My first full day in Nagoya was a theme park day with me wanting to visit the new Legoland park that had opened in the Summer, but before going there I wanted to check out the Port of Nagoya area, home to a second smaller amusement park and another big wheel. This park was clearly aimed at kids so I didn't over stay my welcome here before heading back on the train and around to Legoland.
When I got to Kinjofuto station for Legoland I spotted a sign for a train and maglev museum and so I thought I'd pop into that first. Whilst not a train spotter by any means I am interested in understanding how they get the trains to run so well, something that our privatised train companies in the UK should see. Inside was an impressive selection of train and some side displays showing the technology, a model railway of Japan, and a Maglev simulator. It was a good way to spend 90 minutes or so.
The Legoland Parks around the world are all very similar with little regional differences between them. This is the 7th I've been to and features the 2 dragon themed coasters that I've also ridden everywhere else. Where the parks do differ is the model village and it was here where I spent much of my time checking out the detail on the Japanese landmarks replicated in little brick form.
With the parks done I spent the evening checking out the Sakae district of Nagoya, the entertainment area of the city. This wasn't too far from the hotel so a nice way to wrap up. Here I found Oasis 21, a shopping mall with an open lake on the roof, tomorrow they were going to hosting a B-Boy championship which I would have loved, however I had other plans. Tonight they had a celebration of hula dancing, not quite my thing but worth watching for a little bit.
Sunshine Sakae is the district's big wheel, and attempt at a Hep5 experience. This was by far the worst of all the wheels I'd done. There was some sort of association with a boy band and their music would play for the duration of the ride. It was such terrible earworm I deliberately went into a Pachinko parlour to clear it out.
The wheel is 278ft high, smaller than the Osaka one but still offering a great view of the surrounding area. Next to the park is another Aquarium and Dolphinarium, which I chose to not bother with today. I was put off by the dolphin show that I could see from the wheel.
The coaster here was a little kiddy thing but I rode it anyway.
The only other attraction that I tried was this shooting ride where the car moves sideways. It wasn't as good as the work put into the sign.
Goodbye harbour area and hello railway museum.
The musuem was pretty good, and you enter most of the carriages. Some of the older ones were in a fenced off area at the back.
The railway sleepers have their own mascot.
You can have a go at driving a train. It's similar to the arcade games where you're just holding the dead mans handle until the train has to slow down at the next stop. I invariably overshoot the station when I've tried this in the past.
The model village was really good although has a long way to go to beat the one in Germany I did a few years ago. The theme park area wasn't on the map explaining the inspiration for each part of the railway but a quick chat with one of the staff and we concluded that with it located between Nagoya and Tokyo on the table it was likely going to be Fuji-Q, which would make the coaster Fujiyama!
The walk between the station and Legoland is home to shops, eateries and a music venue. There was also a shop for Yo-Kai Taiso Watch, which explained one of the minor attractions I did at Universal Studios but couldn't translate. I think it's like a Pokemon derivative but featuring ghosts.
The Legoland Park is open and they're already underway on a hotel next door. I don't quite get this concept, as the park isn't big enough to warrant more than one day and the location is a bit out on a limb.
There now follows an excessive amount of photos of Lego. Sorry!
The carousel is pretty unique.
There were speakers hidden here making random animal grunts.
Both coasters are located in Knight's Kingdom at the rear of the park. The larger of the two coasters is Dragon Challenge and it's not that easy to photograph well.
and the smaller one is Dragon's Apprentice.
I grabbed lunch in this section of the park, which was a mistake as it was overpriced for what it was, but hey I'm in a park run by Merlin so this sort of thing should be expected. However I did spot a good place to take photos of the coasters in the outside eating deck above the station to the larger coaster.
Some enthusiasts may try to justify this one as coaster...
The Lost Kingdom dark ride is the shooting game that exists elsewhere. It's very open for a dark ride giving you plenty of opportunity to shoot targets from afar and rack up a high score.
And as with other parks the submarine ride opens out into a Sealife Centre, the little aquarium chain that Merlin also own.
A couple of shots from the observation tower.
There now follows even more photos of Lego, this time focusing on the model village. Sorry!
It was cool to see models of places I'd already been to like the Osaka Sky Garden, almost a certification that I was undertaking a good trip.
The baseball ground was my favourite model and must be holding a record for most mini figs on a single piece. The effort on this is incredible.
I also liked the Odaiba Gundam, which I'd be visiting for real very soon!
and that was Legoland, and will they see me again? To be honest, very unlikely. Unless the park expands with something worth visiting I'm sure I could be better off sending my time somewhere else.
One other gripe with the park, and it's probably only me picking up on it, is this! I despise the dilution of the word awesome (see rant earlier on in the holiday) but I also am not a fan of this recent marketing fad of treating adjectives as nouns. It's basic stuff, find an adjective that describes your brand and use that as a noun. Marketing 101. Grr!
The music pavilion was hosting a Red Bull sponsored mini festival. It cost about £30 to enter but the music wasn't particularly great. As I could hear it perfectly fine outside the entrance I went and grabbed an ice cream and sat outside listening for a bit on the off chance it got better...it didn't so I left it.
Oasis 21 is a nice alternative to the usual observation platform.
The hula dancing that was going on beneath it.
Dinky!
The branch of Don Quixote in Nagoya doesn't have a defunct ride unlike the wheel in Osaka and the Halfpipe coaster in Tokyo. It did come to my rescue however as I'd lost an earphone plug and as this shop sells just about everything I was able to get a replacement with no problem.
Boy bands...sheesh!
So a long day but a good one, with me getting around quite a lot of the city. Tomorrow I'd be heading out for more theme park fun!
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