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Thunder Dolphin re-opens

Nic

Nic

Strata Poster
Bit late to the party, but Thunder Dolphin at La Qua in Tokyo re-opened to the public on 1st August 2013. The Intamin Mega is the world's 9th tallest coaster, and one of Japan's most iconic, passing through a hole in a building, and the centre of a Feris wheel.

The ride had been closed since a bolt fell off in December 2010, injuring a 9 year old girl.

Press release (Japanese): http://www.tokyo-dome.jp/news/pdf/20130 ... 01-892.pdf
 
not that i see myself going to japan for a long time, but i am very happy about this, as it looks like such a unique coaster and i was worried it wasn't going re-open.
 
I'm surprised more people don't injure themselves on that coaster. There's so many right-hand turns on that thing you'd think they would get sore.
 
I'm actually kind of glad that this is back open. I'd love to visit Japan in the (near-ish) future, but I don't see it happening for a couple of years yet, however I think Thunder Dolphin is one of the most interesting and unique coasters out there and I just hope they can keep in running now.

Can someone quickly summarise why it was closed? I can't be arsed digging up the old topic.
 
Ah right. Thanks. I was just digging around and found this post by UC. He was shockingly right!

UC on 5th April 2012 said:
They keep it closed for (a seemingly obscene) amount of time, and then just re-open it again without telling anyone?
Click to expand...
 
Gotta be 100% honest: Thunder Dolphin is probably the worst Intamin hyper.

Sure, it's super photogenic, but the ride itself is pretty unspectacular. There's virtually no airtime and it hits the brakes at about 40 mph.
 
I haven't ridden it but I would say its the surrounds that makes the ride special, but the actual layout does seem a bit 'meh'
 
It's been a while, but I don't think there's any pullover air, or anything to make the first drop stand out. It really is the environment (sitting atop a mall) that makes the ride look fantastic. Ditto the ferris wheel. You really don't notice it from on-ride, but of course it looks spectacular from off-ride.
 
Hixee said:
Can someone quickly summarise why it was closed? I can't be arsed digging up the old topic.
Click to expand...
In the opening **** post said:
The ride had been closed since a bolt fell off in December 2010, injuring a 9 year old girl.
Click to expand...
Casio said:
A bolt fell off of the ride and hit a nine year old, who wasn't seriously injured.
Click to expand...
Well, yeah!

Hixee said:
Ah right. Thanks.
Click to expand...
FFS, Hix! :p
 
Definitely cool to see the ride open again, although I agree the layout looks a bit lackluster. The location is great though. Not planning to go to Japan anytime in the foreseeable future, but it's definitely something I would ride if I had the chance.
 
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