Gazza

Those just look like they are locating underground services like drainage/ comms / electricity

I thought SW was really good that period when they had the Ferris Wheel. The park seemed its fullest.

You can do a trackless ride with side walls if you wanted.

Probably once the heavy machinery assembling the ride is out of the way?

It’s normally the kiss of death for a trip report if you post it at time when bigger news is happening, so after waiting it out, it’s time for the next instalment from Japan. Parue Espana – Shima Spain Village https://www.parkz.com.au/parks/JP/Shima/Parque_Espana_-_Shima_Spain_Village/ (over 200 pics published in the Parkz gallery) This place is in a bit of a pain in the butt location at the bottom of a peninsular on Ise bay about 90km South of Nagoya as the crow flies. However it’s over a 2 hour train ride because its so mountainous. I got to the town of Ugata (the station used to reach the park) the night before after my day at Nagashima Spaland. I did this by getting a bus from Nagashima to Kuwana, then using a Kintetsu limited express train to Ugata. The train is a bit pricey because you have to purchase both the base point to point ticket, plus an additional surcharge ticket to cover the fact its limited express. A word of warning. If rain is forecast, you’re probably better off rescheduling if you can. Neither Pyrenees nor Gran Montserrat run in any sort of rain or spitting, so you’ll end up doing a lot of waiting around if the weather isn’t good. In hindsight, if I was planning on doing this again, I probably would have based myself in Nagoya and daytripped rather than trying to work in a loop through destinations / parks and had a spare day. Would have meant the option to shift things around, plus return to Nagashima for re-rides (A subject for a future trip report) The park is quite good, and if you are going here, there’s really no need to visit Lagunasia. The main reason for Parque Espana is of course to ride Pyrenees, a superb B&M inverted coaster. There was a brief break in the rain earlier in the morning so it was testing when I arrived. However it started raining again so no dice. The day started on Iron Bull , an indoor coaster with some over the top restraints and a couple of lift hills. Moderate drops and helices abound. At the midpoint you come to a stop in a boiler room themed environment where there are a few special effects and flashing lights. Kiddy Montserrat was my 600th coaster since still no Pyrneees. I did like the Gaudi theming. The park did seem to make an effort to stay on point. The section it was in was probably the emptiest feeling. Batalla Del Alcazar Adelante was nearby. Like that magic powder ride at Lagunaisa, its a revolving dark ride, except the vehicles always stay facing towards the middle, where there is a big diorama in the middle of the ride where you shoot killer centipedes. What set this apart was the way the vehicles could slide back and forth on the spot, bringing you closer to the middle of the turntable. There was also an Alice in Wonderland walkthrough where you were given a magic wand to interact with some rudimentary effects. Credit to the girl running it for reading out a full english instruction card for me! Illumination Ride Nutcracker was also up this end of the park. The classical ballet soundtrack gives this ride illusions of grandeur, in reality its a detuned version of its a small world, with 2D sets and lots of fairy lights. Had a chicken katsu curry here for lunch: With no signs of the rain abating, I made my way down to the lower section of the park. The place is quite impressively themed, and carries that mid 90s vibe when theme parks seemed to be at their peak. One hidden gem everyone bangs on about is the Escalator ride. Flashing lights meets spanish pop music. It was ok, and yes probably unexpected for most guests. Down the bottom is slow boat ride called Feliz Cruise. It used to lead into a full on dark ride, but they chopped it short and now it's just outside. As well as big sets it had some funny dioramas too. There was a ship you could have a wander around in. There was a low key funhouse called Choquy's Mystery House. Not much in terms of physical obstacles, but plenty of optical illusions. One i thought was cool was a false hallway that actually turned out to be a prisim type shape pointed towards you when you got a bit closer. The main attraction at the lower end of the