It kind of goes without saying that anyone with severe motion sickness probably shouldn’t attempt the Godzilla ride in Seibu-en Amusement Park since this ride looks absolutely intense. There’s not much fanfare leading up to the ride, which is kind of nice really since there’s no chance to get hyped and then disappointed in any way, but once the ride starts it’s pretty clear that the city is taking heavy damage and the familiar, lancing bolts of energy indicate who’s behind it. The crumbling of buildings, the devastating attacks, and the student appearance of a very familiar shape start this ride out with a pulse-pounding snap to the senses that lets everyone know that this is going to be a wild ride. As King Ghidorah wreaks havoc within the city the audience is treated to the destruction via an escape vehicle that’s desperately seeking a way out even as the titan continues to tear the city down around them, snapping at the vehicle with all three heads and chasing the people from one end of the city to the other. Even more interesting however is that at one point, Ghidorah gets behind the vehicle and takes the whole thing into one of its mouths since sword-like fangs can be seen along the upper edge of the screen. As the audience takes note, Ghidorah begins to fly off with the vehicle in its mouth before Rodan appears to challenge the titan, thereby forcing the vehicle out of Ghidorah’s mouth as it experiences a brief free fall before its emergency parachutes open. To think this is all happening in a matter of minutes and seconds is amazing since the detail and the action that has been packed into this virtual ride are simply amazing. But as one can surmise, Rodan can’t withstand the onslaught of Ghidorah and is soon knocked to the ground, leaving Ghidorah to focus on the audience again.
Eventually though, the ground buckles, and the most iconic roar can be heard, signaling the approach of the one creature that can take on Ghidorah and come out the other end, a little worse for wear maybe, but still victorious. As Godzilla emerges the rescue vehicle, which is still floating to the ground at this point, actually lands on Godzilla and rides the big lizard’s body all the way down to the ground, avoiding his back spikes and finally cruising off of his tail to get a front-row seat to watch the two titans square in another impressive battle as Ghidorah gets the upper hand quickly, but eventually falls to Godzilla as a fiery lance of energy comes shooting from the latter’s mouth to pierce the torso of the three-headed titan. If the audience thought that was it though, they’re sorely mistaken. Those final freakouts in certain movies are a common staple that a lot of people enjoy since it keeps them on their toes and reminds them not to get TOO comfortable when the end is near. But in this ride, it’s done well enough that the audience will no doubt get one more shriek and gasp in before the ride comes to an eventual end as Godzilla stands victorious over the ruined city as if there were any doubt.
Just watching a Godzilla movie can be tense enough sometimes, but being able to experience a fight like this during a ride sounds like something that a lot of people would line up for if it were in easy reach. As of now, it sounds as though this is the only showing that a lot of people know about, but it’s fair to think that the popularity of it might spawn other, similar rides such as those that have been seen for a while now. If anyone can recall the Star Wars ride that opened up in Disneyland decades ago, that was intense at the time but definitely jarring on the body thanks to the way the ‘ship’ had to be manipulated in order to give the real feeling of being in space and taking on a number of different obstacles. Plus, the individuals were being given a chance to be participants, kind of, in a Death Star run, which was a bit hokey but was pleasing to a lot of people. This ride is spectators-only since adding in an attempt to stop Ghidorah or even wound it might be looked at as pretty ridiculous. The ride does look like a lot of fun though, and likely does pull in a lot of people that are looking for a good time. Watching a King Ghidorah vs. Godzilla match on TV or even in the movie theater is one thing, but getting up close and personal like this is a very different experience that people are no doubt willing to pay a high price to experience.
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