Having a great time at Kings Dominion

Kings Dominion

International Street

When you enter the park, you immediately find yourself on International Street with the large fountain in front of the Eiffel Tower. To the right and left of the fountain, a number of shops and cafés invite you to take a stroll. All around are the entrances to the individual areas of the theme park. The Eiffel Tower, built by Intamin, towers above everything and offers a marvellous view of the entire park.

Berserker

While the Kings Island theme park has a large pirate boat from Intamin, Kings Dominion goes one step further and transports passengers overhead. Beserker is one of the most powerful looping starships I have ever had the pleasure of riding. It only takes three full swings to reach an upside-down position. What a ride! It’s just a shame that this type of ride has become so rare.

Dominator

The Dominator roller coaster dominates the left-hand side of International Street. The coaster owes its rather unusual track layout to its location at the now closed Geauga Lake theme park, where it was in operation between 2000 and 2007. The coaster has been at Kings Dominion since 2008.

The ride on the Dominator starts with a small drop out of the station. This is followed by an S-curve and a turn before entering the lift hill. Once we reach an exit height of 157ft, a pre-drop is followed by an immediate descent. We pick up speed in a very steep right turn before entering the huge loop. At full throttle, we go through a right turn close to the ground and a big steep turn high above the station to the next element: a cobra roll. We also enter this element with a lot of speed and pressure. A long ramp then leads us into a block brake. After another drop, we enter the interlocking corkscrews, where we’re tossed back and forth nicely. A steep banked turn and a couple of ground hugging banked turns lead us into the brake section of the ride.

Dominator is a very intense coaster. The layout, which is rather untypical for B&M, has a few highlights, including the Cobra Roll, which is really interestingly placed here. Thanks to the quick turnaround I was able to do a few laps on this coaster.

Planet Snoopy

As in Kings Island, the Planet Snoopy children’s area in Kings Dominion is remarkably large. Originally opened as the Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera, this area has been entertaining its target group since the 1970s. Over the course of time, this area was expanded again and again before the children’s channel Nickelodeon claimed large parts of the themed area for itself with Paramount. In the year of the takeover by Cedar Fair, the remaining Hanna-Barbera rides were also remodelled. When the licence agreement with Nickelodeon expired in 2010, the decision was made to use the well-known Peanuts characters, as in the other parks in the group.

Great Pumpkin Coaster

The Great Pumpkin Coaster is located in the centre of the Planet Snoopy themed area. This is a small family roller coaster built by E&F Miler Industries in 1997, which has a fairly compact layout and is only suitable for families with small children. For this reason, and because of the somewhat longer waiting time, I decided not to take a ride.

Woodstock Express

Next door is the Woodstock Express, the smallest of the three wooden roller coasters at Kings Dominion. The ride through the compact layout of the completely blue painted coaster starts after a short right turn with the ascent of the lift hill. Once at the top, it’s straight into the first drop. At around 35 miles per hour, we speed through the first valley before taking a turn. After another descent, we race over a small speed bump before crossing the wooden structure and taking another turn on the other side of the track. It’s all uphill and downhill for a while before we dive into the wooden structure below the first bend and follow its course. Back out in the open, we enter a small dip before reaching the coaster’s braking section where the fun and excitement of the wooden roller coaster comes to an end.

Boo Blasters on Boo Hill

The interactive dark ride Boo Blasters on Boo Hill was originally opened in 2004 under the name Scooby-Doo! and the Haunted Mansion. Back then, the ride in the Mystery Machine still took you through two-dimensional scenes with the characters from the well-known Hanna-Barbera series, in which you could trigger your own effects and unmask the villain at the end. Now there are only ghosts. It’s still very kitschy and nicely done, but unfortunately Boo Blasters on Boo Hill doesn’t capture the spirit of the original attraction, although the queue through the swamp is really well done and gives the ride an eerily beautiful atmosphere.

Jungle X-pedition

The new Jungle Expedition themed area shows just how well Cedar Fair can design its areas if they want to.  The main attraction in this area is the new Tumbili roller coaster – a free spin roller coaster from S&S – which was only doing a few test rides in the afternoon during my visit and was otherwise closed all day.

Reptilian

The Avalanche roller coaster used to run in typical Swiss bobsleigh track style with trains from different nations through a white channel decorated with rubber abrasion. Today, the ride is called Reptilian and the track is bright orange. The trains are now also standardised.

After the lift hill, we slowly pick up speed in a helix. With a little speed, we first go over a long ramp and through a block brake. This is followed by several left and right turns in quick succession. Finally, we race through a downhill helix, which is immediately followed by an uphill helix. After this brilliant finale, we reach the final brake and our fun ride unfortunately comes to an end.

Backlot Stunt Coaster

Passing Arachnidia – an Eli Bridge Scrambler from 1976 – we head to the backlot stunt coaster. Opened as Italian Job: Turbo Coaster in the days of Paramount, the coaster is a special effects coaster from Premier Rides and, as the name suggests, boasts a number of special effects. The compact ride also offers a few other surprises.

The first is right at the beginning of the ride. The launch into the car park, where you then spiral upwards in a tighter and tighter helix, is a brilliant and above all breathtaking start. Never before have I been pressed so hard into my seat. After the 900° helix, there is only a short breather as the descent is immediately steep. In the valley, we take small, gentle bends past police cars, advertising billboards and containers. At the end of the passage we change direction in an Immelmann bend before climbing a hill. After a short right-hand bend, a wide left-hand bend brings us back down into the valley. Shortly after this we come to the big special effects scene. A helicopter is attacked with a lot of noise and a fire effect is triggered, at least in theory. Shortly afterwards we are accelerated through a tunnel. This is followed by a steep turn to the right before changing direction and heading towards the light at the end of the tunnel. We then pass through a dried-up pool of water and after another turn, the end of the ride awaits.

The Backlot Stunt Coaster is a very interesting roller coaster with nice ride elements and a lot of effects that are unfortunately no longer used in the park. The ride is very fast and surprisingly intense due to the start in the triple helix. In any case, the former Blockbuster coaster is great cinema at Kings Dominion!

Anaconda

I love big Arrow looping coasters and was very excited to ride Anaconda after riding Kings Islands Vortex. From the outside at least, the big looping coaster looks very promising.

After climbing the 128-foot lift hill, the ride descends in a long, steep turn. The ride then enters a tunnel just above the water surface. After the very pressurised valley we climb a long ramp followed by a very intense loop. Still at high altitude, we then enter a sidewinder. Then we reach the coaster’s block brake. Now the track gets a bit weird as we make our way through an interestingly curved figure of eight with rather strange transitions. In a long right turn we approach the coaster’s two corkscrews, which are taken very slowly. After a short hill and a left turn we reach the brakes.

Anaconda is a very uneven coaster, where the beginning of the ride is really strong, the middle part is bizarre and the end is a bit too slow. The loop and sidewinder are the highlights of the ride and are great fun. After the block brake the coaster loses some of its momentum. The figure of eight element is a bit strange to ride. The corkscrews are slow and almost uncomfortable. Conclusion: Great start, mediocre finish.

Flight of Fear

In the same year as Kings Island’s Flight of Fear, Kings Dominion opened the same coaster. Both coasters are pioneers in the use of LIM modules on roller coasters. Again, the queue is a good introduction to the space flight that follows.

