TBoy

Nagashima Spa Land - October 3, 2025 Like I said in the thread, we planned to get at the park at 10:30, which we successfully did. Our bus stopped at the east end of the park near the waterpark, which meant that Steel Dragon 2000 was on the other end of the park. I originally planned to hit it first, but O did three coasters, all of which were walkons. Shuttle Loop This was my first ride, a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop that does exactly what it says. It’s one of the simplest rides in the park but a goody, the restraints weren’t too bad and it’s a nice simple ride to start off my day. Dispatches took a bit but it didn’t matter as it was a walk-on for me. The annoying park however is unlike most parks where you grab your stuff and go, you have to wait for everyone to grab their stuff and then they let everyone out at once. Looping Star (no pics of this or Corkscrew sorry) Another Schwarzkopf model with the same trains and restraints, this was another walk-on on the way to Steel Dragon, so I took the chance to ride it. Despite this being longer than Shuttle Loop I have to say that is better, as the turns on this was a bit jolty. The good thing is they actually warned us about it (holding signs saying “this ride violently shakes”) rather than saying nothing. Corkscrew Unlike the other two rides, I had to wait a cycle to ride this, where I discovered another bad part about the operations. Along with the “no exiting until everyone has their things” rule, guests for the next train cannot line up at their rows until everyone has left the station. This slows operations significantly, and the staff do take their time with boarding. Meaning I probably had to wait around 15 minutes before the ride actually started. Onto the ride, it was fine. Nothing special, just your average Arrow Corkscrew, although the OTSR restraints hurt a bit during the corkscrew portion unlike the Schwarzkopf restraints which were relatively pain free. Steel Dragon 2000 It was 11am and I had just done those three rides I had wondered why the park so far was quiet: it was because everyone was here! I waited 80 minutes - luckily the ops were better than the other 3 (you could wait in the station while the train was going rather than waiting on the stairs) and 2 train ops. Dispatches still weren’t Universal or even Gumbaya levels but it was fine. Eventually I got a seat in row 1, and I was off. I love the airtime which works great with the B&M trains - no stapling. Very long and fast layout which I liked. Probably my 3rd best after Hakugei and Flying Dinosaur. As I left - I saw that Ultra Twister was unfortunately closed - the trains covered and it didn’t look like any work was taking place on it today. Acrobat My second B&M Flying Coaster this trip after Flying Dinosaur. The complaints I had before about the boarding process and operations are nothing compared to this. Steel Dragon 2000 and Hakugei were designed for 2 trains and ran with 2 trains. This? It was designed for four trains but ran with one, meaning operations were cut by 75%. The boarding process is also terrible for this. You cannot enter the boarding rows or even the lockers until everyone from the previous ride has left. This slows down boarding significantly. Boarding also took a long time too as they had to try as many seats as possible, asking how many was in each group and assigning rows according to that, moving groups ahead so as much seats are filled. This was fine, but they could’ve done this while the ride was running like at Universal instead of doing nothing while the ride was running. I did love the ride but I preferred Flying Dinosaur a lot more. Hakugei My first RMC and my favourite coaster I’ve ridden. The line was only 20-25 minutes - probably helped by the boarding process and 2 train operations. The boarding process is similar to Flying Dinosaur but a lot better: instead of using paper slips with QR codes (which could fall out during the ride) you lock your stuff up with a key and take it with you, which has a wristband attached. The ride was almost perfect - loved the drop right from the station before the lift hill and it had lots of airtime and speed whilst also being very smooth. Very long as well with a variety of elements. Only thing I didn’t like are the restraints - I felt a bit stapled which hurt a little during the airtime sections. Only a small complaint though. Free Fall The three rides and a lunch break took me to around 2:30 or something. As I walked past, I saw this was a walk-on - I gave it a go as I’ve heard it’s supposed to be really good. Also a very rare ride as well, I believe most of it’s clones have closed. I liked it - it’s like a drop tower and a coaster mixed together. Not a fan of those OTSR restraints though. Ouch. Arashi My first S&S FreeSpin. It was a walk on so I decided to take it to my advantage. Probably shouldn’t have gone on it like that like that - I was the only one on the vehicle. My vehicle wasn’t balanced, and also very light with only me - I was spun around a lot. Not good slamming back and fourth between the hard restraints and the seat. Wild Mouse Just your average wild mouse, I believe it used to be a travelling coaster from Germany moving between fairs before Nagashima bought it. There’s two of the back to back - it’s a less busy day, so only the left side was operating. As said, it’s just an average wild mouse - but a bit painful for my long legs (I’m tall - the short trains aren’t great for tall people). Probably not worth the 15 minute wait I had. Jet Coaster A more family friendly coaster by a Japanese manufacturer Meiwa Komuten, this has a few drops and a lot of spirals in between. I love well this mixes with the forest surrounding this - the brown track and supports really blends into it. Spectacular views both in and out of the coaster, this is what makes the ride great. Children’s Coaster As the name suggests, this is literally just a “Children’s Coaster” geared towards younger kids. I only did this just for the credit. There aren’t many drops or anything - I can’t really complain as I’m far from the target audience. 2 cycles on this - a bit more speed on the second. After this I did another run on Hakugei (only running one train this time) before the park closed. I managed to do everything I wanted (12 rides in 6 hours is decent) - although I would’ve liked a bit more time for rerides on Steel Dragon/Acrobat.

