Day Thirteen - Fuji-Q, Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Yokohama Cosmo World
Day Thirteen - Fuji-Q, Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Yokohama Cosmo World
Owen Rees
The park had the most people than the other parks. The dark coffin ride was very bizare, the coffin tilted. The target shooting coaster was pointles. The launch coaster was very good.
The rapide ride at Sea Paradise was very compact with a fast curent, and white water. Free fall drop tower was exicting.
The log flume at Yokohama Cosmoworld had a double drop with airtime; very compact park to end the trip.
Darren R. Besoyan
I came to Fuji Q Highland Park, and all I got was a lousy hardhat! I was with a bunch of other trip members for the first ride on Fujiyama. All was fine, and we were clapping and having a great time. About 60m up, we suddenly stopped. The car lunged forward a few more times, but couldn't get going again. The view was nice, and it was interesting to watch everyone below pointing and looking up at us. About 20 minutes went by, and a crew with hardhats and harnesses started climbing the lift. Thankfully, they started unloading from the back (I was third from the back), and the harnessed us up, asked us (in Japaneese) to strap on our hardhat, and they helped us out of our seat and onto the stairs next to the lift. Under the handrail was another rail for a rolling/locking harness holder. You would have to pull back on a pin release to make it roll. We started climbing down only to realize the white paint was coming off all over our hands and arms in a very fine powder. Once we reached the station, they appologized. They gave us an up the exit pass, and a free ticket to return to the park (can you say e-bay?). They also gave us several moist towelettes to wash off all the white powder. They were so sorry about the incident, they escorted us to a restaurant to give us complimentary beverages. I started chanting Coca Cola no, Dondonpa hi! Next thing you know, they are escorting us up the exit to ride Dondonpa (90 min wait by now). The end.
Paul Asente
I had a great time at Fujikyu Highlands, and Landdog enjoyed looking at Dodonpa (he isn't tall enough to ride). I'm really looking forward to Geisha, the new for 2051 coaster that they're already advertising. 12 km high really sounds faboo!
It was good. I had fun. Refreshing airtime from mountain to sea. Enjoy, enjoy! OK? I love Landdog. Bye Bye!!
John Gerard
I was disappointed that Fujiyama wasn't running (it was really painful to watch that nicely themed train just sitting there, stuck on the lift) but Dodonpa made up for it. Great launch and speed. And speaking of launch, there was ejector air at the top of the tower. As Paul Asente said as we coasted into the brake run, "I've never been so happy to have a lap bar." On another note, I think I may have given the park reason to institute new safety standards for their dark-ride employees: I was on the previously mentioned coffin attraction when during a dark segment, one of the attraction's actors appeared in front of me, shouted and turned on his flashlight. Startled, I did what any red-blooded American would do: I kicked out my foot. Right into his groin. I don't think he was expecting that, as evidenced by his groaning and crumpling over. Fortunately, he was OK and moved on to frighten other unspecting attraction attendees. Needless to say, he left me alone for the remainder of the show. Can you say "athletic cup concession"? I would also like to mention that the Thomas the Train-themed dark ride was very well-done and charming. Great views of the park from the women's bathroom on the 12th floor of the hotel. Also, I would like to mention that at last night's dinner I tried "salted guts of sea squirt" for the first (but not the last) time.
Sea Paradise was a fun little park with a cool mouse-type coaster and a very, very tall drop ride. The Surf Coaster was dubbed a "hyper galaxi" by one of the other attendees. A very fun ride, smooth and fast. Whee!