As at Kings Island, the launch takes place directly from the station. Now at full speed, you immediately enter the powerful Cobra Roll, before hurtling across the floor of the hall after two headstands. After a powerful valley, we immediately enter a sidewinder before cruising through the upper part of the track. After a couple of turns, we are slowed down a little in a block brake before heading into the lower part of the course. In a constant up and down, we spiral further and further down before changing direction after a wide left turn. We now quickly approach the floor of the arena, where we change direction again. After two more steep bends close to the ground, we unexpectedly find ourselves upside down in a corkscrew, whereupon we reach the braking section and shortly afterwards the exit station of the ride.

Flight of Fear is a very solid roller coaster with a really nice track and great scenery. Fortunately, the ride is a lot smoother than the one at Kings Island, which is why I always enjoy getting on this ride.

Intimidator 305

Probably the most spectacular roller coaster at Kings Dominion is Intimidator 305. Built by Intamin, the ride has a drop of 305 feet and sits very close to the ground.

The ride on the Intimidator 305 starts with a very fast lift, where the height of the ride becomes apparent as soon as you pass the nearby Drop Tower. The first steep drop then sends you hurtling at almost 90mph through a relatively tight radius turn, with the view becoming increasingly limited until all you can see is grey. But before our eyes go black, we regain height and immediately race over an airtime hill. Now we take a long left-hand turn close to the ground. After a short straight we continue to the left. This is followed by a series of fast turns. A long right-hander is followed by the second airtime hill of the circuit. Another hill leads us into a right-hander, which quickly turns into another left-hander. Shortly afterwards we enter the braking section of the coaster.

It’s not for nothing that the Intimidator 305 is Intamin’s knock-off machine. Although the first bend was softened after the first season, it still severely restricts your field of vision, but you regain full consciousness before the first crest at the latest. The following bends are taken quickly but very smoothly, although the final bends are somewhat unimpressive. All in all, the Intimidator 305 is a really good roller coaster, which scores points above all for the speed rush created by the close-to-ground layout.

Candy Apple Grove

The Candy Apple Grove is the large midway of Kings Dominion with numerous rides to the right and left of it. Here you will find the classic Dodgem bumper cars, a carousel, the Wave Swinger, the HUSS Troika Mad Apple and the large Ferris wheel Americana.

Delirium

Another highlight in this themed area is the Mondial Revolution Delirium. Compared to the swing ride of the same name in Kings Island, the ride here is much more dynamic, which is also due to the pleasingly faster rotation of the gondola. Unfortunately, the monotonous rotation in only one direction is present here too.

Drop Tower and Windseeker

Together with the Windseeker, the Drop Tower towers above Candy Apple Grove. While the Windseeker allows a wild flight over the area on windless days, the Drop Tower offers a free fall from a height of 83 metres for up to 56 people at a time. As always with Intamin, the drop is very, very good.

Racer 75

When Kings Island opened, the two-lane wooden roller coaster The Racer was the star of the park, being the longest, highest and fastest roller coaster in the world at the time. So it’s no surprise that it was also included in the opening of Kings Dominion, albeit under the name Rebel Yell. With the opening of the Candy Apple Grove themed area, the name was changed to Racer 75.

The ride on the two tracks of Racer 75 starts with the front turn, after which the two tracks meet a few metres down the track and climb the lift hill together. Meanwhile, riders have plenty of time to cheer each other on, which also helps to build team spirit within their own train – after all, everyone wants to win together. As is so often the case, the first train plunges into the abyss while the second has just reached the top. After a steep valley, the track leads over a rather low hill, followed by a bunny hop, before the two trains separate on the next ridge. As one train heads left, the other turns right. With a lot of momentum and airtime, we now head through another valley with a hill, at the end of which the rear turn awaits. While it was easy to follow the other train up to this point, it becomes a little more difficult on the way back to the station. After another descent and a wonderful airtime hill, we reach the section we have already travelled. Parallel to this, we now race over a series of smaller airtime hills before finally disappearing into the support structure of the first drop and even being confronted with a dark tunnel on our way to the braking section. Shortly afterwards we return to the station.

The ride on the Racer 75 scores points mainly for the great view over the park, at least when only one of the two tracks is in operation, as was the case on the day I visited. The ride on the Racing Coaster with its many airtime bumps and out-and-back design is just as much fun, but without the second track something is missing.

Apple Zapple

At the very end of the Candy Apple Groove themed area is the Wild Mouse Apple Zapple. Right at the beginning of the ride, visitors experience a big drop before going through hairpin bends and over hills again towards the end. All in all, a pretty fast-paced family rollercoaster.

Twisted Timbers

The Hurler roller coaster was long regarded as one of the worst wooden roller coasters in the world. The ride through the layout characterised by ground-level turns had no real highlights to offer in addition to the rather poor ride characteristics. In 2018, the roller coaster was converted by RMC into Twisted Timbers.

The ride on Twisted Timbers begins directly with a right-hand turn that takes us up the ride’s lift hill. Once at the top, the ride initially takes a left-hand bend, which then leans more and more to the side and finally turns into a roll. With momentum, we then head through the first valley, over a speed bump and through a steep turn before heading over three airtime hills. A skilful change of direction in a cutback element leads over another series of airtime bumps. Then it’s through another turning curve and another roll. After a Bayernkurve, it’s back to the station via some more airtime bumps. Shortly afterwards, we hit the brakes.

Twisted Timbers is a fantastic roller coaster and finally an RMC with inversions that I could ride all day without any problems. This is mainly due to the fact that the roller coaster here doesn’t race over the numerous airtime hills as aggressively as other comparable rides. Without almost breaking your thighs, the ride is simply more fun. In this respect, Twisted Timbers is currently the best RMC roller coaster I’ve had the chance to ride.

Old Virginia

The Old Virginia themed area is mainly characterised by the two large water rides Shenandoah Lumber Co. and White Water Canyon, which are located right next to each other. Unfortunately, both rides had not yet started their season, so I was unable to test them on the day of my visit.

Grizzly

Located in the woods of the Old Virginia themed area, the Grizzly wooden coaster is hard to spot. After entering the ride through the gift shop, the expedition can begin. We approach the lift hill of the ride in a long left turn. At the top we immediately take the drop and turn left. After a climb, we go through a long left turn. The second drop takes us straight into an airtime hill and shortly after into a tunnel with another airtime hill. We then change direction in a big turn. A hill then takes us next to the track we have already experienced. Here we go over another airtime hill before taking another turn. Finally, a series of airtime hills leads us to the braking section of the ride.

Grizzly is a very good wooden roller coaster. The ride is so out of control that it is hard to believe. Although the ride’s statistics are not that surprising, the layout has a lot to offer. It’s just a very wild roller coaster ride.

Pictures Kings Dominion

Conclusion Kings Dominion

As with its sister park, I really enjoyed my visit to Kings Dominion. Although the park is not quite as big, it also impresses with a really strong portfolio of rides and rollercoasters. Due to the relatively low crowds on the day I visited, I was able to try out all the rides without any difficulty and got through everything relatively quickly. It was just a shame that the new Tumbili rollercoaster had problems on the day I visited. I will definitely be back again at some point.