Sadly they only told me last night, I couldn’t ask any earlier. The plan was to go at opening until yesterday. I’m sure I’ll be able to do everything I want - I might have to skip a few kiddy credits but it’ll be fine. I did say how we might miss rides but I was told that was better than getting up earlier. The people who I am going with aren’t that excited for Nagashima as much as Universal/Nagashima, one doesn’t want to go because there “isn’t much apart from coasters” and the other is the one who got sick on Forbidden Journey and wasn’t planning to ride much there anyways. I did ask - would you rather get there at opening time and leave early or get there later and leave at closing? They chose the latter.

Just have one more question. From our hotel it’s around 1.25 hours to Nagashima tomorrow. I want to get there at 9:30 but the people who I am going with “don't want to be there for 7 hours”. and would prefer to get there later and leave at closing time. The park opens at 9:30 and closes at 4:30 which is 7 hours. What time would be good to get there if my group wants to get there late?

Ghibli Park - October 2, 2025 Unlike Universal which we spent 12 hours at, we only spent 4 hours at Ghibli. The park opened at 8 but we got there at 12. Because we didn’t get there at opening time and the park is a lot bigger than Universal, the area outside wasn’t very busy at all. You enter by going down an elevator which is nicely themed (can’t remember what it’s from) and you enter the park. The park looks very nice. There’s a lot of greenery, separating the areas unlike Universal where areas are tightly packed together and the sight lines aren’t great. The interesting part is I believe only the warehouse costs money, the rest is free. Our tickets to get in were at 2 so we had 2 hours to explore the rest of the park. The plot twist is there aren’t any rides aside from a few kiddy ones (which we didn’t visit the area they were in). The park is more about the immersiveness and the theming rather than large thrill rides. We decided to go on one of the walking trails around the park. The forest is beautiful: allowing you to take in the scenery whilst also being immersive. Our first stop was at Spring Goddess Hill. The views are spectacular: a fun fact was that this was near Expo 2005 but away from the crowds, the forest becoming a popular destination by people wanting to get away from the crowds. We moved on and entered an area based on My Neighbour Toroto, a statue greeting you at the front which can be entered (only by guests under 12). Despite this, the statue looked great and the area blended in perfectly with the scenery around. After walking down the stairs we came across a life-sized recreation of Satsuki and Mei’s house from the same movie. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside but we could from the windows. We walked around a bit more, exploring the park a bit more before coming back at 2 for our entry into ”The Warehouse” The Warehouse Upon entering: you are given these tickets for the cinema, which shows a Ghibli short film every 25 minutes. The area is nicely themed: unlike the house, you can freely take pictures apart from a few areas (A Ghibli Exhibit, a kids area and the cinema) We walked around a bit, taking some pictures whilst exploring the area. Eventually it was 3:15 and we could go inside the cinema. It’s nicely themed: modest but it looks like a classic art deco cinema. After waiting a bit we were eventually let inside. The short film playing was “Koro’s Big Day Out”, a short film produced in 2002 exclusively for the Ghibli Museum and brought over to Ghibli Park when it opened. I liked the short film: short, simple but nice. Unfortunately I was made to sit at the front: meaning my neck hurted from looking up at the screen for 15 minutes, there wasn’t English subtitles and a baby was scream in at one point. Either way: I liked the experience, even if there were a few negatives. We left after going through the gift shop at 4: we didn’t want to get home too late, so unfortunately we couldn’t explore more of the outdoor sections. A few more pics from our day:

