After an early start we took the Busan metro to the Busan express bus terminal in order to catch a coach to Tongdo Fantasia.
While on the coach it stormed heavily, when we arrived it was raining hard but by the time we completed the mile or so walk to the park the skies were perfectly clear and it appeared as though they were going to stay this way.
As we entered the entrance plaza it was quite clear that we were in for disappointment. Although the theme music was playing and the fountains were jumping away on their own, the area was completely deserted and the turnstiles were unmanned.
The information centre was open though…
We walked in and were informed “the park is open until 9pm today, only 3 rides (haunted house, carousel and something pointless) will be open and it’s still the same price as normal”. When we questioned them if they plan to open the other attractions later they replied “no it RAINED that’s your lot for the whole day”, right…
We walked back to the bus terminal and caught a coach back to Busan, while on board we decided we now had time to attempt to knock off one of the +1’s in Busan.
After another lengthy metro stint, followed by an even longer walk than Pago Land (this time featuring steep hills) we arrived at Geumgang Park, a tiny amusement park located in a massive park area.
After reading terrifying warning signs that stated all manner of evil looking bugs were present at the park and all of them were going to try to kill us, we powered up yet another massive hill to get spited by yet another powered twin helix coaster.
At least this time the disappointment came clear and concise, “it rained 4 hours ago and so we can’t operate it today”, Korea you’re better than this…
We decided to just spend the rest of day looking for Kpop albums at this point, oh and finally getting to eat Quiznos.
Day 3
Day 3 began very much like day 2 with us taking the metro to the bus terminal, but this time the destination was Gyeongju.
After this it was a short bus ride from the city to Gyeongju World.
Again, much like day 2 it was raining when we arrived at the front door of Gyeongju World, but this time things were looking a little more promising.
Firstly Gyeongju World is one of Korea’s top theme parks, so in theory their drive to open in the wet should be increased. Secondly, there was a large rabble hanging around outside.
We walked to the ticket window expecting everything to be fine and were then informed that “limited rides will be open due to the weather”.
“Do you think the roller coasters will open later?”, “Maybe…”
While I laughed off our spites with the twin helixs and shrugged off our loss of Tongdo Fantasia, it was going to seriously sting if things didn’t reopen at Gyeongju World. Not least because the park’s new dive coaster was the reason we came to this part of Korea but also their B&M Invert had intrigued me for years.
We decided to camp out the situation from a Starbucks over the road from the park’s entrance and for nearly 5 hours we sat and watched.
At about 2pm we spotted 3 engineers climbing Draken, then half an hour later flat rides began testing and another 15 minutes after this Phaethon started to test.
So we left Starbucks and made our way once again to the park entrance.
We asked the same woman we spoke to earlier for 3 tickets please but remembering us from earlier she replied “coasters closed, I’m sorry”. “We’ve just been watching them testing”, she stares at us not understanding what we mean and scrambles to find someone to help us. We didn’t want to hassle her anymore than we had to so we decided we’d just wait until we see people on the coasters before we worry her again.
For another 40 minutes, in which Draken began testing, we stood in the car park staring at both Draken and Phaethon, just waiting and wishing to see either crest the lift with people on and then it happened.
I literally ran to the ticket window to be greeted with the woman beaming ear to ear and informing me “coaster’s OK!”, that’s all I need to hear!
Draken – We ran straight to Draken, as this was the first coaster we saw with people on.
Draken is the park’s brand new for 2018 B&M Dive Coaster and is a clone of Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Griffon.
After passing through the amazingly themed queue building, we got to the air gates, only for the ride to break down as we were about to board…
Luckily the shut down only lasted about 5 minutes and before I knew it I was about to experience my first ever large dive coaster.
At the time it was probably the best dive coaster I’d ridden, due to the fact it wasn’t over in 20 seconds but it certainly isn’t anything too special.
The drop isn’t as intense as Oblivion, in both that Draken doesn’t drop you into a hole and the drop itself is noticeably weaker in the ejection department. Also the large floaty inversions are nice but don’t really do anything for me. Finally the midcourse brakes stopping the coaster dead halfway through kills the pacing.
Draken is an impressive looking machine with an amazingly themed queue and station but as a coaster it really doesn’t do all that much for me.
Phaethon – As mentioned earlier I’d been desperate to ride this coaster for years but sadly was rather let down by it.
Much like Draken the queueline for Phaethon is stunning but unfortunately again like Draken the ride experience is lacking somewhat.
Phaethon as you’d expect from a B&M invert is very good but sadly that’s about as far as it gets.
At the time this was my second ever large B&M invert, with my only reference being Monster at Walygator. Monster to me is a coaster that can’t make up it’s mind on what it wants to do, which leads to random moments of the coaster doing nothing at all and the infamous straight. However when Monster works out what it wants to do, it does it in style, with snappy intense inversions and a helix that’s so intense it hurts.
Phaethon on the other hand suffers from the exact same moments of not knowing what it wants to do but then delivers the moments it stumbles upon in a FAR less impressive manner.
Sadly after one lap Phaethon was closed for the rest of the day due to the bad weather setting back in and maybe, just maybe with more rides my opinion would of been swayed slightly but as of right now, I like Phaethon, I just don’t love it.
With Phaethon closed for the day and the weather getting bad again, we had 2 more laps of Draken, until that too closed because of the weather. Then we rode the rapids and Ferris Wheel before making our leave.
Gyeongju World from our short time there gave me the impression of a park worth easily half a day of your time, with fantastic theming in places, friendly staff and 2 great B&Ms. It was a shame we couldn’t have had longer to enjoy the park but I’m just happy I got to experience it at all.
We accidentally booked the sexy coach back to Busan, which meant wide boy seats, mood lighting and beautiful women on the on board tvs.
After arriving back in Busan we decided we’d have a Quiznos but clearly that was pushing our luck and once again the door was closed in our faces.
