Brace yourselves, this was a busy day…
A few weeks ago we had a Monday as a national holiday here – thinking about it, it was probably the same as the UK bank holiday – so went up to Shenyang for a long weekend. It’s a four-hour flight away, in northern China and kind of close to the North Korean border, so a regular weekend wouldn’t really have been doable.
I was mostly interested to go because there’s a new park up there with one of the new Chinese woodies, plus there were no pictures of any of the parks on RCDB, so I was quite curious really. I did parks on the first two days and a bit of cultural **** for a few hours on the Monday morning before heading to the airport.
My flight got in just before midnight on Friday, so I just went straight to the hotel and crashed out.
Nanhu Park
This place was just a 20 minute walk from my hotel, so I left early on Saturday morning and got there for about 9. It’s the usual city park around a lake – Nanhu means South Lake - and was pretty nice.
There was the usual crappy stuff that I never bother with at these palaces.
I totally f**ked up with this place though. I knew that rcdb had one coaster listed here, and I also knew that there was something else that wasn’t listed since I’d had a bit of a look on Google Maps and spotted a very obvious coaster. Despite knowing there was one crappy coaster listed, I hadn’t paid much attention to what type it was, so when I stumbled upon two pieces of crap, I thought that one of them was the listed coaster, and that I’d found a completely unknown one as well.
There was knock-off spinner, and by knock-off I mean it was actually a knock-off of a knock-off since it was a knock-off of an original knock-off Golden Horse. Got it? Right next to it, but kind of shoved behind, was a kiddy coaster. I assumed that one of these was the listed coaster and that I’d found another one.
It’s only when I got home and checked again that I realised that the listed coaster was actually a jungle mouse and that I’d walked around it since it was hidden behind trees and s**t. The green shows where the coasters I discovered were, assuming that one of them was the listed coaster, while the red shows the coaster that was actually listed.
I knew from the satellite view that there was a much bigger coaster in a slightly separate area just over a small bride. Not a bad discovery really since it’s usually just crappy kiddy s**t that people tend to stumble on.
I’ve done a couple of these now, a medium 3 ring coaster from Hebei Zhongye, and they’re f**king vile. You get a decent first drop since you get the pre-drop helix to give you some speed, but the vertical loop seriously snaps your neck back, and the following corkscrew is appalling. I got off grateful in the knowledge that I wouldn’t have to ride one again in the foreseeable future.
So yeah, I knew I was going to find one unknown coaster here, thought that I’d actually found 2, but in fact had found three and completely missed the original one already listed. I’m absolutely devastated that I couldn’t add another jungle mouse to my count. Next I was in a taxi and to another park about 15 minutes away, getting there a little after 10 I guess.
Wanquan Park
RCDB had this place as previously having a wacky worm which has since been removed, but after looking at the satellite view, I noticed that there was definitely something else there now. Again, this was a pleasant enough city park with an amusement park area, but this one was actually quite substantial and seemed very new.
I’d spotted one coaster on Goggle maps, but it turned out there were two, including a jungle mouse. Yay!
The second coaster, and the one that I’d spotted on the map was this:
F**K!
F**k, f**kety, f**k, f**k f**k!
Yep, it was the EXACT same piece of s**t, even down to the paint job, that I’d just ridden, and hated, less than half an hour previously in a park that was just 15 minutes away. They both must’ve been installed at pretty much the same time and it MAKES NO SENSE!
Despite this one being made by Disney, it was still a vile piece of crap, but I at least managed to brace myself better for the loop this time to avoid what no doubt would have been the detachment of my upper three vertebrae otherwise.
As awful as this was, and worried that I might never walk again as the train returned to the station, I was still feeling quite smug that I’d discovered another two unknown coasters. Not a bad day’s work considering it was only around 11am by this point.
From there it was back into a taxi for another 10 minutes or so and onto the next place.
Sinbad Happy Castle
This place was on the top floor of a shopping mall. There aren’t actually all that many shopping mall parks in China compared to other places in Asia.
The park itself was actually pretty big with a few decent-sized rides in it.
There were no surprises here regarding the coasters. The first one was a crappy Beijing Jihua “Children Coaster”.
At first, I thought the second listed coaster might have gone as I couldn’t find it anywhere. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for as I just remembered there were supposed to be two creds here, but without making a note of what they actually were. Anyway, I eventually found it hidden away by itself in a far corner and behind a bunch of “theming”. It was just a Beijing Jihua spinner, which is a knockoff of the Reverchon/Zamperla model. It’s fairly big to be fair, especially for a mall coaster, so I’m surprised I missed it for so long.
