Sing a Supersonic Odyssey - Gentings SkyWorlds

[emoo]

I've wanted to get on Battlestar Galactica since before the issues threatening its existence. Singapore itself looks enticing with a wide variety of food options alongside fun dramatic buildings. Even the airport looks ridiculous in the best way and everything is connected with an effective transit system. But the cost to coaster ratio and distance means I could always find more to do closer to home. Thankfully it was the time for my friend to go so it was also the right time for me.

That said I still wasn't feeling a non stop 14 hour flight. A stop over with coasters would be a double win and I ended up with half a day in Abu Dhabi. Sounds like there would be time to rush YAS island and get anything new or missed a couple of years ago when visiting properly.

While waiting for my first flight I had a drink in the Gatwick spoons. A pretty poor Bloody Mary but I did enjoy the table number being underlined so you read it 69 and not 69. Nice.



After landing, waiting for a bag that had already been transferred to the next flight, and thorough security it was about 8:30am. Earliest park open on that day was 10am. It's theoretically doable to walk to the YAS island parks from the airport. Aerial maps show cross walks and pedestrian options over every major road. Common sense prevailed and I starred at this window for a bit while trying to nap.



I dropped my carry on luggage at the storage service and taxied to SeaWorld where my best pic on arrival was apparently the shade canopies out front when looking away from the marquee and Manta.



But as there hasn't been any pics of track yet here you go



All very well presented. It would be a while till I found the only reason for visiting as its an indoor maze on many levels.



If a theme park ever wants to recreate the corridors of Red Dwarf I'd be so happy. But this place is a very different vibe to the Cat ordering 6 Trout a la Creme or manually fishing for dinner.



Its enormous tanks and glass walls. Due to the low attendance and everyone spread out there was no one in the way of this to give a sense of scale. Assume people are in frame but smaller than a pixel - you get the exaggerated idea.



This concave window allows you to feel surrounded by water. Try not to fall over from the disorientation or awe.



Excuse me fishy, do you know where the rollercoasters are? They didn't but I got lucky after choosing the right tunnel. and this room with a small but very well presented selection of rides. Flats were open, Eel Racer was not.



A spite to kick things off for reasons unknown but inline with other peoples recent visits. Great celling and light effects. It took an hour just to get this far so I finally ask and got pointed the right way.



This means you are very close and looked better than the actual ride entrance sign, just to the right.



A very blue queue that looked decent and didn't take too long to dash through. Walked straight onto my very first ride, solo front seat. Neato! Really fun and long, running better than the other outdoor Macks in the UAE. Not Intamin in the desert smooth, but I found it more enjoyable than Flying Aces (easier on the thighs). No wait was longer than one train & could usually pick front or back. Front is best here for the views and ride quality. I expected to get more laps in but I had to take a break for food and trying to take useful pictures. On lap 6 it didn't launch out the starting tunnel so I got an evac! ID have liked to ride more times but a cool ending and a needed signal to move on.



Heading to to the exit I finally got a pic of this in the main hub room and thought to myself "That's how you do a screen sphere Nemesis eye". The room was wrapped by a large and ever changing projection screen as well. So much stunning tech and engineering in this place that my schedule has very little time for.

Yet somehow I spent a painful amount of time outside the parks entrance where I could see Manta and Formula Rossa. Neither tested for so long that 2 security guards on different shifts probably wondered what I was doing. Manta tested a couple of times with no riders but there was no movement from over the road.



The cutback was my least favourite bit. There should also be a higher water level in this area and looked a bit naff when I realised. On ride it didn't matter and the few interactions with scenery worked for me. However I've been hanging around suspiciously and wasting time for too long, gotta move on and hope for the best. It was a shorter walk than Google maps suggested but longer than I expected. At least I walked past this (there is an English version the other side of the road.)



Dozens of these stone balls line YAS Drive all the way to the hotels. The eyes light up at night and does anyone else see Marvin's head from the HHGTTG movie??? Ok the eyes are not triangles but I still see his sad face.



This would have given anyone else a smile though, FR is actually running! No riders though and long after the park has opened. And me with this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side. The lack of sleep, time pressure and uncertainty was getting to me.



Before we find out if I can have a go there is a very important assignment : Get on that crappy mall coaster which was closed every time I tried before. Its been a stain on my spreadsheet. I had a German Donna Kebab while waiting for YoloWorks to open at 2pm (2 hours after FunWorks itself opened...) so I suppose it doesn't matter too much I'm running a bit behind.