Russell Van Tassell
After a long harrowing bus ride from the Zoo yesterday, we arrived at Fuji-Q in time to see them closing any significantly long lines (more than an hour before park closing) -- quite a disappointment, but true to their closing time, almost everyone was done/gone by the time the park was closed. John Gerard and I still managed a few good pictures of Fuji and a ride on their completely unique wild mouse. I also managed a few late-night shots of both Fujiyama and Fuji. When returning this morning, our "early entry" time amounted to just that... a half hour to walk in to the park and wait for things to open. Laurel and I, running a bit later than usual, opted for a late breakfast, still in-time to get escorted out to a slightly early entry and a good place in-line for the much-anticipated Fujiyama... it, however, decided that one train was enough and stuck the second train mid-lift... we were still in the station (the folks on the lift waited about an hour for their walk-out -- something that would have been cool in one sense, but we really wanted to ride the ride... some later joked "have you rode the handrail yet?"). Mark Brown and I ventured off to the haunted hospital for a quick "ride" after a quick ride on the shooting dark ride (the hospital being an additional $Y500 cost). While nicely themed, my general feeling was that Thirteen Doors (Tokyo Dome City) was MUCH scarier, though this attraction took us a good half hour to walk through... it was still a "must see" here, though, as far as we were concerned. Lastly, my general affection towards "pedal coasters" took over and I ended up riding that instead of chancing a long queue for the suspended (and a chance of missing the bus) -- again, the seats were small, but nicely do-able... it was also one of the longer ones we've seen this trip with some great views of a fairly unique flume ride, below.
Sea Paradise was a cute little park, really amounting to a shopping center with a couple of coasters and a few rides. The drop ride was one of the first I can remember actually achieving "steady state" on the fall -- that is, a time I could actually take the time to think of not hitting the shoulder harness and being completely out of my seat, falling. The Surf Coaster was a VERY nice surprise, out of the water, very smooth, with some nice high-G helixes.
Malcolm Marr
Last night and today was spent at Six Flags Fuji-Q. When we arrived last night everything was running but all the queue lines were closed so it was a case of "you can look but can't touch". This morning we had guest access to the first half hour before the public got in but the rides weren't running until the park fully opened; waste of time really. I did however manage to do a "Finkle" on Dodonpa and get the front row on the first train of the day. The ride is amazing with a really punchy launch and loads of ejector airtime on the hill. Fujiyama broke down first thing with some of the group having to be evacuated half way up the lift hill; it failed to open whilst we were there, so I did not get to ride that. I also failed to get on the mouse coaster due to the queues. I did however manage to do the haunted hospital which was superb. It was like playing Silent Hill for real, and it took 30 minutes to get through it. There was also a cool alien encounter type ride which had you standing in a coffin for the duration of the show. Very weird.
Final day of the trip and we're just leaving Sea Paradise to go to Cosmoworld. The surf coaster was a really good coaster and a surprise to ride. If all you can build in Rollercoaster Tycoon is a couple of drops and long helixes then this is the coaster for you. I'm going to be ending the trip by hitting 400 coasters. The plan had been to avoid Dodonpa and have the Duncan Kiddy coaster but that has fallen through due to some of the rides not running/being missed. This has been an enjoyable park as I've not had to drag Keith's idle butt around the park. He's on his way to Tokyo to do my shopping for me. Thanks Keith!
Final park was the Cosmoworld inner city park at Yokohama and the stand out ride here was neither of the coasters but the lap strapped log flume, and given the airtime it was giving on the final drop it was a necessity. I guess this is the final report so thanks to Kevin, Lisa, Justin, Andy and Toshio for putting this trip together. Roll on American in 2006 (assuming I get a place).
Lee Bennett - smiler san
After spending the night in the Fuji-Q resort hotel, we were allowed in the park 30 minutes before joe public. Most of us headed over to Dodonpa which is a very exciting ride with a spectacular launch. We then went over to ride the rest of the coasters except Fujiyama which was closed due to a technical problem.
Ric Turner
Kuma the bear says Hi Kai and Happy Birthday Zak! Today I got to ride one of the tallest and fastest coasters in the world, Fujiyama! Well, I got to ride part of it. Your dad and I ran to Fujiyama to be on the first train. When the train was almost all the way up the lift hill it stopped. After a few tries to get it going again, the ride attendants climbed up the 200' lift hill with hard hats and harnesses for all the riders. We put them on, and one by one we climbed out of the train and walked down the giant lift hill. The view was tremendous! Your dad was sad that they would not let him take any of his cameras on the ride, he would have gotten some great shots! The coaster did not run for the rest of our visit. None of the 117 people on our trip got to ride Fujiyama, but a few of us got to at least ride up the lift hill. A little while later there were news crews in the park shooting video of the train stuck on the lift. Big news in Japan I guess, and we got to be a part of it!