park turned out to be Don Quixotes Magical Flight A peter pan rip off, and probably of similar length, with some good production values. I decided to hoof back up the hill, where you pass through a Spanish Village. If i had been smarter i probably would have gone downhill through the village and come back up via the escalator. One of the buildings had a trick art exhibition. Back at the top of the park and still no sign of Pyrenees opening, so I delved further into the park. Grabbed some Pizza in the main street. Japanese style with Teriyaki chicken, seaweed flakes and mayo, This section was an entire indoor kids area. More Gaudi stuff I saw there was a 360 cinema, and here I got a proper dose of Japanese eccentricity, being treated to the most surreal kids 3d movie i have ever seen. I had no idea what was going on. It was a couple of kids wandering around in a spooky forest with seemingly random wierd stuff going on. It was all in Japanese of course, so even more baffling. I thought perhaps that would be the end of it, but a couple of weeks ago, I found who produced the film, and there's an english dub! https://www.thejuice.com/#https://www.thejuice.com/portfolio/hansel_gretel/ The linking seems to be wierd, but its the 45th movie in the portfolio: Skip to about the 4 min mark to see how im not lying about the wierdness. Hmmm, what else to do in the park. I was gonna wait till the very end to make sure i got on Pyrneees. At one point it seemed like the rain had stopped and they had commenced testing, but nope they got a few laps in before halting again. Arrrrgh. I had a good look around the Spanish museum in the park. The highlight was a cinema showing 80s stock footage from Spain that had evidently been produced just prior to park opening and never updated since. I did a re-ride on Don Quixotes Magical flight.... (Photo not good enough for database, but at one point you went under the sea) I also took a wander through the Fairytale village they had. I had been keeping a keen eye on the rain radar all day, and it looked like the last of the rain bands had passed over the area, and right on cue Pyrenees commenced testing, so I parked myself at the entrance...If i was gonna get a ride, i wanted to snare the front. After around 45 mins of testing, and with about 90 mins of park opening time to go, Pyrenees opened, to some high fives with a couple of locals and the attendant who had seen this funny foreigner waiting out to ride this thing. In the end I got 3 laps (front row, a back row, and then another near the back) until i had to leave, would have happily done more, but beggars cant be choosers, and i was thankful to have not missed it, the memories of missing both Eejanaika and Ultra Twister still there. As for the ride? It's mental, and lives up to the hype of being one of the best inverted coasters. Steel first drop, a loop that whips you around, a good zero g, another tall, but tight loop with plenty of force. The ride then really shines when it takes a downhill left turn at full speed into a trench and does a cobra roll with plenty of kick. From there it does a forceful helix, almost like a horizontal loop. The latter part of the course is a bit more drawn out, but still fast, doing a corkscrew along the way. For good measure theres actually a bunny hop right at the end that gives a good bit of air....enough to elicit a few screams on the train anyway. So there you have it, i came, i saw, i conquered. Last but not least i got a single lap on Gran Montserrat. Again, would have liked to ride more, but i had also been closed all day, and with the time till i had to get my bus it was either another go on this or a 3rd go on Pyrenees. Normally mine trains are slow and crap, this one isn't. It was built by mack, and just blitzes through the course at high speed, with heaps of helices. The only other that comes close is Mine Train Ulven at Bakken. I skipped the flume that runs through it due to the cold wet weather. As the sun set rapidly i got a night ride on Pyrenees before heading to the exit. So yes, definitley try to get here. Its worth the trip. Pyrenees is one of the best coasters in Japan, and the rest of the park is good quality (Abeit a little stained, though in better nick than Lagunasia) In normal circumstances, i think you'd be done here in 4 to 5 hours if its quiet, though with my bad luck with the weather i stuck around all day and spent a bit of time sitting around.

