PTR:Japan - larrygator goes to Japan (11/6 update)

You guys are wimps! The only thing scary about the hot food vending machines is that you might get octopus balls!

^I hear you can get some sort of ointment for that condition.

Just got caught up on this. Amazing report. Larry, you need to do reports more often.

dt

^Well it just so happens I was working on an update. I hope you, Ice Bat and Mr Bitey enjoy.

Yokohama Cosmoworld

Only four more parks to cover on this journey. Again we woke up to an overcast day, but the weather did not call for much rain and the rain did hold off all day. So we took the subway out the Cosmoworld. The park is split on two sides of an inlet leading to the sea and parts of the parks are very picturesque, especially the Vanish Coaster and the Big Wheel. But don't expect any picturesque photos from me.

The coasters weren't great but the log flume was. Also the park had a rare Huss Sky Lab (the stretch limousine of Enterprises) and lots of dark rides and walk through attractions. I didn't really enjoy my day at the park until I started to explore those dark rides/walk thrus.

After ERT filming sessions on all the coasters, Robb and Elissa provided each of us with a ride card loaded with enough yen for me to ride everything I wanted and go back for a couple of repeats.

One side of the park is built on a few levels and in this picture I am climbing up to the levels where the Vanish Coaster, Mouse and Big Wheel entrances are located.

In case you were wondering how the Vanish Coaster got its name.

Senyo Mouse Porn! The ride ops allowed us to load for maximum spinning. YAY!

The Fat Boat on the Log Flume.

This picture captures Colin in a non-blinding shirt, although his hair will still blind you. More importantly on the left of the photo you can see the levels of the building housing multiple indoor attractions.

This is the shooting dark ride vehicle. If you score high enough a score you win a prize. Since Elissa had been here before, she was smart enough to ride alone so she could have the choice targets to herself and won a prize.

These are the instructions for Mirror Adventure. As you can clearly see, you go through a mirror maze and have to find your Zodiac sign. If successful you are assigned multiple symbols that appear on a wheel. Upon completion of the maze, the wheel is spun and if it stops on your symbol you win a prize. At one time 10 or 11 people won in a row until Bryan played.

This is the sign for the Ghost Train.

You ride in this cage and spooky stuff pops out at you. Not quite the same as snorting coke in a cage at Octoberfest.

The fourth indoor ride in the area was Judge. It was a walk through with scare actors. You had to find buttons to press in each room to complete the maze and be judged. Scare actors jumped out to hinder your progress.

This area of the park also had a popcorn machine. Elves not included.

Sticking with the indoor attractions, on the other side of the park was Dr. Edgrado's. A walk thru where you are given a "candle" that is meant to be held as steady as possible, not shaken at the props.

After Robb wasted 400 Yen on Cosmic Panic he convinced many of us that was worthy of a try. IT WASN'T!

Adventure Maze had even more confusing directions than the Mirror Maze, and the ride op couldn't even explain what to do, so I skipped it.

Even though it was blazing hot, I skipped the Polar House, since there was an air conditioned mall across the street from the park.

Super Planet was my favorite flat ride in the park.

Absolute beauty of a ride.

Everybody from TPR was taking a picture of this building, so I followed suit like a lemming.

The park's Disk-O with one of those rare Japanese Big Wheels in the background.

Galaxy is the park's version of the Swing Around.

Nice double decker carousel in the family/kids area of the park.

Park Map

Luckily this sign has an Engrish (yes I spelled it like that on purpose) translation because I thought it meant not to jump into an empty pool.

I'm pretty sure The Judge was one of the most awesome experiences ever!

Oh that and the random zodiac game that made no sense!

The park looks even better at night when the lights are on. Nice ongoing report Larry.

No pictures of the group whoring out the Banana Coaster?

^

WHORING!

Yay for a new update! And we did indeed enjoy it.

I remember doing a dark ride/walk thru there that made zero sense, and I think it was the zodiac one. But I'm not positive. It seems like there are some new ones there since I was last at the park.

The coasters at this park are not all that great, but the log flume is awesome.

Can't wait for the next installment!

dt

^^I still need that credit! Left the park early to catch a baseball game.

Hooray for another Larry update! I agree that there should be more Larry Photo TRs.

Great update, Larry!

I assume the walkthrough where you hold the candle is the one from a past TPR trip where everyone misinterpreted the rules to mean you had to shake your candle to make stuff happen?

^Eric - we all learned that mistake at Mitsui Greenland where we first encountered the candle.

Overall, it appears that some of the Japanese parks updated/changed their dark rides/walk throughs over the past three years. Cosmoworld used to have an "underwater" attraction. Yomiuriland, Tobu Zoo and Joypolis are three other parks that come to mind that had different themed attractions from what I had seen in previous PTRs.

Next up is SEA PARADISE.

Wow the pictures I took here suck, I mean even more than normal. And I didn't take many of them, so bear with me and roll with the humor. Or curl up in a fetal position and cry waiting for the next update.

This was a park I really didn't know much about beforehand. I knew it was in Japan, was on the water, had sea animals and a Giant Intamin Drop Tower. Other than that I didn't know nothing. Don't make the same mistake, read my trip report.

This confirms what I already knew. the park is near the water and it in Japanese. You can tell by the writing on the map.