I think it’s better for operations but worse for convenience, especially after the ride where you can’t just grab your items and go. I would also prefer queuing in the undercover area for the last part with fans blowing rather than queuing under the sun, although this can likely be fixed easily with shade tents. I reckon it could work if it was like the old locker system with the wristbands rather than the QR receipt, it sounds a lot easier for guests than the latter, although it’s probably more convenient for the staff who only have to print off a QR code rather than clean the wristbands constantly. The QR codes are probably also a more cleaner option especially in a post-COVID world so I can see why they changed it.

I honestly prefer the Hollywood Dream locker system. It’s easier putting your stuff in the locker and out of it after. I rode single rider the second time (40 minutes) and most of it was in the indoor section, I would’ve hated not having my phone then. And it’s easier just grabbing your phone out and walking off rather than grabbing the QR code, opening up the locker then leaving. For some reason only 2 seats out of 4 on each train were used. Possibly due to the VR, but it does slow things down a lot. One of the two recovered quickly after Forbidden Journey but the other we had to take care of for around an hour before SNW, we were sitting outside Snoopy Studios whilst everyone was walking past. I almost thought we would have to go home and miss SNW. Luckily they recovered and we didn’t have to go home or to the hospital, but we likely won’t be doing Forbidden Journey again either. They told me that they think they have an inner ear condition as well so it’s probably that. Thank you - we’ve left Osaka now after exploring the city and a day trip in Hiroshima yesterday - in Kyoto now. We’re visiting Ghibli Park on Thursday, Nagashima on Friday and Tokyo Disneyland on Sunday - only bad part is there might be a bit of rain at Nagashima. There was a bit of rain at Universal but Flying Dinosaur operated, Hollywood Dream was shut in the middle of the day possibly due to the rain but opened later.

I did see a box full of green wristbands in the locker area, however we weren’t given them and were given the QR code papers instead. That was the most confusing part of the day for me. Luckily none of the three rides it didn’t fall out (although on the last I felt something falling out, the only thing I had in my pockets was the QR code) but you end up spending the whole ride worrying if the paper slip fell out during the ride or not. Not sure what happens to people without pockets although I didn’t see people get denied access because of it.

