East Meets ACE – Part 11: Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens / 東山動植物園
On Saturday, September 29 we boarded the busses and headed out for a short drive to Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. Rain was beginning to fall lightly as the beginning waves of the typhoon began to be felt. We wondered how this would impact our day. From the forecast it looked like only light rain in the morning, so we hoped we would get in the first park, but we worried about the second park in the afternoon when heavier showers were predicted. Once we arrived our tour leaders learned the bad news and passed it on to us: the park would open and provide ERT on some rides, but no coasters would be open due to the rain. While this meant missing three credits, the hardest part of this news was missing a truly unique coaster, one of the oldest in Japan.
The park welcomed us and discussed some of the history of the park before we made our way to ride what we could. The coasters we missed included:
Slope Shooter (Unknown Designer, Steel Side Friction, 1961)
Although we could not ride, the park graciously operated this unique coaster for us so we could see it in action.
It is a side friction coaster that runs through a concrete trough, kind of like a cross between a bobsled and Virginia reel.
It is the third oldest coaster in Japan and the oldest we were slated to ride, but it was not to be. It was a very difficult miss to not get to ride this unique coaster, making a future trip to Japan even more compelling.
Jet Coaster
(Meisho Amusement Machines, Steel Sit Down, 1980)
Due to rain, we did not get to ride.
Bear Coaster (Hoei Sangyo Co., Ltd., Powered, 2003 or earlier)
Due to rain, we did not get to ride.
Observation Tower –
This gave great views of the park, the zoo, the botanical garden
and the city
– 1 ride.
Ferris Wheel –
Although small compared to others we have seen, it gave good views – 1 ride.
Monorail – Good tour of the park, zoo and gardens – 2 rides, 1 to each station.
Adventure House – This walkthrough house featured magic tricks, a tilt house portion and more – 1 walkthrough.
Haunted Swing – This was very fast moving and the room seemed to spin quickly – 1 ride.
Mirror Maze – Standard mirror maze – 1 walkthrough.
They also have a Train and New Viking, a swinging ship. There are also some children’s rides. The park is quite spread out
and also includes
a Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
Ironically, the rain was fairly light the entire time we were here as forecast, but the park does not run the coasters in any rain, so it could not be helped.
This is definitely a park I will want to visit again. We boarded the busses and headed to our next stop, but as we got closer, the rain got harder.
Up Next: Suzuka Circuit
Ronny's Travels 