Kuma the Bear here. Hi Kai and Zak. I love old rides, and it was a real thrill to see the last remaining original Shoot the Chutes ride at Sea Paradise. Unfortunately it was down for maintenance, but it was still neat to see all the old mechanisms and boats. When it is running, the boat operator stands on the bow of the boat as it goes down the ramp and jumps into the air when the boat hits the pond. It must take a lot of practice to land back on the boat. Bye for now, love - Kuma.
Cosmoworld; beautiful lights; fun park at night; loved the log flume with airtime, and I still don't know what happened after the diving coaster vanished. Kuma the Bear says "Great Trip, thanks for everything, be home soon, Kai and Zak".
Brian Sisk
Today I took the longest coaster ride ever. Time wise that is. We got stuck near the top of the lift hill of Fujiyama, over 200 feet up. The park staff brought up hard hats and construction belts to connect us to a railing to walk safely down. It was quite exciting. No one on the trip got to ride the coaster-we came the closest by getting up the lift hill. Does that count? My first hyper walk down.
Last day of the trip. It has been fabulous. Lots of surprises and lots of fun. Great friends to hang around with. Can't wait for the next trip, wherever that may be. Many thanks to all who organized this trip.
Talhat Mahmood
Fuji Highlands is a great park, which is shadowed over by Mount Fuji. We caught the park on a bad day as there were too many teenagers there making the lines very long. Fujiyama was down all day, but at least we got to ride Dodonpa, which was a blast. It had great acceleration, and airtime over the hill. I tried the Haunted Hospital, which was good but needs a few more actors.
Just finished the last two parks, which were two fairly small city parks, both having two coasters. The trip is finished; its been a magnificent trip. I've enjoyed it very much. Japan was a dream for me, which has been fulfilled today. Just like to thank the people involved, firstly Lisa and Toshio for helping with the some of the itinerary, Kevin for doing behind the scenes stuff, and lastly Justin for the overall organization of the trip.
andycoasterboy-san
moshi moshi for the last time sadly its the last day of this amazing trip today we are at Fuji-Q and home of Dodonpa great... Fujiyama was down all morning which was a shame as I tried to get a ride 8 years ago!
Sea Paradise - has a great ear bashing drop tower and 2 interesting coasters.
Paul Wortz
Are we there yet?
Tim Herre
Sea Paradise - Another fine park - and one with a fabulous coaster! The Togo-built Surf Coaster really kicked ass, and was reportedly much m ore enjoyable than the piece of junk named Fujiyama in Japan's biggest tourist trap namely Fuji-Q Highlands. The Blue Fall must be the roughest Giant Drop out there, it really got my ears bashed. Plus: it's height did not mean much to me.
Last park of the trip was Yokohama Cosmoworld; the main reason for visiting was Diving Coaster Vanish, another crap contraption from Senyo. Unfortunately the ride wasn't half as smooth as the Delphis coaster at Festivalgate in Osaka, but it had the same trains. Another highlight of the park was the log flume that had a kind of speedy approach to the final drop, and delivered incredible air time. Also the ghost train was pretty good, and got the Tim Herre justification "fucking great!". It got me jumping five times, which can't be said about every ghost train on the trip.
George Greenway
The Highland Hotel at Fujikyu is very nice, the rooms are a decent size, some come with Thomas the Tank Engine theming. I was looking forward to our 30 min ERS in the park, however it turned out to be spent in the queue for Dodonpa. what a let down. I'd been warned to sit right for this ride as it can catch you out. The launch was spectacularly fast and pushed you back in your seat. we headed round the bend towards the vertical hill feature which is best braced for. I got 3 nasty up and down lurches that first pushed my back out, then launched my lower body towards the padded bar. still, it was a better ride that fujiyama, the first train out spent the first hour on the lift hill. Having missed riding this yesterday due to the inordinate time it takes on roads to get there from Nagashima, i estimated leaving Nigashiyama Zoo early, taking the train and missing lunch would have given me 3 hours extra in the park. I did consider staying at FujiQ and using the shinkansen to get to Yokohama but my foot is not in a fit state to walk for that far.
