jet coaster of the park. It's pretty standard for a jet coaster, but it has this weird way of banking in which the spine stays in place while the ties move. Watch Robb's POV; you'll see what I mean.

 

The park also has a classic spinning mouse coaster… except this one doesn't spin! You do get some pretty fierce laterals on that second half, though!

 

Dontcha just love the little characters they create for these things?

 

Of course there's a Ferris wheel

 

My last credit of the day was on the oddly-named Fantastic Coaster Rowdy. As anyone can tell you, only one of those adjectives is true.

 

Nothing's rowdier than a pink alligator! …Or is that a crocodile? …A caiman perhaps?

 

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I know it's a bit cliché to say this, but some of these coasters really do look like they were designed in RollerCoaster Tycoon. But honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way!

 

"Better than RMC!"

 

So, Mr. Kitagawa was back with us again, and he told us that this rather odd sign was actually used in advertisements for the park!

Photo by Colin

So of course we had to imitate it! Needless to say, I was a bit big for it!

 

Photo by Chuck

And this is me moments after nearly capsizing. Well, I probably couldn't capsize this if I tried, but it sure felt like it! Clearly, this was not made for big ol' hunks o' meat like myself; after the five(?)-foot splashdown, some of us got stuck in the trough, and we had to reach out and grab the sides to move us along! This was dumb as hell, but also hilarious!

 

One of the more eccentric attractions of Hirapah is Legend of Luxor. [spoiler alert]: Basically, you and your group go inside individual Egyptian-style sarcophagi. You sit down in there, put on some cheap headphones, and then stick your hands outside your sarcophagus. A video then plays on a screen in front of you, and it's the most confusing, B-movie-tier, yet entertaining stuff you've ever seen. The best part was one point in the film where a scorpion "stung my hand," and somebody outside whipped my hands with a band of some kind! I know (or think) it's supposed to be scary, but I was nearly cracking up the whole time!

 

Image via Robb

Here we are gettin' gnomed!

 

It was getting a little late, so we decided to do one more attraction. This this thing was interesting…. We were first given these booklet things and told to go into a cave area. After a pre-show of sorts, we stood around wondering what to do next. The workers, clearly taking pity on us poor fools, then proceeded to show us how it's done.

 

As it turns out, we had to walk around the whole volcano looking for the things in this map. You then punch out answers in your map. For the finale, you all go inside the volcano and throw blue foam balls ("water") into a big basket to keep the lava on a screen down while simultaneously tapping monsters on the screen to kill them. It's all a bit hectic.

 

At the end, you get a nice little card! (I wouldn't call our performance "perfect," but whatevs).

 

Hirakata Park, while not aimed at thrill seekers, is a really nice park for what it is. And given its convenient location right in between Osaka and Kyoto, there's no real reason to not go at least once, especially given its more left-field offerings.

 

Next up: We explore Kyoto!

[Garet]

Lucky you guys rode Regina because the park has apparently closed it down for good: http://www.tobuzoo.com/park/maintenance/

[Pure Impurity]

^So I've heard. Does that leave just Elf and Jupiter in Japan?

[SharkTums]

^I believe so.

 

Also, just throwing out that I love Hirakata. It's a really great family park...and it has a McDonalds in it!

[Garet]

^^ 3 by Energylandia's standards.

[Pure Impurity]

Day 9.2: Exploring Kyoto

 

After Hirakata Park, four of us made the trip up to Kyoto. Kyoto was only like a half hour northeast of where we were, so the choice seemed obvious.

 

Fushimi Inari-taisha

 

Kyoto was the capital of Japan for centuries before Tokyo (its name literally means "capital city"). As such, it's loaded with history and tradition.

 

One of the biggest draws to Kyoto is Fushimi Inari, a massive, 1300-year-old Shinto shrine that sprawls out over the side of Mt. Inari, with a vertical of over 600 ft. from base to peak.