Flying Dinosaur This coaster is the best coaster I’ve ridden, probably doesn’t mean much as this is my first international park. It’s a B&M Flying Coaster built in 2016 and a great addition to the park. Queues were short as we had fast passes. Very intense especially the pretzel loop section but I loved it. Whips you around and is very fast. Very efficient operations with four trains, same with Hollywood Dream. Only bad part is it can be a bit jolty at times but it’s a small negative, I can see why as 9 years of constantly running faster than most coasters would put a bit of age on it. The main problem is with the locker system: what happens is you get a slip with a QR code from the ride assistants to scan onto a locker: this opens a locker where you put your stuff in. You take the slip on the ride with you, but what if it falls out? Would just like better communication, otherwise the ride is amazing. Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem Since it was only 10:40 after doing those five and we had time to kill, we decided to do Minion Mayhem. It was listed as 40 minutes: it was a walk-on as we used single rider. This was the only ride in Minion Land we did: skipped Villain Con and Freeze Ray Sliders as the waits were too long. Unlike the other clones of it around the world, this works more like BTTF/Simpsons, given it was converted from the former in 2017. You enter small pods of 8 rather than sitting in a room together, in which the pods are lifted up into one large room once the ride begins. It’s fine for what it is. Nothing too special but not the worst ride in the world. Audio was in Japanese but only the pre shows had English subtitles. Jurassic World The Ride After having a lunch break and a reride of Flying Dinosaur thanks to one of my family members who was too scared to go on (but had the pass with it), we decided to go on this. Similar to Jurassic Park it’s animatronic heavy which I love. Theming is great and the drop/splashdown portion is the highlight of the ride. It gets you drenched: fountains burst alongside the splashdown. Harry Potter Nearly missed this as I went for a reride on Hollywood Dream (forwards this time) and my phone was missing. I found it luckily and off I went. Theming is great throughout the land: no Hagrids and it’s a clone but it’s one of the most beautiful areas in the park. Forbidden Journey A simulator/dark ride hybrid, it’s wonderfully themed with large portions of attention and detail given. It’s very intense: more than I was expecting. Only 10-15 minutes wait due to our express passes. The interesting part is that near the end of the ride it broke down in front of a screen. No evacuations: the ride restarted a few minutes later. We got to ride it again which we took advantage of. Not a good idea though: the other two I went with were sick. Flight of the Hippogriff A nice ride for the kiddies, it’s a clone of Road Runner at Movie World. Unlike that, the theming is a lot better, Hagrids Hut and other things located as scenery in the queue. Very nice theming for a kids coaster. Super Nintendo World It’s a miracle we even got here: a family member got sick from Forbidden Journey and we had to take care of them. They got better and off we went to SNW. I loved the interactivity through the land, only got 1 of three keys as we had to go to our timed entries so couldn’t finish the Bowser Jr Minigams. Koopa’s Challenge The headline attraction of the park. Even with express tickets it was still a 30+ minute wait due to how popular it is. I loved it although I wished the glasses were bigger. It didn’t fill my vision and at times it would feel like some characters would just disappear or have only one half of their body visible. Yoshi’s Adventure A simple and slow yet fun ride which gives amazing views, especially as the sun sets. One of the things you was hit the eggs located on your vehicle the same time you saw it: I found all three yet no prize. The wait was 65 minutes yet we only waited 15. Gives great views but best skipping if 65 is stated. Mine Cart Madness Added to the park last year, this is the newest addition to SNW along with the Donkey Kong Country mini area. The wait was 120 minutes: although we only waited 15 with our express passes. It isn’t very long or fast but it’s a fun overall ride for what it’s worth. We had dinner after this and I went on a night ride of Flying Dinosaur: took around 45 minutes although the queue seemed to be getting longer and longer as I waited. Didn’t have time for the mazes: we left after I finished Flying Dinosaur although we did see some performers wondering around the park from around 7 onwards. Universal Wonderland and Minion Land weren’t “haunt zones”: you could spot the performers around the rest of the park, especially in the main circle around the lake. Overall I had a great day. Good planning meant I got on everything I wanted with time for rerides. There are some flaws with the language difference between the workers (Japanese) and my group (English) but everything else was great. Very efficient operations as well (except for Space Fantasy which only had one half of the trains operating for some reason).

Just thought I would make a thread for my trip to Japan, all my park visits will be listed here. Universal Studios Japan - September 26, 2025 We went here the day after we landed. We got up around 6am, leaving at 6:45 and getting there at 7:05. There were a bit of crowds on the train but many were already there once we got to security: We eventually got to the gates at 7:30, in which the park opened at 8. There were a decent amount of crowds here and we were a good way back from the front. Anyways, we got in soon after. My first stop was to turn right, in which rode: Hollywood Dream A B&M Hypercoaster (not really a hypercoaster as the height is less than 200ft) As this was my first stop, crowds weren’t too bad. I went in standby in which the queue was listed as 15 minutes: it took around that long for me to get on. My first ride was the “Backdrop” where the train is facing backwards. I loved it: thrilling but not too intense to start my day. Space Fantasy The Ride/SpyxFamily XR Ride A Mack Indoor Spinning Coaster, the ride usually switches between Space Fantasy and an anime-themed overlay, right now it’s SpyxFamily but has been other animes like Demon Slayer and Doremon. The rides listed wait time was 60 minutes , though I used single rider and the wait was only 20-25 including the short preshow. You’re supposed to put on VR headsets on this ride, in which it displays an animation themed to SpyxFamily in accordance with the track: mine wasn’t working so I lifted it up, allowing me to see what the ride looked like without they overlay. All the lights were on as if the ride was running normally. An alright ride but I wouldn’t wait an hour for it. Snoopy’s Flying Ace Adventure This is the park’s new coaster, a Vekoma Family Coaster similar to Road Runner but shorter. This replaced another Snoopy themes coaster built by Senyo, and is the parks newest coaster, only opening a few months prior to my visit. It’s alright for a kids coaster. The theming is good for something that small, simple but it fits in with the area. The coaster was also pretty good for something with young children as it’s target audience. Only a 10 minute wait so might as well get the credit. JAWS Originally built with the park in 2001, this is the last remaining version in the world after it’s clones in Florida and Hollywood closed years prior. Not very intense but the wait was only 5 minutes so we decided to hop on. It’s a fun ride: love the audience interaction and the animatronics. The only bad thing is with SNW and Harry Potter it kind of ruins the sight lines, it’s obvious it wasn’t built with them in mind. Still better having that than no SNW/Potter though.