+2 and back into a taxi for half an hour then to get to an actual proper park.
Fantawild Adventure
This place was my fourth Fantawild Park and, up until this point, my second favourite after the one in Xiamen. There are clearly plans for this place to be expanded with, at least, a second gate. There’s even a hotel here which the other parks I’ve been to don’t have.
The whole entrance area is a bit weird at the moment. There’s a whole kind of “Citywalk” area that is currently all just empty buildings and still clearly unfinished.
From here there are two paths, one which leads to a dead end at a huge patch of empty land, obviously for a second park. I’m assuming that the whole central plaza area will be opened up with this second park when it eventually happens; there’s nothing officially announced yet, though someone from Fantawild’s booth at IAAPA told me that a few parks in northern China were on the cards, this very clearly being one of them. Another path leads to the existing park, Fantawild Adventure.
Going through this gate, you then reach what must easily be the absolute gayest “Main Street” of any park anywhere.
Turn your sound up to experience the gay in all its glory (apologies for the crappy quality):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El8w1C6RN1g[/youtube]
The entrance area was dead, but the park was pretty busy once I got beyond that.
The castle was pretty fab to be fair. There was something inside it which I missed due to it being on a schedule, but it sounded like an “Animation Academy” ripoff from the signs out front, so nothing I would be interested in anyway.
The space themed area had two rides commonly found at Fantawild.
Sky Sailor is a “Soarin’” type ride. It’s the same film in all of these, but the ride quality can vary. For example, the last one I’d done in Shantou was dreadful. The screen quality was poor and the ride mechanism felt a bit worn out. This one was much better in every respect really.
The second ride is a multi-car simulator ride. Think Back to the Future/The Simpsons, but with a space theme. These are alright for a knockoff really.
Conch Bay is another cut and paste across a lot of parks. It’s a multi-screen 4D theatre with animatronics and other whole-theatre effects, and is actually excellent.
They had one of these water rides at the Xiamen park, but with a different theme. They’re pretty good, but the floating sections are ridiculously slow.
Even the drinks here are knockoff:
The first coaster here was just a Golden Horse knockoff of a Vekoma mine train. These can be very hit or miss, with this one being decidedly miss.
I skipped their special effects show this time around since I’ve done tow of them previously and they’re absolute s**te.
Some flat rides:
This is kind of a weird 3D simulator attraction where you start off in one room and then the whole thing moves backwards into another room with multiple 3D screens and separates into different platforms. It’s a bit crap really and a very overly-complicated way of going about things.
I’d seen Ghost Love Story at the Xiamen park previously. It uses the same technology as Mystery Lodge at Knotts – some of the other parks in the chain have a similar show in their Western areas – but is far more developed, using a Chinese story with multiple actors and some amazing effects. It really is very impressive.
The kiddy cred was closed at first, but when it opened later I couldn’t get on it. It’s the first one of these that I’ve actually been refused on.
This was also down the couple of times I walked past it, but seems to be a shooter which knocks off the Midway Mania/Mouse Au Chocolat ride system. It was the first one of these that I’d seen at Fantawild, so it was a bit disappointing not to get to try it out.
The major coaster here, Flare Meteor would be my first of this type despite it being a common Fantawild model.
It’s a Golden Horse knockoff of the Vekoma “Kumali” model, and it’s completely vile. I’ve done a bunch of Chinese knockoff suspended coasters from Beijing Shibaolai – who at least have the decency to create their own layout – and those are nothing compared to this piece of garbage.
I finished off with a couple of rides on Dino Rampage, a 4D dark ride which, again, is quite a common staple across the parks.
Again though, the one in Shantou had been crap, with out-of-sync vehicles and poor screen quality. This one was clearly newer and with seemingly higher quality. I’m pretty sure the physical sets were generally more impressive as well, and the ride seemed longer, though I’m not sure that’s the case since I can’t see them actually changing it up really. It’s no Spiderman, but it’s a decent ride all the same.
The park was winding down to close by this point, so I got a taxi back into the city, stopping off away from my hotel and then walking through the city for an hour or so to get back.
Shenyang has China’s (the world’s?) largest Chairman Mao statue, which was amazingly cheap looking, being made of epoxy resin by some art students at a local university.
I also walked past this tower, but didn’t bother going inside.
My hotel was basically opposite this shopping mall.
I was pretty knackered by the time I got back, having been out for about 12 hours and getting 4 parks done, so despite planning to try heading out for a few drinks, I just had a lazy evening in the hotel eating crap and watching s**t on my laptop.