Chris Penn
Git! I've forgotten now. I'll have a go. You bastard. I hadn't started yet. Right. Richard, delete that. This is not amusing. Right. Hi all! As you probably know, I don't do many of these posts, so please ignore any previous ones that have been posted. (whistles) You're a git! (laughs) The best coaster at the park today was Dodonpa, but not quite as good as Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point. Park was quite busy today, but still managed to do nearly all the coasters, apart from whatever it was called, because the Americans broke it and got stuck half way up the lift hill, and unfortunately they didn't repair it by 12:30 when we had to leave. Just thinking... RIGHT! Git! Richard Bannister's a git! He ain't gonna put that (Ed: Yes I will!). Next year I will do more posts on trips, because otherwise people will make them up as they have done on this trip. That'll do.
Richard Bannister
Heartbroken at my inability to enjoy a second ferris wheel ERS today at Fuji-Q, but Dodonpa made up for things somewhat. Fantastic launch marred only by a turning ability roughly equivalent to the average shopping trolley. Capacity was a bit of a problem too, though I still managed two rides. Pity about Fujiyama, but at least I wasn't one of the poor people who lost the first hour of what was already going to be a rushed morning in a park sitting more than two hundred feet in the air. I'll have to come back here at some point when time is less of an issue so I can enjoy the park to the fullest. As this is the last trip report I am going to be doing for the ECC web site, I think it only fair to provide a list of thanks to all involved in organising the last three weeks of my life. All in all I have ridden 123 coasters, or some 49% of those in Japan, in thirty nine amusement parks (including two with no operational coasters). First up is the list of people involved in the club trip, in no particular order, Lisa, Justin, Kevin, Toshio, and Tony. Next must come the bus drivers and tour guides, whose names I probably couldn't pronounce even if I knew what they were. Last and by no means least, I would like to publicly thank George Greenway, who did about 95% of the work for our first week here before the ECC trip proper began. Hitting a stupidly large number of parks in one week all by public transport may sound like a fools errand, but we achieved it with no major problems - a testament to the quality of the organisation. Until next time...!
Gloria Nakamura
I was told that Fuji-Q is the Magic Mountain of Japan and now I know why. They shut the lines in time to be sure the ride can close 15 minutes before official closing. The non MM part would be that they did the same with all the gift shops except the main shop/entrance. The Haunted Hospital was great except it takes at least 45minutes. I was expecting to love Dodonpa since I love Hypersonic better than Top Thrill Dragster and I wasn't disappointed. If you're interested in this sort of thing, Mt. Fuji was completely visible this morning. Cosmoworld: Come for the terrible ride operation; stay for the lousy coaster. The over-the-shoulder restraints are like an anvil on your chest; the one good element, the "dive" into the "pool", is when your head gets smacked around.
David Cornell
Screw you guys, I'm going home! (Ed: Yes, he did say this!).
Dolores Damm
Loved the trough coaster at Higashiyama Zoo; definitely affected by weight. The speed of the ride was affected. Got a kick out of the chant "Do-Don-Pa" waiting in line. Very intense launch; loved it. Too bad we missed Fujiyama.
Anneliese Heiner
Fuji-Q Highland; T-shirt of the day, worn by a young teenage japanese girl, "I DID JUSTIN TWICE TODAY". Sea Paradise; Drop tower was fantastic; half of the drops had a fake out at the top. Dolphin Coaster was a small cute roller coaster that was half wild mouse. Surf Coaster was an unexpected delight, very smooth with lots of drops and helices. Yokohama Cosmoworld; Diving Coaster Vanish had a nice effect of disappearing into the water, though many people thought it was rather rough at that point. The Spinning Mouse was rather scary, since it was high up on top of a building. The Giant Wheel was beautiful; we also did the log flume ride and a funhouse across the bay.
John Coffield
Dodonpa at Fuji-Q, while very fast, was a bit of a let down. Sadly enough didn't get to ride Fujiyama for the second time. Sea Paradise; Surf Coaster was the first coaster that I've ever ridden that was half over the bay and had three helices; quite a delight from the front seat.
