Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama is known to be an ideal attraction for kids. The park is split into two main areas: the amusement zone called Pleasure Land, and Aqua Resorts, which is an aquarium housing around 120,000 sea creatures including dolphins, penguins and sharks. It also has its own hotel, shopping mall and plenty of restaurants, so it’s a great family-friendly day trip from Tokyo.
Pleasure Land is getting a big expansion with Shita’s Dream Island, an entirely new area inspired by the park mascot Shita-kun. This new area will have two new attractions – Bubble Shooting and the Butterfrider. Bubble Shooting is a shooting gallery with water guns, while the Butterfrider, as you can probably guess, is made to look like butterflies in flight. The ride has pedals in each compartment, which take you up and down while it spins around.
In addition to Bubble Shooting and Butterfrider, you can also look forward to Flight Eagle at Pleasure Land’s main area; it's a bird-shaped ride that takes you 10 metres off the ground.
All these three attractions were popular rides at Tokyo’s beloved Toshimaen amusement park, which closed last year to make way for the new Harry Potter-themed Warner Bros Studio Tour. The rides have all been revamped and will be opening in Hakkeijima Sea Paradise on Tuesday April 27.
That’s not all. Bay Market, the park’s souvenir shopping area, is also getting its own indoor game centre on the second floor. Called Western Game House, it features 12 different American carnival-style games, which cost around ¥200 to ¥500 each to play.
If you’re planning to visit during Golden Week, we recommend booking tickets in advance to skip the queue at the venue.
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