What’s your opinion about the theme park Kings Dominion? Simply write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

      


Click here for the next report of the Stumbled Runner tour. 

Good Job at the Theme Park

Yomiuriland

Basically, Yomiuriland can be described as a classic trolley park; after all, the amusement park, which opened in 1964, resembles many other Japanese amusement parks of that era and is thus located not far from a railway station. However, the park was not founded by a railway company, but by the influential Yomiuri Group, Japan’s largest newspaper publisher and owner of the Yomiuri Giants, among other things.

There is not much more to tell about the history of Yomiuriland. Many players of the timeless theme park development game Roller Coaster Tycoon Classic will have already noticed the name of the park in one of the loading screen messages, because Yomiruiland is home to the world’s first stand-up coaster, the Momonga standing and loop coaster. If you’re now thinking “Uiiiii, a stand-up, how great!”, you can also look forward to the former record holder Bandit. You are welcome to leave out the sarcastic undertone while reading, because this is about historically interesting rides that have also left their mark on other important roller coasters. So let’s stay objective and focus on Yomiuriland in its entirety.

At least that’s what we thought, until we noticed at the valley station of the cable car leading up to Yomiuriland that it was not running. Directly at the train station, a staff member pointed out that there was a bus service up to the park all day long. But do you want to take the bus in muggy, foggy weather? Of course not, and so we dared to make the ascent, which in the end turned out to be very short notice.

When we arrived at the ticket office, we showed our passports and promptly received a hefty discount. Meanwhile, in the entrance area of the park, the park mascots were playing football. It’s the little things that make a park likeable, and this was one of them. In general, I had a positive first impression, which was also due to the day-care centre at the bottom station of the cable car and other social facilities provided by Yomiuriland. One could almost think that an amusement park is a social employer. Of course, this statement is somewhat different in Japan than in Europe, because thanks to year-round openings, at least the financial basis of the employees is guaranteed. In contrast, the trend here is towards minimum wages and more and more closing days during the season. This certainly makes sense from the point of view of many business graduates; from my point of view, however, it is the wrong way.

Bandit

I also find it stupid when you always try to tick off the highlight first. Where is the arc of suspense, where is the urge to discover something new for oneself in peace? So, fast, fast, fast in the direction of the Bandit roller coaster. Left and right of the path doesn’t matter for the time being. The steel colossus from Togo at least offers a feature that I would like to try out. The splashy dive through the greenery, as my good friend Daniel (Lacront at onride.de) very nicely describes it, offers some tingling water effects during the ride that are not to be missed. Unsure which of the two queues would lead us into the wet and happy adventure, we first queued at the one on the right (at the stairs).

Excited and also a little tense, we forced ourselves and our belongings into the narrow cars, closed the shoulder restraints and waited for the train to be dispatched. A member of staff operated a wheel of fortune on which the words High and Low alternated. The pointer then landed on Low and the train started moving. A short time later, a water fountain shot up and the falling water pelted the front part of the train, where we were of course sitting. Shortly after, we reached the lift hill of the ride and began the ascent to the starting height of 51m. In 1988, the ride in Yomiuriland was quite a calibre, which shortly thereafter ushered in the era of hyper coasters.

Once at the top, we complete a short straight before the train now turns towards the green hell below. During the descent, we hear the ignition of another water fountain in the distance, which reaches an estimated height of 40m. What goes up, must come down and so we race through the falling water at breakneck speed. In a high 180° bend just above the cable car leading to Yomiuriland, we quickly change direction before venturing into the greenery once more. Without mercy, we now approach an extremely crisp uphill helix, in which we power our way upwards within one and a half laps. A short descent at the top plateau of the ride follows before we plunge into the thicket once more in another high banked curve. Interestingly, we pass a lower point than on the first drop. But the true height difference of the ride only becomes apparent shortly.

With beautiful pacing, we complete a short airtime hill and immediately plunge into a deep valley. We reach the ground level of the ride for the first time. By exploiting the terrain, this results in a height difference of an incredible 78m. We climb steadily up a long ramp and then, at the end of the ascent, take a completely unexpected turn to the right. A few years ago, we could have seen the sister ride of the German Bandit from Movie Park Germany in all its glory. After the short right-hand bend, we make our way through the large valley once more. We then leave this valley via a short airtime hill, whereupon a left turn initiates the return to the station. After a short straight we whiz up a final climb and soon reach the braking section of the ride.

Go, go, Bandit! The fast-paced ride through the greenery impresses with its elongated layout and wide descents, but also with its Japanese peculiarities. For example, such a compact upward helix is unfortunately rarely found in roller coasters of this size even today. The most important gimmick, however, is the upgrade of the ride experience by the water effects used. Once wet, there is hardly any reason to swap the wet and happy ride for a dry one.

Laser Atlethic – Temple of the Sun

Opposite the Bandit roller coaster station is the interactive walkthrough Laser Atlethic – Temple of the Sun, where you can play tomb raider in the best Indiana Jones style on several missions of varying difficulty. As the name suggests, each course offers a mix of different skill games and a laser maze. In the teamwork variant, for example, you first have to pull yourself over a gorge with a roller board, then cross a laser maze and solve an oversized version of a ball maze in the last room. Of course, the whole thing takes place under time pressure and there are penalties for interrupting the light barrier. It’ s a wonderful fun experience that could also be implemented in various smaller amusement parks in Europe.

Animal Rescue – The Invasion of the Mekanchura

Directly below the Maze is the interactive dark ride Animal Rescue – The Invasion of the Mekanchura, which had to be pointed out to us first; after all, who would have the idea of simply following a rather renegade-looking path? Well, the station of the SL Coaster used to stand down here, but otherwise this corner of the park in Yomiuriland has been deserted. Thematically, you chase down poachers during the ride and capture them with nets before you are attacked by spiders yourself at some point and have to shoot your way out. The ride is quite entertaining and enjoyable.

Animal Coaster

If you follow the paths uphill again, you will end up in the family area around the park’s big Ferris Wheel. Here you will find several themed rides, including the snazzy Wanpaku Railway Oliver and the Animal Coaster. The latter is a variant of the historic Tumble Bug ride, which can still be experienced in a similar way in Kennywood Park.

Giant Ferris Wheel

In addition to a theoretically great view of Yomiuriland and the surrounding area, the Ferris wheel has foil-covered themed gondolas in addition to the normal gondolas, complete with matching background music. So you might think that the ubiquitous theme of “High & Low” in Yomiuriland would be about various Japanese metal groups. But in fact, according to the podcast Die Achterbahnreisenden, it is about Japanese gangster groups from various films. The whole thing culminates in High & Low Land, including a museum on an event area in the park.

Flag Street

Passing a children’s train and a carousel, we are now drawn to Midway Flag Street, a somewhat aging area with a variety of iconic rides, walkthroughs and restaurants.

To the left is a double feature consisting of a vintage car ride with a dinosaur theme and a bicycle pedal track running above it. Directly behind it and leading once around the entire area is the first go-kart track of Yomiuriland, which in turn consists of two tracks of different lengths.

