Mega-Lite

3 Intamin prefabs in 7 posts, I like that!
 
I'm both extremely excited and extremely nervous to test out the Arrow/S&S 4D coasters. Can totally see why you'd pick X2, that sensation sounds incredible and evil at the same time!

The sugar coating of situations in Thorpe's favour are just as frustrating to read as the constant slagging off.

Genuinely do not care! 
 
I'm always of the mind set that original layouts are better than cloned layouts, but this does nothing to hurt my love for Taron

You sir are the true winner here!

Thanks to Coaster himself making this a thread last year, I've been happily spread sheeting my park visits this year, he's a saint, I'm a nerd, let's go.
 
Delete as appropriate for what counts and what doesn't.
 
Sea World (Australia)
Warner Bros. Movie World (Australia) x 2
Dreamworld (Australia)
Aussie World (Australia)
Oriental Heritage Xiamen (China)
Fantawild Dreamland Xiamen (China)
Happy Valley Shenzhen (China)
The Milky Way Adventure Park (UK)
Crealy Adventure Park (UK)
PortAventura Park (Spain) x 3
Ferrari Land (Spain)
Tibidabo (Spain)
Alton Towers (UK) x3
Dymchurch Amusement Park (UK)
Thorpe Park (UK) x2
Chessington (UK)
West Midland Safari Park (UK)
Treasure Island Amusement Park (UK)
Big Sheep (UK)
Camel Creek Adventure Park (UK)
Flambards Village Theme Park (UK)
Funder Park (UK)
Animal Farm Adventure Park (UK)
Funland At The Tropicana (UK)
Clacton Pier (UK)
Pavilion Fun Park (UK)
Old MacDonald's Farm (UK)
South Pier (UK)
Blackpool Pleasure Beach (UK) x 4
Oakwood (UK)
Barry Island Pleasure Park (UK)
Coney Beach Pleasure Park (UK)
Walygator Parc (France)
Nigloland (France)
Parc Saint Paul (France)
Parc Du Bocasse (France)
Dennlys Parc (France)
Bagatelle (France)
E-World (South Korea)
Gyeonju World (South Korea)
Suzuka Circuit (Japan)
Parque Espana-Shima Spain Village (Japan)
Nagashima Spa Land (Japan)
Enakyo Wonderland (Japan)
Japan Monkey Park (Japan)
Higashiyama Zoo And Botanical Gardens (Japan)
Lagunasia (Japan)
Hamanako Pal Pal (Japan)
Tokyo Joypolis (Japan)
Yokohama Cosmoworld (Japan)
Yomiuriland (Japan)
Fuji-Q Highland (Japan)
Tokyo DisneySea (Japan)
Tokyo DisneyLand (Japan)
Tokyo Dome City (Japan)
Tobu Zoo (Japan)
Lotte World (South Korea)
Southport Pleasureland (UK)
Knightly's Funfair (UK)
Tir Prince Family Funfair (UK)
Family Fun Fair (UK)
Lightwater Valley (UK)
Ocean Beach Pleasure Park (UK)
Flamingo Land (UK)
Bayside Fun Park (UK)
TusenFryd (Norway)
Liseberg (Sweden) x 2
 
Total: 77

An average of a park every 4.1 days assuming the list is from Jan 1st. I can only say I'm jealous.

Sorry lads, I was struck down in my prime by a nasty cold and didn't want to taint this trip report with my cold medicine infused delusions.
 
Day 12
 
After actually seeing the typhoon first hand and hearing all hell going on during the night, I was sure I was going to open my curtains today to see Japan in a post Godzilla state, but nope all still standing and better yet the weather looked lovely. After checking the Disney site to make sure they were unaffected, I hastily jotted down the attractions that tickled my fancy (thankfully more than DisneySea...), then we headed out to...
 
Tokyo Disneyland - https://rcdb.com/4959.htm
 
Now while I 100% stand by my comments about DisneySea being slightly disappointing, I do feel bad for having to report that, so you'll be glad to hear that whilst I still absolutely prefer Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney park had a much better showing than it's resort counterpart.
 
In order to get to the entrance for Tokyo Disneyland you have to walk on an overpass over the coach park, well now they are just rubbing salt in the wounds...
 
Once in, things felt much more "Disney" than they ever did at DisneySea. There was a proper atmosphere in the air and while it never reached that of Disneyland Paris, it was great to feel that "magic" again.
 

 
Tokyo's castle looks so beautiful.
 
We first headed to Adventureland to ride Splash Mountain and Big Thunder.
 

 
It turns out that you can't just trust where you think attractions will be located because neither of these rides were in Adventureland, never mind...
 
Correcting our mistake we made our way through Adventureland and over to Critter Country to experience Splash Mountain.
 

 
That looks awesome.
 
Splash Mountain
 
For years of following Disney parks online I'd been really interested to try Splash Mountain and it didn't disappoint me for one second.
 
Incredibly detailed theming, an adorable story (this time featuring a defined ending), a nice long ride time and a surprisingly thrilling final "splash", to coin a phrase, this thing was fab.
 
 
 
Owing to it's location in relation to Critter Country, we next headed over to ride...
 
Haunted Mansion
 
Phantom Manor is one of my favourite dark rides and is joint first in regards to my favourite attractions at Disneyland Paris. It's a stunning attraction that has stuck with me since I first rode it all the way back in 2005.
 
Because of this, I was so excited to try out the alternative mansion, but there was a problem...
 
For reasons only known to the insane, Tokyo Disneyland had their Haunted Mansion in Holiday Nightmare flavour in EARLY SEPTEMBER!
 
So instead of getting to experience the legendary Haunted Mansion, I got some emo Christmas bulls**t featuring A Nightmare Before Christmas.
 
For principle I'm not even going to give an opinion of Holiday Nightmare and I guess I'm going to have to wait till I go to the US to finally get to ride the Haunted Mansion...
 

 
Following this crippling disappointment we finally made our way over to Big Thunder Mountain.
 
Big Thunder Mountain - https://rcdb.com/1183.htm
 

 
Sorry to keep mentioning Disneyland Paris, but I'd rank their Big Thunder with the list of coasters that sit just below the top 10. The theming, the dive under the water to start the coaster, the truly out of control feeling it creates and the insane ending, I absolutely love it.
 
During this trip, me and friend kept saying to each other, it almost feels like every ride here is a far tamer version of their great other halves. The more I think about it now, the more I agree with that statement. For reasons unknown, the country that's home to Flying Dinosaur, Eejanaika, Arashi and Pyrenees (4 of the most intense roller coasters ever made), seems to also be home to the Disneyland with tamed down rides.
 
Big Thunder Japan was no different. While the theming as expected is outstanding, the coaster itself rides much more like a Vekoma Junior than the out of control French version and the ending is much much more lacklustre.
 
It's still a great ride but when you've done other Big Thunders it doesn't quite live up.
 
Making our way back to Adventureland, it was time for me to experience my first Jungle Cruise.
 
Jungle Cruise
 
After almost doing Hong Kong Disney before, I had seen on their website that their Jungle Cruise contains pyros and all sort of madness kicking off, so this probably didn't help in regards to forming my opinion of Japan's version.
 
While Jungle Cruise was a lovely little sit down and bless the poor skipper girl who really was giving it all she had. Sadly due to stupid Hong Kong I was destined to come off disappointed, when the ride just ended without any major pay off.
 
 
 
Star Tours
 

 
Much like the French one, to a man who hasn't seen Star Wars, this was just a rock dodging simulator. It's good but it ain't no John Cleese dark ride...
 