Thanks for reading, click here for day 4 where we travel to Japan and ride the outstanding Pyrenees!
In August 2018, just over a year after our last trip to Korea and Japan, Heartline, his wife and myself returned.
The last trip was one I’ll never forget but this time it was even better.
Late on a Thursday me and Heartline made our way to Heathrow to board our plane to Korea.
We were going to be flying with Asiana, my first ever 5 star airline and an airline that had massively impressed us on short haul flights in the past. Sadly though not only did they not impress this time, they managed to possibly be the worst long haul carrier I’ve travelled with.
First we were delayed by an hour, then the onboard media selection was awful, then the food was terrible, then we only got offered 2 drinks in 11 hours and finally the staff didn’t seem to care. It really was a good thing Heartline got an amazing deal because if I paid the premium for a 5 star airline to be treated like that I’d be livid.
We landed in Seoul at 4pm Korean time, flew through security, screamed at a poster of Blackpink and then booked our tickets to Music Bank while waiting at the luggage carousel.
After we collected our bags, I grabbed something to eat at Lotteria and we sat and watched 6 beautiful women in traditional dress playing traditional instruments, while we waited for Heartline’s wife to arrive from Singapore.
All united now and we boarded the metro from the airport to Seoul station, a journey which feels longer every time you make it.
After we arrived at Seoul station we got spited by Quiznos, ate ice cream for dinner, bought our train tickets for tomorrow and saw a homeless man exposing himself, all before we retired to bed.
Day 1
The next morning after breakfast we made our way to the station to catch a train to Daegu.
The journey flew by and I was impressed that in only 2 hours we had been able to travel from the very top to the almost bottom of Korea, it takes about that time for me to get to London these days.
After we found somewhere to ditch our luggage for the day we ventured onto the Daegu metro on route to E-World.
E-World
E-World reminded me a lot of Seoul Land from our last trip, in that neither have any attractions worth seeking out, both have been forgotten in terms of upkeep and investments, both are very popular with the locals and despite their weaknesses both parks can deliver a fun day out.
After purchasing our tickets, we entered E-World and made our way up the hill to where the rides live.
Magic Castle – We couldn’t have picked a better first coaster to reintroduce ourselves to Korean theme parks than riding a wacky looking children’s coaster while the operator sings for us.
Camel Back – The first of this trip’s quota of jet coasters and a brilliant first example. Camel back is secretly a bit of a beast, one that’s not afraid to throw you about, I even got air time.
Hurricane – A mostly rust covered looping coaster buried in a sea of trees with an unknown manufacturer, what could possibly go right?
Hurricane is that rare breed of coaster that’s so bad it’s almost good, it’s poorly designed transitions started me laughing, then Heartline got hit by a tree and I couldn’t stop.
Mega Swing 360 – A Kpop idol I’m in love with once rode this on a tv show, so of course I had to give it a go, huge mistake…
When the ride is at full pace and easily making it’s 360 rotations, it’s terrifying. While it’s warming itself up to make those rotations and leaves you hanging upside down it’s probably one of the scariest rides I’ve ever ridden.
While the ride line up is poor and the lack of investments disappointing, E-World still made for an enjoyable half day out.
With a few hours left before we needed to catch our train to Busan, we decided to “dust off Daegu”, which meant visiting Pago Land.
After a lengthy journey on the metro and quite literally 2 miles of walking, we arrived.
Now Heartline had told me that Pago Land was just a collection of terrible rides at the side of a main road but even that extremely accurate description doesn’t do it justice. Picture an abandoned scrapyard at the side of the road, where the only paths are loose stones and then throw the sketchiest and most sorry looking kids rides you can ever imagine into said scrapyard and have them operated by elderly Koreans who have lost the will to live and you’ll be only halfway to picturing the mess that lay before us.
Still, there was a powered twin helix coaster up for grabs…
We walked in to see an operator at all of the rides, not another living soul other than said operators, prices displayed at each attraction, nowhere to buy tickets and a general sense of dread. After a second loop round trying to find a way to buy tickets and with every single old person running the place staring us down, we walked over to the twin helix.
The operator was sitting on the station platform in a plastic garden chair and after we gestured that we’d like to ride, he began clucking and spitting and going on a lengthy rant in Korean. Utterly confused we stood there in disbelief and yet again gestured that we’d like to ride, to the exact same reaction.
Following this we walked away to regroup and tried to think what the hell this bloke was going on about. We had gone on quite the journey to get here we thought, so let’s give it one more go.
We walk back over, he is still sitting in his chair, we point to the ride again, this time his approach is solemn and even more confusing. He muttered a slew of soft Korean words in response to any gesture we made or any sentence we spoke at him. At one point we attempted a hilarious stare down, which once again got us exactly no where.
Heartline believes his response was something along the lines of “why should I get out of my chair?” and honestly at this point I’m inclined to believe it, either way it looks like we aren’t dusting off Daegu today…
Following that experience we took a bus back to Daegu station, collected our luggage, boarded a train to Busan and there got spited by another Quiznos.
Thanks for reading, click here for the next part of this report where we visit Gyeongju World and eventually get to ride 2 quality B&M coasters.
We had a snacky lunch before heading for one more lap of Stampida, which still kicks ass.
Even though today was considerably busier than the previous 2, queues weren’t too bad.
The hosts on all the coasters were filling every seat and dispatching as soon as possible on most occasions.
All coasters except Shambhala (they said capacity was reduced due to the weather?) were running 2 trains and queues were moving nicely. Far from the horror stories I’d read online.
We took our last ride on El Diablo, which was still a really fun time.
Grand Canyon Rapids – Now that the weather had improved we decided to try out the park’s rapids, while not as good as some other Intamin rapids they were still really fun and delivered the expected chaos.
