Here comes another long, multi-part report which won’t feature anything particularly interesting in terms of coasters, but it’s from a part of the world that doesn’t show up on here often.
My Easter Holiday this year was a few days longer than normal, allowing for a proper long-haul trip. South America hadn’t ever been on the cards as a trip from Hong Kong since it’s such a ballache of a trip from here. I’d always thought I’d be better off doing it from the UK and doing a month-long+ kind of thing, but the older I get, the more the idea of an extra-long trip loses any appeal, so breaking South America into smaller doses seemed like the better idea if I were ever going to get it done.
The trip involved an 8-hour flight from here to Dubai, but with an 11-hour overnight layover after that. This actually worked perfectly as it broke up the trip into much more manageable chunks and Dubai Airport also has hotels in the terminals themselves. You can just check into the hotel directly in the terminal, without having to clear immigration, and then just head to the next flight directly after checking out. Game changer.
Next up was a 15-hour flight to Sao Paulo, but I’d managed to get a decent deal on premium economy for that leg, so it was much more comfortable at least. Sao Paulo isn’t particularly a place I’d ever been interested in, but I decided to do a few days there for some park stuff, also figuring that by doing the least interesting place first, while I was still “fresh”, I’d appreciate it more than doing it at the end.
I got to the hotel at a decent enough time on the Saturday night. I usually prefer to see a bit of any new city first before cred whoring, but some of the places were only open at weekends, meaning that the first day, the Sunday, was the only chance I’d have.
So yeah, my first day ever in South America was spent in Ubers picking up crappy +1s. Stupid hobby.
Cidade da Crianca
Although it’s small with nothing of any real note, this was the most major park of the day. I got there shortly after opening in the morning, and it wasn’t busy. It’s a pay-one-price kind of place, and they sold me a cheap “accompanying adult” ticket - cheaper than a kids’ ticket – even though I was by myself. For 8 quid, you get a booklet of 8 ride coupons. Every ride is one coupon, so it was more than enough for the 3 creds I needed.
The first cred was a Chinese spinner:
Next up was this SBF Visa thing, which had a strangely rough lift hill, but an ok main layout.
More interesting was an inverted big apple coaster, kind of hidden in a corner and looking closed, but luckily not. From the RCDB description:
I don't take videos as I can't be arsed with the whole thing, but I took a video. Behold:
If this were a pay-per-ride place, I would’ve skipped the ghost train, but it was paid for. Nothing special.
They also had this dinosaur ride. The vehicles cross a bridge and go through a small room with some animatronics. I was on a roll with my amazing videos, so there's one for this as well.
For what it is, and the low price of it, I thought this park was ok. 3 creds are 3 creds.
I was in two minds whether to head out to place called Animalia Park. It would’ve taken around an hour to get to, and while it has four coasters listed, two of those are apparently only open for special events. The park’s website seemed to confirm this since they only had two of the coasters listed on their site, which seemed to be very up-to-date and comprehensive. I ended up not bothering, but kind of regretted it later since I would’ve had plenty of time.
Anyway, Next!
Parque da Monica
This was a shopping mall park which had the actual audacity to charge an all-inclusive entrance fee, which was more than double what I paid at the last place. All for one cred. This absolutely should’ve been a pay-per-ride, rechargeable card kind of place like pretty much every other shopping mall park on the planet. Evil, robbing bastards.
The coaster was an Intamin family thing. It was fine, but not worth the sixteen quid I think I’d had to pay for it.
Back into an Uber and onto the next one:
Neo Geo
This was a proper shopping mall park who realised they were just a shopping mall park and had the good manners to operate a pay-per-ride system accordingly. It was basically just a games arcade, but it had a Zamperla dragon on an outdoor terrace.
And onto the next mall:
Playland Osasco
Another shopping mall, another Zamperla dragon:
Back to an outdoor park, which was across the street from a shopping mall rather than being inside one.
T-Rex Park
This was also just a pay-per-ride place and home to an SBF spinner, the absolute scourge of the coaster enthusiast community. There are no pictures of this place on RCDB yet. I know everyone’s been keeping a close eye on it, desperate for more information, so you’re welcome.