Ride was garbage, absolute trash and now forever marked in my sheet with a which is honestly better than a red line highlighting missed opportunity. After Yoro it's another dash across the full length of the mall to a park with one of one of my favourite coasters that I hope is open. I remember Ferrari World being fairly quiet and the fast pass being cheap and useful so its all good from here right?

What we find is the worlds longest and slowest customer service counter. So much time was lost here with every customer taking an age to process what they needed. But its the only way to pick up a wristband to get either a one time timed slot for Formula Rossa or Fast Pass for everything else. Or in my case, both. While queueing I tried to save some time and purchase online. 3 different cards failed but was able to just pay so, so much money at the counter. With a days wage wrapped round my wrist I head out to do as much as possible in the few hours that remain. As long as things are open of course. I'm advised Turbo track will open around 4pm (it didn't) and Formula Rossa is due to open before my allotted slot (it opened so incredibly late). Flying Aces is down for annual maintenance.

A week before my visit there was a report with evidence of both, yes both sides to Fiorano GT Challenge being open. Having only got the usual left side I was sceptical I'd get the other but at least there was a chance. They were only running 1 side today of course. Grumpy and irritable me couldn't believe my eyes. No freaking way its running the right side, the one I wanted. Back row too, woohooo. Might have taken multiple park visits and never all at once but boom all credits checked off. The ride itself has unbanked turns and not that enjoyable beyond being a bit unique.



And now, to make things even better its finally for the best coaster to me for miles around - Mission Ferrari. I love this thing and the stuff it does. Even the janky gnarly bits. Not even the ride sign location was well thought out but its there and well done for getting this working.









The special stuff happens inside hidden from view of course



This mannequin slides back and forth rotating just a little. Very amusing but not enough to suffer through the full standby queue with all original marbles. Do yourself a favor and get fast pass if you can. Have multiple rides fairly quickly instead of possibly none due to breakdowns. Eventually you board a very interesting ride vehicle. 4 people in the front row and 5 in the back. At least 3 cars were running.

Spoiler: Mission Ferrari's best scene

At one point the car races towards a domed projection screen. The car is locked to the track that moves and bobs around pointing you up down, side to side. Most of my rides even had the screen with moving visuals!

Turbo Track remained closed all day. Its a weird ride but I'd have given it a spin. It would have given needed capacity with 2 the 2 majors coasters unavailable.



Worst of all the major draw of the park (recently reopened after a year SBNO) still hadn't opened for the day and was long past mine and many other peoples assigned times.

Long before you get to the ride sign and queue entrance people were gathering in an unorganised clump. Some sort of filming was going on out of view. I don't know if guests were actually told anything, it was just apparent from all the kit they were wheeling out of the ride area at a snails pace. If this was advertised ahead of time I didn't see it.



I dashed between the growing hoard and rides on Mission Ferrari, even took the car ride just to get some more pics and have some chill. Standby for that looked a chore as well.

Once the ride opened there was a brief moment of collective relief. No time to cheer as everyone is immediately back into stress mode being left to fate and the bundle to get to the queue line. The park had all day to manage this but all staff were clearly untrained for such an event and there was no evident or commendable plan. I guess this is a one off event (20th Jan) that doesn't sound worse than the Voltron incident but still I'd look for better in any park operator.

I'll cut the misery of the moment as I did eventually get my ride. Its great, terrific launch and intense all round. Eyes slightly watering even with the goggles. The only obvious changes were the lockers before riding have been swapped out for shelves. It was also a better controlled flow of people at that point. Props to the staff member putting his hand over the alarm to muffle the sound caused by a rider trying to leave through the wrong door. So minor but another bizarre event in a long day. Also I noticed a lot of water being sprayed on the wheels but cant tell if its more than before. One more Mission Ferrari for the road and its time to head to the airport.



A much needed beer and I was indeed able to reflect on a great day. I could have spend a couple more hours at the park, or perhaps even made it to the new Hamster Wheel coaster in the city. But was a good time to call it a day, I didn't want to risk the start of the actual trip. Zayed International Airport suggest arriving 4 hours before departure which is way to much. The common instruction is 3 hours to allow for issues especially travel and customs. Turns out, as expected this was a very efficient airport and they want you hanging round airside spending money. Like at the bar with the best mixed cocktail I'll have all trip.



