East Meets ACE – Part 1: Tobu Zoo Park / 東武動物公園
After checking in Saturday evening, East Meets ACE officially kicked off with our trip Sunday morning, September 23 to Tobu Zoo Park in Minami, Saitama, Japan. We had three hours that morning including an hour of ERT on Kawasemi and Regina. Operating since 1981, it is owned by Tobu Railway Co., Ltd. and managed by Tobu Leisure Planning Co., Ltd.
It is a large, spread out park with lots of animals and is divided into themed lands: Wakuwaku Street, Honobono Street, Libertyland, Pleasure Land, Dokidoki Street, Africa Sabanna and Heartful Land.
Kawasemi (Intamin , Mega-Lite, 2008) Named for a type of small bird known for its fast speed, it was built where Mount Rocky Coaster (Tappusu, Steel Sit Down, 1989-2003) formerly sat.
This was my second Intamin Mega-Lite and it is a shame more of these have not been built.
They are basically a smaller version of a hyper coaster but have a lot of the same great elements. It was running a little sluggish when we rode compared to the other one I have ridden, but it still gave a great ride. Limited time and crowds prevented me getting another ride – 1 ride during ERT.
Regina (Intamin, Wood [not pre-fab], 2000) Meaning Queen in Italian, this was the first wood coaster of our trip.
While it was somewhat rough, it has a great layout, some really good airtime and was overall very enjoyable.
I was glad for this to be my first wood coaster in Japan. Even on the axle seat the ride was enjoyable, though a little rougher than the non-axle seat – 2 rides, 1 during ERT.
Tentomushi (Zierer, Tivoli Medium Family, 1998) Japanese for Ladybug, it gave a good ride – 1 ride.
Diggy & Daggy’s Tram Coaster (Hoei Sangyo Co., Ltd., Powered Family, 2014) It gave a good ride – 1 ride.
Galaxy Walkers – This was an interesting mirror maze with a long maze before and a game to play at the end – 1 walkthrough.
Airline Flight Skyfish Express –
This suspended monorail between Liberty Land and Heartful Land gives a good tour of the park -1 ride.
God Swinger Orue – This Wave Swinger is very well themed – 1 ride.
With limited time we did not get to many of their other rides including: UFO Dome (Inagawa Junji’s Ghost Story 3D Mirror Monster 3D), which was not operating this day; Stove’s Adventure Cart, a car ride; Boat, swan boats; Sky Cycle, a pedal monorail; Animaru Boobooo, a shuttle bus with two stops in the park; The Grace of the Sun Railway Park Line, a locomotive running from East Gate Station to Liberty Land Station and to Heartfulland Station; Carousel Water Lily, an Italian merry-go-round set over water; Emma’s Cheese Windmill, a Ferris Wheel; Margaret’s Flower Cup, Tea Cups; Music Express; and Astrofighter. They also have10 children’s rides.
Defunct roller coasters include Crazy Mouse (Togo, Looping Mouse, 1981-2009), which had one inversion; and Mount Rocky Coaster (Tappusu, Steel Sit Down, 1989-2003).
Animals include Lions,
White Tigers,
Bears (oh my!), Penguins, Insects, Birds, Petting Zoo, Dogs, Ponies,
and more.
The park was quite crowded this day as it was a holiday weekend, but thanks to our ERT, we got all the coasters in and got in a few other rides.
This was a nice park to begin our Japanese adventure.
We were supposed to visit Hanayashiki / 浅草花やしきin Taito, Tokyo, Japan, but it was dropped from our schedule a few weeks earlier as its one coaster, Roller Coaster (Togo, Steel Sit Down, 1953), was closed due to construction at the park. This was disappointing as it is the oldest operating coaster in Japan, but it could not be helped. The park has been in operation since 1853, having opened as a flower park before becoming an amusement park in 1949 operated by Togo Company. Following Togo’s bankruptcy and reorganization in 2004, the park was sold to a subsidiary of Bandai, a Japanese toy company. We got to see the park from outside during sightseeing later in the trip. I look forward to visiting this park on a future visit and hope the coaster and the park will still be in operation.
Up Next: Tokyo Dome City
Ronny's Travels 