Fuji-Q Highland

Known for its record-breaking roller coasters, Fuji-Q Highland is a theme park located near Kawaguchiko, with great views of Mount Fuji. As a big fan of roller coasters, this theme park has always been on my bucket list of attractions in Japan, and I finally got to visit it for the first time in December 2022. Due to a variety of reasons, I ended up going back to the park just 3 days after my first visit that month, and again during a separate trip to Tokyo in May 2023.

Getting There and Admission

Getting to Fuji-Q is a fairly straightforward process. The two most viable options are to take the Fuji Excursion Limited Express train from Shinjuku, or take the Expressway Bus from Tokyo Station. Both options take approximately 2 hours. While the bus is the cheaper option at about c2000 for a one-way trip, the Fuji Excursion is worthwhile for holders of the Tokyo Wide Pass.

The park is technically free to enter for those not intending to take any of the rides (or prefer to pay per ride), while a 1-day pass costs ¥6000.

Roller Coasters

Fuji-Q has a total of 4 signature roller coasters, though one of them, Do-Dodonpa, which features the world's fastest roller coaster acceleration at a mind-boggling 0 to 180kph in 1.56 seconds, has been closed since August 2021 due to multiple reports of rider injuries 😨. There is also a new motorbike roller coaster called Zokkon that will be opening in July 2023. 

Generally speaking, the ride operations are slow, with Fujiyama being the fastest of the bunch. Fortunately, I was able to visit the park on weekdays on slower months, during which the park was fairly quiet, allowing me to avoid waiting for more than an hour for any of the rides. 

Fujiyama

Fujiyama was the only coaster operating during my first visit, and to be honest, I didn't really enjoy it that much. It opened as the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster back in 1996, standing at a height of 79m and reaching a top speed of 130kph. These statistics are still impressive today, and the ride gives you excellent views of Mount Fuji on a clear day. It also explains why the ride, dubbed "King of Coasters", remains extremely popular to this day, typically sporting the longest queues among all the rides at the park.

However, I found the ride to be especially rough in the second half. The ride starts out very promisingly, with a few big drops, but the later half of the ride's layout consists of several abrupt turns and directional changes which actually made me slightly giddy after riding. The ride vehicles are also not particularly comfortable. You can get a sense of the ride's age when you're on it. 

Two similar roller coasters (in terms of size and speed) which I enjoyed far more than Fujiyama are Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land and Thunder Dolphin at Tokyo Dome City. Those rides were also much smoother and the ride vehicles were much more comfortable. In particular, Steel Dragon 2000 also sported a series of airtime hills towards the end of the ride that were incredibly fun!

Overall Rating: 6.5/10
Total rides: 3 (2x on 2 Dec 2022, 1x on 5 Dec 2022)
Waiting Time: 40-50 mins

Takabisha (高飛車)

Takabisha held the record for the world's steepest roller coaster when it opened in 2011, with a beyond-vertical drop of 121 degrees. The ride was closed (unscheduled) on my first visit, so I made the spontaneous decision later in the trip to shift my itinerary around to accommodate another return visit so that I could experience this ride.

This roller coaster was much more enjoyable for me compared to Fujiyama. Aside from its signature drop, it had various other interesting elements such as a "surprise" drop and inversion in the dark at the beginning of the ride and an accelerated launch of 0-100kph in 2 seconds into the first set of inversions. The vertical lift and 121-degree drop actually takes place in the middle of the ride.

With Fujiyama drawing most of the park's crowds, Takabisha also didn't have very long waits, and I practically walked on to the ride early in the morning.

If I had not experienced Eejanaika, I would have given this ride a higher rating, but that ride is simply in a league of its own. Riding both back-to-back really highlighted the contrast in intensity. It didn't help that on my last ride, the other riders were completely silent, taking the enjoyment level down a notch, as it seemed like they were not really having that much fun.

