Ryan (that's me) and Laura go to Japan

wOWWW that mascot is creepy

The next park we went to was Mitsui Greenland. Home to a few decent TOGOs and other random rides. The park was not busy so we were able to ride plenty. If you ride Ultra Twister 10X, you get to put your name on a stick and it goes up in the station. Laura and I rode it 17x so we got a stick and a photo up in the station. Its a cool system to get riders to re-ride. I was excited to get to ride an Ultra Twister again since I had one here in Houston for many years. The first drop still kicks butt and so do the brakes. The Milky Way was a lot of fun as well. I think I enjoyed the stand up side more. The park also has a ice house, haunted house and shooting dark ride. Its like a Japan rule for the parks to have some variation of these attractions but that's not a bad thing.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

Thanks for reading. Next update is a day full of 3 different parks.

I really liked the stand up side better.

Milky Way was a surprise for me.

Which side do you prefer?

Themed entrance to Sphinx.

Plus, it has a train where a Dino drives it.

Take the I out and you got NO as in " NO its an SLC"

We are here!

The park was very empty on our visit.

Best coaster entrance? I think so

Its to bad we don't still have one left in America.

MegaTON - Ultra Twister

Hey I know them.

Because I'm so immature.

Iceberg straight ahead.

It was a little humid outside so it was great to cool off.

Its going to be cold inisde.

An indoor power coaster that was decent.

This haunted house gives you a candle where it keeps track of each time you tip the candle. At the end of the house, it totals your score to see if your insane or not. I think Laura was insane and I was normal.

Random loop in the middle of the park.

One of the many random attractions. I couldn't tell you what we were supposed to be doing.

I did win at the end and got this card. No clue what its from.

A haunted dark ride that I remember having headphones to wear to hear the story.

A shooting dark ride but its just one large room in a circle.

We rode it 10x in a row to get our stick. Such a fun system for re-rides.

The jet coaster was actually fun.

Its pretty cool that the park has a McDonalds.

Of course we had to get our grub on.

A look at the menu in case your interested. I love that you can order a burger then pick nuggets instead of fries.

Laura showing off her trampoline skills. Seriously, Mitsui Greenland was a lot of fun.

Chair lift over chain link fence. Sure why not.

We ended our night at a Pizza place nearby the hotel. It was delicious.

We had no idea what to write. I wish I would of thought of something more clever. Oh well, still cool that we will be up in the station for a while.

The park also had a petting zoo for dogs, cats and hamsters.

Aww.

Mitsui Greenland is a great park!

Was the Bows and Arrows shooting gallery open for you?

And McDonalds in Mitsui Greenland, was awesome!

Thanks for sharing your visit there - and future parks to come.

Was the Bows and Arrows shooting gallery open for you?

I did not see it but it's possible we somehow missed it. I know we missed the bobsleds in the back of the park. We meant to go ride but I forgot about it until we were already leaving.

Mitsui Greenland was my favorite "traditional" Japanese amusement park back in 2007. That dark ride with the headphones was actually kind of creepy.

This was a busy day for us. We woke up super early to catch a train and get a taxi over to Kijima. Robb set up some filming at the park that morning so we got ride Jupiter before the park open. It was a foggy morning and that added to the riding experience. After riding a few more rides, we were done early so we taxi over to Wonder Rakutenchi. The coaster there would normally not be worth the stop but that view was truly awesome. We decided to save money from here and walk to the train station. Its not a bad walk either. On the way up to Kijima that morning, I noticed we went pass Space World on the train. Well if you remember from my report earlier, we missed two coasters due to rain. I'm glad we went back to Space World because Venus GT was a ton of fun and a milestone for me.

On our way to Kijima. The park is in a beautiful area.

For you Front Gate enthusiasts. You know who you are.

A view of the whole park. Its not that big of a park.

This building made me think of Legoland.

Jupiter really engulfs the park.

I enjoyed the coaster. Its probably the best wooden coaster in Japan. You know out of 4 of them.

Eerie looking morning.

I didn't know much about the layout so it was cool to not be able to see to far ahead of us.

After we were done at Jupiter, they took us over here to ride this before the park opened.

They also had a roller skater and power coaster at the park. The colorful corkscrew coaster was closed on our visit.

Of course we had to go shoot some Pirates.

What a weird vehicle.

Always enjoy a great drop ride.

Good placement on this one at the bottom of a hill. Made the drop feel higher.

Smart name.

When you go to Wonder Rakutenchi, take the puppy up.

Random duck races for the win. The locals seem to really like the duck races.

Where does this bridge go?

The reason we are here.

Laura is ready to ride.

Hmm, is this thing safe?

Here we go.

The coaster is meh but that view you get.

Why did the TPR member cross the bridge?

Count it.

Check out this view!

Seriously, an awesome view from up here.

Walking back to the station and I see this river. Decide I should snap a photo and this car just happens to pull by.

We probably only saved a couple hundred Yen walking but thats eating money.

Back at Space World for the two missed coasters.

Not big on counting coasters but this was #400. It will be easy for me to remember that.

