TBoy
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Posts posted by TBoy
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3 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:
The 'BOH building' you're removing is the Dreamworld ride maintenance facility. It's a significant space, and you'd be better off going around it than removing it. You don't need to stick a clone into a space at the cost of everything else - work with the space you've got.
In that scenario the building would be relocated next to the double helix and lift hill - Dreamworld have a bit more space to move things around than Village, and a positive for logistics is it would be a bit closer to the park than it is now.
All part of my imagination though and it won't happen as much as I would like it to. I do feel, as I said above - a smaller, less expensive thrill coaster would work there, potentially also using some of the Gold Coaster plot and station if it gets too expensive to maintain.
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If only we got a Flying Dinosaur clone, I put the layout from USJ onto here and this shows that not much has to be removed for it, only a BOH building, Gamesite as well as the Trolls area and the Thunderbolt station...
In all honestly it won't happen. What I would realistically like to see is the in-park entry from Dreamworld to WWW reopened. What my idea would be is to use the southern end of the Thunderbolt area for a new slide tower, with the northern end (including Trolls) having another, more compact thrill coaster put in. Motocoaster stays but is rethemed to something Rivertown related.
I can't really think of anything else. Rivertown, K&BD, Steel Taipan and Giant Drop were done in the past 4 years, so they'd stay put. No point re-doing the Sky Voyager entrance as a new entrance won't entice people to ride if the ride is the exact same, not to mention there would be a thematic clash between the ride and Main Street. Maybe another flat in Ocean Parade or K&BD but that's about it.
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I'm honestly surprised a large scale waterpark hasn't been built up in Far North Queensland yet. It seems like the perfect place: very humid and hot sometimes and it would be a perfect place to cool down.
I haven't been to Townsville but I have been to Cairns which is somewhat close. There is a Lagoon in the CBD but I believe it's not recommended to swim in the beaches there compared to somewhere like the Gold Coast. Lots of tourists go to Cairns and Townsville especially from colder states like Victoria so I feel it would be great to have one there to cool off one day.
In comparison down here in Victoria we have 3 (Funfields, Adventure Park, Gumbuya) whilst Far North Queensland has nothing.
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1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:
doing something with Trolls \ Kevil makes the most sense and cleans up that end of the park nicely
Are we sure if Big Brother is using that or not? Not sure on how things are going with that, if another area is being converted for the outdoor section or if that is. If Big Brother is renewed and stays inside the Exhibition Center permanently then it's likely that would remain as is.
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51 minutes ago, Ash said:
The Gold Coaster to be replaced with a custom Flying coaster, imagine weaving in and out of WWW on a flying coaster? Would be an awesome experience.
I would absolutely love that. I rode Flying Dinosaur and Acrobat when I went to Japan last month and both were great, especially the former. Probably my second favourite coaster aside from Hakugei I've written
If they did build one the operations better not be as bad as Acrobat. With that the same people operating the ride were also loading the ride and you couldn't even enter the locker room that was before the boarding gates until everyone on the previous cycle had gotten their stuff and left. Combined with 1 train operations with dual loading platforms exactly like Flying Dinosaur (which was running 4 trains) that means it was already running at 25% of its capacity, not to mention the slow boarding times.
Meanwhile Hakugei and Steel Dragon 2000 had a station set up for two trains and were running two trains. Steel Dragon 2000 was - fine, a bit slow but could be worse, Hakugei had a locker system like Flying Dinosaur where you put your belongings inside a lockers before going up to the loading platform, although you had a key connected to a wristband instead of a QR code that you put inside your pocket which I found a lot better. Ops weren't as fast as Universal but better than most other rides at the park.
For both they let you into the station before riders from the previous train had left unlike Acrobat with 1 train ops and the bad procedures. Acrobat literally had the worst operations I've seen, and that's coming from a park with not-so-good operations (especially the Arrow Corkscrew and the two Scwarzkopfs, but they aren't as bad as Acrobat)
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2 hours ago, Park Addict 93 said:
Exactly my thoughts, it will be interesting to see if they update the entry and arch signage to reflect this as a mater of priority or if it just progressively is updated across the park as things are replaced ect.
I believe Parque Warner Madrid updated their logo a year or two ago to something like this - from what I know the archway and globe there still have the old logo. Same with the WB park in Abu Dhabi - the logo on the water tower and the logo used on socials/in park don’t match.
If the other two WB parks have different logos on signage compared to everywhere else I doubt the one at the entrance will change.
10 minutes ago, casey96 said:Totally here for a reimagined logo to match the updated WB logo. But this looks bad. I’ve worked in graphic design for many years and this just looks not very well considered and lacking detail and character.
The new logo isn’t designed by Village - they were likely forced to change it to this to adhere to design standards by WB. Parque Warner Madrid’s logo also looks nearly identical as you can see here, the only difference apart from the text is the inside of the shield and the Parque film strip is slightly longer.
