Hokkaido Greenland

We weren't actually sure of the name of the final park. When I left it was called Mitsui Greenland, exactly the same name as the one we'd visited earlier in the trip. The confusion came from Mitsui being the region in Japan where the first park was located and it wasn't Mitsui that we were going to today.

Following a short train ride full of students who got off halfway through the journey we made it to our station and from there a taxi took us to the park. It was conversing with the driver that I realised he didn't know where Mitsui Greenland was but did know Greenland, so we knew the name was partly right.

We arrived at the park to find it looking like it was closed and were a little miffed. That was until we realised that the park was open but even emptier than the parks at the start of the trip.

This was the entire contents of the car park when we arrived.

Having figured out the paying system (you pay to get in then pay again for the wristband) we made our way around the park. Empty isn't it?

The park has a massive big wheel overlooking the park.

One of those weird rotating top spin things that I first saw at Knotts. Didn't bother riding it although the ride staff (mostly elderly) were keen to have us try.

Hip Hop Cabbage Patch Kids!!

The first coaster was a little kiddy ride. The worst part of it for me was that a bird had crapped on the handlebar that I inadvertently grabbed as the ride left the station.

The second coaster, like the first an exclusive walk-on was Dragon King Ryuoh. A large and quite rough corkscrew coaster. One ride was enough.

Nice park tram, which wasn't operational today.

The biggest coaster in the park is called Go On, not Goon. Another exclusive walk on the ride op was happy to see us make our way over to his ride. It wasn't a bad coaster, better than most of the gradual sloping coasters on the trip but still lacking that memorable factor.

Haunted walkthrough was pretty good.

The final coaster in the park is a peculiar little beast. Part-coaster, part-log flume the ride is unique in having a rubber belt lift hill that is more akin to lifting logs not coaster trains. The smell of burning rubber as it engaged the lift was also a unique factor.

Two pandas eating the lawn, one of which seems to have an upside down head.

Another of those Blackpool flying machines.

The ghost train ride was quite good!

This was a fun attraction. A maze where you have to find 4 checkpoints, collect a stamp on a scorecard and return to the exit as quick as you could. I managed a time of 12 minutes. Jeppe emerged about 2 hours later having given up. Sorry Jeppe!

Looking back from the bottom of the park back up towards the wheel, which by the way needs some air-con. It was very hot in there!

In an attempt of showing just how empty this park was I agreed to go up the wheel and Jeppe would stand in the centre of the park, and we were certain no other people would be in shot, and we were correct!

A view from the wheel that I only twigged when I got home that the island on the lake is in the shape of Japan.

The pedal ride that goes around it has a lift hill but doesn't make it back under the station under gravity. If it had been oiled properly it might have done. So I guess this falls under one of those human powered debatable coasters, depending on your interpretation of a coaster of course.

When jellybabies go bad.

My favourite picture from today of the goon coaster.

Back outside the park waiting for our taxi back. The writing on the entrance actually reads Hokkaido Greenland. So now we knew the name of the park.

The park is close enough to Sapporo to make it worth visiting. It has an OK selection of rides but if the crowds today were any indication of how busy it gets then it's not going to last too long.

We got there by train leaving from Sapporo on the Orange/Brown line departing at Iwamizawa A13 station. From there we took a taxi, again waiting outside the station. For the return leg we asked the guys in the ticket booth to call us a taxi.