Dino Scape 4D – Simulator attraction that’s a lot better than those in Ferrari Land but still quite weak.
The interior queue is really well done and heavily themed with animatronic dinosaurs but the simulator itself is a little lacklustre.
As previously mentioned PortAventura seems to get a bad reputation from the enthusiast community, I however found very little to complain about and found my 3 day trip to be very enjoyable and relaxing.
Now while the park is very strong in my eyes, it is a major shame that the park’s star attractions don’t do much for me. While I had a lot of fun with the park’s support coasters I think it’s completely fair to say that at the moment there is nothing at the park that’s going to tempt me to return soon.
I hope in the future they can add that draw because I’d be very excited to return if the opportunity arose.
After saying goodbye to PortAventura we made our way to the airport.
The EasyJet departures area was absolutely disgusting. There was actual piss on the seats and the only food available was a badly made sandwich costing £6! Surprisingly though our flight was on time!
As I woke up today I further praised the option of staying on site at PortAventura. Getting a sensible night’s sleep and waking up at a decent time is something I could get used to on a coaster holiday.
Ferrari Land
Today began with a trip to Ferrari Land, the newest park at the resort.
Ferrari Land’s entrance is located right next to the entrance of the main park but absolutely counts as a seperate gate. With the shockingly low of amount of things to do in Ferrari Land, which I’ll get into in a minute, I do find it slightly odd that they have separated the 2 parks.
Red Force
We headed straight to the new park’s headline attraction, which at the time of visiting was it’s only coaster, the 370 foot tall Intamin launch coaster, Red Force.
First things first unlike the disappointing B&Ms next door, Red Force is an ugly looking mess. The supports on the top hat look like scaffolding, the new style Intamin track just looks wrong with this sort of coaster and the 3 massive Ferrari logos make it look like a 370 foot billboard.
The coaster itself rides almost exactly the same as all Intamin launch coasters that are basically Dragster clones.
Intense launch, very strong positive gs as you pull up, weightless feeling over the top hat, very strong positives as you level out again, then you hit the brakes.
Over in a flash and nothing too exciting in my eyes.
Red Force via the brake run being designed strangly does have one up on it’s almost clone brothers though because it has a vicious pop of air between the 2 sections of ending brakes.
After 2 laps of Red Force we’d seen enough and decided to try out the other, very few, Ferrari Land attractions.
Flying Dreams – A flying theatre attraction that was pretty awful.
You watch 3 pretentious Ferrari adverts in preshow form before you board the flying theatre which is pretty much just another Ferrari advert, as you follow various cars from their catalogue around for a while.
The simulator barley moved, the screen was blurry and you could clearly see that you were in a warehouse.
Racing Legends – A simulator attraction where you sit in 8 seater cars and jiggle around a bit infront of a large screen. But not before watching 3 more Ferrari advertisements.
And that’s for the most part the lot, I did say there wasn’t much to do in the park.
I’m sure if you were a big fan of Ferrari and you were able to look past the serious lack of things to do in the park then you’d have a great time in Ferrari Land. For me though, with it’s current line up, I’d probably never choose to return.
We chose to head into the main park to re-ride the coasters before heading off for an evening at Tibidabo. This ended up being a brilliant idea.
Before setting off though we decided to try out the pizza place next to Furius Baco and it was awesome. Really friendly staff, a lovely pizza, an interior I felt too poor to exist in and a very reasonable bill at the end.
Tibidabo
It began to rain heavily as we left PortAventura and we were half expecting a repeat of yesterday but thankfully it wasn’t and thank God because Tibidabo is fantastic!
Tibidabo is located on top of the highest mountain in the region and has been around for well over 100 years now. It’s a charming park full of adorable rides, bags of character and stunning views of Barcelona.
Muntanya Russa – The park’s star attraction is their terrain based Vekoma sit down coaster Muntanya Russa and it’s an absolute joy to ride. I fell deeply in love with this coaster and it’s breathtaking first drop.
Tibidabo Express – The park’s Zamperla powered coaster also uses the terrain to it’s advantage which makes for a pretty interesting experience. The highlight for me was when you race along the side of the main road.
After many laps on Muntanya, we needed to get from the lower level of the park to the upper viewing platform level. We failed many times to call the lift so we just decided to take the stairs.
It was well worth the effort though because some of the rides up here are unforgettable.
Avio (AKA Plane On A Stick) – A plane on a stick that’s been operating with the park since 1928, it’s charming, it’s mental, it’s adorable, I loved it.
L’Embruixabruixes – A suspended 8 seater monorail that opened in 1915 and it’s incredible! One second you’re outside hoping it doesn’t collapse and drop you off the mountain and next second you’re travelling through trippy projection mapped dark ride sections. It’s absolutely insane and then something happens just before you go back into the station, something that will scar you for as long as you live!
Talaia (AKA Bucket On A Stick) – So the amazing views of Barcelona from the viewing platform aren’t enough for you? Well then, climb into an almost 100 year old bucket attached to an almost 100 year old stick, with nothing holding you in, I did and I loved it. Easily one of the coolest, yet scariest rides I’ve ridden in years, where else does something like this exist? No where.
We ran from Bucket On A Stick down the many stairs to get one more lap of Muntanya just before close. With the sun going down and the city lighting up the first drop was stunning.
Tibidabo is simply amazing. A beautiful park with an awesome coaster, fascinating history, stunning views and more character than some can handle.
I really hope all those who visit PortAventura every year have visited this place at least once because it’s more than worth your time.
We got back to the hotel at gone 11pm but it didn’t matter because all we had to do was walk to our room and then crash for the night, beautiful.
Thank you for reading, click here for day 3, our final day at the resort, where we spend the day taking it easy at PortAventura park.