Wan Wan Coaster Wandit

On the right side of Flag Street, the children’s roller coaster Wan Wan Coaster Wandit by the manufacturer Hoei Sangyo awaits us. The ride on the small roller coaster begins with a right turn out of the station. This is immediately followed by the lift hill that takes the train to a height of 5.5m. In a steep turn to the left, you quickly approach the bottom and then pass under the lift. In a 180° helix you then gain height metres again and cross the first curve of the ride. On a straight with integrated hills, you now make your way across the ride for a few metres before the return to the station is initiated via another turn. After another lap, the nice ride comes to an end.

Right next door is a Japanese compressed air jet ride with additional water effects, similar to a very primitive version of the Flying Fish from Zierer, where the park guests can aim water cannons at the passengers. Somehow, the Japanese are even crazier than the English when it comes to water, but interestingly enough, they are said to be somewhat afraid of it.

Hero Training Center Mission 8

There are also two walkthroughs directly opposite each other on the Midway. In addition to a classic Japanese house of horrors, there is also the Hero Training Centre Mission 8, which is quite something. You have to master task after task in several stages and rooms. These vary between games of skill, endurance games and puzzles. It’s just a shame that there are milestones in between that you have to pass. Although we seem to have figured out the card game, we probably did it completely the other way round and therefore got kicked out. It’s a real pity, because this attraction is also absolutely outstanding and could be established in an European amusement park. Since the fan scene has suddenly been overwhelmed by Karls Erlebnisdorf theme parks anyway, how about this? Another idea they announced in numerous interviews has already been implemented here in Yomiuriland by a German company, but more on that later.

Looping Starship

For now, it’s time to indulge in the looping craze of the late 70s and early 80s, and what could be better than a Looping Starship from Intamin. Just like in Nagashima Spa Land, the queen of the overhead ship swings convinces with its fast acceleration cycles and the terrific hangtime at the highest point of the ride.

Standing & Loop Coaster Momonga

One level higher, we experience the same game on a roller coaster. The Standing & Loop Coaster Momonga has a special feature, as the ride is able to accommodate two different types of vehicles. For this purpose, the station was divided in two, with both sides parallel to each other. A transfer element then pushes the respective side onto the central lane, whereupon the fun can begin.

After leaving the station, we immediately climb the lift hill of the ride. Having reached a height of 25m, we briefly enjoy the view before the right-hand bend we are currently in becomes more and more of a descent. In no time at all we find ourselves in the valley and are loaded with wonderful G-forces. Immediately we enter the loop and circle the lift hill once in the vertical plane, which has a nice visual effect, especially in the stand-up version. This is followed by a wide horizontal loop. After a short valley, there is an almost equally wide left turn, which represents the turn back to the station. Soon the brake of the roller coaster is reached and the ride is over. Now you are quickly pushed back to your loading side so that the other side can be sent on its way.

The Standing & Loop Coaster Momonga is not the most exciting roller coaster and especially compared to later rides of the manufacturer it is absolutely harmless. Nevertheless, it manages to perfectly embody the zeitgeist of the era. In short: It is simply cult and, especially because of the alternating operation between stand-up and sit-down cars, it is a very interesting ride. If you can live with that, you can switch back and forth between the two variants; it was definitely fun.

Crazy Hyuuu and Crazy Stooon

Passing the wave swinger Milky Way and the water park Water Amusement Island (WAI for short), which for a small entrance fee offers a Lazy River, two children’s landscapes, a diving tower, a large wave pool and a total of three sliders (although only the Spiral and the Straight Line Slider, a kamikaze slide, are included in the entrance fee; the large rafting slide, however, is covered by the free pass), you head towards the Lan Lan area with its sea lion show and the two S&S towers. While the Crazy Hyuuu tower shoots you to a height of 60m, Crazy Stooon drops you down with a supposed -2G; however, it was nothing compared to the force of Flamingo Land’s Cliff Hanger tower.

Hashibiro-Go

Directly opposite, another product of the manufacturer S&S was once supposed to open. Unfortunately, it only took a short time for the Robin Twist Coaster to have its first accident. After this, the ride was immediately shut down and dismantled a short time later. Thus, El Loco shares the dubious record of the shortest operating time of an S&S roller coaster with the Ring°Racer at the Nürburgring. In the meantime, a round ride, the Mega Disk’o Hashibiro-Go, has been built in its place.

Good Job Attractions

Those who have always wanted to jump down with a bungee cord can do so from a 22m-high platform for a relatively low price. We, on the other hand, now turn our attention to the Good Job Attractions industrial theme area, which can be reached from here via an entrance across the water park. In fact, we had to look for quite a long time here and finally took the entrance near the main entrance.

Here, Yomiuriland suddenly presents itself to its park guests as highly modern, clean and absolutely imaginative. Especially in comparison to the really run-down Flag Street, this is a very, very, very big contrast, which is also reflected in the doublets of rides. In addition to a modern bicycle pedal track, where you go on a crime spree in a video game, there is also a modern go-kart track, which bizarrely still partly runs along the old go-kart track. In addition to some nice children’s rides, there is also a very interesting game of skill in the outdoor area, where you have to influence the course of oversized marbles. Lovely!

The remaining rides are integrated into themed industrial halls. These are divided into the Fashion, Bungu, Food and Car Factories. Similar to an expo, you are immediately drawn into the respective theme when you enter the respective hall. The industrial charm is more like a child’s idea of an industrial plant, which is very good for the whole area.

In the Bungu Factory, for example, another game of skill awaits park guests in Yomiuriland, while Fashion World can boast the Spin Runway roller coaster, a spinning coaster from the manufacturer Gerstlauer. Things get really crazy on the Splash U.F.O. round boat ride, which is themed around the protection of the Nissin Yakisoba U.F.O. factory, which produces ready-made ramen. You can also accompany your own dinner during production. Last but not least, the Car Factory offers the opportunity to design your own car and then test-drive it on an interesting track.

Splash U.F.O.

Let’s now take a closer look at the two large-scale rides in this area. In the Food Factory we will board one of the boats of the compact Hafema mini raft ride Splash U.F.O. As in the Fuji-Q Highland, only boats for a total of four people are used in the ride. In retrospect, we should have realised by now at the latest what was coming up. But since the people in front of us had not got out particularly wet, we dared to take a ride without a rain poncho on the last day of our trip to Japan. In fact, the ride became tremendously entertaining due to the resulting tirades of escape from Nicolas’ side.

But back to the beginning. As soon as you have boarded the boats and been secured by the staff, the ride can begin. The station conveyor belt pushes us onto a small rotating platform that turns 90° in succession. A small film is shown on a ceiling projection, to which we can react with the buttons in the boat before we are pushed into the ride’s lift.  We follow the production chain of ramen noodles up a few metres before the villain with the teapot on his head wants to eat us. We escape and slide down a 180° helix in the process. Shortly after, a crisp descent follows. In a short block area after the run-out we are stopped and another story segment is projected on the ceiling. A 570° downward spiral follows, with additional water cannons on the side of the channel sending the boat into an extremely violent spin. After a leisurely descent, we find ourselves in the classic rafting channel of the ride. Accompanied by several rapids, we leave the building and make a short turn around the outside of the ride. Back in the hall, a few more metres of rafting follow before we stop again in another block area. Now, with the help of the U.F.O. Ramen Man, we have to defeat the villain once and for all. Shortly afterwards, the ride ends and the ramen dish is saved.

