East Meets ACE – Part 2: Tokyo Dome City / 東京ドームシティ
After a bit of a drive we arrived at Tokyo Dome City in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan Sunday afternoon. Operating since 1958, this park is part of the huge Tokyo Dome development where Vanessa had gone to see the Tokyo Giants baseball team play the previous day. Formerly known as Korakuen Amusement Park, this park is in the middle of the city. We arrived around 2:30 to find a very busy park. It took a good bit of time to ride the park’s one coaster, and the only reason we got the few other rides in was that we decided to stay past ACE’s departure time of 4:30.
Thunder Dolphin (Intamin, Hyper, 2003)
With a length of 3,500’, a height of 263’, a drop of 218’ and a speed of 81 mph, this coaster is nicely placed on top of buildings and dives through the hubless Ferris wheel.
While somewhat short for a hyper, it is really fun, has some good airtime and a nice collection of elements, including a neat trick track section. The crowds were enormous and time was very limited, so I did not get a reride as I would have liked – 1 ride.
Big O –
This huge centerless Ferris Wheel gives great views of the park, Tokyo and all the way to Mt. Fuji, although the clouds were too much this day to see it well. Some gondolas have karaoke, but we rode in a regular one – 1 ride.
Sky Flower –
Parachute rides have become rare with the demise of the ones at SFOG and SFOT.
Although somewhat short, this stand-up variety gives a double drop.
It was fun and reminded me of good rides on The Gasp – 1 ride.
The Dive – This underwater themed interactive dark ride was good, with standup cars that rotated all the way around. It was a fun and different take on an interactive dark ride – 1 ride.
Time and long lines did not permit getting to Wonder Drop, a very nice looking log flume; Venus Lagoon, a merry-go-round on water; Water Symphony, a fountain show of water, sound, and light, at the waterfront of LaQua, one of the parks sections; Super Viking SORABUNE, a swinging ship; Furi Furi Grand Prix, a car ride; Bun Bun Bee, a small drop tower; Tokyo Panic Cruise, a 3D darkride; Lupin III: Labyrinth Trap, a darkride; Pixie Cup, tea cups; Corocco, a trolley ride through a fairy forest; Bloom Express, a Music Express; Water Cannon, an interactive water ride; Flash Rush, a sports-oriented attraction; and Laser Mission, a laser game.
The park previously had more than just one coaster. Defunct roller coasters include: Boomerang (Arrow, Shuttle Loop, 1980-1984); Geopanic (Togo, Enclosed, 1992-2007/2008); Jet Coaster (Togo, Steel, 1955-2000); Linear Gale (Intamin, Inverted Impulse,1998-2010); Spinning Coaster Maihime (Maurer, Spinning Wild Mouse, 2000-2011), which was relocated to Wiener Prater as Insider; Ultra Twister (Togo, Pipeline, 1985-1997), of which a small section of scaffold with stairs that supported the tilting switch track remained for many years after the coaster was removed. We enjoyed what we did at Tokyo Dome City, but due to crowds and limited time we did not get to experience the park fully.
We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in the park before heading to Tokyo Skytree to see Tokyo at night.
From Kasuga Station we took the subway to Oshiage SKYTREE Station
and walked to Tokyo Skytree, an observation tower in the tallest building in Japan (2,080′).
From the observation deck at 1,150′
we enjoyed amazing views of the city at night.
We returned to Oshiage SKYTREE Station, changed lines at Kudanshita Station and arrived at Shinjuku Station and returned to Keio Plaza Hotel to get some rest before the second day of the ACE trip.
Up Next: Toshimaen
Ronny's Travels 