 

Random canal

 

This was the first of many, many torii we'd be seeing over the next few hours. There were lots of vendors on this path to the shrine.

 

And that makes two

 

And here's where our journey really begins!

 

As seen on the right in this photo, you could find some people dressed in kimonos walking about.

 

The bells (called Suzu) in Shinto shrines are said to call good spirits while warding off bad ones

 

You can see the Suzu more clearly here

 

By far the most famous thing about this shrine is its paths up the mountain which are lined with a huge amount of torii; however, the large amount of people posing for pics near the bottom means mobility can easily get restricted in these tunnels.

 

There are around a thousand of these torii enclosing the main path alone!

 

Catbutt

 

The path isn't just torii, though; there are many uncovered sections that let you view the beautiful surroundings.

Take this little creek for example!

 

Along the way, there are these open areas with smaller shrines and a metric crapton of little torii scattered throughout.

 

These are cool detours if you get tired of walking the main path.

 

They leave out food for all the kitties here!

 

Y'ever tried to steer a pond?

 

About halfway up, there's a clearing that lets you get a great view of the city!

 

At this point, the path forks into a loop that goes to the peak and back. We ended up taking what I believe to be the less direct way up. With how exhausting this climb was, we probably should've gone the other way!

 

The sun was starting to sink, so we had to get a move on!

 

It wasn't exactly cool out, and the trees blocked any breezes from coming in, so I felt like I was in a sauna!

 

I love all the nooks and crannies of these things!

 

This path really snakes up and down the mountainside

 

There were a few really long staircases that absolutely killed me

 

Photo via Taylor

But after over an hour of climbing, we finally made it to the top!

 

"I am so close to just collapsing dead on the ground"

 

There are more mini-torii up on the peak

 

Yep, we're in Japan.

 

The walk down was a lot more direct than the walk up, which came as a relief.

 

One of the best things about making it this far is that the tunnels up here are a lot less congested, especially this late in the day.

 

At the aforementioned midway point, there's another staircase that leads you to one of the best views of Kyoto available! The others were not too keen on climbing any more stairs, but I hadn't punished myself enough that day, so I trekked it alone just in time to catch the sun sinking behind the ridge! (Keep in mind, it was 7:00 on the summer solstice! That's way earlier than I'm used to!)

 

What a fantastic view!

 

Just the most stunni— …oh.

 

As twilight neared, even the lower portions of Fushimi Inari cleared out.

 

Wandering the shrine is much better when the crowds have left

 

Another Suzu

 

Look at this hairy child

 

Dunno what this is; looks nice, though!

 

The shrine kinda connects to a neighborhood. What a place to live!

 

"Hello, I'm a tree. Pay attention to me."

 

We made our way through the neighborhood to get back to the front of the shrine

 

The shrine's even more impressive at night!

 

We had a great time at Fushimi Inari, but it was time for us to move on….

 

Kyoto Station

 

Now THAT'S a fan fit for a train!

 

I'm so happy to see Gudetama getting some love!

 

You may be wondering what's so special about a train station. Well, this isn't just some bare-bones station; it's a multi-story engineering marvel! (Plus it's featured in a Tony Hawk game).

 

Just look at this thing! It's like a mall on steroids!

 

If you're a fan of escalators, then boy do I have a place for you!

 

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About halfway up, there's this huge staircase with animated lights on it!

 

There's Kyoto Tower!

 

I'm still amazed by the kaleidoscopic twists and turns of this building!

 

There's a green space on the roof

 

Kyoto may not be as glitzy and glamorous as other Japanese cities, but it's beautiful all the same!

 

It may look like the stage down there is at the bottom, but it's actually about halfway up! This place is just humongous!

 

After all that, it was time to head back to the hotel for our last night in Osaka. There are other things I would've liked to have done, like going to the Golden Pavilion or feeding macaques at Iwatayama Monkey Park, but I guess those are just more reasons to come back!

