pianojohn Posted January 7, 2006 Posted January 7, 2006 According to Screamscape: Japan - (1/6/06) One of our readers tells us that the Japanese park, Kobe Portopialand has announced that it will close forever on March 31st, 2006. This is sad, but when I lived in Japan, I was amazed by how many parks I visited where I was one of about 20 people there that day! It was a wonder how they kept it open. Still, I really liked this little park, especially the BMRX.
Tomizzle For Rizzle Posted January 7, 2006 Posted January 7, 2006 Matt will be mad, that was his fav coaster on the Japan trip.
DerekRx Posted January 7, 2006 Posted January 7, 2006 Well, this is certainly a bummer. From what video and pictures I've seen, this looks to be a really cute park with some great classic coasters and other rides. Hopefully the coasters will be saved and relocated.
Tomizzle For Rizzle Posted January 7, 2006 Posted January 7, 2006 I really hope the 2 Schwarzkopfs will be saved. The park itself looked really nice and is kept immaculate.
pianojohn Posted January 7, 2006 Author Posted January 7, 2006 I have lots of video and pics from the day I was there in 2001. It was a cute little park and the 3 coasters were all pretty good.
rollermonkey Posted January 8, 2006 Posted January 8, 2006 I was at Kobe Portopiarland yesterday. The park is closing 31 March 2006. There are countdown signs at the Sannomiya Portliner station, outside the entrance and in front of the information office. Many of the employees didn't seem to know why the park is closing, but a few mentioned that money was a major factor. The new Kobe Airport is opening on a new landfill island just south of the park in February. As the park is closing AFTER the airport opens and the large container handling cranes between the park and the airport are taller than every ride except the Ferris Wheel, it isn't height restrictions that is causing the park's closure. A few employees think that the land is being sold. Either way, with square footage on the airport island at a premium and the Minami Koen Portliner station so close to the park and the airport, it's no wonder the park is closing. Between rental car companies and even just a large parking garage, it will be much easier to turn a profit. Couple this with the difficulty in maintaining attendance levels with zero room for expansion, aging rides and new restrictions (There's an airport less than a mile away now!) and it's not hard to see why the park is closing down. The coasters were very nice. I've been on several Mack bobsleds, and this one reminds me of the one at Heide Park, a nice comparison. Double Loop was better than the Meish Doube Loop at Fuji-Q, but time isn't being nice to it, and it is rustingbadly. BMRX, this was incredibly fun, and I rode it six times back-to-back in different seats just to experience it. I haven't been on LBB, JL, Zonga or Lightning Coaster so I can't compare it to those. What I can say is that this was great fun. It was great for a non-looper, (I love inversions almost more than I love airtime!) had some air towards the front of the train, and the back gets some wonderful "pull-down" action. There are blasts of water-fog at several points of the ride, and the first indoor one scared the heck out of me because I didn't see it coming!. Sadly, the theming on this ride has fallen into disrepair. At one point it must have been a truly beautiful coaster. I'll talk more about this after I compile a TR. Chris B
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