Mitsui Greenland, an amusement park located about 90 minutes away from Kurume in Kumamoto-ken is Roller Coaster Tycoon come to life. Most of the rides/attractions are almost identical to those in the game, (cable cars, mini train, go carts, log flume ride, haunted mansion, swinging ship...really the resemblance was uncanny,) although there were a few at the park that I don't remember seeing in the game, the most notable was the "Super Twister," (which I unfortunately don't have a good picture of. More about it later.)
Park Entrance.
The swinging ship, which was manned by a hilarous man who added comentary the whole ride. "Tanoshii, tanoshii" in a deadpan voice everytime the ship swung back and forth. "Fun, fun."
Most of the park from the ferris wheel:
I don't know the exact number of roller coasters at the park, but we rode every one except for the Shuttle Loop, which was closed for repairs. Some were old, some were new, some I liked, some I didn't. Among the older ones was a the green, dinosaur one pictured above. We sat in a train and were whipped around and sent up and down hills. Fairly straightforward, but since it was one of the older ones, it made a lot of scary noises, upping the thrill factor. It was also one of the longer ones. Among the less thrilling was one that had suspended cars which were painted like orca whales. There were no big drops, and compared to the suspended one where your legs hung free beneath you, it was unbelieveably tame. Another one I didn't like was the one where you stood up. The restraining devices really squashed the boob area and at one point, my feet left the platform, which was a bit too scary.My favorite was the "Super Twister." Jamie and I rode it twice in a row, because there was no line, and it was just that much fun. You sit in a car, which is shot backwards, then flipped vertically so you are lying on your back looking at the sky. Then begins the terrifying ascent straight up. At the top, you are plunged face first down a steep hill, then a slightly less steep hill and into a series of twists which turn you upside down and then right back up. The car then stops, whipping you forward. Then the platform drops down and sends you backwards through more twists into the station. It was soooo much fun! And the ascent was really terrifying, even the second time through.
Another one I liked was called "Spin Mouse" and was small, but packed a big punch. As one might guess, the cars spun around. And happened to be painted like mice.
The "Black Hole Coaster" sounded promising but turned out to be the biggest joke of them all. It was one of the few rides we actually had to wait in line for, and the waiting area was reminiscent of Space Mountain at Disneyland, so I was expecting 45 seconds of darkened terror, but instead we got a good laugh. The coaster itself was pretty small. The "building," that enclosed it was more like a roof and some side panels that let in a lot of light, and the "stars" were literally Christmas lights which helped illuminate the track and the black tarp that separated the different rooms. The just before the train returned to the station, we passed a waterfall that was open to the outside. Weird. I guess at just $35 a ticket, they aren't making enough money to improve the whole ride at once, so they started with the waiting area, and scraped by the best they could with the rest of it...
There are some more pictures on the website below, which has mucho mas informacion about the rides at Mitsui Greenland. And what I thought was called the "Super Twister" is really the Megaton. There's a picture about half way down, as well as a picture of "Spin Mouse"
Another view from the ferris wheel below. Note the creepy, creepy building on the hill. It was a really odd building that served as the haunted mansion. Jamie and I didn't think that it had always been the haunted mansion, but it was so oddly shaped, we couldn't imagine what it had been used for in the past. Unlike the Disney Haunted Mansion, this one was not filled with cute, good natured ghosts. Instead it was filled with disturbing animatronic dismembered bodies and old toilets with stuff jumping out of them. Lots of red lighting and fans too. Pretty low rent in that sense, but we got out of there fast anyway.
And to finish on a bright note, the bathrooms had the most amusing signs labeling them. Even more so because the toilets I used were the squatty kind, so there was to be no sitting regardless of gender.
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