Ended our busy day with yummy food. All of the food in Japan was amazing.

Next update is another random day with a castle, sushi and a B&M clone. Thanks for reading.

Ahh, this Japan TR is bringing me back. What an awesome trip that was. It almost seems like a dream now. It's interesting seeing all the different TRs and perspectives of the same trip I went on, especially as everyone did different things on the free days.

The next day of our trip was a day we didn't really plan out before. We had an idea of what we wanted to do but that changed since we heard a coaster at the park was down. So we went with a group to Himeji Central Park. Before that, we got a culture credit and a random coaster credit. By the way, I thought Central Park was to expensive. I just felt they overcharged us for what they have.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Laura wants to thank everyone who's been reading the TR so far.

Pretty

There were a lot of people at the castle that day. I'm not sure what was going on.

Random poster I found while walking to the random coaster.

When I was in middle school, my nick name was RYU

Culture credit

Its a beautiful day for a walk.

Boob credit

Good use of an alley

Map of Himeji Castle area

Found it!

Our group in front of the castle

The jet coaster goes out and over the parking lot.

Yay, another jet coaster. Okay, there not all terrible but this one had some weird turns.

Coaster credit

After we rode it, this lady came up to me and ask "why would you come from America to ride this?"

Himeji tegarayama amusement park

First thing you see is the wave pool

The jet coaster goes around the water park area.

So if you do a search for the park at RCDB. Its crazy to think this small park had 4 coasters at one point.

At least it was a beautiful day.

We're all this excited to ride a B&M clone....NOT

Its not that I don't like them. I have 3 near me in Texas.

Lets check out the theming though.

Evil hand

It takes a few of the turns badly.

This was kind of like a rip off of a wild mouse.

Screw & Loop Coaster

Another TOGO in Japan that's not bad.

1 and done

Best part of the park. No walking up the hill.

Lets go up the hill and check out the rest of the park.

All natural theming. Guessing they never have a line?

I was kind of shocked at how new the train looks.

They called us a taxi and the party bus showed up.

Besides being expensive, thinking back the park was okay.

So I bought this at the train station and its was really good.

Its me Mario, thanks for reading. Next update: Nagashima Spaland

Himeji Central Park

Of course the park had a haunted house, mirror maze and ice house.

I rode it twice and was done. Laura rode it again.

You can see Laura in the front row.

Looking down at the park from the top of the hill.

Hotties

After we rode it, this lady came up to me and ask "why would you come from America to ride this?"

Probably not the first time that's been said on a TPR trip.

Is it safe to presume the English word on that sign has a different connotation over there, or...

What I found funny about Central Park, was the isolation Diavlo had, up

in the mountains, somewhere. Then there was the Rastafarian Shop,

selling everything with pot leaves on it, lol. And the flat escalator up

the hill (no accompanying music, though). It was a fun park, I remember.

Great TR. Looking forward to your take on Nagashima Spaland.

Nagashima Spaland was a park many of us were looking forward to visiting. Many view it as the "Cedar Point" of Japan. I was quickly reminded of my old home park Astroworld. Since the Ultra Twister and two schwarzkopf coasters were the same. Nagashima has a large collection of coasters but Steel Dragon really stood out for me. I think Laura would agree it was better than what we expected. Nagashima is a fun park but my major gripe were the flat rides. They have many of the flat rides running on low thrill cycles. They got to turn it up a notch.

Merica! Great shirt Yin

First coaster of the day. Classic but always good.

Boom! Steel Dragon

So since we rode the other ultra twister on the trip a lot, we just rode this once. Still wish we had one in the U.S.

So this is a unique ride.

It's like a bobsled but it pushes you through the whole track and you control the speed.

We rode it twice in a row because it was a lot of fun.

A lot of the rides are close together.

Much like CP, you can see coasters in all directions.

The Viperrr... Oh wait we're not at Astroworld.

These drop rides are still great. How many are left now?

They would only allow so many of us fat Americans on.

The most CP coaster here.

You know the layout

Thus was one of the better and longer haunted houses.

More schwarzkopf love

Even their S&S tower was running on a terrible mode. How can you mess that up?

The ice cream vending machine was addictive. We spent a lot on these.

Kiddie coasters time.

So it took me a few seconds to realize this was themed to Peter Rabbit

Laura doing her bunny look

I typically really enjoy these but they got to turn up the thrill. As soon as we got up in the air, they stopped us.

Hi Laura

Steel Dragon, we didn't forgot about you

Ferris Wheel time

That's a lot of wood

It looks great but it's not.

The park looks very compact from up here.

How many coasters are in this photo?

More wood

Howdy

Huge boat ride

See it's huge

Oh Japan, I miss you so

So we decided to try this and it's no where near our Denny's. They did have some tasty French toast and...

This beautiful creation Laura got. Which by the way was only like .

Thanks for reading. Next update : Universal Japan!!!

Whoa!

Never seen a B:TR get that close to the ground during the first half . . .

It's so weird to see a Batman clone at a small park like Central Park--good ride, though. I understand that the Castle Guardians shooting attraction is gone, which is too bad (lots of fun). At least they still have the horror museum.