Onto another shopping mall then:
Neo Geo
Yes, another place called Neo Geo. It’s a chain that has facilities in a load of shopping malls, but most of them are just games arcades. This one was much more substantial, with two coasters: one from Vekoma and then another f**king SBF spinner.
I just had one more park on the list:
Parque de Diversões Marisa
Another small, outdoor park in a beautiful location, but at least it didn’t have an SBF Spinner. RCDB doesn’t have the manufacturer of the coaster listed, but it’s probably Pinfari, innit?
By this point it was around 5 or 6pm and I was done. All of these places were open until quite late, around 10pm, so I could’ve fitted in that Animalia place earlier, but by that point I was at the complete wrong end of the city, which is massive, and it was too late anyway since that park was closing at 7. I should have just gone out there earlier, picking up another cred (another SBF spinner) on the way back into the city, while still having time to hit up all those other places. I was kind of happy to be done early though since I was pretty knackered still from travelling.
I’ve also since realised that I missed another small park in the city which could’ve easily been done along with those others, but, again, it only had an SBF spinner. I’m not sure how I missed that one. Maybe it hadn’t popped up on Coast-to-Coaster at that point since the coaster listing on RCDB was quite new, a rookie mistake on my part which I’m quite annoyed about since I'm usually very good at using both sites to plan stuff out.
Still, it was quite a productive day, hitting seven parks and adding ten new coasters to the count, though adding to the count was all it was really since there was little of any note. Could’ve/should’ve been ten parks and fourteen creds though…
Next up, a proper park: Hopi Hari
My Easter Holiday this year was a few days longer than normal, allowing for a proper long-haul trip. South America hadn’t ever been on the cards as a trip from Hong Kong since it’s such a ballache of a trip from here. I’d always thought I’d be better off doing it from the UK and doing a month-long+ kind of thing, but the older I get, the more the idea of an extra-long trip loses any appeal, so breaking South America into smaller doses seemed like the better idea if I were ever going to get it done.
The trip involved an 8-hour flight from here to Dubai, but with an 11-hour overnight layover after that. This actually worked perfectly as it broke up the trip into much more manageable chunks and Dubai Airport also has hotels in the terminals themselves. You can just check into the hotel directly in the terminal, without having to clear immigration, and then just head to the next flight directly after checking out. Game changer.
Next up was a 15-hour flight to Sao Paulo, but I’d managed to get a decent deal on premium economy for that leg, so it was much more comfortable at least. Sao Paulo isn’t particularly a place I’d ever been interested in, but I decided to do a few days there for some park stuff, also figuring that by doing the least interesting place first, while I was still “fresh”, I’d appreciate it more than doing it at the end.
I got to the hotel at a decent enough time on the Saturday night. I usually prefer to see a bit of any new city first before cred whoring, but some of the places were only open at weekends, meaning that the first day, the Sunday, was the only chance I’d have.
So yeah, my first day ever in South America was spent in Ubers picking up crappy +1s. Stupid hobby.
Cidade da Crianca
Although it’s small with nothing of any real note, this was the most major park of the day. I got there shortly after opening in the morning, and it wasn’t busy. It’s a pay-one-price kind of place, and they sold me a cheap “accompanying adult” ticket - cheaper than a kids’ ticket – even though I was by myself. For 8 quid, you get a booklet of 8 ride coupons. Every ride is one coupon, so it was more than enough for the 3 creds I needed.
![2sGnberh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/2sGnberh.jpg)
![5Ra8ejTh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/5Ra8ejTh.jpg)
![CPIkSOLh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/CPIkSOLh.jpg)
![Sb5DNw0h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Sb5DNw0h.jpg)
![WdW3ogch.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/WdW3ogch.jpg)
![tlK8wEEh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/tlK8wEEh.jpg)
![rmzQhmnh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/rmzQhmnh.jpg)
The first cred was a Chinese spinner:
![1PtUvKWh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/1PtUvKWh.jpg)
![rzaNwejh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/rzaNwejh.jpg)
![2Ofc18Xh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/2Ofc18Xh.jpg)
Next up was this SBF Visa thing, which had a strangely rough lift hill, but an ok main layout.
