Korea + Japan 09/18 – Yomiuriland

The magnificence of yesterday had come at a price, with us dropping off the car earlier (switching to public transport for the city activities) having a bit of an impact on proceedings.
Tokyo trains are a bit of a mess in that many different lines are run by separate companies and there is little standardisation between their ticketing systems. We had originally planned a very full day and were going to start out at Sea Paradise for a +1 and drop tower, but it was raining and things were taking far too long through faff.
As the parks we had planned for the day got steadily more significant in order, we cut our losses and went straight to the 2nd park. Which wasn’t open yet.

Passed this on the way to the station, made me think of Efteling for some reason.

Sums up the start of the day.

Orchestra playing the Incredibles theme in a mall. As you do.

We spent another hour in a Starbucks to pass the time and watch the weather, things are getting all too familiar now.

Day 9 – Yokohama Cosmo World?

One thing this place has going for it is that it’s free to just walk in and wander around. It didn’t look too promising. Only the log flume was running. No signs of life from Spiting Coaster Varnish and the spinning mouse was covered in tarpaulins.
Found an unmanned information desk which had a sign saying go to the admin office. Went to the admin office, got the usual old crap about wet track mixed with a bunch of uncertainty.

Oh well, they’ve got Shooting Ride “Cave of Ekidona” 3D, another of the same shooting dark rides. That makes 5? Ugh.

There’s also another section of the park on the other side of the river, where there was a bit of activity going on.

Where at least this was running. I guess that’s one less thing to do in future.

Time was still pressing and though disappointed with what we might miss here, we didn’t to lose out on anyhing better either, so took the gamble and went straight to the next park.

Yomiuriland

Went via train station that kicks you out by the cable car over the park.

It was a nerve-wracking ride watching everything come into view and desperately looking for something running.
Almost simultaneously, every visible cred sprang to life. That’s more like it.

We ended up with another afternoon discount upon entry, which was a welcome surprise. Wristbanded up, rain ever increasing, we set off to the biggest ride.

Not just any old Bandit. ‘Wet Bandit.’ A seasonal overhaul of the ride.
This thing was ridiculously hilarious and unexpected. They run it absolutely abysmally as far as operations go, but I’ll forgive them for the comedy. It took forever to get everyone seated and force them all to take their bags and belongings on, which you have to put inside a canvas bag for life that they provide, then wrap it around your leg on the floor of the train.

They dispatch it by playing the intro to the song advertised by the banners (bonus points for K-Pop) and by clapping and dancing. As it leaves the station, a Valhalla style geyser goes off and soaks the train, alongside a set of water guns that offride guests can operate.

The lift hill takes 6 years, and has that classic flat section at the top before the ride begins. Apparently some days they pause you up there for the view instead of this insanity.

It takes it’s 30° jet coaster drop and out of nowhere a MASSIVE water jet just shoots out of some trees, 200ft in the air and pelts everyone in the train again. I completely lost it at this point. What is this madness?

The rest of the layout is pretty good for what it is. The entrance to the helix has a rather brutal snap that you have to properly brace for, but the other hills and transitions actually provide decent forces, including air time, way beyond your average jet coaster.

The sheer scale of the layout is fantastic, it just keeps going and going across valleys and through forests.
As it loses all momentum and trundles back up the end brakes, another water jet goes off just to wake you up again.
Wet Bandit obviously runs with wet track. Pissing in the face of the previous park.

Took a while to process all that, but we headed to the next cred. This is their family coaster and pretty standard stuff other than the fact it has mist! Wet Wandit?

There was a life sized version of pop-up pirate opposite this ride, which for the entirety of our visit had a constant stream of customers. They would put one sword in and every, single, time, it would play a classic ‘wah wah you’ve failed’ tune and soak them with water. I already love this place.

On to the other big Togo. Uniquely this ride does what it says on the tin, running 2 different trains on a permanent transfer track style station. One train is a stand-up and one train is a sit-down. One loop. One cred…
Did the seated version first. Basic stuff, no issues.

Went for the standing immediately afterwards and had forgotten how good the Togo ones are. So much less faff in the restraint, a proper sensation of standing and a very unnervingly exposed feeling while riding. I never quite get used to the sensation that I’m riding a plate of metal on my feet and oh no here comes the inversion.

It shouldnt be good but it is. Instead of taking the force through your brain like you usually would, it goes straight through the knees and you kinda flex with the whole thing. Pathetically uninspired layout though.

Back up the hill to this building, which houses another indoor Gerstlauer spinner, this one elaborately themed to fashion and fabric and all that fun stuff. It wasn’t very good, much like the one in Prater, it pretty much does nothing. The most mediocre spins, turns and drops that money can buy, but at least in the theming it has bags of character like the rest of the park.

Speaking of character, I already thought I was going to love the Cup Noodle rapids Splash U.F.O., but it totally blew me away.

The uniquely themed attraction features a cup noodle super hero guy called Yakisoba-man (already sold) and an evil villain that wants to cook you(?) You’ve got buttons on the handles in the middle of the boat alongside vile looking things that could potentially shoot water in your face. The boat stops a few times underneath screens with the bad guy looking down at you in your pot and various scenes happen, while you furiously mash the buttons in front of you to try and save your life.

But in between that, who made this ride? It’s mental, like Hafema mental. Pitching down tubey helices, spinning violently and gaining ridiculous speed before plunging down unbelievably steep drops and terrifying rapids sections. Exactly what they should all be like. Absoutely loved it.

In the same building, you can make your own cup noodle, which we did for a laugh.
You pay a couple of quid, sit down and draw whatever you feel like on a custom lid, wash your hands and then play a game on a touch screen to ‘win’ the number of ingredients you’re allowed to add. Then you get friendly girls on the other side of plexiglass taking you through an interactive version of a cut down factory production line.
Here comes the sauce. Pick your fillings like a sandwich shop. Fancy lid machine. Complicated shrink wrap machine.
Then for whatever reason, you get to mount your finished product inside a balloon bag, which you manually inflate with a pump and wear around your neck on a string for the rest of the trip, looking like a pro.

Did probably the worst shooter of the trip. Animal Rescue ~The Invasion of the Mekanchura~ was a different style of ride for once, using the usual forwards facing tracked vehicle with cheap guns that don’t work and shooting poachers(?), spiders(?), and then it ended.

Ferris Wheel gave some great views. They had a couple of K-Pop rethemed pods on the ride, including a Blackpink one that I wanted to ride, but no luck.

Unfortunately we then had to leave just while things were lighting up and looking pretty, to go pick up another car.

Up next – more rain. At that notorious place.
This’ll be good.

Day 10