Overall Rating: 8/10
Total rides: 6 (4x on 5 Dec 2022, 2x on 24 May 2023)
Waiting Time: 10-20 mins

Eejanaika (ええじゃないか)

Eejanaika was the one ride that I was legitimately nervous about riding at first. Having watched ride reviews on YouTube and read comments on Reddit, it seemed that the consensus was that this was possibly one of the most intense roller coasters on the planet. This "fourth-dimension" wing coaster is 1 of only 3 roller coasters of its kind in the world, alongside X2 in the USA and Dinoconda in China. It is the tallest and longest of the three.

The ride boasts a staggering 14 inversions including seat rotations (only 3 track inversions), thus unofficially matching the inversion record of 14 track inversions on The Smiler at Alton Towers in the UK. Many reviews seemed to paint a picture of a ride so intense that riders get thrown around like a rag doll due to the nature of the ride's multiple flips and sudden movements. 

After riding it for the first time, I will say that this description is somewhat accurate - the ride is certainly disorienting. It is difficult to have a good sense of where you are going as one moment you are facing forwards and the next you are rotated in another direction. However, the sheer intensity was an aspect that I ultimately enjoyed and didn't find nauseating at all. It was truly the most incredible roller coaster experience I have had in my life. Without any hesitation, I went back for 2 more rides that day. 

Never have I ever screamed like a lunatic that much on any roller coaster except for Arashi in Nagashima Spa Land, which also happens to be a "free-spinning" roller coaster. I do think that riding Arashi also served as a good warm-up for Eejanaika, as I at least had a rough idea of what to expect in terms of the rapid seat rotations.

Overall Rating: 10/10
Total rides: 3 (all on 24 May 2023)
Waiting Time: 40-60 mins

Other Rides

1. Tondemina
   This is a giant pendulum with a weird pizza theme, only because the seats form a circular shape, hence it is supposed to look like a pizza? Poor effort for theming, but I must say that the ride was quite fun.
   
   Rating: 7.5/10
   Waiting Time: 20 mins
   
   
2. Tekkotsubanchou (鉄骨番長)
   According to the official website, this is the largest rotating swing ride in Japan, reaching a height of 50m. That's actually quite impressive! A decently enjoyable ride, with gorgeous views when the swing reaches the peak, but riding this in winter meant that I was freezing cold at the end of the ride.
   Rating: 7/10
   Waiting Time: 30 mins
   
   
3. Tentekomai (Sky Roller)
   Basically you can manoeuvre the wings of your own ride vehicle such that it starts to spin 360 degrees, and at the end of the ride there's a leaderboard indicating which riders were able to complete the most number of rotations. I don't think I managed to get the correct rhythm so I was just mostly swinging from side to side.
   Rating: 5/10
   Waiting Time: 40 mins
   
   
4. Voyage Dans Le Ciel
   A suspended family coaster themed to Gaspard and Lisa. I took this ride just for the sake of trying out the different attractions. The ride was just filled with sudden and jarring brakes. It was yet another clearly aging attraction.
   Rating: 3/10
   Waiting Time: 40 mins
   
   
5. Fuji Airways
   A flight simulation (of sorts) which I believe is similar to the Soaring rides at Disney parks. It's alright, I guess.
   Rating: 5.5/10
   Waiting Time: 30 mins

Overall thoughts

I personally feel that Fuji-Q Highland is worth visiting for the roller coasters alone, although the slow ride operations leave much to be desired. In fact, I would even say that Eejanaika alone is worth the two-hour journey from central Tokyo. While I can't say I have ridden that many roller coasters in my lifetime, it is now by far my favourite roller coaster of all time.

To be honest however, many other aspects of the park are lacking. Some areas of the park are not that well-maintained, and the food is also quite average.

Considering the overall mix of rides, I think that Nagashima Spa Land is the superior theme park, and as I recall, the ride operations there were slightly more efficient.

All things considered, I am still extremely happy to have been able to experience a few more record-breaking attractions, and can't wait to revisit Eejanaika again some time in the future.