The shield from the old Movie World logo looked a bit uneven - can see why WB wanted the one unified logo used for both parks as well as everything else they own.-
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Tokyo Disneyland - October 5, 2025
Like Nagashima and Ghibli, we arrived at the park later than opening time. We had half day tickets which started at 3.
We arrived at the park at around 2:30 and got in line at 2:40, in which the gates were opened at 3. Many others had similar plans: a lot of people waiting in line but not as much as at Universal.
We got in at around 3:05 and I booked a Premiere Access ticket for Splash Mountain for 3:35. I used this as chance to take a look at the castle as well as Frontierland and Adventureland.
A lot of people were already sat on the ground waiting for the parade that started at around 4:15.
Splash Mountain
I’d been waiting to do this one for years and I finally got the chance. Unlike it’s former clones at Disneyland and WDW which were turned into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Splash Mountain still retains its former theme at Tokyo Disneyland.
At the front of the queue, you scan a QR code with your access ticket on it, and you pass through the queue until reaching another scanner, in which the regular and access queues merge into one. No wait until I reached that point.
Dispatches were quick given the ride had two trains loaded at the same time. I managed to get a front row seat, which I would regret later.
The ride had amazing theming and the drops were larger than I expected, and I loved the use of the animatronics compared to the mix of screens and animatronics in Tiana. The audio apart from the singing was in Japanese: that didn’t matter much though.
I didn’t expect to get so drenched at the end of it: I got a lot more wet than Jurassic Park the Ride despite the smaller drop. Either way, fun ride, loved it.
Big Thunder Mountain
My next stop was Big Thunder Mountain. At this point the pathway between Fantasyland going through the left side of the park was filled with people waiting for the parade: the staff made a small path for people not waiting for the parade to get around.
I arrived and the listed wait time was 40 minutes, but the actual wait was 20 minutes at max, probably due to the fact that most people were waiting for the parade. Very fast operations, felt like we hardly stopped.
Not very intense but the theming was amazing, probably the best themed out of all the coasters I’d ridden over my trip.
I started to make my way to Tomorrowland but I was blocked off at the castle area by all the crowds. The parade had passed throughout Frontierland/Adventureland and the floats were in the main castle area, and the entrances to anything south were blocked off.
Eventually after getting through and waiting for my group to finish shopping for Mickey Ears at the front of the park we made it to Tomorrowland.
Star Tours
I’m a big Star Wars fan, so couldn’t miss this. Once entering the queue you are met with animatronics of R2D2 and C-3PO talking (couldn’t understand as they were all Japanese)
You eventually enter into an area where staff assign you to one of four doors, split into five rows each. It’s a crowd water: didn’t see the wait time go above 5 minutes as this ride can hold maybe 25 people per pod at a time with 4 pods operating .
It’s a simulator which takes you to randomised planets, with a C-3PO animatronic in the front guiding you throughout the ride. We went to Hoth and Naboo with The Mandalorian and Grogu appearing in between: sadly Jar Jar had a cameo in the latter, although luckily minor.
One of the most disappointing things was Space Mountain wasn’t operating, as the ride is receiving a full rebuild that will open in 2027. I took some pictures, looks like the structure is nearly complete:
We then arrived in Toontown where I decided to ride the park’s second coaster.
Gadget’s Go Coaster
Unlike Big Thunder Mountain, there’s nothing really special about this ride: it’s your average Vekoma Junior Coaster. I must say: the theming around the ride is great.
We waited 20-25 minutes for the ride. It ran two trains, but the length of the coaster limits the amount of trains it can run compared to the other three which can pump hordes of people through and keep wait times low.
I wanted to ride the Roger Rabbit dark ride: the wait time was 20 minutes and my group didn’t want to wait that long. Given my group wanted to stay together, we decided to ride another dark ride, one more infamous:
It’s A Small World
One of the most infamous dark rides in Disney history. The wait was 5 minutes and this was one of the priorities for my group: why not take the chance.
Like most of the boat rides, this is very high capacity and can pump people through. It’s a decent ride, but the theme is stuck in my head! Also seeing all the Disney characters with the same weird faces looks a bit off.
Teacups
An oldie but a goodie, like It’s A Small World, my group wanted to do it as “it’s one of the most famous rides at Disney”.
It’s a fun ride, and it was a walk-on which are always good. Probably not worth waiting 30 minutes which I saw on the Disney app at other times in the day though.
Mark Twain Riverboat
I wanted to ride Haunted Mansion next, but we decided to skip it after learning it had a 60 minute wait.
We instead decided to go on a more relaxing and scenic view for this one. It was dark by now so it was hard to see some things, but also gave beautiful views of the park.