In March 2018 me and Heartline made our first ever visit to PortAventura. This is a trip that many UK enthusiasts make very early on in their love of the hobby but we had held off for quite some time, partly due to lack of interest and partly due to reading a lot of negative things online. But while looking for something to do in the early months of 2018, PortAventura was the best option, so here we are.
Day 1
Today began like most European trips do, with an extremely early EasyJet flight out of Gatwick, this time to Barcelona.
When we arrived we picked up our hire car and set off for Tibidabo, which was meant to be the first park of this trip.
It was pouring it down with rain as we drove up mountain roads to get to the car park at the top.
When we got there however the attendant informed us “park’s closed but I’ll let you into the car park, make sure you pay for parking at the ticket office”. Without really thinking it through we took the parking ticket from him and drove into the deserted multi story car park.
Well this isn’t the start to the trip that we wanted but never mind, let’s go pay for this parking ticket. We stepped out into the heavy rain to discover that both the ticket offices and the park entrance gate were closed and bolted shut.
Thankfully as we attempted to leave the car park the friendly man who didn’t really understand what we were trying to tell him just waved us through and sent us on our way.
We decided to try again tomorrow but for now head to PortAventura.
The hour and a half drive to the park went by without any major incident but the unexpected Spanish tolls were a pain.
We were staying onsite at Hotel Caribe, which despite initial concerns ended up being a really nice hotel. The room was clean, the bed was comfy, the bathroom was great and the noise outside was non-existent.
I really liked how simple everything was in regards to staying onsite.
When checking in you are given your room key, which is also your park entry ticket valid for every day of your stay and at the end you just throw it in a box with no need to check out. This means you only go through the faff of waiting to collect things once.
Another great thing about staying on site is that you are only 5 minutes from the park entrance.
What is immediately obvious is that PortAventura is a beautiful park, heavily themed and wonderfully landscaped.
We were able to form this judgement quickly because we spent the first hour walking around the massive park completely lost in search of various different attractions.
In the end we decided to have a quick snack and then just ride the next coaster we come across.
Stampida – And first blood goes to the park’s racing CCI woodie Stampida.
Despite people saying online that’s it rough or just plain bad, I found this coaster to be fantastic fun with good air time moments, vicious laterals and all the fun that comes with a racing coaster.
Stampida is full of so much character and ended up being one of the most enjoyable coasters at the park.
Unlike some European parks, mostly ones located in Brühl, PortAventura isn’t afraid to not take itself seriously here and there. The discovery of a singing vulture next to Tomahawk instantly increased the park’s standing in my eyes.
Dragon Khan – The first of the 2 major disappointing coasters at the park.
I’d been idolising this old school B&M monster for years and I won’t deny it’s importance. I also won’t not admit that it looks beautiful. As for how it rides though…
I’ll be bold here, the layout in my eyes isn’t very good. The first drop is pretty forceless and then it’s just inversion after inversion. I wish it was broken up by some air time moments or maybe a twisty section.
Then there’s another problem.
I would have quite happily rated this coaster as great, for what it is, if it wasn’t for how badly it rides.
If you sit on the 2 outside seats of any row then Dragon Khan becomes an awful rattly mess that’s guaranteed to give me an awful headache.
Tami-Tami – Dragon Khan gave me such a bad headache that I needed to take ibuprofen, drink some Coke and ride the park’s Vekoma Junior to get rid of it.
Shambhala – The second of the 2 major disappointing coasters at the park.
Having enough experience of B&M Hypers before riding, I knew Shambhala was never going to be as good as the masses make it out to be but even still I walked away very disappointed.
Air time is easily my favourite sensation when riding roller coasters, so a coaster designed to deliver only that should be a dream come true, sadly the air time on Shambhala varies from extremely weak to non-existant.
The first drop is completely void of forces, the air time hills do little to nothing, there’s no real sensation of speed and then even that is ruined further by a trim brake…
We rode Shambhala at least twice a day, every day of this trip, in all seats, in all sorts of weather and it delivered the exact same ride.
Believe me I really wanted to love it but for me there’s nothing to love about Shambhala.
We went for another lap on Stampida, El Diablo and Shambala, then ended our day with Furius Baco.
Furius Baco – This Intamin winged hydraulic launch coaster is interesting…
It’s not very good but it’s not rough like people online have said. Hilarious is probably how’d I’d describe the coaster if I had to.
The whole ride is best summed up like this…
Something about a monkey and wine, an awesome launch, the wing seats start bouncing in a truly funny manner, everything’s happening too fast and you’re bouncing so much that you can’t understand what’s going on, you roll through an inline twist, you bounce over some water and then it’s over.
After a very pleasant first day in the park I thought to myself while chilling in the hotel, have I just gotten really lucky or are the negative opinions of the park that I’ve seen slightly overblown?
Other than the 2 B&Ms being disappointing I was really enjoying my stay at PortAventura and was excited to experience more tomorrow.
Thanks for reading, click here for day 2 where we visit the resort’s new Ferrari Land park and try again at Tibidabo.
An agreement was drawn up the night before in order to decide what to do on our last day in China. The plan was to wake up at 6am, look out the window, if it was raining meet each other within half an hour and travel to Hong Kong Disneyland. If it looked clear outside, go back to bed for 2 more hours, meet at half 9 and go to Happy Valley.
As though the World knew this was going to happen I was exactly 1 floor below Heartline in the hotel. So imagine the comedy when 6am comes and both of us are shining lights out the windows. Our rooms were facing a housing block who probably assumed close encounters of the third kind. Either way all looked good outside, Bullet Coaster I’ll see you soon.
Happy Valley Shenzhen
Happy Valley parks, of which there are many, are owned and operated by the OCT Group. Heartline has been to most, if not all of them and had prewarned me to expect the park to be frustrating. Well he wasn’t wrong in stating that because today was going to be rather testing indeed.
