| Trip Report: | I decided to visit Nagashima Spa Land this week. I arrived in Nagoya on the evening of July 24 and headed out to Kuwana this next morning to catch a bus to Nagashima Spa Land. I have heard people call this park the Cedar Point of Asia. There is a reason for this. Both parks have resort hotels, both parks have water parks next door, both parks have large ferris wheels., both parks have a coaster named Corkscrew and each one of these Corkscrew coasters has an inversion that goes right over the midway, each park has a shoot the chutes ride that has a figure eight layout and each park has a 1st generation Intamin freefall. Both parks are located by a bay. There are other similarities, but it is remarkable how two parks with different owners could be so similar.
I have been here before, but Steel Dragon 2000 wasn't running, so I had to come back to ride it. Also, during previous visits, the left Wild Mouse was closed. I had to add both of these to my track record.
I went to Steel Dragon 2000 first and the opening of the ride was delayed due to testing, so I went to the wooden coaster called White Cyclone. This is a fun ride. Many enthusiasts may not like it, but it reminds me of Mean Streak before the brake was added to the first drop. I rode the White Cyclone once and then I went back to Steel Dragon 2000 and it was just opening. I took my seat in the right front seat of the sixth car. The ride is a giant out and back ride and to my surprise, I wasn't very impressed by Steel Dragon 2000. It didn't seem as fast as Millennium Force at Cedar Point. Also, the ride seemed choppy. After riding once, I tried to give it a second chance. The figure eight turn around on the ride is great, but everything else is boring. I like the Superman hyper coasters, MF, Magnum, Titan at Space World and Thunder Dolphin at LaQua better than I like Steel Dragon 2000.
After my second Steel Dragon ride, I went and rode the left Wild Mouse. It is a fun ride and I took a spin on the Shuttle Loop and Jet Coaster next. The Jet Coaster has a figure eight layout and is similar to a mine train. It is the oldest coaster at Nagashima Spa Land. It is a smooth ride and I like it. I rode the Children Coaster, which is a Tivoli coaster. I love these and I took a spin Looping Star, which is a smooth looping coaster. The right Wild Mouse was closed as was Corkscrew and Ultra Twister. I had ridden these on past visits, so it was no loss. I had a great time, although Steel Dragon turned out to be less impressive than I thought it would be. At least I finally got the credit. I have now ridden 524 different coasters. |
