• Thomas Land November 21 - 3:25 pm

• Mount Fuji Safari Park December 1 - 12:26 pm

Tokyo Disneyland -
Here is a small bit of info on Tokyo Disneyland (now being billed as "Tokyo Disney Resort").

You can get there by train, but for those with a car, parking is 1700 yen tax included and good for one day only. Bigger vehicles (buses) cost more. Pets can be left at the petcare center for a fee. You're asked not to bring any food or drinks inside, but that didn't stop me. We still ended up spending plenty on their food.

If you want to stay all day, make reservations at the restaurant of your choice first before going to the rides, or get stuck with the fast food type of stuff later.

An adult (18 years and older) passport costs 5500 yen good for all rides for one day. If you wish to leave and return be sure to have your hand stamped. A Junior is age 12-17. A child is age 4 to 11. Children under 4 can enter for free. I tried to find out the other prices by looking at their web site:
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/
but it was messy and taking me too much time to find what I wanted. Please see if you can succeed more quickly. There are also some useful maps.

Typical for Japanese amusement parks you can get a general admission ticket and then buy additional tickets for rides once inside. This means that you have to show your passport all the time, unlike in the Disney parks in California and Florida. They will happily sell you an expensive ticket holder necklace. There is also a cheaper ticket sold after 18:00 till closing time. On the back of my ticket is written: "This ticket (except Starlight Passport) is good at any time during Tokyo Disneyland regular operating hours. Not valid during special operating hours." I can't really say what a 'Starlight Passport' is or what 'special operating hours' means though.

You can ask questions by visiting or calling their ticketing office at:
Hibiya Mitsui Bldg.
1-1-2 Yurakucho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
(near the Imperial Hotel)
Telephone: 03 (3595) 1777
*Hours: 10:00 - 19:00 (Open daily except for Nov 12, Jan 1, and Feb 18.)
*Services: Same-day Park admission tickets and tickets for up to 1 month in advance can be purchased here.

We had no trouble buying tickets at the park, since the line on Thursday at 11:00 am was quite short. And I think we did the right thing taking a day off during the week.

We had a lot of fun and my daughter at 3 years and 11 months was turned away from only two rides, the Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain roller coasters for not being tall enough (she was about 100.5 cm with shoes). We took the Splash Mountain ride 4 times. She eventually fell asleep from sheer sensory overload. I did not have the forsight to bring a stroller but they can be rented there. The hours on Thursday, 12 Oct, were from 9:00-22:00. These hours change all the time so double check for the day you wish to go.

Eventually I hope to get all the info needed to put up a page on Tokyo Disney under the FYI section. Some day...

This is from the Kyushu Headline News for Monday, December 17, 2001:

* Asia's Biggest Ferris Wheel Opens in Fukuoka
A 120m-high ferris wheel opened in Evergreen Marinoa in Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, on December 15. With a 112m diameter and carrying 60 gondolas that can hold 8 people each, the ferris wheel is believed to be the largest in Asia. One full circuit on the wheel takes 20 minutes. The ferris wheel will operate from 10 a.m. to midnight daily, and service will cease on days when winds at the top exceed 15 meters per second.

Sanrio Puroland (could be dubbed Hello Kitty Land)
http://www.sanrio.co.jp/PUROLAND
042-339-1111
adult passport 4,400
child passport (4and older) 3,300 yen

This is from notes I made on 9 November 2001 so may have changed slightly since. It is way out west somewhere. Took about an hour from my house each way. Tama new town or something like that. There's a url for it in English. http://www.sanrio.co.jp/english/spl/spl.html

Thomasland is part of a larger amusement park:
http://www.fuji-q.com/fuji-q-en/thomasland/02thomasland.html

Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea
Tokyo Disney Sea now has the after 6 passport discount that they have at Disneyland. (not every night). This is one of my favorite ways to enjoy Disneyland! Their site is also in English so you can do the research quite easily:
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tdr/index_e.html

Courtesy of K.M.
Roller Luge, "Zorb" (a big plastic ball with your kid inside rolling down the grassy slope!), etc.
http://homepage3.nifty.com/kaihin/
Tel: 0966-82-5588 Fax: 0966-82-5589
Ashikita city in Kyushu. Post code 869-5454.

Yomiuriland -- "Bandit" rollercoaster is closed for maintanence until 10 July (?). When you take the gondola from the Keio Yomiuriland station you get a bird's eye view of the Yomiuru Giants baseball team training grounds. Gondola costs Y200/person. http://www.tokyowithkids.com/entertainment/yomiuriland.html

Also in celebration of an anniversary (50 years?), the entrance prices are reduced right now. Adult Y3900 for multiple rides (down from Y4500) and kid Y2900 (down from Y3700) but these prices end on 8 July (?).

Had a great experience at Fuji-qu Highland (also spelt as Fujikyu) theme park.

