Day Eight - Bullet Train to Osaka, Expoland
Day Eight - Bullet Train to Osaka, Expoland
Owen Rees
Very interesting log flume (2 turntables). Diadarassauras Sound more like a jet plane taking off.
andycoasterboy-san
moshi moshi - Today we have a very early start and have to put our luggage on a truck which we follow us to our hotel to Osaka.. We all turn up at Tokyo station which is a bit of a feat in itself.. Exactly on cue our Bullet train departs to Shin-osaka. Its amazing how efficient the whole process is from train arriving - gettig cleaned and departing, british rail system take note. We arrive and say farewell to Ryko (sp) who has been such a star getting tickets and answering everyones questions. Then off to Expoland the home of white coasters. Orichi a Raptor clone and Diadarassauras a very long coaster which used to race but now welded together to make one long ride. A horrible Togo stand-up - ouch ouch. A very cool walk-through - basically a giant freezer which is a great addition to the park :) Jeff and Wortsie, off for more Sapporos and Sake which are still very nice. arigato until tomorrow.........
Ric Turner
Kuma the bear says "Today we got to ride a Japanese Bullet train called Shinkansen. It goes so fast that you cant see the things going by the window as anything but a blur! We rode the train from Tokyo to Osaka where we visited the site of Expo 70 which is now an amusement park called Expoland. This park has the longest coaster in the world! It's two old coasters from 1970 that have been hooked together to make one super long coaster. It wasn't very exciting, but it is sure long! Bye for now, love Kuma."
Brian Sisk
Today we finally get to ride a Bullet train. Smooth, incredibly fast, and of course, right on time. When another train would pass us going the other way, the suction caused by the two trains would cause ours to lean slightly to the right. Scary. Then went to Expoland. 7 coasters including the longest in the world. A 6 minute, 24 second ride.
Tim Herre
First order of the day was showing the Americans what proper trains are. For me, being german and used to the ICEs in my country, those Shikansen seemed a little dated. But the legroom was fantastic and it was pretty fast, too. I spent most of the time rhyming new Lisa lines. Once reached Osaka, it was time for Expoland and its strange rides. Daidasaurus is probably one of the oddest coasters on the planet, incredibly long but lacking decent airtime and suffering from a very low throughput. Fujin Ranjin 2 was not as bad as I expected it to be - still rough, but after all an impressing ride with a helix you had to blur out on. Orochi was only running one train, so its troughput was very low, too, and we just got in one ride. Their haunted walk through that was an upcharge attraction had quite good actors but the walkways were just way too wide to be scared. They should subscribe to Haunted Attraction Magazine to learn how this has to be done. Leonard Pickel will tell them. And to come to and end: every park should have a walk in fridge!
Eugene Robinson
The two most different type of rides at this park was the chaos-type spinning ride near the front and the Ice House. Most of the coasters were pretty good; Daidarasaurus was probably the best one there, and if you want to know the worst coaster there it would probably be the stand-up.
Richard Bannister
Daidarasaurus can be succinctly described as "Martin Valt - The Ride". It goes on and on and on, says nothing particularly interesting, and it's a relief when it finally stops. It can be fun from time to time though!
Evan Hoagland
I'm sure others will report on the coasters; I'll report on the other rides. There is a ride simulator in which four people can sit in a car that is actually fairly cool although fully enclosed. There is a screen in front of you; it is an Indiana Jones type thing which moves on a track, with skulls coming at you with passageways in a pyramid. There was a dark ride and it was hard to tell what was supposed to be scary; it was too dark to really see. My personal favourite on this very hot day was Ice World, literally a walkthrough refrigerator with a lot of lighting effects and stuffed animals. There were two bicycle rides; one called UFO cycle with you on the inside of a large wheel which turned around you; one pedal ride with an umbrella over your head. I'll leave the coasters for others.
Anneliese Heiner
While waiting in line for one of the coasters, I commented that I hoped we could do a fun house in Japan. Sure enough, not too long afterwards we found one! It was fairly short, but it included a mirror maze, funny mirrors, and a catwalk throuhg a rotating room. The Ice House was a hit among our group; this was a building kept at about -30 degrees C, and people walked through it to enjoy the cocld, the ice on the walls, and the lighting. There was a simulator theater playing a movie called "Volcano." I think I had seen this one quite a while ago, but I had known it as "Red Rock Run." I was glad to see it again, as it was more like a roller coaster than most simulator movies. Think of a high-speed mine ride through a volcano, with both regular and inverted batflyer-like tracks, and you get the idea. Another hit was a paratrooper-type ride, which I had thought would be vomitrocous but I rode after hearing multiple recommendations.