A 7 hour red eye flight followed and I've never slept better on a plane.

 

[James F]

Great report so far! Manta looks quite snappy on POVs, properly the coaster I would want the ride the most in the UAE.

 

[emoo]

After landing I had a day to adjust and enjoy the city. A whirlwind of amazing totally normal things with delightful juxtaposition.



I really like the trees and types of foliage all around



Buildings were fascinating too with Temples & elaborate high rises



Two very different temples on the same street. One about a tooth relic and the other filled with hundreds of lanterns and Buddha statues



Asides the crowed walkways with random uneven steps I'm very pleased all round.



Enjoyable food and drink in the hawker markets (which need cash if you were not set up to pay in the local way)



and fancy roof top bars anyone can visit (the water feature is the hotels pool)



A marvellous day I'm not doing justice here as I have LOG points to register and a bucket to tick off.

 

[emoo]

A quick and easy ride on the MRT followed by a monorail and its spinning globe time. I've always wanted to visit Versal.



Expecting low crowds but not willing to risk it, we arrive early enough to have a relaxed breakfast just outside the park entrance. A fun assortment, perhaps a bit random but all very tasty. That's a dried plum in the drink actually adding more flavour.



Waiting close to the turnstyles and just before opening time we see some IP masots do a song and dance. Its cool for the kiddos and adults with a wide assortment of selfie sticks. But I just want the gates open and a clear path to run to this beauty.



Not to get overly emotional but if I didn't ride both sides of this in the next few hours it would have been devastating. The whole heart of this quest would have been ripped away, eaten by the Cylons or something. I dunno, never watched the show. This was all about the original idea to have different types of track and thrill levels duelling. LSM lift hills too woweee. Opening with the park in 2010 it had 4 across seating on both sides but that lasted about 3 years before the issues and fear set in.



Vekoma were in the early stages of their redemption arc and after a couple of years SBNO this was thankfully sorted for all to live on - now with 2 across seating. The black track turned blue at some point as well. Free locker shenanigans, slippery floors and mediocre batching made a minor dent in the pace. Didn't matter, not many people here yet. A couple of rides on the blue/Cylon invert and one on the red/Human sit down in about half an hour. Front row blue was excellent and more forces on both than expected. Even the lift hills, while fairly mild still had a noticeable boost. What a fun way to kick things off. Nothing earth shattering but a decent headliner & looking forward to many more rides today. The queue theming was interesting and I'm very glad the massive switch backs were in no danger of being touched today. The blue queue had red relieved walls (not as relieved as I was) made to look like guts or flesh. Clearly fake but a snazzy look all the same. The red was more about video messages that replayed too often. Its as if they were produced expecting a throughput of twice as many people from any given point.



Neither duelled in the morning and it wouldn't have surprised me if they didn't any more. Yet somehow the biggest gripe was the exit path - it was so plain and awkward. I've seen nicer backstage stairwells. Also there should clearly be water at the foundations. The lockers have a time limit, somewhat linked to the queue times so we may as well take a few steps out of SiFi into Egypt to ride The Mummy.



Very similar to the condensed Orlando version with less fire and no coffee. Rides as well as the others plus a minimal wait. This is great, could have gone round a few times but thought it best to hunt out the low capacity rides first.



Nothing left stands out on paper but at least adults are allowed to ride them all. Canopy Flyer even has a useful single rider line and a very pleasant tree fly by. The park atmosphere suddenly shifts and there's a 40 min queue showing on the remaining 2 coasters. A quick snack led to getting fast pass. They are only good for a single ride on each applicable attraction costing an off putting amount. We didn't see ourselves ever coming back and my friend had already brought them before I could think f++k it. What a guy. We can now walk on what's left and quickly re-ride others. First up Enchanted Airways, a Vekoma Junior 335m with good dragon heads on the trains. A fine basic +1, I guess this is a one train (one lap) coaster and the other dragon is a spare.



Time for another forgettable cred. Or so I thought.



Puss in Boots became a surprise hit of the day. It uses the same rotating core lift mechanism more commonly found on Volare's. Coasting you through various scenes no doubt from the film - so much more coaster than I expected. Not more than was needed however, more rides could do this for my liking.



