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Godzilla the Ride: Great Kaiju Decisive Dominance Battle will be the signature attraction for Seibu-en’s new 1960s-themed Showa land
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 15 Apr 2021
The new Godzilla attraction has promised to ‘change the way you look at humanity and Godzilla’ Credit: Godzilla the Ride TM & TOHO CO
A world-first attraction is coming to Tokorozawa’s Seibu-en Amusement Park in Japan in May, with the debut of a new dark ride attraction - Godzilla the Ride: Great Kaiju Decisive Dominance Battle.
Placed inside a retro-style theatre, details of the ride experience are currently scarce, though it has been revealed that riders will be placed at the heart of a battle between Godzilla and its arch-nemesis - the three-headed behemoth, King Ghidorah, joining the Special Armored Car of the Special Disaster Task Force "Disaster Response".
Seibu-en has promised that the experience will “sweep you up in a whirlpool of transcendental excitement” that “never stops to give you a chance to catch your breath,” also promising that the dark ride will “change the way you look at humanity, and Godzilla”.
The ride experience has a major name behind it, with Japanese anime film director Takashi Yamazaki helping to develop the attraction in collaboration with the Katana Creative Team Tsu Co.
Showa
The ride will sit in the world of Showa - a nostalgic 1960’s cityscape set to open to the public on May 19. The themed land, which is designed to immerse visitors in that time period, will also feature 30 shops, as well as live performances, such as acrobatics, parkour and entertainers.
Several other new attractions are also in the works, including Let’s Go! Rheinland - which features IPs including Astro Boy and Jungle Emperor from popular cartoonist Tezuka Osamu. The land will also include a merry-go-round, a large Ferris Wheel and an air swing, each installed in the land to create the feeling of nostalgia for the 1960s-themed land.
While set for May 19, the park will still be under strict health and safety measures related to COVID-19, with temperature checks and limited capacity in place for the launch.
Kaiju Battle
While Godzilla the Ride: Great Kaiju Decisive Dominance Battle is the first dark ride to use the IP anywhere in the world, the new addition isn’t the first kaiju attraction to come to Japan. A Godzilla-themed zipline attraction opened in 2020 at the Nijigen no Mori theme park - a winner of the inaugural Wonder Awards - on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture. Measuring 20m (65.6ft) high, 25m (82ft) wide and 55m (180m) long - the giant Godzilla model is the largest in the world, with visitors able to zipline straight into the beast’s open mouth.
Theme park
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