Korakuen Park: Tokyo Japan

Associated parks:
None

The original plan was to go to Yomiuriland, but since we were so close, we decided to check out Korakuen instead. Traveling for a long time will do weird things to you. After taking a 15 minute train ride, we walked a short distance to the park, which is located right next to Tokyo Dome (actually part of a big complex, including a huge hotel).

The weather was rainy, and there wasn’t any blue sky in sight. Turns out, we actually didn’t get to see the sun the entire time we were in Tokyo. :( We walked right in, and paid for an all day pass. Then we headed strait for Spinning Coaster.

Spinning Coaster (4 laps). Hell yeah, these are way better than normal mice. We got the 1st ride, and ended up loving this coaster. Even though it’s basically the same layout as most other mice (save for Fuji-Q’s, another awesome mouse), the spinning is too much fun. I can only imagine what Kennywood’s is like in the dark. Since SC is located under a roof, there was no problem with opening it in the rain.

Then I noticed Korakuen’s new area which is under construction. This new area will be home to a giant Intamin hyper and ferris wheel. The supports are white and the track is gray. It’s certainly cool how they fit such a large coaster into such a small area. I snapped a few construction pictures and moved on.

We headed up some stairs, and through an arcade to a new area of the park. There was nothing going on at Linear Gale, so we took an escalator down to a new indoor area containing Geopanic.

Geopanic (2 laps). Now this is a weird coaster. It starts off with a lift, a turn, and another lift. There are a lot of lighting effects, specifically strobes and lasers. One green laser shines right in your eyes. Kind of annoying. The ride is surprisingly long and has a couple of good drops. One goes right back into the “indoor area” but other than that it is generally pretty dark. One part makes it seem like you are boosting into oblivion. Very fun. :)

After that, we took a ride on Zombie Paradise, which was more fun than scary. You can tell a lot of effort was put into this ride, though. Some of the monsters were quite entertaining.

Next we went up and out to check on Linear Gale. Closed. We asked a guy and he managed one English word: rain. Actually I said the word rain, and he nodded. Whatever. Language barriers are hilarious at times. So we walked back through the arcade, and I noticed that they had a simulator featuring Desperado and the Cony Island Cyclone. I tried out Desperado and was pretty boring (not the ride but the sim). I bought a Strawberry slushy and noticed Tower Hacker was opening.

Tower Hacker is a nice Intamin Giant Drop. It kind of feels like you are falling through the roof (same one that is over SC). Always good fun. I spotted Linear Gale testing, and off we went.

Linear Gale (6 laps). We got the 1st ride in the back seat. This is definitely the best seat, since there is no twist on the front spike. Not much else to say except I could ride this thing all day long. It does have a neat setting, located extremely close to a busy street. Even SFEG has more of a boundary. Oh yeah, no holding break, but it’s all good.

Then we rode Sky Flower which is a parachute drop. Never been on one of these before. Finally, we took a quick spin on Sky Tour. You cruise around on little bicycles that provide views of Linear Gale and Sky Flower.

All of us decided to leave the park and walk around Tokyo Dome. The Tokyo Giants were getting ready to play. Got to see inside the stadium. Is it just me, or does Japan have a lot neater looking stadiums than America? Anyway, we got a good view of LaQua’s bunny hops too.

That’s all for now. Next up: A short trip to Fuji-Q and the King of Coasters.
-------------
Bake 'em away toys.

Great rare trip report! Has anyone ridden Bandit at Yomouriland. Togo+Backwards=ouch!

-----------------
-Sean Newman
83 coasters in Track Record!! Hypersonic XLC # 100 in July. Waiting for the 305 foot drop tower in 2003. Thank you PKD.


PT300 said:

Linear Gale (6 laps). We got the 1st ride in the back seat. This is definitely the best seat, since there is no twist on the front spike. Not much else to say except I could ride this thing all day long. It does have a neat setting, located extremely close to a busy street. Even SFEG has more of a boundary. Oh yeah, no holding break, but it’s all good.



Great TR, it's always nice to hear about parks I'll never get to. :)

About Linear Gale though, you said there were no holding brakes. That is what I had thought as well, but in a thread in General Buzz, Vertigo said both towers now have holding brakes.

Care to explain, Vertigo? He says there are none. You said there were two. Which is it?

Joe, who is very curious to hear about this...

-----------------
"Whoa that was pretty cool." -- Reaction to first flip over on X-Flight

Great TR! I loved reading about a park in Japan. I was also curious about this park since it was receiving an intamin hyper next year. Sounds like you had a good time.

Maybe someday I will actually make it to Japan and visit this park.

Finally, someone else who has visited korakuen! I had a blast there. Next time I'm in the area I can't wait to go back and ride their future hyper.

