PTR: Don and Monica's Massive Japan Update!

[Meteornotes]

OK, the last updates were the best yet! More totally random vending machine finds, please. The Angry Bag Thing was AWESOME.

 

dt

[rollermonkey]

(Hopefully,) tomorrow night, I would like to post a PTR for what seems to be the Knoebels of Japan. I think you'll understand when you see pics.

[Jeezus Juice]

OK, the last updates were the best yet! More totally random vending machine finds, please. The Angry Bag Thing was AWESOME.

 

You got it Dave!

 

I'd definately consider going on a Japan Trip if I can scrounge up enough money before 07. Is everything really that easy to figure out over there?

 

Dude yeah! I mean, I had to research a bit before I went. What stations to go to, what lines to take ect, but I had a rail system map with me so it was really easy to follow along, know how many more stops ect.

 

For the most part though you can buy a ticket from a vending machine, take trains all over Tokyo, transfer as many times as you want and you only pay by distance when your ready to leave a station.

 

Lets say you buy the cheapest ticket, say 140 yen ($1.20). when you get to wherever your going, insert your ticket into a fare adjust machine and it'll tell you how much more you owe, deposit the correct amount take your ticket and leave through the turn styles.

 

Most trips only cost us $2-$3. I think it was 160 yen from shinjuku to LaQua.

 

Also everybody is so nice! I know about 3 sentences in japanese, plus words for please (kudasai) thank you (arigato gozaimasu) and sorry (sumimesan) and I was able to communicate just fine.

Remember, I only planned this trip for 5 weeks prior to going and I had never even been to Asia before. All I had was Robb's "Japan Trip Planning Guide" and the Japan-a-mania DVD! I knew the parks that I wanted to go to and we just made up a plan the night before in the hotel for the next day and winged it!

 

Sorry to keep going on like this but I couldn't believe how easy and fun it was there. I'm hardly an expert, I don't eat fish, and I'm not rich. I just decided to go one day. I actually did most of the day to day planning and learning japanese on the plane flight over there!

 

All I want to do now is go back and bring people with me! We can organise robotic animal races!

 

-Don

(going to work on LaQua right now!)

[Jeezus Juice]

Day Three Part Two: LaQua/Tokyo Dome/Parachuteland/Whatever!

 

So visiting Tokyo Dome was weird. At the hotel once we got back from Toshimaen we were still pretty jetlagged. Monica wanted to rest and watch TV when all of a sudden I got a second wind.

I knew Thunder Dolphin was out there somewhere so I poured through my notes to find where the park is.

I figured I could try to go and just check it out. If I found it I found it, if not well then I’d just try not to get lost.

 

I found out that one of the JR lines (Chou) goes right from Shinjuku station to Sudioshibashi, which is one block from the Tokyo Dome! It was only like 6 stops away, so I gave Monica a hug, told her I’d try to be back in 2 hours and headed off to the station.

 

I found the Chou line platform, bought the cheapest ticket and grabbed the first local train that came by and rode out there. I had my pocket subway guide so I just followed along and just before we got there I saw the huge neon signs and I knew I was there.

 

I fare adjusted my ticket and walked out of the station and right onto a pedestrian bridge that goes right into the heart of the complex. It was a pretty awesome experience for me, all of the brightly lit signs and pachinko parlors. I walked a little ways and there was Big O and Thunder Dolphin. For me that was pretty significant seeing it in person. It was like I finally realized that I really was in Japan with really for real Japanese people.

 

Ahem, sorry to get so existential. I quickly walked over to the LaQua side of the complex and ran up to the second floor where the Thunder Dolphin station was. I found the ticket machine, paid my 1000 yen and ran up the station platform.

The station was empty and I got seated in the second row with some French dude. Weird.

 

Oh yeah, when I buckled my seat belt I had about 18 INCHES of black left over. I don’t know what is wrong with Cedar Point but the whole inch of slack thing is bull. Anyway…

 

My first ride was awesome! I really liked it. The diving turns were just great, I got some floater on the air hill and, yeah, the trick track isn’t the most spectacular coaster moment ever but the turn after it is great! Yes, it still has a lot of speed when it hits the brakes, I don’t care, I really liked it, so there.