Next up: more crap and Hot Go Park
A few weeks ago we had a Monday as a national holiday here – thinking about it, it was probably the same as the UK bank holiday – so went up to Shenyang for a long weekend. It’s a four-hour flight away, in northern China and kind of close to the North Korean border, so a regular weekend wouldn’t really have been doable.
I was mostly interested to go because there’s a new park up there with one of the new Chinese woodies, plus there were no pictures of any of the parks on RCDB, so I was quite curious really. I did parks on the first two days and a bit of cultural **** for a few hours on the Monday morning before heading to the airport.
My flight got in just before midnight on Friday, so I just went straight to the hotel and crashed out.
Nanhu Park
This place was just a 20 minute walk from my hotel, so I left early on Saturday morning and got there for about 9. It’s the usual city park around a lake – Nanhu means South Lake - and was pretty nice.
There was the usual crappy stuff that I never bother with at these palaces.
I totally f**ked up with this place though. I knew that rcdb had one coaster listed here, and I also knew that there was something else that wasn’t listed since I’d had a bit of a look on Google Maps and spotted a very obvious coaster. Despite knowing there was one crappy coaster listed, I hadn’t paid much attention to what type it was, so when I stumbled upon two pieces of crap, I thought that one of them was the listed coaster, and that I’d found a completely unknown one as well.
There was knock-off spinner, and by knock-off I mean it was actually a knock-off of a knock-off since it was a knock-off of an original knock-off Golden Horse. Got it? Right next to it, but kind of shoved behind, was a kiddy coaster. I assumed that one of these was the listed coaster and that I’d found another one.
It’s only when I got home and checked again that I realised that the listed coaster was actually a jungle mouse and that I’d walked around it since it was hidden behind trees and s**t. The green shows where the coasters I discovered were, assuming that one of them was the listed coaster, while the red shows the coaster that was actually listed.
I knew from the satellite view that there was a much bigger coaster in a slightly separate area just over a small bride. Not a bad discovery really since it’s usually just crappy kiddy s**t that people tend to stumble on.
I’ve done a couple of these now, a medium 3 ring coaster from Hebei Zhongye, and they’re f**king vile. You get a decent first drop since you get the pre-drop helix to give you some speed, but the vertical loop seriously snaps your neck back, and the following corkscrew is appalling. I got off grateful in the knowledge that I wouldn’t have to ride one again in the foreseeable future.
So yeah, I knew I was going to find one unknown coaster here, thought that I’d actually found 2, but in fact had found three and completely missed the original one already listed. I’m absolutely devastated that I couldn’t add another jungle mouse to my count. Next I was in a taxi and to another park about 15 minutes away, getting there a little after 10 I guess.
Wanquan Park
RCDB had this place as previously having a wacky worm which has since been removed, but after looking at the satellite view, I noticed that there was definitely something else there now. Again, this was a pleasant enough city park with an amusement park area, but this one was actually quite substantial and seemed very new.
I’d spotted one coaster on Goggle maps, but it turned out there were two, including a jungle mouse. Yay!
The second coaster, and the one that I’d spotted on the map was this:
F**K!
F**k, f**kety, f**k, f**k f**k!
Yep, it was the EXACT same piece of s**t, even down to the paint job, that I’d just ridden, and hated, less than half an hour previously in a park that was just 15 minutes away. They both must’ve been installed at pretty much the same time and it MAKES NO SENSE!
Despite this one being made by Disney, it was still a vile piece of crap, but I at least managed to brace myself better for the loop this time to avoid what no doubt would have been the detachment of my upper three vertebrae otherwise.
As awful as this was, and worried that I might never walk again as the train returned to the station, I was still feeling quite smug that I’d discovered another two unknown coasters. Not a bad day’s work considering it was only around 11am by this point.
From there it was back into a taxi for another 10 minutes or so and onto the next place.
Sinbad Happy Castle
This place was on the top floor of a shopping mall. There aren’t actually all that many shopping mall parks in China compared to other places in Asia.
The park itself was actually pretty big with a few decent-sized rides in it.
There were no surprises here regarding the coasters. The first one was a crappy Beijing Jihua “Children Coaster”.
At first, I thought the second listed coaster might have gone as I couldn’t find it anywhere. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for as I just remembered there were supposed to be two creds here, but without making a note of what they actually were. Anyway, I eventually found it hidden away by itself in a far corner and behind a bunch of “theming”. It was just a Beijing Jihua spinner, which is a knockoff of the Reverchon/Zamperla model. It’s fairly big to be fair, especially for a mall coaster, so I’m surprised I missed it for so long.