We got to the park about half an hour after opening and went straight to the ticket office to ask the golden question “are all the roller coasters open today?”. The lazy woman replied “read the sign”, lovely…
The sign said only the rapids and waterpark were closed today so we paid our money and made our way in.
We planned to start with Bullet Coaster but it wasn’t going to be easy to get it however. Massive areas of the park were completely fenced off which meant we had to walk the longest possible way to get to Bullet Coaster.
On this very long walk I started to notice that the park was in a bit of a state and I’m not just talking about the areas that were fenced off and in pieces. Everything seemed to look very neglected and forgotten about. Truthfully this was what I was expecting from China but after Oriental Heritage yesterday looked stunning I clearly raised my hopes too high for Happy Valley.
I then started to think, we’ve just walked past many rides that aren’t operating meaning that sign was lying, I really hope that’s not going to affect us.
Thankfully when we got to Bullet Coaster it was open so we powered straight into the queue. There were 2 people in the queue infront of us and 2 people in the train having their restraints checked. This was it, time to start preparing myself. Then these restraint checks continued on for another 10 minutes and I started to get really nervous. To confirm these suspicions the station and queue were cleared and the ride was closed.
I know there are much more important things in life to get upset about but I was devastated. It was torture to be standing right next to this insane looking roller coaster but not being able to experience it. I was almost certain at this point it wouldn’t reopen, based on what Heartline had told me of China and Happy Valley.
Heartbroken I went to tick off the park’s other coasters.
Snow Mountain Flying Dragon – Heartline, who’d already ridden it, sat off this Vekoma SLC, leaving me to my thoughts about Bullet Coaster’s closure. I was so concerned with other matters that I managed to zone out the whole ride.
Next we wanted to go ride the park’s mine train coaster, which Heartline missed last time he was here, however…
There was literally no way to get to the mine train because all paths to it were closed off. On closer inspection we noticed that the mountain the coaster used to run through had been removed and the ride now resembled a collapsed multi story car park.
It would appear the lying sign would come back to haunt us. It was now, with the assumed loss of Bullet Coaster that I started to get angry. They’d lied to us, half the park is closed off and the parts that are open look awful and/or are broken.
We decided to camp out Bullet Coaster for a while and sat on the wall opposite the entrance. Heartline’s wife asked the staff on the entrance what was happening, this was the reply. “Restraints are loose, not a big issue, should be open in half hour”, I wish I could believe that.
Half an hour came and went and nothing changed, they were working on it though.
They’d need to speed up though because we had to leave the park at 1:30 at the latest, in order to catch a plane out of Hong Kong airport.
This was even more frustrating than it not opening at all, knowing you’d just missed it and you’d probably never get the chance to come back.
Baby Coaster – We made the very long walk back to the front of the park soI could tick of the park’s Wacky Worm, I really wasn’t in the mood to enjoy it though.
North Pole Adventure – Not even the park’s ghetto shooting Santa dark ride could cheer me up.
We walked back to Bullet Coaster and reached it’s entrance area at exactly 1, so we had half an hour tops to watch it not open…
BUT IT WAS!
Bullet Coaster – The change in mood in both me and Heartline as we launched in the queue was unforgettable, we went from God awful, life sucks to OMG BULLET COASTER in half a second, it was amazing.
Everything about this S&S launch coaster is over the top and stupid and it begins with the queueline videos. They list everyone who can’t ride and it’s pretty much everyone on Earth. Then they show extremely over the top Chinese men bolting wheels onto Bullet Coaster before giving a cartoon thumbs up, fantastic.
Then there’s the batching process….
Despite the ride having airgates they don’t let the next batch of riders into the station before the last lot have all fully left. When you’re eventually let into the station you are told to stand on a dot each behind the air gates. Then a 2 minute Chinese only PA announcement is made, followed by a member of staff doing many full body excercises, which everyone must join in with. Once everyone is warmed up the air gates are opened and you are free to take your seat and the restraints are locked.
And then it hit me, I was about to ride Bullet Coaster, I am so not ready. The train wasn’t helping the situation either. Though super comfy, they are incredibly open and with what’s about to happen this was a concern.
After dispatch the train slowly leaves the station and moves onto the launch track. It had been a while since a coaster had truly gotten under my skin but as I sat there, with the train gently rocking back and forth and absolutely terrifying noises coming from the ride’s launch system I could hear my heart beating.
Then suddenly, you’re off, 0 – 83mph in less than 2 seconds, smooth as silk but face tearing.
Clearly I’d be insane to love this coaster as much as I do if it was only for the amazing launch, no things have just gotten started. After the launch you fly up an amazing top hat that rewards you with a nice burst of air time, then leaves you pinned out of your seat the whole way down it. Between this point and almost the end of the coaster you are subjected to an amazing combination of air time moments and an incredible sense of speed.
Unfortunately things ends rather weakly as you travel down a jerky spiral into the brakes.
We managed to get 3 laps on Bullet Coaster in the half hour we had left and I fell thoroughly in love with it.
If it wasn’t for Bullet Coaster opening, this probably would have been one of the most disappointing park visits of my life. But thanks to Bullet Coaster it’s probably only top 5.
Running slightly late now, we rushed back to the hotel for our luggage then once again crossed into Hong Kong. The metro journey to the airport was frustrating and uncomfortable but worse of all slow.
Thankfully we managed to make our flight back to Singapore though, a flight I can’t recall at all.
Tonight I stayed in the 5 star Crown Plaza hotel in the aiport, easily one of the best sleeps I’ve ever had and I’d earned it.
Day 16
I stayed until almost check out at my amazing hotel and then very slowly made my way on the MRT over to Heartline’s location. We took it easy and then went to the cinema in the evening.
Day 17
More chilled exploring of Singapore.
Day 18
Today was our last day and we started it very late, meaning I was able to get 13 hours sleep, which might be a new record for me.