 

I went over and got the Linear Gale credit, it was fun, grabbed some McDonalds for Monica and went back to Shinjuku. It was a really awesome experience going out there for my first time. Plus I got the 2 hard to get coasters on my first trip.

 

The next day after Tobu Monica went with me and we both had a blast! First we spent about an hour at the Arcade and Vending machines before we went to Thunder Dolphin. There were 2 empty seats in the back row so we got pulled out of line early (yes!).

 

We went over to Linear Gale next only to find out that we were 5 minutes too late and they had already closed. Remember: Credits First, Vending Machines Last! (2 days later we went back and she got her LG cred so no worries. She said it was boring and slow so whatev).

 

Next we rode Geopanic which I kinda liked even though the over the shoulder lapbar-front-cage-combo restraint was really strange. Lastly we rode the Maurer spinner which rocked (I love those) and wen’t back to the vending machines!

 

Enough of my rambling! Here’s the pictures! (a mix of our last two trips there)

OK, I guess we have time!

 

I'll have more tomorrow morning!! Enjoy!

View from the parachute tower.

See! all better!

Don't cry Monica, we'll just use the time cube!

Hey! it's the same Parachute tower knotts userd to have with the standing cages! Cool!

Ooh, pretty!

Hey look! It's the triforce! Somebody tell Link!

An onride photo for less than $5? Oh hell yeah!

That is a great coaster moment, I don't care what the haters think.

Thank you sign! I'll do what you say

We're here!

Yes. An overview of the LaQua section of Tokyo Dome City

Lost? Don't worry! These pencils will 'lead' the way!

OK, lets go ride something!

Come on, we have coasters to hit...wait a minute...is that a Mario audio keychain?! Give me some money woman!

Oh god, more of these things. This could take a while.

Oh yes, this can work!

OMG, somehow I made it on my own. :lil brudder:

Hey, that traffic cop has a lightsaber, cool!

Oh dude! I'm totally in Japan know!

[Nrthwnd]

You just reminded me, Don...

 

We have these machines at alot of our own malls, especially those with movie multiplexes in them.

 

Most of them are offering (gasp) La Disney Stuff, such as mini-coffeemugs (made of -real- china) or figurines of certain movies, like Toy Story, or Nemo, and early character lines like Dinsey Princesses.

 

I think each one is a $2 CDN turn, which for better or worse isn't too bad a deal for throwing two bucks away, hmm?

 

Thought I recognized those little yellow buggers, heh heh!

 

Trip report lookin' great there. Glad you both had a great time, without getting stressed out on how to "do all of it," etc. Sometimes, spontenaeity (sp?) works just as good in travel, as local life, lol.

 

Looking forward to the final part of it all.

[rollermonkey]

Good night, Jeezus. I'm glad she did manage to get LG.

I can't wait to see me, even though I'm sure Fuji-Q was a low point of your visit...

[pianojohn]

Great TR! When I went to Tokyo Dome backin 2003, I missed GeoPanic, but managed to do the walk thru haunted house. It was pretty weird since they would scream stuff at you in Japanese. Not sure if they made it more or less scary!

 

Keep the great pics coming!

[Meteornotes]

Ah, more vending machines! Thanks!

 

Interesting to note how much slack was on the belt on Thunder Dolphin. A shame other places cannot be like that...

 

dt

[dandaman]

 

Holy crepe!

[PhishyBrewer]

I really hope you were freezing your butt off in Japan.

[Jeezus Juice]

Yeah, thunder dolphin was so cold! So was Dodonpa, Linear Gale, Blue Fall, and that pile of Geishas!

 

Heres some more LaQua pics for you smart mouth!

Pink Ranger monica is flipping you off japanese style until next time when we battle..."The Fuji-Q Highlands!!"

Ok, here we go again!

That look can only mean one thing.

Wash it down with the hamburger patty, fried egg, and pickle platter!

It is Sumo approved!

All right my friends, meet Konishiki, the $30 cheeseburger.

The Maurer Spinner is over here too. As far as I know this is the only one that has the traditional mouse layout instead of the others with the high banked turns. These are so much better than the Reverchon/Zamperla ones IMO.

Right next to the Tower Hacker they have a frog hopper version for the kids. The name was obviously lost in translation.

It does go up quite a ways though

They have a 2nd gen here too. It's weird though because it doesn't quite go all the way to the top. Weird.