 
Space Mountain - https://rcdb.com/1185.htm
 
Next up was Space Mountain, another attraction I'd be longing to experience for a long time and sadly another attraction that led to some disappointment.
 
Now this time, the disappointment doesn't stem from the Paris one being better, probably because I haven't ridden the Paris one...
 
This time it comes down to the experience as a whole falling far short of what I was promised.
 
The coaster itself is super super tame, which would have been fine if there was anything decent to look at but there wasn't. So after the interesting lift hill section, you just end up mincing around in the dark while space sound effects play quietly on the on board audio. I'm sure the American Space Mountains feature a score that causes instant orgasm among Disney fanboys, so why doesn't Tokyo have that?
 
It's not all doom and gloom though because on the first dispatch our train got hand pushed into a maintenance bay and we got evaced, the aforementioned fanboys wouldn't of been able to keep it in their pants, I just laughed. Though if I ever get a VALHALLA evac I'm sure I'll be in the same boat...
 
It turns out I didn't take any pictures of Space Mountain, but you all know what it looks like.
 
After this we had lunch at the pizza place in Tomorrowland, after the pizza place in Fantasyland refused to take the pineapple off the pizza for me, fools...
 
Pirates Of The Caribbean
 
Exactly the same as I remember the Paris one but this time featuring really lifelike looking Jack Sparrow animatronics, it's really good, though nothing new.
 

 
Western River Railroad
 
After using the statement, "might as well do the train", we were certainly glad we did because it was great.
 
A nice sit down, with fantastic views of the area and even some surprise sections out of nowhere.
 

 
Gadget Go Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1184.htm
 
While they have certainly done a lovely job of fitting this Vekoma Junior in, it still doesn't really excuse that Disneyland has a Vekoma Junior to start with.
 

 
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
 
I still can't believe that Roger Rabbit has a ride at all at a Disney park, so for that alone, I love it.
 

 
Monsters Inc Ride & Go Seek
 
Even though I had no idea how to make this interactive ride work properly, I absolutely loved it.
 
Monsters Inc is one of my favourite Pixar movies and this ride did the source material justice and then some.
 

 
With everything we wanted to do (and some extras) knocked off, we took things easy for the next few hours and hit up various other attractions that sounded worth our time.
 
PhilharMagic
 
This 3D theatre based musical adventure was fantastic, easily the best surprise at the park.
 

 
Next up we did the essential photos infront of the castle.
 

 
Yeah, still beautiful...
 
Pooh's Hunny Hunt
 
To say anything other than it's amazing, you NEED to try it, will completely ruin this awesome trackless dark ride.
 
Hilarious to the point of tears and a technical marvel, essential.
 
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
 
Exactly the same as the Paris one but still a great little ride.
 
Small World
 
I'm not sure if it's a Tokyo exclusive, but this variation featured Disney Princesses within the attraction and that added an extra element of enjoyment to the ride.
 

 
We had a couple of rerides and then got ourselves in position for the nighttime castle show.
 

 
Now for the last few hours I had really started to get into the Disney Magic and as the sun went down, I didn't feel a million miles away from the feelings I felt while walking through the Paris park. Unfortunately, things were going to turn sour to cap the day off...
 
Disney Dreams at Disneyland Paris moved me in ways I rarely feel like expressing and with my friend who's done all the Disney's except the US ones telling me that ALL the Disney castle shows are near enough as good as Dreams, I was unbelievably excited to see how the Tokyo one was going to play out. Well...
 
Instead of the show being featured around Disney movies, tied together with a magical story, this time the show was based around the park itself.
 
This meant instead of seeing Rapunzel swinging from the turrets or hearing Elsa singing Let It Go, you were treated to crudely animated recreations of the park's attractions, while each ride theme played. Tied together by an out of tune overly pretentious song about how great the park is. The 2 most insulting parts were, the Haunted Mansion section, when you can't even ride the proper ride at the moment and an extended part about a paddle steamer...
 
Worst of all though, no fireworks at all, only a few flame throwers that went off every once in a while.
 
I could literally feel the magic being sucked out of me every second this waste of time continued.
 
Disney Dreams in person > watching Disney Dreams on YouTube > thinking about Disney Dreams > going back to the hotel > Tokyo Disney's current castle show
 
Thank you for reading, next time, our last day in Japan, featuring, Thunder Dolphin and Kawasemi.

Sadly not Thorpe, but I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear Wanda Chengdu are building a Taron clone...

They are free and I didn't see anything about time limits, we were naughty and left stuff in them after finishing up with Valk, with absolutely no issues. Liseberg have only implemented them because of lack of room for storage lockers on the ride platform, it's hard to really argue with that logic. 
 
Quick reviews because I'm so far behind on trip reports but want to say these things before it's too late, a report will follow though.
 
Helix is still the best coaster in the World, even after having nightmares about it not living up to how I remember it, I came off my 1st of 19 laps during last weekend on the verge of tears and shaking. #TeamHelix
 
Valkyria is HANDS DOWN the best dive coaster I've ever been on and has transformed a coaster type I normally roll my eyes at into something truly special. Everything has purpose, the fast lift, the fast turn around, the tight intense layout and the lovely forces it provides. It's an absolute winner and I must retract my previous statements about not being excited for it.
 
Loke is fantastic and adds yet another fantastic flat to Liseberg's outstanding line up.
 
The new Max restaurants are great and a massive improvement over the BKs. 
 
I second those complimenting the Halloween event at the park, the place looks stunning and the scare zone near Balder and Valk was hilariously good fun.
 
I'm now promoting Liseberg to my favourite park out there, the line up, the atmosphere, the food and the location, it all finally came together and dawned on me this time round, I apologise for being late to the party on this one.

Day 8
 
Morning now and an attempt for the stupid hotel to redeem itself. Apparently it afforded fantastic views of Mount Fuji, sadly the reality was it offered fantastic views of a man's house and some trees, redemption failed...
 
This morning we were headed to our new hotel (this time a real one) in central Tokyo, where we were going to spend the rest of our time in Japan.
 
After dropping off our trusted car and paying over £200 in toll fees, we ditched our luggage at the hotel and jumped on public transport (we will get back to this later) on route to a very special event.
 
My friend had discovered that K-Pop group Oh My Girl were in Tokyo for a 1 day only special event in a popular Japanese mall and through multiple emails with the event team I felt I at least half understood what was happening and when.
 
To over simplify a ridiculously complicated process (trust the Japanese)... Oh My Girl's debut Japanese album was on sale in the mall and in every album was a photocard of one of the members and depending on how many photocards you had you got to claim various awesome rewards, I think you can see where this is heading. 1 photocard got you a high five with said member, 2 photocards of different members got you the option to pick your bias and have a prolonged handshake and chat and 2 photocards of the same member got you a signing with that member and a selfie.
 
Complimenting meeting the girls by redeeming your photocards, was those who bought 3 albums or more got to attend 2 mini concerts.
 
The 2 hour queue to buy CDs flew by in minutes and soon I was holding 3 copies as if they were gold, they sure cost enough.
 
I got spited quite hilariously in which photocards I received but thanks to trading with my friend I was able to be a position to get a handshake with my favourite member, Arin.
 
After the awesome first mini concert I had my one on one meeting with Arin. If you've ever met one of your favourite K-Pop idols you'll know exactly how I felt, if you haven't you couldn't possibly understand.
 