 

Next up: Nagashima Spa Land!

[Nrthwnd]

Great tour of Fushimi Inari-taisha and Kyoto Station! And so - many - toriis there at that shrine! I've always wanted to see that particular shrine, because of those toriis, etc. Glad you took so many photo of them.

 

Looking forward to your take on Nagashime Spaland!

[Pure Impurity]

Day 10: Nagashima Spa Land

 

After several days in Osaka, it was time to head east to Nagoya.

 

Nagoya's about halfway between Osaka and Tokyo, so we took the Shinkansen there.

 

I really got addicted to taking pictures on the trains during this trip.

Can ya blame me, though?

Just look at that water tower! How brutalist!

Anyway, here are some more photos I took on the train:

 

So, as I'm sure you're aware, Nagashima Spa Land is one of the biggest amusement parks in Japan, located just west of Nagoya, and is known as the "Cedar Point of Japan," with its numerous large rides and waterside setting.

 

Unsurprisingly, most of the group immediately flocked to the park's giga coaster Steel Dragon 2000, which is currently the longest coaster (by track length) in the world!

 

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Steel Dragon is pretty much what you'd expect of a scaled-up Morgan hyper. While it rattles a bit in a few spots, it offers some very good airtime and is just a blast to ride!

 

One of the surprises for me was the park's Bobkart! It's basically an electric alpine slide, and it's just good fun! I wish they had these in the States!

 

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Nagashima's newest coaster at the time was Arashi, an S&S 4D Free Spin coaster. This was actually my first 4D coaster ever, and it was absolutely insane! Just as you leave the lift, you're already tumbling head-over-heels, not knowing which way is up or down. This thing is a bit of a ball-buster, though, with how much it throws you around, so watch yourselves, fellas!

 

To aid in the CP comparisons, Nagashima has its own Corkscrew! This is just the classic double-corkscrew layout—nothing spectacular.

 

They also have not one, but TWO mirrored Mack wild mice here. The right side was closed today, but whatever; a mouse is a mouse.

 

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In the middle of the park is Looping Star, a classic Schwarzkopf looper. As you'd expect, this thing is super fun and very rerideable!

 

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Remember how the Ultra Twister at Washuzan Highland was closed? Well, when we got to Nagashima, theirs was also down! But as it turns out, it was just undergoing an inspection, and it opened an hour or two later. Togo Ultra Twisters are weird beasts, as you can see in the video, but they aren't too bad, really! (Also, listen to that music. Nagashima has a playlist of maybe 40-50 songs, and I swear a quarter of them are about the park itself.)

 

"No Crocs! Have some self-respect, people!"

 

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One of the newer additions to the park is Acrobat, a clone of Manta at SeaWorld. I tell ya, after the Flying Dinosaur, this seemed tame by comparison. But still, nothing beats a good B&M flyer!

 

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The park has a haunted walkthrough complete with crucifixion! (Actually, a lot of these things seemed to feature crucifixion…). Sarah wasn't a fan.

 

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Nagashima also has what would end up being my first Schwarzkopf shuttle loop! Pretty good!

 

Today was a hot one, so I took a ride on the splash boat. This one does get you drenched, but honestly, that was pretty welcome! You can also see what was White Cyclone sitting in the background there; it was, of course, undergoing RMC-ification into the then-unnamed Hakugei. Gonna have to come back one of these days!

 

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After getting my kiddie credit, I just mucked about for while. Unfortunately, Jet Coaster never opened :c But after park closing, we did some filming on Steel Dragon, Arashi, and Acrobat!

 

Photo via Robb, of course

Arashi really is one of the few rides that can make me scream my head off. I should have ridden it more!

 

And so our day came to an end. It should go without saying that Nagashima Spa Land is an absolute MUST for any coaster enthusiast in Japan. I will note, however, that operations there tended to be on the slow side, but that shouldn't discourage you from visiting this place!

