Shawn's Worldwide Adventures! PTRs From My Travels

It never fails to amaze me how hey can cram a huge coaster like that into a building. (I don't mean enclosed, I mean indoor, like that..) because they have to think of unique yet structurally sound ways to built them, no? :O

Great TR!

^Never say never. Who knows what the future will bring. If you asked me a few years ago if I would be able to take over a year off to travel the world with my family, I think I would have laughed. Amazing things are possible if we just open our minds to them. Life is truly a blessing and so many amazing things can happen! Visiting rare theme parks in other countries is just a very small part of that.

Yeah, so, how is it possible?

I'm kidding. It is absolutely awesome and incredible that you're able to take such a trip. It would be fun for a single guy like me to do it, but to do it with your family while you're still young makes it even better. You've also found the perfect balance of seeing the world and getting credits too!

I don't really consider this much of an update, but I thought these pictures might be of interest to some. When we were in Singapore a couple of months ago, we were able to capture some photos of the construction of the site that Universal Studios Singapore will sit on.

Universal Studios Singapore will sit on Sentosa Island in Singapore. This island is known as being a family destination in the city and is home to a number of tourist attractions. Access to the island is via causeway, monorail and cable car. We captured these pictures from above in the cable car.

The location also sits right across from the new cruise ship terminal in Singapore. The park will be partly owned by the Genting company who owns the Genting Highlands resort that I will write about in my next update. No upward construction had begun yet and they were still doing land fill, grading and foundation work. Here are a few pictures.

I will get the Genting Highlands update done either tomorrow or the next day. Keep the comments coming. Please keep in mind these pictures were taken two months ago so construction has progressed since then. It was also raining that day, so the pictures aren't of the best quality. Thanks!

Another view of the site. This time you can see the monorail on the tracks!

Making more land!

Foundation work!

You can see the Sentosa Monorail line runs directly through the site. There will be a stop right outside the entrance to the park.

Say hello to Universal Studios Singapore!

^Never say never. Who knows what the future will bring. If you asked me a few years ago if I would be able to take over a year off to travel the world with my family, I think I would have laughed. Amazing things are possible if we just open our minds to them. Life is truly a blessing and so many amazing things can happen! Visiting rare theme parks in other countries is just a very small part of that.

 

Yeah, so, how is it possible?

 

I'm kidding. It is absolutely awesome and incredible that you're able to take such a trip. It would be fun for a single guy like me to do it, but to do it with your family while you're still young makes it even better. You've also found the perfect balance of seeing the world and getting credits too!

All you have to do is figure out a way to print money!

Thanks for the nice words. This trip has been a blessing and getting to visit a few parks here and there certainly is an added benefit! During the last year I have been able to ensure that my son is a coaster freak just like me! I just can't wait until he is 54" so I don't have to hear him whine every time he can't ride a certain coaster!

Nice TRS and construction pics, and your son will be tall enough soon. I sill remember my first upside down coaster and the wait to be tall enough made it even better. So did my crying sisters as hey were not tall enough lol

^He has been on a lot of pretty intense coasters. Millennium Force is his favorite. As for inversions, he was so delighted that Ninja at SFOG had a 48" requirement that he had to ride it again. Of course this was his first solo ride, since neither my wife nor I could stand the thought of another go around on it! But yah we keep praying for him to grow to 54" soon because he throws a fit every time we ride a coaster he can't go on. (Of course that never stops us!)

I really like this thread . These are great TRs of some interesting little-known parks. They seem to each have their own unique characteristics. While some of the parks looked kinda "corny" (and well...cheap), it also showed that you don't have to be Disney or some other "Major Company" in order to have a very nicely themed and beautiful looking park. Awaiting the next update...

I am sorry for the delay, but I don't always have a reliable enough connection to post these trip reports.