Now with only 1 card left I convinced myself to queue up again to get another CD, to gain the opportunity to get another handshake, this time with Seunghee.
 
After an even better second mini concert (Arin recognised me from our previous meeting and waved), I got my handshake with Seunghee, who spent our entire life changing interaction in shock that a random English bloke had come to see them in Japan, for the record I'd do it again.
 
The entire experience felt like it had lasted an hour (the best hour of my life) but had actually gone on for a little over 7, meaning that by the time we were finished there wasn't very much left of the day.
 
On one of the previous days I saw on the tv in passing something about a typhoon. While in McDonalds still in a daze after the day's event, my friend told me that, that typhoon was going to hit Japan in 3 days and it was going to pose danger to properties and life, great I thought, I wonder if Fuji Q runs in a typhoon?
 
Joypolis - https://rcdb.com/5256.htm
 
With it now raining aswell as being late we gave up on original plan of doing Joypolis and Tokyo Dome and chose instead to just hit Joypolis.
 
Rather luckily located 5 minutes from the mall, Joypolis is a sadly quite disappointing arcade featuring a Gerts spinner.
 
When picturing a large scale arcade in Japan of all places, I thought of floor upon floor of countless ultra high tech arcade machines and an atmosphere that was bordering on too intense but alas no. Tokyo Joypolis is 3 floors of really not much at all worth doing, with Coral Island at Blackpool having a far better atmosphere.
 
Gekion Live Coaster - https://rcdb.com/6453.htm

Gekion Live is a Gerts spinner that's half arcade machine, half coaster.
 
You start out playing a rhythm based game while the coaster slowly slithers past screens in the dark. Then you are tire launched out into the arcade and through an inline, which is by far the best bit of the ride. After the inline you leave the arcade again and enter a room with a light show and screens while the coaster doesn't really do much of anything. Nothing of note really took place in the final part of the coaster and hardly any spinning either.
 
It's certainly interesting and different but it isn't very good.
 
  
 
Day 9
 
For those keeping score at home, on one of the days we had the car we managed to knock off 3 parks in a day and came damn close to also getting a +1 too. Well today we were going to try that same approach but on Tokyo trains, what could possibly go right?
 
The Tokyo transport system is an absolute mess. On top of the fact it's incredibly complicated (google the map, I dare you), different bits are also owned by at least 5 different companies. You need different tickets for each of the different companies, so it's not uncommon to need 3 different tickets for 1 trip on the metro. This means that the super value day passes you can buy from the many companies only work on their little bit of the network and as soon as you leave you have to go back to paying again and it's not obvious who owns which bit so you'll almost certainly be paying the fare adjustment costs and getting beeped at by the barriers for doing it wrong. Then there's the cost...
 
1 - 4 stops on the metro costs you 3 pounds, 4 - 8 stops costs you 6 pounds and so on, which is why the day passes would be super handy if it wasn't for the fact as mentioned they are company specific and once you the leave that company's bit you'll have to start paying those prices again.
 
Also not helping things is the fact that Tokyo rail/metro companies seem to be staffed by the worst Japan can offer. Anywhere else in Japan they'll go so far out of their way to help you that it makes you feel guilty but on the trains at BEST you'll get "sorry no speak English".
 
We originally intended to start our day at Sea Paradise but after getting not quite half way there and realising it had already taken an hour due to train faff, we came to the conclusion that we'd have to ditch it if we wanted to hit the 2 preferred parks today.
 
Yokohama Cosmoworld was our next destination and we arrived in Yokohama station at 10am, it was just a shame the park didn't open until 11... Shortly after arriving it began to rain so we killed the hour in the second Starbucks of the trip, I really am starting to associate Starbucks with disappointment.
 
Talking of dissapointment...
 
We got to Yokohama Cosmoworld a little after opening to the site of both the major coasters being under tarp. After asking guest services they told us they'd walk the track at some point and if they looked dry they might open them. The coasters really weren't worth waiting around for so we opted to just move on to the next park. On the way out we ticked off the kiddie cred which rather insultingly was open.
 
Yomiuriland - https://rcdb.com/4968.htm
 
With 2 parks missed, hideous amounts of train faff and the rain still falling on and off we really needed Yomiuriland to lift our spirits and it certainly did.
 
As we were on the cable car that takes you from the station to the park entrance it began to rain again and it really did feel like all hope was lost.
 
 
 
Though when asking the man at the ticket office if the coasters were open he replied "they might close if the weather gets really bad", so there's hope you say?
 
Bandit - https://rcdb.com/1218.htm
 
We powered straight to Bandit, the tallest jet coaster in the World! Bandit is a monster, at near 260 feet tall and over 5,000 feet in length it almost doesn't seem real, but don't worry it gets even more insane...
 
Not really paying attention in our rush to get to the coaster it turns out we entered the queue for "Wet Bandit", this is a special mode they put Bandit in during the summer months and oh boy was it something.
 
Before being dispatched Big Bang's Bang Bang Bang (K-Pop) song played while the the staff made everyone clap along. Then you dispatch and as you take a turn to the right towards the lift hill, a giant water geyser goes off absolutely soaking everyone. I spent the entire lifthill laughing, thinking what the hell just happened, will anything else happen? As soon as you begin to descend down Bandit's massive drop, from the trees to the left of the ride water is shot an easy 200 foot in the air landing on you by the time you reach the bottom, Jesus Christ! Almost Valhalla wet now and laughing so hard I wasn't braced so getting the crap beaten out of me, this was awesome. Wet Bandit's final surprise was a wall of water awaiting you on the entry to the brakes, madness.
 
So I just came from a park that's waiting for the track of a jet coaster to be dry while I'm riding the World's tallest jet coaster that's shooting water 200 feet in the air and then on the track, makes sense right?
 
I'll more than forgive it for it's age and charm but it's fair to say Bandit is a bit of a rough monster, nothing serious but certainly some vicious jolts in places.
 

 
Wan Wan Coaster Wandit - https://rcdb.com/3253.htm
 
One the best named coasters out there.
 

 
Momonga Standing And Loop Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1219.htm
 
This Togo coaster gives you the option of riding in sitting or standing trains using a switch track in the station. The sitting train offered a rather meh ride but the standing one was quite fun. You are actually fully standing on the Togo coasters as opposed to sitting uncomfortably on your balls like on Intamin stand ups. The exposed feeling of truly standing with not much holding you in really makes the standing aspect appealing. Who knew Togo were the kings of the stand up coasters?
 
 
 
Spin Runway - https://rcdb.com/13431.htm
 
Spin Runaway is another Gerts spinning but this time themed to working in a fashion factory, no really.
 
Unfortunately after the highly detailed queue, the coaster itself takes place in almost complete darkness and much like Gekion from earlier it really doesn't do much of anything exciting.
 
Is this going to be a recurring theme for Gerts spinners or are Japan just unlucky?
 

 
From disappointment to probably the best ride in the park, sorry Bandit.
 
Splash UFO is the park's rapids ride, a rapids ride themed to cup noodles, how Japanese is that?
 
This thing was insane and I'm certain it was built by those lunatics at Hafema.
 
I was expecting a slightly tame indoors rapids with cup noodle theming but was presented with River Quest's whirlpool, bouncing off walls at 40mph, steep drops and sheer terror, I absolutely loved it.
 

 
With all the rides we wanted to do done now, we went for a ride on the Ferris Wheel.
 

 
Yomiuriland was great and brought the day back from total failure. Quality rides combined with a really wacky sense of fun made for a really enjoyable few hours.
 
