The park is located across from the famous Fuji Television headquarters, in Odaiba, a man made island off the coast of Tokyo. Access is quite easy; my friend and I took a bus from YCAT at Yokohama station directly to the place. Cost? ¥800. ($8)
Odaiba is a favorite "date" location because of the numerous attractions there: Madame Tussauds is coming in Feb. 2013 and Lego Discovery recently opened last Sept. Joypolis, a Sega amusement hall, has 3 floors consisting of many interactive rides. From bobsled runs, Hummer drives, zombie shooting, and snowboarding, to an actual indoor roller coaster, the park has a lot of offer. I'll share my favorites:
1) Storm G
- a virtual bodsled ride in which the riders control the speed and steering. Bonus? You can do 360 barrel rolls! I loved this ride so much I completed it twice -- and got the fastest time (which remains on the board for the day. Woo nekko power!!) ^_^
(video courtesy of rotordaveNZ via You Tube)
2) Veil of Dark -- indoor, interactive, 360 loop (& spinning!) coaster
- Only 4 riders per car.
- You get a gun, and have to shoot aliens/zombies at 4 stations as the car moves along the track.
- In the story, your car "escapes" the aliens by shooting out into the dark and through the 2nd floor of Joyopolis. The car turns 360 degrees, while also completing a loop. Not for those who get car sick!!
- The ride is really short, less than 4 minutes. At the end, you can see your shooting score.
(Video in Japanese. Courtesy of TheWonderWorldWeb via You Tube)
3) Fortune Forest (click HERE to see photos)
- This is the place to take a rest and enjoy some peace & quiet. Visitors are given a crystal at the entrance. Using this crystal, you place it on a screen and answer questions which will tell your fortune. You can select the language: Japanese, English or Chinese as well as the theme of your fortune: love, sex, money, general, etc.
- I quite enjoyed this as a break from the noise of the park, completing this attraction two times.
Cutenekko poses next to a river raft ride at Joypolis:
4) Let's Go Jungle Special!
- An interactive shooting game. You have to sit inside a "jeep" which spins between two large screens. You are given guns, to shoot at bugs as they attack you on your jeep ride through the jungle. It's simple and fun. My friend and I did this game twice to try and improve our score.
(Video courtesy of stekespade via You Tube)
5) Tankentai Joypolis (I'm not sure how to translate it, sorry. Click HERE to see some photos.)
- An interactive puzzle game. Game players are given a mini Sega computer, worn across the body, which has a touch screen and a scanner. You are given 20 minutes to complete 5 different puzzles. You must move throughout the Joypolis park to find the marker which matches the question. Using your scanner, you touch the panel and see if you are right. Wrong answers are given a minus 5 minute penalty, so be careful!!!
- My friend and I failed the first time, so we tried again and could complete the puzzles in 10 minutes! Woo!! Winners get to unlock a secret door that gives access to a special prize. (Sorry, but I can't reveal the secret....^_^)
- English versions are available, just ask the staff and they'll arrange the questions in English. You can also choose the level of the puzzles from easy to very difficult. A sample question was:
2.5 < 1
Got it??!?! Pretty difficult, but it's fun running around the park trying to figure out the puzzles.
Joypolis is so famous, even Michael Jackson has been there! (his signature is on the wall near the entrance inside the park)
Joypolis is so famous, even Michael Jackson has been there! (his signature is on the wall near the entrance inside the park)
There were many other rides and games, too many to mention. Joypolis was quite fun and not crowded (we went on a Wednesday). I would not recommend it for young children though; many of the rides had height restrictions and / or were quite scary. Joypolis is NOT Tokyo Disneyland 2.0. Based on the people we saw there, it seems to be a popular date spot for high school and university students. ^_^
- Joypolis is located in Odaiba Tokyo.
- Access from Yokohama: YCAT Gate 5 to Odaiba, get off at Fuji TV Mae. Buses run every hour, ¥800 one way. (Info is HERE)
- Adult one day ticket is: ¥3,900. If you buy an e-ticket online, it's ¥3,400. Click HERE for info.
- On your birthday, entrance is free. ^_^ Bring your driver's license or passport to prove your birth date. The entrance ticket covers all attractions, including one free photo at the photo studio. Price does not include: food, UFO catcher/ video arcade games & Sonic Carnival games.
- Staff cannot speak English, but they do have instruction cards written in English. You can enter and leave the park as often as you wish. There is a McDonald's nearby & many other nice restaurants (with views of Tokyo Bay), so you can eat outside of the park. Just be sure to bring your ticket -- you'll need it to get back in!
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