The individual cars felt huge, 3 rows of 3 people and many cars on track. They were quickly dispatching this ride. Themed really well too. This is an all rounder, something little kids and grown ups can enjoy together. Plus recipes for cannibals, how cute.



There's still a lot to do in the park including WaterWorld, always good for a laugh. The man on fire got a bigger pop from the crowd than the seaplane but I loved it. The other top moment was one of the personal watercrafts spraying a vicious amount of water towards the splash zone. A mean but hilarious move.




They have a Transformers clone here too - I do like this ride a lot but being the 3rd version I've ridden there was no need to save the planet again by sitting down (trying to look for the floor level change.)



The Sesame Street ride was about spaghetti, meatballs and space, best not question it too much. We walked past the yet to open Minions land a couple of times while lapping. 3 weeks till opening, no soft previews, all work walls still up. Just the carousel testing - I liked the disco lighting attached to the roof but otherwise wasn't interested. Battlestar Galactica was duelling by now. After fast pass was used up the park starts to quiet down an hour or so before closing so time a few laps on our favourites.



Time to head out, bucket list checked off and very satisfied. There was a queue for the monorail so we chanced the walking route off Sentosa island back to the city. Well worth it and stumbled across a better entrance shot.



Once through a construction zone there was a pretty and calming 20 min walk along the water I'd recommend.



No a camera quirk, these were solid LED lines wrapped round the trunk. I prefer the classic spotted individual lights you see everywhere else.



That's one way to easily ride every coaster in a country.

 

[James F]

Looks like you had a great day Hope I'll get to visit Singapore at some point. Puss in Boots and Battlestar Galatica are quite unique coasters when you think about it. Is the airport as cool as everyone makes it out to be?

 

[emoo]

I thought Changi was a great airport, plenty of ways to pass some time. Could be a few hours napping in a bed (one of the many transit hotels has a pool although I didn't get round to that). Or spend a free moment in various scenes indoor and out.



Much more pleasant than a typical cramped and noisy waiting area.



There are shops of course including this frankly ridiculous coffee shop. Great pastries and I was going to keep the bag forever (until I got a better Bacha bag days later).



But this is what always gets talked about, a waterfall falling through the roof down many floors in a landscaped rainforest setting.



It is indeed stunning day or night. The light show that goes off in the evening was good but not massively better than the general mood lighting.



This is landside surrounded by terminals 1 to 3 and not the arrivals/departures. That's a bit of a walk away. If airside take the Skytrain route highlighted in yellow from T2 to T3 to travel through the best bit. The same train had isolated cars and loadings areas for people landside which I thought was a clever way to move everyone around.



The Jewel had many floors of shops and restaurants surrounding the main feature. Its basically a shopping mall with extra suitcases that honestly looks inconvenient unless you visit when not flying. We stayed the night before in one of the attached hotels to explore relaxed. At the top were a few bars, one with an excellent gin assortment. The proper dry stuff not that flavoured sticky fad.



Once through the final bag check I came across my first cashierless store in the holding area. Tapped a payment card to get in and used my passport to open the beer fridge. Almost certainly got undercharged even after waving the goods at cameras so the tech isn't there yet but interesting all the same.



There's enough to see and do here a second visit could be completely different. And if you wait long enough a mega new section will be added. However that and this summary is getting ahead of itself. We still had a lot of city adventures to come including a day trip by land to Malaysia, before we eventually flew out to Malaysia.

 

[emoo]

Going back a few days it was time for the other theme park in the area. While not massively excited both agreed was a must do while close by. I'm sure we can get a fun few hours out of Legoland Maylaisa - plus of course tick off the 3 coasters.

Thing is, as the name suggests its in a different country and was a bit of faff to get too and from.

Coach tickets to the park were booked ahead of time so we start on the MRT getting off at Promenade. A little walk past an interesting city roundabout heading to a bus station.



We arrive early correctly following instructions. There were no signs saying where to gather or even a bus stop. No one else around so there was much uncertainty. The 'reception' we were told to register with was the driver who turned up eventually. Tablet in hand he made sure that everyone had a ticket and completed the required electronic immigration forms. It's free but be wary of third party sites trying to charge to get it processed quickly. I got confirmation (in the junk folder) very quickly on completion the day before. I use the UK governments website to navigate to any relevant travel forms, perhaps use your countries to do the same. Some bastard websites hope to insert themselves as a middle processor for a pointless scam fee.