 

We got some beautiful views of the sunset on our way to the hotel!

 

Gorgeous

 

And here we are: downtown Nagoya! You see that building on the right with all the logos on it? That's where we'll be staying the next few nights!

 

The Nagoya metro area is the third most populous in Japan, but despite this, someone in our group found an article calling Nagoya the "most boring city in Japan" while looking for things to do there. If that's the case, then Japan must be even more exciting than I thought!

 

Of the four hotels we stayed in on this trip, Nagoya's certainly had the best nighttime view!

 

Up next: Parque España!

[SharkTums]

I always get questioned by Japanese people when I tell them we really like Nagoya. It's known as a boring business/industrial city, but again, if that's the worst place in Japan it's still probably better than 99% of cities in other countries!

[Pure Impurity]

Day 11: Parque España

 

Today was another single-park day, and we were heading down south to Parque España!

 

We've found him, boys.

 

The train took us a long ways down through Mie Prefecture, past lovely scenes of misty mountains and towns.

 

You know how I feel about these small towns…

 

One would hope that a park called "Parque España" would be themed to Spain, and so it is! It's not quite as odd a choice as Brazil, but you still wouldn't necessarily expect a park like this in Japan.

 

We had actually planned to go to Nagashima this day, but the forecast, as it turned out, said today was going to be a washout. This wasn't too bad, however, as Parque España's got many indoor rides. (Chuck took my "The rain in Spain falls mainly on Japan" joke, but I won't hold it against him too much.)

 

Take, for instance, Iron Bull (or "Tron Butt", as it was known in our group)…. This was a very strange indoor coaster that had recently been re-themed to a steampunk aesthetic. The ride was a bit janky, and it's paced really weirdly. Imagine if the Backlot Stunt Coasters had lift hills right after their helicopter shootout sections; that's basically what happens here.

 

Photo by Robb

Luckily for us, their family coaster runs in the rain. I think Taylor's and my faces really encapsulate the sheer whorishness of the whole ordeal.

 

Photo by Chuck

"God help me, for I am a filthy whore!"

 

As I said, there's a number of nice indoor rides at Parque España, including a nice shooting dark ride, but arguably the most eccentric of these was their walkthrough themed to Alice in Wonderland….

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Hahah! Move over, Don Quixote; there's a new Spanish classic in town! Yeah, if you thought an English-themed attraction in a Spanish-themed park was weird enough, wait 'til you actually see the whole thing! Just the pre-show's enough to draw confused laughter from us!

 

First they give you a wand which you will use on various things throughout the attraction. This is the handle, and it has… y'know… a certain shape….

 

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You first need to follow this farting rabbit into the woods—the woods, of course, being one of those disorienting mirror mazes that we had grown accustomed to by this point.

 

These wands are actually pretty cool, if a bit finicky. Here you have to light all three candles up at the same time.

 

Look, I'm no Alice expert, but isn't the Cheshire Cat's smile supposed to remain visible?

 

This dude represents all our feelings right now

 

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I found it hilarious just how violently these ghosts explode!

 

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Boss fight! Get ready to frantically waggle your wands with reckless abandon!

 

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Curiously, the boss fight isn't at the end; you've still got a couple more sections to go before you leave.

 

I don't even know what's happening anymore…

 

Finally, after slaying ghosts and other monsters in cold blood, Alice says the only way out is to wave the wand at her! I really don't know what to make of this attraction, but I'm so glad I did this.

 

Back outside, it was still raining. The park doesn't look half bad in the rain, though!

 

There's a bunch of stuff at the foot of the hill, too. There's a relaxing raft ride and a dark ride similar to the balloon ride at New Reoma World.

 

In keeping with the Spanish theme, this attraction accurately recreates the experience of taking a mysterious pill given to you by some freaky dude on a beach in Ibiza.