This is all that Geo Panic shows you from the outside. It definately wasn't smooth but it was really fun and had a lot of weird effects. It didn't anticippoint like X:/WTF did.

I'm glad we were able to make it back to the park another day. Yay for more Thunder Dolphin night rides!

[nemesis-storm]

The Maurer Spinner is over here too. As far as I know this is the only one that has the traditional mouse layout instead of the others with the high banked turns. These are so much better than the Reverchon/Zamperla ones IMO.

 

I'm affraid to say you are wrong, I personally know of 1 other version, which I've been on. It's called Speedy and is at a little park called CentrO Park, it's not too far from Movie World Germany. A couple of my pics

 

 

 

I do agree, they are far better than the Reverchon/Zamperla type.

 

Paul 'Looking forward to rest of the Trip Report' Chapman

[shesaidboom]

Is the thing on the bottle farting?

[Jeezus Juice]

^ Cool, thanks for finding the other one. I wish more parks would get these, they're really fun rides.

 

Anyway, on to:

 

Day Four: Fuji-Q!

 

So we went out front of our hotel in the morning and started hitchhiking and this dude with a left hand drive infinity picks us up and says he’s heading to Fuji-Q! What a coincidence, we hopped in.

 

Our homie RollerMonkey brought us up to speed on the latest in Japan coastering and before we knew it Mount Fuji was in view and we spotted the HUGE box of supports for Fuji’s new 4-D arrow fishhook coaster. Sweet.

 

We got through the massive gift shop entrance and did the funky “buy your admission from one booth, go stick it in a photo booth thing" and got our freepasses.

 

Sadly the lady at the ticket booth said something like “ :Japanese: :more Japanese: ‘Dodonpa’ :Japanese: ‘Fujiyama’ thank you” and we’re like crap, the two biggest coasters in the park are going to be down. Ah well, there’s plenty of other stuff, plus a lot of snow, and I know we’re coming back next year so no big deal.

 

On our way to the Gundam simulator we noticed that the parks paddle wheel lagoon was completely frozen over and people were ice skating on it! That was so awesome, so I made plans to do that later in the day.

 

We made our rounds hitting coasters next, Zola 7, rode it, wasn’t even going to count it until we finally got to the lift hill. The mouse hadn’t opened yet and the Ham-hams we’re down due to wind I guess, even though the weather was calm.

 

So, on our way to some walkthrough attraction Monica and Chris went to go ride they’re favorite rides (sitdown and stand-up, respectively) and I waited outside when I heard this loud, booming air noise and looked up as a Dodonpa train circled the bathroom area where I was standing.

 

I just kind of stood there like “Guys…I think you should hurry up…guys?” when they came out I told them that Dodo was testing and we should investigate. We raced around through Thomas Town on our way to the front of the park when we passed Rock ‘n Roll Duncan. The guys gave me crap for this but it was just starting to load and I figured we could get it out of the way early and whatever so I convinced them to hold off on Dodonpa for –just- a moment while we rode Duncan. It wasn’t as big of a deal as they’re going to make it out to be, plus I kinda liked it.

 

With that out of the way we made our way to DDP which was open by then and had about an hours worth of queue.

 

We were able to switch off and all three of us rode in the front. The ride is just amazing, lap bars only, and has 2 killer spots of air; the drop right after the launch, and the single greatest ejector ever on the tophat. XCL kept breaking down when we we’re at PKD so I can’t compare the two but Dodop was just awesome.

 

To sum up the rest of our day, the other two small coasters opened, Ham-ham was fun, the haunted walkthrough upcharge was really really good and just as we we’re getting ready to leave Fujiyama opened!! It was awesome too, I really like the Japanese Togos!

 

Before we left I was able to go ice skating and we got a numbingly cold night ride on Dodonpa in the front seat in 27 degree weather. Whoo!!

 

Here are the pictures!

The giant Pizza sponsored frissbee. Good times.

Zola 7 was a much better dark ride shooter than it was a coaster!

I'll give all you gundam fans a few minutes here. I still think that a giant Optimus Prime or Shockwave would look better though!

Just infront of PaniClock is the drop Dodonpa takes just after the launch. Awesome negative gs all the way down.

The lapbar is the only thing keep these people from launching into orbit. The air is seriously unreal.

Dodonpa is so fast, seriously.