Anyway bus was real nice, plush seating with 2 seats on one side of the isle and one on the other. Loads of space.



No bathroom on this particular service so be prepared. While only 40 mins away non stop there was traffic and waiting. This route went via the Tuas Checkpoint. Everyone gets off with any luggage and through Singapore's customs to officially leave the country. Wait for everyone to get through, passengers didn't take long, the coach makes sure to wait and ensure everyone gets back on.

Drive over the bridge and repeat the same, this time to enter Malaysia. Got the best stamp in my passport, its an ornate triangle. No pics as this isn't the time. Just imagine a very impressive assortment of orchids brightening up dingy official buildings and massive concrete walls. All surrounded by layers of barbed wire with a jungles worth of trees just beyond. A new staff member joins the coach really hammering home the importance of having yet another form completed to return back to Singapore. They even suggest using the parks wifi. I wouldn't want to deal with the hassle of someone not making it through due to formalities, although there were a few terminals at the checkpoints I think you can use in an emergency.

We arrive at the park surrounded by more trees, 2 hill signs and scattered high rise buildings.



We visit one week before the Chinese New Year. The park entrance was filling up with a world record attempt to build the worlds longest snake. Made in Lego with help of guests each building a slice.



The Great Lego Race is a Mack Wild Mouse Large Park model with extra drop to start. A simple & effective layout extra. Potentially low capacity and we wanted to try both with and without the virtual reality headset. The small switch back queue had a few vertical baseplate walls with enough 2x2 bricks in remarkably good condition to mess around with. Handy to pass some time given the ride broke down moments after we arrived. Shame about the interactive button that played the same sound when pressed, and the kid who did not get board of it. Eventually they evacuated the queue via the station. It's just a bare bones shed with extra long roof over the back for the open air maintenance area. No expense was considered making this look good. The cars at least use comically oversized Lego Techinc parts to decorate the car.



I like Lego and lands but combined they don't excite me any more, its essentially the same kids park everywhere. At least I find joy in the main Dragon coaster which this may or may not be.

Spoiler: is it?

It is

And this may or may not be the second smaller dragon coaster.

Spoiler: is it?

It is

Same manufacture, track type and colour right next to each other. A pathway clearly breaks them up but from the right angle you can see both mashed into one. The operations were vastly different today, those at Dragon's Apprentice were great and ride was actually fun. More so than beyond the relief of finally riding something.

The main Dragon was running one train with the half the seats blocked off. 2 ride attendants clearly understaffed and painful to watch. One had double duty with the control panel & letting people to the air gates (These positions were opposite ends of the station). The other took care of all lap bars, bags and pointing at the obvious exit. Only one working at any given time. Clearly Merlin, but that's not what we want out of layers to immersive theming.

The mouse was still down so we do a lap with the obligatory Mini Land that sensibly has a canopy roof. As is tradition some buildings looked a bit tired and many moving effects were static or wonky. Any clever part usage was still appreciated.



Will be seeing the real thing in a few days.



Got on a couple dark rides and observation tower (which had clear windows and where the park overview pic was taken). Log flume splash ride thing was closed sadly. Time to lurk around hoping they can reopen a basic coaster model. This eventually happened although no more VR today.



Note the massive horizontal fan on a post, a few of these were around. Not seen that before. The weather might look rubbish but that's just clouds with minimal raindrops. It's 25 to 30 Celsius all week.

Half the park day remains, thankfully we had better plans than waiting hours for the return coach. We Grab a taxi from the resort hotels lobby, taking a lift from the park level. A few of floors, its a hilly area. A cheap disco light rocking out and the best movie jingle play on a loop inside. Everything was indeed awesome but didn't last long. Jake Peralta has a line ready and waiting for that.

The plan is to head to Johor Bahru, a large city just above the border, and have a look around the mall next to the station. With more time than needed before part 2 of the day begins we look for somewhere to sit and have a few cheap beers. A shisha karaoke bar took care of that and the staff were so complexed we didn't want to sing. I'm not that type of fun.



Super tacky, I love it. Enough time passes and we need to head to the station. There is a shuttle train that can take you over the Johor-Singapore Causeway. Very quick customs including using a passport as a ticket. I know that's not new anymore but first time for me.