 

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And, of course, after you're done at the bottom, you can take the famous "Escalator Ride" back to the top! This is truly the best ride in the park; it's got killer music, it runs in the rain, and, as Mitch Hedberg said, escalators don't break; they only become stairs.

 

It was around this time that we got some lunch. Among some other things, I got a bunch of little sausages that were so juicy that biting into one of them caused it to squirt all the way onto Adam's shirt! (Make your own innuendo).

 

This is the square where they publicly execute all the people who dare insult the Escalator Ride

 

The rain was beginning to lighten up somewhat, but it was still a ways away from stopping completely. While searching for things to do, I stumbled upon a bunch of the others waiting for Dulcinea's Fantasy World, which is a bizarre 360-degree 3D movie. I don't remember much from it other than there being a strong aquatic theme. The best(?) part was at the end when Poseidon emerges from the depths and bursts into a mass of dolphins, whales, and various other cetaceans.

 

Back at the bottom, they have this cool pirate ship you can walk through. It's rather short, but it's nice.

 

A few of us caught the end of this show

 

I got in a ride on their log flume that snakes around the mountain shared by Gran Montserrat. The radar showed that the rain was about to finally subside, but it was nearing closing time, and it would take about an hour for the rides to dry off enough to run. However…

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…it turns out the park was willing to run Pyrenees for us! They did warn us, however, that we would likely get some grease falling from the ride. Most of the group wore their ponchos, but I went a different route…. As it turns out, the park sold plain white T-shirts in my size! Now, the grease probably wouldn't have shown on the shirt I was already wearing, but I wasn't going to pass up this opportunity to get a one-of-kind souvenir!

 

Photo by Robb

I'm really thankful that they let us on this ride, 'cause it is damn good! It's very similar in overall experience to Raptor, except I'd say it runs a little smoother. (And yes, I did get a few grease spots on my shirt).

 

After getting our fill, it was time to leave. Parque España may be a little out of the way, but it's definitely one of the most legit parks in Japan!

 

Adiós, Parque España….

 

The surrounding city of Shima is as quaint as any other town in Japan

 

And so began the long journey back to Nagoya…

 

Y'know, even though I was thousands of miles from home, I never felt too out of place. Scenes like this reminded me ever so slightly of Ohio. Maybe I've just been exposed to Japanese stuff so much that even the more "extreme" things seemed somehow familiar.

 

I adore these riverside houses!

 

The Land of the Setting Sun

 

And we're back!

 

Next up: Legoland Japan and Higashiyama Zoo!

Edited September 25, 2019 by Pure Impurity

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report! Parque Espana is really weird in a good way.

[SharkTums]

Parque Espana is such a DIFFERENT park for Japan. I really like it, I also finally got my ramen meat burger here and it was delicious.

[Pure Impurity]

This is a long one…

 

Day 12: Legoland Japan and Higashiyama Zoo

 

The last several days had been packed with long train rides, but today we were staying local. This basically doubled as our Nagoya free day in a sense, but the main event was the newly-opened…

 

Legoland Japan

 

Yes, Nagoya had just opened up their own Legoland a year before!

 

Photo by Robb

This was a new park for all of us, and I was certainly excited, because the last time I'd been to a Legoland was when I was but a wee lad.

 

Wow, I can't believe they made a Roblox-themed park.

 

Thanks for the encouragement

 

Legoland has a modest two coasters, both of which can be found at other Legolands.

 

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The main draw for us was Dragon Coaster. This is just like the ones at most other Legoland parks, with a short dark ride portion before climbing the lift hill.

 

But, of course, the main attraction at any Legoland park is its impressive array of Lego sculptures. So get ready for…

 

The Great Tour of Lego Japan

 

Let us first make a stop at the harbor

 

Here's Itsukushima Shrine, located near Hiroshima.

 

Not sure where this is, but it looks cool.

 

They've even got little gondolas!

 

Random pagoda

 

Good idea pulling out the covers; it was a hot one!