Finally I bring to you the Genting Highlands Resort in Malaysia. This place is located about one hour outside of Kuala Lumpur and is often referred to as the Las Vegas of Malaysia because of its two casinos. In addition, they have five hotels, two theme parks and numerous other activities.

The resort complex is located on the top of a mountain and to reach it you must take the longest cable car in Southeast Asia and the fastest in the world up to the top. Other than visiting the parks, we thought it would be neat to stay in the First World Hotel, which is the largest hotel in the world. We didn't really enjoy it, leading to us nicknaming it the Third World Hotel.

I will bring you this report in two parts. The first will cover the hotels and the indoor theme park, while the second will focus on the outdoor park. For some reason the indoors stuff didn't seem to inspire me and the pictures are rather random. Also, the weather for our day outdoors was horrible and foggy, so those pictures aren't great, but I did the best I could.

I recommend anyone interested to visit Wikipedia and search for Genting Highlands and First World Hotel if you are interested in more information. Of course, RCDB can provide more info on the coasters. I also wrote about Genting Highlands on my website with more details on our experiences. Here is the link. http://familyrtw.com/?p=211 I didn't really like the place, but found it very interesting.

As always I enjoy the comments and feedback. Any questions or suggestions are always welcomed.

GENTING HIGHLANDS PART 1:

Finally I leave you with our closet of a hotel room.

Here is another picture of the two towers of the Third World Hotel.

Here is my one shot of the rather boring indoor coaster. It is the only coaster in the indoor park.

And the statue of liberty.

They also have large replicas of things like an Oscar.

Another hunchbacked gondola driver.

On board the Rio carnival ride.

They also have a reindeer ride that moves slowly overhead similar to the Rio carnival ride.

Its a bird, its a plane, its Gentingman!

All of the fake gondola drivers on the Venetian boat ride are hunchbacks!

The indoor theme park shares space with shops and a movie theater. Flying overhead is a Rio carnival float ride!

It has a large snow tube slide that was a lot of fun!

On our first night we visited SnowWorld which is a large indoor snow playground.

To check in you must take a number and wait an hour for it to be called!

Once at the top we got a glimpse of our hotel. It is the biggest and most colorful hotel in the world!

The scenery was truly stunning!

This is the longest cable car in SEA and the fastest in the world.

To get to Genting Highlands, we first take a bus an hour out of Kuala Lumpur into the mountains!

The outdoor park at Genting Highlands has horrible operations and closes whenever it drizzles. The pictures were taken at several different times since we were forced to leave the park on three different occasions of light rain. Not only do they shut down the coasters in the rain, but they close ALL OF THE RIDES!

Enjoy the update!

GENTING HIGHLANDS PART 2:

And finally the money shot for all you lift hill enthusiasts. Thanks for viewing!

They have a few kids rides.

Two dinosaurs kissing.

Flying coaster going up the lift.

The haunted house dark ride was horribly cheesy.

One of the nicer areas of this horribly run park.

Psyclone and their drop tower.

One of the resort's other hotels.

Now that I have covered the major rides in the park, I will leave you with some random pictures.

The boat ride was actually a lot of fun. The fog really added to the atmosphere.

This section of the park has an adventure trail along with a boat ride that has animatronic dinosaurs.

It was at this point that we headed up to the Dinosaur Island part of the park.

Visibility was incredibly low and there was literally no one else in the park.

At this point in the day we were forced inside by rain and when we returned to the outdoor park the fog had settled in.

It looked like a lot of fun!

The other major attraction is a luge type ride. I was too heavy and my son too small, so my wife was the only one who got to ride it.

Getting on the rides was hit or miss all day since they close every ride in the park with the slightest drizzle. They must have been talking to Cedar Point.

This coaster was cool because it sits at the edge of the mountain.

The final coaster in the park is Corkscrew. This is a pretty standard corkscrew coaster.

One more flying dragon.

Flying dragon in the station.

It is a Zamperla dragon and runs straight through the entire park with the exception of the helix in the previous picture. We went over to ride it several times during the day, but didn't get to until right before closing.

