East Meets ACE – Part 12: Suzuka Circuit / 鈴鹿サーキット
We arrived at Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie, Japan early Saturday afternoon, with rain coming down steadily. With a large number of the rides here being various sorts of go-carts, we expected to see most everything closed. We just hoped we could get to ride the coasters. As we entered the park we were happy to find out that not only were the coasters operating, but so was almost everything in the park in spite of the rain.
We presented a plaque to the park, and then we, of course, headed straight for the coasters, of which there are two. I will review by themed section.
BATTO’S ADVENTURE VILLAGE
Adventure Drive (Hoei Sangyo Co., Ltd., Family, 2014)
We headed to this one first as the rain was pouring, but it broke down soon after we arrived. We headed to the other coaster,
but eventually the park got it back up and I think everyone who wanted to ride got to ride. The coaster has several tire lift/launches, a chain lift and two cable launches, and one is affected by how loud the riders scream. We had our doubts that this could run in the rain, but it did. This was a very fun ride, even in the pouring rain – 1 ride.
Rocky Coaster (Senyo Kogyo Co., Ltd., Steel Sit Down, unknown year)
This log themed coaster has seats that are forward and backward.
It was a little rough at times, but to me was more enjoyable going backwards – 2 rides, 1 each forward and backward.
Batto’s Power Crystal Hunt – This interactive darkride was fun as all riders sat in a line of cars that encircled the scenes with targets – 1 ride.
Duel GP –
Similar to Test Track, this allows drivers to race and control the steering. It is an amazingly fun ride.
Although some wanted to call it a coaster as it uses tubular steel track under the road surface, it is not – 2 rides.
Flying Ship – This suspended monorail ride gives great views as it crosses over other rides – 1 ride.
We did not ride Para-Sailor, a monorail; Adven-Boat Frontier, a boat ride; or Circuit Challenger, which allows you to drive a go-kart on the actual track that hosts the F1 Grand Prix, which I don’t think was operating in the rain.
PUTO’S MOBI PARK
ene-1 – This energy themed go-cart ride allows you to attempt to conserve energy as you drive, quite a unique experience – 1 ride.
Acro X Evolution – This go-cart test track allows drivers to test driving over various obstacles – 1 ride. We did not ride the other go-cart ride in this section,
DREAM R.GP Field
We did not get to any of the attractions in this section which includes: Kochira’s Racing Kart, go-carts; Advance Kart, go-carts; Racing Theater; or Circuit Wheel, a 150’ Ferris Wheel with a full view of the International Racing Course.
Kochira’s Putti Town
This section includes Test Flight, an airplane ride; Run-run Balloon, a hot air balloon themed monorail; and several children’s rides.
Chirara’s HELLO GARDEN
Bun-Bun-Bee – This ride on tubular steel track has cars with a bee that tells a story in Japanese. Some considered it a powered coaster, but I will not unless RCDB ever counts it as such – 1 ride.
Also here is Chirara’s Flower Wagon, a wagon ride through a garden; Den-Den-Mushi; and several children’s rides.
Pipira’s MOTO FIELD
This area has several children’s rides.
They have a water park, Adventure Water Park, but this day almost all rides in the regular park were water rides!
Defunct roller coasters in their history include Blackout Steel (Vekoma, Inverted SLC, 1995-2007), which was relocated to Beto Carrero World in Brazil as Firewhip, and Mad Cobra (Premier Rides, LIM Launched, 1998-2003), which was relocated to Discoveryland in China as Crazy Cobra.
This is quite a unique park with many rides themed to racing and transportation. With so many unique rides, it would be interesting to visit with more time on a dry day. After our experience earlier in the day we were amazed to have gotten to do so much. But that was only the beginning of the typhoon.
On the ride back to the hotel we got the bad news that our park for Sunday, Parque Espana, would close at noon that day, and due to the long drive we would not be able to safely go. We were on our own for Sunday before the typhoon was expected to hit in the afternoon.
Saturday night we found a good Raman restaurant near the hotel, a good meal after getting soaked in the rain all day.
Up Next: Typhoon Day & Missed Credits at Parque Espana-Shima Spain Village
Ronny's Travels 