In the Minato Mirai area of Yokohama, across the street from the major shopping mall and Mitsubishi's museum, an amusement park sits along the water.
Yokohama CosmoWorld is a fun way to spend a few hours before a baseball game or on a date.
It is split in two by the water - the Ferris wheel and most of the coasters are on part of an island.
On the Minatomirai side, you'll find most of the little-kid rides, such as this peddle Panda car. This side is also split in two by a dock housing an old ship.
A small coaster runs along the water as well.
Oh no! It's a polar bear in a tunnel!
Don't worry, though. The tunnel is about 10 feet long.
There's also a Disk-O ride. I enjoy Disk-Os.
You can get pretty close to the banana coaster.
Down a long walkway, one will find a bunch of inside attractions. This is an ice house - you can visit the north pole for only a few dollars!
Play games in here.
An indoor attraction.
Another indoor attraction.
The Ferris wheel towers over the rest of the park and should give a good view of Tokyo, Mount Fuji, and of course Yokohama - assuming the weather cooperates. Let's head over to that side of the park.
The main thrill ride is a pink-tracked coaster.
The coaster weaves in and out amongst the other attractions.
That Ferris wheel really is huge...
Judy? This is a walk-through horror attraction. You carry a small device and you're judged by how you perform in the attraction. If I remember correctly, you have to point your device (like a wand or candle or something) at certain signs, and if you get them all you win a prize.
The coaster dives into the water, and travels under the log flume ride. Every time a coaster reaches the water, fountains make a nice spray into the air.
Hey, the weather is nice now! I have visited the park twice so I could ride the Ferris wheel when the weather improves. This time Amanda joined me so she could check out the park. Unfortunately, it was very windy so both the coaster and the Ferris wheel were closed.
But with the awesome cloudy sky, I could take some more nice pictures.
I didn't ride the Disk-O the first time I visited, but Amanda was interested so I took a spin.
I'm not sure what the name of the ride on the left is, but they have a very large Enterprise wheel.
And a small two-story carousel.
The Ferris wheel looks even nicer with the picture-perfect clouds.
A better view of the ice house - and since it was quite warm out, people were actually visiting it.
The indoor attractions are pretty fun. They can be short, especially for the price, but most of them involve some sort of challenge.
Star Freakout!
This building actually houses a kids play area of sorts. Since you have to pay admission to get in the doors and I have no children, I didn't really get to see what it looks like.
Now that the weather is better (it was raining when I visited the first time) I could actually find and see the coaster's sign.
The log flume was operating and popular due to the heat. It's pretty tame, and I don't think riders get very wet.
There are several drops on the flume, and riders could get splashed on a couple of them.
Some of the indoor attractions are found near the Ferris wheel. That whole area of the park is quite confusing with multiple levels.
There's a mirror maze in this area. If you find the stamp with your astrological sign, you stamp a card they give you. Then, before exiting, you push a button. If your stamped sign comes up, you win a prize!
Dark ride!
With scary creatures!
This picture is so much better with the blue sky showing through.
In the building near the Ferris wheel, several crane games will take your money as you try to win adorable prizes for your girlfriend.
Unfortunately for them, I won this Rilakkuma plush (it's very large!) with just 100 or 200 yen - on my first try. I now have a Christmas Rilakkuma from a different crane game. I've become fairly good at them.
I have to return to CosmoWorld again. On my second visit, I bought a high-value ticket because we planned to ride the coaster and Ferris wheel. As I mentioned, those attractions were closed, so I still have that ticket to use.
Yokohama CosmoWorld is across the street from the Minato Mirai mall and underground rail station. The area has a few more attractions, and depending on your interests you could spend between one half to a full day here. It's within walking distance of Yokohama Stadium, and there are a couple waypoints worth checking out between them. Admission is free, but all the rides and attractions have individual charges - and there is no free pass (all-you-can-ride) for CosmoWorld. If you are planning on riding several rides, a high-value ticket offers some savings - but do your research before you buy to determine what, exactly, you want to ride.
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