We didn’t really do much when we met up either, instead choosing to just relax.
Our plane left Singapore at 11:55pm and what followed was 14 hours of discomfort.
As Oriental Heritage was deserted we managed to ride everything we wanted, including re-rides on Jungle Trailblazer and still had a few hours left of the day.
So we decided to venture next door to the Fantawild Dreamland park.
Before we left though we phoned around to help us plan for tomorrow.
Happy Valley: “All the coasters are running now, nothing’s planned to be closed tomorrow, however wind, rain or cold temperatures may cause closures”.
Knight Valley: “Maintenance”.
Fantawild Dreamland Xiamen
Unlike the Oriental Heritage parks, Fantawild’s Dreamland parks don’t really follow a central theme and are more a collection of everything, normally supported by 2 less than exciting coasters.
While we only came here to tick off the coasters, much to our surprise the park contained yet more amazing dark rides, one of which you’ll probably never see anywhere else.
The Wizard Academy – Much like Legend of Nuwa next door, this dark ride uses the Spiderman/Transformers ride system, unlike Nuwa though, this one’s not amazing and that’s mostly down to the dumb story it tells.
You show up at the Wizard Academy, an evil (maybe) wizard attempts to kill you many times, then at the end he gives you a certificate and you’re now accepted in the Wizard Academy, right.
This would probably be an amazing dark ride at any other park but it pales a bit compared to the other incredible dark rides at the Fantawild parks.
Mount Tanggula – My first ever Golden Horse coaster, it was terrible but extremely funny, I think I like it.
Jinshan Temple Showdown – Now this is the ultra special dark ride I’ve been alluding to over the last 2 posts.
I think it might be my favourite dark ride in the World, if it wasn’t debatable if it even counts or not.
This incredible dark ride is made up of 2 parts, both amazing, both mind blowing and both forever etched in my mind.
The first part is a boat ride, past the most authentic dark ride sets I’ve ever seen. We are talking better than Disney, this was next level, I wish I could describe how realistic it looked. Live actors combine with state of the art special effects and multimedia to create a truly beautiful experience.
The second part is witnessed on foot after you leave the boat and in the most basic sense is a show but it’s so much more than that. It’s shocking, gripping, intense and just perfection.
When everything ended I just stood there speechless and I still don’t have the words.
Terror Twister – I never thought China would be home to the least offensive SkyLoop but here we are.
Qin Dynasty Adventure – This ended up being my 2nd favourite dark ride of the day and easily one of the best I’ve ever done. It uses the Indiana Jones dark ride system and while it’s not quite as good as Indiana Jones it’s still amazing and insanely intense.
Sadly we were 1 minute too late to ride the park’s final dark ride but I’ve since heard this was no big loss.
Fantawild Dreamland ended up being a surprise hit, we entered expecting to tick off a few pointless coasters but left after experiencing 2 unforgettable dark rides.
We had no rush to get back to the station for our bullet train to Shenzhen, so we decided to take the bus. It was slightly less terrifying than the taxi but certainly wasn’t pleasant.
The bullet train journey back went well but getting a taxi from Shenzhen station back to the hotel didn’t. There was some weird colour coded system going on that everyone but us seemed to understand.
We worked it out in the end though and I was so happy to crash once we got to the hotel because today had been a long one.
Thanks for reading, click here for the final part of this trip report where we actually make it to Happy Valley Shenzhen.
Today started very early as we needed to be at Gold Coast airport for our 8am flight back to Singapore.
Once there we had just enough time to have a meal before we were due to be boarding our flight to Shenzhen.
While Scoot had been great at getting us to and from Australia, today would be their downfall with our plane leaving 2 hours late and then losing yet more time in the air, meaning we didn’t touch down in Shenzhen until 1am.
Day 13
Heartline had always told me China can be hard work and I was about to experience it first hand.
By the time we got through immigration and collected our luggage it was now 2am and we were ruined. We made our way to the airport hotel for a very quick sleep, 4 hours if I remember, before checking out and making our way to a hotel near Happy Valley where we were going to be based for the rest of the trip.
It was raining when we got to this new hotel and I was already fearing the worst. While it’s common knowledge that rain and Asian parks don’t go together, I’d heard that China were the worst offenders. I’d come to learn though that the Chinese will use just about any excuse to not run their coasters.
Our plan was to visit Happy Valley and Knight Valley today but because of the weather Heartline decided it would be best to phone them to see what’s happening.
Happy Valley: “It’s raining, the coasters won’t open until the rain has stopped, then we’ve had sunny weather to dry the tracks, then we will test them to see if they can open”.
So that’s a no then…
Knight Valley: “The wooden one isn’t running, weather is bad and it’s under maintenance today and tomorrow”.
And so is that…
The plan for tomorrow was an 8 hour round trip to Xiamen for Oriental Heritage, while we are phoning around let’s see if that’s still an option.
Oriental Heritage: “Tracks have been wet for a few days now, if they dry, the coasters should be open”.
That clears that up then…
With plans ruined we effortlessly crossed “one of the most hostile borders in the World” from Shenzhen to Hong Kong to go shopping.
On return to Shenzhen that evening we had the best Pizza Express of my life and purchased our bullet train tickets to Xiamen. We just decided to risk it in regards to our plans for tomorrow because it was the only day we could make it work.
Day 14
Today was another very early start, in order to catch a taxi to the train station, thankfully we’d actually managed to get some proper sleep last night.
Chinese bullet trains are fantastic it turns out and just as awesome as the Japanese ones but MUCH cheaper.
The almost 4 hour journey flew by and better still the sun was shining!
After arriving at Xiamen station we went to the bus park but only managed to confuse ourselves. After a while we just decided to get a taxi to the park in order to save time and anymore confusion.
This taxi journey was actually scary, as is the way the Chinese drive in general.