For pictures of Korkuen, visit: http://www.coastergallery.com/japant/K.html Pics by your's truely

By the way, PT300, did you ride the "Death Chair"? It is THE most scary dark ride ever! Makes anything in the states look like nothing! You are strapped into an electric chair on wheels, and a friend guides you through. Everything gets in your face. WAY more invasive to your personal space than enything I've ever experienced!

Their giant drop was amazing, as PT300 said. Falling through the roof gives you a feeling like you are going to splat like no other giant drop can! (There were no lines when I was there...I must have ridden that darn thing 20 times!)

-----------------
- Peabody

*** This post was edited by Peabody on 6/26/2002. ***


Legendary said:

Care to explain, Vertigo? He says there are none. You said there were two. Which is it?

Joe, who is very curious to hear about this...

PT300 has pics from 2 weeks ago with no holding brakes. I have pics from 6 months ago with no holding brakes. Now, I'm not going to call anyone a liar, but it sure sounds like someone is.

-----------------
- Peabody


Death chair? I never even saw that! What part of the park was it located?
-------------
Bake 'em away toys.

Linear Gale was superb especially with two holding brakes. You never know when they will hold you on that fronnt spike and the glass tunnel added for a great effect. Don't judge this ride by appearance, besides any ride that has a big vertical drop has to be exciting

Now lets re-name this thread as "The Frying Pan". ;)

-----------------
Formally Known as Ozzyhead.


PT300 said:
Death chair? I never even saw that! What part of the park was it located?


Please don't tell me they took it out!!!!!

It's in the same building as Geopanic, on the lower level. In fact, if you stand at the entrance of Geopanic and turn around, you're looking at it. There was also another walk through on that same floor, more kid oriented. Death Chair had a grey stone arch entrance. I did take a few pics if you're interested :)

-----------------
- Peabody

Great TR! I am glad you got to expierece an impulse!
-------------
One possitive to 1 train operation: no stacking! ( we hope)
I'm curious as to why Vertigo never replied...always seems ready to jump on someone else's mistakes.

-----------------
Proud CB club member

This is really helpful, PT300, thanks. I'm going to be in Tokyo starting Friday, and I can't wait to go to this park.

Is it just me, or does Japan have a lot neater looking stadiums than America?

That is because they have just hel the footbal world cup (or soccer as you unfortunatly know it) and built about 20 new stadia.

Wilko

-----------------
JawCoasters - Site for UK Coasters
www.jawcoasters.co.uk

What type of coaster is Linear Gale?

-----------------
-Sean

Linear Gale is a first generation Intamin Impulse- in other words, it has two vertical towers as opposed to one vertical & one twisting or two twisting.

http://www.coastergallery.com/japant/K.html

-----------------


John Wilkes said:
"That is because they have just hel the footbal world cup (or soccer as you unfortunatly know it) and built about 20 new stadia.
www.jawcoasters.co.uk"

Yeah, it was pretty neat being in Japan during the World Cup, especially since the hosts (Japan and South Korea) were doing good. Tokyo Dome, however, is not new, it was built sometime during the eighties.

cmiesen-Have a great trip! Can't wait to hear about your experiences. :)
-------------
TOGO!

thanks, PT300

-----------------
mmmmmmmmm.....coasters

PT300, I'm just telling you what the man told me when it was closed down. Go back and ask the stupid no eyebrow guy he told me that!!! And to think how stupid I feel for believing him........was it fool the American day in Japan or something this spring?

-----------------
Lake Compounce-So Fresh and So Clean Clean

I have no idea what you're talking about, Vertigo. I'm not going back to Japan anytime soon.

I'm not sure when you were there, but when I was in June, there was no holding brake. And since I practically don't know any Japanese, why would I even attempt to ask him about a "holding brake?"
-------------
TOGO!

*** This post was edited by PT300 on 9/14/2002. ***

Vertigo, not to sound mean or anything, but just admit that you've been caught in a lie. It's not big deal. The way you described it in the other thread sure made it sound like you rode it, and now you're saying a guy with "no eyebrow" lied to you that.

As for the TR, it's great. Linear Gale sounds like a lot of fun. I've only ridden a third-generation impulse (WT) and I loved the back twist. I can imagine what the back would be like if it were straight! Oh, what's with the restraints on Geopanic? How do they work? They look pretty uncomfortable and very strange. OTSRs and no inversions. tsk tsk.

-----------------
I was asked to describe X in one word. The word? -- OhmygoshwhathaveIgottenmyselfintothisisthescariest
thingintheworldhelpmeIamgoingtodieAHHHH!!!

You must be logged in to post

POP Forums - ©2024, POP World Media, LLC
Loading...