Rob Derman
Today we had a walkback... no, not like the one we get for the Beast at PKI, instead we got to walk down the lift hill on Fujiyama at the Fuji-Q park. We got the very first ride on the coaster that day... and seemingly the last. We got up the lift hill about 60 meters (about 200 ft, there were signs on the lift hill) out of the roughly 70 total, and all of a sudden the coaster stopped dead. We sat for a moment. I thought that maybe we were waiting for the other car to be prepared and that we would move shortly. Then, we lurched a little and stopped again. This couldn't be good. Then one more time. Finally a maintenance guy came up and told us to wait a few minutes. Then a whole group of maintenance people came up with hard hats and harnesses and had us put them on. We were thinking what good would the hat do us but once they got us out of the cars they attached us to a rail next to the steps and we could not move forward without holding the harness so if we tripped and let go the harness would stop us and the hat would protect us if we fell forward.
As enthusiasts we were fine with this. The park staff was very concerned though so they walked us down slowly while we were waving at the group members on the ground who were taping and photographing us. When we got down they gave us a front of line pass for the ride and a free admission ticket to come back. They also gave us some towels and a free drink. When we explained that we would be leaving soon and would not be coming back they gave us a front of line pass for Dodoppa, the launch coaster at the park, so we got to ride and avoid the hour long line. Great ride too!
Later a Japanese television reporter interviewed us asking if we were scared. We are enthusiasts, we can handle this.
Oh and by the way Mount Fuji was nice too...
Jan Duncan
We had decided yesterday to get our first ride of the day on Fujiyama, so we joined the queue as soon as we came into the park. As the ride opened and we moved to the front, a Japanese couple in front of us let us join some other ACE members in front of them. That's how we came to be the last riders on the first ride of the day. We sure had a nice view as we waited for our rescuers to walk us down, but I must admit the idea of climbing out of my seat 60 meters up on a catwalk was more than a little disturbing. The park employees could not have been nicer - repeating "sorry" and asking us to walk down very slowly. It would have been nice to ride the coaster, but I think we got a more unique experience out of it!
B. Derek Shaw
Wednesday evening we arrived at Fuji-Q Highland only to walk around the park. With 90 minutes remaining, the lines to both of the major coasters (Fujiyama and Dodoppa) were so long they were already closed. There's always tomorrow, or is there...
The evening was spent at Fuji-Beer, a micro-brewery in town with great beer and food. Thirteen of us enjoyed the festivities in a German festhaus-type building.
It was nice to get back to Fuji-Q Highland on Thursday. This was another repeat park for me having visited during my 2003 four person journey. I did pick up the suspended coaster credit, as it was not running before. Dodoppa had a great launch but became rough for the second half of the journey, the same thing I experienced the last time.
Next up was Fujiyama, King of Coasters, however upon looking up it was stopped on the lift hill and passengers were walking down the catwalk wearing hard hats. A great bonus for them but this first ride of the day became the last. Something happened on the lift so no one on our trip managed to get a ride! A real shame as it is a good ride. (When we departed at 12:30pm, there was no change; the train was still perched on the lift hill.)
The park is very nice with a decent assortment of rides and an interesting added fee attraction, the Haunted Hotel walk thru. Now it's on to the final two parks of the trip.
Paradise Sea was a nice aquarium with two good coasters and the second tallest Intamin drop tower in the world (350+ feet!) Surf Coaster is only the second Togo coaster I've ridden that I've really enjoyed (Fujiyama is the other one.) The one at Sea Paradise is positioned partly over the water, ala Indiana Beach.
Cosmo World was the wrap up park of the trip, featuring a spinning mouse and Diving Coaster Vanish! that was much smoother than I expected. A beautiful wheel, that the park claimed was the tallest in the world situated in a downtown skyscraper/bay area of Yokohama. The tallest skyscraper in Japan was within eyesight of the park.
Derek Cromarty, England
He says the same thing today, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
(These coach journeys are putting him in a sleepy trance!)
(Update: Derek just woke up.) Fuji-Q Highland was the first park today. Unfortunately Fujiyama broke down, so we couldn't ride it. Gutted. Dodonpa was quick good. The launch was out of this world and I thought that's where we were going! Sea Paradise had two coasters - the big one was very good. Surf Coaster was surprisingly smooth. The second coaster, a wild mouse was good too.
Cosmo World was next. Diving Coaster Vanish! was just average, with an unusual element where it dove underneath the water. Spinning Coaster (spinning Wild Mouse) was quite good. The log flume gave us a bit of surprise air time. It's now back to the hotel for the night and then fly home tomorrow.
Still being reported by B. Derek Shaw.