The other coaster in the bottom portion of the park is the Flying Dragon.

Yay for Cyclone!

It twists and turns on itself.

The ride is actually a lot of fun.

Next we come to Cyclone. It is Malaysia's first roller coaster.

Next to the flume was a small lake with pedal boats.

This flume ride runs right next to the mine train coaster and is easily the worst of its kind the world. There was no water flow and the only way the boat would move is when another log went through the drop behind. We had to pull ourselves along.

Moving inside the park now here is the station for the mine train coaster.

One more look.

The ride is short and a little painful. It certainly doesn't compare to a real flyer. I think Big Mike posted an update of a park in NY with this exact same coaster I think.

This is the lift. The car is spun up the track by the bracket in the middle.

Hmmm do those cars look like anything familiar?

I'll start with Flying Coaster. This is the pay per ride coaster and is probably the best in the park.

In Malaysia this is Energizer's mascot. Duracell uses a pink bunny for a mascot here.

The outdoor theme park houses four coasters with a fifth pay per ride coaster located outside of its gates.

I didn't know Cedar Fair ran Genting Highlands...lol

I've been interested in this park as it seems to be unknown for a fairly large park. The coaster selection doesn't seem to be that great, but there seems to be a lot to do at the resort. Great pictures and trip report, and I can't wait to see where you go next.

^There is a lot to do, but the place is horribly run. The employees aren't very friendly at all and they seem to care more about the gambling business and the theme parks are an after thought.

But with movie theaters, arcades, a bowling alley, an indoor snow environment, sky diving simulator, large arena, two casinos and two theme parks along with over 10,000 rooms it certainly has something for everyone.

On top of that, the scenery is stunning and I did get to visit two theme parks, so I can't complain.

BTW the whole property is owned by the Genting company, the same people who will be part owner's of Universal Studios Singapore. I hope they can run that park better than the Highlands' parks.

I have to say that park looked very interesting... I was kind of shocked that the kids drop tower thing had saddels to sit on and this park operation wise didn't seem good at all. Its also kind of sad when the best ride in the park was a pre design zamperla. great pictures though mate and a great trip report!

Since there have been so many Thailand posts in another thread recently, I thought I would delay some of my Thailand trip reports for another few weeks and skip ahead to Hanoi Moon Park in Vietnam.

When I was in Hanoi, Vietnam about a month ago, I suddenly got an urge to find a credit. After going on RCDB, I found a park that had one operating credit listed. I soon made it a point to get out to Hanoi Moon Park to ride their double corkscrew coaster. What I found was a rather disturbing place and a few surprises. I hope you enjoy.

The sad thing is, I'm so sick that if they had started it up at that moment, (and tested it) I probably would've gone on it spiderwebs and all! I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading.

Monorail (Rusted) Red

Sexy shot! Or at least it used to be.

Is that a coaster I see?

After the monorail we headed back to the hotel. I now leave you with a few random shots. This building houses a simulator ride.

For the girls in the audience, a Vietnamese man in a speedo on a zip line. Seriously though, doesn't the water park look nice?

The monorail brought us closer to the water park. It looked sooooo nice. It was like night and day compared to the theme park.

After the ferris wheel we headed to the ghetto monorail. I figured if it fell over off of the track that we wouldn't get hurt too bad!

We also saw the neighboring water park which looked really nice.

Here is a shot of Hanoi in case you are interested.

From the ferris wheel we got a better sense of the coaster's layout.

The ferris wheel was the only ride that looked to be maintained in the park.

Next we explored a bit on our way to the park's ferris wheel. Hey look its the Lady Gay!

Oh this extreme close up is almost too much for me to handle. Did I mention this ride is so awesome even though you can't breath when going upside down!

And then we found this. This spinning hamster wheel ride is my new favorite flat ride ever. It is seriously like oh my god motherf***ckin better than bikini babes good!