To end the day we picked up our hire car for our trip to Fuji Q the next day. We had forgotten to ask for the ETC card so discovered it was going to cost us £84 return in tolls to get to Fuji Q...
 
Thanks for reading, next time Fuji Q and the awesome Eejanaika.

Day 8
 
Morning now and an attempt for the stupid hotel to redeem itself. Apparently it afforded fantastic views of Mount Fuji, sadly the reality was it offered fantastic views of a man's house and some trees, redemption failed...
 
This morning we were headed to our new hotel (this time a real one) in central Tokyo, where we were going to spend the rest of our time in Japan.
 
After dropping off our trusted car and paying over £200 in toll fees, we ditched our luggage at the hotel and jumped on public transport (we will get back to this later) on route to a very special event.
 
My friend had discovered that K-Pop group Oh My Girl were in Tokyo for a 1 day only special event in a popular Japanese mall and through multiple emails with the event team I felt I at least half understood what was happening and when.
 
To over simplify a ridiculously complicated process (trust the Japanese)... Oh My Girl's debut Japanese album was on sale in the mall and in every album was a photocard of one of the members and depending on how many photocards you had you got to claim various awesome rewards, I think you can see where this is heading. 1 photocard got you a high five with said member, 2 photocards of different members got you the option to pick your bias and have a prolonged handshake and chat and 2 photocards of the same member got you a signing with that member and a selfie.
 
Complimenting meeting the girls by redeeming your photocards, was those who bought 3 albums or more got to attend 2 mini concerts.
 
The 2 hour queue to buy CDs flew by in minutes and soon I was holding 3 copies as if they were gold, they sure cost enough.
 
I got spited quite hilariously in which photocards I received but thanks to trading with my friend I was able to be a position to get a handshake with my favourite member, Arin.
 
After the awesome first mini concert I had my one on one meeting with Arin. If you've ever met one of your favourite K-Pop idols you'll know exactly how I felt, if you haven't you couldn't possibly understand.
 
Now with only 1 card left I convinced myself to queue up again to get another CD, to gain the opportunity to get another handshake, this time with Seunghee.
 
After an even better second mini concert (Arin recognised me from our previous meeting and waved), I got my handshake with Seunghee, who spent our entire life changing interaction in shock that a random English bloke had come to see them in Japan, for the record I'd do it again.
 
The entire experience felt like it had lasted an hour (the best hour of my life) but had actually gone on for a little over 7, meaning that by the time we were finished there wasn't very much left of the day.
 
On one of the previous days I saw on the tv in passing something about a typhoon. While in McDonalds still in a daze after the day's event, my friend told me that, that typhoon was going to hit Japan in 3 days and it was going to pose danger to properties and life, great I thought, I wonder if Fuji Q runs in a typhoon?
 
Joypolis - https://rcdb.com/5256.htm
 
With it now raining aswell as being late we gave up on original plan of doing Joypolis and Tokyo Dome and chose instead to just hit Joypolis.
 
Rather luckily located 5 minutes from the mall, Joypolis is a sadly quite disappointing arcade featuring a Gerts spinner.
 
When picturing a large scale arcade in Japan of all places, I thought of floor upon floor of countless ultra high tech arcade machines and an atmosphere that was bordering on too intense but alas no. Tokyo Joypolis is 3 floors of really not much at all worth doing, with Coral Island at Blackpool having a far better atmosphere.
 
Gekion Live Coaster - https://rcdb.com/6453.htm

Gekion Live is a Gerts spinner that's half arcade machine, half coaster.
 
You start out playing a rhythm based game while the coaster slowly slithers past screens in the dark. Then you are tire launched out into the arcade and through an inline, which is by far the best bit of the ride. After the inline you leave the arcade again and enter a room with a light show and screens while the coaster doesn't really do much of anything. Nothing of note really took place in the final part of the coaster and hardly any spinning either.
 
It's certainly interesting and different but it isn't very good.
 
  
 
Day 9
 
For those keeping score at home, on one of the days we had the car we managed to knock off 3 parks in a day and came damn close to also getting a +1 too. Well today we were going to try that same approach but on Tokyo trains, what could possibly go right?
 
The Tokyo transport system is an absolute mess. On top of the fact it's incredibly complicated (google the map, I dare you), different bits are also owned by at least 5 different companies. You need different tickets for each of the different companies, so it's not uncommon to need 3 different tickets for 1 trip on the metro. This means that the super value day passes you can buy from the many companies only work on their little bit of the network and as soon as you leave you have to go back to paying again and it's not obvious who owns which bit so you'll almost certainly be paying the fare adjustment costs and getting beeped at by the barriers for doing it wrong. Then there's the cost...
 
1 - 4 stops on the metro costs you 3 pounds, 4 - 8 stops costs you 6 pounds and so on, which is why the day passes would be super handy if it wasn't for the fact as mentioned they are company specific and once you the leave that company's bit you'll have to start paying those prices again.
 
Also not helping things is the fact that Tokyo rail/metro companies seem to be staffed by the worst Japan can offer. Anywhere else in Japan they'll go so far out of their way to help you that it makes you feel guilty but on the trains at BEST you'll get "sorry no speak English".
 
We originally intended to start our day at Sea Paradise but after getting not quite half way there and realising it had already taken an hour due to train faff, we came to the conclusion that we'd have to ditch it if we wanted to hit the 2 preferred parks today.
 
Yokohama Cosmoworld was our next destination and we arrived in Yokohama station at 10am, it was just a shame the park didn't open until 11... Shortly after arriving it began to rain so we killed the hour in the second Starbucks of the trip, I really am starting to associate Starbucks with disappointment.
 
Talking of dissapointment...
 
We got to Yokohama Cosmoworld a little after opening to the site of both the major coasters being under tarp. After asking guest services they told us they'd walk the track at some point and if they looked dry they might open them. The coasters really weren't worth waiting around for so we opted to just move on to the next park. On the way out we ticked off the kiddie cred which rather insultingly was open.
 
Yomiuriland - https://rcdb.com/4968.htm
 
With 2 parks missed, hideous amounts of train faff and the rain still falling on and off we really needed Yomiuriland to lift our spirits and it certainly did.
 
As we were on the cable car that takes you from the station to the park entrance it began to rain again and it really did feel like all hope was lost.
 
 
 
Though when asking the man at the ticket office if the coasters were open he replied "they might close if the weather gets really bad", so there's hope you say?
 
Bandit - https://rcdb.com/1218.htm
 
We powered straight to Bandit, the tallest jet coaster in the World! Bandit is a monster, at near 260 feet tall and over 5,000 feet in length it almost doesn't seem real, but don't worry it gets even more insane...
 
Not really paying attention in our rush to get to the coaster it turns out we entered the queue for "Wet Bandit", this is a special mode they put Bandit in during the summer months and oh boy was it something.
 
Before being dispatched Big Bang's Bang Bang Bang (K-Pop) song played while the the staff made everyone clap along. Then you dispatch and as you take a turn to the right towards the lift hill, a giant water geyser goes off absolutely soaking everyone. I spent the entire lifthill laughing, thinking what the hell just happened, will anything else happen? As soon as you begin to descend down Bandit's massive drop, from the trees to the left of the ride water is shot an easy 200 foot in the air landing on you by the time you reach the bottom, Jesus Christ! Almost Valhalla wet now and laughing so hard I wasn't braced so getting the crap beaten out of me, this was awesome. Wet Bandit's final surprise was a wall of water awaiting you on the entry to the brakes, madness.
 