Its the evening now but there is still another activity lined up - we checked out the Night Safari. Highly recommended in many online articles as a city must do.



Its a zoo in the dark with easily the worse food of the trip. There are walking paths between exhibits with low lighting in the trees. Its a great effect and something I'd like to see anywhere else. The Safari comes from a road train taking you though various areas with roaming animals. Was very tired by now and still cranky from the show we saw moments before. The audience were awful, so many calls from the handlers to sit down and not spook the animals that just got ignored. The conservation and preservation messages seems a bit hollow too.

To get back is a bus followed by an hours MRT. Long but cheap. Taxis are noticeably cheaper in Malyasia and wouldn't have saved useful time on this route for us. This is when I find out stores stop selling alcohol after 10:30pm. Important information here right until the end.

Days like this make the trip interesting and there were good moments. Got to see another side of the city, including this building our hotel faced from round the corner



Also, if I ever go back these side quests can be skipped to focus more on the greater stuff. Next day was laundry time and had plenty of fun doing stuff around that. We continue with more city stuff for a bit until coming round to the airport chatter a post ago.

 

[Gavin]

Fun fact (or not). That roundabout at the beginning of the report used to hold the Guinness world record for largest fountain. I have not idea how that was measured since it didn't seem all that big even when it was holding the record.

 

[emoo]

Had no idea about that at the time and had to look it up to see how that was even possible. There's an entire sub floor below the road at least doubling the height of the water dropping from the ring, Got the record in 1988, looks neat.

---

Back at Changi, we take off with Batik Air, a low cost airline with a fun livery. Its a 45 flight to Kuala Lumpur and the in air service was astonishing for what it was. Everyone gets offered a free snack and we got our pre selected add on meal served. This cost a trivial amount more than the base rate given we needed to check bags. Its a pizza in a box, easy to stack and heat on a plane. Tasty enough and at least as good as any other micro pizza I've had.



After landing we wait for the skybridge to dock and watched in bemusement as the baggage conveyors in arrivals recklessly dump out luggage. Kept getting stuck and beeping, no sensors to tell it to wait a few seconds for a gap. Its going to be a silly day I see.



None of this took long but today would get me to another bucket list ride so everything just needs to hurry up. We head to the city taking the KLIA Ekspres, a 30 non stop min train with a decent view. Taxi to the hotel, room isn't ready so another taxi to Berjaya Times Square. There is public transport but its as fast as walking for where we want to go. Cars take half the time, somehow in the horrendous city centre traffic.



A large mall with a section somewhere in here dedicated to Berjaya Times Square Theme Park.



I'm so excited for this, home to the iconic Supersonic Odyssey. Have you seen the loop around the walkway?



So cool. What I didn't understand till this day was the park is completely separated from everything else. An everyday shopper wont accidentally walk through the eye. I didn't spot how anyone would with intent, perhaps those bridges are for a closed attraction or backstage access. Not pay per ride here so for the all in one cost lets try and rack up as many rides as possible.



Very few riders here today which means never waiting more than once cycle. Unfortunately they have an infuriating rule to completely load the train before dispatching so once sat down it was usually a while. So much so we only managed 4 laps on this day and couldn't justify waiting for a specific seat. We did get lucky with a back row once out of chance where you can see a metal plate like this.



A few reports surfaced earlier this year saying SS wasn't as good as it used to be. Thankfully I didn't know any better and though it was excellent, loads of fun. I literally cant imagine how this would be loads better unless it was butter glass smooth. This opened around the same time as Colossus but started so much earlier that it has the older trains. Very bulky and odd but easier to get in and out of. Rides remarkably well for its age and generation too.



Half the ride is before the lift with a heartline roll and meandering random trick track. So many years ahead of RMC prelift and even Hydras Jojo roll. Sure I'd prefer there was more main ride instead but its selling point is being squeezed in a building doing stuff around other things.



Odd space decorations, a funky vibe.



Intamin really were trying all sorts of things out, this ceiling helix right after the lift could be the forerunner to Cheetah Hunts Windcatcher tower.



This did loads more for me than the start of Dæmonen and looks so whacky, can even see it wobble a bit off ride as the train goes round. Then the kinkiness drop into the loop.



It then heads off somewhere to a final corkscrew, throwing in a couple of min but vigorous pops.



A cracking ride but the ops were too frustrating, time to check the rest of the place out.