Oriental Heritage Xiamen
The Fantawild company operate many different parks across China and they have set styles they build the parks around. This was one of their Oriental Heritage parks, which basically means it’s themed, beautifully I must add, around traditional Chinese culture.
Most of their Oriental Heritage parks contain large Gravity Group woodies all named Jungle Trailblazer and nearly all of them unique. Jungle Trailblazer was the main reason we came on an 8 hour round trip to Xiamen but I was also very excited to try out the park’s many dark rides because Heartline had told me Fantawild dark rides are amazing. Enough back story, let’s get to it.
After yesterday’s farce you cannot imagine our excitement when we got to the park entrance and found out that everything was open.
We quickly slammed our money on the counter and began powering towards Jungle Trailblazer.
Between the park entrance and the coaster we saw not one other park guest, it was one of the most surreal things I’ve ever witnessed.
Jungle Trailblazer – Oh how I wanted this to be great, but it wasn’t…
Jungle Trailblazer (Xiamen) is a ride of 3 parts.
Part 1 is really good and starts with a vicious first drop followed a 10 foot tall air time hill. Following this is a sideways air time hill and then yet another air time hill. While none of these air time moments are quite as good as I wanted them to be, they are still really good fun.
Part 2 is meant to be more of the same but the coaster has now lost so much speed that none of the air time moments have any effect.
Part 3 is even worse because you are now pretty much crawling your way back to the brakes.
If Jungle Trailblazer rode for it’s whole layout how it rides it’s first 1/3 then it would be a fantastic wooden coaster but sadly it doesn’t and that’s such a bitter disappointment.
So with Jungle Trailblazer being much less impressive than I was hoping for, it was all hinging on the park’s dark rides now. Thankfully this would not only be where the park would shine but it’s where my mind was about to be blown.
The Legend Of Nuwa – This dark ride uses the Spider Man/Transformers ride system to take you on an adventure where you help Nuwa (a Chinese Goddess) protect a magical stone from some bad guys. It’s fantastically done and while not quite as good as the rides it’s based off, I still loved it.
The Flaming Mountains – While I didn’t like Forbidden Journey, I absolutely loved this ride. Using the exact same technology, better utilised and with an actual story, this thing is beautiful. You join forces with a golden monkey to fight a demon bull and it’s even more fun than that sounds.
Rumble Under The Sea – This ride features a huge trackless dark ride vehicle, following a young warrior girl trying to get an angry dragon to unflood the city. It’s very good, just perhaps not as good as the other 2 dark rides in the park.
Before I spent time researching the Australian park scene for this trip, the only park I knew of was Dreamworld and the reason I knew of it was because of their Intamin Reverse Freefall Coaster, a coaster type that had always intrigued me. Sadly both the park and that coaster would be disappointments.
Dreamworld’s lineup at the time of visiting was very poor and many areas of the park were either closed off or falling apart.
Me and Heartline couldn’t help but find it funny when comparing what coasters you are presented with first at Dreamworld, when compared to Movie World. In Movie World’s car park you are in the shadow of a stunning hyper coaster and a very pleasing to the eye Intamin hydraulic launch coaster. In Dreamworld’s car park you are slumming it with a Maurer SkyLoop and an Arrow looper.
Thankfully the staff at the entrance were very nice though, offering to print us proper tickets when our phones didn’t want to work with the scanners.
Mick Doohan’s Motocoaster – How Intamin evolved their Family Launch Coaster model from this hot mess to the awesome Jet Rescue in just over a year amazes me.
After you walk through the queueline full of spider webs and over grown weeds you arrive at the station. In the station the ride staff batch you onto dots on the floor, dots that don’t line up with the air gates or make much sense at all. Then they open the gates and you scramble to get a seat, then as soon as you sit down you regret rushing to get there.
Unlike Jet Rescue just over a year later, Mick Doohan doesn’t use comfy lap bars but instead uses a really overly complicated set up that takes ages to get right. This bit comes down, that bit goes forwards, don’t forget to spin that bit, ah yeah that bit goes sideway, oh and my balls just got crushed.
Then worst of all you are sitting there for what feels like forever, in a tomb of sharp metals and plastics while they spend several years trying to entomb the rest of the train.
Finally you are off and it gets even worse. While travelling around one of the least exciting layouts ever conceived at only 40 mph, somehow it manages to jolt and bounce like nothing else. So imagine what it’s like in your casket of discomfort when suddenly everything’s shaking you to death. Well put it this way, it made a child cry and I think that says more than I ever could.
Tower of Terror 2 – From 1 disappointing Intamin to another.
So this was the Intamin Reverse Freefall Coaster that I was so excited to try out… Quick try to think of something positive… At least in it’s failings it was funny unlike Mick Doohan… Yeah that will do.
You enter the indoor queue through a funny looking skull and are then in what I imagine 20 years ago was probably a really nicely themed area. But now it’s all fallen apart and is plastered in mostly broken TVs showing music videos from 10 years ago.
Then you’re batched into a preshow area, where no preshow takes place, instead a staff member appears and shouts “make sure you lot check out the X in the gift shop, it’s f**king hilarious”. Before you have time to clarify that statement, the doors open and you’re in the station.
You take your seat, some lighting effects happen and you start accelerating backwards into a tunnel, where you keep accelerating for ages while the air pressure tries to blow your ears out.
Finally you emerge and travel about half way up the tower, get a beautiful view of a half demolished attraction, then you start going down again.
Back into the tunnel and almost as soon as you enter the brakes come on, so you end up crawling and heavily vibrating your way back to the station, which takes forever. Then you overshoot it and have to be manually rolled back in.
Post ride you get into a lift to take you to the gift shop, it appears this lift used to do something but now it does nothing.
Hot Wheels Sidewinder – Much like Tower of Terror, this Arrow Looper thankfully had some comedy to take your mind off just how bad it is.