So I just came from a park that's waiting for the track of a jet coaster to be dry while I'm riding the World's tallest jet coaster that's shooting water 200 feet in the air and then on the track, makes sense right?
 
I'll more than forgive it for it's age and charm but it's fair to say Bandit is a bit of a rough monster, nothing serious but certainly some vicious jolts in places.
 

 
Wan Wan Coaster Wandit - https://rcdb.com/3253.htm
 
One the best named coasters out there.
 

 
Momonga Standing And Loop Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1219.htm
 
This Togo coaster gives you the option of riding in sitting or standing trains using a switch track in the station. The sitting train offered a rather meh ride but the standing one was quite fun. You are actually fully standing on the Togo coasters as opposed to sitting uncomfortably on your balls like on Intamin stand ups. The exposed feeling of truly standing with not much holding you in really makes the standing aspect appealing. Who knew Togo were the kings of the stand up coasters?
 
 
 
Spin Runway - https://rcdb.com/13431.htm
 
Spin Runaway is another Gerts spinning but this time themed to working in a fashion factory, no really.
 
Unfortunately after the highly detailed queue, the coaster itself takes place in almost complete darkness and much like Gekion from earlier it really doesn't do much of anything exciting.
 
Is this going to be a recurring theme for Gerts spinners or are Japan just unlucky?
 

 
From disappointment to probably the best ride in the park, sorry Bandit.
 
Splash UFO is the park's rapids ride, a rapids ride themed to cup noodles, how Japanese is that?
 
This thing was insane and I'm certain it was built by those lunatics at Hafema.
 
I was expecting a slightly tame indoors rapids with cup noodle theming but was presented with River Quest's whirlpool, bouncing off walls at 40mph, steep drops and sheer terror, I absolutely loved it.
 

 
With all the rides we wanted to do done now, we went for a ride on the Ferris Wheel.
 

 
Yomiuriland was great and brought the day back from total failure. Quality rides combined with a really wacky sense of fun made for a really enjoyable few hours.
 
To end the day we picked up our hire car for our trip to Fuji Q the next day. We had forgotten to ask for the ETC card so discovered it was going to cost us £84 return in tolls to get to Fuji Q...
 
Thanks for reading, next time Fuji Q and the awesome Eejanaika.

Day 7
 
After close to 10 hours sleep I woke up feeling considerably better but still not 100%. With some of the most exciting stuff on the trip quickly approaching I vowed that today I would go as easy as possible and drink more fluids than I've ever drunk before.
 
Lagunasia - https://rcdb.com/5228.htm
 
Previous reviews I've read of Lagunasia promised uncomfortable levels of friendliness from the female ride staff, a park swarming in bikini clad women and not much else, well then, sign me up!
 
We were planning to hit 2 parks today so we rocked up for opening, only to find out that the park's major dark ride opened 2 hours after opening. Luckily we managed to keep ourselves entertained until said ride opened and oh boy was it worth the wait...
 

 
Aqua Wind - https://rcdb.com/2591.htm
 
We started with Aqua Wind, the park's Gerts Bobsled and it was better than expected. I've become a bit Jaded with these things (excluding the awesome Van Helsing) and they all blend into one but Aqua Wind's first drop was more intense than I was expecting and unlike other examples this hauled ass over the air time hills at the end. The ride's theming was really nice too.
 

 
There was some sort of J-pop 360 3D cinema experience thing that looked awesome but sadly the first showing wasn't until like 2pm and would have meant missing the next park, in retrospect it may have been worth it...
 

 
I had read online that Lagunasia's log flume was special and Christ was it.
 
The flume is called Legend of Labyrinth and all but the last drop is enclosed. To spoil what you'll find inside would be criminal but trust me when I say I was utterly speechless at the scale and quality of what I was faced with. Easily the best ride at the park.
 

 
Pirate's Blast - https://rcdb.com/3801.htm
 
After politely turning down the VR option at batching, I left this coasters utterly perplexed why it was an option in the first place.
 
80% of Pirate's Blast takes place within a highly themed show building, with the coaster speeding past and reacting with some really nicely done set pieces. After that rather awesome section ends, you take the big drop out the show building, jolting in amazing fashion as you do, then you mince around on a patch of a grass for a bit before re entering the station. To call the ending a let down is a bit of an understatement, never mind...
 

 
Stellar Coaster -  https://rcdb.com/1825.htm
 
A singing whale coaster with kick ass onboard audio, 10,000 times better than your average Vekoma Junior.
 

 
2 hours had now passed and the aforementioned dark ride was now open.
 
Named Magic Powder, which should give you some idea of just how messed it was going to be, this thing can't be explained and you wouldn't even believe me if I tried.
 
It would be a stretch to say I enjoyed this madness, it rather occurred around me as I was having several out of body experiences and then it ended and I'm not sure I'll ever be the same person again.
 
An absolute must ride, just make sure you're of a semi sound mind before you enter because if not it WILL destroy you. Literally the dark ride you imagine you'll stumble on in Japan but you guess it can't exist, then Lagunasia has it and suddenly you regret everything.
 
The following pictures were taken in the queueline and serve as a warning of what's to follow.
 

 
And somehow this is the ride vehicle, please don't ask me to explain how it works because it was all a terrifying drug induced blur.
 

 
And with that, Lagunasia was finished and while I sadly wasn't swimming in bikini clad women or fighting off ride staff with tins of magical powder, the park itself far exceeded my expectations.
 
My friend's really wanted to ride the Ferris wheel next to the mall opposite the park, so we crossed over the bridge and grabbed some ice cream for lunch, living the dream. The lovely lady serving me at Baskin more than made up for the lack of female attention elsewhere and even saved me money, that'll come in handy soon.
 
At the entrance to the Ferris wheel a sign mentioned that the pods had no air con and currently the temperature inside them was 37 degrees, as I was being good to myself I opted out and instead sat under an air conditioner in the mall.
 
Hamanako Pal Pal -  https://rcdb.com/4997.htm
 
After a relatively short drive we arrived at Hamanako Pal Pal, a park I walked away from rather disappointed.
 
The park has a weird mall like hub which you enter after purchasing tickets, this "hub" connects the two sides of the park together. There was something rather off putting about walking through a dirty looking mall type room full of arcades as you enter an amusement park.
 
After getting out we arrived at...
 
Mega Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1284.htm
 
Online I'd be led to believe that Mega Coaster was some sort of hidden gem and since then I had been quite excited to give it a go. Unfortunately I found it ride exactly like I'd expected before I read the hype, completely devoid of excitement or charm and just another cred for the count, what a shame.
 
 
 
Mini Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1802.htm
 
+1
 

 
Jungle Mouse - https://rcdb.com/1285.htm
 
+1
 

 
It was a shame that a park I was quite excited for ended up being a bit of a disappointment. I wouldn't recommend bothering with Hamanako unless like us you're just doing it for the creds, the park itself needs some work done to tidy it up, the staff weren't up to Japan standard and with Mega Coaster being a disappointment there's very little to keep you there.
 
Following this we went to a mall to get food and watch Ant Man 2, both were great.
 
We left the mall at about 9pm for the 2 hour drive to Tokyo. The first half of the journey was spent watching an absolutely beautiful thunder storm light up the night sky in spell bounding fashion. With the second half spent trying to see Mount Fuji or Eejanaika out the window, I saw neither but don't worry I promise you I see ONE of them before the end of the trip.
 
