Trip Report: Space World Amusement Park

Most people who visit Japan never make it to Kyushu. It's a shame, because there are several things to do and see on this large island. Famous hot springs, historic foreign settlements, and a lot of nature can be found scattered around Kyushu. There's a professional baseball team in Fukuoka, and three amusement parks.

The first park I visited in Kyushu is Space World. As the name suggests, it's themed to space travel. I arrived before opening to see the front gate swamped with a large school group. I think an entire middle school took a trip to the park that day!

So why does the park look so empty in these pictures? The school group didn't go in as soon as the gates opened - instead they waited patiently for the other paying guests to get inside. And thankfully the park is large enough that I didn't really have much of a wait at the attractions most of the time. And yes, there is a space shuttle in the background...

As expected at every Japanese theme park, you can find a large Ferris wheel.

This building housed some exhibits and an activity center of sorts. We'll revisit this later.

There are several coasters in the park, like this family coaster closest to the gate. I skipped it to get to one of the big two:

There's the space shuttle! This coaster is called Venus GP, and it was my first ride of the day. It's a pretty intense and fun ride, though some don't like the harnesses. I rode Venus many times and didn't get sore or a headache, so it deserves recognition for that.

It's a mess of twisted metal sitting in the corner of the park.

Early on, it didn't have many riders. I think the school kids were mostly on the other side of the park riding the other two big coasters.

Through the loop!

Let's see what's inside this building.

Space exploration artifacts! I wonder if any of this stuff is real.

A moon rover? That can't be real.

Despite these all being (most likely) non-functioning reproductions it was impossible to get a good close look inside. It would have been cooler if these were interactive somehow. (Note that the website claims there are actual items used on space missions.)

If something was real, it would be the space gear.

Okay, back outside, and the coaster is going through the loop again!

Remember the family coaster I mentioned earlier? It's called Clipper.

The theming feels like it was created by former Nickelodeon designers. I didn't check out the 4D show.

The domed building was closed.

Another coaster is housed under that roof.

It travels through a couple artificial tunnels - I suppose they're supposed to be black holes. The train has four cars, with the first two facing forwards and the last two facing backwards.

Inside a nearby building, one is greeted by happy smiling trees...

Oh, it's Lucky Town! A kids play and activity area! And it's not the area I was talking about earlier!

Once again I feel as if I'm part of a Nickelodeon set. Which isn't a bad thing.

Venturing through this play area and maneuvering to an upper level, I find what I'm looking for - Black Hole Scramble.

Let's wait here with some aliens before riding the indoor coaster. It wasn't great, and I think I only rode once.

Really tall people will be vaporized instantly.

The jet coaster in the background is named Titan V, but the crashed UFO steals the show.

The flume has great theming.

Another angle shows that the flume doesn't have that big of a drop compared with the coaster.

The park's signature attraction is probably this coaster, Zaturn. It was popular most of the day but since the lines were fairly short I got a few rides in.

This worried me when I first saw it. It turns out they were keeping everyone in this lower queue and letting one train worth of riders up the stairs at a time. I wasn't impressed with Titan. It has some fun drops but like most Japanese jet coasters it wasn't exciting enough.

But that flume. It's just so photogenic! And it has water canons when the logs reach the bottom!

Aliens aren't allowed to swim in the lake.

The middle of the park had a nice relaxing area that brought a small bit of nature into the park.

There was still a little bit of alien theming to be found.

I found a Gundam-focused toy museum. I don't care much for it, but I took pictures anyway. I am that devoted to my reporting for you, my loyal readers.

It looks cool.

From this angle it looks like it's almost straddling the building's shell.

Lots of computer games! This was pretty cool to see.

And a whole bunch of statues.

I am Pink Gundam! I am fun for girls too!

Wait. What? Moon rock? Where?

Yeah! Remember that building I mentioned at the beginning of the post, having some exhibits and activities? Upstairs, you can see a real moon rock. That was an unexpected surprise.

Of course, since I'm back on that side of the park, I had to ride Venus some more.

And then it was on to the Ferris wheel. I didn't know the park had a raft rapids ride!

Here's that black hole coaster (not to be confused with the indoor Black Hole Scramble).

Zaturn goes over the hump. It's a one-trick pony coaster.

If the timing had been right, this would have been an awesome shot. The Ferris wheel gives some nice views of Fukuoka, if there is such a thing.

Liftoff in 5, 4, 3, 2...

Sorry, had to do it. "I'm your Venus, I'm your fire, it's your desire!"

The other side of that coaster with no name.

And one last lift hill shot on my way out. I wish it hadn't been overcast all day, though the rain held off until right after I left the park.

Space World only offers an all-day free pass, unlike many of the other Japanese parks which offer free passes and admission-only tickets. Food options are pretty standard. The park has a kyushu-style ramen which was pretty good and since it's a local specialty you should give it a try - I found it in a restaurant across from that tunnel coaster on the Venus side of the park.

It's really easy to get to Space World - just ride the JR train to Space World Station, and then it's just a very short walk to the park. It takes about 10-15 minutes by train if I remember correctly. If you go on a good day when crowds are light, you can visit all the attractions in about half a day, but there's enough to do and the park is fun enough to spend an entire day.