Theme park news from around the world includes media reports from Japan of a US$1.2bn park to be built at Yokohama of proportions similar to those of Tokyo Disneyland.

RollerCoaster

The entertainment publication Variety, suggests that the new park will be teamed up with a Hollywood movie company and will occupy land that was previously used as a US military facility.

In other theme park news, a roller coaster in Fantasy Island, at the UK coastal resort of Ingoldmells, broke down leaving groups of guests stuck 150 feet in the air for a substantial time before staff managed to get them down in harnesses.

Another Japanese park proposal is recorded in the country’s Japan Times newspaper. Construction work, it says, has begun on Studio Ghibli, a theme park in the Aichi Prefecture. It is based upon animation films and is set for a 2022 opening.

It will be themed around Japanese movies by director Hayao Miyazaki and will have five areas covering 7.1 hectares of land, part of the 2005 World Expo site at Nagakute.