It's a park similar to Knotts Berry Farm and after you get over the mental hurdle of getting there, very enjoyable for kids both young and old. Yesterday was our second time there and it was a surprisingly FANTASTIC experience.

It satisfied the grandparents who wanted to see Mt Fuji, the parents who wanted to view some fall colours, and the children who wanted something fun.

To recount, we left only after deciding to go for a drive towards Mt Fuji because the day was so clear. We left at 11am, keyed FujiQ into the GPS, took the Shuto Expresway, and was there by 12.45apm. On that clear day, the view towards the mountain was fantastic. Mt Fuji loomed ahead of us bright, glowing and majestic. Close to the park, we stopped at a viewing point to take photos.

The park itself is not accessible by train so crowds there are not as bad as Disney, and it is spacious place. Highlights for us were: Thomasland and the rides, the Dondonpa super fast coaster (with only one half-loop), the 2km giant coaster, Mad Mouse ride for the kids and as a bonus, an ice-skating rink.

There was an amazing unblocked view of Mt Fuji from the giant coaster ride so this is highly recommended except for those with heart, back or neck problems as the ride throws you around a bit.

Warning: the park stays open till 8pm right now, but Thomasland closes at about 5pm, Dondonpa (nearly 2 hour queue) stopped letting people in at 5.30pm, and many of the wilder rides stop by 6pm. The Ferris Wheel, Mad Mouse, Carousel, Inverted Ride (most of the ones closer to the entrance) stayed open till the end.

Warning: a lot of info about times that the rides stop are not posted so you have to ask.

All in all, on a clear day, a great place to go on a weekend (a bit too empty on weekdays).

Lynette (Japan since Jan'04)

A few links regarding amusement parks:

Roller Coaster Fever:
http://www.pstripes.com/01/trav/tr080901d.html

Fuji-Q Highland (Fujikyu)
http://www.fuji-q.com/fuji-q-en/main/shopping.htm

Thomas Land
http://www.fuji-q.com/fuji-q-en/thomasland/02thomasland.html

If you do a search for "Amusement parks" here you will get a list of about 139 places: http://english.itp.ne.jp/

The Keio bus for Fuji-Q Highland leaves from Tokyo Shinjuku station West side (nishi guchi). The "Keio Shinjuku Highway Bus Terminal" is across the street from Yodobashi camera and the column sign has a "50" at the top. Give yourself about 5 minutes from the Yamanote ticket gate to find it. You buy your ticket in the office right there. The 8:10 bus gets there at 9:50 (right now it opens at 9:00). Double check times because they vary depending on the day of the week and month of the year.
The web site for the Keio buses (Japanese only) is: http://www.highwaybus.com

Look at Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise website at: http://www.seaparadise.co.jp
There is a special deal. If you print out a questionnaire and bring it filled out with you to the ticket office you can get a discount:
Y4900 for adults reduced to Y4200 and Y2000 (?) for children aged 4-6 becomes Y1700 with the questionnaire. Elementary and Jr. High get discounted to Y3000. These tickets include admission, entrance to the aqua museum, a dolphin show and ride all you want in the amusement park section.

Sea Paradise Yokohama Hakkeijima
Hakkeijima, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-0006
Tel: 045-788-8888

P.S. Sea Paradise
Here is the direct link for the coupon if you fill out the survey (anketo)http://www.seaparadise.co.jp/news/topics/hp/
internet/2005_coupon/coupon.html. I think it is only good through the end of June?

Here's an article on the Hot Bath Amusement Parks "craze":
http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/05/28/tronsen_ed3_.php

In Tokyo:
LaQua (Korakuen)
Toshimaen
Oedo-Onsen Monogatari (Odaiba)

In Osaka: SpaWorld

New! Started in Mexico. Great success there! Now open in Tokyo. But Japanese language skills needed in some areas.
OPEN 2006 October 5.
Kidzania Tokyo
3-minute walk from Toyosu station on the Yurakucho subway line and Yurikamome Line.
Open 10:00 -15:00 and 16:00 - 21:00
Admission: Weekdays, 1,600 yen (adults), 2,400 yen (children 4-15 years old), 1,200 yen (children 2-3 years old); Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and school holidays, 2,000 yen (adults), 3,000 yen (children 4-15), 1,500 yen (children 2-3)
For information visit http://www.kidzania.jp

Read more: http://kdd3.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200609300102.html

"Tokyo Sesame Place was closed permanently as of December 31, 2006. We sincerely appreciate for your patronage for the past 16 years.

General Manager/Tokyo Sesame Place"
http://www.sesameplace.co.jp

Also, I heard that Kidzania requires advance reservations. I'm not sure if this was only for school groups or for everyone. But best to check first in any case!

Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise (contains the Aqua Museum Aquarium)
Discount tickets March 1, 2007- April 27, 2007 (though still not exactly cheap) http://www.seaparadise.co.jp/english/introduction.html