So, dear team of the Karls Erlebnis-Dorf parks, please build something exactly like this. You don’t necessarily have to take over the interactive component, but I’m sure you could find a use for it somehow. These mini raft rides from Hafema are already a class of their own and are unfortunately far too rare outside Japan.

Spin Runway

However, you don’t necessarily need a rapid river for a successful factory tour, a spinning coaster will do. At least that’s how you can describe the Spin Runway roller coaster. After a really beautifully designed and partly interactive cue, we lock our valuables in a locker and immediately take a seat in the familiar Gerstlauer chaises. The ride begins immediately, very similar to the roller coaster Maskerade from the Wiener Prater, with a darkride part through some serpentine curves. After this, we reach the ride’s lift. In this case, however, it is a drum lift. During the ascent, we can play a little mini-game in which we have to collect as many items of clothing as possible for our chosen mascot. Wildly pushing around does not help at all, everything has to be coordinated with the other occupants of the car.

Once at the top, we complete a hairpin turn and slowly pick up speed. After the countdown 3,2,1 Speed Runway we throw ourselves into the first downhill helix under numerous light effects. After a short valley, we gain a little bit of altitude again before we skilfully reduce it in another downhill helix. This is followed by a somewhat longer stretch above the station, which is skilfully exploited by the car’s spin.

A block brake is followed by a brisk combination of a downward helix in a clockwise direction followed by an upward helix in an anticlockwise direction. Shortly afterwards we find ourselves on the runway of the fashion show and the braking section of the ride. Only a few moments later, the station is reached and we can get off.

Spin Runway is not a really long spinning coaster, but it is an insanely well staged one. Before the ride, I was already afraid that it would be a direct sister ride to the extremely weak roller coaster Maskerade from the Wiener Prater and accordingly approached the ride with very low expectations. But I was wrong; the ride was great. Although the chosen elements were also used in the ride in question, the ride on the Spin Runway offers a much more immersive experience. The rotation of the car itself could be a little faster, but that is the only real criticism of the ride. I would definitely have liked to go on one or two more rounds here.

Back in the daylight, Nicolas was suddenly recognised by one of the Achterbahnreisenden, who themselves were discovering the country for themselves with a large group of enthusiasts. While we just had our last day in Japan, it was still one of the first for them. It was nice to talk a bit, although none of us expected to meet other German roller coaster tourists in Japan.

Pictures Yomiuriland

Conclusion Yomiuriland

Yomiuriland is an amusement park that looks really run-down in places, but it always stands out positively with its selected novelties. They do their best and it shows. In general, I liked Yomiuriland a lot, but I can also understand if you don’t really like this park. The selection of rides is good and the interactive walkthroughs are quite something. The amusement park also finally had some halfway usable merchandise to offer and so I left the park with a plush of Detective Conan in my luggage.

 


What is your opinion about the theme park Yomiuriland?  Just write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

 

          


Click here for the next report of the Titanic Max Tour

Nagashima-Mania

The history of Nagashima Spa Land

Nagashima Spa Land came into being as an addition to the resort near the city of Nagashima, which was developed in 1964. Located directly on Ise Bay, Otani Natural Gas Co, Ltd hoped to find a natural gas deposit in 1963 when they came across a hot spring while exploring for natural gas. The temporary bath that was then built quickly proved extremely popular, and Nagashimakankokaihatsu Co, Ltd was established in the same year with the aim of developing the spring, now known as Nagashima Onsen, for tourism. In November 1964, the bath was opened to visitors, followed a month later by the Nagashima Hotel. In 1966, the resort was further expanded with the opening of the second hotel and the Nagashima Spa Land, including a jet coaster.

The Nagashima Resort quickly became more popular, which is why the third hotel followed as early as 1970. The resort now consists of three hotels, the Nagashima Spa Land amusement park, the Nagano-no-Sato gardens, the Anpanman Children’s Museum, the large Mitsui Outlet Jazz Dream Nagashima outlet centre and the Yuami-no-Shima hot spring. Every year, around 5.8 million visitors come to Nagashima Resort.

Tour of the park

If you arrive by bus, you land at the side entrance of Nagashima Spa Land, located between the hotels and the outlet centre. From here, a path leads directly to the spacious children’s area, including a covered playground. In addition to a large number of child-friendly round rides and two small log flumes, there are two children’s roller coasters.

Children Coaster

The oldest of the two children’s roller coasters at Nagashima Spa Land is the very inconspicuously placed, medium-sized ladybird ride by the manufacturer Zierer called Children Coaster. As usual, you ride two laps through the figure-8 layout and enjoy the manual braking towards the end of the ride.

Oh, it’s beautiful here. In addition to the tried and tested fun of the time-honoured children’s roller coaster legend, characters from the classic English children’s book “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” have also found a home here. Peter Rabbit has been the mascot of Nagashima Spa Land for ages, but it was only in 2012 that a roller coaster was dedicated to him.

Peter Rabbit Coaster

The ride on the Peter Rabbit Coaster from Hoei Sangyo begins with a wide left-hand curve in which you gain a few metres in altitude, which you immediately lose again in a somewhat narrower right-hand helix. Once you reach the ground level, you go full steam ahead after a change of direction through a curve that is just as wide as the one at the beginning of the ride. At this point the track leads straight into the station and through it. After another lap through the track course, the very nice ride ends.

Viking

Before we get too far away from Kinderland and its park mascot Peter Rabbit, we are immediately drawn to the double monorail with its two tracks running in opposite directions. Actually, on the way there, we are drawn to a completely different, extremely imposing set of rides, the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else on this planet: the Viking boat swing conglomerate.

When I first came across Nagashima Spa Land, I was immensely impressed by the Japanese people’s love of swings. Whereas in some European amusement parks there are two, at most three, boat-swing-like rides, here there is the full programme in its maximum range, including three boat swings, two rotating swings and an overhead boat swing. From that moment on, one thing was clear to me: I have to go there! And more importantly: I have to ride them all!

Because let’s be honest, who cares about the longest roller coaster in the world when there are two gigantic boat swings far above a third, normal-sized boat swing? That is insane and, above all, simply terrific.

After the success of the small boat swing in 1980 and the success of the large HUSS double ride in the Toshimaen amusement park, Nagashima decided to go one better and built an equally large boat swing in 1986, also in a double ride. Now, it is somewhat difficult to trace how far the three existing large rides in Nagashima Spa Land, Toshimaen and Samsung Everland are related to each other, because although the boats are all built in the same way and are each located above various facilities, two of these rides are considered to be double rides of the HUSS Traumschiff. This is understandable, as the ride looks at first glance as if two somewhat larger ship swings of the Pirate model have been placed directly next to each other and connected to form a boat. However, the double Viking is called Twin Flying Bounty in Intamin’s reference list. The reason for this is probably the bankruptcy of the Arrow-HUSS company towards the end of 1984, after which the company reorganised itself in 1986 as HUSS Maschinenfabrik. In the intervening years, planned rides were built by other manufacturers (e.g. Ninja at Six Flags St. Louis).