The ghetto swings were just a bit to ghetto for us!

With the coaster closed, we decided to see if there were any flat rides that we wanted to experience.

It didn't stop me from giving some love to you lift hill enthusiasts though.

After a climb up to the station and a quick peak, my suspicions were confirmed!

Next it was time to check out the coaster. I was 99% sure by this time that it wasn't operating!

Oh yah and the lions were there as well!

Big Mike also brought his friends Timon & Pumba!

From there we could see what was up on the coaster. I have enhanced the image, but it should be clear by now that it is our beloved Big Mike! I didn't know the Road Show was coming to Vietnam!

First thing through the gate we saw a whole gang of mechanics trying to bring this ride back to life!

On our way to the ticket both we could tell this was going to be an interesting experience by the state of their monorail!

Pulling into the park we could see the coaster. In the shed below the lift we saw something strange. We would first have to get inside before we could have a closer look.

Creepy park.

Knoebels has one of those hamster wheel flats...they are the best, aren't they?!

This is an awesome thread. I love seeing pictures of these parks. Even when they look a little rough.

Also bonus points for being a Packer fan!

Great update. This park seems "interesting" to say the least. Looks kinda run down, but sounds like you had an okay time which is all that matters. "Ghetto swings" made me laugh. That hamster ride looks like alot of fun. What exactly does it do?

I'm very much enjoying this thread (and Dave's Thailand thread)! Considering the weak US dollar, I may be exploring these countries sooner rather than later.

Also, is the belt a typical restraint for the hamster ride? I rode one at Hanayashiki but I don't recall the type of restraint.

Dino - The ride basically moves around in a circle and the wheel spins upside down. The seatbelt holds you in place.

Miniviews- I have only been on two hamster wheel flats. Both of them have a simple seatbelt that is locked down manually by the ride op. It does get a little painful as you push into the belt while upside down, but it is so much fun that you don't really care!

Dream World is definitely the best park in Thailand. It is located around 40km outside of Bangkok. A taxi ride only costs around $10 USD from the city center.

The park itself is interesting. Parts of it are ripped straight from the Disney play book, but it is unique in its own way. The front sections of the park consist of large gardens where you can pose with different statues, or just walk around and enjoy the scenery.

Once past the gardens the park opens up to a lake with some paddle boats and a few rides. Continue on and you find the majority of rides towards the back of the park. We really enjoyed Dream World a lot.

Note: Our camera battery died pretty early in the day, so we got limited pictures. I know there are other Dream World trip reports on this site, so if you are interested in more, search for them!

Keep up the comments. I hope you enjoy.

Hey we weren't the only ones who thought Dream World was great. I hope you enjoyed the TR. Thanks for reading!

Hey, don't you know the camera adds 250 pounds?

The locals really seemed to love the pedal boats.

Another view of the Sky Coaster.

The back of the Space Mountain building.

In addition the splash down boats create a large splash! (I deserve a caption award for this one!)

The park also has a rather lazily themed raft ride.

These figures outside were a lot more fun than the actual attraction.

With all three credits accounted for we walked made our way randomly through the park. The first stop was the walk through haunted mansion.

A better view of the layout.

The coaster basically goes through endless helixes.

It is a Vekoma non looping suspended coaster.

The final coaster is called "Sky Coaster"

and they even have a re-entry tunnel.

The lift hill tries to simulate a launch.

While the queue and ride don't compare to Disneyland's, this version is still quite a bit of fun.

Past the elephants we came to this confusing situation. Space Mountain is located in Adventureland?!?!?

Ah elephant riding in a theme park. Now this is something you don't see at home!

With our first credit in hand we continued on. Shawn Reece was thrilled to pose for this photo!

Speedy Mouse is a "ahem" family coaster.

Emerging from the gardens we come to our first credit!

The front of the park is lavishly landscaped.