Yeah that was my plan. I believe they both have the highest average wait times out of the whole park so we are hitting them first. I was just wondering whether what time to head there as I know it always opens at least 1 hour before but I heard from a popular enthusiast channel (can’t remember who exactly) on the day they visited it opened 90 minutes hecore

Hi everyone - We’re in Osaka now, just one last question. Universal opens at 8:30am tomorrow according to their website, but I know they always open at least an hour beforehand. Should we arrive at 7:30 or 7? We’ll need to get up an hour before and be out of the house around a half hour before we arrive (journey from our apartment to Universal takes around 30 minutes according to maps). We’re packing essentials we need for tomorrow so we will be slightly ready beforehand. We’re planning to stay until closing (9:30pm) which gives us at least 14 hours. We have fast passes for everything SNW, Harry Potter and Jurassic Park related, which means outside of the kiddy rides in Universal Wonderland we don’t have passes for Space Fantasy, Hollywood Dream, JAWS and the three Minion rides (Minion Mayhem, Minion Con and Freeze Ray Sliders). I’m willing to skip all the Minions rides although one of the other two I’m with wants to see the Minions.

I'm hoping this is just for the first year and a more permanent one is built next year. It's a bit annoying that the show limits capacity by closing off Gold Coaster and the general area. My personal guess is the area marked will either be used as the outdoor area, or a hallway leading from the house in the exhibition centre to the outdoor area in Trolls Village. The Trolls Village area I feel would be better for the outdoor section as it isn't currently used now and it allows for a more permanent and larger backyard which doesn't have to be torn down and rebuilt every year, especially if the house remains in the exhibition centre full time. There are some questions in regards to logistics with the house using the exhibition centre: I assume the Wiggles show held in November will probably be moved to the amphitheatre in Dreamland and the ice skating rink could potentially use the dodgem area. The big problem remains with Tailspin: I feel that could potentially be closed off too as it's literally right next to the potential backyard and I don't think the housemates would like people on the ride potentially trying to yell at them from the ride, get their attention etc. Yes I believe they could see TOT from the backyard in the original show but it isn't like it was right next to the backyard, the ride facing right where the people could see the housemates and try to interact. Unfortunately that would then limit capacity even more having 2 rides and a restaurant closed off.

The difference though is, despite the sheep shearing being cheaper than the others, it likely isn't popular enough to justify the costs unlike the others. Let's say the tiger maintenance costs $750,000 a year and gets 500,000 visitors, that is $1.50 per visitor. But if the sheep shearing show costs $250,000 to run and only gets 100,000 visitors, then that is $2.50 per visitor. The tigers are therefore more value for money than the sheep shearing show, despite costing more.

The good part about Mad Max is you don't have to completely demolish and rebuild the set ala Police Academy -> Hollywood Stunt Driver. You can keep the shells of the buildings but make them look abandoned and dusty to fit the Mad Max theme. But yeah, I feel that HSD3 is more likely unfortunately with a similar or identical set, hopefully the stunts make up for it.

Their website lists projects from both Universal and Disney (Waterworld + Lion King) so I have hope in them, from the sounds of things it should be better than what Showtime FMX have done as they're more specified toward theme park specific shows rather than just stunt shows. Just hope Village give them a large enough budget rather than cheapening out (which, unfortunately, would be expected nowdays). Please please please be a Mad Max show, not "Hollywood Stunt Driver 3" although from the description it sounds like that might be the case. At least there is a varied amount of stunts it seems (it mentions multiple things such as highfalls and motorbike riding ) rather than just cars drifting around the whole show and nothing else.