But what is a Traumschiff/Twin Flying Bounty like to ride? It’s nice; the ride is actually not earth-shattering, as the basic construction itself is already incredibly inert, but seen as a whole it’s pretty nice. It’s a huge attraction of unbelievable proportions that is accessible to all park guests and doesn’t let anyone get off dissatisfied – a crowd pleaser of the highest order, so to speak. Taken together, the ship’s swing collection has a total capacity of 380 people (160 people per boat in the large swing plus 60 people in the normal-sized ship’s swing) per synchronised ride cycle. All in all, this means an hourly capacity of up to 5,000 people, which is certainly still necessary during the Golden Week and many other days. On emptier days, one of the Flying Bountys sets sail at least every 15 minutes.

Jet Coaster

In the meantime, you can take a nice panoramic ride on the aforementioned double-track monorail that runs in opposite directions. Here you have a wonderful view of the lake and the small forest that you are circling. The park railway, a go-kart track and the oldest roller coaster in Nagashima Spa Land, the Jet Coaster, are located in the forest.

Secured only by a belt, we immediately climb the lift hill of the time-honoured lady. Now far below the treetops, we pass through a long right-hand bend, where we immediately plunge steeply to the ground in a completely untypical manner for a classic jet coaster. We climb the following hill in the same way before we take another right turn. This is followed by a somewhat flatter gradient with an even flatter ascent diagonally through the ride. The ascent then leads into a left-hand bend one level below the first bend, which is consequently ridden at a somewhat more leisurely pace. This is followed by a last exceedingly brisk descent that leads into a slightly longer straight above the lake. A final hop leads us to the station level, whereupon we also reach it after a left turn and the obligatory braking section.

The Jet Coaster is an extremely charming roller coaster that is particularly visually appealing with its framework structure. The ride through the forest is extremely fast and knows how to thrill its passengers with ease. So much so, in fact, that the longest queue was here on the second day of the visit, thanks to the unfortunately existing one-train operation. Apart from that, however, it’s a beautiful old and extremely ride-worthy treasure from the house of Togo.

Space Shot and Flying Carpet

On the other side of the forest, a somewhat rare sight awaits visitors, right next to a more common one. While the S&S free fall tower triumvirate called Space Shot is still a very rare sight, a ride on a suspended flying carpet is the only one outside the Danish amusement park Tivoli Gardens. Both rides are quite convincing.

Shuttle Loop

Just like the ride of the next roller coaster, whose layout can be perfectly described with the words launch, loop and reverse. You’ve probably already guessed, it’s a Shuttle Loop from Schwarzkopf. As with every roller coaster from Münsterhausen, it doesn’t take much to create an all-round satisfying ride experience, and so the ride is unusually puristic compared to the (so far) only European ride (Psyké Underground in Walibi Belgium). That’s enough, because the ride is absolutely perfect as it is, which is why you’ll want to get on again and again, and more than once in a row.

Looping Star

The same applies to the sister ride, which is only three years younger. The Shuttle Loop was apparently a great success, so that another Looping Star was ordered in Münsterhausen and the roller coaster was interestingly placed right next door.

The ride in this classic of German engineering begins quite confidently with the ascent of the lift hill. From a height of around 24m, you immediately plunge towards the ground in a steep curve to approach the only inversion figure, a loop, at full speed. With a lot of power, you then pass the element that gives the ride its name, after which you shoot upwards again to make a turn at a lofty height. But the peace and quiet doesn’t last long, because immediately the wagon group throws itself towards the ground again, which can lead to unexpected airtime, especially in the rear part of the train. In the opposite direction to the first gradient, you gain a little height again and then reduce it efficiently parallel to the lift hill. Since a straight line with a constant lateral inclination is a bit strange to ride, you are straightened out in between, but without taking into account the principle of turning around the heart line; but there are other roller coasters in Nagashima Spa Land for that (like the Ultra Twister). Leaning to the left again, you ride through another curve before you enter a hill and approach the ground again. This is followed by a fast-paced right turn, which then takes you into the braking section of the ride.

Corkscrew

Interestingly, the rival product from Arrow has been situated directly opposite the Looping Star since the year 2012. In 1979, the Corkscrew coaster in Nagashima turned its passengers upside down twice. Interestingly, it is one of four identical rides that started operation in Japan that year – all probably inspired by the first inversion coaster in Asia, the Corkscrew at Yatsu Yuenchi.

The layout is quickly reproduced. After leaving the station via a small incline, you ride through a tight turning curve, which then transfers you to the ride’s lift. Having reached a height of about 21m, you leave the lift in a short dip, whereby the necessary lateral inclination for the following turn is already generated in the same move. Once the turn is completed, the train plunges towards the ground, which leads to a pronounced airtime, especially in the rear part of the train. Now the train roars powerfully through the first valley and shortly afterwards shoots up a hill. This then quickly turns into a longer downhill curve, in whose transverse valley the train enters the corkscrew. Absolutely skilfully, the train now turns over twice. The exit of the second corkscrew then leads into the final turning curve, whereupon the brakes are already waiting.

The ride on the Corkscrew is great. Nowadays the ride is nothing earth-shattering, but in 1979 it was enough to make the masses stand on their heads. Unfortunately, the ride characteristics were below the manufacturer’s average – but that hardly matters. All in all, the ride fits perfectly into its very strong field of competitors, which is why you should definitely take a ride or two; where else would you find so many idols of the late 70s in the same corner of a park?

Past a typical Japanese scary house and an excellent Star Flyer, the path now leads us to the other side of a gigantic steel structure, which we save for later. Here we turn left and follow the wide main path into a dead end, where the Flying Coaster Acrobat is waiting for us.

Acrobat

Attracted by the appearance, we quickly find ourselves in the spacious waiting area below the station and decide to go to one of the two sides of the station. After climbing the stairs, we are immediately assigned to a row, whereupon we stow our personal belongings and valuables in lockers belonging to the rows. Nothing unusual as far as that goes, but at the end a security scan including a metal detector awaits us. After we have proved that all our bags are empty, we are let through to the gates and can immediately board our preferred aircraft.

As soon as the starting position is reached, the ride can begin. We reach the ride’s lift via a switch, which takes us up to a height of 43m. Once at the top, we plunge into a steep curve to the right towards the abyss. In a wide radius we now float through the following valley and immediately climb a hill, which turns out to be the starting position for the now following Pretzel Loop. Without mercy we now plunge down, stand overhead for a short time and then watch the spectacle lying on our backs in reverse order, almost being killed by the G-Forces. Once again at high altitude, there is enough time to take a short breath, because now we cross the element we have just completed in a tame left turn. But before we know it, we are spinning around our own axis in an inline twist and hurtling towards the ground in a right turn. In a corkscrew we cross the Prezel Loop once more and soon have a look at the station of the roller coaster from behind. After a short ascent, we reach the middle block brake section of the ride, which, however, releases us into the second part of this without any major slowdown.

In a right-hand bend, accompanied by synchronised water fountains, we shoot across a lake. Similar to a Bavarian curve, hill follows dale and at the end of the curve there is even another inline twist waiting for the passengers. Still in this great flow, we find ourselves in a left turn, which unfortunately leads us straight into the final brake.