Andrew Weiss (aka "ACE - San" for another day, then it's back to "Mr. ACE" when I return back to the U.S.A.)
Fuji-Q Highland turned out to be a big disappointment as Fujiyama became stuck on the lift hill, with the first train of riders, and never reopened. They had an interesting dark ride , were you stood in coffins and lots of scary sounds abounded. An interesting Mouse, with a stange layout. Ay least we got to see Mt Fuji, it was spectacular at at sunrise. 2 more parks to go. This has been another great ECC-ACE trip, many thanks to Kevin for planning, Tony for finances, and Justin for running things so well. Best Coaster Wood- Aska. Steel- BMR2. Favorite park DisneySea and Nasu- Highland. Biggest surprise Big Boom at Nasu Highland. The people of Japan have been extremely friendly and courteous. They also have great hand dryers in restrooms that actually work. Looking forward to Scandi in 2007.
Maggy Linka
The pink scarf I've been knitting on the bus travels between parks is finished—perfect timing, as we finish up our travels today and return to Tokyo for flights home. Hard to believe that the "Land of the Rising Fun" trip is almost over.
I'd like to bring home the heated-seat toilets found in our Tokyo hotels, and the bathroom mirrors with a fog-free area right in the center. Two extra touches not found in the USA.
Coaster-wise, I agree with ACE-san (above) that the best woodie was Aska, best steelie was BMR2. The theming of Japanese coasters and their parks is so different from the US. Unique cultural touches.
Today, we went thru a Haunted Hospital, which was really bizarre. Big hospital-like building with a dark, sinister tone full of foreboding. We were greeted by a blood-splattered RN with a lethargic, zombie-like demeanor, wearing a bloody eyepatch over her left eye. Things got spookier from there! Took us 35 minutes to make our way thru the hospital's labyrinth hallways, cluttered patient rooms, OR, lab, x-ray room, nurse's station, ambulance barn, and morgue. Lots of costumed occupants made their appearances in the darkened hallways to startle us. They did a good job, too, as we all jumped/screamed/hollered throughout our hospital stay. Great fun.
I'm really gonna miss many people I've been with on this trip.
Ricky Cooper
Dondopa at Fuji-Q was really a pleasant surprise for me. I was expecting this coaster to be much like the air launch at King's Dominion. I'm happy to say I was wrong. The impulse launch was absolutely intense. The layout is also much more interesting than the stateside incarnation. Dodonpa has also taken my number one spot as the most insidious queue music - the constant droning of "Don- Do- Pa-" was almost more than I could bear. I'll tell you anything you want. Just make it STOP!!!!
On another note, the mouse at Fuji-Q was a real winner. It started out slowly with the first brake engaged. But the second half really increased in the wild to-and-fro action that makes a great mouse.
The kiddie coaster was charming as we were all supposed to chant "Go! Go! Go" at the start of the ride.
I am thankful that everyone is still healthy and in good spirits.
Still smiling and bowing in the Land of the Rising Fun!
Bill Tyson
The final day was full of wonders from the amazing views of Mt Fuji and the coasters of Fuji-Q, really liked Dondopa. The final park of the day had a wonderful mouse and a thrilling Flume ride and Vanish disappeared before my eyes. The trip has been more than I could have ever imagined. I want to thank all involved. This truly has been the Land of the Rising Fun.
Craig and Gage Knor
Wow what a trip! What a wonderful experience for both of us. We have to give thanks to all those involved in the planning of this trip. We know it was not easy and thank you for all your time you have devoted in planning this trip for everyone. Many new friendships have been made here and we hope they last. Hanging out with my substitute wife for two weeks was great! Thanks for many great times Lisa. Am I annoying you yet? Thanks to all that got Gage involved with things and fit right in. YMCA---YMCA!! Good times.
B. Derek Shaw
Parting thoughts and comments:
On the country -
* The Japanese are honest, hardworking, polite and friendly people.
* There are some very beautiful Japanese women.
* English is understood by many at some level.
* Many road signs are in English, making navigation easier.
* Diet soft drinks aren't easy to come by in all places.
* Beef, chicken and pork dishes are readily available, so food is not a problem.
* Subway transfers can be comlicated (in Toyko three different subway companies to deal with)
* There are way too many McDonald's, Denny's and Wendy's!