John Gerard
The Bullet Train! Zoom zoom zoom! So smooth--you couldn't tell how fast you were going unless the train passed by something very close. Expoland was a very large park with some minimal theming. The coasters were, how would you say, "interesting", especially Didarasaurus, which seemed to go on forever and was one of the loudest coasters I've ever ridden on. The standup coaster had a lot of directional changes, which usually are good on a standup, but had some rough transitions. The helix was very intense. Orochi was very similar to Raptor but the final helix went down instead of up, leading to a little more intensity. The Ice World was a very welcome walk-through: more like a butcher's freezer with a few penguin and bear statues thrown in for good measure. There was another spooky walk-through that dispensed a personalized printout at the end with some undecipherable numbers: was it a score? was it our life expectancy? who knew? Then there was the "individual capsule simulator on a track" ride which held four riders each and was pretty fun. There was a shooting dark ride, as well. There was a "pedal on a track" ride called UFO Cycle that, due to Paul Asente and my scientific assessment, could actually count as a rollercoaster. There was a lift hill and at the top of the lift we just let the vehicle coast down the track and we made it to within about 10 feet of the station without pedaling. All the criteria of a coaster were fulfilled. Nevertheless, it won't make it into my coaster count. Nice park, wish I could have stayed there longer.
Paul Asente
Orochi was delicious. How many parks have coaster-oriented snacks? In this case they were delicious little Orochi-shaped sponge cakes filled with yummy azuki bean paste. That's gooood eating. Expoland also had a little area with independently-operated food stands where I had a really tasty tako (octopus) egg pancake for lunch. Ice World was freezingtastic! And John Girard is a pachinko wizard for sure...such a supple grip! Landdog is looking forward to visiting Nara Dreamland. I think it's his kind of park for sure.
Russell M. Van Tassell
Yesterday was the Bullet Train... as John said, so smooth that you couldn't really tell just-how-quickly the train was moving. Leaving the station, we simply started moving forward... almost no sound except for the occassional track-tie clicking somewhere under the wheels. The trains themselves were very long... sixteen large cars or more, each 20 or more rows (and five seats across). Not terribly surprisingly, trains met moving in the opposite direction simply went by in a mere second, the only symptom being the feeling of the air pocket before and after the trains passed.
Expoland was a rather interesting park with a pseudo-racer coaster that (literally) screamed along its tracks. The sound was more like the train was sliding along the tails rather than simply rolling... the sound itself seemingly becoming more and more annoying as the afternoon progressed. In any case, it was still a fun coaster which essentially gave you two complete runs for a single ride -- I managed a few good pictures from various turns of the ride, as well. The paratrooper ride here deserves honorable mention, as-well -- I had figured it for a simple spin-and-puke, however the first ride put all such worries aside... it's essentially a paratrooper ride that has an arm that moves to vertical, like an enterprise-style ride, as the cars swing freely or are affected by individual car brakes. Plenty of swing and some upsidedown action, here... Laurel and I actually managed to get a car swinging in two or more consecutive complete 360's around its bar.
David Cornell
I really liked the bullet train ride. Although Tokyo station was not very impressive. But we quickly got to the Osaka area for Expoland. I will have to go back there some day. It had lots of interesting and unique ride besides the coasters. That longest one in the world is just a big scenic railway. No speed or air, just a nice squeeky ride. We had to leave eary to get to a park in Kobe, Portopia, that was was going to close at the end of the year. It has two great Schwartzkopf coasters, a double loop and the Bavarian Mountain Railway (BMR-X). Wow what a great ride. It took two hours and four trains, well a bus to replace the last broken train. Glad I took the time.
Eugene Robinson
The two most different type of rides at this park was the chaos-type spinning ride near the front and the Ice House. Most of the coasters were pretty good; Daidarasaurus was probably the best one there, and if you want to know the worst coaster there it would probably be the stand-up.
Nige Harness
We are sitting on the bullet train heading for Osaka drinking beer. You're not.
Rob Derman
Last night was the adventure of a lifetime! OK well maybe just the adventure of the trip. 25 hearty coaster enthusiasts went on a trek in search of the great soon to be (unfortunately) closed Kobe Portopia park. All but two actually made it before the park closed, and the other two, well, we won't discuss it here, that is a story of its own.
We left the Expo park around 4:30 and boarded a monorail. 25 people buying tickets for a train at a Japanese kiosk was interesting, but we made it. Then we transferred to a subway, same thing. Then we transferred to the JR train, same thing (by then we thought we lost our troublemaker but she did resurface later). Then we were supposed to transfer to a monorail but it was not working, so fortunately a Japanese guide helped us find the shuttle bus which was a little walk but we made it. After almost getting off at the wrong stop we finally found the park at around 7pm. Only an hour.