![xK9NxzXh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/xK9NxzXh.jpg)
![tLIwArWh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/tLIwArWh.jpg)
![DcGCz3lh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/DcGCz3lh.jpg)
More interesting was an inverted big apple coaster, kind of hidden in a corner and looking closed, but luckily not. From the RCDB description:
Magic Bee was built by a guy called Arnaldo in his shop in a town called São José do Rio Preto. He builds a lot of rides to small parks but doesn't have a company name. He is simply known as "Arnaldo de São José do Rio Preto" (Arnaldo from São José do Rio Preto). São José do Rio Preto means "Saint Joseph of the Black River".
![BKHSlAJh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/BKHSlAJh.jpg)
![gMmRvOPh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/gMmRvOPh.jpg)
![XaEfQoQh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/XaEfQoQh.jpg)
![dIQ4XLjh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/dIQ4XLjh.jpg)
![vISDL6Ch.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/vISDL6Ch.jpg)
![aMqOK1ah.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/aMqOK1ah.jpg)
![D7D4oWzh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/D7D4oWzh.jpg)
![mspsdq1h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/mspsdq1h.jpg)
![WeBT6TMh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/WeBT6TMh.jpg)
I don't take videos as I can't be arsed with the whole thing, but I took a video. Behold:
If this were a pay-per-ride place, I would’ve skipped the ghost train, but it was paid for. Nothing special.
![xe8zYBJh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/xe8zYBJh.jpg)
![nkn6VmEh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/nkn6VmEh.jpg)
They also had this dinosaur ride. The vehicles cross a bridge and go through a small room with some animatronics. I was on a roll with my amazing videos, so there's one for this as well.
![GGM6jPxh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/GGM6jPxh.jpg)
![8fFxZN2h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/8fFxZN2h.jpg)
![PiQLZD5h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/PiQLZD5h.jpg)
![6x0t1W7h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6x0t1W7h.jpg)
![IP3gZ3uh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/IP3gZ3uh.jpg)
![0ZApnNph.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/0ZApnNph.jpg)
For what it is, and the low price of it, I thought this park was ok. 3 creds are 3 creds.
I was in two minds whether to head out to place called Animalia Park. It would’ve taken around an hour to get to, and while it has four coasters listed, two of those are apparently only open for special events. The park’s website seemed to confirm this since they only had two of the coasters listed on their site, which seemed to be very up-to-date and comprehensive. I ended up not bothering, but kind of regretted it later since I would’ve had plenty of time.
Anyway, Next!
Parque da Monica
This was a shopping mall park which had the actual audacity to charge an all-inclusive entrance fee, which was more than double what I paid at the last place. All for one cred. This absolutely should’ve been a pay-per-ride, rechargeable card kind of place like pretty much every other shopping mall park on the planet. Evil, robbing bastards.
![qLFh6DXh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/qLFh6DXh.jpg)
![MndkpLth.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/MndkpLth.jpg)
![FALzGH1h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/FALzGH1h.jpg)
![MuJp4Hch.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/MuJp4Hch.jpg)
![BppilcIh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/BppilcIh.jpg)
![VA5yR9Kh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/VA5yR9Kh.jpg)
![ofVoIxkh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/ofVoIxkh.jpg)
The coaster was an Intamin family thing. It was fine, but not worth the sixteen quid I think I’d had to pay for it.
![GlELG1dh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/GlELG1dh.jpg)
![JWgD9kHh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/JWgD9kHh.jpg)
![z9Vezhrh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/z9Vezhrh.jpg)
![JHbVVS2h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/JHbVVS2h.jpg)
Back into an Uber and onto the next one:
Neo Geo
This was a proper shopping mall park who realised they were just a shopping mall park and had the good manners to operate a pay-per-ride system accordingly. It was basically just a games arcade, but it had a Zamperla dragon on an outdoor terrace.
![Ei6ogIEh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Ei6ogIEh.jpg)
![MYKHAibh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/MYKHAibh.jpg)
![CUNnBY0h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/CUNnBY0h.jpg)
![g802kuMh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/g802kuMh.jpg)
And onto the next mall:
Playland Osasco
Another shopping mall, another Zamperla dragon:
![9ZrE0pSh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/9ZrE0pSh.jpg)
![nN3u6X0h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/nN3u6X0h.jpg)
![IIAR0t2h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/IIAR0t2h.jpg)
Back to an outdoor park, which was across the street from a shopping mall rather than being inside one.