* No tipping - good service is expected with each mael or service.
* I've never bowed so much in my life.
On the amusement parks -
* Don't expect to visit EVERY Japanese amusement park in one, two or even a half dozen trips. There are many all over the country.
* Many people dress up to visit parks (a throwback to the 1920's and 30's)
* There was no traditional Japanese music in any of the parks visited (roaring twenties to hip hop to instumental, musiak versions of 1980's tunes!)
* Most parks lack adequate amount of water fountains (if any).
On the trip itself -
* Extremely well organized!
* It was a nice combined club effort (ACE and ECC). Let's hope there are more combined efforts.
* Thanks to all who were involved in any capacity. (Kevin, Justin, Andy for the logo, Tony, Tom, the Coach Captains, etc., etc. All of you gave your time and expertise to make this an enjoyable experience for us to enjoy - THANKS!
Martha Amborn
This trip has been fascinating. The best recommendation for an ECC/ACE trip I can give is to do it again next year! The country and people are pleasant, welcoming and seem to find westerners quite fascinating. The children are precious even as they stare at us with open-eye amazement. The coasters have been great fun (hit my #900 yesterday!) and being a coach captain has been easy with the great group I have. Looking forward to getting home to see our dogs, but otherwise would love to spend another 2 weeks here. Thanks to Justin, Kevin and Tony for all their hard work to make this successful.
Marlon Scott
FujiQ was pretty much the most disappointing visits of the trip. Most of us did not get to ride Fujiyama. We arrived at the park with over an hour to spare but in classic 'theme park mentality' style, they closed off the queues for Fujiyama and Dodonpa. Then the next morning, Fujiyama’s train died on the lift hill during its first run. It would not run again during our visit.
Now to make up for Fujiyama not running, there is Dodonpa! I have not been on Top Thrill Dragster or Kingda Ka, so that launch is the most intense I’ve ever felt. WOW!
David Hamburger
Well, I got to ride Fujiyama - sort of. I was on the first train that got stuck on the lift! I’m counting it as 1/10 of a credit! After all, I was on the ride for around an hour! I came to Japan for new coaster experiences, but little did I know I’d be wearing a hardhat and a waist safety belt attached to the stairway handrail and walking down almost 200 feet! Bet they tried to make it up to us by giving us exit passes for both Fujiyama and Dodonpa, along with a free return ticket. And when it was clear that Fujiyama wasn’t going to run before we left, they let us use the Fujiyama passes on Dodonpa instead. Dodonpa was an amazing ride, though, with a much better launch then Hypersonic, but somewhat less air in the front on the big hill. Still, despite several frustrations, we managed to have a great time anyways.
Dan Harvey
Fujiyama’s lift hill was the first lift hill I’ve ever had to walk down. It was quite an experience! The train made it to just past the 60 meter mark, or 200 feet, then stopped. We were on the first train of the day, They tried several times to get us going again, each time the train only moved a few feet. We ended up having to walk down the hill. The park workers came up, gave us harnesses to put on, hard hats, and a rope and clasp, then we climbed out and walked down. The media showed up a few hours later and interviewed a few of us, including myself. Something to remember! Dodonpa was awesome! What a launch!! Much more intense than Top Thrill Dragster! We rode the front seat to top it off! Glad we got exit passes due to the Fujiyama event! 2 hr wait otherwise.
Jeppe Nygaard
Yesterday evening and this morning was Fuji-Q. We arrived so late yesterday, that when we finally entered the park they had closed the lines for both the 70+ meter high Fujiyama and launched Dodanpa. L Shame. I was afraid it would be raining this morning, and the rides being closed, but it was’t. We decided to start with riding Dodonpa. I really can’t describe how much a blast it was to get launched in that thing. It is really, really extreme. we decided to wait the 2 hours line for another go, and I got the front seat. Did not see much else in the park.
The trip is for me always over now. Sad but true. I have had a fantastic trip, and have fallen in love with Japan. I will be back here to catch up with more of the culture and great places they have. I can not thank ENOUGH to all the people that had work so hard to make this happen, and some of you even not attending after all your work.
THANKS AGAIN. And I hope to see many of me good friends, new and old, on another trip.