Richard Bannister

The plan for today was to begin the process of mopping up some of the smaller parks in the São Paulo area. The first of these was home to a powered Dragon. There was also a carousel, a set of dodgems, and a small plane ride.

Brazil has a very large number of children's buffets, designed for birthday parties and similar, and quite a few of them have small roller coasters inside. We counted at least twenty potential credits in the São Paulo area alone. Unfortunately, these buffets are generally only for party bookings, making them difficult for coaster enthusiasts to access.

In the early stages of planning this trip we made contact with the Brazilian Roller Coaster Club, the Clube Brasileiro de Montanhas-Russas. Several members of this group were enthusiastic and promised to help us out, but this assistance never actually materialised despite our best efforts. Fortunately for us, a mutual friend introduced us to a local enthusiast not affiliated with CBMR, Maria Renata França, who provided invaluable assistance with solving the various problems we'd identified with our itinerary. As if that wasn't enough, she offered to drive us around in the Rio and São Paulo areas, arranged discounted admission for several parks, and arranged for us to gain access to the Montanha Russa (#1881) at Spazio Arcobaleno.

I've been accused before of waxing lyrical about obscure credits that most enthusiasts have never ridden, and I'm afraid I'm going to do it again here. This coaster, though small, was rather neat; it featured a vertical lift which brought the single person car to the apex, followed by a stacked helix layout that was surprisingly good fun. While it would never be a top ten ride, it was certainly well up there with the most enjoyable kiddie coasters I've ridden in my career.

This park was known as Playland Aricanduva at the time this trip report was written.

The final stop of the day was almost identical to the first; another indoor family entertainment centre with a powered Dragon, a Carousel, and a Pirate Ship. I doubt I'd have bothered to visit at all were I not travelling with a number of people who count powered "coasters".