The following is a sore subject but I really do find the honest trip reports the best reads, so you're welcome.
 
We arrive at our hotel for the night at almost midnight. We go in, exchange pleasantries with the friendly lady behind the counter, get our rooms keys and head upstairs...
 
I open my room door to discover that my friend without telling me has booked us into a traditional style Japanese hotel. The kind where the floor is a straw mat, there's nothing else in the room and you sleep on a half inch thick piece of cloth on the floor. I was f**king livid...
 
If it wasn't for the following day containing something I'd have given body parts to attend, helping me to keep my eyes on the prize, I probably would have caused more of a scene and I did honestly think about sleeping in the car for a long while.
 
It took me half an hour to kill the largest fly I've seen that was circling my room and a further 20 minutes of spraying various scents around the place to get rid of the awful smell before I managed calm myself enough to attempt to sleep on the floor.
 
Thanks for reading, next time, 7 hours of paradise, an impending typhoon, Joypolis, Tokyo Metro, Yokohama Cosmoworld (sort of) and Yomiuriland.

Jae 6
 
The heat from yesterday, combined with the long day at Nagashima, coupled with 5 busy days in a row of coaster goodness meant I woke up today feeling like crap. Now this obviously isn't ideal, but the situation was worsened by the fact today was the day we knew we had to go hard in order to mop up as much of the parks in Nagoya as possible before we headed off for Tokyo. To make things even worse, today was even hotter than yesterday. To put it in context, my legs never get sunburnt but I could literally feel them cooking from being in the sun for all of 3 minutes.
 
Enakyo Wonderland - https://rcdb.com/5276.htm
 
The first park of today was Enakyo Wonderland, a small family oriented park home to 3 roller coasters.
 
After being attacked by a flying bug half the size of my hand (no seriously) and shouting about how hot it was, we made our way to the ticket counter. We picked up the entry only tickets because we knew it was cheaper to just purchase tokens for the coasters once in the park.
 
There was no turnstiles or staff to check tickets so rather strangely you just sliver into the park, made all the more strange by the fact we were the only visitors in sight. I had written down on my phone the amount of tickets we needed to purchase, so we walked to the nearest ticket dispensing machine we saw. While making a scene at said machine, 2 adorable staff members slithered over from out of thin air bowing and blushing, see I told you you don't have to wait long for help in Japan!
 
Cycle Coaster - https://rcdb.com/2502.htm
 
We started with Cycle Coaster and with immense confusion. There was a sign on the fence that implied you get a discount with 3 people, so we asked the very friendly bloke about it. 5 or so minutes of confusion and Google translate later we never found out the answer but he let us on the for the price on the fence anyway, Japan!
 
With peddle being the only English word spoken as we were dispatched I took charge in powering us to the lift hill, that's a first.
 
It's pretty much a roller coaster that you have peddle to get to the next section when it runs out of steam, I'm not normally into exercise but this was quite amusing.
 

 
Jungle Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1970.htm
 
No not the piece of crap that used to live at Legoland but instead a small family coaster with a hamster on the front, that's perched on the edge of a massive drop and has brutal laterals. It was awesome.
 

 
Camel Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1969.htm
 
We had a mix up with our tokens and turned out we didn't quite have enough for Camel Coaster. The ride operator, an absolute hero of a man, personally walked us to the machine and told us which package was the cheapest in order to get enough to ride between us, oh Japan.
 
The coaster itself although the biggest in the park was probably the least interesting. Peddling a roller coaster and getting brutally beaten by a crazed hamster coaster were much more exciting.
 
As we went to leave and thanked the op for his time, he offered to take a photo of us infront of the train in the station to forever remember our experience, what a lovely person.
 

 
So it's obvious that Enakyo wasn't built for me, so there's no point in me giving an opinion of it but I can certainly say if nothing else, the staff were absolutely fantastic and turned a cred run in 40 degrees into a memorable experience. 
 
Japan Monkey Park - https://rcdb.com/4996.htm
 
The sheer intensity of the heat on the walk from the car park to the entrance of Japan Monkey Park was breathtaking, I really can't put into words just how unpleasant it was. While this park was nothing special, we knocked it off in such a hurry to get out of the sun that I really can't remember much of anything.
 
Highway Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1283.htm
 
Easily one of the most boring jet coasters I've ridden. I have 3 lasting memories of the entire ride, 1) thinking I was going to black out from the heat in the station, 2) it has a mister near the end of the ride and 3) the coaster has one of the dumbest looking trains I've ever seen.
 

 
Monkey Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1297.htm
 
Well this was a thing that happened.
 

 
Go! Go! Banana Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1913.htm
 
The elderly man operating this tiny cred did a super enthusiastic chant during dispatch, which you have to commend considering it was 40 degrees and his only riders were 3 weird foreigners.
 

 
And that was Japan Monkey Park.
 
Higashiyama Zoo - https://rcdb.com/5179.htm
 
As well as obviously being home to a zoo, this park also features a garden and of course the amusement park, from my memory the entry ticket is really cheap too. While zoos and walking through gardens aren't really for me, I'm sure there's loads of people who could spend an enjoyable day here.
 
Jet Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1706.htm
 
Much like the jet coaster at Japan Monkey Park, all I remember is being hot as hell and nothing else.
 

 
Bear Coaster - https://rcdb.com/2522.htm
 
+1
 

 
Slope Shooter - https://rcdb.com/2521.htm
 
Let's get it out of the way, this isn't a cred, I wouldn't count brake failure in my car going down a hill as a cred, so why count this?
 
While it may not be a cred Slope Shooter is really quite enjoyable.
 
We entered the station to be greeted with 2 ultra friendly blokes who instantly made the experience special. Following that I wedged myself into my comfy car, then got pushed by the blokes (who were singing me a song) to the base of the lift hill. Once you reach the top, you coast on tarmac down several slopes until you get back to the station. Now that may sound a bit boring but it's quite fun. You pick up quite some pace at certain points and hilariously crashing into the walls never gets old. Plus at one point I got slapped in the face by an overhanging plant which only added to the experience. When I got back to the station the ride hosts were chanting, clapping and beaming ear to ear, what a great way to end the ride.
 

 
With those 3 parks down we had managed to knock off the 3 larger parks we planned to do on this day.
 
We had planned to go visit 3 +1 parks after, but after we showed up at the first one to discover it was completely closed we decided to bail out on that idea.
 
That night while sitting in Mos Burger my condition went from bad to worse and it was at this point I decided that I probably actually had heat stroke for real. As soon as I hit my hotel room I collapsed, then set my alarm and passed out.
 
Thanks for reading, next time Lagunasia and Hamanako Pal Pal.

Day 4
 
Today began with an early start, followed by a trip on the metro to Busan airport.
 
A rather uneventful hour long flight later and we were in Nagoya.
 
Despite it being my second time visiting Japan, it managed to yet again take me by surprise just how friendly the people are there. Look slightly confused for half a second in the airport and out of nowhere a friendly Japanese man/woman will slither over with a huge smile on their face desperate to help you, I love Japan.
 
After picking up the hire car and 2 comedy sized drinks from one of the millions of vending machines that litter Japan, it was off to Suzuka Circuit.
 
As you may remember from last time, if I actually mentioned it, Japanese highways come with very expensive tolls attached to them, it's not at all uncommon for an hours journey to cost you £30 ONE WAY. In order to slightly combat this, this time around we rented an ETC card. This card goes into a machine in the hire car and then allows you to drive straight through tolls, with the toll fee being charged to the card. The main advantage of this is that you save 1/3 on every toll and with the amount of driving we planned to be doing this was an absolute necessity.
 