The park was basically empty so essentially we had ERT for the hour. We started on the Mack bobsled which was the best bobsled I have ever ridden (sorry PKD). Then we rode the Schwarzkopf double looper and it was smooth as can be. Then we found the BMRX mountain coaster and we finally had reached the top...
Some have said that this is the best coaster of the trip... I give it a close second, but IT WAS GREAT! In the last half hour we rode a half dozen times through the mountain, some in the dark, some outside with a view of the city, great theming!!
Then the park closed and we were treated to a great firework, music and water show!!
Our little troublemaker made it just in time to come home with us. Oh happy day.
Then we had to get home, fortunately it was just the shuttle bus and one train line (two trains).
Unfortunately this park is closing for good at the end of the season. Hopefully we can save the coasters, at least BMRX. Bob suggested we ask Dick Knoebel at the PhunFest if he would be interested. Who knows? At least it would certainly have a good home... and it would be much closer to me...
B. Derek Shaw
Expoland was OK. Their seven coasters ranged from mediocre to very good and everything in between. Orochi was the best one (B&M inverted). The stand up should be thrown out - worthless.
Earlier in the day I suggested to Maggie Linka and Derek Cromarty that we visit Portopialand, a three coaster park facing extinction. It is home to a Mack bobsled and two Schwarzkopf installations. What was originally a three person adventure quickly grew to 24! We decided to leave the group an hour early to take the monorail, Japan Rail and two subway jaunt trip to the park, closing at eight. The already complicated trip became more compounded with the closure of one sub line, with a bus substitution.
We got there with 55 ticks on the clock left before closing for the night. What a real treat it was! Three great coasters in a very lightly attended park made for many rides. The Mack bobsled and the double loop coaster each gave me a ride. I figured I get back there after I checked out the third ride in the trio of coasters in this park. What a third one it was. I really went nuts over the Bavarian Mountain Railway, a scenic version of Jet Line, a coaster I've ridden on several trips to Gronalund in Stockholm, Sweden. THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST COASTER ON THE TRIP, SO FAR!
Adding icing to the cake, a 10 minute lights, fireworks and water display finished off a great side trip to a fun little park. The 24 of us that persevered and got there were rewarded quite handsomely.
Bob Roginski
Expoland has a good variety of steel coasters with Orochi being (in my opinion) the best of the collection. It has a custom layout with elements comparable tho those of Cedar Point's Raptor, but slightly better pacing. The most intriguing coaster was definitely Daidarasaurus whose extreme length is the result of converting a dual track coaster to a single contiguous loop. The modification occurs just before the station and is quite noticeable when viewed from the huge Ferris wheel.
I am especially grateful for the opportunity to return to the hotel at an earlier time because I am not one of those who handles consecutive nights of sleep deprivation.
Andrew Weiss (aka Mr. ACE)
Anton the genius strikes again. BMR is the best coaster of trip so far, it was worth getting to, which involved 3 trains a guide too walk us to a bus, all for 45 minutes of coaster bliss. This is one of Anton's best, a version of the Jet Line at Gronaland. The double loop was great, and the Mack bobsled was almost as good as Avalance at Blackpool. It is a shame this park is going to close this year. Expoland had a variety of coaster, with Orochi being the best, an excellent B&M inverted.
Maggy Linka
Best coaster this trip was the Bavarian Mountain Railway!
A group of 24 of us took off for Portopialand somewhere in Osaka. After a 2-hr commute via two subway lines and a bus-trip leg, we arrived at the park one hour befor closing. Running like mad, we took in the park's three coasters. Bavarian Mountain Railway was superior - a tight, wild ride that just kept on coming. Awesome!
Fireworks and dancing waters show to Bizet's Carmen excerpts completed our adventure. We sat in the dark watching the super fireworks show, eating Japanese noodles for dinner and drinking a Coke. Great time!!!
Stefan Rothaug
Expoland in 4,5 Stunden ist Stress, auch wenn man den furchtbaren Standup links liegen laesst, danach ist man dann ganz schoen platt. Trotzdem ging's abends noch nach Festival Gate. Es war wirklich traurig, zu sehen, in welchem Zustand sich der Komplex befindet: Leere Geschaefte und demontierte Rides.
Derek Cromarty
Expoland had a long coaster you would think they joined two together, plus four others. The best one was Orochi (B&M suspended). Saturday afternoon we went for an extended tour on the Osaka subway system lasting two hours to get to Portopialand, where we rode a good Mack bobsled, Schwarzkopf double loop and also possibly the star of the tour, Bavarian Mountain Railway (another Schwarzkopf). It was A-1!