Chris didn't want to sit in my lap so he opted for his own flying hamster bucket

Fuwa fuwa ham-ham or whatever this ride is called was actually really fun. It was probably pretty scary as a flying coaster though!

Allright, meet Hamtaro and the special edition Mt. Fuji hamser!

Once you've ridden a Log Flume in the snow you can consider yourself hardcore.

Ahh, very clever. You win this round logic, but I will be testing you again soon!

Yeah, it's 30 degrees and there are chunks of ice floating in it, lets go on the shoot-the-chutes!!

Hang on Chris! looks like your about to slip out the side!

I just wanted to show you guys the train real quick. The cars remind me of my primer color 1972 vista cruiser I have parked in a ditch back home!

And then Fujiyama opened! That was so cool, it made the ride that much better.

Fuji-Q was awesome!

I'm not sure what this is, but I hope it has a happy ending!

My Dodonpa T-shirt. I love it so much.

It was cool skating around outside looking at the park and fuji in the distance.

I can't believe they froze their pond!

Here is a mysterious walk through attraction underneath mini-fuji-san with the real fuji-san in the back ground

This park was so much better than I have been led to believe. It is totally not the 'Magic Mountain' of Japan, at least when we were there.

But first, "Heys guys, we can get the credit like real qiuck...guys? Where are you going?!"

At least it opened later in the day!

Do...Do...Pa...Do...Do...Pa...

Spotted this in the gift shop. Is this the rival to Thunder Dolphin?

These are the Dodonpa vending machines out in front of the park.

We're finally here and the waether is really clear and VERY cold!

OK, this has GOT to be the place!

Dude! Your totally going to Fuji-Q!! It's going to rock! Whoo!

[Jeezus Juice]

More.

This box is so massive. It totally dwarfs the similer support on X. Perhaps the track will pass through it twice?

Good bye Fuji-Q! Well totally be back as soon as we can!

Now, you're never going to find a Millenium Force milk pie box!

Is that a Mt. Fuji cake!!! This is the best country on earth!

Ahh hell, grab me a basket!!

Make that two things!

OK, I know what I'm getting.

Oh how cute! It's a lion eating a baby seal!

Night falls and now it's really time to go. Brrr....

I know what my tree is going to be like next year!

Check out the half drunk vampire hamster in the upper right. What kind of kid shows are these?

For Wally.

The park was really nice at night, but the temperature was falling quick!

We had to leave the Ice once the Q-boni showed up.

Monica and I traded off. She did pretty well too!

As it starting getting dark I finally got to go Ice Skating. And I totally didn't fall! It was amazing!

Good ride, very low capacity but it was a good ride.

Their mouse had one of the best layouts that I've seen. It had crazy turns everywhere.

Man Dodonpa is fast!

From the construction wall, does anybody know where I can find more Moonsault Scramble pictures?

[ebl]

I'd just taken a sip of Coke when I first saw that monorail/skyride thingie, and seriously almost spit it out on my screen. That may be one of the funkiest looking rides ever.

 

Great photo TR, Don. I will get to Japan someday. Really.

 

Eric

[Jeezus Juice]

Day Five: Yokohama, Sega Joypolis, and LaQua again!

 

This was our power day where we hit 4 parks in the same day! It was the last day before we went to Disney and we just wanted to finish up a few things.

 

We started out by heading down to Yokohama to Hakkejima Sea Paradise. It was pretty neat going from the icy slopes of the Mt. Fuji area one day to the ocean on the next.

 

Sea Paradise is a medium sized free entry sea life park with an assortment of flat rides complementing the two main attractions; Blue Fall, the 330 foot intamin 2nd gen (the one with the brakes just after the drop!) and Surf Coaster, the helix heavy curvy Togo over the water.

 

Dolphin Coaster has been removed and was replaced by the saddest looking mini golf this side of Williams Grove and some inflatable kiddie crap.

 

After hanging out with Chris again at his home park for a few hours we took the trains back towards Tokyo a few stops to Yokohama Cosmoworld. Cosmoworld is the smallish entertainment center located right in the middle of the most awesome business district I’ve ever see. It also has a big wheel with a clock in the middle.

 

The park is home to a standard Zamperla spinning mouse and the awesome Vanish: Diving Coaster.