On route we unintentionally passed Legoland Japan and I promise you I'm not joking when I say that the park is built in the middle of industrial wasteland to the side of a huge bridge. Seeing the stupid sky tower thing painted in the brash Lego colouring surrounded by rusting metal and chimneys was hilarious!
 
For the first 2/3 of the journey the weather was beautiful but as we approached the park, the heavens opened... For some context to my frustration I need to refer to me reading that August/September is the driest time to visit Korea/Japan, I guess not.
 
Suzuka Circuit - https://rcdb.com/4969.htm
 
As well as being a World famous race course, Suzuka Circuit is also home to a small amusement park area.
 
It was still raining somewhat heavily when we got to the ticket window and with this being Japan I was already expecting this to go awfully but to our surprise and delight it didn't. Not only is every ride still running but we'd also be getting tourist discount, sweet!
 
After passing the turnstiles, the rain went from "oh this is quite heavy" to "oh my god we are going to die" thunderstorm and immediately an announcement came over the park wide PA, well that's us screwed then...
 
We powered straight to the first cred, assuming the worst but hoping if we were really quick we might be in luck.
 
Rocky Coaster - https://rcdb.com/1225.htm
 
With lightning literally striking buildings in the background we entered the queue for Rocky Coaster. From an idiot who's ridden Stealth in hailstones, I was literally amazed any park in the World would run a coaster in this amount of rain, it's not an exaggeration to say the rain was so heavy you couldn't see through it. Couple that with lightning striking stuff and thunder shaking the ground and I'm left in complete disbelief. Nagashima closed their entire park in medium rain which ended after 2 hours and now Suzuka are running their coasters in a stupidly intense thunderstorm, Japan really is the land of extremes.
 
After seeing 2 trains worth of people coming back wetter than Valhalla and in serious pain, I was glad the rain eased slightly for our lap, which I honestly cant' remember at all because I was still in complete shock at what was happening.
 

 
Adventure Drive - https://rcdb.com/12038.htm
 
We knew our luck was going to run out at some point, so we powered to the other cred as soon as we got off Rocky Coaster.
 
The lovely lady at the entrance told us something in Japanese, we nodded and entered.
 
After about 10 minutes of waiting with the already intense rain getting even worse, the ride ceased operation but in the craziest way ever.
 
The operator shut the whole ride down, including isolation of the control panel and ride system. Then he made a friendly and casual walk down the queueline informing people something along the lines of, "it's going to be about 30 minutes, if you'd like to wait that's ok". After this he jumped between contacting control on his radio and entertaining the kids at the front of the queue. 20 minutes later the rain died down, he turned it all back on, performed all the start up checks for the coaster and even explained how the block sections on the touch screen worked to the kids. I wish something that nerdy and cool could have happened to me at that age, what a top bloke. Exactly 30 minutes later the ride reopened with much Japanese pleasantries, including all the seats being wiped down and bowing.
 
The coaster itself is quite fun and the scream powered launch is just so Japanese that you have to automatically love it.
 

 
After the 2 creds were knocked off we did the park's shooting dark ride, a ride style that by the end of this trip I was getting quite bored of but this was the first and I enjoyed it.
 
In order to score some juicy rare points on Coaster-Count, we checked out the park's brand new Duel GP attraction.
 
Duel GP
 

 
This thing was great! 2 cars race each other in what is essentially a really complicated almost powered coaster. The catch being, you have to steer your car and the goal being, if you steer gently and precisely you'll do well but if like me you can't be gentle to save your life, you spin out on the corners and it slows you down. I'm not ashamed to admit I lost when I rode both tracks, though I'd argue losing control and spinning like a madman both times means I won anyway...
 
Suzuka Circuit really surprised me, I wrote it off as just a stop off on the way to better things but I actually rather liked the place. Their willingness to run things in the rain and their wonderful customer service are very much to be commended.
 
Due to the rain slowing us down, we were now running rather late and had quite significantly gone past the time we were due to leave the park. With this in mind and slightly worried the rain might of beaten us there, we thought it would be best to phone Parque Espana and check everything was still on for their 8pm close. What followed may be the best phone call of my life..
 
"Moshi Moshi!", "Hi! is it OK to speak English?", "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I'll try!", "is the amusement park open?", "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I'm so sorry, can you please say again, I'm so sorry", "no worries, is the amusement park open?, "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm sorry!, I'll try to find someone!". After a minute... "Moshi Moshi!" (still the same girl), "Hi again", "one more time please?" "ok, is the amusement park open?" "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, so sorry!", "no it's ok", "I'm so sorry!" "thank you, don't worry, bye", "bye!".
 
After that it would have been rude not to make the journey.
 
The journey to Parque Espana was rather impressive with crazy mountain roads and killer views. The best of these views however was seeing Pyrenees getting ever closer.
 
Parque Espana Shima Spain Village - https://rcdb.com/4970.htm
 
We arrived at 4pm with an advertised 8pm close but having not seen Pyrenees move during the last 5 miles of the journey we were rather worried. It was all for nothing though, as soon as we got out of the car Pyrenees dispatched onto the lift hill.
 
After buying our tickets, which were once again discounted, this time due to arriving after 3, we sprinted across the park into the waiting arms of...
 
Pyrenees - https://rcdb.com/1227.htm
 
Now at the time I couldn't believe it but even now I'm rather amazed that I was lucky enough to be able to ride what I consider to be the 2 legendary Asian inverts back to back.
 
Now while Phaethon was good, Pyrenees is in a completely different league, I'll make it as simple as, gentlemen this is a Nemesis beater...
 
I can't not mention that this coaster looks absolutely insane, the shaping on the first drop compared to Phaethon alone got me moist but everything just oozes that this thing is going to kick ass... and it does.
 
So you think the drop looks intense off ride? That's nothing compared to how it rides. The loop, zero g, loop start to Batman is one of my favourite opening sections on any coaster, so the fact Pyrenees borrows it on an enlarged scale is lovely. While the section doesn't ride as intensely as Batman (which rips limbs off), when coupled up with the beautiful drop, it is an absolutely incredible way to start a coaster.
 
The madness is followed by a snappy and intense cobra roll and only then does Pyrenees let you catch your breath, slightly. Next up is an almost helix through the second loop, a midcourse that barely slows you and perfectly pulled off corkscrew.
 
It's now that you really catch your breath, because sadly Pyrenees does a suffer a bit from the large invert habit of searching for the next bit to do, however it really is a short patch and it's so out of place after the intensity before that it's quite amusing.
 
Then things pick back up with a freaking air time hill on an invert, madness, followed by an intense floor hugging drop, before you're swooped back into the station.
 
I knew after my first lap that I was really taken with Pyrenees but by the end of the night and after 5 laps I was in love.
 

 
Kiddy Montserrat - https://rcdb.com/13668.htm
 
+1
 

 
Gran Montserrat - https://rcdb.com/1226.htm
 
One of the biggest surprise hits of the trip belongs to this Mack mine train coaster, this thing is seriously good fun.
 
It's surprisingly fast, way more intense than it looks and as you'd expect from Mack it's butter smooth, for what it is I can't praise it enough.
 
   
 
With those 3 down, we went looking for the park's final cred, a search which led us around the entire park. On route we did the Nutcracker dark ride (which was weird), another shooting ride thing (which was meh) and the park's Peter Pan inspired dark ride (which was awesome).
 