I did, but I got my cup noodles experience at another park....

I think Paradise Country will be hardest hit.

Go once a day for 3 years. Or go about once every 3 days for 10 years

Yokohama Cosmoworld takes about an hour to get to from Tokyo. https://www.parkz.com.au/parks/JP/Yokohama/Yokohama_Cosmoworld/ Don't bother coming here if its raining because the star attraction will be closed. It took a couple of bites of the cherry at this place, the first attempt was on my 2nd day in Japan, but it was raining so I got on one ride. The 2nd attempt was on my final day, I went down hoping to combine it with a visit to Sea Paradise, but when I got to the station near Sea Paradise a sign informed that both Blue Fall and Surf Coaster were both closed for refurb, so I turned on my heel and went back to Cosmoworld. Family Banana Coaster did run in the rain, so I got that on my first go. The highlight was being asked if I was drunk (Which i later discovered they ask on every ride) so they weren't paying me out for riding a kiddy coaster. The park is different to what I expected. Theres one compact luna park sized block that has the giant wheel, Vanish and the spinning coaster, plus a multi level buildings with arcades and indoor stuff. The other section is on the other side of a water body (sort of like Darling Harbour) and contains mostly flat rides. You walk along a public street between the two parts. On my second visit I rode the famed Diving Coaster Vanish. It's a bit uncomfortable because the depth between the upper part of the seat and the top of the OTSR is not sufficient (why did they make them so thick?) so you get a lot of pressure on your upper chest and collarbones. The ride is a bit rough too. It starts with a slow lift, then a couple of hills and dips, before finally doing the main drop into the tunnel with fountains. After you emerge on the other side you bang your way around a helix and the ride was over. Go there to take a photo and impress your friends, dont go there for the actual coaster lol. They also had a Spinning Coaster , and like other rides of this type in Japan, the spinning is mostly deactivated save for a short section right at the end of the ride...Guess locals spew more easily. The log flume didn't appeal due to the cold weather, but I thought the feature that scores your scream volume was amusing. I was a bit ferris wheeled out by this point to. They had an enormous enterprise ride. Overall the park looked quite smart. Would I recommend coming here? Only if you are already in Yokohama, or if you are eager to see Diving Coaster: Vanish for yourself.

Probably because people stop flogging a dead horse when the joke wasn't even that good to begin with.

Why do they need to?

It was several years ago, before any of these members were here. TLDR there was a member who believed that the LED eyes on the scooby doo cars were fire sensors, and the cars had the ability to reverse backwards through the dark ride section if a fire was detected.

Adventure world was first:

They'd use rubber, not leather. This isn't the turn of the century.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Parkz is always gunning to be the most complete resource when it comes to Australian parks. To that end, we need photo submissions of the following new attractions. Please, when submitting them, make sure they are good quality level photos, no wierd filters or lenses please. Anything taken with a decent smartphone or camera is fine, but please crop/rotate/fix them first, we cant. Upload photos via the respective link on the attraction page Avoid uploading directly from a smartphone because the site sometimes gets the rotation metadata wrong so they come in sideways. If you do a save as on your computer (with whatever you use to adjust photos) that seems to fix it. We need the following: WnW Sydney Whirlwind. Dreamworld Sky Voyager Fully 6 Maze/ Outback splash. Gold Rush/Blackout/Wall/Wedgie Aussie World SX360 Luna Park Sydney Volare Movie World Studio Showcase Adventure Park Tsunami Gumbuya World Red Belly Racer Tiger Snake Tango The Break Wave pool Rebel Funfields Wave Pool Pegasus sky Bounce Dragons Revenge (In Fact funfields has a few gaps, so we could do with anything for this place)

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Looks like it is:

No end date?

