Hồ Mây Park 23rd December 2018 Hồ Mây Park is located in Vũng Tàu, a port city located on a peninsula to the south-east of Ho Chi Minh City. Google Maps told us to expect a three hour drive from our hotel next to Saigon Airport, but that estimate was evidently conservative; our driver got us to the area in two hours and fifteen minutes. Those who don't fancy subjecting themselves to the slightly demented local traffic conditions for that length of time have the option of taking a boat, and this is remarkably convenient for coaster enthusiasts; as of this writing the dock for Greenlines is directly adjacent to the cable car that leads to the park. The park is located on a plateau at the peak of Núi Lớn (Big Mountain), a 250m high peak to the west of the city. It is open from 07:30-23:00 on weekends, though the various attractions within have a much shorter operating window, which today was from 08:00-18:00. The cable car let us out next to a passenger shuttle which we boarded, though readers may find that it's as fast to walk the roughly ten minutes from the station to the ride area. Doing this also gives you a chance to visit the imaginatively named Restaurant Number 1, which offers a wide variety of uncommon meats such as Boar, Goat, Ostrich, and Porcupine. We managed to arrive right after a large school group, and decided to pass on that basis; perhaps next time. We were asked to sign a rules sheet and waiver before boarding the Alpine Coaster, a requirement that we subsequently encountered again at the go-karts (which were eminently missable). The only unusual regulation was one not calculated to please enthusiasts: for health benefits, visitors are limited to 3 times of continuous participation on the thrilling games. There was a drop of perhaps thirty feet out of the station that kicked things off nicely, and from that point on the routing followed the terrain, twisting and turning along the way. There was no automatic braking, and the corners were banked to a higher degree than more modern Wiegand installations, resulting in an old-school thrill that was everything an alpine coaster should be. Our first ride was absolutely fantastic, and we couldn't wait to go back for a second. Sadly that descent was interrupted half way down by a slow rider, and the third was even worse as we caught up with someone moving at walking pace less than fifteen seconds after leaving the station. There were ten cars in convoy by the time we reached the end, with all bar the oblivious troglodyte in the lead car baying for blood. The one saving grace was that the track was a short one; had the same thing happened on Tobotronc we'd have been stuck for hours. It was tempting to go back for a fourth run in defiance of the signage, but we decided that it was time to move on. The park has precious little else of interest for travelling theme park connoisseurs. We passed a bit of time on the Ultimate Slide, a Neveplast Tubby with four lanes, two with a steady descent and two with airtime humps. I liked the latter better, though it wasn't an experience I'd bother queuing for. We also stopped at Drift King, a set of battery operated karts that were supposed to be able to drift around corners, though they were too slow for there to be much chance of that. There were three flat rides, all of which looked to be locally built: a pirate ship (out of service today), chair swings, and a Polyp, none of which caught our eye. In the end we did a lap of the park to make sure we hadn't missed anything before heading for the exit.

Thỏ Trắng Vũng Tàu 23rd December 2018 We had no information about the Vũng Tàu branch of Thỏ Trắng when we were planning our trip, and given that we decided to call past just before noon on the off-chance that the various rides would be open. Unfortunately we were out of luck; it was immediately evident that there was nothing happening, and moments later we discovered a sign indicating that the park would not be open for several hours. It wasn't practical to wait around with other stops planned for the evening, and as a result Roller Coaster became the second missed credit in as many days. Readers planning their own trip to Vietnam should bear in mind that virtually all of the smaller parks in the country operate in the late afternoon and evening, and while some open earlier on weekends all published hours are best considered approximate.

Just Kidding Family Fun Fair 23rd December 2018 Just Kidding Amusement is one of the newest entrants into the Vietnamese amusement park business. The company started out in late 2017 with an activity center at Thao Dien, but has since expanded with two additional outlets: a standalone amusement park in District 12 and the Just Kidding Family Funfair at the SC VivoCity shopping mall in District 7. The various attractions were closed for an extended lunch break when we arrived, so we decamped into the nearby mall to find some food. We ended up at a branch of Meiwei, a superb local Dim Sum chain where your choices are steamed directly at your table; I'd heartily recommend it to anyone retracing our steps. In due time we made our way back outside to the ride area, where we found a collection of ten separate family attractions, the vast majority of which appeared to have been sourced from Italian manufacturer SBF VISA. There were only two of interest to enthusiasts: a drop tower (that was under maintenance) and the Family Coaster (#2553), a standard layout Big Apple. The train on this installation had both seat belts and unusually restrictive T-shaped lap bars. I found that I couldn't quite shoehorn myself into the front half of a car, but fortunately the back had plenty of room, allowing me to enjoy three laps.