I didn't take anywhere near enough photos because of time constraints but please believe me when I say this park looks absolutely beautiful in places. The theming, the location and the setting sun really made for some fantastic sights.
 

 
Steampunk Coaster Iron Bull - https://rcdb.com/1293.htm
 

 
I hope this photo of the building sums why it took it so long to find this enclosed Togo coaster, it's hardly screaming in your face and I almost respect that.
 
I won't dare spoil the hilarious experience but I will let you know it rides fine, because almost all the reviews I've seen say it's rough and that's BS.
 
How many parks in the World would bake you a pizza if you show'd up in the restaurant 5 minutes before park close and then proceeded to take most of them 5 minutes choosing said pizza? Not many... But Parque Espana did for us, but not only that, the incredibly friendly elderly man insisted on us taking our seats and bringing it over himself, oh Japan.
 
Given the choice I'd easily be able to entertain myself for the day at this lovely park. From riding my new favourite B&M Invert, riding the fantastic Mack mine train, checking out the many dark rides and just enjoying the lovely theming. Truly the dark horse of the trip. Oh and the pizza is delicious too!
 
Thanks for reading, next time Nagashima Spa Land...

Hex appreciation time!
 
From my glorious trip through this fantastic attraction 2 days ago, I believe some subtle tweaks have taken place during the closed season.
 
The interior queue is no longer as bright as it was just after the refurb, it's now much darker and holy crap does it give me the chills.
 
The audio in the cinema portion is no longer distorted and sounds fantastic.
 
Audio in the octagon is the loudest I've ever heard it and the volume of the lightning strikes made me jump, beautiful stuff.
 
Hex is just so damn good and it never fails to put a smile on my face.

It might look crap at the moment but as has been mentioned all the pumps are working and it's hauling ass at the moment, my last ride on it was the most intense I've ever seen it!

It's nice you constantly have me on your mind babe.

Well that's yet another massive insult to Slammer's glorious legacy...

Of course they should get preferential treatment though, surely? I'd be naturally livid if I'd booked a ticket for a day and paid for that specific day, to be turned away because people who could visit any day of the year decided to rock up that day. If the AP holders are so determined to visit that day they should book with the tiny fee, and this is coming from an AP holder.

So I've just come back from Chessington, where I had three goes on Tiger Rock. Here are my thoughts:
 
Area
As many have said, "Land of the Tiger" features many high fences. To be honest, though, it wasn't all too noticeable, as the Tiger Rock itself draws most of your attention. The area around the drop and main entrance to the area, is themed around a conservation site, with the wooden fences decorated as large supply crates. There's some nice theming around the enclosures near the drop (I didn't go too far down where Peeking Heights was), with some crates, shovels, binoculars, all that stuff. The bridge going over the flume itself has a new bridge running alongside it for the tigers (although, I personally didn't see any of the tigers on any of the bridges, one came close but walked off). The area where the Buddha is has all sorts of signs, about some festival, and also signs directing you to "Tiger Cave" "Tiger Pool" and of course, "Tiger Rock". The sign pointing to Tiger Rock is pointing to the theming feature, and not the ride, which could cause confusion. The panning for gold thing has been changed to a doughnuts and churros stand. Now, as you've probably seen, unfortunately, the dragon has been covered up and honestly, it looks awful in person, you can easily see where it was the dragon and some of the green paint remains. The ride entrance is pretty much the same, but painted up in a tiger pattern and with a new sign. Finally, the music is absolutely fantastic, really atmospheric and honestly makes the area. It doesn't sound like anything Chessington have done before.
 
Ride Experience
The queue in the station remains, there's some signs explaining the story, how you're in the "Tiger Temple", you're travelling down the "Amur River" and you're "Connecting with the Spirit of the Tiger". There's also a scene up on the wall, and a show sequence plays every so often with a tiger over your head. The ride is mostly the same until you get to the former Dragon tunnel.
 As you exit the tunnel, you catch your first glimpse of the tiger rock on the ride. You pass by the old Chan's Cycles and Lee's Laundry, which are now painted all red and completely bare which I think is a shame. There's some nice audio as you go up the lift and when you're on the top. As you go through the tiger head you're sprayed with mist, like Wicker Man, which means you get wetter than on Dragon Falls. The old photo kiosk is now a tiny gift shop selling mostly just generic tiger stuff, some Tiger Rock bears, cups and pin badges. The old food kiosk is now the photo kiosk.
 
Overall
This review is getting long so I'll keep this short: Overall, I thought Tiger Rock and Land of the Tiger was alright. Not much has changed to be honest, and I was disappointed with some of the theming being removed. I am happy that the ride is back as I felt a part of Chessie was missing without Dragon Falls, without it it was just repeat rides on Fury, Vampire and Rattlesnake.

Interesting report.
 
Big Sheep sounds a lovely little park and the others don’t sound half bad either. I believe Flambards are the new owners of Lightwater, so hopefully they can turn around that place somewhat.
 
Rampage used to operate at the now defunct Metroland until 2008, where it was known as the New Roller Coaster. It’s interesting to see how they’ve worked out the landscaping for what was once a completely indoors coaster.
 
 

I'm already lawyered up, please expect a court summons in the post...
 
Sorry you had a bad time though. (Imagine there's a sad face here, the emoji tab seems to have descended into madness)

Clearly up there with Phantasialand then  

Baron, they were heavy handed on Helix and Balder all the way back in 2016, doesn't seem to be a new thing and never affected the fun anyway.
 
I'll happily watch the throughput suffer if the ride experience remains the same. I'm glad to read that it hasn't been affected but I'll reserve judgement till I've been reunited with the beast.
 
With how weird Sweden has been with parks in the past (see Kolmarden), I wouldn't be shocked to hear it's a new H&S ruling...

Totally agree with what's being said, Thorpe were having a total nightmare!
 
Nemesis Inferno had the WORST rides team I've seen in years (insert witty comment about PortAventura just to annoy you), prancing around, at one point all the platformers were in position with dispatch buttons pressed, while the op chatted on the phone for over a minute, finished her conversation, then finally thought "oh maybe I should actually do my job now", shocking stuff. Can you blame the ride for constantly killing itself, I know I wanted to... Does anyone know what causes Inferno to repeatedly anchor itself and stop dead in the first set of brakes (I was lucky enough to get to sit there for 15 minutes!), my guess would be some sort of over speed alert being thrown up, but you guys being the Thorpe die hards might know.
 
Stealth went down while I was in the queue, then when I returned much later it was down again, didn't bother me though because it's only Stealth.
 
Ghost Train went down while I was in the queue and when I returned later, we waited over 20 minutes to be batched in, I've no idea how this thing operates, so you can decide whether that was yet more issues or rather it running on a lower capacity (if it can?).
 
Walking Dead was down all night, like I said in the official topic of that, how have they broken what is essentially a super reliable jumped up Vekoma Junior?
 
Detonator took over 10 minutes on 1 cycle to start, can we still blame the staff being new or was this just awful staff?
 
Swarm which before the event started had a train going up the lift every 10 seconds, was put on 1 train by the end of the event, why?
 
Rumba Rapids closed half an hour earlier than advertised, which annoyed me a bit, because as has been mentioned elsewhere, it appears to have been intensified.
 
Quantum, which was advertised as open, was in scaffolding, which was incredibly disappointing because it's fantastic.
 
Regardless I had an OK time, it was a free event after all.
 
The worst thing all night easily goes to the surge of the VIP pass holder, the scourge of the Earth...