With Lagunasia done and dusted much quicker than expected, I turned my attention to Legoland Japan. https://www.parkz.com.au/parks/JP/Nagoya/Legoland_Japan/ (Took a couple of hundred pics) I hadn’t initially put this on my itinerary, but it was only gonna take about 90 mins to get there (Basically, a train to Nagoya, then a local Aonami line train down to the port area, with the station right near the park) It meant I’d have about 3h in the park till close, which I figured was plenty for what I wanted to do. The park is kind of in this outlet mall meets dining district (Like Harbour Town at Docklands) with the park hotel right at the front entrance. The place is poisonously expensive, costing 7000JPY to get in, making it far more expensive than a day at Disney. On the other hand, it probably represents great value for money for kids, since they’ll basically want do to every single attraction, and there is a fair bit despite the compact size of the park. I felt it looked a lot better than Legoland Windsor, which was basically cruddily themed stuff with the odd lego statue to tart it up. This place seemed much more colourful, and more of the buildings and theming looked like it was made out of actual lego bricks, which is what Legoland should be IMO. As for the rides Dragon A fairly sizable family coaster, with a lengthy dark ride section through a castle with Lego models. You pass through rooms like the jesters court, the kitchen, the dragons keep etc. Outside of Disney, Legoland Japan staff are probably the best in Japan, very efficient, chilled, they kept two trains running easily. Dragon’s Apprentice This is the same clone as the kiddy coaster at Sea World. Observation Tower I tried to get this one out of the way early since the sun sets so early. Well placed for views of the park, though I wish they would use safety glass not Perspex on these rides, since that does seem to get scratched and faded more easily. Miniland Really good, and if you’ve been travelling around Japan you’ll get a fair bit out of it because it’s likely you’ll visit / have visited many of the places. Many of the models had push buttons to make them move. For example you could set a stage concert going, or send a lift up the skytree, or make cars move through the production line at a car factory, and even make the giant robot seen at Oidaba move around. It was funny too how they got around copyrights…The Gilco man was missing from Dotonbori, and Shibuya 109 became Shibuya 601. They don’t kick you out right on closing, so I was able to come back for a longer look. Submarine Adventure A bit of my motivation to come here was to try this. It’s a mack submarine ride, so is really a glorified overhead monorail ride, and the vehicles are in effect like a glass bottom boat, with the viewing area forced below water level. The queue has play areas you can leave your kid in while you wait. The ride was dead so I got a sub to myself so was able to scoot around and get a good look. Im not sure I’m a fan of the underwater atlantis theme, it did make it feel like you were in brick tanks, and natural would have looked better. But it is a cool little attraction and the movement through the zones with fish and sharks swimming around you does give the opportunity for a fun narrative. The layout is quite simple though, literally an oval, but I guess if you did something with a few turns you’d be quadrupling the size of the pool. And to be honest, its not that noticeable that the layout is simple, because the scenery is ever changing. There was also a mini sealife area at the exit. Lost Kingdom Adventure A dark ride set in an Egyptian tomb. No story to follow really, it just seemed like they did a few random sets, eg a bad guy stealing something, explorers with magnifying glasses, and a completely weird one with a bunch of skeletons playing in a band. Again, the layout was actually quite simple, a simple oval, so it was over before you knew it. Flying Ninjago Cant resist doing a sky fly when I see one. A bit harder to flip so no chance to be a showoff. I wouldn’t have minded trying this but had no time. Lego Factory Tour Free lego brick! It did feel a bit drawn out. The most interesting part was the room at the end with actual manufacturing machinery. The two prior rooms were just preshows (Thankfully subtitled) explaining how the process works, so to be honest 2/3 video and 1/3 actual interesting stuff is the wrong ratio. The rest of the park was smaller rides, all nicely themed. In particular the lego city area had a fair bit of humour to it. I liked how the pirate area actually recreated the pirate ship lego kit. Heaps of play areas. Not a lot of Japanese signs on shops and so forth, so I dunno how a kid with limited English education in primary school would be able to enjoy it? Overall, I thought it looked a lot better than Windsor, and just the right size for a family park. When is Merlin gonna do Legoland Sydney or something? "Endut! Hoch Hech!

Bitch please what about Hollywood Dream Backdrop.

Apart from say standard model water slides, aren't most major rides built in Australia a new ride system for here?

Yeah that's what I thought too. Like Hissteria should be the stingray sized flat that goes next to the coaster.

MFW I realise Sidewinder is a snake themed name.

Hiss-teria would be good as the branding for the spinning car.