Holy image dump, Batman! I took a ton of pictures at Mitsui Greenland when I visited in May. The park is huge - the rides are spread out in an area that must be as large as Manhattan. And there is a large number of rides to choose from, with several coasters and other attractions. The park feels like somebody played "Sandbox Mode" on Roller Coaster Tycoon and just plopped rides down all over the place. Let's see what we find.
What do you know - the first picture I take includes the gigantic Ferris wheel. To the right is the violent and painful Nio, and just peeking out over the tree is the dueling stand-up/sit-down coaster named Milky Way. There aren't many cars in the parking lot...
Well, given the weather, I suppose that is to be expected. This is the castle-like entrance to the park.
There were a few bus-loads of students here but most of them went left, so I went right. I passed this building with a toy display, or something like that. I think I spent all of three minutes in there later in the day.
I was on a mission to the Milky Way. Here you can see the long distances between attractions and the strange trees lining this part of the park.
There were two miniature golf courses set up. I played both
sets of courses around midday. Yes, I said sets. Each course included two or three mini-courses of nine holes.
And now it's time for the journey to the Milky Way!
Sit-down train is going to win! At various times during the ride, one train is a little ahead of the other, and the track is designed to give several opportunities to pass head-on and ride alongside the other train. Originally the pink track held a stand-up coaster too, but now both types ride the rails. The stand-up side had a wicked bunny hop along the ride.
The elevated queue house for Milky Way gives a good view of Grampus Jet, an interestingly-designed suspended coaster. The ride is nothing but constant spinning and ended up being quite boring.
Milky Way to save the day! Plopping rides down in the middle of fields with nothing around them gives a good opportunity to take unique photos.
Danger in a Maze! it's a maze... with danger! Not really. Though it was kind of fun. "Kind of fun" was the rule of the day, with most attractions having some fun attribute but not quite being awesome.
This is Sphinx. Again I felt as if I was looking at a RCT creation. The theming at the station is great.
But here's the ride. It just runs alongside a hill back and forth.
There was a nice lake toward the back of the park.
Across the lake I could see Gao (the dinosaur coaster) and the Ferris wheel.
Along and across the lake were a bunch of smaller attractions - go karts, a safari train (see the plastic animal standing in the grass?), and some sort of people-mover.
Speaking of people movers, there are also two sets of ski lifts to shuttle guests across the park. This particular one takes you up to the top of a hill.
Before heading up, do you want to take the train?
No? Okay. We're at the top of the mountain! And this is a creepy hospital type of building. What's inside? Let's climb six flights of stairs.
Oh, it's a school! I think I'm in Brooklyn.
There's a phone call for you, sir.
The "haunted" attraction is also "kind of" fun, but walking up several flights of stairs to look at some simple animatronics was kind of a let-down.
Even this patient was bored to death. HA. Bored... to... DEATH! Get it? GET IT?!
Okay, what else is there up here? A swings ride, a picnic tent, and an awesome bobsled ride! The bobsled was closed at this point but it opened later in the day, and was really fun!
Since the bobsled was closed, I took pictures as I rode the ski lift back down. The view is nice and really shows how spread out the park is.
Sky Ship is the name of the people mover I mentioned a few photos ago. It's across the walkway from the ski lift. It's a one-way ride to another part of the park, but with almost no wait time I simply got on again for the return trip.
You can see the go-kart and train tracks again.
And there's a water ride around here somewhere.
The yellow loop is of a coaster that doesn't exist anymore. It was a shuttle coaster called Atomic.
Super Viking is a typical pirate ship ride. Why are these things so popular?
Ah, there's the rapids water ride. Behind it is the wild mouse coaster and a big building that didn't seem to hold anything (maybe a restaurant?).
Wild Mouse, all by itself, mostly.
On the other side of the park is the shooting dark ride "Legend of the Salamander." Probably one of the best ride names ever, and I really enjoy shooting dark rides.
Here's the log flume ride, with birds and a giraffe to welcome you on your trip.
The theming really makes you feel like you're in Africa. I mean, where else would you see a giraffe, a goose, and a green water trough covered in imitation tribal masks?
Mitsui Greenland really tries hard with the theming. The problem is that each attraction has its own theme.