Nige Harness
Yesterday we travelled from Tokyo to Osaka via the Shinkansen (Bullet train) - what a superb way to travel (Hil, A and B - Chimaira, B Bragg and Swordfish whilst shooting across Japan - surreal!! Thanks x). High spot yesterday was Orochi at Expoland - a clone of a well known B&M at Cedar Point. Dare I say it was more enjoyable - some great G's in certain elements - a real toe-tingler. A quick trip on the train systems last nite saw us riding Delphis at Festivalgate shopping arcade - this is a doomed ride unfortunately which is a shame as its siting on the roof is visually spectacular.
George Greenway
The groups first Shinkansen of the trip, my 9th, and like a twat I left my backpack on the bus. in any other country it would be on a boat to hawaii, but in japan, phone call to the bus company had it back at the train station with 10 minutes to spare. a big thank-you to our tour guide for helping out. we are now in Osaka, and have a new tour guide and head for expoland. a 7 coaster park no less... It has fusin rajun2, having ridden 1 the week before the trip in mitsui greenland I wasn't expecting the violent ball bangin ride this offered. so beware. the signature B&M Orachi was fast and re-rideable, if you could last it out in the queue. the load times in some parks can be disastrously long. The highlight of the day was Martin Valt helping an ACE member into the family coaster, the Japanese girl ride op couldn't push the restraint closed. martin offered his help. what a star.
Jeff Waters
The highlight of Expoland was Orochi; it was very much like Raptor (typists note: it *is* Raptor, other than the colour scheme -- RB). The other thing I found exceptional was the ice house; that was truly a surprise. I was lucky enough to take a side trip to Kobe Portopialand; truly one of the most exciting coasters I've been on this trip (other than Thunder Dolphin) was the Bavarian Mountain Railroad at this park. Lot of surprises; it was really a trip just to get there; four different subways, and the last was out of service; we had to take a bus, which one of the workers from the subway system was kind enough to walk us over to. We got to the park an hour before it closed; three coasters there, a bobsled run (probably the longest I've been on), a schwarzkopf double looper, and of course the bavarian mountain railroad. One of the most exciting things about this was a ninety degree turn drop; there were about twenty two of us on the sidetrip, and this ride was a magnet for us. I was able to get in six rides before the park closed. My best to my wife and family; hope to see you soon.
Gloria Nakamura
I agree with Jeff except for that part about Raptor. This was the first real hard core coaster stop day; there are people who will say that you couldn't do Expoland, Kobe Portopialand, and Universal Japan on the same day, but it can be. Universal Japan Snoopy Coaster credit and they close right at 9:00, so if you go don't cut it too close. If you have any interest in coming to Japan come before Portopialand closes; seven months and counting.
Malcolm Marr
Today was Expoland and I thought the park was really nice. It had a Blackpool vibe with steel coasters replacing the woodies. Daidadadaidasaurus is similar to the Big One in that it goes all around the park and is a waste of steel. It's also as noisy as Superman at Magic Mountain. They had a nice mix of dark rides, the most absurd of which was a refrigerated walkthrough that was literally set in a deep freeze. All of the scenes had been frozen over and it was difficult to make anything out. If a park was to take this further and create a maze in a freezer we could have some great Shining moments. The evening was spent taking a little detour to Festival Gate to ride Delphis which was alright. Finally ended up riding the strange Intamin wheel in the neon lit centre of Osaka. Saw a new side to Keith last night, as his day was ruined by one of the ACE members. He was furious which I've not seen before.
Virginia Dismer
Took the bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka. something I've looked forward to for a long time. `every interesting trip. `got to see some of the countryside as well as the smaller towns. Osaka is a bit different from Tokyo in that things are a smaller and more compact. Expoland was fun,lots to do and some fun coasters. The Ice Box was a big hit since the weather continues to be a little on the warm side.
David Hamburger
We rushed through Expoland because we had an overly ambitious plan for side trips. It was a nice park with a very good Raptor clone in Orochi. Expoland also had Fujin-Raijin II, probably the most brutal stand-up coaster ever. It had an extreme helix with G’s so strong it made the entire seat scrunch up, leaving us squatting! Then we headed out to Kobe Portopialand via monorail, subway, train and shuttle bus! Getting there was a pain, but it was worth it for the cool coasters. The highlight was BMR-x, a highly themed Schwarzkopf coaster in a fake mountain with an amazing steep curving drop in the middle of the ride. Finally, we got to the gorgeous Universal Studios Japan just under an hour before they closed. All we got to do was see the end of the big fireworks show (which was just ok), the cool Snoopy themed coaster, with Snoopy 'filming' you through the final helix. Jurrassic Park was a mirror image of the Orlando version, but still fun, though I STILL didn’t get to go to Hadrosaur Cove. We thewn spent more time shopping than we spent doing anything else! But the whole day was worth it.