 

After the coasters we checked out the huge mall right across the street which had the most awesome food court I’ve ever seen. It was like an enclosed open-air food market with a French bakery, some German place, a McDonalds and a whole grocery store attached. Everything was so open that it would be a mall security guards nightmare in the states with people ripping off stuff left and right. Imagine going to a mall and having all of the stores remove their walls and security scanners. Like so you could walk from Hot Topic right into Cinnabon, that’s kind of what this place was like, only quite posh, so no cinnabons for me…

 

After our mall rat adventure we headed back to Tokyo and finally made it to Joypolis with enough time to ride Speedboarder, play some games, buy more stuff from capsule machines, and take some pictures.

 

We then made it to LaQua with about 45 minutes to spare before Linear Gale closed. At no point we’re we really rushing though. We did take our time and re-ride stuff, check out shops, and take pictures. We were just able to get everything done on time, it was great!

 

Enough rambling! Start looking!

I leave you all with our greatest discovery of the day...a draft beer vending machine. Wally, can we order this instead of the kegerator? Please?!

 

Cosmoworld is next!

Ah geeze...you know, we really need to try to improve our image over there. lol!

OK, this is kind of embarassing...

Wait a minute, whats this...?

And Street Fighter roulette!

No way! Coin operated duck races!

Man these radish guys crack me up.

All right! My favorite ride! I hope it's a stand-up!

But first, we gotta hit the arcade.

AHA! She found an interesting place to eat!

Why is Monica smiling...?

Is this the only raft ride with a Dolphin pool incorperated into it?

Sure, it's blisteringly cold out, of course the raft ride is open! Let's go! Monica was the smart one and decided not to ride with us.

No boat jump, but the Pelican Raft was operating.

Wait, I just noticed this now! Does his shirt say what it looks like it says?! OMG! I totally missed that when I took the picture!

Oh man, more awesome diabetic coma park food!

For an Industrial area, it sure was a lot nicer looking than parts of Long Beach!

There are a bunch of rumors as to the fate of the boat jump. What we do know is it's still there with the boats parked at the top and it wasn't operating the day we were there. I'm sure Chris can keep us posted!

The park has a lot of space. We saw people here just waking their dogs around. The buildings there in the middle are shops and restauraunts.

Togo sure did design some cool layouts. This one was actually pretty smooth too.

Everyone loves the Togo toilet bowl!

Oh yeah! There's another reason why we're here!

Here you can see how the rows alternate between ones that have the brake and ones that don't. The 'holding brake' really adds a lot to the ride. I also like the fact that you can choose either or.

It's so high! Like, Millenium Force high!

It really is the greatest drop ride!

Sea Paradise was our first stop of the day. You can see Blue Fall, the Dolphin show pyramid, and the huge bridge the buses use to get to the park.

[ebl]

"Big Dick?" What the...?

 

Bob's Big Boy is actually making a comeback of sorts. There's a new one out here in Santa Paula (Ventura County), but it's set up more like a fast food place. They sell the same food, though.

 

I'm really enjoying your Photo TR of Japan. One day I hope to do one.

 

Eric

[captain]

What a great TR so far!

 

Thank You so much for sharing your photos and impressions.

 

In 54 days I`m flying to Japan and I can`t wait

 

I`m now into my last planning stages and your TR`s help a lot to see what`s hot and what`s not.

 

Andy

[PhishyBrewer]

I'm checking eBay now!!!

 

[BudtheWeiser]

I'm checking eBay now!!!

 

 

 

I'll Race you to it

[Jeezus Juice]

Hey guys! I'm glad your diggin' the updates!

 

It was pretty busy at work this week so I didn't get to finish up the last few parks. I'll get on that later this week.

 

I just got a new apartment the day after we got back from Japan so that's taking up a lot of my free time.

 

Cheers,

-Don

[Tomizzle For Rizzle]

Great photos Don. I'm totally jealous. Did you ride the Blue Fall side with the warped rails? It's brutal! The rest is amazing.

[Jeezus Juice]

^ OMG yeah the warped rails! Since it was just Chris, this 12 yr old japanese kid, and me we got on a few times with no waits.

 

I really noticed it the second time, it's like there was a lot of play between the rails and the wheel assembly. We got some really wicked side to side action going on!

 

-Donizzle fo Shizzle

[PhishyBrewer]

It was pretty busy at work this week