Welcome to Dream World!

The park entrance looks familiar!

Great update. This park seems to be half Disney rip-off, but in a good way. It looks like it has enough of it's own unique feel though. The garden in front looks really nice. Overall seems fun , oops I mean .

Nice pictures - I do remember elephant rides at Circus World in Florida but that was in an enclosed area, not on the midway

In an effort to get these Southeast Asia trip reports done so I can start my China updates, I have two smaller parks for you today.

The first park is Yoyo Land. Yoyo Land is a theme park that is aimed towards smaller children. The park is located in a large shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand. Other than a single coaster, the park has a video game dark ride, junior train and a few small flat rides. We actually enjoyed the colors and spent around and hour at the park.

The second park is Wonder World Fun Park, also in Bangkok. This park is fairly new and is home to two complete coasters that have never operated. DubaiDave featured some photos on his recent Thailand thread so I will only post a few unique pictures that I have of the park. We only saw one other group there when we visited. The park looks like it has potential, but it needs something.

As always keep the comments coming. I hope you enjoy!

Goodbye Wonder World. Sorry to have known you, but thanks for the air conditioned ferris wheel ride.

So we decided to spice it up by playing a game of chicken!

We tried pushing, but that wasn't any fun.

Our last stop of the trip came at the self powered train ride.

Making our way out of the park we found the Whip of Doom!

When we got off of the ferris wheel we found that another group of people had shown up and they were actually riding something!

A look at the would be station building for the two coasters.

At least the ferris wheel cars were air conditioned.

The drop tower and a nasty sewage filled boat ride. (At least I think that is what it used to be!)

They have rides thrown about everywhere here.

Another view.

We decided to hop on the ferris wheel to get an overview of the coasters. One goes around in an oval on the outside while the other turns on itself on the inside.

And two intertwined coasters that have never operated.

The park has a centerless ferris wheel.

From the bright and cheery Yoyo Land we go to the dreary Wonder World Fun Park.

Shawn Reece give Yoyo Land a happy thumbs up.

Yay for a junior whip!

They had three huge children's play areas that looked like a lot of fun.

Now I'll end the Yoyo Land part of the update with a few random photos.

And they were all hyped up on Pepsi!

There was a hidden dark ride portion full of happy insects.

We saw the track go through the park, but the ride also had a surprise.

The other surprise for us was the small train ride.

This is what the screen inside looked like.

The next stop for us was Ghost Hunters. This is part shooting dark ride, part video game. Think Toy Story Mania with 1994 graphics. (The credits were copyright Sega 1994)

Zoom was nothing special, but it was a fun family coaster.

Since it was pay per ride we only went once, but they did give us two cycles. We like that.

It also has a couple of tunnels.

Zoom is a family coaster that flies over the amusement park.

The main reason for our visit was to ride the coaster so we headed over there next. As with most areas of this park it was sponsored by Pepsi.

This is what we found. (Notice the large drop in the background!)

The map said there was a flume ride so we though, "Cool and indoor log flume!"

The park is geared towards children with a good collection of calm rides.

After stuffing our bellies it was time for Yoyo Land!

Thai food is so wonderful. (Can you tell I love spicy food?)

Before we hit the park, it was time for lunch in the mall's food court.

There were lots of big colorful characters all around.

Just up the escalators is Yoyo Land!

Yoyo Land is located in the Seacon Square Shopping Mall. It is one of the largest malls in Thailand.

Wait. Does Wonderworld have an actual tripple Slingshot? I thought Divo Ostrov's was the only one around.

Any idea whether it had open vehicles or 'hamster balls' (that is, if it had any attached to it)?

I am not sure but here is my original picture cropped. You can see the vehicle behind the tree. I am not sure if it was operating, but the ride was complete. I don't have any other pictures of it. It appears to be a ball, but I didn't really pay attention.

^That looks like a 'hamster ball' all right. Thanks for the quick reply : )