+2 and back into a taxi for half an hour then to get to an actual proper park.
Fantawild Adventure
This place was my fourth Fantawild Park and, up until this point, my second favourite after the one in Xiamen. There are clearly plans for this place to be expanded with, at least, a second gate. There’s even a hotel here which the other parks I’ve been to don’t have.
The whole entrance area is a bit weird at the moment. There’s a whole kind of “Citywalk” area that is currently all just empty buildings and still clearly unfinished.
From here there are two paths, one which leads to a dead end at a huge patch of empty land, obviously for a second park. I’m assuming that the whole central plaza area will be opened up with this second park when it eventually happens; there’s nothing officially announced yet, though someone from Fantawild’s booth at IAAPA told me that a few parks in northern China were on the cards, this very clearly being one of them. Another path leads to the existing park, Fantawild Adventure.
Going through this gate, you then reach what must easily be the absolute gayest “Main Street” of any park anywhere.
Turn your sound up to experience the gay in all its glory (apologies for the crappy quality):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El8w1C6RN1g[/youtube]
The entrance area was dead, but the park was pretty busy once I got beyond that.
The castle was pretty fab to be fair. There was something inside it which I missed due to it being on a schedule, but it sounded like an “Animation Academy” ripoff from the signs out front, so nothing I would be interested in anyway.
The space themed area had two rides commonly found at Fantawild.
Sky Sailor is a “Soarin’” type ride. It’s the same film in all of these, but the ride quality can vary. For example, the last one I’d done in Shantou was dreadful. The screen quality was poor and the ride mechanism felt a bit worn out. This one was much better in every respect really.
The second ride is a multi-car simulator ride. Think Back to the Future/The Simpsons, but with a space theme. These are alright for a knockoff really.
Conch Bay is another cut and paste across a lot of parks. It’s a multi-screen 4D theatre with animatronics and other whole-theatre effects, and is actually excellent.
They had one of these water rides at the Xiamen park, but with a different theme. They’re pretty good, but the floating sections are ridiculously slow.
Even the drinks here are knockoff:
The first coaster here was just a Golden Horse knockoff of a Vekoma mine train. These can be very hit or miss, with this one being decidedly miss.
I skipped their special effects show this time around since I’ve done tow of them previously and they’re absolute s**te.
Some flat rides:
This is kind of a weird 3D simulator attraction where you start off in one room and then the whole thing moves backwards into another room with multiple 3D screens and separates into different platforms. It’s a bit crap really and a very overly-complicated way of going about things.
I’d seen Ghost Love Story at the Xiamen park previously. It uses the same technology as Mystery Lodge at Knotts – some of the other parks in the chain have a similar show in their Western areas – but is far more developed, using a Chinese story with multiple actors and some amazing effects. It really is very impressive.
The kiddy cred was closed at first, but when it opened later I couldn’t get on it. It’s the first one of these that I’ve actually been refused on.
This was also down the couple of times I walked past it, but seems to be a shooter which knocks off the Midway Mania/Mouse Au Chocolat ride system. It was the first one of these that I’d seen at Fantawild, so it was a bit disappointing not to get to try it out.
The major coaster here, Flare Meteor would be my first of this type despite it being a common Fantawild model.
It’s a Golden Horse knockoff of the Vekoma “Kumali” model, and it’s completely vile. I’ve done a bunch of Chinese knockoff suspended coasters from Beijing Shibaolai – who at least have the decency to create their own layout – and those are nothing compared to this piece of garbage.
I finished off with a couple of rides on Dino Rampage, a 4D dark ride which, again, is quite a common staple across the parks.
Again though, the one in Shantou had been crap, with out-of-sync vehicles and poor screen quality. This one was clearly newer and with seemingly higher quality. I’m pretty sure the physical sets were generally more impressive as well, and the ride seemed longer, though I’m not sure that’s the case since I can’t see them actually changing it up really. It’s no Spiderman, but it’s a decent ride all the same.
The park was winding down to close by this point, so I got a taxi back into the city, stopping off away from my hotel and then walking through the city for an hour or so to get back.
Shenyang has China’s (the world’s?) largest Chairman Mao statue, which was amazingly cheap looking, being made of epoxy resin by some art students at a local university.
I also walked past this tower, but didn’t bother going inside.
My hotel was basically opposite this shopping mall.
I was pretty knackered by the time I got back, having been out for about 12 hours and getting 4 parks done, so despite planning to try heading out for a few drinks, I just had a lazy evening in the hotel eating crap and watching s**t on my laptop.
Next up: more crap and Hot Go Park