I don't know much about Jupiter. Is it a good ride?

I was thinking the same thing. Looks like it has loads of airtime

^&^^ No. It's rough and any airtime is extremely minimal and not enjoyable. Japanese Woodies seem to kind of suck for the most part. Very sad. Hope to someday see a 'new' Intamin or RMC in the country.

^&^^ No. It's rough and any airtime is extremely minimal and not enjoyable. Japanese Woodies seem to kind of suck for the most part. Very sad. Hope to someday see a 'new' Intamin or RMC in the country.

Awww...

TPR's pov video made the ride seem pretty enjoyable.

^&^^ No. It's rough and any airtime is extremely minimal and not enjoyable. Japanese Woodies seem to kind of suck for the most part. Very sad. Hope to someday see a 'new' Intamin or RMC in the country.

I would agree with this. I thought Jupiter was the best of the three woodies I rode in Japan. Our second ride on Jupiter was very rough. We only rode the woodie at Nagashima once due to roughness. Regina at Tobu Zoo wasn't bad but those turns were rough. RMC could do wonders for all of them.

I remember riding Jupiter for the first time (2007), and when it was so rough, just on the

first part of the track as you left the station and before hitting the lift hill...

...It didn't take much more to make me feel that once for the credit, was enough. I

did ride it again, on another trip, but that was a few years later, and I just wanted

to see if anything had improved on it.

It hadn't.

And in my humble opinion, ^ Regina was/is the best to me, of those three.

Regina - better than Jupiter and waaay better than White Cyclone IMhO. (TPR 2011 Japan Tour)

How many coasters are in this photo?

I count five, how about everyone else?

Great report!

I'm really excited about the next update. Universal Japan was absolutely a place I was beyond thrilled to finally visit. After all they have classic Universal rides no longer available here in America. Jaws, Back to the Future and Backdraft are still great. Plus Laura finally got to ride those rides since she sadly missed out. We had some interactions at other parks before but at this park, it seemed like every employee spoke to us. They spoke English and asked about my shirt. It was just a really nice touch. If I could pull one ride from the park and place here in the states. I put Space Fantasy (just the way it is, no english). It's amazing how they took a basic coaster and made it one of the most unique ride experiences ever. That final scene is mind blowing. Harry Potter land was packed. Forbidden Journey at least looked better in 3D.

I liked how as soon as you exit the station, you were in the City Walk

Lots of American restaurants

Follow Elissa to Universal

Generic Front Entrance photo

Perk of getting to the park early.

Can you tell I'm excited?

Waiting in the gift shop to start our day. The park was nice enough to allow us to enter through a side entrance which help get ahead of the rush.

This was the rush I spoke of. Mostly everyone was heading for Harry Potter.

First ride of the day. I liked it more backwards.

Cool bridge theming

Such a unique fun ride.

Still awesome in Japanese

The last half of Hollywood Dream

Very interested to learn more about the flyer. I'm sure it will be a great ride.

How long before the minions take over BTTF?

It was great to ride this once again.

If only I had a time machine to go back to this trip

Laura's take on the ride " I liked it better than the Simpsons ride"

Nicely themed Kiddie coaster.

Plus we got out of the heat for a bit.

We spent way to much time playing with this interactive set.

Time to go check out Harry Potter land.

So this is where everyone went

It's almost eerie how identical it is to the Orlando version.

Someone did say the castle was higher.

Our front of the line passes saved us a few hours for the two Potter rides.

The trains were weird. You had to stretch your legs out so the lapbar would close. I've never seen that.

The 3D helps but I'm still not a huge fan. They also need to work on the locker system.

JAWS!!!!

After the ride Laura said "Why did we ever get rid of this?"

Our skipper was great. Even said something about my shirt.

I'm sure Universal has a policy to call out anyone wearing their properties. Still it amazed me how well the employees spoke English to us.

Waterworld

The used a lot of American stuntmen

FACT Laura likes records

My spidey sense is tingling

Another classic. Laura said after "I had no idea there was going to be so much fire"

Random huge statue. Part of a special attraction Universal was having.

Took this from TPR Twitter. Good looking group. Next update : Tobu Zoo and Thunder Dolphin

Hmm...I don't recall saying any of those things.

That group photo turned out fantastic! I must have missed it on Twitter. Gonna save that one.

Also, Laura, you have good taste in Universal rides. Jaws, BTTF, and Backdraft should all still exist.

Wow, fantastic photos!! Any time I see pics and/or video from Japan, everything always looks so neat/nifty

^&^^ No. It's rough and any airtime is extremely minimal and not enjoyable. Japanese Woodies seem to kind of suck for the most part. Very sad. Hope to someday see a 'new' Intamin or RMC in the country.

Awww...

TPR's pov video made the ride seem pretty enjoyable.

Yes, Japanese wooden coasters range from "OK" to downright bad. I guess my favorites are Elf at Hirakata and Regina at Tobu Zoo. At least those two don't shake and beat you to death.

As for Universal Japan, what a great park!