We gave a couple of flats a go. One was a tower ride with a condor like rotation but more exposed and outward facing seats. Fits very snugly against that helix structure and has coaster track wrapping around. A fun interlude that could have been better if the coaster actually went round during our ride.



The other was a top spin with one bendy arm by Moser. I think its their Maverick model and it was utterly appalling. So uncomfortable with no redeeming features. No flow between different portions of the ride and would hold you awkwardly upside down, head ready to burst, while it clunked and thought about what to do next. Long cycle that I just wanted to end. Avoid.



We really did like the coaster though and wanted to ride more so we actually came back a couple of days later to try again. This time on the start of CNY and as its a holiday the park is much busier. There was a queue for the coaster but kept moving and even on one train took the same time to cycle as a few days prior. Much more enjoyable this way with a buzz in the air. We had a bizarre stroke of luck getting the front row, thanks to some indecisive kids who used a few rounds of rock paper scissors to decide on what seats to take.



There is a Soquet credit so very far on the other side of Kuala Lumpur. I'd made my interest known many times when planning out this trip but it was the right choice to come back here instead. I guess I can come back another time as the to do list is growing.



Our night and coaster trip ends at the Banyan Tree rooftop bar. A spectacular view of a very quirky city.


The Merdeka 118 skyscraper on the left is now the worlds second tallest and that vanity spire looks fabulous. Really suits the look and has a striking lighting package. Sleek solid lines on the main tower with flashing lights up top which can all change colour. Beautiful. Still not open to the public so will have to come back here one day to go up it.

Will also come back if they ever open those troublesome coasters at Genting's Highland although we did get there on this trip too, between these days.

 

[emoo]

One final park day to cover. High in the mountains leaving the city we have the aptly named Genting Skyworlds. For a considerable amount of time I wouldn't entertain the idea of a trip anywhere near this part of the world. Not until this brand new dazzling theme park opened after its former self was erased in 2013.

We start with a taxi to a hectic bus terminal. Its not overly clear to the uninitiated where to go and the departure boards show buses from hours before but not any upcoming. Very strange so we just scan the pre purchased tickets, head to the seating area and find a stop that looks like the one. After watching the busy bus stop attendant process a constant flow of coaches, printing a rolls worth of receipts, ours turns up close enough to the time expected.

A pleasant journey quickly gets crazy winding up the mountain. Tight turns often close to the edge, winding all over and a bus driver who left the oven on. It's incredible to see this all go by and eventually we enter a cloud layer and arrive at the premium outlets.

After several floors of escalator traversing we arrive at the cable car. I'm so relived its a walk on as I mistakenly didn't buy the fast pass. It took multiple attempts with so many cards on the Genting's website that when it finally worked I missed the best options.

Time for something bonkers.



This was spooky experience. Visibility close to zero with little more than cables cars going the other way fade in and out. I couldn't believe the angles of ascent. The cars didn't swing any more than you would normally come across but it was just freaky and awesome. Nerves tingling similar to a mega tall star flyer.

Once at the top you are in yet another large shopping area with a surprising amount of people. Where did everyone come from? Apparently more likely to be shopping or gambling than what we were here for, but the practical transport logistics baffle me.

Before the reason for visiting we notice the indoor attraction area is close so quickly look around Skytropolis Indoor Theme Park. Home to one coaster and a few flats, all pay per ride.



For a Volare this didn't look at that offensive being well presented and closed. Super Glider doesn't open till 6pm, swarms of potential paying riders around who perhaps know better by now.



The proper outdoor theme park was going to be called Sony something back in the day but during construction things got weird. Big business buy outs prevented some IPs being used and they used this dreadful name. Just Skyworlds will do but I have no connection to the brand.



I'm excited but confused of what's actually out there. The promised 2 tech heavy coaster rides with funky elements had me hyped up a long time ago and that's long since gone to pot by now. Will it just be a cred run or what?



A massive coat had been taking up space from my bag all trip. Of course I didn't bring it today and was time to step out into the mystery fog. Everything looks amazing, just not that great to be in. Instantly damp we enter the first possible attraction - Invasion of the Planet of the Apes.



