DONKEY'S SHERRY at Shima Spain Village / Park España in Osaka 1997

In 1997 I took a research trip to Parque España / Shima Spain Village, a Spanish-themed amusement park in Osaka, Japan. It contained the single worst/best dark ride I've ever seen in my life, "Donkey's Sherry". I present to you now an extremely rare (and possibly the only) video* of this now-closed ride. Keep in mind that the source video was only SVHS quality, and it's VERY dark; be sure to watch it on a bright monitor, and even then you may only be able to make out bits and pieces.

Basically, the ride is a "donkey-ized" ripoff of the "Pirates of the Carribean" -- but it's a "dry" ride where you ride in sherry barrels on a motorized track instead of boats. The ride opens on the grounds of a Spanish vineyard, where an anthropomorphic donkey crew in authentic Spanish costume is busy making sherry.

Drinking some of their libation, the donkeys get drunk and party and throw up. Then there's a brief spooky interlude suggesting the inquisition, with axe-wielding donkeys, ghosts and bats (which in turn rips off "Haunted Mansion" with some pepper's ghost effects). Suddenly the drunken donkeys begin to terrorize, pillage and burn the village, all the while dressed as conquistadors.

Keep an eye out for the incredible deus-ex-donkey denouement: an 18-foot-tall donkey conquistador warrior with laser beams for eyes! Just after that, there's a trippy sequence involving over-sized donkey-head wine bottle stoppers and walls of sherry barrels bursting at the seams, overflowing with wine.

At the end, a boat filled with drunken donkey musicians sails into the nighttime horizon, singing and dancing with inebriated glee. As the sun rises, riders return to the vineyard, and a lone farm donkey stands on all fours (sans anthropomorphic clothing) just outside the main house -- making it seem as though the entire thing was all a booze-induced donkey dream.

Sadly, the attraction closed in late 2003, and the building has been repurposed as numerous other offerings. Currently, it's a ride based on the Nutcracker:    • Illumination Ride "The Nutcracker"  

*UPDATE 2/29/21: Another video has been found! And it's slightly better quality, probably recorded on DV or Hi8?    • 志摩スペイン村　ドンキーズシェリー　2002年頃