Pirates of the Caribbean
Our final ride of the night after getting some dinner. Like the other boat rides, it had very high capacity, this being a walk on.
Given the boats had no lap bar, the drop near the start of the ride was unexpected. The animatronics on this ride were amazing: probably the best I’ve seen. The Jack Sparrow one in particular looked just like Johnny Depp himself.
It was 8:15 once we got off: we decided to leave to avoid the crowds. It seemed others had the same idea: we heard as we were leaving one of the parades was cancelled due to weather, so many people decided to leave at the same time as us.
Overall I did like Disney: the immersiveness and operations top Nagashima and Universal, although the others have better rides in my opinion.
And here comes the end of my trip: I wanted to ride Thunder Dolphin at Tokyo Dome City but it’s apparently closed until the end of November so I decided not to bother.
I’ve gotten 18 credits over 3 parks: the only ones I missed were Ultra Twister, the right side of Wild Mouse and Peter Rabbit Coaster, all at Nagashima.
My personal ranking:
- Hakugei
- Flying Dinosaur
- Steel Dragon 2000
- Hollywood Dream
- Acrobat
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Shuttle Loop
- Mine Cart Madness
- Space Fantasy
- Looping Star
- Jet Coaster
- Flight of the Hippogriff
- Corkscrew
- Gadget’s Go Coaster
- Snoopy’s Flying Ace Adventure
- Wild Mouse
- Arashi
- Children’s Coaster
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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.
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1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:
One tip I would give you though - ask these sorts of questions earlier if you want more chance of getting an answer you can actually use - By now I assume it's too late
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.
1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:If you get there at open, you can always compromise and leave earlier (TBH we were warned to either leave early or plan to eat nearby as getting out of the area on public transit at close was supposed to be a bit congested)
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.
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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?
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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:
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7 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:
If they switched to a dinosaur style system, you'd wait outside, with your phone prior to the lockers and spend little time in the indoor section. Anything to speed up operations should be welcomed!
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.
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On 28/9/2025 at 9:12 AM, TV15 said:
and the operations of Hollywood Dream, they should seriously use some of the gargantuan queue space for the same process as Flying Dinosaur (qr locker, metal detector then up to the station) which would speed up dispatches dramatically
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.
On 28/9/2025 at 9:12 AM, TV15 said:I didn't get to ride this earlier this year, it was closed for maintenance, but I've heard great things about the ride. When all seats are being used, the ride has insane capacity 1920rph.. so the wait never really gets over 30 min.
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.
6 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:One of our family has an inner ear condition that makes them violently sick if triggered. They've been on coasters across Asia and America (as well as Forbidden Journey in Hollywood) and never had an issue - but we did forbidden journey twice at USJ and they were hospitalised the next day with the worst attack they've ever had. Suffice to say we don't do Forbidden journey anymore.
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.
6 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:Great TR @TBoy - look forward to hearing about the rest of your travels!
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.
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2 hours ago, Brad2912 said:
I may be confusing it with another ride, but I’m sure when I was there in Dec 2023 you got a elasticised wristband with the locker key on it. Getting just a piece of paper to put in your pocket seems rather crazy before a ride that flips you around at speed
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.
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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).
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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.
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40 minutes ago, themagician said:
Hit these two first thing. Jaws is very high capacity and the wait generally isn’t ever too long.
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
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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.
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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.
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12 minutes ago, New display name said:
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.
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Just now, themagician said:
I’d hope for some changes to the set, but nothing overall significant.
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.
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31 minutes ago, wikiverse said:
Here is the company doing the new show:
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.
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3 hours ago, New display name said:
MW should do a guest survey.
"After conducting guest feedback, we have determined that guests prefer Superman to be closed rather than open"
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If Superman does close I can't see them removing it. I reckon it's arguably the second most well-known ride at the park behind DC Rivals (with Scooby and WWF close behind) but I can see a lot of angry people if it does get removed.
Considering both Scooby and WWF got major refurbishments, I can see Superman getting the same treatment. Replace the launch track with LSMs and redo the pre-show and queue, keeping the ride layout the same whilst offering a different experience from the previous one. The only problem is if Zamperla rather than Intamin redoes it as TT2 is very unreliable.
Otherwise if not I can see them replacing Superman with something similar. I would love to see an Intamin Blitz themed to Batman continue to have the top hat and pre-show element, but change the layout to one that uses the grass area between Superman's current layout and the studios. Something similar to Gotham City Escape at Parque Warner Madrid with a similar queue area and vibe.
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Hair Raiser removed from LPS website
in Theme Park Discussion
Posted · Edited by TBoy
It'd be a big shame if it got removed. It's very intense: rather than slowly going up and waiting you just go up and it drops you immediately upon reaching the top. Hopefully they replace it with something intense like it.