 

The Car Carrier carries cars

 

This building in Nagoya is called the "Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers," which is strange, 'cause it's only one tower….

 

Also in Nagoya is Oasis 21, a cool shopping center thing. I wanted to go here but never got around to it :c

 

There's also this spiral thingy in the middle of downtown Nagoya. I'll show you that later….

 

It's frog o'clock!

 

Heh heh heh heh hehhhhh…

 

This is the Nagoya City Science Museum, but it looks more to me like the Death Star got plopped right onto some unsuspecting buildings.

 

Throughout Miniland, you get to interact with many things, like this Osaka-style crab sign for instance!

 

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Where's the jet coaster??

 

Here's Himeji Castle, the largest and one of the oldest intact castles in Japan.

 

Big Brother is watching you

 

This is one of the shrines in Tokyo

 

Here's the crossing in Shibuya plus Tokyo Tower!

 

This is the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo, which we'll see later!

 

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Across the Rainbow Bridge is Odaiba, which is famous for having a life-size Gundam!

 

Also on Odaiba is the futuristic Fuji TV headquarters building

 

Of course, no miniature model of Japan would be complete without a 30-foot-tall replica of the Tokyo Skytree!

 

Who's up for a little bēsubōru?

 

Hello again, Dōtombori!

 

They've got the Glico dude! There are even people doing the pose on the bridge!

 

ducc

 

Here's a little bit o' Kyoto

 

Well, wouldja lookit that…

 

Fushimi Inari is, of course, known for its wonderful views of Mount Fuji

 

Here's a better view of it all

 

Here's the Golden Pavilion

 

Obligatory artsy shot

 

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Getting memories of my taiko days…

 

Look how happy those bears are to see us!

 

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Way up in Hokkaido is Sapporo

 

Sapporo is known for its proximity to many great ski resorts (and for the eponymous beer, of course).

 

Hokkaido gets an absolutely staggering amount of snow every winter

 

Mount Fuji is so huge that it stretches all the way from Kobe to Hokkaido

 

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Speaking of Kobe, here's Kobe!

 

See? I told you it had only been a year!

 

More of Himeji Castle

 

Ah yes, and here is the #1 tallest Lego recreation of the Umeda Sky Building I've ever seen!

 

ducc ducc ducc ducc

 

The Osaka Ferris… oval thing… wasn't moving. But then again, the real one wasn't running for us either.

 

Anyway, after all that, I was feeling a bit peckish, so I decided give this a try. 0/5 — not actually plastic.

 

The observation tower gives a good overview of Miniland

 

So that's Legoland! Obviously, for the coaster enthusiast in a hurry, Nagashima is going to take precedence over Legoland, but for the Lego lover, there are some great replicas!

 

Higashiyama Zoo

 

While some people checked out the local train museum after Legoland, we went on to Higashiyama Zoo, which actually had some rides for us!

 

If you love stairs, Japan is your Mecca.

 

Doesn't look like much of a competition…

 

The only unambiguous credit here is Jet Coaster, which very much lives up to its name.

 

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The most well-known attraction at Higashiyama is Slope Shooter, which is this weird side-friction "coaster" thing. For some reason, I had it in my mind that this ride was in, like, China or something; this seemed too weird even for Japan! But lo and behold!

 

I think Matt took this one

I am way too excited for this

 

And yes, Higashiyama Zoo is a zoo, but, like Tobu Zoo, their cages do tend toward the smaller side….

 

I headed back to the hotel to settle down a bit before going back out. Here's that spiral structure we saw at Legoland!

 

So, that night, a bunch of us decided it would be good to partake in some karaoke action while we were in Japan. We rented out a room for an hour, and sadness ensued….

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Jason looks on in disappointment.

 

Anyway, while it was a good time, the rate was a bit steep in many people's eyes, so we decided to head out after one hour. But karaoke is a must when you're in Japan!

 

Next up: Hamanako Pal Pal!