T-Rex Park
This was also just a pay-per-ride place and home to an SBF spinner, the absolute scourge of the coaster enthusiast community. There are no pictures of this place on RCDB yet. I know everyone’s been keeping a close eye on it, desperate for more information, so you’re welcome.
![ovViz2Ah.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/ovViz2Ah.jpg)
![2DlDyuth.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/2DlDyuth.jpg)
![dor4Jwlh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/dor4Jwlh.jpg)
![rCW50Cvh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/rCW50Cvh.jpg)
![HMI9ehrh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/HMI9ehrh.jpg)
![B1Az8xwh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/B1Az8xwh.jpg)
![PrBvrPkh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/PrBvrPkh.jpg)
![rQ3uiQ8h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/rQ3uiQ8h.jpg)
![oXF49NBh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/oXF49NBh.jpg)
![Eh732v4h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Eh732v4h.jpg)
![x1GWIS1h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/x1GWIS1h.jpg)
Onto another shopping mall then:
Neo Geo
Yes, another place called Neo Geo. It’s a chain that has facilities in a load of shopping malls, but most of them are just games arcades. This one was much more substantial, with two coasters: one from Vekoma and then another f**king SBF spinner.
![k07wpnZh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/k07wpnZh.jpg)
![O3U8wn2h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/O3U8wn2h.jpg)
![nlPLfUwh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/nlPLfUwh.jpg)
![tXLXwdAh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/tXLXwdAh.jpg)
![UfkNlvxh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/UfkNlvxh.jpg)
![IbTUXMPh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/IbTUXMPh.jpg)
![hsMr0ONh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/hsMr0ONh.jpg)
![KwnlQoGh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/KwnlQoGh.jpg)
![naPdSGwh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/naPdSGwh.jpg)
![aSbLzlgh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/aSbLzlgh.jpg)
![6cgkm4qh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6cgkm4qh.jpg)
![06LWoBWh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/06LWoBWh.jpg)
![Ve0CSG1h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Ve0CSG1h.jpg)
![nsHpSxDh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/nsHpSxDh.jpg)
![6MtWp7hh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6MtWp7hh.jpg)
I just had one more park on the list:
Parque de Diversões Marisa
Another small, outdoor park in a beautiful location, but at least it didn’t have an SBF Spinner. RCDB doesn’t have the manufacturer of the coaster listed, but it’s probably Pinfari, innit?
![tpZtBmsh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/tpZtBmsh.jpg)
![ioud34Ih.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/ioud34Ih.jpg)
![PqrPp05h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/PqrPp05h.jpg)
![XwVZpA5h.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/XwVZpA5h.jpg)
![nzfGSabh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/nzfGSabh.jpg)
![xAZQcFBh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/xAZQcFBh.jpg)
![cD7UfUnh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/cD7UfUnh.jpg)
By this point it was around 5 or 6pm and I was done. All of these places were open until quite late, around 10pm, so I could’ve fitted in that Animalia place earlier, but by that point I was at the complete wrong end of the city, which is massive, and it was too late anyway since that park was closing at 7. I should have just gone out there earlier, picking up another cred (another SBF spinner) on the way back into the city, while still having time to hit up all those other places. I was kind of happy to be done early though since I was pretty knackered still from travelling.
I’ve also since realised that I missed another small park in the city which could’ve easily been done along with those others, but, again, it only had an SBF spinner. I’m not sure how I missed that one. Maybe it hadn’t popped up on Coast-to-Coaster at that point since the coaster listing on RCDB was quite new, a rookie mistake on my part which I’m quite annoyed about since I'm usually very good at using both sites to plan stuff out.
Still, it was quite a productive day, hitting seven parks and adding ten new coasters to the count, though adding to the count was all it was really since there was little of any note. Could’ve/should’ve been ten parks and fourteen creds though…
Next up, a proper park: Hopi Hari
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