The queue was almost parody in how badly it was presented. Dusty models of cars, a wobbly canvas tent, a very small section of vibrating floor for no reason and the smell of sewage.
The coaster itself is full of questionable transitions and violent jolts on straight pieces of track, which I found hilarious.
You can see DC Rivals from the lift too and wonder to yourself why you aren’t riding that instead.
With everything we wanted ticked off, we went for a walk around the park and if it wasn’t already obvious enough, on this walk it became clear as day that the park is a shadow of it’s former self.
Attractions half demolished, rides standing but not operating, loads of temporary fencing everywhere. It really did look like the park had already admitted defeat and were just waiting for the day they got closed down. The staff too for the most part were just coasting through their day, making as little effort as possible.
It would appear things have taken a positive turn for the park since I visited though, because in 2020 they are opening something very exciting in the form of a brand new Mack shuttle launch coaster. I look forward to getting a 2nd opinion of the park and I’m obviously very excited to try out their new coaster.
Day 10
Today we headed back to Dreamworld to try out their zoo, it wasn’t very good, before going on a drive and ending the day at an observation tower.
Day 11
We told ourselves we wouldn’t drive 70 miles from our hotel to Aussie World to ride a wacky worm but after getting bored yesterday we changed our minds.
My sleep was so intense that I woke up confused to where the hell I was or what I was doing there. Then I rolled out of bed, walked to the bathroom and discovered I’d been sunburnt in places I didn’t think possible.
Movie World
You first see Movie World’s brand new hyper coaster, DC Rivals, about 5 minutes from the park and from that point onwards until you arrive in the car park it only gets more beautiful.
Although Movie World is operated by the same company as Sea World, which looked a little worse for wear, first impressions of Movie World are very positive. Friendly and enthusiastic staff members at the entrance, a nicely kept entrance area, many coasters looming in the background and a massive pink hyper coaster right in your face.
We went straight to DC Rivals and joined the sizeable queue that had formed outside of the ride’s entrance. The ride team from Green Lantern (the El Loco) came over to ask us, “why wait for DC Rivals to open when Green Lantern is currently walk on?” He’s joking right?
DC Rivals – Being a huge fan of Mack rides I was so excited to try out their 2nd ever hyper coaster and I was more than right to be because it’s simply outstanding.
Climbing 200 feet in the very exposed and very lovely Mack mega trains is actually rather unnerving, though we will top that later. The first drop is brilliant, violently launching you out of your seat and pinning you to the restraint until you level out. DC Rival’s first massive air time hill delivers strong ejector air. Then you’re taken up and through a 131 foot tall non inverting loop, which I figured would ride gracefully but no, it’s crazy and provides yet more ejector air. The next section takes a break from air time and concentrates more on snappy twisty elements, personally this was a slight let down for me but it’s not long before ejector air comes back in style. Things really pick up again after when you are subjected to 4 insane air time hills in a row which provide the strongest ejector air DC Rivals has to offer. What a strong way to end a coaster.
Sounds amazing doesn’t it? But we can top it. For the low cost (at the time) of 5 Aussie dollars you can ride this World class machine BACKWARDS. Needless to say experiencing a coaster this good and this intense not knowing what’s going to come next is absolutely mindblowing and it gives DC Rivals an almost unfair advantage against the other World class coasters it’s competing against.
I think mine and Heartline’s onride video that we watched in the gift shop is the best advertisement you could ever ask for to sell backwards DC Rivals. It went something like this…
Climbing up the massive lift flopping against our restraint looking a little uneasy. About 2 seconds before dropping, at the exact same time shouting “OH F**K!”. Then we take the already intense as all hell drop backwards, with absolute fear on our faces. Then on every one of the intense air time moments (which are 10 times more intense when you can’t see them coming) we had the perfect combination of shock and unrivalled excitment on our faces. It was incredible.
It would appear DC Rivals helped to kick start a trend of insane coasters being added to Australia, so it deserves yet even more credit.
Superman Escape – This Intamin hydraulic launch coaster was the park’s star attraction before they added DC Rivals, sadly for me it’s nothing special.
The coaster starts with a long and rather well themed dark ride section which I quite enjoyed.
Superman’s layout should be really good but for me was let down by 2 things.
The trains, Intamin’s vest restraints work quite well with some of their coasters but not so much here. The violent air time on the top hat is just painful because of the vests and the high speed twisty stuff is also painful for the same reason.
The dark ride section, while it’s good fun it allows your eyes to get used to the dark, which means when you’re launched into the bright Australian sun it’s beyond uncomfortable.
When you combine those 2 issues it makes Superman rather unpleasant, which sucks because as I said it has every right to be really good.
Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster – I was quite excited to ride this heavily themed Mack Wild Mouse but sadly it was in the middle of a refurb which meant all the on ride theming had been removed. This meant it was just a wild mouse coaster in the pitch black, which to be fair was still pretty fun.
The park also had a Justice League shooting dark ride which was pretty excellent.
Strangely, despite it being school holidays and the middle of Australian summer, Movie World was closing at 6pm and this meant we wouldn’t be able to complete the park’s coaster line up and get much wanted rerides on DC Rivals. Therefore we decided to come back tomorrow morning and end today on one of the greatest coasters in the World.
Movie World is no questions asked the best park on the Gold Coast and now with DC Rivals should be on every coaster enthusiasts to do list.
Day 9
After waking up we quickly jumped in the car and made our way back to Movie World.
Arkham Asylum – The park’s SLC featured a fabric vest style restraint and while it did stop the classic SLC head banging, it did not make the ride any smoother.
With the park now complete we rode Superman again, sadly still disappointing.
So we spent some more quality time with DC Rivals before bidding it a sad farewell and moving onto the next park.
Thank you for reading, click here to find out what happened during the rest of our day, when we visit the rather terrible Dreamworld.