Black Hole is a steel coaster built in 2007 and isn't very exciting. But most of it is in the dark, so that's kind of fun, right?
Grr! I am Dinostone! I will eat you if you try to ride Gao!
Gao travels through the dinosaur skeleton early in the ride, but for some reason it doesn't go through the dinosaur's mouth. It's a jet coaster, meaning the ride is very smooth and there aren't a lot of g-forces on the ride. So it's kind of fun.
People had their umbrellas out because the overcast day turned to actual rain for a while.
That's why a lot of people are going into the dragon house. Inside, you listen to scary stuff and are scared.
Yes, there is another swings ride. It's right next to the stadium seating in front of a main concourse and pretty close to the Ferris wheel.
The stadium seating is in front of a stunt show stage. I didn't get to see a show.
Nio. We finally meet. I've heard stories of how rough you are.
Nio is a standard SLC. I've been on several of them and they're all pretty rough. This one was the worst. I really want to like these things but it just won't happen.
Pipeline coasters are pretty interesting. You get in the car and it goes backwards into the lift. Then you're tilted to vertical and travel forward straight up the lift hill before you roll forward and eventually spin. At the end of the ride, the track tilts down backwards and you go through two more spins backwards. And that's the ride. I rode on Astroworld's pipeline about a decade ago, and now Megaton.
This was the only ride with a real wait. I didn't get to it until the afternoon, when the rain stopped. If you ride the coaster 10 times in one day, you can write your name on a piece of wood and they hang it on the wall.
Caveman point way to golf course. You play golf now.
How come I didn't ride this? Or did I? Actually, I think I did. Wow, how forgettable a ride is that?
Okay, let's take a spin on the Ferris wheel.
Just look at all those buildings, attractions, and coasters.
Gao, the dinosaur coaster, is really spread out!
And there's Milky Way again.
Through the blurry window of the Ferris wheel, you can see the entrance area to the park, with Grampus Jet at the top. A small kid's coaster is just behind the round merry go round building.
Ahh, that's better. Grampus Jet and the kid's coaster (Ladybird).
Speaking of Ladybird, here's a quick photo I took of the ride running. It's a powered coaster good for little kids. Anyway, back to the wheel...
Another Gao shot.
And Megaton.
No! Nio!
Because the park had almost no lines throughout the day - certainly helped by the massive number of attractions - I was able to check out things I might normally skip. This was my first ice house. It wasn't exactly warm outside, but inside it's supposedly 20 degrees below zero in here.
Poor mammoth. Don't lick the ice. I think some hunters are coming to get you.
I think they pour colored dye in some spots of the ride. Either that or other people do. Anyway, these penguins look friendly.
Right next door, the native Africans are planning to hunt that mammoth. Yes, next to the ice house is an African jungle.
Hey hey, we're the monkeys, and we're just monkeying around...
This bear was selling snow suits.
This horse has seen better days.
The trecherous shaky bridge! It wobbles a lot more than you would think.
I've never seen this ride outside of Japan. You basically ride around in a circle and go upside down some times. The seats swing freely, though during some portions of the ride they lock in place to make the ride more fun. Well, it's kind of fun.
Welcome to the Rainbow Dome! Nothing happens here today!
I mentioned another ski lift. This one goes across another go kart track. And this one has absolutely tiny seats.
There's a bridge across that lake for the train, but pedestrians have to walk around.
" Yeah I'll have the LL Cool J, and she'll take the Doctor Dre."
Late in the afternoon, Gao finally opened. And our train was personally driven by this guy! As I mentioned, the ride is kind of fun.
I mostly finished out my day getting my 10 rides in on Megaton. Here's my wood plank - and the date I visited. The 10 indicates 10 rides - they were supposed to fill in the kanji for "rides" but I don't think they ever did. I added a personal touch noting my hometown! There is a Hall of Fame for people who have ridden the coaster the most times in a day, and I believe the record is well over 100 - and I believe it's held by foreigners.That's devotion for you! I'm happy with my 10 rides.
Mitsui Greenland is located in Kumamoto, and is reached by train and then bus. Because of the large number of attractions, it's a good idea to spend a whole day there. If crowds are light, you can get your 10 rides in on Megaton and take the bobsled down the hill a few times. While there are no real standout attractions at Greenland, the sheer quantity makes for an enjoyable day.