Acrobat is the tamer of the two Japanese flying coasters, but that doesn’t mean that the ride doesn’t try to beat you to death with the forces at its disposal. It just does it a little more subtly. While Universal’s Flying Dinosaur has one element after the other, Acrobat still has enough time to devote itself entirely to flying. This has its advantages and the ride itself seems a little more harmonious. Especially the part after the block brake is quite impressive and offers wonderful insights for the rest of the park guests. In general, the ride is wonderfully open and can be seen from all sides, so that even more guests from the nearby outlet centre will switch to the Nagashima Spa Land amusement park. It’s worth it, at least, because Acrobat is a really ingenious flying coaster in Nagashima.

Bobkart

Right next to it, the Wiegand Bobkart double track has been in place since 2004. On a length of 822 and 797m, both lanes theoretically duel each other. For the time being, the track runs parallel through a very bumpy left-hand bend. The driving comfort increases significantly with the steadily increasing speed, the fun in turn through the numerous waves on the now following straight. After another left-hand bend and just as many waves, the two lanes now separate from each other.

While the right lane now turns into a short right-hand bend, the left lane continues straight ahead. In a wide left-hand bend, the right-hand lane now steadily builds up height, whereupon the left-hand lane is crossed on another undulating straight. The competing lane meanwhile devotes itself to a right-leading upward helix, whereupon both lanes run parallel again for a short moment. This quickly changes and so both tracks separate at an sharp angle. There is a reason for this, because in the following downward helix of the right lane, the left lane comes towards you. The left lane circles the helix, but then runs parallel to the track you have just completed in the right lane. After a wide right-hand bend and a short straight, the left-hand lane meets the right-hand lane again, which in the meantime has only passed through a longer straight, and both enter an upward helix in parallel.

On an elevated part of the track, both tracks now cross the just completed and future track before entering a left turn along the station. Following a downward helix to the right, both tracks then continue on the ground. After a left turn and a 180° turn, both tracks reach their destination.

The double bobsleigh track is quite impressive, but the ride itself is only okay. Admittedly, you get a bit distracted by the rides surrounding you, but the ride over the numerous bumps is unfortunately also a bit repetitive. Although you could also look over them if the bobs ran parallel. Of the total of 28 bobsleds per side, unfortunately only about 5 were running on the first day of the visit – which was perfectly adequate in view of the crowds – and these were sent on their way one after the other per side. Whereas at the beginning both sides were served, shortly afterwards only the right lane was running. That was a pity, but also understandable, after all you can vary the capacity of the rides according to the rush in no time at all. Overall, the left lane was a little better than the right lane, but all in all, both lanes offered a good ride.

Ultra Twister

Directly behind the ride is the station of the Ultra Twister roller coaster. The standard model of the manufacturer Togo also awaits us in Nagashima, but here in a somewhat less colourful paint scheme than in the Greenland amusement park, but with ingenious lighting effects. Since we had already ridden 12 laps of the ride in Greenland, we knew what to expect and got on with pleasure.

After the car has been checked, you approach the transfer element at the rear end of the track. This is then turned by 90° degrees, which is promptly followed by the ascent in the vertical lift. Having reached a height of 30m, the car crosses a very narrow crest and plunges rapidly down a steep 85° gradient. There is intense airtime in every seat, but especially in the last row. The following and quite narrow valley is driven through with extreme pressure, while the following airtime hill skillfully tries to throw you off. With strikingly high speed, you now race through a heartline roll that couldn’t be more beautiful. Shortly afterwards, you climb a small incline, at the end of which you reach the first braking section of the ride.

In a second transfer element you are now brought to the lower lane, which you follow backwards from then on. On a short descent you then steadily increase speed before the car is turned upside down a second time. As soon as the station level is reached, the third and last roll of the ride follows. Shortly afterwards, the second braking section is reached and the ride on the Ultra Twister draws to a close.

Also in Nagashima, the tube roller coaster is completely convincing. The interplay of vertical acceleration is just wonderfully brutal and always worth experiencing. Especially since the end stops are not quite as hard as in Greenland, which makes the ride all the more inviting for repeat rides. Unless you don’t burn your shoulders on a visit to the Joyful Waterpark, which you should definitely plan to do so, and torture yourself accordingly on a night ride through the ride. Nonetheless, this is also totally worth it, because the illuminated ring elements enhance the visually very appealing ride even more.

Steel Dragon 2000

Equally appealing is Steel Dragon 2000. Built at the turn of the millennium, Steel Dragon 2000 is Japan’s largest roller coaster, with a height of 97 m. Even more impressive, however, is its length of about 2.5 km, which still makes it the longest roller coaster in the world. There are rumours that the roller coaster The Ultimate from the English amusement park Lightwater Valley will be extended, but until then there will probably not be a longer roller coaster.

The ride on the Steel Dragon begins with a small dip out of the station, followed by a short right turn. The first lift chain is then waiting to take us up to a height of about 50 m, where we change to the second lift chain, which in turn takes us up to an impressive 97 m. Once there, we descend very quickly. We pass through the first valley at 152.9 km/h, and the train starts to vibrate. Unfortunately, this vibration is transmitted to the passenger, which is why you can only be happy to shoot up a 76.8 m high hill shortly afterwards. After a moment of shallow airtime, another valley of terror awaits you.

The ride through the second valley is also no fun at all and so I was happy to find myself on the third hill of the ride. This hill is only 64 m high and leads the train into a special combination of curves. In a wide steep curve, one approaches the bottom and immediately shoots up an inclined clockwise helix. On the way into the following valley, a change of direction takes place and a second, now counterclockwise, huge helix follows. With steady pressure, the smile on your face slowly comes back and you may slowly forget the crappy start of the ride. In the process, you race through a ground-hugging and bloody long left turn along the large shopping centre. However, you don’t notice much of that, after all, you’re still going at a breakneck pace. It’s just a shame that after a long bend and two small curve swings, the ascent into the block brake awaits.

On the block brake, which is placed very low in relation to the overall height of the ride, the speed of the train is reduced considerably before it descends into a series of continuous camelbacks. Here the train passes two tunnels and six crests, each with valleys at different heights. On each hill you take off in a wonderful floating airtime. Shortly afterwards, however, the braking section is reached and the ride comes to an end.

The Steel Dragon 2000 is not a bad roller coaster, but it doesn’t meet my personal taste. I really enjoy the ride from the entry into the long curves, but the vibrations in the first two valleys are so nasty to my stomach that I only did one more repeat ride during the two days of my visit. I’m interested to know what the ride would have been like in the original trains, as the trains built by Morgan were much more solidly built and therefore shouldn’t have started vibrating so quickly. The trains built by B&M, which were added in the tenth year of operation of the ride, are by no means bad and allow a much freer ride, but they do not correspond to the original.

They must have had their reasons – I don’t have a comparison with the previous state of the ride anyway – so it’s not that bad. It doesn’t stop anyone from doing a marathon on the ride, and if the start of the ride wasn’t so messed up, I would do it too.

Arashi

The Free Spin coaster Arashi on the other hand is simply no fun. The ride is inharmonious and absolutely hard. The rollovers are all generated only by the forced rotation of the gondola carrier, otherwise the ride here would be a leisurely scenic ride very similar to the new concept by the Swiss engineering firm Ride Engineers Switzerland, which will soon be realised at Schwaben Park. Unfortunately, the whole thing is no comparison to the competing product from Intamin, which is less squeamish even in the smallest version and fortunately dispenses entirely with technical aids for rollover – interestingly, although the ride on a Zac Spin is hard on the edge, the harmoniously superimposed movements make it much more pleasant and interesting.