As youcross the bridge from the train station you can see a pretty bridge and that Giant Intamin Droop Tower. But what else is in this place.

A jitney that drives lazy people around the park.

This looks interesting.

It's the Splashute

And you go down this ramp into the lake. Fun but not worth the 45 minute wait.

Many of the rides are water themed, but the rapids was closed today.

Octopuuuuuuuus!

They have a cool looking coaster here.

This is the facade of the Haunted Hospital walk-through. I think it was 300 yen.

It sure doesn't look like a hospital but the instructions they give non-Japanese looking peeps says it is.

Viking Ship - more nautical theming. Then again it is hard to theme these in a non-nautical way.

More nautical theming.

Drunken Barrels with a Cartoon Network overlay. WTF?

Upcharge Ice House - looks like Bill is going to try it out.

The park's panoramic observation tower.

and here's Blue Fall. YAY!

Even the weeds growing out of the sidewalk don't look as bad in Japan. Hope you enjoy.

Blue Fall rules. If it was the only thing there, this park would still be a must visit place. But there's a coaster and some other stuff worth checking out.

And your pictures are better than pretty much anything I ever take!

dt

I believe Sea Paradise is one of the most visited parks in the world. I also know Blue Fall is terrifying but amazing.

1 - Blue Fall was amazing! When the car dropped and you saw it shaking violently on the way down, made it even scarier.

2 - The splash boats were okay. The end was effin terrifying though with the boat rocking back and forth!

I don't recall the Haunted Hospital walkthrough being there in 2007. Blue Fall is the best drop tower anywhere, and their coaster isn't bad, either.

I don't remember the Haunted Hospital either when we were last there. Kind of looks like maybe they are trying to expand a little with that and the splash boats being brought back.

I don't recall the Haunted Hospital walkthrough being there in 2007. Blue Fall is the best drop tower anywhere, and their coaster isn't bad, either.

It was certainly a temporary structure. I'll see if i can find a better picture when I get home.

I don't remember the Haunted Hospital either when we were last there. Kind of looks like maybe they are trying to expand a little with that and the splash boats being brought back.

It sure looks temporary to me based on the ramp. Also completely forgot there was another upcharge walk through right next to it in the same structure.

Nasu Highland

I will admit this is the one park I knew I little bit about before the trip. I knew it had a bunch of brightly colored coasters bunched together and loved Robb and Elissa's trip here in the snow a couple of years ago. I also knew this park from closest to the nuclear reactor accident. However was was still 50 miles away over a mountain range and the wind generally blows in the other direction. So, I had no concerns about becoming irradiated.

What I didn't realized that it was a fairly hilly park with the colorful coasters at the back of the park in a valley. Know did I realized this would be one of the best buffet lunches on any TPR trip. The variety of the food was incredible. Pretty much impossible not to find something you would like. Although this trip turned me into a Katsu Curry enthusiast this lunch was the first opportunity I had to try Shrimp Tempura in Japan and it was delicious.

Ok, so back to the rides. The coasters weren't mind blowing but the park offered great variety in their flat selection and a couple of dark rides. In the end, this park embodied what I expected most of the Japanese parks to be.

You might ask why I lead off with this photo. it's because I'm telling a story and this photo is necessary. You see this is Space Jet. A gas powered monorail that weaves around rides in the lower part of the park and offers good views of the coasters.

Here's a hot mess of coaster tracks. I have no idea which one is which.

More hot mess. You see which this monorail I was able to stop the ride whenever I wanted for pictures.

See I stopped again to capture five coaster and a flume in one shot.

Theming in Japan.

The Togo flat ride of death was much tamer here than at Mitsui Greenland.

Fill it, regular, cash.

Ride in to the dan ger zone.

The park had these "bazooka" gun where you tried to shoot a tennis ball at targets.

Renee was afraid to ride the creepy kiddie flume alone.

So Kristen helped her out.

Two thumbs up for the disneyesque dark ride.

Another great Ghost Train in Japan.

The name didn't dissapoint. Do you see the darkness?

Sorry Panadavision, but this is the most entertaining 4D movie ever, seriously.

If you don't like rides you could always fish in the park's stream. The park will cook your catch also.

Or you can check out the park's bug collection. No, the park will not cook the bugs you catch.

Coaster Porn!

Another nice carousel in Japan. They really take pride in their carousels and ferris wheels.

Noted

Is that the real space shuttle? No. it never gets old.

Nothing politically incorrect here.

or here

Karl takes aim at the natives.

This sign can be translated to "Don't be a stupid American"

Thanks for visiting my PTR to Japan. There will be a bonus park update next week.

A monorail that stops for photo ops??? Great TR, Larry!

I've really enjoyed your take on the Japanese parks, Larry--and share your enthusiasm for urry katsu curry. One thing that struck me about Japanese dark rides and walkthroughs is that they have two extremes: really goofy or really creepy (well, I guess they could be both).

Great pictures. I think i've been to that park before when I was a kid. I remember the bazooka thing and the fishing thing. I definitely need to go back and get the credits though.

The spinning coaster there was by far the most intense one I have ever been on. I was very disappointed that it didn't spin nearly as much for Elissa as it did for Robb and I!