Walking all the way non stop through the detailed queue gets us to a helpful preshow. The ride is a blend of Ratatouille and Spiderman. The physical sets/dressing are really well done and the rest is good enough with room for improvement. Enjoyed it a lot and a vast improvement on the UAEs rids with
this kind of tech. The 'hovercrafts' are lit extra bright due to the staff taking a photo before the ride starts.



Back out into the wild suddenly Andromeda Base coaster appears. This is one of the 2 Dynamic Attraction failures that are apparently still under construction on RCDB but the website makes no direct mention. I do hope this makes the to-do list one day. I'm not optimistic here.



Given how much I was gushing over the only other SFX coaster a week prior it was strange to feel completely different on sight of this. I have more photos of the Volare. Maybe it was from being wet and cold with altitude crushing the mood. But more likely the sadness pushing me away.



If we could see properly the adjacent Ice Age area might not blend in so well, but too busy diving into the next ride to notice. This ends up another trackless ride suffering a bit more from from noticeable large empty spaces. Especially in the station where there wasn't even background or theme music. Ride was worth a go with a mix of different screen types and some above average aminated figures. Very slow ops so very glad there was no queue. Maybe something was up for a moment.



The actual coaster entrance wasn't far off but we have to backtrack to the lockers for my tiny bag. Crashing Windows XP be dammed we restart the system and are ready to go. The queue had some cute details and lots of variation as you went through, the ride however...



I'm truly stunned about how great Acorn Adventure was. The station and lift hill are fully themed and enclosed. At the top we are released outside to helix and dive into the white void. Can't see the park at all and barly make out the track ahead. Fast and thrilling, front row was astounding. Got this pic much later when the conditions outside had greatly improved. Perhaps this is lame on a sunny day idk - today it was the best.



The trains looked great too. Rode a few times, would have been more but the novelty of the weather was wearing thin. Slippery floors are all around which is an ood choice given the location.



There is one other coaster here, Samba Gliders. Very similar to Canopy Flyers we did in Universal a few days earlier but wasn't fussed this time.



We do a lap of the park, more than the expected lot is closed (boat ride, S&S tower, climbing course) either weather related or low crowds. Both? The uni coaster was also close but fair dos. Didn't do this Zamperla Air Rave this but did try to spin on the Gerst Sky Flyer Technical Park Aerobat.



Tried out a ride based on Independence Day: Defiance

Spoiler: Preshow

There was a large box with opaque windows



A good enough actor eventually revealed this to have an alien contained within. Supposedly asleep it starts to wriggle. This was good but I expected and wanted to have the lights go out and when they come back the alien has disappeared and escaped.

Its a a flying theatre with a surprisingly coherent plot. Actual thought and good production has gone into these rides.



Towards the end of our visit we find this random walkway that cuts through the park.



Take some pics of something I'll come to in a bit and this park sign. Looks to be the parks better entrance if its ever open. Didn't spin and not all LEDs were lit well so I made do with this.



On another day I can see more time being happily spent but we are not even here long enough to eat. That came after going back into the mall and having an enormous meal for the ages at Din Tai Fung.



We have a return coach booked for much later in the day but decided to leave early, mugging off the flying coaster for some valuable hotel time. Tacked onto the list of course but at the bottom and only if the rest gets sorted. There is a road all the way up here but we still brave the cable car back down. For a brief moment you go over the park and now its cleared up Mad Ramp Peak can be seen below.



It would have been a duelling test track/Cars ride but an actual coaster. This looks so much better irl than in the the Google maps aerials I've checked out many times before. So yeah one more for the top of the list .



We are treated to a final thrill with some lush scenes.



Didn't get the glass bottom cars so guess here that's going, the cherry on the top of a hopeful return visit.



Because they are too cheap here we taxi back, full of great food and happy soggy memories. I nod off for most of it missing what would have been a sight to behold. And that's the coaster part of the trip covered even if the timeline is a bit wonky. Not as many coasters and parks of an ideal mega trip but overall everything went tremendously well. Biggest spite was not getting tickets to go up the Petronus Towers and across that skybridge. Opps to say the least but still looks magnificent from the ground. Red for CNY eve and I'm so pleased that it barley dented our journey asides a bit of gridlock for one journey. Half the trip was taken up with enjoying the destination which I don't do often at all so was an extra special time.



The goon in me was extra pleased given I've already doubled my '24 coaster count and equalled first attempt at LOG. Can move on from a sparse year and the shame. Exhausted and drained already plotting the next adventure.