Rock ‘n’ Roll

In fact, the Rock ‘n’ Roll ride shows that even forced somersaults can be ridden in a reasonably harmonious way. A friction wheel causes the individual gondolas to rotate, whereupon the passengers (depending on the load of the gondola) do one somersault after another.

Paratrooper and Telecombat

The Paratrooper next to it is similarly interesting, with its wheel rim tilting horizontally during the ride. Otherwise, the ride is typical for a Twister-like round ride, so it goes up and down in free-swinging gondolas, over and over again. This one was built by Technical Park, as was the Telecombat next door.

Wild Mouse

The ride portfolio in this corner is then complemented by the water ride Jet Rescue of German production. This is fitting, as the Wild Mouse is located right next to it in a double version, just as it could have been at a German funfair. Of course, it’s only real with the matching ticket booth and Schuko sockets. The attraction resembles one of the many Wild Mice from Mack Rides and therefore invites you to take a ride or two; after all, you can ride the ride in a mirror image – at least if both rides are running on the same day. We were lucky and were able to ride one of the two tracks on each of the two days we visited.

Free Fall and Frisbee

Unfortunately, we had no luck with the Free Fall, a first-generation free-fall tower, and therefore had to forego a ride. Fortunately, there is a park version of the HUSS Frisbee directly opposite, which is always a guarantee for a successful ride. In Nagashima, however, things were a bit different – the fast spins were missing – and so the ride was a trivial swing, which not even the showman Robrahn from Bremen could undercut. A pity, because the little Frisbees are usually always a big deal.

Shoot the Chute

When one of your favourite rides bitterly disappoints you, it takes another favourite ride to put you back in a good mood. It’s a good thing that the Shoot the Chute of the Nagashima Spa Land amusement park, designed by O.D. Hopkins, is next door. As one of the first rides in the manufacturer’s Figure-8 design, the 30-metre-high ride is impressive, especially with its merciless wetness. Normally, in a spillwater, you are usually wet, but not soaked, by the time you reach the bridge over the run-out section, but this changes abruptly when you pass under the bridge. Here, however, it is the case that the boat creates such a high wave when it dives into the pool that it absorbs all the energy of the boat and thus decelerates the boat considerably so that the water has enough time to splash down on the passengers. You don’t get out this wet even from Valhalla of the English amusement park Blackpool Pleasure Beach and even there the degree of wetness is known to be like jumping into the Irish Sea. So everything is just right here and the name of the ride really lives up to its type – only why the first rows have to wear life jackets is beyond me, but luckily we were sitting a bit further back.

Something that has never been clear to me personally is the success of the Looping Starships from Intamin. In the looping fever at the beginning of the 1980s, the Bremen company HUSS developed an overhead boat swing in which the axle of the ride was driven, making a large number of rollovers and other rides possible. Only a short time later, the Weber company, also based in Bremen, followed suit with a similar ride. Intamin, on the other hand, planned an overhead boat swing that lives up to its name and uses a classic friction wheel drive to keep the ship moving until at some point it manages to roll over very narrowly.

Space Shuttle

It’s interesting when you realise on your own body during the ride that this is exactly what makes the Looping Starship the best representative of its kind. It’s as if a normal boat swing just keeps accelerating, so you suddenly find yourself at angles you wouldn’t otherwise experience. At some point you manage to do a headstand and are afraid of getting stuck upside down. Shortly afterwards, the next, somewhat quicker somersault follows. A moment later, the long deceleration phase begins and you change direction again in all possible angles of inclination. Wonderful! I am absolutely thrilled with the ride. The design of the Space Shuttle also speaks for itself. It’s just a shame that none of them have survived the test of time in Europe; at least not in their original version. So dear Movieland Park team, please buy a suitable counterweight and the corresponding shoulder restraints. It’s worth it, I promise!

Giant Frisbee

The rest of the ride portfolio consists of a wave swinger, an Italian-made swing up with far too narrow gondolas, and a giant frisbee from HUSS. The latter just does its thing – like every other Giant Frisbee from the same manufacturer. It’s okay.

White Cyclone

A glance at the clock on the 90-metre-high Aurora Wheel tells us: it’s time for wood. We are happy to comply and accordingly head for the entrance to the large white-painted wooden wall with the charismatic name White Cyclone.

The ride in the PTC trains begins with a wide left turn around the waiting area of the ride. We constantly lose height to gain enough momentum to enter the lift hill. This then takes us to a height of 42 m, where we then have a moment to enjoy the magnificent view of Nagashima Spa Land and Ise Bay. After a left turn, however, we rapidly descend to the ground. With the finest shake, rattle and roll we cross the first valley and then climb a high airtime hill. The exit then leads into a gigantic, constantly tapering helix far above ground level. Here you ride a little over hill and dale until you leave it at some point after a rapid dip over a hill.

The hill in question seems to be almost as high as the entrance to the helix, but based on the existing speed, it shouldn’t actually be the case. Visually an interesting trick in any case and so we plunge down again in a wonderful play of forces. Another airtime hill follows, as it is written in the book, before we disappear in the forest of pillars. In a very wide upward spiral, we now steadily increase in altitude metres before we reach the same kind of helix we already experienced a few moments ago. But instead of diving down briefly and then gaining height, we climb metre by metre up the wooden structure before then reaching the block brake of the ride.

After the fast-paced first part of the ride, the train plunges to the ground again. With gusto we pass under the valley of the first descent, conquer another airtime hill and dive into the wooden structure one more time. Inside the first helix we now go through a wide left turn before we are surrounded by wooden beams again. We then cross the ride over two hills and make our way along the outer edge of the roller coaster. Below the lift hill, the train disappears under the wooden construction for the last time in a wide left turn. Shortly afterwards, we reach the braking section of the ride and soon the station.

White Cyclone was a great wooden roller coaster with great pacing, lots of airtime moments and a well-tuned acceleration curve. In addition, the roller coaster lived on the shake, rattle and roll like hardly any other wooden roller coaster in the country, let alone any other wooden roller coaster I have already ridden. While I can understand that the roller coaster is now undergoing a makeover by the company RMC – because the layout offers many possibilities that have not yet been exhausted – on the other hand it is a pity that one of only four wooden roller coasters in Japan will disappear as a result. At least the basic structure of what was once the best roller coaster in Nagashima Spa Land remains and will be used in the future best roller coaster in the park. So we can be curious!

Pictures Nagashima Spa Land

Conclusion Nagashima Spa Land

Nagashima Spa Land is a great amusement park that offers so much in such a large area that you can’t help but be happy. This park simply offers everything possible, which means that every target group is covered – with the exception of dark ride fetishists, of course, because there are simply none of those in the park (outside of the scary walkthrough and a Pokémon attraction). I, at least, was completely thrilled by Nagashima Spa Land, which is why I would gladly return. There are many reasons for this, and the renovation of White Cyclone is yet another. So we’ll see you again sometime, but then with the full programme of onsen, water park, hotel visit and a detour to the nearby gardens.

 


What is your opinion about the Nagashima Spa Land theme park?  Just write it in the comment box below the review or visit our social media channels:

 

          


Click here for the next report of the Titanic Max Tour